Chapitre 184: CH_6.13 (184)
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The link is also in the synopsis
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Rikku frowned as the boy in front of her stepped in close. It was a stupid move, and she punished him by punching him in the shoulder. Surprisingly, Takuma didn't seem to be affected and kicked her knee.
She quickly caught herself before she could go off-balance and dug a punch into his side. She saw the flinch on his face, which meant he did feel it, but once again, he shrugged it off and attacked her with a closed fist. She raised her arm to block but felt a sharp sting. Rikku looked at her arm to find a senbon needle had gone clean through the width of her arm with the pointed edge sticking out the other side.
Baam!
As Rikku removed the senbon from her arm, she felt a devastating force hit her in the leg. It was utterly on another level from anything he had thrown at her. Nothing she could do could stop her from staggering, but she wasn't completely helpless as she controlled herself enough to stagger away from him.
Takuma raised his arm with a kunai in his hand that he threw at Rikku's shoulder.
Surprised, Rikku raised her arm to catch the blade. The kunai cut the inside of her palm because of her hasty move.
In an instant, Takuma closed the gap.
'Fast!' she thought, aware of the fact that he was wearing weights.
Takuma grabbed her arm and twisted it so the back side was up, and in one seamless movement, he slammed his elbow down at hers, forcing it to go against its natural motion, and with came the pain along with the fear that Takuma would force it past the breaking point.
But instead, he used the same elbow to smash in her face.
Rikku dropped to one knee and brought her arms together to form a block, but Takuma grabbed both of her arms, pulled them apart before slamming his knee into her face. At the last moment, Rikku turned her face away so he didn't get her chin or nose, but it was still painful.
This time, it was Rikku's turn to shrug the pain off. She jumped Takuma, pouncing at him using the strength she built up in her legs to compensate for her light body weight. It worked as Takuma's weighted gear worked against him.
They tumbled to the ground, and Rikku switched to wrestling, trying to lock Takuma in a hold so she could force him into submission. He struggled on the ground due to his weighted clothes and tried to struggle, but Rikku caught his head between his legs while restricting his hands with her own.
Rikku quickly got to work and tried to get him to submit. Takuma struggled for a moment before he stopped moving. Rikku thought he had given up and tried to push forward when Takuma suddenly returned with greater strength and freed one of his hands.
'It's okay, I can take it,' Rikku ignored the free arm and focused on making Takuma submit.
But when Takuma hit her in the side with one of those strong punches, she felt a stinging pain so bad that her grip went slack. Takuma escaped and rolled away from her.
Rikku had just stood up when she saw Takuma running towards her. She raised her guard, ready for the next attack.
'What's it going to be? A punch, kick, maybe a palm strike, or is it going to be one of those stronger strikes?'
Takuma came to a sudden stop a meter away from her and kicked the ground, gorging the soil, and flinging the loose mud towards her. Rikku covered her face, but some mud hit her face and got into one of her eyes, making her squeeze her eyes shut as an instinctual response.
'Shit!'
Just as Rikku rushed to open her eyes, she got punched in the throat. Her breathing got cut suddenly, and she gasped and coughed in panic.
Takuma took out a kunai and slashed one of her arms before stabbing at her stomach. Rikku barely moved aside, but the kunai still got her in the side.
Without getting any time to respond in any way, Takuma kicked her in the calf so hard that she felt the stress on her knee and hip. She fell down and helplessly watched as Takuma swung the kunai down at her.
She closed her eyes.
"And that ends the fight."
Rikku opened her eyes to see Anko standing behind Takuma, holding his kunai-bearing arm.
"The winner is Takuma," she said with a grin.
———
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"Shouldn't you stop them," Kameko said to Anko as they watched Rikku and Takuma fight from a distance. Neither of them had noticed that they had spectators.
"Why? They're just sparring," said Anko with a look of interest on her face.
Kameko sighed. With Anko like this, there was no convincing her.
Kameko was awakened by the sound of the door opening and closing in the morning. It was from the room across from her—Rikku's room. She didn't think anything of it as Rikku woke early in the morning, as did she.
But as Kameko gazed out of her room's window to start her morning, she noticed Rikku walk out of their house. Rikku trained in the morning, but when Rikku walked in the opposite direction to her usual training spot, Kameko was intrigued. Then she realized that Rikku was walking to the fields that Anko used as the training spot when she wanted to do a training activity.
Anko hadn't scheduled anything for the day. Then it dawned on Kameko that Rikku was going to meet Takuma.
'—I want to fight him—'
Rikku had said in passing when she had come to meet Kameko in her room on the day of her fight against Takuma.
'Don't tell me…'
Kameko quickly got dressed up and followed after Rikku. She knew how blunt Rikku could be, and she didn't expect Takuma to understand that the blunt way of speaking was just how Rikku spoke—she knew that Takuma wasn't above throwing poisonous words, and she didn't want her team to have more conflict against Takuma. She had decided to work with him properly even though she didn't like him.
By the time she reached the training field, it was already too late because they were already fighting.
"Now, this is a pleasant surprise."
Kameko flinched in surprise when she heard Anko beside her.
"Come on, let's not disturb them," said Anko as she dragged Kameko to a distance to watch the fight.
With Anko wanting to watch the spar, Kameko had no choice but to join her. The first thing she noticed was the gear Takuma was wearing.
"He's wearing weights?" she asked.
Kameko knew that Takuma was training with Anko, but not what type of training they were doing. All four team members had been offered training by Anko, but they had either refused or dropped out soon. Kameko followed her own training and didn't want to change her routine, but she understood the value of Anko's offer, so she went to Anko whenever something troubled her; Rikku only asked to spar with Anko once or twice every week; Iori wasn't interested at all; Daiki who had accepted the offer had only lasted two weeks before quitting.
"I like it," Anko smiled.
Kameko, having fought Takuma, immediately noticed the difference in his movements. He was moving sluggishly, finding it difficult to move around with the extra weight, which wasn't part of his body naturally. The weighted vest, which hugged his entire torso with equal weight distribution, was one thing, but the ankle and wrist weights were concentrated at a singular point, joints at that, were much more problematic. The arm and its two joints were essentially a system of lever machines, and with the weight concentrated so far away from the fulcrum, it got more difficult to move around. The same concept applied to the legs.
"He is at a disadvantage," she said.
"It doesn't look like they are using weapons or jutsu," said Anko.
"Rikku's strength is her strongest weapon. She will win if he doesn't remove his gear," said Kameko. The handicaps both had overtaken weren't equal.
"He has his chakra augmentation," Anko replied.
"It's going to be nowhere as useful if he can't move around," Kameko said.
The fight started with Takuma doing pretty well. Kameko noticed when Takuma felt the power behind Rikku's punches. Unlike Takuma, who augmented his strikes, Rikku used pure physical strength; Kameko, for the life of her, couldn't get used to the power that the petite frame could produce.
Naturally, things changed in Rikku's favor when Takuma couldn't move properly. He couldn't dodge or evade and could only block, which itself was damaging.
But then things changed.
Takuma was suddenly faster with his movements becoming tighter and crisper. His fighting style changed drastically, switching from being forced to be on defense to becoming recklessly offensive, but it seemed to work as Rikku was suddenly on the back foot.
"She forced him enough to use weapons," said Anko.
If Kameko knew Rikku well enough, then Rikku wouldn't pull out her weapons and stubbornly only use her body because Takuma was burdened by his gear.
As Kameko continued to watch, she found herself not recognizing the man in front of her from the man she had fought. She could still connect the combat style he used during their fight, but the one he was showing now was so different.
"This is very interesting," Anko whispered.
As Takuma temporarily blinded Rikku and took out his kunai, Kameko turned to Anko, only to see that her chunin lead was missing. Kameko looked back at the spar to see Anko standing beside Takuma.
Kameko rushed forward as well and helped Rukki get up.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yes, I just got mud in my eyes," Rikku replied.
Kameko noticed Rikku's bleeding wounds, but they weren't serious enough for her to be rushed to the medical house. The iryo-nin weren't going to be happy about healing Rikku so early in the morning.
Kameko turned to look at Takuma and found him on his hands and knees, wheezing, trying to catch his breath. Even though the weather was cool, he was dripping sweat from his face.
"I… hate… these," Takuma said as he could barely look up at Anko.
"Sometimes things good for you don't feel good," Anko grinned.
'Ah, he exchanged longevity for speed,' Kameko thought. Takuma probably pushed himself, burning his stamina in exchange for being able to move 'normally' with the extra weight.
Rikku stood up with Kameko's help. She faced Takuma, who was still on the ground, "You're strong, for sure. Let's fight again, seriously this time. I will bring my batons next time, so next time, fight me without the weight."
"S… Sure, whatever," Takuma said, stretching his words.
"Alright!" Anko clapped her hands. "Kameko, take Rikku to the medical house. We are already late for training."
"Training!?" Takuma exclaimed.
"Of course, I didn't tell you to spar with her," Anko chuckled.
Takuma groaned as he got up to his feet.
"Next time, give me a day or two's notice, you know," he said to Rikku.
"I understand. Let's fight the day after tomorrow," Rikku nodded.
Takuma's mouth opened and closed wordlessly before he nodded with a sigh.
Kameko supported Rikku as they walked to the medical house. On the way, Rikku didn't say a word; she was naturally taciturn, but Kameko could tell that Rikku was in deep thought.
"Is something wrong?" asked Kameko.
"He is dangerous," said Rikku.
"I know."
"No, I don't think you do," Rikka looked at Kameko. "What is your first instinct when you see an adversary?"
"…Disarm and detain?"
"That is mine as well," Rikku glanced back at Takuma and Anko in the distance. "I don't think that's his first thought… I think his first instinct is to kill."
Rikku rubbed her throat where she had been hit by Takuma during the fight.
Kameko didn't know if she agreed, but with the image of Takuma standing over the defenseless Rikku with his kunai, she could tell why Rikku would think that.
———
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AN: I must admit, that was a longer break than I was expecting to take. Health-issues and a writers block atop my head at the same time—and I ended up taking a near month long break. I think I'm back on track with the usual 3 chapter drop per week schedule.
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———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 185: CH_6.14 (185)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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Iori was in the best condition she had been in a while. She had woken up completely awake without a hint of fatigue, and the delightful shower she had taken afterward had freshened her up like a spring flower. Even the rain, which brought along the miserable humidity, couldn't bring her mood down.
"Kameko! Rikku! We are going to be late if we don't leave now!" Iori shouted from the kitchen as she removed the large stock pot filled to the brim with boiling water from the fire. Boiling water before consumption was mandatory in Camp Banana because of the season and their proximity to the forest—they couldn't afford disease to spread in the camp.
With Team-9 finally having five genin on its roster, Anko had asked for a team dinner to welcome Takuma—it wasn't anything special, just the team sitting together for one meal.
Every chunin ran their team differently. Some chunin leads mandated that their teams ate their meals together, maintained their gear together, and trained together, all in the name of team building. Anko was on the other end of the scale—she didn't care how they spent their day as long as they performed in the individual and team exercises she conducted frequently—but if the team failed, they were made to go through grueling training to correct their mistakes.
Anko's team was motivated by their abhorrence towards her training to function together as a team.
It was a simple, hateful, but effective tactic, as expected from the Snake's student.
"Let's go," Iori said when Kameko and Rikku came down from their respective rooms.
As they were leaving the house, Iori noticed the bandage wrapped around Rikku's hand. "Injured yourself during training? You should be more careful, you know," she said.
"She sparred against Takuma this morning. Went to him first thing in the morning and issued a challenge and all," said Kameko.
"It was a good spar," Rikku nodded as if satisfied with what had happened in the morning.
"You were too rash," Kameko shook her head.
This was the first time Iori had heard about that. She hadn't met either of the girls today because of her sleep schedule. She sighed as she gazed at her two teammates, "You know what this looks like, right? He has been here barely a few days, and two of his teammates have already picked a fight with him. I haven't talked to him much, either. Daiki is probably the only one who has given a proper welcome; let's hope the big bag of muscles got along with him and it's not totally hopeless," Iori sighed.
They hadn't known each other for a long time, but Iori believed she had a good grasp of her teammates, which was why she was worried that the relations with their newest member were already on the rocks. She was afraid that if their first impressions were beyond what they could recover.
Kameko was too proud, Rikku was a muscle head without a shred of tact, and Daiki was nice but the man was too self-absorbed with a hint of narcissism hidden under all the niceties. There was a great chance that they might end up unknowingly isolating Takuma.
"Now, I want both of you to listen to me carefully," she addressed the other girls. "Let's be nice to Takuma, alright? He's new. We have to make him feel welcome. At least for today, let's not argue with him if you disagree. I want him to get along with his."
Kameko looked indifferent, while Rikku shrugged.
Iori felt concerned, so she decided to be blunt. "I don't want to participate in Anko's punishment training. If he doesn't get along with us, we don't know what she might do if she isn't satisfied with our teamwork."
As expected, being blunt was the right choice, as Kameko and Rikku showed they understood the gravity of the situation.
They reached the mess hall. The boys and Anko were already there. The girls picked up their plates and loaded them with slop. Iori sighed as she looked at her food; it was edible with the primary focus on nutrients, but that's all it was—if nothing else, she missed her home because of the food.
"Alright, let's get this party started!" Anko was high energy, as usual.
"There's no fun in this slop," Iori sighed.
Anko laughed. "It's all in the vibes—in the vibes!"
Iori glanced at Takuma. He had a small smile on his face as he raised his glass of juice. She could see traces of fatigue on his face, and he was still wearing a weighted vest. There was a reason why none of the Team-9 individually trained with Anko. She wondered how long Takuma would last. However, seeing him being careful with how he moved his hands because of the wrist weights was amusing as heck.
"If you don't mind me asking, Iori. How did you get into fuinjutsu? Did you aim for it from the beginning?" asked Takuma.
"Hmm? Not really. I guess it's more like I fell into it," Iori set down her chopsticks. "My first contact with fuinjutsu was from a friend of a friend. My friend wanted to learn how to put together a basic storage seal, and she asked me if I wanted to tag along. I said, sure. And well, then I guess it just clicked…"
After that, she found a retired shinobi who had opened a fuinjutsu workshop and officially entered an apprenticeship. She had been receiving training at the shop until the conscription order arrived.
"That so. I was wondering if you could give me some tips. I, too, only know how to make a basic storage seal, but I'm not really good at it. I fail more than half of my attempts," said Takuma.
'A chance!' Iori's eyes shined. "For sure, let's compare our free time and make a plan. I'm not sure if I will be a good teacher, but there's no harm in trying." She felt happy that she had made a connection and was satisfied that Takuma was the one to initiate—it showed that he was still willing to get along with the team.
Takuma turned to Rikku. "We didn't get to talk in the morning, Rikku. Your strength was surprising, to say the least… it was for the first time that I felt I got a taste of my own medicine," he laughed. "My body stings in the places where you hit me."
Daiki stepped into the conversation. "Traditionally, chakra augmentations are a rare class of jutsu. Initially, during your fight with Miss Kameko, I assumed you possessed strength similar to Miss Rikku. I didn't think you were using chakra to augment your strikes. It was a fascinating experience."
"Well, you're not completely incorrect in your initial assumption," Takuma spoke. "My augmentations depend on the durability of my body. I assume you spend most of your training time with body conditioning?" he asked Rikku, who nodded. "I do the same, and I could've gone the same route as Rikku and spent time on my natural strength, but I found augmentations earlier in my development, and my focus shifted to durability and endurance. Personally, even without the augmentation, I still hit harder than most people."
It was then that Anko chimed in.
Anko said, "Unlike ninjutsu and genjutsu, most taijutsu don't have any chakra component. But it would be wrong to say that chakra has no stake in taijutsu. The chakra inside of us nourishes our bodies. The more you train or abuse your body, the more chakra will seep into your muscles, bones, tendons and transform them. Chakra reacts to what you're trying to accomplish.
"If you're training for strength, chakra would react to it." She pointed at Rikku, "She trains to hit harder and harder, so her chakra reacts to it and develops her body in that direction." Anko pointed her chopsticks at Takuma. "From what you have told me, your conditioning training is balanced with a tilt towards endurance and durability, so that's how your chakra would elevate your body." She turned to Kameko. "Her kenjutsu benefits from agility and dexterity, and she trains for it, and her chakra aids her gain more in that direction." Sitting beside her, Daiki got poked by her chopsticks in his triceps. "He wanted bigger muscles, and his chakra responded to that partial cosmetic desire, and even though you don't need big muscles for strength, he grew bigger, but despite his size, he is weaker than our petite Rikku."
'This is good, this is good!' thought Iori.
More shinobi than not didn't prefer to talk about their combat skill set and style, thinking that they would be giving out their secrets. They didn't even open up to teammates, and the only way to get familiarity with someone's combat style was to spar against them and learn through experience. The method was flawed and inefficient as people held back during spars, and it took ages to get a decent measure of a person's skills.
However, Takuma was actively speaking about his technique and having a discussion about it. Anko was to be praised for expanding on the conversation. But, it showed that Takuma was investing in the team by opening himself up in front of the entire team. It was an invitation to everyone that this was the chance to get to know him.
"… I heard a little from Arisu about what you guys did in the Police Force, but I never did get a clear picture of your responsibilities," Kameko spoke to Takuma.
Iori looked between the two ex-classmates. She was aware that the two didn't get off to a good start, and from what she had heard from Anko, they weren't on good terms. Which was why Iori was proud that Kameko was the one to initiate a conversation. Moreover, it was an interesting topic as it involved the Uchiha's Leaf Military Police Force— Uchiha and the Hidden Leaf—two topics that interested all who had never been to the Hidden Leaf.
'Now, don't you disappoint me, boy,' Iori turned to Takuma.
"Narcotics Taskforce. As the name implies, we were a small group inside the Organized Crime department who handled drug-related crimes," Takuma started.
'Bingo!'
"I had this idea about a dedicated team who only handled narcotics. That way, they could develop a specialty toward a niche of crime, thus increasing competence and efficiency, which was lacking when the cases were being handled disjointedly. When I pitched the idea, Arisu joined me. Pretty sure the entire thing would've failed if she wasn't with me," said Takuma.
Takuma told them about what the Narcotics Taskforce did. Arresting people possessing drugs, catching street-level drug dealers, shutting down suppliers, and restricting the flow of drugs into the Hidden Leaf.
"… and while most of our cases dealt with psychoactive drugs, we are also responsible for combat drugs like soldier pills and other dangerous drugs and restrictive ingredients," he said.
"They were quite popular and successful back home," Anko smiled in praise.
"… I wouldn't say that," Takuma shook his head.
"Now, now, don't be so humble," Iori chuckled.
"No, it's nothing like that," said Takuma. "I'll be the first one to admit that the reason I pushed for the Narcotics Taskforce was purely selfish. I was an outsider in the Uchiha's kingdom; to progress my career there, I needed a way to claim ground, make myself stand out, and gain achievements. I knew that I would need to work harder than the people with legacies to get the same recognition— that was the reason why I started the Narcotics Taskforce—nothing more, nothing less. It was simply a way to climb the ladder.
"… I didn't really care about the cause—but when you come face to face with the victims on a daily basis. But, when you look at them in the eye, see how they live, hear their plight and of the people around them, it's… difficult to stay unaffected."
"Aren't they just addicts? They ruined their lives by themselves," Kameko said with displeasure.
"That's the problem," said Takuma. "People who fall into drug addiction are ruining their lives; not only that, but they also make the lives of the people around them miserable. Then shouldn't we as a society try to raise these people who can't fall anymore instead of condemning them to lives full of misery?"
Kameko didn't say anything in return.
Iori didn't know if it was because she had asked Kameko not to disagree or if it was something else.
Takuma leaned back into his chair. The moment of silence on the table was filled by the chatter in the Mess.
Takuma continued, "Sure, we brought a lot of important players to justice, but what about the victims? The addicts. The children and teens who got influenced into joining the trade from a young age. And to a degree, the small street-level dealers who did it because they couldn't see any other choice.... I sent most of them to prison, plantations, and mines because it was the law, and I followed it."
"Is there anything wrong with that?" asked Anko.
"It's the law, so legally, no. But morally? Well, it sure didn't feel good all the time," said Takuma. "One of my long-term plans was to bring in some change into the law and education. Rehabilitation of the victims and education from a young age to educate the coming generation." He sighed. "I thought I would start on the plans when I made chunin and had a little weight to throw around… I should've started those plans from day one, even if I had no grounds to promote them… I regret it nevertheless."
Iori watched Takuma. The few times she had seen him, he was like most of the combat-forward shinobi she had seen—straight back, squared shoulders, and chin raised. But right now, his back was curved, his shoulders hunched, and his chin was pointing down. And she was sure it wasn't because of the weighted gear he was lugging around.
"What now, then?" Rikku spoke up. "Maybe you can do that when you go back home."
Iori closed her eyes. 'Rikku…' She had no idea what happened in the Leaf Military Police Force, but if Takuma were in a position as important as Kameko and Anko had made it out to be, then he wouldn't be here on the border region of an allied country, fighting a war against a trade partner nation.
Unexpectedly, Takuma smiled,
"I don't need to. I have given my dreams to the team I built from the ground up." He looked at Kameko. "Our mutual friend Arisu shares my vision, and I think she and the team will achieve my dream in my place…. Crap, that sounds like a 'death flag,'" Takuma laughed.
The conversation might have gone down in energy, but it came right back up due to Anko, and the group rode on her energy till the end of the dinner.
The boys and girls split up and returned to their homes.
Kameko and Rikku walked forward while Iori and Anko tailed behind.
"So?" Anko asked.
Iori glanced at her chunin lead for a moment before starting, "He knew what he was doing. He wanted to build a rapport with the team, and acted in a way to facilitate it. It feels good to know that he is someone who can read the room."
"What about the thing about the addicts?"
Iori pursed her lips. "It was either a genuine conversation, or he is really good at making people feel positively towards him." The story had everything from a flawed hero as a start, a sad middle, to a hopeful end. "Or maybe it was both of them—truths and half lies make for great tools."
"So, he's good at talking. Let's see how he will be on the field," said Anko.
"You mean?"
"We got a mission."
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———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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