Somewhere not far from the Leaf village.
Two people were conversing, both leaning against a tree facing each other.
"Are you sure Haruki's son left Konoha?" one of the individuals asked.
"Yes, we spotted him leaving directly through the main gate. According to what we found out, he left to gain experience right after becoming a special jounin, so the Hokage assigned him a not-so-difficult mission to collect information about a special jounin-level missing-nin," the other person, shrouded in darkness, responded.
"What a pleasant surprise, Orochimaru will love this news," he said, adjusting his glasses and smiling.
"Good luck. By the way, Danzo expects the data to be delivered as soon as possible," the figure vanished quickly after saying this.
The bespectacled figure observed as the other disappeared, his smile fading and a serious expression taking over his face. He was none other than Kabuto, who had fled the village during the Chunin Exam.
"Danzo thinks he can have what he wants easily; perhaps he hasn't learned how Orochimaru operates," Kabuto muttered to himself before also departing.
...
Back in the Land of Iron.
Kaito was back at the training field after a brief rest from his journey, with the gruff old man beside him ready to teach him about swordsmanship.
"First, we'll go back to basics. Get into a guard position," the old man said, holding a wooden sword in his hand.
Kaito assumed a guard position, holding his sword at eye level, concentrating on the old man's words.
"Now, execute frontal and lateral cutting attacks until your arms tire," Renji spoke again, and Kaito listened, repeating everything he said. Renji was the old man's name, a fact Kaito learned after Daichi left him in his room.
"You might find this exercise routine, as it's essential for anyone using swords and with even a basic understanding of swordsmanship, but..." Old Renji continued explaining things non-stop, making Kaito switch between simple and more difficult strikes, leaving Kaito mentally exhausted. But he didn't mind much, as he had endured more exhausting training before.
"... You see all my students here? They are certainly strong, and most of your Chunin ninjas might have trouble dealing with them. However, they won't be stronger than this. They have the same style and follow a path designated by others. So, I tell you, make your own path, be your own master. I can teach you the basics and refine your swordsmanship, but you have to forge your own path, just like your father. I doubt anyone is stronger than him when it comes to kenjutsu," Old Renji finished his explanation, leaving Kaito speechless, but he soon understood.
'Really, everyone who has reached the pinnacle in swordsmanship has always had their own path, for example, in One Piece where Zoro uses three swords, or here with Killer Bee who uses seven swords and has his own unique fighting style, even Sakumo Hatake.' After this realization, Kaito concluded that he must follow his own path, and he already had in mind what to do.
He soon refocused on his training to strengthen his foundation in kenjutsu. There was no point in dwelling too much on it at the moment.
One month had passed since his arrival at Old Renji's training field.
During this short period, Kaito trained his kenjutsu most of the time. However, whenever he had time, he studied ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, finally managing to theorize the basic enhancement of the seal he had taken from Sasuke and successfully elementalized a larger part of his body. But what grew the most was his kenjutsu. Under strict training from the old man and constant sparring with Renji, Kaito finally polished his techniques and began to develop his own sword style.
At this moment, Kaito was face to face with Daichi again; today, the old man asked him to show his progress.
"You're truly skilled, Kaito. With just a little training, you've improved so much," Daichi said as he prepared to fight.
"Hehehe, you've surprised me, Daichi. You're getting stronger and more skilled with your sword every day. I'm not sure I'll win this fight," Kaito replied with a smile.
Both were now in position with their katanas as they awaited the old man to start the fight. As soon as they heard Old Renji signal, they both advanced with full force.
Kaito swiftly attacked with his katana, causing Daichi to defend. Daichi then promptly infused chakra into his weapon, giving his katana an extra degree of power. Seeing this, Kaito was not surprised at all because before the fight began, Old Renji had mentioned that they could fight using chakra or any ability involving swordsmanship. Not wanting to fall behind, Kaito also infused his katana with chakra. However, in the next moment, Kaito was surprised as the chakra forming from Daichi's katana transformed into a chakra hammer while attacking.
He quickly stepped back, successfully dodging the chakra hammer's attack. But in the next moment, Daichi charged at a terrifying speed, and if one paid close attention, they could see signs of chakra in his feet. Kaito smiled, preparing for Daichi's approach, who had already attacked with his katana, which had a range several times longer due to the chakra.
Just as Daichi's katana was about to hit him, Kaito finally made his move, channeling chakra into his feet to gain an impulse that made him jump several times higher, successfully evading the attack. However, Daichi quickly realized this and extended his blade's range further, but Kaito wasn't concerned as he began to fall toward the attack, surprising Daichi, who became worried as he saw no defense from Kaito.
At least, that's what Daichi thought until he saw Kaito's blade extend as long as his, but the difference was that Kaito's katana was covered in blue ice, which surprised Daichi. However, the collision of both weapons made him focus on the fight again.
Kaito didn't stop there; a katana made of ice appeared in his free hand. He then used this ice katana to attack Daichi, who was still defending against the initial attack.
Daichi, seeing this, was startled and jumped back while using his chakra to form a large sword, which he used to defend against Kaito's attack, but he was still pushed back.
At that moment, Kaito realized that Daichi had become strong enough for him to show a bit of his power, so he decided to test something he had been secretly training for these days. Thus, he stopped attacking Daichi and landed softly on the ground, looking in his direction.
Kaito joined his hands and made a sign while focusing his chakra on his back.
Daichi was surprised because he thought Kaito wouldn't give him a chance to recover and would continue attacking him relentlessly. But soon, he understood the reason for the pause. Looking at Kaito, he saw four ice arms emerging
from his back, each holding an ice katana.
Kaito smiled at Daichi, seeing the shock on his face, and became even more excited to test it in battle. Now he had a total of six katanas and was ready to have his first experience in battle with them.
He advanced toward Daichi, attacking with all his might. Daichi was scared and didn't know how to defend against so many attacks, but still, he didn't retreat. Hundreds of blows were exchanged in seconds, making him feel helpless in his defense, as he had already realized that Kaito was aiming only at his sword. The lure continued as Kaito spun and attacked from every possible angle, thanks to his six arms.
Kaito left no opening or time for Daichi to retaliate, even his hand was starting to become numb from so many impacts he had to endure on his katana, but thanks to his chakra, the damage was greatly reduced. However, he knew it wouldn't last long as his chakra reserves were low.
And it didn't take long for him to have to reduce the amount of chakra in his katana in the hope of lasting longer against Kaito's intense attacks. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see any solution to his situation. However, in the next moment, something shocked him even more, as he saw Kaito spinning at high speed towards him, and the next moment, all six katanas collided with his, bringing with them all the force they had gained from the spinning speed.
Receiving the blow, Daichi felt as if his arms were going to break, even his feet left the ground, and he found himself being thrown onto other students, only stopping after knocking down three.
The old man, upon seeing this, smiled as he signaled for his other students to attack Kaito all at once.
Kaito, who had just finished his move, still felt a bit dizzy, as he had used some wind chakra to grant himself more rotational speed. Looking at where Daichi had ended up, he was slightly alarmed because he had let loose too much. After all, he had only trained alone, so he ended up getting carried away.
'I think I overdid it. I'll treat Daichi to a nice barbecue as an apology,' Kaito thought to himself, about to undo his technique. But he soon saw Old Renji making some signals, while some students advanced towards him.
Upon realizing this, he became confused and was about to ask the old man what was going on, but he silenced himself when a blade passed close to his face, forcing him to hurriedly defend against the various attacks he was now facing.
The students attacked from various angles, all with their swords infused with chakra, making Kaito feel a headache coming on. His six arms were all defending against the attacks, but due to lack of training and better vision, some blows hit his arms directly, causing the ice to crack. However, Kaito didn't give up and continued to defend and counterattack whenever possible, defeating some of the students, but soon more students took their place.
This didn't last long as Kaito began to feel great mental exhaustion, as he was giving his all to defend himself from the various angles and different speeds, coupled with the weight of having to control six arms simultaneously while keeping his ice arms flexible and resistant enough.
Old Renji's students finally managed to break all the ice arms and attacked Kaito with everything again, who found himself with little choice but to resist briefly and finally be defeated.
"Hohou houho, you've created a style for yourself based on your own chakra nature, kid. Not bad, not bad at all. From what I've seen, if you train properly and go through more intense battles, you'll be able to make this style much more powerful. Have you given this style a name?" Old Renji approached Kaito as he spoke, his eyes gleaming.
"Yes, it has a name. My kenjutsu style will be called Asura from now on," Kaito said with a satisfied smile, looking at the old man, whose eyes were still gleaming.
"Hohou, good name, my young man, really a good name," the old man agreed.
Daichi approached them slowly; he had sat and watched after Kaito started fighting the various students, but now he was ready to hear what Kaito had to say in his defense.
"Damn you, Kaito, were you trying to kill me, right? Or perhaps you wanted to break my new weapon?" Daichi began to stroke his katana as if it were much more precious than his life.
"Heheh, it wasn't like that, Daichi. I just got too carried away with the fight and couldn't control myself. But as compensation, let's have a barbecue on me," Kaito spoke in an attempt to calm Daichi, who, in turn, quickly forgave Kaito and couldn't wait to eat all the meat he could to get revenge by spending Kaito's money.
Kaito sighed and bid farewell to the old man. Although his swordsmanship had grown rapidly in strength, it still wasn't good enough, and the best place to train would be here against all the students. So Kaito planned to spend another month before setting off on his mission.