บท 12: Trial of steel

[Trial of Steel - A-rank Mission

You have caused so much trouble in the academy that you received the very worst punishment that existed after the Yuki clan complained: you have been sent to the Dojo of the Fog, protected by Otuka, the mad elder and relative of Byakugen, the founding Mizukage. Reputed for being one of the strongest swordsmen of the mist, he retired after becoming old, leaving his place. He used to wield Hiramekarei, one of the seven mystical blades of Kirigakure, later used by Chojuro.

Task - Get acknowledged by Otuka (Progress: 0%)

Rewards - 10 000 EXP, Swordsmanship Talent Upgrade, Reputation, unique title]

"Do you know why you have been sent here?", Otuka asked me

"I am strong", I replied without hesitation

The old man started to laugh: "Maybe. They only send kids intructors cannot handle, so this is one of the requirements. But the true reason you are here is because you did something bad and need to get punished. Take a sword"

"You will not ask me what I did?", I asked, taken aback by the fact that the old man just wanted to beat me up despite showing as much respect as I could.

The mission certainly was attractive, but it was an A-rank mission. It was not like I could complete it easily. After all, a single D-rank mission required me to spend months throwing 100 000 shuriken! Even beating Biwa Funato ten times in a row was not something that was easy considering my level. I still had yet to finish this mission, even though my winning rate was steadily rising.

"Boy, when you become my age, you learn to ask from reliable sources", Otuka muttered, "But you're one of the kind, attempting to kill the princess of the Yuki clan, bwahahaha"

As soon as I picked up the bamboo sword, Otuka drew his sword from a sitting position, a wave of chakra coming my way. If I had slow reflexes or no training in Kenjutsu, I would have been caught in it. Despite being massive it was relatively slow, allowing me to roll on the floor and barely dodge the strike.

*BOOM*

The wall behind me crumbled.

'What the fuck...Does he want to kill me?'

Knowing that the best defence was offence, I lunged forward, and created a few hand signs to throw my strongest ninjutsu

"Suiton no jutsu: Water Eagle [C]"

Otuka's eyes widened as the size and shape of the C-rank jutsu were beyond what regular genins could produce. The best part in it was that the control required to launch such a jutsu under one second was very high, something that Takeshi could have only done with crazy chakra control talent, one that was rare among those with high chakra reserves.

Besides being an experienced swordsman of the mist and one of the wielder of Hiramekarei, one of the seven legendary swords of Kirigakure, Otuka was also a sensor, and he knew exactly how monstrous the kid in front of him was. But having high chakra reserves and being able to utilize them were two distinct things.

However, Otuka used to be an elite jonin. A mere C-rank jutsu was child's play in his eyes, though a mall smile started to appear on his face.

'Let's try this', I thought in my head

After seeing him channel chakra in his blade and releasing it, I thought that I could do the very same. Most Kenjutsu specialist chose their path because they were more talented in close combat than ninjutsu. In other words, most kenjutsu specialists chose to become swordsmen because they lacked talent in chakra control.

However, I was different.

I had the medium talent [Chakra Mastery], and though I had no idea what it translated to when compared to true geniuses, I knew that even Arya from the Yuki clan was miles away from this level of chakra control.

As I channeled chakra in my blade, the eyes of my opponent widened slightly, but after a few seconds, my blade split in two and I was caught in an explosion of my own mana.

*BOOM*

When I woke up, I was in the hospital, and a girl was hiding behind a pillow, trembling in fear.

It was none other than Ana.