Ten Dull Knives Were No Match for a Good Spear

[Composite Node Generation Progress: 12%.]

Chiba turned the broken Metal Wood over. The spot where the framework intersected with the wood grain was exactly where Flying Swallow had struck six times.

Bai Ye crouched beside him and used a Soft Bone spike to pry back a layer of bark.

"Your tree is glowing again?"

"It's growing new branches."

"How long until it can be used?"

"I don't know."

"Then hide the joint inside the bone."

"I can't. The wooden conduits need to pass through here."

Bai Ye bent the bone spike into a ring, looped it around the ruptured conduit, then restored its hardness at the other end.

"Then make the joint move. When the blade comes down, shift it aside."

Chiba watched for a moment, then pushed the piece of Soft Bone back.

"First learn how to last three moves against Asuma."

"He's coming again tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"I'll fight for you."

"If you go out, you'll be seen."

"Then I'll wear a mask."

"The Kaguya clan's bones don't recognize masks."

Bai Ye tossed the broken vine into the mud pit, rose to his feet, and walked back into the cave.

"Talk to me after you lose."

The next morning, Asuma did not bring Flying Swallow. He only carried two wooden sticks commonly used at the Ninja Academy. He tossed the longer one to Chiba and kept the shorter one for himself.

"No Wood Release today. Let me see your hand-to-hand skills first."

"You won't use chakra?"

"If I need Wind Release to beat a student with injured ribs, how am I supposed to write that in my report?"

Chiba gripped the middle of the wooden stick, its tail resting against his right arm, and tested his shoulder's range of motion twice.

"We can begin."

"You've already figured out how you'll lose?"

"I thought of three ways."

"Tell me one."

"You knock my stick away. I close in and punch your ribs with my left hand."

Asuma tapped the edge of his shoe with the short stick.

"What about the other two?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Once I tell you, there'll only be one left."

Asuma raised a hand, signaling for him to attack.

The long stick jabbed toward his chest, then swept at his waist when it came within two feet. Chiba's left hand loosened along with it, but he withdrew the fine roots hidden in his sleeve.

The short stick passed beneath the long one and shoved against its shaft, sending Chiba's weapon toward the courtyard wall.

He did not fight for it. He closed the distance with the motion and sent his left fist toward Asuma's ribs.

"First way."

Asuma's knee blocked his leg in advance. The short stick flicked upward, and before his fist was even half a foot away, Chiba had already lost his balance.

His shoe dragged half a step through the mud. He drove forward with his shoulder, his right elbow following with a strike toward Asuma's chest.

Asuma sidestepped it. The wooden stick tapped Chiba's lower back, and his other hand grabbed Chiba by the collar, sending him into the pit left from yesterday.

"The second way is gone too."

Chiba braced himself against the edge of the pit with one hand.

"You saw all three ways I planned."

"Your face didn't tell me. Your shoulders did."

"Again."

"Get up first. Mud's gotten into your bandages."

Chiba tore off the bandage around his ribs and wrapped it again.

This time, the long stick did not rush in. He circled Asuma halfway, shifting his footing several times while keeping the tip near Asuma's knees.

"Trying to drag it out until I move first?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll have a smoke."

Asuma actually tucked the short stick under his arm and reached for his cigarette case.

The long stick swept low across the ground, its tip kicking up mud and sand. Using the cover, Chiba cut in from the right and kicked at Asuma's wrist with his left leg.

Asuma did not block the dirt. He closed his eyes for a breath, yet the short stick in his hand still landed before Chiba's ankle.

His kicked leg struck the stick. Before Chiba could twist his waist back around, his shoulder was already pinned by Asuma's other hand.

"Third way."

"You deliberately reached for a cigarette."

"When an enemy holds a knife, he may deliberately expose his neck too."

"Again."

"Don't want those ribs anymore?"

"They aren't broken."

"When they break, it'll be too late."

Chiba pulled the long stick from beside the pit. A Bone Vine also extended half an inch from his sleeve.

Asuma saw it but did not stop him. He merely tucked the cigarette case back into his ninja tool pouch.

"Use it. Just don't throw poison at my face."

Metal Wood climbed along the stick. The framework closed around the inside, and the vine tip divided into four strands, each stopping where Asuma might evade.

The first attack was severed by Flying Swallow.

The second time, the roots had barely emerged from the ground before a short blade pressed against Chiba's chest.

The third time lasted only twelve breaths. Asuma did not even draw his blades. After stepping on one main vine, he followed the wooden conduits to find Chiba's position and struck him in the forehead with the cigarette case.

"Finished."

"I can still move."

"You can move every time, so every time you want to make up for it by using one more ability."

Asuma picked up the long stick from the ground and used its tip to point in turn at the Poison Vine, framework, Metal Wood, and underground Root Network.

"Poison is useless if it can't touch a wound. Bone can hold up, but it turns too slowly. Metal Wood is hard enough, but it consumes the most chakra while growing. Your Root Network reaches far enough, but anyone who knows Earth Release can still dig it up."

Chiba put away the vines.

"Continue."

"Listen first."

Asuma flicked away his cigarette ash. The particles landed on the break in the Metal Wood and were quickly soaked by the moisture inside its conduits.

"You have many abilities, but you use them too crudely. You're like someone holding ten knives, yet all you know how to do with each one is chop."

"Iron Claw couldn't stop it."

"That's why he only had the strength of a quasi-Jōnin. Against a real Jōnin, once your first blade is seen through, you won't have time to draw the other nine."

Chiba stood the broken vine on his knee and peeled away its wooden shell layer by layer.

"How do I train?"

"For the next month, less is more. Pick one move and pack poison, bone, metal, and roots into it."

"Only one move?"

"Eating and sleeping don't count."

"What if the opponent goes around it?"

"Then make it impossible for him to go around."

"What if he cuts it?"

"Train until he can't cut it."

The sound of stones shifting came from the cave where Bai Ye hid. Asuma glanced that way, then returned his gaze to the broken vine.

"Do you know why the old man sent me instead of another Jōnin?"

"You're his son."

"That really doesn't sound good."

"Am I wrong?"

"No, but he had another reason for choosing me."

Asuma used the short stick to brush aside the fine roots near his feet, clearing himself a patch of solid ground.

"I'm the only one who dares tell the old man no."

Chiba's hand stopped at the point where the framework connected.

"So?"

"So train without worry. I won't report your real trump cards to anyone. The training records Hokage Tower receives will only contain what you're willing to let them see."

"What about the person in the cave?"

"What person?"

Asuma kicked the roll of bandages that had fallen into the mud back toward him.

"I only heard a rat that can fix roofs. It might be a little large, and it eats quite a lot."

The rear of the cave fell silent.

Chiba caught the bandage but did not immediately wrap it around his ribs again.

"What if Danzo asks you?"

"Tell him to come find me."

"What if the Hokage asks?"

"I'll tell the old man that your Wood Release is suited for close combat and needs further observation. As for how you evolve or who you're hiding, that's Senju clan business."

"What if I threaten the village?"

"When that day comes, I'll ask you first. No Anbu, no masks."

Asuma took a blank training form from his ninja tool pouch and set it on the broken table.

"Choose. After one month, which knife are you keeping?"

Chiba spread open his right hand. Metal Wood grew half a foot from his palm, its framework drawing into a perfectly straight line. Poison hid within the inner conduits, while roots at the end coiled around his wrist.

"Not a knife."

"Then what?"

Metal Wood continued extending until it finally stopped two zhang away.

"A spear."

Asuma picked up the training form and wrote only a few words in the first column.

"Then train until, one month from now, no one dares take that spear thrust head-on."