Chapter 184: Jonin Instructor

Ryu returned to the training area where Tsunade had left him earlier and attempted the chakra-gathering exercise once more. Because his body used his [Muscle Memory] to recall the sensation from the previous time, he was able to do it on the first try this time.

"How many days have you been training for Senju-style taijutsu?" enquired Toshiro Senju, his tone full of curiosity.

Ryu turned to him and replied, "I started today."

Toshiro's eyes widened in disbelief. He asked again, "Today?!"

Ryu shrugged and said, "It seems I picked it up quickly."

With a note of admiration in his voice, Toshiro nodded in recognition of Ryu's quick development. "Just today, and you can already spill the water outside the bowl; it took me a week," he said.

Ryu said, "You know it too."

Toshiro smiled. "Yes, Senju-style taijutsu can only be learned in childhood for some reason. So, my father taught me early on. Don't get ahead of yourself; it's only the first step."

He paused and then offered, "I will give you a few hints to improve."

Ryu replied, "That would be great, thank you."

Toshiro grinned mischievously. "But you need to do me a favour too."

Ryu raised an eyebrow. "A favour? What can I do for you?"

Toshiro's grin widened. "I wanted to fight you. Let's have a duel."

Ryu chuckled, accepting the challenge. "It's a deal then."

Meanwhile, Natsurama and his son, Tashiro, watched from a distance, observing the boys as they trained together.

"Why don't you tell him that his grandfather is your brother?" Tashiro asked, curiosity in his voice.

Natsurama sighed, his eyes filled with memories. He said, "There is no point in telling him. That ship had sailed years ago when your grandfather expelled my younger brother from the clan."

Tashiro nodded understandingly and said, "But still, he would be glad to know he has a family."

Natsurama replied, "He already has a family, and after spending time in an orphanage, he is glad to have that family. So much so that he refused to accompany Tsunade to study under her. We don't even count."

Tashiro responded, "It's up to you, Dad. If you prefer not to tell him, that's okay."

Natsurama's gaze remained on Ryu, and he said, "Danzo, that bastard, has his eyes set on the boy. His family is the one who killed my brother."

Tashiro said, "I know, Dad, you are angry, but we don't have any proof. We cannot accuse an elder of the village and his entire clan without solid proof."

Natsurama replied, "Even if I have no proof, I know in my heart that it was that bastard's father. He always had a grudge against the Hamura clan and the Senju clan."

Natsurama then said, "I don't want what happened to my brother to happen to his grandson."

Tashiro said, "I will look after him, Dad. You don't need to ask me."

Natsurama replied, "I don't need to. He is under Hiruzen's protection. As long as he is inside of the village, he is protected."

Tashiro asked, "Are you worried when he becomes a genin?"

Natsurama replied, "Yes, I am."

Tashiro replied, "But he will not be alone even then, and a Jonin instructor will be with him all the time, and I doubt Danzo will openly attack him outside the village."

Natsurama said, "The boy is too talented. To gain control over him, Danzo will attempt to kidnap him. He can compel someone to obey against their will in a variety of ways. He has many brainwashing fuinjutsu seals and many different ways to make young minds submissive."

Tashiro replied, "Then we must do something about it."

Natsurama's eyes gleamed with a plan. "I am thinking of asking Hiruzen to make you his Jonin instructor in the future."

Tashiro nodded and said, "That's a great idea. I will take good care of him."

...…/Back to Ryu's training/ …....

Toshiro explained the finer points of the technique. He said, "If I use too little chakra, the water will not move. If I use too much, the water will just splash at the contact point without moving the entire surface of the water. It is very difficult; it took me weeks to get that consistency with accuracy. I had an even harder time cracking the rock."

Ryu asked, "Cracking the rock?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, your next step is to crush or crack big rocks using just the force generated by your chakra. It is pretty difficult at the beginning, but don't worry; you will be able to do that eventually."

Ryu tried moving the water again, and it moved as he intended it to. Toshiro watched, impressed. "Keep on doing it until your hands scream in pain. Dad told me the pain is due to new chakra veins forming and existing ones expanding and splitting into parts."

Ryu smiled, his voice steady. "Pain is not new to me. It is bearable till now."

Toshiro grinned and said, "Let's wait till you keep doing it a hundred times; then you will know pain."

Ryu said, "Have you heard the saying, 'No pain, no gain'?"

Toshiro asked, "Who said that?"

Ryu said, "I don't know. Probably someone who is a masochist."

Toshiro laughed and said, "I also need to train my earth affinity, so I will train nearby. You can tell me when you are done."

Ryu kept doing it until he was totally empty, and Toshiro was training nearby.

As they both exhausted their chakra, Toshiro suggested, "Let's fight now that we are both out of chakra."

Ryu smiled, accepting the challenge. "Okay, let's roll."

Both Ryu and Toshiro fought each other in a pure taijutsu fight.

After some blows, Toshiro appeared to have some advantages. Considering Toshiro had been training a little longer than Ryu had, he was marginally stronger physically. Ryu had much more stamina, and Toshiro had strength.

Toshiro said, "You are good; I admit that. But now I am fighting seriously.

Now that both of them were out of chakra, there was not much for both of them to use chakra-based ninja taijutsu, but Ryu had experience fighting in his old life where there was no chakra. And now fighting against other opponents, his moves only got better.

Toshiro punched him, and Ryu casually put it aside. Toshiro tried again, and Ryu again casually redirected his attack.

Toshiro, in surprise, said, "That is Hyuga style."

Ryu smiled and hit his chakra points.

Toshiro asked in surprise, "How?"

Ryu replied, "I am a medical apprentice, and I know a few chakra points that are easy to target even without Byakugan."

Toshiro protested, "Hey, that's..."

Ryu interrupted, "Cheating? No, it's called being resourceful."

Ryu again hit his most exposed chakra point through his memory of the anatomy of the ninja body he studied during his apprenticeship.

"Ehhh," Toshiro said in annoyance.

Ryu said, "Getting slow, are we? Shall we speed up things?"

Toshiro said, "You have blocked a few of your chakra points, but don't get ahead of yourself. You and I are both using pure taijutsu, and we do not have much chakra anyway."

Ryu replied, "Ok then," and then switched his strategy.

Ryu was completely mimicking Toshiro's movements.

Toshiro said, "That's ... Uchiha style."

Ryu just smiled, copying his movements, and then switched from imitating to predicting a few seconds in advance. Ryu used slight body and muscle movement that Toshiro makes right before Toshiro's moves to predict and counter his moves.

Toshiro joked, "Either you are spending too much time with the Uchiha, or you are the rumoured copy ninja everyone talks about."

Ryu replied, "The name of the copy ninja is Kakashi Hatake. But I admit I picked up a few things from the Uchiha."

Toshiro said, "Socialising with the enemy?"

Ryu replied, "It has been nearly 100 years since they were enemies. And by the way, I am not part of the Senju clan."

Toshiro replied, "But you have the same blood."

Ryu just smiled and delivered another punch instead of answering.

Toshiro made some distance between them. He thought, 'He was very familiar with my fighting style as if he had been studying my every move very carefully for a long time.'

Ryu smiled and thought, "Of course I know your moves. I have watched you fight a few times already."

Toshiro was now breathing heavily. He thought, "He is more skilled than me. Despite my slight physical advantage, he outdoes me with his optimised moves."

Ryu then used his Brazilian capoeira, making things hard for Toshiro.

Toshiro thought, "Are those fighting moves or dancing?"

Ryu said, "Don't let your opponent know what your next move will be."

He used a backflip and knocked Toshiro out.

Ryu declared, "I win."

Tashiro said to his father, "That fighting style of his is strange. He is always in a state of motion to make himself unpredictable."

Natsurama thought, "If he had utilised his unique fuinjutsu or ninjutsu, he could have easily ended the fight in 10 seconds."

Natsurama said, "Let's go. Let the boys play."

##PoWeR StOnEs##

If possible, please support me on Patreon and leave a review here. A review would mean a lot to me and help me expand the story.

25+ more chapters, including 5 free chapters for everyone, are available to read on patreon. com/PageTurnerPJ.

Your support is what gets this story going, so please donate PoWeR StOnEs to the story and add it to your library.

Please keep supporting the story.