Teaching Swordsmanship (Please Recommend and Bookmark)

Speaking of how Ringo Ameyuri and Araki met, it was not all that complicated.

After defeating and absorbing all of Asuna's sword techniques in the Consciousness Space, Araki often went to the seaside in the early days to practice against rocks or trees, trying to familiarize himself with those techniques.

Asuna's sword techniques had always focused on high-speed combos and dash techniques, and practicing such moves looked pretty cool too.

One day, while Araki was once again practicing the eight-hit combo of [Stardust Splash] against a tree alone, Ringo Ameyuri happened to pass by. The dazzling sword technique immediately captured young Ringo's heart, even though she had only just entered the academy.

Then again, in the world of the Hokage, swordsmanship was originally something left behind by the samurai of a bygone era and was not valued much at all.

Even Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron, which called itself the nation of samurai, only used high-speed drawing techniques like iaijutsu and Flash. Their philosophy was to stop ninja from forming hand seals through attacks too fast to imagine.

As though swordsmanship became useless the moment a ninja formed seals and released ninjutsu.

Araki scoffed at that idea.

Swordsmanship was a discipline that united heart, technique, and body. The path of the sword had no end; only one's own heart could limit it.

Besides the Land of Iron, the place where swordsmanship was most widespread was Kirigakure.

After all, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were famous far and wide, so most ninja of the Mist Village learned a move or two with the sword.

But those were all crude, rough techniques. At their core, their swordsmanship still existed to support ninjutsu.

Since wielding a sword made it difficult to form hand seals, ninja who purely practiced swordsmanship were few and far between.

Naturally, Ringo had never seen such continuous, high-speed, dazzling sword techniques. Girls were born with little resistance to beautiful things, so she quickly fell for them.

And after successfully meeting the second member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Araki did not refuse young Ringo's request, though he felt somewhat conflicted about it.

Of course, since Araki was an orphan, he had no money to buy a sword and had always used a kunai as a short sword for practice.

After young Ringo learned about this, she specially bought him an ordinary longsword.

When Araki received the sword, his feelings became even more complicated.

"How could I possibly accept this?"

"It's fine. Think of it as thanks for teaching me swordsmanship, big brother! Besides, it wasn't expensive!"

Young Ringo raised her head and spoke earnestly.

"All right, then I'll teach you this Flash Sword Style!"

After a slight hesitation, Araki went along with it and agreed.

After all, while women affected the speed at which one drew a sword...

Rich little girls did not!

According to Araki's original plan, he had intended to wait until he graduated and became a genin, then buy a sword with his mission rewards. But adapting to a new sword would take time and might slightly affect his strength.

Now that young Ringo had given him a longsword, all those problems were solved at once!

As for teaching Asuna's swordsmanship to her, Araki did not mind.

After all, Asuna was merely the first character drawn from the [Book of Sword Masters]. The skills of the later characters would only grow stronger and stronger.

A sword was not merely technique. There were also heart, intent, soul, the way, and other, more profound realms. Compared to those, Flash Sword Style, which could only be considered sword techniques, was not all that precious.

Using it to repay young Ringo for giving him the sword could not have been more fitting. Besides, Araki had nothing else to offer her right now.

From that day onward, whenever Araki went to the seaside to practice swordsmanship, a little tail followed behind him.

"Brother Araki, do you have time to spar with me today?"

Young Ringo grabbed Araki's arm and shook it back and forth, her round little face filled with anticipation.

"Sure. Let's practice for a while."

Though he felt somewhat tired after practicing water-walking, such an adorable request was truly hard to refuse.

In the end, Araki shamelessly agreed.

After returning to the dormitory to retrieve their longswords, the two came to the seaside where they usually practiced.

"Brother Araki, I've been working really hard lately! I've already mastered that move you taught me, [Meteor]!"

Young Ringo shouted energetically, then charged toward him at high speed.

Clang!

Araki lightly raised his hand, using the tip of his sword to precisely block Ringo's thrust. He praised her, "Not bad. Your speed is very fast, and your force is textbook-perfect!"

"Hmph! I'm not done yet!"

Ringo Ameyuri in battle was completely different from the soft, cute girl she had been moments ago. Her eyes gleamed, the corners of her lips pulled into a slightly bloodthirsty smile, and a row of sharp little teeth showed. Her entire style seemed to collapse in an instant.

Her arm drew back slightly, then her wrist flicked!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Five sword shadows appeared at once. Their trails formed a five-pointed star in the air, enveloping Araki from head to toe.

"Five-Star Rend!"

"Oh? You learned this move too?"

Araki's eyes lit up slightly. He flicked his wrist as well, splitting his sword into five shadows that met hers without the slightest error.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

After a series of crisp rings, the sword shadows scattered, leaving only two sharp blades crossed between them, locked tightly against each other.

"That was amazing. Young Ringo really is a genius!"

Araki praised her without hesitation.

He was not exaggerating. Unlike him, Ringo Ameyuri did not have an opponent who could constantly engage her in life-and-death battles to hone her swordsmanship, nor did she have experience defeating opponents to draw from. Yet in such a short time, she had mastered two different types of sword techniques.

Such talent deserved praise.

Honestly, based on Araki's experience beating up his classmates, young Ringo, having mastered two sword techniques, was probably no weaker than Zabuza.

Although Zabuza had been instantly defeated by Araki before, that was mainly because it had been his first time seeing such sword techniques. It was like when Asuna had first seen the Transformation Technique and Araki had defeated her with a sneak attack. It had not fully reflected their true strength.

By Araki's own judgment, Zabuza's strength undoubtedly crushed young Ringo's, but he was much slower. Each had her own advantages, so they were roughly evenly matched.

That level of strength already surpassed many experienced genin, yet Ringo had only been in the academy for a short time. She still had over a year to continue growing, and she also possessed an exceptional talent for Lightning Release.

Haha, am I going to raise a monster genin too?

Araki secretly laughed to himself, seeming to experience a little of the joy of being a teacher.

"It's all because Brother Araki taught me so well~"

After sheathed her sword, young Ringo returned to her slightly shy, adorable self. She pulled two lollipops from her pocket, put one into her own mouth, and handed the other to Araki.

"Apple flavor again? Young Ringo really does love apples."

Araki bit the lollipop into his mouth and reached out to ruffle Ringo's little red head. The setting sun stretched the tall and short shadows of the two of them long, long across the ground.