Childhood Arc: Might Guy (Part 2)

[Water God Style was a swordsmanship renowned for defense. Among its ultimate techniques, only one could be used for proactive offense: Twenty Slashes. It was similar to an iaijutsu draw slash, but it was mostly used after the opponent attacked first. One had to seize the moment and swiftly draw the sword, striking the opponent in the instant they let their guard down. Since it was a counterattack launched later, timing was extremely important, and it also required a special footwork technique to extend the range of the slash.]

[What about the other three ultimate techniques?]

[They were the ultimate techniques Nagi, Wave, and Dewfall. To explain them in order, the first created a special domain. Any attack entering this domain could be neutralized through special slashes, giving people the illusion that the attack had passed straight through you.]

[The second precisely calculated the opponent's attack range, neutralizing the attack with minimal movement at the very edge of that range before swiftly drawing the sword to counterattack.]

[The third was an illusory sword technique. Slashes resembling flowing water continuously circled the user's body, forming an absolute defense. As long as an enemy approached, they would be struck by the slashes.]

[Deprivation Sword Realm was a combination of Nagi and Twenty Slashes. It deployed the domain and used Twenty Slashes as its means of attack. Any movement from the enemy would result in them being cut down.]

I see. So those were the other ultimate techniques of Water God Style. They all sounded like counterattacking techniques that struck after the opponent moved first.

[First, Lord Qingyue must learn Light Blade and Flow. That way, you will possess both the ability to seize the initiative and the ability to counterattack afterward. As for North God Style, that will depend on the actual situation. Personally, I recommend the inconspicuous Dark Sword Assault. It also suits a ninja's combat style, along with simple and efficient techniques like Red Ink.]

Just thinking about Red Ink made me lose it. What did they mean by throwing out a few highly adhesive red marbles and immobilizing two Sword Kings?

But when I thought about it carefully, it actually made sense. Throwing such marbles in a narrow space would indeed leave swordsmen who relied on explosive forward bursts with nowhere to plant their feet.

After all, a duel between top experts could be decided in a single instant.

[But Teacher Hill, I'm only five years old. Can I really study the swordsmanship of all three major styles at once...? I still have to balance the development of Haki and my fruit, not to mention learning how to use chakra...]

[I believe Lord Qingyue can definitely do it.]

The power of believing, huh? Interesting. I felt like getting hit by a jeep would be more practical.

After that little interlude, training continued. Near the end, while I was sparring with a Shadow Clone, I suddenly sensed someone else nearby.

[Lord Qingyue.]

[I know. Someone is nearby.]

After dismissing the Shadow Clone, I quickly found the person's location. Gripping the wooden sword's hilt with both hands, I lowered my body, kicked off with both legs, and charged at him, pointing the tip of my sword at his forehead.

"Eh? Might Guy?"

"Y-you... hello..."

He seemed to have been frightened by me. Might Guy actually started stammering, though that was normal considering my sword pressure had shaved off a bit of his hair.

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, I was running backward and went the wrong way. Before I knew it, I ended up here."

Running backward? He probably meant running on his hands. The purpose of that kind of training... really did seem pretty limited.

"I see. Oh, right, this notebook fell on the ground when I bumped into you today. Here."

I had originally planned to talk to him using the notebook when school started the next day, but I happened to run into him today.

"Ah, thank you!"

Might Guy took the notebook and hugged it tightly to his chest. It had to be something very important to him.

That figure wreathed in burning red steam lingered in my mind. This time, perhaps there would be no need for the Red Beast to appear and buy that precious time.

And there was the previous generation's Red Beast, Might Dai. If possible, during the Third Shinobi World War, I wanted to save as many people as I could.

The first ones would definitely be Rin and Obito, followed by Sakumo Hatake, Might Dai, and the others.

[Teacher Hill, Might Guy's current physical condition should still be okay, right?]

[In response to Lord Qingyue, Might Guy's body has already sustained some minor damage. However, as long as his training methods are adjusted in time, he can recover.]

Although this training allowed Might Guy to become an unparalleled taijutsu master in the future, he should have had a much higher ceiling.

If he had a more scientific training regimen, perhaps after opening the Seventh Gate, Might Guy could directly rise to the position of a powerful Kage.

"Say, Might Guy, do you want to have a mock match with me?"

I would first let him see my strength. In the original story, Might Guy was poor at ninjutsu and genjutsu, yet he relied solely on taijutsu to reach the same, or even a higher, level than Kakashi.

So as long as I could show him my taijutsu prowess now, I could make him believe in my training methods.

"Sure!"

After putting some distance between us and taking our stances, we both raised two fingers and formed the Seal of Confrontation.

With Might Guy's habits, he would definitely attack first. At this distance, he would probably open with Konoha Whirlwind...

Sure enough, in the next moment, Might Guy kicked off the ground and leaped up. He spun repeatedly in midair, swinging his leg to form a whirlwind as he came at me.

Unfortunately, this technique had far too many openings. Ninja who specialized in taijutsu would not let themselves be caught by an opening move like this.

Unless there was an overwhelming difference in raw power.

Once his swinging leg came within range, I extended my left hand and used my forearm to exert force ahead of time during the rotation, successfully blocking it and greatly reducing the impact. Then my right hand immediately shot forward, seized his throat, and pinned him to the ground.

"It's over. I won."

Defeating an enemy in one move—this was the fusion of Sword God Style and Water God Style.

Konoha Whirlwind's seemingly overwhelming destructive power actually had a fatal weakness: during the rotation, it did not maintain that immense attack power at every moment.

The attack points of this move were almost entirely concentrated on the lower leg and the area where the instep connected to the ankle. As long as one stepped in first and blocked at the instep, thigh, or knee, the technique could be stopped completely without effort.

With his momentum thrown off in midair, it was time for me to attack. There were far too many ways to subdue an opponent whose front was so wide open.

"A-amazing. I lost."

Might Guy, whose throat I was holding, looked at me with a hint of admiration. It seemed my objective had been achieved. Good.

After releasing Might Guy, I deliberately put on a cool expression and casually brushed the dust off myself before changing my tone.

"You're not bad either. It's just that... perhaps your training method is wrong."

Just as expected, upon hearing that, Might Guy immediately looked at me with curiosity.

"Can I ask you for guidance? I can't learn ninjutsu or genjutsu. I can only rely on taijutsu to become a ninja, I..."

Come to think of it, Guy seemed to have enrolled as a special candidate. Since I had always been spacing out during class, I had not paid much attention. Perhaps many people in the class were secretly mocking him.

Just like me in my previous life. But Guy could keep growing through self-discipline in that environment, eventually becoming a Red Beast dozens of times stronger than the Five Kage.

Compared to him, my mental resilience was truly terrible. Someone like him deserved my respect. I had to find a way to change his less-than-ideal ending.

"What time do you get up to train every day?"

"Um... around five or six, I guess."

Five or six... that was quite early too. It was about the same time I went to school in my previous life, though after entering society, I had never gotten up that early again unless I stayed up all night.

"Five or six? The sun is already up by then. You start training later than the sun rises. Is that the extent of your resolve?"

Might Guy's entire body trembled at those words, and the admiration in his eyes deepened.

"Come here tomorrow morning at four and wait for me."

The next day, Might Guy had already arrived early. He stood straight as a rod, his eyes so resolute that he looked like he was about to join the Party.

"Then let's begin. First, physical training."

Unlike Might Guy's five hundred laps and five hundred push-ups, the physical training I used purely strengthened cardiovascular endurance and bodily function.

Five hundred push-ups could not produce any results. For most people, training like that merely wasted stamina and damaged their muscles.

The correct approach was to use weight training to build strength, then convert it through footwork drills and sparring. Most importantly, one had to plan their diet properly so the body could recover efficiently.

By the time morning training ended, Might Guy had gone limp and collapsed on the ground, his body covered in red marks from the automatic wooden dummies.

"That concludes this morning's training. How does it feel?"

"A-amazing."

Might Guy, who had been full of energy earlier, was now listless, sprawled on the ground like a stray dog that had run more than ten kilometers in summer.

"If you can keep it up, come back to this place after school this afternoon."

After helping Guy finish his post-training stretches and relaxation, I left alone, went home to shower, and then, once I was ready, went to find Rin and head to school together.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Today, Rin was waiting for me outside. She was no longer wearing her usual black V-neck long-sleeved top paired with an apron skirt.

Underneath, she wore a white shirt-style short-sleeved top, with an oversized hooded cardigan over it. On her lower body, she wore black shorts that exposed her entire thighs.

It was a somewhat androgynous outfit, plain yet cute.

"Come on, hurry up! We'll be late if we don't get moving!"