Chapter 2 Training and discovery
It was five months ago when Issei started his training as a sage and discovered his unusual source of information and knowledge i.e. mangas. And in these five months many things had happened.
First of all he was able to buy all the available Naruto volumes with a bit of persuasion, saving and large amount of hard work. To buy them Issei had saved his allowances and worked around the neighborhood to gather enough money to finally buy them.
It was rewarding to him because not only did he get to enjoy a great action story but it also greatly helped his sage training. The manga not only gave him an insight in what a sage might have been but also show how Senjutsu could be used. Though he knew there was more to Senjutsu as the old book mentioned.
His favorite character in the series was Jiraiya the Toad Sage because not only was he a sage like Issei was training to be he was also very likable and made Issei wasn't to become like him, even if he would become a super pervert like him Issei did not mind that too much. He also thought of completing the Toad Sage's dream of a peaceful world no matter how impossible it was for him.
The series also taught Issei many things like the importance of friendship and teamwork, of never giving up no matter the odds and many other things that Issei kept it close to his heart. The lesson he learnt though the series were what the book had mention quite a lot in its pages and seeing an example of it did hammered those lessons home.
But it was not only moral lessons that the series taught him. It also taught him more about chakra and Senjutsu in detail. And through this he was able to further advance in his sage training.
The manga and the book may have differed on chakra and Senjutsu and their usage but it was similar enough to give him insight and understanding in many areas.
Though the five months were not just spent on gathering money and reading Naruto, Issei had also started doing various exercises towards a more healthy and fit body and had also started to study more and more. After all 'a sage grows not only in mind and spirit but also in body.' And with this tenant he had through himself in exercising and also his studies.
He also bough various mangas related to martial arts like History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ranma 1/2 , Fist of the north star, etc and even fullmetal alchemist, though the last one was recommended by the store clerk.
Reading them he had grown to love martial arts and gave his best in trying to emulate them even a little bit as he knew that he was still in no condition to do the incredible feats shown in the manga, but maybe he could in the future.
He especially liked the mindset of the Anything Goes style and put it to use in his daily life by making every action a training session and with the tips shown in the old book itself he was able to moderate and at the same time increase the efficiency of his training.
He also liked how pressure point could do so many things like healing, paralyzing, making one laugh and many others over the top ridiculous things. The old book on Senjutsu also had three chapter dedicated to pressure points and its uses too. So Issei really wanted to learn about pressure points.
There were also many things he liked in the mangas but what he really wanted to learn and emulate was healing. He really wanted to know how to heal like it was shown in the mangas and even the old book said it was possible hell there were techniques in the book which could make him a healer far greater than Tsunade.
He wanted to learn healing because the mangas and the book had stated many times that it was easier to destroy than to heal and it was a sage's job to heal not destroy. This was further reinforced via the fullmetal alchemist manga as it showed him many things.
The manga had showed him how experiments could go wrong and the consequences of such things and how some people would use other to further their goal and some dark things the world had to offer. It also showed him some good things the world had to offer. Truly the fullmetal alchemist manga made him see the world a bit differently than before but the path of the sage also told him of such things. So It just fitted him all the more.
The five months had truly been special to him so far. The days passed and lessons learned had helped him view the world much more differently. Oh, it was not like he was enlightened or anything with the world much brighter, colorful or anything. It was just that the world remain the same just his view of it had changed a bit.
The things he had learn from the manga and the tenant of the sage he employed in his life and the training he had been doing made him see things which he had not seen before, even though they were always there, hear sounds he would have otherwise ignored and understand things which he would not have understood even after many years or maybe in this life.
The sound he heard, the things he saw and the understanding he gained all made the world seem more amazing than anything he had ever experienced. It was a subtle change but he could finally see and feel the result of his training.
He really did feel like it was worth becoming a sage, though he still had a long way to go.
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Issei was meditating in the forest. The place for his meditation was a small clearing surrounded by trees with a few boulders in between, other than a small wide space it had nothing to call it special. No hidden cave network, no great hollowed tree, just a small clearing surrounded by trees.
Here Issei was meditating like he always did after finishing his regular katas and workout routine, like he had been doing so for the past one and a half month since he had found and chosen this place as a training area.
It was quite strange though how he had found this place.
There was nothing elaborate or grand incident to finding it, no chases involve, no falling down getting hurt or anything. Hell he even did not have to find this place after combing the area or anything of that sort. He just headed toward the first small hill he saw and voila he found the place.
Actually he used the clearing as a basis, a starting point to search for a suitable place to train and found several place but not one neither caught his attention too much nor appeal to him. And with each search he just came back to the clearing had his lunch or whatever snacks he may have pack and either continue searching or go back home.
It was quite easy to keep up this routine as the clearing had easily accessible paths leading to some of the more dangerous areas of the hills and was also connected to multiple paths leading back to the city.
So he kept exploring using the clearing as his base and soon he just started to arrange the boulders and rocks to sit and clear some space for relaxation or practice, arrange some fallen logs, etc. all the while searching for the perfect training area.
When it happened Issei did not notice but each time he came to the clearing to start s new search he slowly but surely cut down his search time and stared spending more and more at the clearing.
Sometimes he would just sit down and read and write some new ideas that he could come up with and other times he would practice his katas and do some workouts. Soon he altogether gave up on his search for a training area, cause well he just found one even if it was not the most perfect or the most awesome training area in existence.
Coming back to the present Issei was meditating as his usual routine. He was trying to tap into his chakra by meditation like he had been doing for the past two weeks and today he felt he was going to find some success.
It came to him like a torrent of icy cold water. It was a completely alien feeling he felt when his chakra flow through him. It was cold and like an electric shock made Goosebumps and made his hair stand out. It was warm like he was wearing thick winter cloths during summer. It made him feel weak like it was something of a curse from the devil, yet he knew it made him strong like it was a blessing from god.
It was strange as he felt more emotions and sensation as his body adjusted to this new power. It was truly beyond his understanding or knowledge and of the minute experience he had as a sage.
He felt it withdrawing, slowly and almost sluggishly going back to where it came from. He let it retreat for now, as he gathered and composed himself and called upon it again.
It answered and came like water from an overflowing dam. Rushing and invigorating his body with a new found power.
He had found it, his chakra and his ki.
Now the real training begins.
AN:- This chapter really was not the best I had and would never be the best. Also due to lack of dialogues not much could be said about the character I'm trying to build in Issei. But in the future chapter it would be clear how Issei is both similar and different than his cannon counterpart. See ya later.