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Introductory Arc
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* * Cyrus’s POV * *
Three days after the events that unfolded in the genjutsu world, training began. I was given an option of learning either Genjutsu or Ninjutsu after I mastered the basics of Taijutsu. I chose Genjutsu before Ninjutsu, mainly because I wanted to save the best for last. Almost immediately after I had unlocked my chakra, Kurenai apologized for making me live out a hell I never wanted to experience again, and for giving me Pyrophobia.
I’m not lying.
I’ll never touching a match again.
Gai stood in front of me as I perched myself on a familiar rock once more. From there, he winked at me and began to give out instructions.
“Alright, Cyrus. Let’s begin with the basics. What is Taijutsu?” The youthful jounin asked of me.
“The usage of the body in a fight without the need of chakra?” I said.
“Pretty straight-forward, yes.” Gai proclaimed. “Taijutsu is literally “Body Arts,” or the application of the body when fighting or training. Taijutsu usually spans from general movement of the body in offensive, defensive, and supplementary moves to the usage of friction, vibrations, rotations, and chakra.”
“I see.” I said, intrigued by his point.
“Taijutsu training will not be easy for you, my youthful student. You will have to face many dangers and near-death experiences before you become a full taijutsu master.” He explains to me. “For now, though, you only need to learn the basics. This shouldn’t take longer than a month if we go for a day-by-day training schedule.”
“That sounds nice.” I replied.
“Good. You understand what it is. Now give me 50 laps!” He exclaimed, shoving a thumbs up in my direction as I jogged the entire way across the field.
* * *
Two weeks into training, my general fitness was at a good level for my age group. I could run for 5 miles on end without getting winded, I could jump about 5 meters without the need for chakra, and I could run at a speed of about 20 miles per hour. Gai was impressed, but I was nowhere near his level. Without even activating the first gate, he could jump over 50 meters in any direction, almost simulating flight, he could run for days without feeling winded or tired, something I speculated when we were training, and he could run at a top speed of 75 miles per hour. He was really, REALLY on fire with his fitness.
“Alright, Cyrus.” Gai said as I perched myself back on my rock. My body was no longer sore from doing basic things, so everything he was doing up to now has had a good effect on me. “I really do value the effort you’re putting into your training, so we’re going to take it up a notch. I’ve taught you the basics of fitness and staying youthful, but now I need to show you how to hold yourself up in a fight!” Gai exclaimed, a sparkle showing in his eyes.
“So how will we go about this?” I asked.
“Pretty simple. I’m going to teach you all about form, move on to fighting in a stasis, and then move on to strategy. You’ll learn all about being offensive, defensive, and supplementary in nature, so be prepared!”
“Right.” I said.
“Good, now come over here.” Gai said, motioning me to follow him as we moved towards the river that parted the training grounds into two different sections. He stood facing me once again, pushing his feet apart lightly as he got into a fighting stance.
“Punch me.” He said simply, looking me right in the eye.
“Erm… Ok?” I said questionably, weakly bumping my fist into his outstretched hand. He caught it with no issue, but looked a little confused.
“Is that all you got? I’ve made you into a below-average taijutsu user these past two weeks. You can do so much better than that!”
I gave it a second try. My motivation was non-existent, so I wasn’t putting my all into this. My hit was almost the exact same as before, too.
“Cyrus,” Gai began. “You have to act as if I’m the enemy. By the time I’m done with you, we should be able to have a pretty decent taijutsu match, even though I would win out of experience.”
He pushed his legs apart even more, pulling his hands to his side as if he was about to go Super Sayian, and looked me in the eye a second time.
“Again!” He exclaimed. “I am your sparring partner, but attack me as if I am your youthful enemy!”
I sighed a little, but I could see what he meant. If I didn’t try, I wouldn’t get anywhere with this training. Pulling as much motivation out of myself as I could, I charged forward at Gai, taking about 3 steps before I threw a punch at his stomach. He caught it easily, smiling at me lightly.
“That’s more like it. Now, again!”
I went for it a second time, walking back a few feet to give myself a reasonable amount of space. I pushed off my foot, charging at Gai as I aimed a punch for his head. He caught it as well, complementing the effort I was putting in. I kept at it, stepping back a few feet before aiming a running punch at his body. There was no way I could land a hit at this phase, but Gai was a determined teacher, and would stop at nothing to show me that I could achieve greatness.
A couple of minutes passed and Gai had concluded an “Arm Strength Test.” He told me that I should always strive for perfection, and then strive beyond it, but my current strength will need improvement. He showed me how hard I should be punching by landing a solid blow on a rock, causing it to crack in half.
Next, Gai did a “Leg Strength Test,” directing me over to where we had stood before he assaulted that defenseless rock. He asked me to kick him any way I wished, and I did. At first, I was just standing there kicking him, but once I remembered that I was not limited in my physical prowess, I started adding some style into it. I began doing jump kicks, drop kicks, flying kicks, and several other variations of a kicking attack. Once that was over, Gai told me that I was ten times better with my lower body than my upper body, but that was no reason to simply stop and accept what I have.
“You’re getting there.” Gai said, smiling at me while flashing a thumbs up. “Let’s conduct a few more tests before I get you on your feet with some basic taijutsu techniques.”
Gai conducted a “Speed Test,” which was really just a relay race, a “Power Test” where I spent 15 minutes lifting and punching rocks until my knuckles began to bleed, a “Stamina Test” where he did some minor damage to my body to see how long I could withstand a frontal attack, and an “Agility Test” which involved a lot of running and jumping. By the time he was finished, I was in pain and exhausted, so the Jounin excused me for the day. I managed to get to my apartment building without breaking my bones, talked with Naruto (who was eating ramen and reading comics), and fell asleep on my couch.
* * *
Gai spent the next two months teaching me Taijutsu. I learned about the basics of offensive and defensive maneuvering, I learned about attacking and defensing appropriately, I learned about catching an opponent off guard, I learned about manipulating speed, I learned several E and D-rank techniques, I learned about utilizing speed to literally vanish out of sight (though I was still too slow to accomplish such a feat), and I learned about the Eight Gates. Overall, he had a very firm training regime, and I enjoyed every last bit of it. In that time, I managed to increase my previous feats quite the amount. My top speed went from 20 miles per hour to 35, my jumping height went from 5 meters to 10, and I could sprint for about 10 miles without feeling winded or tired. Gai was very proud of my progression, but reminded me that I had no limits, that that one day I would be able to jump to the moon if I trained hard enough. I replied by telling him that suffocation is the worst way to go, and he simply laughed at my joke.
As the sun came up and over the horizon, I stood about 5 meters from Gai with a large smile on my face. We both gave each other a thumbs up, the river separating us from one another. Gai grabbed a pebble in his hands and explained what was about to go down.
“You’ve come very far from when we first met, my youthful student. Now it’s time for a practice spar. Your job is simple: Land one successful it on me. If you can, you pass my training with flying colors. If you can’t, then we try again.”
Gai rolled up his leg warmers to reveal a set of weights. To even the playing field, he added a second set, which didn’t seem to hinder his movement as much as expected. Similar to his legs, he also added a second set to his arms.
“I was getting just as much of a workout as I trained you, but now it’s time to further our youthful skill together.” He said. “Now…”
Grasping the pebbling he had, he tossed it lightly into the air. “When this rock falls into the river, we begin!”
And so, time seemed to slow as the pebble fell from its suspended position in the sky. Everything seemed to have an extra detail to it as the events began to unfold. The trees seemed to rustle louder, the river seemed to sparkle more and more, and both our heartbeats seemed to be amplified in the air.
And as soon as the pebble touched the water, myself and Gai kicked off the ground, clashing fists only inches above the river.
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