Chapitre 284: CH_8.19 (284)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
When Maruboshi asked him to bring in sparring partners, Masaaki was the first person Takuma called but he should have expected some kind of surprise from him because Masaaki brought someone along.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Akimichi Choza," said the clan leader of the Akimichi Clan.
Akimichi Choza was a tall, plump man with spiky hair dyed a bright red. He had purple markings on his cheeks—a common trait in the Akimichi Clan. He wore a chainmail under a yukata tied with a large, frayed rope.
The hulking man stared down at Takuma, who had to crane his neck to look at his face. "I have heard much about you. Masaaki praises you often, Takuma. It's a pleasure to finally meet," said Choza with a soft smile. Even though he was dressed casually, the man's large presence was threatening. Daiki was a big and muscular man, but even he felt smaller compared to this man. He had the presence of a strongman.
"He's biassed for his friends, sir," Takuma replied, still recovering from his surprise. "And we have met once before."
"Oh, we have?" Choza said, surprised, and his gaze deepened on Takuma as he tried to remember.
"It's not your fault if you don't remember. It was a couple of years ago; we had lunch together for half an hour," said Takuma. He was still working D-rank missions, and Masaaki, along with a few Akimichi, showed up at the restaurant where he was working as a delivery man.
"No wonder. I fear I don't pay attention to people when there's food in front of me," Choza laughed merrily. His hoop earrings bobbed up and down and slapped his stomach with his large mitt-like hands. "But I'll remember you this time. Masaaki tells me that you want to spar. I've some expectations because of him; I want to see you meet them."
"I'll try my best," said Takuma.
He vaguely remembered Choza from the source material, but not enough for him to leave a strong impression. However, he absolutely knew the man by living in the Hidden Leaf village. He was a jonin and the leader of one of the strongest Hidden Leaf clans. During the Third Shinobi World War, the village had trusted him to lead the peace treaty negotiations with the Hidden Stone, who were anticipated to turn hostile, and he was considered to be the person to either sign a treaty or push the Hidden Stone back in case they turned belligerent.
Takuma looked at Masaaki, who had brought yet another surprise with him, because he was playing tag with a young Akimichi Choji. The little rotund Akimichi was chasing Masaaki with a goofy smile on his face.
"You brought your son?" he asked.
"I thought it would be good for him to observe. Excuse me," Choza said and then moved past Takuma to greet Maruboshi, standing behind him. "Mister Maruboshi, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"
"The same as you, Mister Choza," Maruboshi bowed slightly in greeting.
"He's your student? You don't say," Choza said, and his gaze toward Takuma gained much more interest after finding that Maruboshi was training him.
It wasn't surprising that Maruboshi was known by someone as high-profile as Akimichi Choza. Maruboshi had worked with both the Second and Third Hokage and if he hadn't rejected promotions time after time, he undoubtedly would've been a proud jonin of the Hidden Leaf. Anyone who mattered knew Maruboshi's value and dedication to the village.
Takuma left the two men behind and walked to Masaaki, who was now spinning Choji around without a care in the world. He knew Masaaki was invited to be an affiliated shinobi to the Akimichi Clan by Choza, but he had no idea they were this close.
"Yo, Takuma. When are we starting? I'm excited!" Masaaki said as he put Choji down and smashed his fists together.
"Let them finish their chat," Takuma pointed behind him at Maruboshi and Choza. He looked at Choji, and the moment their eyes met, the kid hid behind Masaaki—a reasonable reaction. He waved at him, only for Choji to retreat further behind his large friend.
Takuma sighed.
"Don't mind him. He's just shy. Give it time; he'll warm up to you," Masaaki grinned. He turned to speak to Choji. "This is my friend, Takuma. He's a good shinobi. Not as good as me, of course, but really, really good."
Takuma shook his head and thought about what to say to the shy kid before landing on using something common between them to bridge the gap.
"My name is Takuma. What about you?"
"...I-I'm Choji."
"Hi, Choji. You're in the academy, right? Which year are you in?" asked Takuma, making sure no one would think it strange how much he knew about Choji.
"Fourth year."
"Really? Do you know Sasuke? He's in the fourth year as well?" said Takuma.
"You know Sasuke?" asked Choji, showing a surprised interest.
"Uh-huh. His mom is my teacher. I see him when I go to his house. He's a total mama's boy, you know?"
"That Sasuke? No, you're lying," said Choji, giggling.
Takuma understood why he didn't believe him; Sasuke was an aloof kid with strangers who had barely warmed up to him after a couple of months of lessons, and that was only because his mother liked him.
He could see Sasuke coming off as standoffish to his classmates.
"He's just shy. If you don't believe me, try to talk to him. It may look like he'll bite, but he's actually quite nice," said Takuma. He didn't know why he was saying these things, but he had said them—it was just like the time he had met Naruto.
He turned to Masaaki and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You better have improved since the last time we sparred."
"Of course!" Masaaki said, punching Takuma back in the shoulder with a force that actually hurt. "I've been doing some serious training since I flunked the Chunin Exams."
"Fu—" Takuma wanted to curse him out but held his tongue because they had a kid in their company.
Masaaki, with Nenro on his team, had participated in two Chunin Exams. In their first attempt, they were eliminated in the first round. They had changed their other teammate, and on the second attempt, they managed to go deep through the second round but failed to make it to the final round. They would've made it to the final round, but they ran into the Tsuchikage's granddaughter.
Maruboshi and Choza finished their conversation, and the two parted toward their separate corners.
"What do you want me to do?" Takuma asked as he did some light stretches before the fight. The remaining days until the ANBU test were for Maruboshi to adjust Takuma's combat style or, at the very least, convince him that it was possible.
"Nothing different than usual for now," said Maruboshi.
Takuma raised an eyebrow because there wasn't much time to change anything in the first place. He jogged out first while Masaaki similarly conversed with Choza on the other side.
Masaaki hadn't changed much since before Takuma left for the war. He was still a skinhead who liked to dress light and had rocked up to the spar in a tank top and shorts. And, of course, he walked into battle with his trusty knuckledusters.
"My goal today is perfect victory," said Masaaki as he smashed his knuckledusters together.
"You hadn't beaten me in a year before I left," said Takuma.
"I've changed in the last year."
"So have I."
Both made Seals of Confrontation before Takuma shoved Masaaki, starting the spar. Masaaki grinned and took a quick step forward as he swung a haymaker for his face. The knuckleduster glowed white as Masaaki started aggressively with his bukijutsu.
'Already?!' Takuma thought with surprise as he ducked underneath the glinting metal and countered with an augmented body blow as his opening, but Masaaki put his hand in the way to block it. The chakra rushed forth, and he expected Masaaki to be blasted back, but he dug his feet and stood his ground.
Takuma wasn't surprised. Masaaki had always been the durable sort. He shoved him away to make some distance before swinging his raised fist down. Takuma blocked it with his arm and felt the force reach his bones.
'I can't let that hit me in the face,' Takuma thought as he felt the burn in his arm.
Masaaki followed up with a one-two combo. Takuma shuffled out of the way and kicked him in the knee, but he saw it coming and pulled his leg back at the last moment.
"I know that one," Masaaki smirked and tried to grapple him, but he slapped his hands away and shoved him back with a shoulder to the chest. Masaaki wasn't fazed and feinted to the right but struck from the left.
Takuma took the blow to the ribs and bore the pain as he smashed an uppercut into Masaaki's chin. It wasn't augmented, but it sent him stumbling and dispelled the chakra flowing to the knuckledusters.
Masaaki wasn't able to evade the kick to the ribs that knocked him to the ground. Takuma tried to pin him down, but he threw a kunai at him at the last moment. Takuma snatched the kunai out of the air and immediately threw it back, but Masaaki had already rolled away and got up to a squat.
The two stood still before they jumped at each other.
Takuma smashed an augmented fist into the same spot he'd kicked earlier. Masaaki's face turned red, but he gritted his teeth and socked Takuma with a glowing knuckleduster. Takuma's vision doubled, but he kept his eyes on Masaaki and bobbed his head away when another haymaker from the same hand came for his head.
'I know this,' he thought.
Takuma pulled back his torso to let another punch slip him. His vision was still doubled, but he put his arm in front to block a body shot and then ducked while shuffling to the side to evade a cross. Just like he had some habits, Masaaki had them as well—and as his most frequent sparring partner before his deployment, he knew him as much the other way around.
"I know that one," said Takuma as his vision returned.
Masaaki smirked and swung at the same time as Takuma. Their chakra-drowned fists smashed against each other, and both were pushed back a few steps before getting right into it. They brawled it out and only put the least amount of effort into defending themselves.
"Alright, stop!" Maruboshi yelled from the sideline, stopping the two fighters from trying to break each other's bones.
Maruboshi and Choza stood together to watch the fight and separated into their own corners.
"That was not your usual," said Maruboshi.
Takuma winced as he touched his cheek, which was scraped from the knuckledusters. "It was a warmup. This happens sometimes with Masaaki," he said. "A straight-up brawl to either blow off tension or build a head of steam."
"...You two are similar," Maruboshi commented. "Just like you, he didn't even try to dodge most of the hits."
Takuma sighed as he sat down on the ground. "It's my fault. We sparred quite regularly before the war, and he picked it up from me. But he's not this bad; he was just trying to match me beat-by-beat there."
Masaaki used to have a counterattacking approach, where he would wait for an opportunity to land a heavy strike to create an advantage to exploit—but that had slowly changed to taking the initiative and pressing the opponent, forcing them to make a mistake that he could blow open.
"It's heavier than I thought," Takuma groaned as he lifted the weighted vest to relieve his torso of its weight for a couple of seconds. He was wearing the new weighted gear, and this was his first time fighting with the extra weight, which was messing with his breathing.
"Do you want to lighten up?" asked Maruboshi. "It's not useful to spar if you can't move properly."
"No, it's alright. I've gotten used to it," Takuma said as he stood up with a groan. "I'll win this one."
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 285: CH_8.20 (285)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Masaaki took a quick gulp of water and left the sidelines for another round of sparring.
Choza had nothing to say as they hadn't fought properly yet; the first round was to get them fired up for the real thing. He was well aware that Takuma was stronger than him and held back in sparring. No one went all out in spars; that wasn't their purpose, but Takuma tended to match his opponent's level—he would fight Ai on her level even though he was so much stronger.
Masaaki didn't want him to line up to his level. He wanted to feel the pressure of facing someone stronger during their spar. There was no meaning without a challenge. The warmup round where they punched the shit out of each other was his way to get him worked up, so he would truly try to beat him.
"Ready?" Masaaki asked as Takuma walked from the sideline.
Takuma cracked his neck with a jerk and nodded.
Masaaki grinned when he saw Takuma doing short hops on his feet and his hands already raised to form the guard. He was ready to fight for real now.
"Let's start," Masaaki said as he pulled his arms up. "Go!"
The dirt around Takuma's feet exploded as he jolted forward. Masaaki heard wind rippling as the fist slipped past his ear. He gazed into Takuma's eyes and saw the look of single-minded focus reflected there.
Masaaki knew better than most people about how Takuma fought. Like him, he preferred to be close, where he could decimate the opponent with a solid strike. His preferred ninjutsu were also geared to give him an advantage in the melee range. The ideal scenario would be to keep a distance, but Masaaki wasn't as effective across the distance and he knew he would lose if he tried to put distance between them.
For him to win, he needed to be close too, but more importantly, he had to make sure Takuma didn't get the chance to use his favourite water tentacles. He could contend equally as long as only four limbs were involved on both sides, but Takuma would win if he managed to gain eight more.
So, he was going to stick to Takuma like glue at any cost.
Masaaki grabbed Takuma's arm and kicked his leg to trip him, but Takuma jumped at the last moment. Masaaki tightened the hold and switched to an over-the-shoulder throw. He was heavy because of the weighted gear, but because of it, he fell faster and harder, ploughing the earth with his fall.
Masaaki's knuckleduster glowed as he swung down at Takuma's face. His fist cratered the ground, Takuma managing to roll out of the way at the last second, so he grabbed his feet to drag him close before stomping on him. The foot rammed against Takuma's crossed arms and his body sank into the ground.
Between the crossed guard, Masaaki could see the perfect calm in Takuma's eyes, so he raised his foot for another stomp.
Takuma kicked the ground and forcefully slid away. He got up and tried to put some distance between them, but Masaaki didn't let him and immediately pressured him with his bukijutsu, knuckledusters glowing, chugging at full speed. He stepped in and struck him with a blazing-fast four-hit combo that lifted Takuma off his feet and had him stumble when he landed.
Seeing that he wasn't getting away, Takuma immediately switched gears and committed to attacking back.
Masaaki immediately felt his muscles taut in the face of danger and raised his guard.
Takuma sidestepped a haymaker and countered by kicking him in the knee and followed up with two swift punches that were perfectly blocked. Masaaki saw an opening in the block and smashed a satisfying hit into his side.
'That felt good,' Masaaki grinned when he saw Takuma's eye bulge and spit fly out of his mouth.
He saw another opportunity created from his attack. He immediately moved in while putting more power in his bukijutsu—when Takuma suddenly moved in a perfect counter, which not only closed the opportunity but also opened Masaaki to punishment.
'Shit, I got baited,' Masaaki cursed.
He raised his block, but Takuma was faster and jammed a palm strike into his chest and then went below the belt by punching him in the groin. Masaaki staggered by the double blow and hastily raised his hands forward for a block, but Takuma was once again faster and slipped an augmented punch right into the upper abdomen.
The force from the chakra spread throughout his upper body, disrupting the tension in his muscles. The impact force itself knocked the wind out of his lungs and rendered him unable to either defend or attack a small window. Masaaki tried to let his body free fall back to close the window, but Takuma grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down as he slammed his knee into his stomach.
Masaaki folded from the waist as he flew into the air. Takuma pushed against the ground and rocketed above Masaaki while in the air. He joined his hands and then threw down a powerful augmented double-handle.
The burst of chakra released a sound wave as it smashed Masaaki down.
Through sheer force and determination, Masaaki twisted his body mid-crash and landed on his feet. The force made him kneel, and he felt the vestiges of the chakra wreaking havoc in his body. His legs threatened to give out from beneath him but he powered through and sprinted straight toward Takuma, who did the same.
Masaaki clenched his right fist, and the knuckledusters began to shine with a blinding glow. People thought he was a close-range fighter who had nothing to add range because he used knuckledusters as his weapon of choice, but they were mistaken.
He extended his fist when he was several metres out, releasing a concussive wind blast from a distance.
However, Takuma wasn't "just someone" and moved out of the way, if a step too late. The fist-sized blast clipped his shoulder, sending him spinning to the side. He came to a sudden, unstable stop. Masaaski continued forward, ready to capitalise on the advantage, when he saw him spring up and meet him halfway, fist glowing.
As they closed the distance, Masaaki broke into a knee slide and slipped below the fist by mere inches. The augmentation's force burst out, and he felt it part his hair, scratching against his scalp like sandpaper. He ignored the irritation, got up to his feet, and turned around to use the opportunity to attack.
Takuma, who had his back to Masaaki, quickly turned around and struck out with his cocked fist.
'He's hasty', Masaaki grinned when he saw Takuma strike out with his punch too early. Masaaki pumped the brakes to ensure the fist wouldn't reach him, which was when he saw the clear look in Takuma's eyes—there wasn't a hint of panic in them.
Even though the fist was far, a brutal force hit Masaaki square in the face and blasted him to the ground.
Takuma jumped on Masaaki and slammed a full-force, non-augmented fist into his chest that burst cracks below Masaaki's body, who felt his bones on the verge of breaking—and would've shattered if Takuma had used his strongest attack.
But he wasn't concerned with that because he was shocked by what he had just witnessed.
———
.
Choza watched as his student hobbled to the sideline after the round of sparring came to an end. There was a look of stunned surprise on Masaaki's face, hand on his chest where he had been hit.
"Do you know he created his augmentation all on his own," Masaaki said with a faraway look.
"I noticed that it seems to be based on overcharging the adhesion principle," Choza replied. If it were just that, he would've still considered it a waste of time and effort.
Many people had tried to use the principle similarly and had failed to turn it into something usable over a long time. The Akimichi clan itself had experimented with the principle because of their clan's affinity and preference towards chakra augmentations to boost their destructive ability—but those projects had been abandoned after they thought it wasn't worth the time and effort.
But from what he saw, the way Takuma used chakra to boost his striking force had evolved beyond the basic rules and limitations of the chakra adhesion principle. It was still very crude, but he could see potential; this could be a diamond.
"All by himself, you say?" asked Choza, interested in Masaaki's friend.
"...Yeah, he used no reference. In hindsight, that wasn't smart, but perhaps that's why he succeeded. When he made mistakes, he used to crack his bones and rip his muscles, but look at him now; he has brought it so far," Masaaki sighed.
"Why do you sigh?"
"He had to figure out everything I have with a blueprint I could follow... and he still managed to inspire me. He stopped improving at a rapid pace for a year when he was in the Police Force—and I thought it was my chance to catch up. I thought today would be the day I would fight him as equals. And yet here we are... it feels like the gap just keeps widening no matter what I do."
Choza gazed at his student with a soft smile.
They met once a week, where he would check Masaaki's progress and give him advice and tasks for the next week. In the years they had been meeting, not once had Masaaki complained about anything and took everything in stride. He was stubborn in the best of ways and got along with almost everyone in the clan—an exemplary shinobi with a respectable nindo.
He didn't think he had seen Masaaki dejected like this when faced with defeat. He would always just laugh it off and confidently declare that he would improve and get back to training to make his claims happen. It was a quality that most people lacked—the willingness and desire to put in the work to improve.
'He resembles him,' Choza smiled when he thought about his other student who had surpassed him and had become one of the leading figures in the village, renowned worldwide for his strength.
"Masaaki, get up."
Masaaki looked at Choza and saw the unbothered expression on his teacher's face. The dejected look eased, soon replaced with a look of focus and determination. He slapped both his cheeks with the knuckledusters adorned on his fingers and got up.
"Sensei! I'm glad that my friend is getting better, but I'm also not happy at the same time. Is that bad?" Masaaki asked with a serious expression.
"It's natural to feel that way sometimes," said Choza. Emotions were a complex matter, and he could understand where Masaaki was coming from. "Be ready, Masaaki. Starting tomorrow, we will meet thrice a week. I'm going to push you harder than we have ever trained. That gap you mentioned? We're going to close it. You're a shinobi with ties to the Akimichi clan—you have to win to hold up our honour and prestige."
Masaaki's eyes widened in surprise, and he stayed rooted to the spot for a couple of seconds before he stood at attention and bowed till his torso was parallel to the ground.
"I'm honoured for your tutelage. I will work hard not to shame the Akimichi clan."
"Good," Choza smiled, and before he could tell him to stand straight, Choji approached Masaaki.
The little Akimichi tugged on Masaaki's tank top, making him look at Choji, who held up a waterskin.
"I think your glowy knuckledusters are cooler, Masaaki!" said Choji.
Masaaki received the waterskin and looked between it, his knuckledusters, and Choji before breaking into a loud, rambunctious laughter as he ruffled Choji's hair, who backed away quickly and glared at him because the knuckledusters were still on his fingers.
Choza chuckled. If there were one thing no one could beat Masaaki at, it would undoubtedly be his mental fortitude. He could laugh anything off and enjoyed battle to its fullest—in their profession, that would take him far..
He turned to look at Masaaki's friend in the distance. He had accompanied him today to check how Masaaki fared against someone outside the Akimichi clan. He had no opinion of the friend except for his work in the Police Force. But his interest piqued when Maruboshi Kosuke showed up.
'Takuma, was it?'
"Are you interested in Takuma?" asked Masaaki, noticing his teacher's gaze.
"I'll admit, he's piqued my curiosity."
"I think Takuma would be perfect if he joined the clan," said Masaaki, immediately jumping the gun in the hopes that he could help his friend get the backing of a big clan.
Choza laughed, thoroughly amused. He enjoyed Masaaki's personality and found it refreshing because there was no deceit in it. He spoke his mind as though it was natural to do so in every situation. Before he could say that it was too early for them to consider that, Masaaki dropped a shocking knowledge.
"But, it might be difficult to pull Takuma to the Akimichi. He's Uchiha Mikoto, the Lady Uchiha's student. But I think we're a better fit for him. You saw his fighting style..."
Choza was no longer listening as he stared across the field at Takuma, who had suddenly gone from a surprise student of Maruboshi Kosuke to being close to the Uchiha matriarch.
That was no mere clanless orphan, and in that moment, he realised that he was looking at the beginnings of something great.
———
.
On the other side of the field, Takuma was on all fours, heaving like a lung disease patient. Beads of sweat dripped from his body, enough to barely irrigate the patch of land around him. His face was red from exertion, and his body shook as though he had just run across the country without any stops.
"These... this... this is h-heavy," said Takuma, panting profusely. For the weighted gear to give maximum benefits, he had to push himself to operate at his usual speed. It wasn't as strenuous when doing regular activities, but it was near torture to fight in those weights when he wasn't used to them.
"No pain, no gain," Maruboshi smiled, tossing a canteen to Takuma, who drained it within seconds. "You were right; your friend does fight like you."
Takuma turned around and lay down on the ground on his back with his knees buckled up. He was silent momentarily and stared at the sky as his chest rose up and down.
"I didn't want to fight like how I did just now when I was just starting," said Takuma, reaching into his memories. "I wanted to be a ranged fighter because I used to fear getting cut by kunai… and the pain. I wanted to keep my distance to be safe and use ninjutsu to do damage from afar."
"Surely you see the irony, my boy?" Maruboshi asked as he sat beside Takuma, cross-legged in the grass.
"When I knew I would fight up and close, I turned to the person I had seen fight like that the most. It was Masaaki. He loved to fight like that, and I can't imagine him fighting in any other way. Do you know he was partially the reason I stuck to developing the chakra augmentation? He used to be so difficult to fight with his bukijutsu that I thought I could be just as difficult if I mirrored him. Even the Second Form augmentation was inspired by his bukijutsu... He and a fucking awful man named Masumoto are probably my greatest influences."
"Language," Maruboshi scolded. "The difference is that your friend is more skilled than you in taijutsu."
"Huh, I don't think so."
"He doesn't need to take unnecessary risks to deal damage. In my opinion, that's the sign of better skill."
Takuma rolled his eyes and gazed across the field at Masaaki.
"...I guess he's benefited from his association with the Akimichi clan."
Maruboshi glanced at Takuma, aware of Uchiha Mikoto's offer to come under the Uchiha banner. It made him think about his youth when he was offered the same opportunity by both the Second and Third Hokage to join the Senju and Sarutobi respectively. He had refused their generosity due to his feelings towards himself, but it was an excellent opportunity for Takuma, and he had advised him to consider it with an open mind.
To do as he said, not as he did.
"Your friend is in great care. He's lucky to have Akimichi Choza as his teacher."
"Who wouldn't want the Akimichi clan head as their teacher."
"Of course, but it's greater than a matter of reputation. When it comes to taijutsu, he's possibly the best teacher your friend could hope for... after all, Akimichi Choza was Maito Gai's jonin teacher."
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
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