---- Chapter 31: Sidestory - The Secrets of Reikou Hadou Ken ----
=== Reikou Hadou Ken Dojo - Tokyo ===
Kuwabara sighed, and took a drink of his saké. He felt the defeat of Kurama, Jin and Touya, even Hiei. Only three trials more....
The doors burst open, and a shadowy figure dashed for Kazuma. Swinging a sword down with extreme force.... the blow was countered by one finger from Kazuma, shattering the sword and sending the young fighter sprawling across the floor. Kazuma noticed that it was Tsuki who attacked him, as the boy groaned and slumped to his feet.
"D-Damn.... Your skills really are top-notch, Kuwabara-sama," muttered Tsuki, as he shook off the blow. "Anyway," he continued, "I have a request--"
"Sure."
".... ?!"
"I'll teach you Reikou Hadou Ken.... That is what you wanted, correct?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you, Kuwabara-sama--I mean, Kuwabara-SENSEI."
=== Reikou Hadou Ken Dojo - Training Room ===
Tsuki charged his aura to the max, as Kazuma looked on. After a few moments, he stopped, and looked up at Kazuma for a response.
"Hm.... 77,000 waves of Ki energy.... Not bad, not bad. However...."
".... ??"
"Hya-a-a-ah!!!!"
Kazuma flared his aura, filling the room with a soft golden light.
"105,000 waves of Ki.... I've brought out every drop of Ki in my body to show you how to harness your power better."
Tossing a confused look at Kazuma, Tsuki cocked his head. "Harness my power better? What do you mean, Kuwabara-sensei?"
"To review," began Kazuma, "let's go over what Ki waves are. When a fighter uses energy, such as by executing an attack or flaring one's aura, a form of Ki is expulsed from the body called 'Reiki Waves.' These waves are measured at 1 wave for every level of power above a normal human level - 5 Reiki Waves, for example. Depending on the fighter, some warriors measure in the hundreds or thousands, depending upon their LATENT powers. You have tremendous latent Reiki.... over 100,000 Reiki Waves by my estimate. To bring them out, you must concentrate and suppress your energy to the bare minimum, and bring out your life-force energy. Normally, this would significantly shorten your lifespan, but an accomplished fighter such as you has trained your body past normal limitations, and thus negates that danger. After expulsing life-force, that energy is compressed and concentrated inside of your Soul, bringing out latent energy. Try it and see."
Tsuki nodded, and began to emit a faint blue glow around his entire body.
"Hya!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, a huge burst of light flooded the room, as Tsuki's aura more than tripled in size.... and continued to grow steadily.
.... 100,000.... 150,000.... 200,000.... 250,000?! It's.... it's still increasing!! 270,000.... 290,000.... 340,000.... 390,000.... He has 423,000 waves of Ki!! Astounding! Not even I could imagine a human with such massive power....
Maintaining his aura, still breathing heavily, Tsuki asked, "How strong am I?" With a chuckle, Kazuma replied, "Four times stronger than me." As Tsuki gaped at the revelation, Kazuma flared his aura as well.
"So.... care for a quick bout?"
"Sure!"
In an instant, both fighters had vanished from human eyes, and began to strike mercilessly. Despite having only a fourth of Tsuki's power, Kazuma skillfully blocked and countered each of his assaults. Finally, he disappeared even from Tsuki's eyes, and smashed him from behind with an elbow strike. As Tsuki recovered from the massive blow, Kazuma flipped backwards and stood straight.
"How.... did you do that? I'm much stronger than you...."
"Simple," explained Kazuma. "I increased my power."
".... ?!!"
Kazuma chuckled. "It's simple," he began. "By suppressing and flaring my Reiki rapidly, the barriers of normal human limitations can be broken. It's a technique I developed myself - Aura Compression. Watch closely...."
"HyaAH!!!!!!!"
Kuwabara's muscles bulged outwards, Ki surrounding his body thickly. The walls began to tremble from the massive power of the old master, before cracks began to form. Kazuma powered down, reducing his aura back to normal.
"You see?" asked Kazuma. "The power I produced was well beyond 105,000 Ki waves."
In shock, all Tsuki could do was nod.
"Now.... allow me to teach you the basic technique Reiken. You have skills with a sword, correct?"
Tsuki nodded once more.
"Good. You may also form a sheath for Iainuki attacks with the Reiken, with proper training. Anyway, to form a Reiken, you must first concentrate and suppress your aura into your hand...."
Extending one hand, Kazuma began to flow energy visibly into his palm.
".... like so. Next, close your fist around the energy and force it upwards...."
Clenching his fist in one smooth motion, a long golden blade sprung from his hand.
"Thus, a long blade of Ki is formed. However, it's mostly blunt at this point, so you must manipulate it with your spiritual force to sever objects."
With a slight grunt of effort, Kazuma forced his blade to become more angled in nature, sharp and smooth. Swinging it swiftly, he brought it out in front of him. "So," he began, "now it's your turn."
Repeating Kazuma's motions, Tsuki concentrated and formed a slightly larger Reiken, one slightly blunter, but still obviously a Reiken.
"Now.... Let's see how good with a sword you are, Tsuki."
With a single, swift movement, Kazuma struck at Tsuki.... only to be knocked back by a piercing blow of his opponent's. With a grin, he continued an assault, each blow being parryed by Tsuki's Reiken. With a single blow, Tsuki aimed to end the match.... only to have his blade hit nothing but air. From behind him, he heard a chuckle. He spun around, and saw a Reiken blade pointing directly at his heart.
"Not bad. I see how you've gotten such strong battle aura, with the emotions behind your strikes. But still.... You've room for improvement. Stop wasting excess movement - feel your opponent's Ki and acknowledge it, tracing it unconsciously to avoid giving your move away. Then, the art of feinting will prove itself useful.... Either way, I could kill you at any moment the way you fight now...."
Releasing his grip on the Reiken and de-materializing it, Tsuki bowed respectfully - the battle was conceded. For days, Kazuma tutored Tsuki in the Reikou Hadou Ken style.... until finally, it reached the final lesson....
"Shin Reikou Ha - 'Divine Shotgun.'"
Bringing both his fists to his side, Kazuma charged up his aura to its maximum amount of 105,000, and began to shine brightly. Tsuki faithfully mimicked him, repeating his actions and bringing his aura to its maximum power as well.
"First," Kazuma began, "compress your aura and flow it into your fists, like a normal Shotgun. However, mix in some small amounts of lifeforce as well to increase the power and transmute the energy into a pure form. Then, release both Shotguns at once and merge them together into a single beam. I know I'm gonna need to hire a contractor after this...."
When both were ready, each warrior cried out, "Shin Reikou Ha!!!!"
And both attacks obliterated the dojo entirely.
When the smoke cleared, Kazuma groaned.
"Dammit.... Now I REALLY need to hire someone.... Best for us to get going before the cops come, eh?"
And at that, both warriors darted into the air, across the buildings, until they reached Kurama's house to rest.... until Botan kicked them out for interrupting a.... er.... 'love' session between her and Kurama - and quite violently at that. Tired, and very bruised from Botan, the two fighters set up camp at Kazuma's house to repair the dojo.
=== Reikou Hadou Ken Dojo - Tokyo ===
Kuwabara sighed, and took a drink of his saké. He felt the defeat of Kurama, Jin and Touya, even Hiei. Only three trials more....
The doors burst open, and a shadowy figure dashed for Kazuma. Swinging a sword down with extreme force.... the blow was countered by one finger from Kazuma, shattering the sword and sending the young fighter sprawling across the floor. Kazuma noticed that it was Tsuki who attacked him, as the boy groaned and slumped to his feet.
"D-Damn.... Your skills really are top-notch, Kuwabara-sama," muttered Tsuki, as he shook off the blow. "Anyway," he continued, "I have a request--"
"Sure."
".... ?!"
"I'll teach you Reikou Hadou Ken.... That is what you wanted, correct?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you, Kuwabara-sama--I mean, Kuwabara-SENSEI."
=== Reikou Hadou Ken Dojo - Training Room ===
Tsuki charged his aura to the max, as Kazuma looked on. After a few moments, he stopped, and looked up at Kazuma for a response.
"Hm.... 77,000 waves of Ki energy.... Not bad, not bad. However...."
".... ??"
"Hya-a-a-ah!!!!"
Kazuma flared his aura, filling the room with a soft golden light.
"105,000 waves of Ki.... I've brought out every drop of Ki in my body to show you how to harness your power better."
Tossing a confused look at Kazuma, Tsuki cocked his head. "Harness my power better? What do you mean, Kuwabara-sensei?"
"To review," began Kazuma, "let's go over what Ki waves are. When a fighter uses energy, such as by executing an attack or flaring one's aura, a form of Ki is expulsed from the body called 'Reiki Waves.' These waves are measured at 1 wave for every level of power above a normal human level - 5 Reiki Waves, for example. Depending on the fighter, some warriors measure in the hundreds or thousands, depending upon their LATENT powers. You have tremendous latent Reiki.... over 100,000 Reiki Waves by my estimate. To bring them out, you must concentrate and suppress your energy to the bare minimum, and bring out your life-force energy. Normally, this would significantly shorten your lifespan, but an accomplished fighter such as you has trained your body past normal limitations, and thus negates that danger. After expulsing life-force, that energy is compressed and concentrated inside of your Soul, bringing out latent energy. Try it and see."
Tsuki nodded, and began to emit a faint blue glow around his entire body.
"Hya!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, a huge burst of light flooded the room, as Tsuki's aura more than tripled in size.... and continued to grow steadily.
.... 100,000.... 150,000.... 200,000.... 250,000?! It's.... it's still increasing!! 270,000.... 290,000.... 340,000.... 390,000.... He has 423,000 waves of Ki!! Astounding! Not even I could imagine a human with such massive power....
Maintaining his aura, still breathing heavily, Tsuki asked, "How strong am I?" With a chuckle, Kazuma replied, "Four times stronger than me." As Tsuki gaped at the revelation, Kazuma flared his aura as well.
"So.... care for a quick bout?"
"Sure!"
In an instant, both fighters had vanished from human eyes, and began to strike mercilessly. Despite having only a fourth of Tsuki's power, Kazuma skillfully blocked and countered each of his assaults. Finally, he disappeared even from Tsuki's eyes, and smashed him from behind with an elbow strike. As Tsuki recovered from the massive blow, Kazuma flipped backwards and stood straight.
"How.... did you do that? I'm much stronger than you...."
"Simple," explained Kazuma. "I increased my power."
".... ?!!"
Kazuma chuckled. "It's simple," he began. "By suppressing and flaring my Reiki rapidly, the barriers of normal human limitations can be broken. It's a technique I developed myself - Aura Compression. Watch closely...."
"HyaAH!!!!!!!"
Kuwabara's muscles bulged outwards, Ki surrounding his body thickly. The walls began to tremble from the massive power of the old master, before cracks began to form. Kazuma powered down, reducing his aura back to normal.
"You see?" asked Kazuma. "The power I produced was well beyond 105,000 Ki waves."
In shock, all Tsuki could do was nod.
"Now.... allow me to teach you the basic technique Reiken. You have skills with a sword, correct?"
Tsuki nodded once more.
"Good. You may also form a sheath for Iainuki attacks with the Reiken, with proper training. Anyway, to form a Reiken, you must first concentrate and suppress your aura into your hand...."
Extending one hand, Kazuma began to flow energy visibly into his palm.
".... like so. Next, close your fist around the energy and force it upwards...."
Clenching his fist in one smooth motion, a long golden blade sprung from his hand.
"Thus, a long blade of Ki is formed. However, it's mostly blunt at this point, so you must manipulate it with your spiritual force to sever objects."
With a slight grunt of effort, Kazuma forced his blade to become more angled in nature, sharp and smooth. Swinging it swiftly, he brought it out in front of him. "So," he began, "now it's your turn."
Repeating Kazuma's motions, Tsuki concentrated and formed a slightly larger Reiken, one slightly blunter, but still obviously a Reiken.
"Now.... Let's see how good with a sword you are, Tsuki."
With a single, swift movement, Kazuma struck at Tsuki.... only to be knocked back by a piercing blow of his opponent's. With a grin, he continued an assault, each blow being parryed by Tsuki's Reiken. With a single blow, Tsuki aimed to end the match.... only to have his blade hit nothing but air. From behind him, he heard a chuckle. He spun around, and saw a Reiken blade pointing directly at his heart.
"Not bad. I see how you've gotten such strong battle aura, with the emotions behind your strikes. But still.... You've room for improvement. Stop wasting excess movement - feel your opponent's Ki and acknowledge it, tracing it unconsciously to avoid giving your move away. Then, the art of feinting will prove itself useful.... Either way, I could kill you at any moment the way you fight now...."
Releasing his grip on the Reiken and de-materializing it, Tsuki bowed respectfully - the battle was conceded. For days, Kazuma tutored Tsuki in the Reikou Hadou Ken style.... until finally, it reached the final lesson....
"Shin Reikou Ha - 'Divine Shotgun.'"
Bringing both his fists to his side, Kazuma charged up his aura to its maximum amount of 105,000, and began to shine brightly. Tsuki faithfully mimicked him, repeating his actions and bringing his aura to its maximum power as well.
"First," Kazuma began, "compress your aura and flow it into your fists, like a normal Shotgun. However, mix in some small amounts of lifeforce as well to increase the power and transmute the energy into a pure form. Then, release both Shotguns at once and merge them together into a single beam. I know I'm gonna need to hire a contractor after this...."
When both were ready, each warrior cried out, "Shin Reikou Ha!!!!"
And both attacks obliterated the dojo entirely.
When the smoke cleared, Kazuma groaned.
"Dammit.... Now I REALLY need to hire someone.... Best for us to get going before the cops come, eh?"
And at that, both warriors darted into the air, across the buildings, until they reached Kurama's house to rest.... until Botan kicked them out for interrupting a.... er.... 'love' session between her and Kurama - and quite violently at that. Tired, and very bruised from Botan, the two fighters set up camp at Kazuma's house to repair the dojo.