Beginning Training!

Menma shook his head, set down his empty teacup, and said, "I'm not saying this without reason. There's a reason I brought it up!"

The Tengu picked up the teapot and refilled Menma's cup.

Menma lightly steadied the teacup with his left hand while his right index and middle fingers tapped the table in a bent gesture of thanks.

After filling the cup to ninety percent, the Tengu set down the teapot and said, "I would like to hear the details!"

Menma rubbed his teacup and slowly said, "Does Lord Tengu remember whether spell-based attacks or power-based attacks were more effective at dealing a heavy blow to the Ōtsutsuki Clan back then?"

The Tengu thought for a while and said, "Power-based attacks were somewhat more effective!

I remember that when spell-based attacks hit them, those bastards rarely bothered to dodge. They seemed able to absorb those spells!

But when facing attacks with fists, kicks, blades, or swords, they either blocked or evaded them. That kind of attack seemed more threatening to them!"

Menma said, "Exactly!

Compared with Monster Arts and spells, our ninja techniques are more heavily countered.

So, if we want to effectively injure the Ōtsutsuki Clan, we must use taijutsu!

What I ask you all to teach me is precisely this kind of taijutsu, tempered in blood and fire!"

The Tengu suddenly understood. "Now that you put it that way, I understand. But the Monster Clan's taijutsu has already taken shape. How can we continue cultivating it further?"

Menma said, "What the Monster Clan needs to cultivate is not any specific taijutsu, but the ability to adapt to the current environment of the Ninja Continent!

The Ninja Continent is now filled with an energy called chakra. As you mentioned before, this energy weakens monsters!

So it would be best if you learned to adapt to this energy. If possible, it would be even better to learn how to use it!"

The Tengu nodded. "This old man understands. That is also why you collected our blood and created the Summoning Scroll, correct?"

Menma nodded. "Precisely. In addition, the Summoning Scroll is also the key that allows me and all of you to travel freely between the High Plain of Heaven and the Ninja Continent!"

The Tengu said solemnly, "Understood. I shall notify them later and have the monsters skilled in close combat diligently teach you their fighting techniques over the next few days."

Menma nodded in thanks. "Thank you, Lord Tengu!"

Because of the special nature of this small fragment of the High Plain of Heaven, the monsters had no distinction between day and night. They all lived by the habit of sleeping when tired and rising when awake.

The reason they could still keep track of the approximate years was entirely thanks to a little monster called Aoandon. More than a thousand years ago, when she was still on the Ninja Continent, she possessed the ability to dim during the day and glow at night.

After arriving in the High Plain of Heaven, this instinct had continued, so the High Plain of Heaven still had basic records of the years.

It was currently night in the High Plain of Heaven. Although the sunlight in the sky was blinding, it truly was nighttime.

Menma stood in the courtyard, with the Great Tengu kneeling opposite him.

He wore yamabushi robes, a long sword hanging at his waist, as he explained the monsters' cultivation methods to Menma:

"Long ago, the monsters' cultivation methods were simple. We basically relied on strong bodies and abundant monster power to attack our enemies.

But with the rise of onmyoji, monks, and shrine maidens, the monsters' methods of fighting gradually fell behind the times.

Therefore, we either took masters or became human familiars, gradually learning techniques for using power from humans.

After a long period of refinement, the techniques we use today gradually took form.

At the time, monster combat was divided into two types. One involved using the monster power within the body to alter the environment, attacking enemies by spewing flames, frost, and similar means. This technique was called Monster Arts!

The other involved using monster power to strengthen the body or weapons, then attacking enemies with the body or weapons. This technique was called Monster Techniques!

Due to differences in race, we may not be able to teach you Monster Arts.

But Monster Techniques are the experience in wielding weapons and bodies that we monsters have accumulated through bloody battles over thousands of years. They will certainly help you improve your strength!

Monster Techniques are generally divided into four major categories: slash, fist, step, and trickery!

Slash is the art of using weapons.

Fist is the means of attacking with the body.

Step is footwork for charging and evading.

Trickery is the stratagems used to confuse and deceive enemies.

There are countless monster combat techniques, but fundamentally, none fall outside these four categories.

Today, what I will teach you is the fist among slash, fist, step, and trickery!"

Hearing this, Menma felt that something was off. Wasn't this the Naruto world? How had slash, fist, step, and trickery appeared here too? Worse still, it actually sounded pretty reasonable!

Menma looked at the long sword at the Great Tengu's waist and asked, "Didn't you say you were teaching me fist techniques? Then what is that sword for, Lord Tengu?"

"It is for demonstrating the techniques of unarmed combat. There is a technique in unarmed combat called Muto Dori, which is the art of facing an armed enemy with bare hands!"

Menma understood. Wasn't that the technique of catching a white blade barehanded?

The Tengu untied the long sword from his waist and tossed it to Menma. "Come. Attack me with all your strength, and I will show you what Muto Dori is!"

Menma caught the sword, drew it from its sheath, and tossed the scabbard aside. He held the long sword in his right hand, pointed its tip at the Tengu, and kept his left hand loosely raised before his chest.

He had assumed the opening stance of someone treating the long sword like a kunai.

The Tengu shook his head slightly. Menma's grip on the sword was unstable, and his posture was crooked—he was completely a beginner. The Tengu did not want to bully Menma through sheer size and strength, so he used Monster Arts to shrink himself. "Come. My size is now roughly the same as yours, and I will restrain my strength to slightly below yours. Let me show you the Monster Clan's unarmed combat techniques."

Menma rushed toward the Tengu, raised the long sword high in his right hand, and fiercely chopped down at his head!

The Tengu remained calm. At the right moment, he stepped slightly closer, raised his left arm, and braced Menma's elbow.

His right hand passed beneath Menma's armpit, then struck Menma's right ribs with a backhand blow.

Pain shot through Menma, and his right hand could no longer hold the sword. With a clang, the long sword fell to the ground.

The Tengu shoved Menma to the ground, his stern voice ringing out. "This move is called Arm-Lift Side Elbow. It uses reverse-joint techniques to prevent the enemy from exerting force, then the right hand strikes the opening on the enemy's right side, forcing them to disarm!

Remember: never use an unfamiliar weapon against an enemy, no matter how powerful it may seem!

Again!"

Menma climbed to his feet. Rather than pick up the long sword tossed aside, he pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and held it in a forward grip, assuming a fighting stance.

After only a brief pause, Menma sprinted forward, straightened his arm, and aimed the kunai directly at the Tengu's chest!

The Tengu remained unhurried. Once Menma's attack had fully committed, he turned aside to evade the thrust and drove an elbow into Menma's back.