Chương 54: Trying to Copy Samurai Techniques

Shunsui tried to do his best to learn from these samurai. Sweat dripped down his face, but he kept his focus. Every clash of blades taught him something new about their fighting style. Shunsui knew this was a rare chance to grow stronger without using his full powers. The difficulty in the spars had increased by a lot. The samurai that he was now facing were much stronger than the trainees from before. These were full fledged warriors with years of real experience.

Shunsui did not even have his Shikai to rely on, which made everything feel much harder. He had to depend only on his basic skills and what he could pick up during the fights. Each opponent pushed him to his limits, forcing him to think quickly and adapt on the spot.

'This just tells me how much I am lacking in my skills and relying so much on my Shikai. Once I am done with these Samurai techniques, I would have to also start learning ninjutsu. Even just a couple jutsus would be good enough for me, I could just spam them with the amount of chakra I have.' He thought about this carefully while moving. It was clear that depending too much on one power was a weakness.

Learning simple ninjutsu could give him more options in battles, especially since his large chakra reserves would let him use them many times without getting tired. His eyes widened as the samurai he was facing disappeared from his sight. One moment the warrior stood across the clearing with his sword. The next, he was already behind Shunsui with his glowing blade about to slam into his back. Shunsui immediately used one of his swords to block in a quick spin.

He turned his body fast and brought the blade up to meet the attack. But his block was not good enough as he was taken by surprise. The impact of the chakra enhanced sword sent him stumbling through the dirt. He slid back several steps, kicking up dust as he tried to regain his balance. The samurai though was quite surprised as he gave a look to Shunsui's blades. They did not have a scratch even after getting hit by his reinforced blades. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Shunsui caught himself before falling completely and clenched his jaw in frustration. He replayed the movement in his head. No matter how many times he watched it in his mind, it looked impossible. Shunsui studied every detail he could remember from the attack. He knew understanding this would help him improve his own speed in fights. Shunsui thought as he gazed at his current opponent who looked in his teens, 'He has mastered flash step. He is definitely not someone who just became a samurai.'

The samurai vanished once more without any warning. Shunsui's eyes darted across the small arena, trying to track the movement. By the time he found his opponent, the blade was already descending toward his shoulder. The glowing sword came down with great force. Shunsui barely managed to move out of its way, but the sword chakra enhanced in size and managed to hit his shoulder. It drew blood and ruined his kimono at the same time.

Pain shot down his shoulder, but there was also mental pain from seeing his favorite kimono get ripped.

'Dammit. What am I missing?' Shunsui thought as he tried to figure out how the man was performing flash step. He needed to understand the secret behind it. You might think why was he trying to learn Flash step when there is Body flicker jutsu of the shinobi? Body flicker jutsu used hand signs, which made it hard for him since both his hands were busy holding swords. Even advanced users like Shisui needed a single hand sign for their version.

That is why Shunsui wanted to learn flash step and master it to another level. It would let him move quickly without freeing his hands. He forced himself to stop looking at where the man appeared.

'Forget the destination. Watch the start.' This change in focus helped him see the beginning of the movement instead of the end result. The next time the samurai moved, Shunsui focused entirely on his legs.

'There.' For the briefest instant, chakra gathered in the muscles of the man's calves which Shunsui could tell by a little visible glow of chakra. It was not spread throughout his entire body like most shinobi did when enhancing themselves. Everything was concentrated into the step. Shunsui's eyes widened with sudden understanding.

'That's it.' Most shinobi used chakra to make themselves faster overall. They spread the energy through their whole body for general speed boosts. The samurai used chakra to make a single movement faster. Every ounce of power was poured into one explosive step before instantly dispersing. But they put chakra again after it dissipated, this making it seem like rapid movement. Shunsui decided to copy the same as he put chakra into his feet just as he saw the samurai do.

But he then stopped himself from doing it right away.

'It would have been good to be a sensor or have a Byakugan right about now to see how they put chakra and move them in their feet and by how much. Jeez, I am pretty sure I would have ended up using too much chakra and slam into the wall. I am not stupid enough to do it.'

'That would be so anti climatic and a cliché. Besides I am on a mission, now that I know how this works, I can work on this when we are back in Konoha.' Shunsui thought carefully about his next steps.

'Besides I have other things to figure out like mastering the Sword chakra reinforcement techniques of samurai.' He thought about this with interest. Since Shikaku asked him to show less of his powers in the chunin exams, he needed some other techniques to rely on for the exams too. That was only the secondary reason for him wanting to learn sword chakra enforcement. The main reason was that it would improve his kenjutsu which was his primary method of fighting.

Strengthening the blades with proper chakra flow would make his swords much more effective in combat. It would extend their reach and cutting power in ways normal shinobi methods could not match.

'And who the hell does not want light sabres for weapons.' Shunsui thought with glee and excitement.