Kioka's realization was a catalyst for a training that not even my knowledge of Naruto prepared me for. Kioka took a couple of days of rest before returning to the training grounds to give me her own education. After making a sign, Kioka threw various shuriken deep into the forest. I could see her pull a small bundle of strings from her throwing hand, and while making another seal, the strings stiffened. Keeping the seal, she began to talk to me: "Close your eyes, Genji, and tell me what you sense."
I followed her instructions, trying to feel out whatever was out in the forest, but all I sensed was Kioka beside me. Keeping my eyes closed, I strained my senses. But nothing happened, no matter how hard I tried. If anything, my straining just made the midday sun's heat even more intense than before. I scowled as I opened my eyes, my frown deepening as I saw the smug look on Kioka's face. "Ok, what am I doing wrong?" I asked with a forced smile on my face, my voice strained. But of course, Kioka hadn't failed to notice.
Kioka chuckled as she dug a fresh kunai into the ground. Glancing at it, I could see various threads attached to the kunai. I guess every string was attached to a shuriken somewhere in the forest. "If you had been able to sense Chakra at will for the first time, you'd be a genius," Kioka said. Her voice lazily drew out of her mouth, a yawn quickly following. "And I can't really tell you how to do it. It's like walking for a baby. You learn it over time. Don't worry, though. Watching Chakra flow and using Jutsu will help you feel out what Chakra is like to you. Get familiar with that and, if you're like other sensors, it'll be like a sudden epiphany hits you. How is infusing your new weapon with Chakra going?"
My knees bent as my index fingers drilled into the side of my temple. "What's there to say? It's as if the metal itself is actively fighting against me. Every time I attempt to put Chakra into the metal, it's like it reflects it." I fumed into the air, not really paying attention to Kioka anymore. "I've tried everything. I made a complete circuit with both my hands, I put a huge amount of Chakra in the thing, and hell, swung it around a couple times to see if using it would help with the infusion."
I could hear the amusement in her voice before she even spoke, "So you've been practicing with the weapon as is? Like some single-sided nunchuck?" Kioka mocked.
That was when it was my turn to be amused, "Well, duh, it is a weapon. Just because I can't use it to its fullest potential doesn't mean I can't use it." Looking back up at Kioka, I unhooked the, unfortunately, bladed nunchaku from its holster on my lower back. Its two handles were fastened only with a clip that let both blades face clip-side down. I had experimented with places to put the weapon, but near my back, closer to my hands, felt more natural to me. I stood up, flourishing the weapon.
She leaned on a tree that was nearby as she watched me sling the weapon through the air, slipping it between my arms. My eyes were closed as I tried to ignore the minor cuts that still stung from the countless times I had cut my sides in practice. Ending my flourish, I caught the pseudo-Nunchaku bladeside up.
Kioka, to my delight, clapped while gasping. My chest swelled as I began to start another Nunchaku flourish. As time went on, my mind wandered into a trance. Each slip between my fingers was cleaner, each transfer to my other hand was sharper. And then it began.
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Kioka smirked at the boy. As he was moping, she had sensed at least five Chakra signatures slowly surrounding them. Four of them were Genin-level Chakras, but one of them was at the Chunin level. A devilish grin crossed Kioka's face. Captain Gomi had tasked her with training Genji for the next three months, but she knew next to nothing about him besides what the Captain had shared. Out of those confirmed things, Genji's ability to sense Chakra was something she had confirmed herself. She had also seen his Taijutsu prowess during an intense sparring session between Genji and Kenzo. Kioka had been surprised when Genji had dodged many more attacks from Kenzo than initially anticipated. Well, before Genji antagonized Kenzo. Kenzo made quick work of Genji after that. However, it was one thing Genji would never be ready for. Taking his first life.
She felt the Chakra signatures get closer in her mind's eye. She did not, however, sense the arrow that was let loose upon her new companion. The same could not be said about Genji himself, however. He moved like water. Swift, smooth, deliberate. Genji stiffened, if only for a second, and the arc of his weapon shifted. The sharp ring of metal on metal rang out through the forest. "Shit," Kioka thought to herself. It was her complete mistake; she hadn't thought about the possibility of regular ninja using weapons not usually made outside of hidden villages. It was a stupid assumption built on overconfidence. Kioka's usual smirk still tugged at her lips as the object that Genji deflected, twirled in the air—embedding itself on the forest floor—an Arrow. Enemy contact may not have been expected, but Kioka thought this would be the perfect test. "Let's see just how well he does," She thought to herself.
"Genji~" Kioka called out, momentarily breaking his concentration. "This is not a training exercise. These are actual combatants and aren't in our squad. Good luck!" Still leaning against the tree, Kioka made a hand sign, and with a puff of smoke, she was gone.
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"What do you mean, 'Good luck!?'" I screamed out. I deflected the first arrow almost on instinct, and now she expects me to fight whoever shot the- wait. Combatants? More than one? "Kioka! Help me, damn you!" I screamed out into the forest, but the only sound that met me was snickering before I felt a familiar prickling on the nape of my neck. The same feeling that I felt when I deflected the first projectile. I swung my nunchuk behind me, feeling it clatter with another object. The object, now slow enough to see outright, was another arrow. Using the momentum from my weapon's weight, I jumped into the air to a tree. I knelt on the tree, parallel to the ground, trying to use the new vantage point to get a view of the forest in front of me. Another familiar prickling, and I found myself pushing off the tree. I didn't even have to look back as metal met wood with the familiar THUNK of shuriken and Kunai. Sliding to a stop on the ground, I found my assailants had decided to make themselves known.
"Why is this kid so slippery? He looks like he's still in pre-school." A whiny voice pierced through the battlefield first, soon followed by a man. And if I could be honest, his body matched his voice. He was lean and lanky. A mess of brown, dirty hair hung down to his knees, barely distinguishable from his filthy clothing.
In contrast, another man walked beside him silently. The man's blonde hair was kept short and neat, slicked back and out of the way of his piercing grey eyes. He wore traditional ninja wear, fitted with a flak jacket. Except for his back, he wore a large basket. Slowly, the blonde reached into the basket, producing the same arrow that he must have shot at me earlier. Flinching, I put my weapon out in front of me. It had gotten a little longer, by barely a centimeter. It was a fact that registered subconsciously, but my body felt the sudden change. Sweeping the blade out in front of me, I made my blades face my enemies. The leather grip of the weapon creaked under my fingers as they curled around it.
"Excuse me, kid, where did the 'Smirking Surgeon' run off to?" said the dirtier man. His tone was sugary, but he was close enough that I could feel his true intent. It was suffocating. Cold, quiet rage flowed out of the shinobi. A personality type that made this more fun for me.
"All I know is that I'm taking you both down," I said as I bent closer to the ground. I dashed right towards the pair. It may have seemed reckless, but "as long as I get the firs-" The thought didn't even get to finish as I felt the prickling sensation that had saved me thus far go through my entire body. Sweat instantly soaked my shirt as, on a dime, I veered to the left, diving onto the ground. As soon as I dove, the ground beneath my feet was no more. Some large explosion had carved it up. The force of the explosion and the subsequent dust storm launched my body a ways away, close to the forest's edge. I tried to look up, but the dust cloud made that obviously impossible. "Oh great," I mumbled, "Was that another one of them?" I could feel my lips curl in frustration. Frustration? No, that wasn't exactly it.
Taking the opportunity to holster the bladed nunchaku, I fumbled along my legs until I felt the cylinder. My scroll, the single scroll that I owned because of Gomi. It was a basic storage seal for anything and everything she gave as a gift, along with a pair of actual, battle-ready Kamas. These blades weren't made from the same metal as my custom weapon, but I could use them significantly better than these pseudo-nunchaku. It would have to do. Fortunately, the smokescreen gave me just enough time to switch weapons. A thumb bite later, and the pair of Kamas rested on my shoulder. "I won't be surprised again," I vowed. Slowly, I got up into a crouch and jumped back into the forest. I let the greenery and shade envelope me as I hid in the brush. The dust was thick, but unless they were sensors themselves, I just had to wait patiently. I had trained in this forest for almost an entire year. These were like lambs to a slaughter. That feeling I felt, it truly wasn't frustration. It was anticipation. The hunt in the forest had begun.