Chapter Sixteen: A Beating

At the training ground, Shiraishi Yoshijo was getting beaten up by Takemoto Anna again.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Shiraishi Yoshijo felt that Takemoto Anna was acting strangely today.

Was she holding a grudge against him?

I haven't done anything to you! Shiraishi Yoshijo protested inwardly as he blocked Takemoto Anna's groin kick for the fifth time.

Hey, that was the fifth time already!

Shiraishi Yoshijo's face flushed red. He wanted to jump out of the sparring ring, but Takemoto Anna seized her chance.

She threw him over her shoulder and slammed him to the ground, then climbed right on top of him.

"Anna, I give up!"

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt that if he didn't give up now, she was going to beat him to death.

"You're not allowed to give up!"

Huh?

Shiraishi Yoshijo was completely dumbfounded. When he saw her raise her fist, he hurriedly looked around for help.

Takemoto Shuichi had disappeared at some point.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was in despair.

Takemoto Anna straddled him and started pummeling him relentlessly.

Shiraishi Yoshijo could only shield his face with his arms and take the beating.

"Anna, what did I do wrong?"

"Anna, stop! You're really going to beat me to death!"

The more he said, the harder she hit him. Shiraishi Yoshijo was beginning to understand Anna's approach.

If he could still talk, that meant he was still alive, so she should keep beating him.

The one-sided beating lasted twenty minutes.

Shiraishi Yoshijo lay sprawled on the ground, unable to get up.

Takemoto Anna stood beside him, breathing heavily.

"Get up!"

After catching her breath, Takemoto Anna shouted at him.

Shiraishi Yoshijo's mouth twitched. When he saw her raise her fist again, he got to his feet with a face full of misery.

"Anna, are you in a bad mood today?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm beating you."

Do you have any idea what tact is?

That bitch is using me as a punching bag. I'll make her pay someday!

Shiraishi Yoshijo raged inwardly, but plastered on a smile and put on an insincere show of concern.

"It's fine. I'm tough. Have you gotten it out of your system, Anna? If not, why don't you hit me a couple more times?"

"Really?"

You actually want to hit me?

The smile froze on his face. Shiraishi Yoshijo was baffled.

Wasn't this usually where a girl felt bad and started being gentle and considerate?

What a lunatic!

"No. I was lying."

Shiraishi Yoshijo's smile vanished completely. He couldn't figure out what Takemoto Anna was thinking, and he didn't dare ask.

It wasn't that he was afraid of getting beaten. The main thing was—

All right, he was afraid of getting beaten.

He didn't know how much longer he'd have to train here. If he seriously offended this woman...

She'd have every excuse to beat him up.

"Are you cursing me in your head?"

Takemoto Anna suddenly leaned right in front of him and stared into his eyes as she asked.

"No."

Shiraishi Yoshijo knew this routine pretty well. Whatever happened, he couldn't act guilty.

He met her gaze without flinching, not even blinking.

In the end, Takemoto Anna was the one who lost. Shiraishi Yoshijo laughed triumphantly to himself. That's all you've got? And you thought you could take me on!

"Coward. You get beaten up and you don't even dare curse me."

Shiraishi Yoshijo was speechless. So she was right no matter what.

If he really cursed her, she'd probably pin him down and beat him again.

Since he couldn't win an argument, Shiraishi Yoshijo simply shut his mouth.

When Takemoto Anna saw him fall silent, she seemed to get even angrier.

"Keep training. If we don't, Grandpa will get mad when he comes back."

"Are you afraid of your grandpa getting mad?"

"Did you forget what Grandpa was like when he lost his temper the other day?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo remembered the fear of being at Takemoto Shuichi's mercy.

Still, he wasn't a masochist. He really didn't want to be someone's punching bag.

"Relax. I'll explain things to your grandpa. And don't use me as a punching bag anymore. Who'd dare marry you if you're this violent?"

Takemoto Anna glared at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm not marrying a coward like you anyway."

Heh. Thanks for that.

Seeing that she didn't seem inclined to hit him, Shiraishi Yoshijo simply lay back down to rest.

Takemoto Anna sat on the ground and gazed at him.

"Do you dislike our family?"

"No."

"Then why won't you accept Grandpa's arrangement? Why insist on going to the hospital?"

"Personal reasons."

"Can't you tell me?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo glanced at her and ignored her.

"Are you unhappy about having other people arrange your life for you?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo still ignored her.

"Don't think that staying quiet means I can't tell what you're thinking. Do you think I'm annoying?"

So you know you're annoying. Then why do you keep talking?

"I'll probably be with you from now on, so you can't—no, you're not allowed to think I'm annoying. Otherwise..."

Takemoto Anna waved her fist at him in warning.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had heard enough. "What do you mean, you'll be with me from now on? Is that what your grandpa wants?"

"Yeah."

"You're a ninja, right? You'll come with me even when I go to the hospital?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo thought he understood why Takemoto Anna had beaten him up.

"Yeah."

"You keep saying 'yeah.' What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing."

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "..."

What was that old man Takemoto Shuichi thinking, having his granddaughter watch him?

Or was she supposed to protect him?

Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned, his expression dark.

"You probably don't want to go to the hospital either. I'll persuade your grandpa to call off the arrangement."

Takemoto Anna gave him a strange look. "You can't even beat me, and you think you can bargain with Grandpa?"

"Do I have to beat you before I can bargain with your grandpa?"

"No. You have to beat my grandpa."

What a lunatic. Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed, feeling foolish for worrying about this sort of thing.

He couldn't be bothered to guess what other people were thinking. The village, the clan—it didn't matter.

He already had a plan. If nothing went wrong, he'd leave this place sooner or later.

Whether he left of his own accord or was forced to go, he and the people in this village were destined to live in different worlds.

At noon, Takemoto Shuichi brought them lunch boxes.

After eating, Shiraishi Yoshijo showed him the change in Lightning's nature.

Takemoto Shuichi stared in astonishment.

"How did you do that?"

"I just infused the weapon with Chakra and controlled it. Then it turned out like this."

As he spoke, Shiraishi Yoshijo swung his blade and slashed a tree.

After examining the cut in the tree, Takemoto Shuichi's eyes lit up.

Takemoto Anna looked at him as if he were a monster.

Even Shiraishi Yoshijo had noticed something strange by now.

He ventured, "Is this difficult?"

"You really are a genius. Even elite jonin would struggle to control Chakra this precisely."

"Isn't it because of the Butterfly Seed in my body?"

"It takes at least ten years for the Butterfly Seed to become an asset. You're not even ten yet."

Shiraishi Yoshijo looked puzzled. If it wasn't because of the Butterfly Seed, was it really because of his spiritual power?

But he hadn't had any talent before...

If he'd had even a little more talent, he wouldn't have still been unable to Water Walk or climb trees at six.

Something was strange. He just didn't know what. This should be a good thing, right?

He didn't notice anything wrong with himself, so he simply put the question out of his mind.

"How can Lightning change like that, Grandpa Shuichi? How do you use Lightning Release?"

"What you're doing should count as a combination of shape transformation and nature transformation. As for my Lightning Release..."

Takemoto Shuichi walked over to the tree and began forming Hand Seals.

"Lightning Release: Scorch Flow Kill!"

Dense arcs of electrical plasma appeared across his body, then gathered around his right hand.

He thrust it toward the tree.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had expected the tree to be blasted in half, but, amazingly, Takemoto Shuichi punched a hole straight through it.

Shiraishi Yoshijo watched closely.

When Takemoto Shuichi's fist struck the tree, there wasn't the slightest resistance. It was like a red-hot iron rod meeting plastic.

It melted right through.

Shiraishi Yoshijo couldn't bear to imagine what that would look like if it hit someone.

That old man really was no pushover!

"I'm getting old. I used to perform this technique without much effort. Now even controlling it is a bit of a strain."

Takemoto Shuichi still looked less than satisfied.

Shiraishi Yoshijo's eyelid twitched. And he wasn't satisfied with that? He couldn't imagine what kind of monster the old man had been in his prime.

"Grandpa Shuichi, does your Lightning change by getting hotter?"

"That's right. You gather Chakra over the surface of your body, then use Lightning's conductivity to concentrate it and form a high-temperature fist."

"Could I learn that technique?"

"Not yet. It requires a lot of Chakra. You'd probably struggle just to form electrical plasma around your body."

All right, another Ninjutsu he could only watch.

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt a little disappointed.

Takemoto Shuichi smiled. "This Ninjutsu actually isn't suited to you. You don't have much Chakra, so you'd be better off with something more compact. I recommend using Lightning's conductivity when performing Ninjutsu."

Conductivity?

Takemoto Shuichi took a Shuriken from his ninja pouch, tied a wire to it, and tossed it onto the ground.

"Since you can apply Lightning's properties to a blade, this style of combat should suit you well."

A flash of electricity passed, and the Shuriken on the ground began to crackle with electricity too.

Watching the scene, Shiraishi Yoshijo's thoughts churned.

He felt like an idiot. Why had he insisted on training in the Lightning Release Ninjutsu from the story?

Just applying Lightning's nature transformation to a Shuriken had opened up a whole new world for him.

Hadn't Sasuke used a similar style of combat?

Wait—Lightning's conductivity...

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and the smile on Shiraishi Yoshijo's face slowly turned unhinged.

"Grandpa, did he go crazy?"

"He might have thought of something."

"That smile is disgusting."

Takemoto Shuichi: "..."

When he came back to himself, Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't even bother asking what they'd been saying about him. He simply bowed.

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Grandpa Shuichi. We have guests at home today, so I'll head back first."

Before they could answer, Shiraishi Yoshijo turned and ran.

He was desperate to get home.

It wasn't just because Kawano was coming over today. More importantly, he had an idea he wanted to test.