Chapter 15
In the past…
It was suppose to be a normal teaching day for Todo. After the attack on Yua, he felt oddly motivated to improve the students in his care. He has to, or the same thing may befall upon them one day.
"ONCE MORE AGAIN!"
He has been watching from afar. Todo was tasked with tending to the students as of late as everyone focuses on Yua's recovery. He didn't mind it the least bit, however… his new… assistant is making things more interesting. He's been sparring with all of his students, and their latest session just came to an end.
Todo was holding three classes at once, he paired first, second and third year students in groups of three. From there, they began to learn from each other as well as have a better understanding of each person's abilities. It also gave the students goals. The third years can do more than the second years and the same goes with the first years to the second. However just as they were about to break off into groups.
HE showed up.
Todo turned as the student stared behind him, pale white at the notion. Sukuna was lingering, watching, his back went up.
"Something I can help you with?" he asked.
"No… but I am here to help you."
Sukuna wondered pass Todo as he looked at the students. They were terrified of him, which was called for, and yet at the same time, he was looking into each of their eyes. "Hmm…" he said curiously as he suddenly crouched down and stared some more.
"Sensei…" one student said nervously.
"I am seeing what I have to work with… show me," he announced.
The students froze once more. "Show… you?" one of the older students asked.
"One by one, you are going to come at me, with your strongest attack, those who have figured out their curse ability, use it to its full potential. Those who do not have one, merely summon as much of your power as you can in a single strike. I want a line right in front of me here and NOW!" he ordered.
Todo was stunned, the students scared and yet, were quick to fall into line. The oldest students went first. Only six had found their technique and were able to use it against him. Once they did, Sukuna nodded. "To the left," he would order.
He went on for a good hour, taking hits from the students but moving them to either the left or the right of himself. In the end, the students were divided into two groups. "What's this about?" Todo demanded. "Why are you separating the students?"
He pointed to the ones on the left. "Those are the students who have technique and the rest are on the brink of finding it. Those on the right have no technique, but the output is impressive. I will be working with the ones on the right. The expulsion of curse energy they have, is good, at the same time. I can feel their method within the energy… they will discover it by the end of the day."
Todo paused to all of this. "Why are we having them work on this now? The youngest are still understanding the basics…"
"Sink or swim, take into consideration the environment they are in. Normally a sorcerer's power does not grow unless there are challenges to face and force the growth…" he explained.
Despite that, Todo was still getting a bad feeling about all of this. "What do you intend…"
"Nothing serious, I cannot harm, remember?" he said innocently enough.
But that tone…
Todo didn't like the look of this, yet sighed. "Are you taking them today then?"
"Yes," he said and bore a rather wicked smile. "Leave it to me!"
"This is getting even more creepy…" Todo muttered.
His students who are to be left with Sukuna were terrified of him. "Sensei Todo…" the youngest of the group whispered. "I'm scared…"
He was too, but still, the rule in place for Sukuna, he cannot harm or kill anyone here. At the same time, he isn't to be trusted completely if at all. Todo doesn't the least bit.
"For today only… Sensei Sukuna will be assisting…"
He smiled to the students. "Today is a simple lesson, try and land a hit on me." He stated.
The fearful look vanished. "That's all?"
"Yes, try and land a single strike against me. I will block you, and it has to be a solid hit, I won't strike back… throwing you off, that I will do. But, today until…" he grabbed Todo's arm and looked at a watch he happened to be wearing. "Until two this afternoon, you have to land a single hit on me. If not… then hmm… let's see we need a consequence…"
He… appears to be taking this rather seriously.
"AH! I got it, if you fail. You have to wash ALL my robes!" he decreed.
"That's it?" one student asked not understanding the threat before them.
He bore a wicked grin this time. Sukuna has curse storage like Suiryu; he took out one of his robes and revealed it to the children. It would take eight of them to merely carry it!
"All of my robes are made with the finest materials, therefore they have to be hand washed. As well, each robe weighs over 100 pounds… that's without it getting wet…" he said in a warning tone.
Their eyes widened rather fearfully. "I have twelve of them." He said in a warning tone. "So… I suggest you get to work. It's 10 am now…" he teased.
Suddenly they students turned and ran!
He smirked as they rushed off, stunning Todo. "Why are they…"
"Planning, what else? Also now they have motivation to strike me with everything they got and know… if they can. My robes are not easy to clean, and I have four arms to do it."
Makes sense… But wait. "Why are you helping me with the students?" Todo asked.
Sukuna was rather silent at first but then said. "The more they know and understand their abilities, the better. We were caught off guard. We won't be again. I want to ensure everyone… EVERYONE here… is capable of fighting. You cannot teach capability if you coddle them like this. There is no danger, therefore no need to understand your true potential. We cannot allow that to become the state of mind of the future sorcerers."
Todo considered the notion, the more he thought about it, and the more he understood it oddly enough. He sighed with defeat on the notion. "Okay then. I'll work with my students then."
"Aoi," Sukuna called. "You better spar with them, and don't hold back."
He was stunned to the suggestion, but agreed. Today, it will be a boot camp day.
#
He would spend his time training his students, going all out. Todo kept them on their toes, also stunning them when they ended up striking themselves or classmates when he switched with them suddenly. "You need to take into consideration your opponent and their abilities, you are not aware of what I am doing, are you?"
His students sneered, many were covered in cuts, over half had a split lip from being accidently struck by a classmate. "You are swapping with the ones who are not paying attention." One student said.
He snickered to the observation. "You're right, I have been, at the same time. You all know I am going to swap, but you never know who or if I am going to do so. My ability isn't limited to people either, if something has curse energy in it, I can switch places with that. Before my technique was that I could travel as far as my clap. However, thanks to my brother who helped me improve my talent, I can now focus. If I have a clear visual of the item that has curse energy in it, I can swap with it or them instantly!" he said proudly.
"In other words, none of us were going to hit you…" one of the older students said in defeat.
"Not today," he said and bore a grin of his own. He then checked the time. It was 1:30. He dismissed his class for the day and decided to check on the other half of the class.
Sukuna was out wondering about, he bore a rather devious grin on his face as he saw Todo approach. "Done already?"
"They are getting stronger, I felt their energy increase, some are just grasping their technique."
"Good," he suddenly paused, his head tilted to the right until he side stepped. One student had come after him, and left a rather large hole in the ground from the missed strike. "Hmm, not bad, good output." Sukuna said. Suddenly he sidestepped again, and again, and again.
He avoided four strong strikes with ease, and yet, the students who attacked, didn't stand by. They kept up with the barrage, trying to catch him off guard. "Put more curse behind it!" he said in an encouraging tone. "MORE!"
It startled them, but then, Todo felt it spike rather drastically! The students were taking this seriously! Sukuna stood at the ready when suddenly. He did the splits! One student flew over his head, and yet made a quick roll to recover and stand at the ready to fight once more. "Not bad," he said. "What else you got?"
Todo couldn't believe his eyes.
Sukuna… was really teaching them… and he looked like he was having fun doing it!
It wasn't long before the other students came out of hiding, they all made their attempts to strike him then and there but once more, they were all avoided. He was just too strong, too fast and cunning. Looking to his watch. The time was nearly out.
There was five minutes left.
"Five minute warning." Todo called. "It's two o'clock in five minutes…"
Suddenly, the look of urgency grew on their faces. The students all turned and stared at Sukuna, who grinned evilly back. "Oh good, I got my robe washers for the week! Each one takes at least eight hours to wash and it all has to be done BY HAND!" he laughed aloud.
They students quickly reformed their plans, and then, it became an all out brawl! Their curse energy grew once more, he saw some of them were getting a better understanding for their talents as one even summoned a shikigami for the first time! The student was merely 8 years old and had just figured out his technique. His shikigami on the other hand appeared to be a tiger.
Todo saw this at a distance, but wasn't certain if Sukuna saw.
The children were all thrown back as the time slowly ticked away. "Thirty seconds…" he called.
There was desperation in their eyes. None of them wanted to clean his robes. He doesn't blame them the least bit on that either!
The students however were tried out. They were merely 8-10 year old students but their growth in just a few hours was very impressive.
"That's it? That's all you got?" Sukuna asked with a grin. "I'll get my robes ready…"
POUNCE!
The students froze.
Todo froze too.
Sukuna was hit from behind, never flinched from the strike either. But, he turned and saw it was a large shikigami tiger that did it. Sukuna smirked and nodded. "Who summoned it?" he called.
The eight-year-old Todo saw earlier put up his hand. "First time?" he asked. The student nodded, just as the challenge came to an end.
He nodded his approval as the shikigami was called back, he sighed aloud. "… you brats got lucky"
They froze, their eyes turned to Todo who nodded. "You avoided the penalty, good job."
Looks of relief soon filled their faces, and yet, there was some hesitation. "Sensei… can… we train with him again?"
He was stunned, even Sukuna was surprised. "Any time, but the rule remains in place. You lose, you wash my robes!" he decreed.
Despite it not being life threatening danger, it was enough to scare the students and encourage them to work hard.
Todo however wanted to add to that motivation. "Sukuna… let me see one of your robes please."
He obliged and took one out. Todo held it in his hands and nodded. The robe alone was over a hundred and fifty pounds, with very thick fibers. If this gets wet, it would easily double the weight… "Everyone, we are done for today, tomorrow… we're washing this." He decreed.
"But… WE WON!" one student protested. "Sensei!"
"Hear me out, tomorrow's lesson will be to clean this, that way you know the consequences if you lose. If this is a difficult task to do, just think how motivated you will be later on to win if you have to clean the rest of his robes."
They didn't like his idea. Not in the least bit.
They all sneered and walked off for the rest of the day. "You're very astute as well, despite your personality…" Sukuna said.
"Yeah, normally when I introduce myself, I ask the guys what kind of woman are they into. Me, tall girl with a big ass."
He got a weird look from Sukuna. "That's it? A woman has to be tall with a big ass for you to consider them?"
"It's short, sweet to the point. Why? What kind of women are you into?"
He smirked to him. "You already know… the kind that can kick my ass."
As ironic as it was that the student asked to spar with Sukuna. Strangely enough, the day after when they finished washing one of his robes, the idea was never brought up again…