Hey everyone and welcome to this chapter. This chapter will be mainly focused on training, for that reason, most fight scenes in this chapter will involve the Ryozanpaku Masters. But the training for this chapter will be mainly centered around Shirou, Kenichi will be there too but he'll mostly observe or just have the usual training. After all, I wanted to do something different with this chapter.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena, Please support the official release.
"Shirou" Regular speech.
"Shirou" Thoughts.
SEIKUKEN Attack names.
(Shirou) Words said previously.
[Shirou] Words said in unison.
Stronger than Iron, Sharper Than Steel
Today was like any other ordinary day, the sun was shining, the sky was clear, and Shirou, Kenichi, and Miu were on their way to the Dojo after school as always. And like always, they were stopped and ambushed by members of Ragnarok.
Shirou was currently confronting one while Kenichi was beside him. The thug they were facing had long bushy hair, a jersey jacket, and a cap on his head that had the word bad on it.
"These Ragnarok goons are so darn persistent." Kenichi complained. "I don't even get Sundays to relax."
"That's the point of being hunted." Shirou reminded him. "And besides, if we weren't here, you'd be training which isn't what I call relaxing."
"Well, look who's finally bagged a prize, me—Takashi Furukawa." The now named Takashi introduced himself. "That name don't mean much right now, but you wait—Pretty soon, everybody's gonna know me as the Number 1 guy in Ragnarok."
"Oh, can it. I don't care who you are, right now you're screwing up my only day to go shopping with Miu!" Kenichi angrily responded. "I've been waiting for this all week!"
"Not my problem!" Takashi shot back.
Shirou groaned. "Ignore the Desperate House SIMP. For me, I'm not interested in fighting a third-string like you, go back and bring one of the Takedown Trio."
"Are you kidding? The whole point of this is to beat you guys before they do." Takashi informed him. "If I can manage to take you down, chances are Kisara-sama will make me one of her top go-to guys."
"Is that really all you want?" Shirou said in a mocking way before turning to Kenichi. "Kenichi, you take him, he'll count as a pre-exercise warmup before training."
"All right." Kenichi stepped forward and got in a fighting stance. "I just want to finish and get back to shopping."
"Fine, you first." Takashi raised his fist. "Oh, and, just one last thing?"
"Fine, what is it?" Kenichi asked annoyed.
BAM!
WHAM!
THUD!
"Call off your crazy girlfriend man!" Takashi yelled in horror.
Behind them, there were four other members of Ragnarok who showed up to face them as well. Unfortunately for them, Miu was already in fight mode and was brutally beating them all down without her legs ever having to touch the ground.
Shirou facepalmed. "This is why I never want to bring her to places."
Kenichi looked impressed. "Ha, amazing as always, she's taken out four guys in less than a few seconds and hasn't even broken a sweat."
Takashi started to ponder. "Hang on a sec, maybe I should try to beat this chick instead? Nah, I better not start seconding guessing my orders, Kisara said to beat these two guys so that's what I'll do!"
Takashi then rushed in while Kenichi was distracted. "Uh oh, if I can't take care of at least one of these guys I'll never be able to look Miu in the eye again. My Pride's at stake!"
Kenichi rushed in as well and he and Takashi both swung their fists. The result was a dual exchange where both of them got punched in the face. Afterward, they both took a few steps back and it seemed like Kenichi was much less hurt and dealt more damage.
"Decent enough." Shirou thought as if he was evaluating Kenichi. "If he didn't get distracted he could've avoided taking a hit, but at least he hit the guy back and landed the strong blow."
Kenichi put up his fists. "Want some more?" He threatened.
Takashi wasn't even looking at him though as he inspected the damage he took and saw that there was blood on his hands after wiping his nose which shook him. "I'm…Bleeding. What the heck you trying to do to me? I think…I think you broke my nose you punk!"
Kenichi stepped in. "Are you gonna be alright?" He asked, slightly concerned.
To his surprise though, Takashi pulled a switchblade knife out of his pocket and looked at Kenichi with a deathly grin. "Now you're gonna bleed."
Kenichi immediately became nervous and started to sweat. "Hey wait a minute, that's not fair! You're not allowed to use that thing, are you crazy? Someone could really get hurt!"
"Enough already!" Takashi snapped.
Takashi kept stepping forward while Kenichi kept stepping back out of fear of the knife.
"I've got to get into his reach without getting cut… But how?" Kenichi wondered as his knees started shaking again.
BOINK!
However, before anything else could happen, Shirou stepped in and boinked both Kenichi and Takashi on the held. As the tension broke and both of them gripped their heads, everyone else stopped and looked at them with a bit of confusion on why he stepped in.
Shirou stood between them and looked at Takashi. "Alright man, put the knife away."
He said it casually but it was clear that he wasn't asking or requesting. One of the guys that were floored by Miu spoke up.
"This is their fight, stay out of it!"
"Huh?!"
Shirou looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of a smirk and a death glare. Seeing that immediately made him hush up. Shirou looked back at the two between him.
"You call that fighting?" He asked sarcastically. "A real fighter fights with his fists and nothing else."
"E-Easy for you to say." Takashi argued while looking down. "What does it get ya if you fight fair and… You end up losing? I'll take a win any way I—"
Before he could finish, Shirou swiped the knife out of his hand, stabbed the blade into the ground, and stepped on it to dig it further in there.
"You've gotta adjust your attitude, a disadvantage can help a man fight better." Shirou informed him before he raising his fist. "It's a man's guts and Pride that drives his fists to victory. When you use a knife, you're throwing away the advantage of being at a disadvantage."
Takashi gasped but Kenichi only looked confused.
"I… Don't get it…" Kenichi thought.
Shirou elaborated. "In a brawl, there's always going to be times when the other guy gets the drop on you. But, you're put to the test when you have to find out if you can fight through that. When you're at a disadvantage or feel like you're in danger, you can sometimes find strength you didn't know you had or try a move you don't normally use. And winning a fight like that will ultimately make you stronger." He looked to Takashi. "Isn't that how someone who wants to be Number 1 should fight?"
Takashi gulped before he responded. "Y-Yeah, I think I get it."
"That makes a bit of sense." One of the Ragnarok goons added.
"I think I heard something like that once." Another one added.
"That actually makes a bit of sense." Miu thought to herself. "It's like the principle of 'The concerned Rat will bit the Cat'. Sometimes being in a dangerous situation can draw out great reserves you can't normally reach."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Kenichi thought the complete opposite with a comical expression. "A disadvantage can be a good thing? Is this some kind of backward logic that only Delinquents understand!?" He then spoke out loud. "Hold on, that's why you hit him but why'd you hit me?"
"Because like I said, you both need to adjust your attitudes." Shirou pointed to Takashi. "You came here to fight, so why are you getting all wussy because you bleed a little?" Then he pointed to Kenichi. "Don't act like your hot stuff then start whining about getting hurt or being fair just because you see a knife." He finished with. "How do either of you expect to win a fight when you lose your cool at the drop of a hat?"
Both of them could tell where he was coming from. Neither Kenichi nor Takashi liked being lectured but they both felt somewhat ashamed at how this fight had been going. Takashi because he was a member of Ragnarok and had been in fights before yet he acted like an amateur who saw his own blood for the first time. Kenichi because despite all his training, he was having trouble with a single Ragnarok grunt. They both could agree that this wasn't their finest hour.
"Now that we're all on the same page…" Shirou then stepped back and cleared their paths. "Continue."
Suddenly snapping back to reality, Kenichi and Takashi remembered they were supposed to be fighting and prepared themselves as Takashi put his fists up and Kenichi got into his stance.
"You're dead!" Takashi charged at him.
This time though, Kenichi was prepared and as Takashi went in for a punch, Kenichi caught his fist, broke his center of gravity, and flipped him over his shoulder before slamming him hard into the ground with a Judo throwing technique.
"I did it!" Kenichi celebrated.
Shirou turned to the other grunts that were beaten by Miu but still conscious. "Any of the rest if you wanna keep fighting?"
"Nah, we're good!" One of them said in surrender.
"Yeah, we'll just leave now!" Another one said as they lifted up Takashi and retreated.
With that done, the three of them decided to head back to the Dojo.
Later, inside the walls of Ryozanpaku Shirou and Kenichi were walking around as Kenichi brought up the fight from earlier.
"I don't see what you're so confused about." Shirou told him.
"It's just, I don't get how you were so calm back there?" Kenichi admitted. "That was a real knife he was holding yet you were acting like it didn't even faze you."
Shirou stopped and then so did Kenichi as he asked him. "Don't tell me; You're afraid of knives?" He guessed.
Kenichi looked down, not wanting to say it but unable to deny it. "I'm scared enough in a normal fight and sure wasn't prepared for that."
"Yeah, I noticed that when I saw your knees shaking." Shirou bluntly responded.
"Weapons are scary alright!" Kenichi snapped.
"Kenichi, to you a lot of things are scary." Shirou stretched his neck. "Besides, you really think that's the first time somebody's pulled out a weapon on me? Or do think it'll be the only time for you?"
"Kgh…" Kenichi stiffened. "I… didn't want to think about it. Besides, if you ignore a problem long enough it'll eventually go away… Right?"
"Of course it won't." Shirou said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The longer you avoid a problem the bigger it grows until it grows into something way beyond your control, that's why you gotta deal with it now."
"But how am I supposed to do that?" Kenichi asked, now more worried. "I don't know anything about weapons or the people who use them."
"Are you forgetting where we are?" Shirou pointed out. "There's someone living at this Dojo that can teach you about weapons, remember?"
As he said that, Shigure appeared behind them by the door to the Dojo. Not noticing her, Kenichi rested his chin on his hand and thought about the advice he was given. "Hmm, Akisame-sensei might be able to teach me a few pointers."
Shirou blinked. "Wait, what?"
SLASH!
As if to demonstrate her abilities, Shigure used the Sword on her back to cut the sliding door of the Dojo to pieces. Still not noticing her, Kenichi still pondered. "Yeah, you're right. Knowing the way he works he'll probably make me do some freaky exercise I don't understand."
Shigure then appeared in front of Kenichi but Kenichi turned around and again and still didn't see her as she brought out a chain-sickle and was demonstrating her skill with it.
Kenichi placed a hand over his brow. "It'd be too embarrassing to ask me."
Shirou looked back and forth from Kenichi to Shigure. "You cannot be serious right now?"
"Oh yeah, maybe Sakaki would work." Kenichi figured, still oblivious. "Yeah, that's it, I bet he's dealt with his fair share of weapons."
Shirou just stared blankly at Kenichi. "How dense are you?"
Kenichi looked confused. "Huh, what are you talking about?"
Shirou just sighed and walked past him to stand in front of Shigure. "Go ahead."
Shigure nodded as the weapons Master placed a small grain of rice on the center of Shirou's head. Kenichi turned around to see and finally noticed Shigure as she unsheathed her blade and slashed at Shirou's head while the Delinquent didn't even try to move.
SLASH!
"Gaahhh!" Kenichi shrieked and fell off his feet. "What are you!?"
Miu arrived at the point and looked afraid as well. "Shigure! What do you think you're doing?!"
Shigure sheathed her weapon. "Just… Practicing is all."
"Better question is, why are you two throwing a hissy fit?" Shirou asked, turning to face them.
"S-Shirou? You're okay?" Kenichi asked, amazed and relieved.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Shirou questioned.
"Why? She just swung a Sword at you!" Kenichi yelled upset. "You didn't even try to dodge it so I thought she was going to slash your head open!"
"Close, if I did try to dodge it she would have slashed my head open." Shirou explained to him. "But, since I stayed still and didn't mess up her aim, this was the only thing that got cut." He took the grain of rice off of his forehead and showed it to Kenichi as it was split perfectly in half.
"A True Master of… Weapons does not… Cut anything unless… They intend to…" Shigure told them wisely.
Then out of nowhere, Akisame arrived to join the conversation. "I could be wrong, but it looks to me that Shigure just offered you some personal weapons training." Kenichi gasped as Akisame continued. "When it comes to weapons use, Shigure's skills are unparalleled."
"But I'm not interested in using weapons I just wanna know how to avoid them." Kenichi pointed out.
"Speak for yourself." Shirou argued, looking interested. "I know how to use weapons to a degree, but never really had someone to train me with them. So I'll wanna try my hand at this."
Shigure nodded at his request. "Good… We will… Begin right away."
Akisame stroked his mustache. "Well, he definitely has the right attitude."
"I'm still not sure about this." Kenichi noted.
"What happened when you saw that knife?" Akisame reminded him. "You froe up didn't you?"
Once again, Kenichi looked disappointed with himself. "Well, that's one way of putting it."
"What you need is experience, and before you can learn to avoid weapons in a fight you must first become familiar with the weapons themselves." Akisame wisely advised him and Kenichi accepted it.
The five of them went inside the Dojo's training hall as Shirou and Shigure stood before each other ready to face off while Kenichi, Miu, and Akisame sat by the porch to observe, Apachai and Kensei arrived so that they could watch as well.
"I was a little uneasy with the idea of leaving Shigure totally in charge. So for safety's sake, I decided to watch this one." Miu confessed.
"Apachai thinks watching is a good idea." Apachai added.
"Most definitely." Kensei agreed.
"Hey, she's not going to cut off anything he can't grow back right?" Kenichi asked, fearing for his friend's life.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Shigure won't go that far." Akisame reassured him.
Shirou stood there was his hands in his pockets and asked. "So, what's the first lesson?"
Shigure pulled out a Kodachi from her kimono. "Your first lesson… Using blade… To kill."
Miu immediately blew a whistle to stop her.
"What… Is something wrong?" Shigure questioned.
"Of course there is!" Kenichi snapped at her. "That's way too extreme for a first lesson!"
"Now, now, you two." Akisame stopped them. "Shirou is the one who agreed to the training, so unless he objects you can't really to her."
They both looked to Shirou but he didn't seem bothered. "It's fine by me."
"What? You're okay with this?" Kenichi questioned.
"Weapons at their core are tools used to kill, learning how to use weapons and learning how to kill with them are pretty much the same thing." Shirou summarized.
"Yeah, but…" Kenichi was still worried.
"Relax." Shirou nodded at him as if to say he would be fine. "It's not like I'm actually going to die."
Kenichi gulped but decided to relent and let them proceed. Shigure then threw the Kodachi to Shirou which he caught, then she brought out another one which she planned to use for herself.
"Assume the position." Shigure instructed him.
Shirou stood with his arms down at his side and kept facing her directly. It looked careless at first glance but Shigure could tell what he was doing. This a relaxed stance where you kept the body loose and free from tense to be able to move with dashing speed right out the gate—In short, he planned to be the aggressor. Shigure responded by preparing to counter.
"Hah!"
Shirou rushed and made a swing toward Shigure using his blade, the latter remained standing in the same spot also while raising up the weapon in her hand. He made a slight motion of the Kodachi in her hand and deflected the strike without an instance of trying at all.
Shirou slashed left and right at Shigure, both times he aimed for her juggler but both times she parried he strikes to the sides, he then shifted his weight forward and moved in for a thrusting attack at her throat, but Shigure easily knocking away his attempted and moved to his righthand side, Shirou immediately followed by pivoting to his right for a side-swiping slash at her. Shigure saw it coming from a mile away and deflected it again.
The others watched their training session on the sidelines watching as Shirou made several slashes aimed at Shigure who continued to deflect each of them without trying.
"Interesting, he's better at this than I was expecting." Akisame evaluated the performance. "Seems he wasn't wrong when he said he knew how to use weapons to a degree."
"But he hasn't landed any hits." Miu reminded him, still unsure about this.
"He's facing Shigure so that should be obvious." Kensei pointed out. "As a Master of Weapons, Shigure is an expert and avoiding blades to the point where they can't even touch her even when facing a Master, so it's obvious a Disciple would never be able to."
"Then what's the point of this training?" Kenichi asked, also worried.
"First she's seeing what level he's currently on, then she'll start the real training." Akisame explained.
"Real training?" Kenichi repeated confused.
"Notice how Shigure hasn't tried to attack him, even once since they started." Akisame pointed out.
Kenichi's eyes widened as he looked again and realized he was right as Shirou was still unable to even land a single strike on the more experienced Weapon Master while she continued blocking or parrying his strikes.
Starting to become frustrated, Shirou rushed forward toward Shigure making another slash aimed at her, but it was averted by the stoic Weapon Master. It was followed up by her moving before Shirou at a speed that he hadn't seen her use until now and took him off guard for a moment. Now right in front of him, she then pointed the Kodachi at his neck.
"You're dead…" Shigure said as Shirou's weapon landed on the ground causing a notable sound.
Shirou grits his teeth. "Damn it."
"It ended in an instant." Kenichi breathed out, both surprised and amazed.
"Well, that's about as much he can hope for against Shigure." Akisame shrugged. "His mistake was losing his composer."
"Still, it was a good try." Kensei added.
Shigure looked down at the weapon he dropped. "Pick it… Up."
Shirou gladly did so. "Yeah, let's go again."
"Apa, they still going." Apachai noticed.
"Alright, what is going on in here!"
Everyone looked to the side door to see that Hayato had entered and was now in the training hall as well.
"Grandpa?" Miu addressed him.
"So, mind filling me in on what's happing right now?" He requested. After he sat down with the others, Akisame explained to him what was going on and he decided to observe as well. "Shirou, you should know that knives and blades are just empty are just worthless hunks of metal, as long as you can avoid being hit by them. But the problem is that Shigure is an expert and she never misses her. You're only chance is to observe calmly and wait for an opening."
"This time you need to try fending off Shigure while she's also on the offensive." Kensei informed him.
"Wait, is that safe?" Kenichi asked them.
"Haha, don't worry, it's as safe as everyone else's training methods." Hayato told him with a laugh.
"That just makes me more worried!" Kenichi thought while he sweats a little.
They were facing off again and both raised their knives. This time Shigure attacked first and in an instant, she closed the distance between them and slashed. Unlike Shigure who was easily able to block his attacks, Shirou struggled to block her strike and barely made to parry away her knife before it cut him.
Shigure followed up with a flurry of three slashes at him, one was an upwards thrust near his eye, the second was a straight thrust at his cheek and the third was a slash aimed at his arm. Shirou dodged each by a hair and was still grazed by them and he jumped back to gain some distance.
"Damn, I don't know how but she's speed and sharpness are insane." Shirou thought trying to regain the pace. "There's no way able to avoid her or defend for too long, so only one option—Offense is the best defense!"
Shirou charged in to go back on the offensive and unleashed a barrage of thrusts at her similar to a fencer with a Rapier. But Shigure once again showed off her superior ability by blocking, parrying, and, parrying each one. But, while Shirou's attacks weren't reaching her, they were succeeding in making her step back ever so slightly.
But then, with the procession of threading a needle, Shigure saw through all his attacks and thrust her knife forward as well, forcing him to block her strike and thus killing his momentum. Shirou wasn't beaten yet though and he squats down aims a slash at Shigure's leg which she dodged by jumping and countered by slashing downward at him which he dodged by rolling to the left.
After that, the two of them charged at each other and clashed, looking their blades against each other for a few seconds in a struggle before they both jumped back
The two continued their battle, both of them seemingly on even ground. It was amazing to watch the battle, though it was harder for Kenichi and Miu to tell entirely how the course of the fight was going, the more experienced Masters could see that there truly was a difference in their strength. Shigure tended to move about gracefully, making it difficult for Shirou to attack, though Shirou was having trouble with Shigure's speed and lightness.
Yet while she was had to say on guard and couldn't easily breach his defense she was easily able to parry Shirou's attacks, while it took all of Shirou's strength to try and fend off Shigure's blade.
However, Shirou seemed like he was thinking of something more than just attacking blindly, it was like he was waiting for something. Shirou's true objective was to capture Shigure's focus on only the knife in his hand, to get rid of any thoughts of him attacking her in any other way. That way, he could spring his trap. After a few more seconds, Shirou made his move.
"Now!" Shirou thought, readying himself.
DON!
Shirou swiftly slammed his open-pammed hand onto the tatami-mat beneath his feet just as Shigure was going in for another thrust and his strike made the mat rise upwards, covering his body like a shield as it took the hit and Shigure's blade stabbed into it.
Because Shigure's concentration was focused entirely on his knife, she didn't see this coming and was caught off guard for a window of a second which was all Shirou needed as he masterly used his footwork to get around and then behind Shigure and slashed his blade at her. Moving on reflex, Shigure used her knife to block, but this too was a decoy as he once kept her focus on his knife. Thus she doesn't notice his leg kick out and tripped her over, knocking her off balance as she was about to fall backward.
Seeing the perfect opportunity, Shirou reached into his pocket and took out what he was aiming for the whole time—A second knife.
It originally belonged to the member of Ragnarok they fought earlier today but Shirou kept it for himself and what better time is there to bring out a hidden knife than during an actual knife fight.
As Shirou brought it down, intending to stab the unbalanced Shirou was an almost beast-like smirk on his face and sharpness in his eyes. Shigure responded by suddenly moving twice as face as he reached for the sheathed long-Sword on her back and brought it out. Then like the wind, she slashed out a volley of Sword strikes at Shirou.
SLASH!
"Gugggghhh!"
Shirou was knocked up in the air and blown away by the attack as open cuts appeared on his forehead, the side of his neck, his shoulders, his chest, and his stomach as blood streamed out from them like rain and he hit the floor with an audible thud.
.
.
.
"…Oops."
Shigure seemingly just noticed what she just did as the others just stared at the down form of Shirou who just got maimed silently. Until all of them reacted after a few seconds, their reactions varied.
"APAP!"
"SHIROU!"
"OH! MY! GOOOOOSH!"
Apachai shouted, Miu screamed in horror, and Kenichi was having a full-on panic attack as they all rushed to him while Akisame, Kensei, and Hayato merely stayed seated and composed.
"That could have gone better." Kensei commented.
"It was a smart move on his part. Using the tatami mat was unorthodox which is what made it so effective and carrying a second blade is usually a given in weapons fights." Akisame evaluated. "All in all, I say he did pretty well."
"The outcome is key though." Hayato said, looking at it another way.
"Would you three stop being so calm!" Miu yelled at them. "This is serious!"
"Shirou! Say something!" Kenichi pleaded, lifting him up by his shoulders, more afraid than he's ever been. "Please! Speak to me!"
"…op…elin…n…m…ac…"
"W-What?" Kenichi asked unable to hear his whispering.
Shirou took a deep breath, regained his awareness, and said clearly. "Stop yelling in my face!" He then placed Kenichi off of him. And stop crowding me."
"Shirou, you're okay?" Miu asked, shocked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Shirou asked, seemingly fine.
"Whadda you mean why?!" Kenichi snapped, still shaken. "You were cut back there! I almost had a heart attack!"
"Take a closer look you took you two." Akisame informed them. "While it's true he was cut, the wounds aren't anything serious. Those cuts are all just and only barely broke through the skin, they'll close on their own before long."
Just like Akisame said, when both Miu and Kenichi looked again they saw that Shirou's damage merely looked worse than they actually were, all the cuts were small and only broke some of the skin, the bleeding had already stopped.
"Even so, it's unwise to just leave those cuts alone."Kensei advised him. "I have some ointment that good at close swallow wounds."
Shirou shrugged and picked up his knife as he put it back in his pocket while leaving the one Shigure gave him. Before he could go, however, Shigure spoke out. "When you're… Done, we'll continue… Training."
"Fine by me." Shirou accepted.
"But before that, you have training with me to do next." Akisame reminded him.
"Whatever." Shirou sighed as he left, obviously not enthusiastic about that.
After they left, Miu sat down and let out a sigh.
"That was scary." Miu admitted, referring to what just happened.
"Yeah, I know." Kenichi completely agreed. "I really thought Shirou was in danger back there."
"Which begs the question though." Akisame stepped forward. "Shigure, on that last move you got serious. Why is that? This was just supposed to be training."
"Yeah, why did you do that?" Miu asked as well, though she sounded more like she was scolding her.
Shigure looked at the blade of her Sword and saw her own reflection before she answered. "…Instinct."
Akisame and Hayato widened their eyes while Miu looked confused.
"Instinct?" Kenichi repeated.
"In the…Beginning he seemed to…Have the basic down…To an extent. But…The longer it went…On the sharper…His moves became…" Shigure explained her reasoning. "He was…Learning while fought…And that last move was…Different from…All the rest. It felt like my…Instincts took over before…I could think and…They respond due to a…Sense of danger."
"Oh, danger you say?" Hayato asked while stroking his bread.
"Yes…I don't really…Know why but…As he went in for…That last attack…I felt my instincts…Warning me of…Danger…" Shigure admitted as she put away the knives.
Hayato smiled when he heard that explanation. "That's almost exactly like what happened when he first trained with Apachai. That boy seems to be getting closer to sharpening his fangs every day."
Akisame pondered on it as well. "He was able to make a Master like Shigure feel danger with his instincts alone. Shirou's potential never ceases to amaze me."
"Apa, that still no excuse." Apachai said to Shigure in a scolding manner. "That dangerous. You need learn how hold back better."
"Like you're one to talk!" Kenichi snapped at Apachai, knowing he had the same problem. "Still though, he learned while he was fighting? Is that even doable?"
"It is actually. There are those capable of improving in the middle of combat, more so when they being pushed back." Akisame informed him. "When you're facing an opponent that you know is superior to you even before you start, the only thing you can do is get stronger even if it means while you're still fighting. They both had knives but he was facing a Master who was far more skilled and by adapting to that disadvantageous situation he was able to gain new reserves of ability that he didn't have before."
Hearing Akisame's explanation made Kenichi's eyes widen. He had heard those words before but they were said differently so e had trouble understand them compared to now, Miu recognized them as well.
"That sounds like what Shirou was talking about earlier." Miu remembered.
Kenichi nodded. "The advantage of being at a disadvantage."
"Haha! The advantage of being at a disadvantage?" Hayato laughed cheerfully. "I haven't heard that phrase in a while."
"But wait, something seems odd about that." Kenichi spoke out. "If it's possible to improve while at a disadvantage, why did Shirou take away that guy's knife? Wouldn't doing so make so I was the one with that advantage in that fight?"
"Well, maybe because since that's only the case for certain people, he didn't want to put you at risk given the uncertainty of it?" Miu guessed.
"Or maybe he because after seeing you freeze up he just wanted to salvage the situation before you made a fool of yourself?" Akisame bluntly gave his guess.
"Aaahhh! Why do you always say the worst possible thing?! Are you trying to hurt?!" Kenichi grabbed him by the collar and yelled at him with a mixture of pain and frustration.
"So, Kenichi, why don't you give it a try?" Hayato suggested.
"Huh, me?" Kenichi looked at him.
"Since you just saw Shirou learned how to fight during armed combat why don't you learn how to counter an armed opponent using your bare hands?" Hayato explained.
"Are you insane?!" Kenichi clearly wasn't on board with that idea. "You saw what just happened! If anything, watching all that just made me even more terrified of weapons!"
"Kenichi, what would you say is the most important characteristic a fighter can possess?" Hayato asked him.
"I don't know…Hmm, strength maybe?" Kenichi guessing, thinking it over. "Or technique?"
"Nonsense, it's courage!" Hayato declared before going on. "If you don't have courage you can't stay calm and you overlook openings. Without courage your strength is limited. Without courage, your technique is sloppy and unfocused. Shirou demonstrated it perfectly. His strength, technique, and concentration were flawless and he didn't just find an opening, he made one. That was only possible because he had unwavering courage in the face of a sharp blade in the hands of a Master that never hesitated!"
"Well, that's where the two of us differ…" Kenichi dejectedly looked down. "My courage… Well, it's pretty lacking."
"If you don't have it you have to train for it!" Hayato told him. "Practice is the key to everything." He then looked to Shigure. "Shigure, this time I want you to push him to the absolute edge."
Shigure nodded as she once again started the draw her Sword which made Kenichi and Miu nervous again. Miu ran over to stand beside Kenichi. "Hold on, isn't it way too much to start off with your Sword right away?"
Shigure shook her head. "It's fine, I'll be…Cafreful this time!"
SWISH!
As if to demonstrate her ability to hold back and not directly cut him. Shigure's hand and the Sword it was holding flashed out in a blurry as she began slashing and slicing around Kenichi and Miu as though she was cutting the air itself. The result; small cuts appeared around the sleeves, sides, and front shirt of Kenichi's training gi, but not a scratch on his skin.
For Miu, a greater number of cuts opened up around the sweater she was wearing as well as her leotard, and yet no cuts on her skin. But, unfortunately for her, since her leotard was skin tight those cuts on it now exposed parts of her skin, which Kensei immediately took attention to after suddenly reappearing.
"Agh!" Miu cried out as she tried to kick him away while using her hands to cover herself. "Kensei you pervert!"
"What are you doing back here Kensei?" Akisame asked curiously. "What about Shirou?"
"I finished up with that almost right away!" Kensei answered cheerfully while circling around Miu, dodging her kicks and taking photos at the same time. "Looks like I choose the perfect time to come back!"
Kenichi meanwhile was so shaken at the flashing cuts that Shigure unleashed on him that he fainted. Apachai became worried and lifted him up by his leg.
"Kenichi!" Apachai cried out while slapping him in the face to wake him up. "Kenichi! Don't be dead!"
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hayato bellowed making everyone come to a halt.
"I need to go change!" Miu dashed out of the room.
Hayato was now sitting on Kensei's back while the Chinese Master in question didn't try to escape and merely laid there while pouting. "Kensei, you know better. And Kenichi, your training isn't complete yet, try again from the top."
Kenichi slowly rose to his feet as his mind started to wonder. "Shigure, she really is a Master of weapons but otherwise she's such a mystery. Most of the time, I don't even know she's here."
"…Get set, go."
"What happened to 'get ready'!?" Kenichi shouted again. "One thing's for sure though, I definitely found the right person to teach me about weapons." He thought before they started. "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
After a bit of time, Kenichi finished training with Shigure and was hobbling painfully down the walkway.
"I think I'm bleeding internally." Kenichi breathed out through the soreness. "If that was Shigure's way of taking it easy then I can't image what would happen to anyone who had to fight her for real."
Kenichi heard something and then stopped as he looked to his right. What he saw was Sakaki in the courtyard. He was currently in the middle of his own training and stood there in a Karate kata and without his jacket—Thus showing off his Herculean muscle frame. Sakaki breathed in, built up his strength, and finally punched a nearby wooden training pole so hard that it broke into pieces. Kenichi looked at him and felt impressed.
"Bet you he's not afraid of a knife, guys his size probably never give it a second thought." He said to himself thinking of all the muscle mass Sakaki, and Apachai for that matter possesses. "With muscles that thick I wouldn't be surprised if most weapons didn't just bounce right off them." He slumped before trying to flex the muscles on his own arm, only to see that there wasn't much. "I've been training for what seems like months now and I haven't gained a single ounce of muscle. I'm starting to wonder if all of Akisame-sensei's weird training techniques are really working."
"Oh, there you are, Kenichi."
"Akisame-sensei?" Kenichi turned to see Akisame walk up to him. "Are you done training Shirou already?"
"Haha, no, not at all. I'm just having him stretch for a bit." Akisame explained. "Once he's done with that we'll begin with some light roadwork."
"Uh, his idea of light always means insanely intense." Kenichi thought with an uncomfortable expression. "Well, at least it's not me."
"But don't worry, I've prepared some light exercises for you to do until we get back." Akisame pleasantly informed him.
"How does he always know what I'm thinking!?" Kenichi thought with a cringe.
"You looked like you were thinking about something before I showed up." Akisame noticed. "What's on your mind?"
"Oh, well I was just wondering, I've been doing your training exercises for a pretty long time now but my body doesn't look like it's gotten any different." Kenichi pointed out. "How much longer do I have to flip statues and run marathons?"
"You don't have to run marathons necessary but you have to maintain some kind of training routine." Akisame explained to him. "Back in the old days, it was very rare that people did any separate muscle training."
"What? So why am I getting the special treatment?" Kenichi asked more curious than upset.
"They sparred a lot back then, so they really didn't need muscle training." Akisame answered.
"So then sparring was their strength training?" Kenichi understood.
"Sparring a great way to build muscle, mostly because it focuses on all the muscles needed for fighting without unnecessary bulk in places that would slow the body down." Akisame continued with his explanation. "However, there's definitely one drawback to that method of training—High risk of bodily injury. Out of every 100 or so Disciple, only a handful ever made it through training alive." He then looked to the now quiet Kenichi. "So how does that sound to you? We could skip muscle training and spar instead?"
Kenichi thought about his offer and he considered the unimaginable strength and savagery of the Ryozanpaku Masters and hastily shook his head. "No! No! That's not a good idea!"
Akisame chuckled a bit. "Hahaha. Well, you aren't quite a Master yet, I suppose you have plenty of time to work on your courage."
Kenichi honed in on a keyword in that sentence. "Me a Master? Yeah, why not? You train with Masters to become a Master right?" He thought before saying aloud. "Can I ask you a question, Sensei? How come your body's not built up like Apachai's or Sakaki's?"
"Ha, I keep an eye on my figure." Akisame vaguely told him.
"And because he doesn't need it."
Both Kenichi and Akisame turned to see Shirou approach them, he looked like he was sweating a bit but he wasn't out of breath. He stopped in front of them and looked at Akisame with an expression that showed he was clearly annoyed with him.
"Ah, Shirou, have you finished stretching?" Akisame asked as though nothing was wrong.
"Yeah, I just finished "stretching" a minute ago." Shirou sarcastically replied.
"What kind of stretching were you doing?" Kenichi asked, wondering why Shirou looked winded.
"Oh you know, the ordinary kind." Akisame answered him.
"And by that, he means he had me hold one of his statues with one hand while using my other hand lift another statue over my shoulders, and had me doing squats while I was at it." Shirou clarified, irritated by it.
"You call that stretching?!" Kenichi now also became irritated at the Jujitsu Master.
"Well, it loosened his joints and prepared his body for training." Akisame reasoned, defending his actions. "Aside from that—Shirou, explain what you meant before."
Kenichi looked up as though he just remembered. "Yeah, what did you mean when you said, "he doesn't need it"? Doesn't need what?"
"Akisame or more to the point—Any real Judo Master doesn't need a muscular build." Shirou clarified. "Karate and Muay Thai are Hard-Style Martial Arts so they need strength, power, and durability, the overall point is punching or kicking the other guy until they're beaten so being huge is a must if you want to be a Master, but Judo is the opposite, it's more of a Soft-Style."
"Soft-Style?" Kenichi repeated. "But does that mean it's weaker?"
Shirou shook his head. "It depends on your definition of weak. Judo was made to be the Art of complete self-defense, unlike the others, it highlights making the second move instead of the first, counterattack instead of attack. And to do that you need skill, focus, and knowledge, the opposite of Karate. That's why you don't necessarily need big muscles to Master Judo, if anything they would get in the way."
"But doesn't that mean they'll be at a huge disadvantage against bigger opponents?" Kenichi pointed out. "Without strength, it'll be much harder to use throwing moves on guys that are too big and heavy."
"That's what most people believe is a limitation of Jujitsu, but that's also why experts know ways around that." Shirou told him. "A saying in Judo is—Technique can only make up for weight difference up to twice your weight—Meaning if you're fighting someone who's three or more times heavier your techniques will fail." He explained. "That's why Judo Masters base their muscle training on definition instead of mass so they can increase their weight while keeping their builds. By doing that, the greatest Jujitsu Masters started being called Iron Masters."
"Is that true, Akisame-sensei?" Kenichi asked, seemingly impressed by what he had heard.
Akisame stood there and merely listened to their conversation, interested in hearing how much knowledge Shirou possessed on the Art of Jujitsu before he answered. "It is true for the most part. Personally, though, I believe the part about technique only being able for twice the amount of weight needs a second opinion." He claimed, though not sounding upset. "That's only true under ordinary circumstances."
Both of them looked up at him as Kenichi asked. "Then, can you overcome that limit?"
"Well, I can't say for certain since I've never had the chance to try. On that note, I wouldn't really call myself an Iron Master or anything like that." Akisame said good-naturedly as he rubbed his hair. "Still though, I am surprised you have such detailed knowledge on Judo."
"My Dad gave me a crash course on it back in the day." Shirou confessed.
"Is that so? I interested in meeting him one day." Akisame admitted before walking away. "But for now, we have training to do, let's go."
Shirou followed after him as Kenichi watched them go. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen Shirou's Dad since I was a kid, and I barely remember much about him. But Shirou brings him up anytime he talks about the training he did when he was younger." He thought, pondering on the topic. "I wonder what kind of person he is?"
After they left the Dojo, Shirou was running a long-distance while Akisame was sitting on a tire that was tied around Shirou's waist. After running for quite a while Akisame made him stop at a small shopping district as he walked into a small store that said Chinese Medicine on it. Apparently stopping to buy medicine was what Akisame had planned to do before they left.
"Normally, I come here with Kensei, but he said he had to pick up something very important at the bookstore today." Akisame told him as they walked away from the store.
Shirou thought about what it could be before muttering. "…To easy." He then spoke up. "Anyways, you do know there's a bus stop nearby right? Why do you come here back and forth so often on foot?"
"In case you've forgotten, our finances at the Dojo are pretty lacking." Akisame reminded him. "We can't afford to use the bus that often."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "So your solution is having a Human-Packmule carry you here on a tire."
It was then that they both heard an unfamiliar voice suddenly shouting nearby.
"Let go! Or you'll be sorry!"
They saw that a few feet ahead of them were two female students from Koryuu High School and surprisingly one of them was Izumi—The only other member of the Gardening Club besides Kenichi. The other was a girl in her uniform with brown hair, she was Makado, one of Izumi's friends.
Surrounding them were three dangerous-looking adult thugs who also looked familiar. The three of them were the same three that were defeated soundly by Shirou on the night that he and Kenichi met Miu. The thugs with a mustache, scar, and sunglasses respectively. Right now Izumi was standing fearfully behind Makado while Makado was standing firmly and protectively in front of Izumi
"Calm down little girl, we're just gonna ask you some questions." The thug with a scar said mockingly.
"That's Izumi." Shirou noticed, seeing the bad situation they were in.
"School friends?" Akisame asked, also knowing they were in trouble. "They look like they're in trouble."
"We're trying to find a girl that goes to your school." The thug with a scar told them. "Looks just like you, except she's taller, and her hair and eyes are different, and she's not so scrawny." He finished as if he just realizing what he was saying.
"How is that 'just like her'?" Shirou thought thinking the guy was an idiot.
"So, you're looking for a girl that wears glasses, is that it?" Izumi asked, still frightened.
"That what I said!" He snapped, scaring her.
"Tell me!" Shirou shouted, walking up to them and getting their attention. "Did getting punched in the head by me mess up your brain or something?!"
They all looked to see his approach and the thugs immediately recognized him. "Hey! You're that White-haired punk who was with her!"
Shirou stopped and they moved away from the girls and now stood before him while Shirou kept his hands in his pockets. "I never forget a face, you guys are the same third-strings I dropped months ago."
As they were confronting each other, Izumi took a closer look and saw the person the thug was staring off against was someone she knew. "Wait, isn't he Kenichi's friend—He's Shirou?"
"Go home, girls!" Akisame called out to them reassuringly. "Your friend will be fine!"
"Come on." Makado grabbed Izumi's arm and led her away as the two left the scene.
As they were leaving, Izumi looked back one last time with a concerned expression. "I hope he'll be okay."
With them gone, the fighting was all but ready to begin, that was until Akisame stepped in and placed himself in front of Shirou and between him and the thugs.
Shirou raised a brow. "Hey, you're blocking my path."
"Relax, just let me handle this." Akisame requested.
"Move old man." The thug with a scar warned him while grabbing his collar. "I got some business with the kid there."
Akisame gently grabbed his hand. "Oh is that so? I'm afraid I don't quite understand, has my Disciple caused some sort of trouble?"
As Akisame stared directly into his eyes, the thug suddenly felt intimidated under his gaze and pulled back his hand.
"W-Watch out boys, he's tricky!" The thug with a scar warned the other two intimidated. "Keep both your eyes on him!"
They both looked shaken as one of them muttered. "Hey, uh, dude?"
"Yeah, what is it?" He questioned.
"Um… Well…" The thug with a mustache just glanced towards his friend's hand.
"What the heck 'you blabbing a—?"
The thug with a scar froze as he looked at the hand that he pulled back and just now noticed it was bent over at a different angle. Turns out Akisame dislocated the wrist joint without him even noticing.
"Gugh!" The thug with a scar cried out in pain and horror.
"Wow, I barely saw that." Shirou said to himself.
Akisame raised his hand apologetically. "Sorry, that's my fault, dislocation is an old habit of mine." Akisame then appeared behind the thug and grabbed his broken hand before popping the joint back in place, easily fixing the damage. "There you go, but you should what where you stick that thing."
The thug with a scar quickly backed away from him. "You're completely insane!" He then looked to the other two. "You two, get some weapons or something and hurry! Get the boss while you're at it!"
"Yeah, right." The thug with a mustache nodded before walking off.
"Now that's just rude, I'm not completely insane." Akisame complained. "Isn't that right, Shirou?"
Shirou rolled his eyes. "Then tell us how insane you are."
Suddenly, the door of a nearby van opened up, and out from it came six more thugs with weapons the likes of metal pipes and crowbars and each of them looked ready for a fight, or in this case to kill.
"Okay boys, I'm guessing this freak is with that punk and the glasses girl and that makes him fair game." The thug with a scar said before turning back to the van. "Come on out boss! Let me introduce ya!"
Coming out of the van this time was a towering hulk of a man who was towering over the rest. He was several inches taller than even Apachai while his body was as muscular and bulky as Sakaki's. He was wearing a clean white suit with a light blue undershirt, black leather shoes, and a red bowtie. Strangely enough, on his head was a red, yellow, and purple wrestler's mask that covered everything above his neck except his mouth and nose.
The thug with a scar ran over to his boss. "That's the guy. You take care of him and we'll deal with the kid."
The boss didn't respond and instead marched up to Akisame.
"Oh my, you're certainly a big fellow aren't you?" Akisame noted, unconcerned.
Shirou just looked at the boss and wondered. "Hmm, maybe one day I should wear a suit to a fight?"
The thug with a scar now seemed sure of their victory. "Looks like we got ourselves a bonus. We were just trying to hut down that brat girl from before but now we found our main target, and since you're a friend of his we can take you out while we're at it."
"I hate to rain on your parade, but things don't always go the way you expect them to." Akisame comment while stroking his chin.
The boss now stood directly in front of him but looked back at his gang. "What, you called me for this?" He asked, clearly unimpressed. "He's smaller than anyone here, next time make sure he's at least your size before you think about wasting my time."
"Ah, excuse me if I may?" Akisame spoke up. "I take it that you're the leader of these men. We seem to have a bit of a misunderstanding, whatever the problem is I'd rather not have to cause any trouble for you or your goons. Perhaps it would be best if we went our separate ways? At least if we all walk away right now, you won't have to dirty that fancy white suit that you're wearing."
The boss just smiled like he was told a funny joke and looked at a stop sign that was right beside them before he reached out and grabbed it with his hand while using his leg to push it forward while using his arm to pull it back the other way. The result; the sign bent over until it was facing sideways.
The thugs all smirked with satisfaction. "Yeah, you show him, boss."
Shirou didn't look impressed. "I've seen worse."
"What did you do that for?" Akisame asked disapprovingly. "That's government property, paid for by your hard-earned tax dollars." He raised his hand again. "It appears I may have offended you in some way, haven't I? Again, I'd rather not fight you but if that's the case, I am willing to take back some of what I said earlier."
The boss crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's more like it, not feeling so cocky now are you?"
"I take back the part about not wanting to cause you any trouble." Akisame clarified as he placed a finger on the bent sign.
Then to the surprise of every thug present, Akisame easily pushed the sign back into its original position using only the strength of his index finger. Even Shirou was momentarily taken aback.
"Okay, wasn't expecting that." Shirou thought, honestly impressed.
Akisame smiled. "Truth is I don't care much for people like you, you're overbearing, rude, and always trying to intimidate people. So I've decided it's time to give you boys a little taste of your own medicine."
"Hmph, really? You think you can bully me?" The boss huffed angrily.
"Shirou." Akisame addressed him without looking.
"Yeah, what?" Shirou asked, responding to him.
"I know this seems redundant but I'm going to give you a quick Jujitsu demonstration." Akisame told him as his eyes started glowing. "Pay attention and you just might learn something new."
"Sure…Why not?" Shirou replied, somewhat interesting in where this was going.
"Should you find yourself in a situation where your opponent is bigger than you are—" Akisame began.
"Gah! Shut up and fight already!" The boss lost his patience and went in for a tackle.
Akisame continued. "First, here's what not to do."
Akisame reached out both his hands and caught the boss' hands as they were locked in each other's grips and were now in a power struggle. But while the boss seemed to be struggling to move even an inch forward, Akisame seemed to be as unmovable as a mountain and turned to look at Shirou as he continued.
"You should never face your opponent directly like this because you'll eventually be overpowered." He explained though the result was the opposite. Not only that, his strong grip overwhelmed the boss as he screamed in pain and released Akisame's hands before stepping back. "Okay, now I'll show you the right way to do it."
"That's it! Now I'm MAD!" The boss snapped.
He went in for a kick but his leg hit nothing as Akisame instantly appeared at his side. "What you'll want to do is make your opponent think you're moving forward. When what you're really doing is moving sideways into his blind spot." He went on, doing just that. "Then, in an actual Jujitsu fight, before you did anything else—" Akisame gave him a small punch to his temple. "You'd attack him one of his vital points."
"Augh!" The boss was rocked by that punch.
"But that's only a preparation move so you can get your opponent off balance." Akisame clarified as the boss tried punching him this time. "Now, before your opponent's punch gets up to speed, you move a half-step forward and deflect its power away from it." He explained before knocking the punch away and gripping his forearm. "And then…
Akisame stepped in and swiped the boss' legs which knocked him off his feet and using his free hand, Akisame held the boss by his face so he could push his already falling body down with greater speed and force as he finished the job.
"You throw him."
THUD!
To the surprise of all the thugs present, the boss hit the ground hard with that powerful throw. After landing head first on the solid concert ground, the boss twitched a bit before slumping over, completely unconscious. Shirou was impressed by what he just witness but didn't let it show.
"Okay, I'll say it—You're pretty good." Shirou admitted before thinking. "I almost can't believe there's anyone this skilled in Japan besides Dad."
"Well, I'm just glad you learned something." Akisame shrugged.
BANG!
Before either of them could move, the sound of a gun being fired rang through the air and made them both stop as they looked to see a bullet was logged into the tire Akisame sat on while they were running. The one who fired the gun was the thug with a scar.
"Let's see you deflect some bullets you freak!" He shouted desperately.
A if moving on some unheard signal, before the thugs could react, Shirou rushed in with an explosively fast speed that made him immediately appear in front of the thug holding the gun, and before he had the chance to do it again, Shirou used a knee-kick on the knocked the firearm out of his hand and followed up with a vicious uppercut to his chin that knocked him off his feet before he hit the ground out cold.
The other thugs gasped while Akisame inspected his performance. "That was pretty good Muay Thai, your training with Apchai is really paying off. Though, I'd of preferred if you had used Jujitsu like I just showed you."
"Doesn't make much of a difference to me." Shirou told him as he picked up the fallen gun. "Y'know, I always wondered what it would be like to use one of these, but now I see…" Shirou merely threw it away. "It's not my style."
"And I've had just about enough of this." Akisame looked at the rest of the thugs with a cold stare. "You idiots are far too reckless for my taste, what if you had hit an innocent bystander?" He walked up to them while letting out strong pressure as he grabbed one of them by the hair and dragged him toward a nearby alleyway. "Come on, it's time someone taught you some manners."
"Let go of me!" The thug demanded in pain.
"Oh and Shirou…" Akisame stopped for a second. "Give me a second won't you? This won't take long."
The rest of the thug ran after him and they all followed him into the alleyway.
"Let's get him!"
"He can't take all of us!"
As they all went in, Shirou decided he might as well look to see what Akisame planned to do. On that day, Shirou saw human bodies bend at an angle he thought was only possible in smash-and-stretch cartoons.
The sun had set and Shirou had just finished telling Kenichi the events of what had happened with Akisame earlier. Though had both finished training for the moment and were taking a breather as they sat in the training hall with Sakaki after explaining all this, Kenichi could only gasp in astonishment.
"That's crazy." Kenichi breathed out. "I can't believe you ran into those guys again."
"I'll tell you what I can't believe." Sakaki joined in. "You were facing a guy with a gun yet you handled it like no one's business, didn't know you had it in you, punk."
Shirou shrugged. "Guns might be rare in Japan but it's pretty common to see thugs with them pretty much anywhere else. That wasn't a first for me."
Kenichi cringed. "If it were me, I think I would have freaked out." He thought before looking to Sakaki. "But, did you know Akisame could do that, Sensei? I mean, it sounds like he's got some kind of superhuman strength, especially for a guy his size."
"Well, according to him, the Human-body is made up of three different kinds of muscle." Sakaki began as Miu entered and sat with them. "White-muscle that's good for fast sudden moves but lacks endurance, Red-muscle that's got endurance but not much power, and in-between those two is a bit of Pink-muscle that's supposed to have both those qualities combined. They say the ratio for those three muscle types stays the same your entire life. But ol' Akisame. He ignored conventional wisdom and followed his own theories, he believed that muscle-type could be changed, and after 20 years of bazaar training, he had converted all his Red and White muscle into Pink. So, while he may not look all that strong, what you see is 100% muscle, he's like a rock, I doubt that guy has a milligram of body fat on him."
"You mean, he might even be strong than you?" Kenichi asked curiously.
"Did I say that?" Sakaki smirked. "Don't be stupid, kid. I don't do all that freaky training but I'm no slouch either. Tell you this though, he one of those guys who if I never do have to fight him that's just fine by me. If we ever did get into it one of us would wined-up dead."
"I disagree." Shirou shook out. "If there was someone like that who was that close to my level and right next to me, I'd say that's the reason why I'd definitely want to fight him. Regardless of what might happen."
"Ha!" Sakaki grinned before opening a sake bottle. "Well, feel free to do so when you find someone like that."
After it was nighttime and Shirou had returned home. Once again he was sitting at the dinner table with his Brother Haruto and telling him about the events that transpired today, in particular, what Sakaki had told him about Akisame.
"Muscle-type conversion?" Haruto repeated taken aback.
Shirou confirmed. "That's what he said."
Haruto just unpackaged that information in his mind. "That kind of thing is unheard of, it's basically taking every conventional method of muscle training and throwing it out the window."
"Yeah, but is it possible, in your opinion?" Shirou asked, it's not that he didn't believe Sakaki but he wanted to be absolutely sure, thus he was asking the smartest person he knew.
"In theory, it's not impossible, but you'd need three things." Haruto listed down. "Enough knowledge about the Human body to be a Doctor. The resources and materials to be able to devote 20 years to something like this. And most importantly, the mental discipline to be able to adhere to this specific training regimen every day nonstop for that long a time without even knowing if it'll work. But even if it could work in theory, the idea that a living person actually tried it and succeeded on top of that, it's beyond mind-bobbling."
"Well, I was wrong about one thing." Shirou leaned back in his chair. "Before I called him an Iron Master. But now I see Iron doesn't do him Justice at all, he's way beyond that."
"Yeah, and if it's true that all the other Masters are at a comparable level of ability, you can only imagine what kind of training they've gone through as well." Haruto pointed out. "And whether or not it's as insane."
"Yeah, just imagine it…" Shirou whistly stared up at the ceiling.
And that's the chapter.
For the start of this chapter, I did something a little different as I had Shirou do some legitimate training with Shigure. I always felt that Shigure was underused as both a Master and for what she could offer throughout the series and the main reason being that Kenichi is annoying afraid of weapons. Thus, in this story, Shirou will actually train with her as much as the rest and become adapt in weapon fighting. That'll show itself later.
As for the rest, it was basically what Akisame did in the canon but I added more information about Jujitsu and how far Akisame broke through the limits of that style. The canon made it only sound impressive physically, but for those who have a deeper about Judo, the Human body, and the mental aspects of strength training, you truly know how ground-breaking Akisame actually is, it's like he created a body that was made for Jujitsu.
Author's Note: I've recently created an account on {P,a,t,r,e,o,n}, and by recently I mean just the other day. I plan on continuing my stories there and even publishing new ones at some point. After I've finished my current story rotation I plan on updating my stories on {P,a,t,r,e,o,n}. If you don't mind become a Patron, I'd appreciate it.
Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you want more leave a review, if you liked the story click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.