[Closed] Lessons from the Elder

[Zao]

In an underground training facility, a young looking child was seated in the lotus position of a dimly lit training area that had a few woven prayer mats for one to sit and meditate upon along with a number of random target dummies and targets that were attached to the wall and even the ceiling. The area itself was impressively built extending nearly two hundred meters in each direction and being nearly twenty meters in height. All of this built beneath one of the rich cities of Oasis country that was fully controlled by the shadow organization known as the Syndicate and the employer of the puppet body missing-nin. It had been a hard struggle for the former Suna shinobi but he’d managed to finally recover all of the ability that he’d had in his former fleshy body and more after fully synching his core to each of his weaponized bodies. His strength had improved to the point that even the enforcement elder had taken note of this rapid growth and had summoned the young man down here for a set of unknown reasons. Currently, Hyoryu had chosen to remain within the childlike body as it held a rather disinterested and borderline depressed look on its finely crafted face that appeared completely realistic in every way. He’d recently come back from doing a bit of spying using the special traits and mechanisms contained within the tiny body that allowed for it to sneak around and gather information unnoticed to others.

The room had been silent aside from the occasional flickering sound of candles which helped to light the underground area for a few minutes before an older man who bulged with muscles despite the loose black and red robes that he wore, it was easy to tell what kind of body type. This old man had been the one who first found and rescued the young man from hunter-nin from his home village who had been tracking him after the prison break that occurred within Suna. If not for the intervention of this man there was a good chance that the hunters would have just finished him off as he had just transformed his body into a complete puppet but had yet to gain control over it putting him at a disadvantage not toe lack of mechanisms on that puppet body at the time. He owed the elder a debt of gratitude that he honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to repay just yet as owing your life to someone was a heavy debt to hold on to and normally only by saving that person’s life would they truly be able to return that favor to the man and the organization that stood behind the massive fight. “It seems you’ve finally managed to acquire a bit of power.” This old, muscle-bound and bearded figure spoke out and his voice while not overly low in volume still seemed to vibrate the artificial body of the puppet body user seated in front of him. “A little, elder.” Ryu was being modest, he’d been able to compare his level of strength with a number of people in the enforcement branch of the organization and even several targets who had fallen at his hands. “Good, I’ve come to see just how much strength your fake body has been able to gather. This is your first time entering the inner training complex, is it not?”

Ryu nodded his head, it was indeed the first time that he’d been authorized access to this level of the training facility which meant that most likely it was a personal training area for the elder’s and Upper Moon level members of the organization. Those select few stood only below the elders themselves in power and if an elder couldn’t attend an event or meeting then that Upper Moon member for that branch would stand-in for their master. “Yes.” His reply was simple and to the point, as the man only smiled warmly, something that cause a hint of fear or perhaps it was a sixth sense to spring up in his mind as this wasn’t a normal expression one saw on the old man’s face. It was definitely something that put Ryu on guard as the man made a motion with his hand for the missing-nin to stand now before lifting his old grey eyes towards the stone ceiling above the pair. His gentle smile turned into a smirk before he briefly pointed the index finger on his rough-looking left hand upwards and after just barely bending his knees the elder leaped upwards flipping in midair to land with his feet on the stone. Chakra had filled the man’s feet and he stood on the ceiling, hanging upside down as though it was a floor for him to walk upon. ‘I see…’ He had always wondered just how strong the old man was and it would seem that he’d finally gotten the opportunity to test him in this setting as he bent the knees on the child-like body before also leaping upwards. Even as it ascended upwards towards the ceiling the man appeared to have complete control over the body as he instinctively channeled chakra to the soles of his feet and flipped over. The force at which he had leaped was enough to allow him to crouch on the smooth surface of the ceiling as though he was taking a knee on the ground, though he felt something was off with this strange material that he was trying to hold on to.

What was strange was that he felt like he was barely able to cling to this substance while the old man across from him had folded his powerful looking arms across his chest and continued to smile as the puppet body shinobi used his high chakra control to force more chakra precisely to his feet in order to feel comfortable about standing up and allowing himself to hand upside down now. “Not bad, most simply fall when trying to stand upon this lodestone.” The words caused for Ryu to raise one of his artificial eyebrows as the puppet body was capable of performing human-like facial expressions, this specific one was done unintentionally and involuntarily. “Well, at least you have this much skill and control. It would seem that I haven’t come here for nothing…” Without appearing the least bit affected by the strange stone they clung to with their chakra he slid his feet apart about shoulder-width as the man seemed to suck in a long breath of air before his muscular frame grew slightly larger. “Let me test how strong you’ve really become child!” An excited voice echoed out from old man echoed out before he leaned forward and pushed forward seemed to almost disappear to those with normal vision and even Hyo had to admit that this level of speed was above his own mobility. But this didn’t cause for the young man to fret just yet as his tiny hands came up and the small palm shot out at an equally impressive speed as it intercepted the fist that was easily three times the size of the child-size palm. Even with the level of strength that he’d acquired from reaching full mastery over his puppet bodies and modifying his core to synch better with the bodies, he felt his feel lose grip on the stone surface and slice back several feet before he was forced to focus strictly on the flow of chakra going to his feet at this point.

If he hadn’t done this then he would have most likely lost grip on the lodestone material and fallen to the ground putting himself at quite the disadvantage from being attacked from above in midair without a way to dodge or block without getting pummeled. ‘What kind of material is this strange stone…’ The man could almost instantly tell that this was some type of material that was resistant to chakra and there was so much of it as well...this type of material could not be cheap by any means and to have collected so much of it. Perhaps even he had been underestimating the actually pockets of the Syndicate and just what they could pull off and this was just for one of the three elders. Shaking his head the man understood that he’d need to split his focus in at least two ways in order to maintain enough concentration to hold that level of chakra control in the soles of his feet and also act defensively in order to keep from getting immediately overwhelmed by the old man who’s veins were starting to bulge now. The old man at this point laughed a bit, “Hahaha, good...good. It seems that my choice to save you back there on that day was a good decision indeed. But let me test you a bit further as we haven’t even gotten warmed up. His Ghost body wasn’t one made for fighting but in this situation were neither of the men were fighting at their max ability it would due for the meantime as he began to focus his mind. Splitting one’s thought into two streams was normally a difficult task, even in practice it was something few mastered but the tactical mind of Ryu’s had managed to learn how to perform this crazy task long ago and he had even developed the ability to break his stream of thoughts into thirds. But for now, he would only split it into two as that was much less taxing on him mentally and he wasn’t sure just how far the old man planned on trying to push him.

With only a smile to warn his opponent that he was coming now, the old elder pushed forward and moved through the short gap in the blink of an eye as Hyoryu was forced to deflect on blow off to the side as he went to strike with a spear fist style strike only to have the hand pass straight through the man. it was an afterimage of the man, even with the strict requirement of control needed to move about normally on this strange stone ceiling he had been able to reach a level of extreme acceleration that allowed for him to move instantly to his top speed in only an instants worth of time. ‘What a marvelous technique!’ Though he silently praised the man’s taijutsu ability he only had a moment to react as an attack came at his back left side now forcing the puppet body to spin around and use both hands to block the attack before a snap kick then used the opening which he had unwillingly presented to the old man to sneak into his guard. While it didn’t possess the full power of the man's mighty physical force, it was enough that it caused the lower abdomen region of the thin-framed puppet to form cracks as he was stent spiraling backwards as he was forcibly detached from the stone by the force. Flipping backwards the tiny arms stretched out was chakra condensed into each palm as they were able to just touch the stone allowing for him to regain control over his twisting body before chakra was once more focused into the soles of either foot. Sliding over ten meters in one direction the missing-nin was able to regain his composure and return his feet to the lodestone material as the old man casually brought his foot back down onto the stone surface in a rather relaxed and leisurely manner. ‘He’s stronger and faster than me, if I didn't have such a high level of processing power in my mind I wouldn’t even be able to last two exchanges with him and this body isn’t suited for fighting this kind of opponent.’

The puppet body user shook his head from side-to-side slightly as he lifted the dark eyes of the young child’s up onto the outline of the old man as he seemed to be constantly assessing the movements and reactions of Ryu at this point. “Are you going to keep trying to fight me with that fragile little body?” The elder called out to his subordinate now, understanding with great clarity the weakness of the small body and knowing that the puppet shinobi had other weaponized bodies at his disposal and wanted to experience them. as well. A scroll had already seemingly appeared out of thin air as he unrolled it and a large poof of smoke appeared concealing the small boy’s position for a few moments. As the cover smoke created from unsealing a storage fuuin on the small scroll began to fade the outline of a metallic humanoid figure that stood around five meters in total height towered over the two and a half meter tall bearded elder, this puppet had a number of red looking eyes that dotted the monstrous-looking metal helm of ahead as its six powerful looking arms and bladed tail swept about from side to side. This was the armored puppet of his that was designed to fight a pure taijutsu user body he had to admit to himself that in order to hold the heavier puppet in place it took a bit more focus and chakra to compensate for the weight. All six arms now extended out to each side before moving back in as he prepared for the assault that he knew was coming his way in the near future, for the enforcement elder was known for his strength and overbearing nature and to set back and wait for an opponent to attack him was just not something the man would ever do. This time the large man drew back and unleashed a set of four back to back, powerful punches that forced the missing-nin to use all six arms to defend with at the moment.

It was just the sheer strength or speed to these techniques, each punch seemed to have a certain difference to them, almost an elegant maneuver that allowed for them to somehow become harder to block or deflect as dodging them was out of the question due to just the full level of speed at which they rained down on him and do to how the fighter was able to maintain a minimal gap that didn’t allow for Hyoryu to attempt a counterattack just yet. He needed to put on his full display of intellectual fortitude against this man as he focused on just tracking the movements of the two hands now and increasing the flow of chakra to his arms and legs, to include his feet as he couldn’t just continue to be pushed back and back, step by step by this old elder. Though even Hyuryu had to express his admiration for the man and the sheer level of physical prowess that he was presenting with seemingly no regard for the opponent he was facing even if that person was one of the members of the organization. But only through realistic combat training would one truly be able to find their limits and either hit them and stall or find a way to break through them and arise to a new level. At least that was the thought spinning around in the back of Ryu’s mind at the moment as he was forced back another three meters by the old man who seemed to maintain a contempt smile on his bearded face at the moment, almost as though he was just enjoying himself and not even exerting his full strength which was impressive but also kind of pissed the young shinobi off. Individual crimson eyes began to open up all over the head of the dark skinned puppet body now, increasing the vision of the surrounding area as the puppet body nin had activated one of the hidden mechanisms that the Titan body possessed, though it didn’t possess as many hidden ones like some of the other bodies it was built more so to be a tank of sorts against enemy attacks.

With a clear view of his surroundings he was able to judge that their was only another twenty or so meters till the man would literally force him back to the wall and thus he needed to act with more than just constantly defending against the continuous rain of blows that didn’t even seem to cause the old man to breathe hard. At least that was something the puppet-nin wouldn’t have to worry about while fighting in this manner, not having a pair of lungs or muscles that needed oxygen was quite a trade off when it came to constant fighting where one had to control their breathing in order not to succumb to rapidly to weakness caused by a shortage of oxygen to their muscles. Instead for the former Suna shinobi it was his fine level of control over his chakra that was used to manipulate the puppet body that allowed for him to reach incredible heights in dexterity and deftness for the body itself. A blur of steel swept from around the left side of the puppet in a wide arch as the young man had finally gotten ahold of the macro and micro movements of the old man’s body and attacks and felt comfortable enough to not stay one hundred percent on the defense in this exchange as he manipulated the titan’s tail to move forward with impeccable speed as it slashed from left to right against their young man’s opponent. But the old man wasn’t caught off guard and only continued to smile as he kicked back easily dodging the blow of the tail which the majority of people wouldn’t have even been able to see coming due to the angle and speed which Hyoryu had calculated before putting the tail into motion. ‘He dodged it so easily? Just what level of fighting experience does the enforcement elder possess?’

While he had not expected to be able to deliver a full on strike against the man’s body the ease and fluid motion of the old, bearded man caught even the experienced fighter a bit off guard as the man was able to barely touch down on the ground with one toe before rocketing back forth towards Ryu now. Just as the tail had moved out from in front of the puppet body after its attack the man charged back in but as he did a small poof of chakra smoke from a storage seal which was tattooed on the forearms of the Elder revealed a pair of gauntlets which covered either arm from the elbow down onto the fingers like a piece of armor...he was finally getting a little bit serious with this fight as he began to speed up his strikes ever so slightly. ‘So he was holding back, but how much?’ The detail oriented vision of the puppet body man was on the money and even though the increase and speed was just slight it was still notable as Ryu had already built a baseline for the opponent within his computer processor of a mind. But this only caused for the young man to be even more on guard against this imposing figure who was already back in front of him only his fist had opened up and now palm strikes were raining down as the man seemed like some sort of metal buddha attempting to pacify the create looking Titan puppet. ‘Heh, not to bad old man.’ Though he didn’t have the time to actually speak it out loud he was forced back another three meters now even with the phantom like bladed tail lashing out at the man’s right side forcing him to use one hand to block the almost mysterious blows. If the metallic face could have, it would have frowned at how easily the man appeared to be able to read through the special manner in which he was manipulating the seven meter tail, even attempts to attack from a blind spot would fail against the awareness of the old man which bordered on the supernatural level.

Ryu didn’t know just how old the man way that he was fighting or how many life and death battles that he must have gone through and an untold number of hours spent honing his body and mind to reach such a high level of self awareness. But that didn’t cause the puppet body ninja to think about backing down but to see this as a wonderful turn of events that would allow for him to go all out without having to hold back against like he needed to against his normal sparring opponents. The right arm began to glow with a fiery red hue alone it’s seems now as he had used some of his chakra to start the combustion engine located in the shoulder of the arm as it began to rapidly spin up to the point one could hear it powering up. This change of events caused the old man to raise only a single eye brow and the attacks from just his hands continued without letting up even an ounce. This was just what he wanted as he was forced back another three meters now and as he was the upper right arm pushed forward and a circular valve opened up in the palm of the hand before a powerful stream of flames rocket forward. The jet of flames was several meters in diameter as it continued to grow as it pushed outwards towards the old man who was forced to rapidly retreat backwards now being able to barely outrun the blast in order to dodge to the side as it blew past him and smashed into the wall on the other side of the arena. A few tendrils of smoke rose from the man’s left sleeve and pant leg as the intense heat had singed the clothing but the man himself had escaped with minor injuries that he wouldn’t even notice till after the fight more likely. Shaking his arm out slightly the Elder let out a light hearted laugh, “Seems I’ve taken it to easy on you kid, that nearly burnt me. I haven’t fought a puppet user in a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever fought a human puppet body like yours. Perhaps we can both learn a thing or two today.”

His voice had a natural commanding presence to it as the old man spoke letting his voice resounded over the entire training area despite its large size, something that even surprised Hyo as his arm had ceased glowing as the shimmering of heat still radiated off the puppet mechanism. It was too bad that the puppet body didn’t have an actual mouth for him to smirk at the old man with now as the two engines located on the back of the puppet body started to warm up as the man bent at the knees before leaning the body upwards towards the stone ceiling the two men were still fighting on. “Here I come old man!” A metallic voice echoed out from the puppet’s body as Ryu spoke before his boosters activated now and propelled him forward at a speed that was above that of his normal mobility stat, flashing forward with a pair of jet like flames pushing out the thrust needed from behind him as he delivered a powerful punch down upon the man’s location. Yet, all he hit was air or the afterimage of the slippery enforcement elder as the puppet body user had been able to see him dodge at the last moment but was unable to adjust his body so late into the strike to actually hit the evading opponent. The massive fist slammed into the stone injecting into the rock an immense amount of impact force that created a massive crater tens of meters wide and about ten meters deep as it began to break apart and fall down across the arena floor. Ryu was forced to use the remaining propulsion of the thrusters on his back to retreat back to the edge of the crater he had formed in the stone ceiling of the room in order to find a place to secure his foot.

As the boosters cut off and heat could be seen still seeping from the nozzles the man’s feet glowed with a thin hue of cyan chakra as he reattached himself to the stone material now looking across the wide crater at the old man who was quietly clapping his hands slowly. “What power you’ve managed to acquire in such a short amount of time. It that because of the puppet body you are using right now?” Ryu allowed for the puppet body to relax as it appeared to simply hang from its feet now as all six arms folded over one another upon the mechanical looking chest of the Titan body. The seven meter long tail swept calmly back and forth behind the large puppet body as the young man eyed the old man who’s clapping had come to an end now as he spoke. “It’s not just this puppet body, I’ve managed to refine my chakra to this level that all my bodies possess this amount of power. And this type of intense sparring is helping me to continue that refinement process...lets not waste any more time ...!” With that the man’s upper left arm had already started to glow with the same fiery red hue that the previous arm had down as he began to circle around the crater’s edge toward the old man who smiled at him and shifted his feet a bit as the man’s muscles seemed to expand slightly like that had during the start of the fight. The slight expansion was noticed by the puppet user’s sharp eyesight and awareness but he wasn’t sure just what kind of technique the Elder was using and so he just had to continue to push forward and try to find his own limits in this fight against the more experienced man.

Another column of flames spiraled outwards as it aimed perfectly in order to intercept the old man’s movements causing for him to punch outwards with his left hand now at the air causing a vortex of wind to spiral outwards to meet the column of flames. The blast of air was not enough to overwhelm and cancel out the blast of flames but caused it to slow down slightly and the angle of impact on the Elder’s part pushed it off course just enough to miss the old man. It was a very precise maneuver and Hyo couldn’t help but be impressed at the level of the technique used and even more so the manner in which it had been executed to nigh perfection. “Even in this type of situation the man doesn’t show any wasted energy, not trying to fight my attack with brute force but just pushing it to the side the minimal effort needed…” The armored titan that was Hyo just shoot his head as the glowing arm began to die down leaving only the waves of heat still visible as they seeped off the metal surface now. The man once more pushed forward have given a smirk to the puppet body man as he seemed truly intent on teaching him a lesson today, though at the moment the missing-nin just wasn’t exactly sure what lesson he was supposed to be learning.

But unconsciously he was slowly becoming able to focus less and less on needing to control his chakra within his feet to maintain the proper footing on the strange chakra resistant stone ceiling. The old man was teaching the young pup a few new tricks, the trick this time was the method for fine tuning one’s control to the highest level achievable, but he knew that in order to do that one couldn’t just spend their time focusing on doing simple control exercises. One needed to be able to do so under the pressure of true combat which was why he was only holding back a little against the man as to not completely overwhelm the puppet body user. A few moments later the cavern trembled as the two clashed again as the six hands of the young man’s body smashed out against the two of the Elder but Ryu still found himself unable to gain a solid advantage over the man despite the number of arms he was using. Even when he brought his bladed titan tail into the mix the man blocked with hsi forearm guards as though the attacks were child play in his eye and straight forward. It had begun to truly frustrate the former Suna shinobi who had found himself far ahead of others during his missions as a member of the Syndicate...who would have known that such a powerful man was the elder in charge of his branch.

It was truly a bit intimidating but also it was building a stirring desire within the man’s core, a sort of drive to improve himself in an attempt to reach this man’s level...a goal that didn’t feel out of reach for he believed that he was almost there in this fight despite not knowing that the old man was holding back still in order to allow him to think this way. The fight continued to increase in pace and intensity to the point that the men were blurs of hands, feet, and a single tail. But the climax had finally been reached and old man believed that he’d finally allowed for the younger shinobi to learn a bit of what he was trying to teach him now. Even with his high level of instinct suddenly the old man’s hand slipped almost easily through the guard of six arms and landed a firm, powerful palm strike directly onto the chest of the puppet body sending it careening down into the ground twenty meters below. The crash of the titan’s body into the floor created a four meters wide crater as the man simply looked down from above with a smile. “Your next lesson will be in three days, I’ll notify you when and where to be….”



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