"Takeshi's Courtyard"
After demonstrating his strength, Takeshi looked at the children, clearly pleased with their reactions. However, knowing it was time to begin training, he said:
"Well, I've explained how you should stand and even demonstrated the potential power. Now, let's get to work."
With these words, Sora, Haru, and Yuki spread out a few meters apart so that each had enough space. Takeshi watched them expectantly when Haru asked:
"Father, I know we're supposed to be geniuses, but could you teach us, please?"
Takeshi smiled and said:
"Alright, but this is the last time I'm showing you. From now on, I'll only correct what you're doing wrong."
Takeshi leaned slightly forward. His left foot instinctively shifted ahead to balance his stance. Then he rose onto the balls of his feet for greater control. His knees bent, and his arms lifted to eye level, with his right hand slightly higher than the left. His fingers were partially curled.
Each movement was demonstrated gradually and in silence, while the children tried to memorize everything.
Sora, the most energetic of the three, attempted to mimic the stance. However, as he made the final adjustment, curling his fingers, Takeshi moved behind him and gave him a light push. Sora fell.
"You need to stay relaxed. All these gestures are meant to give you complete control over your body so you can do whatever you want. But your tension completely ruined the point of this stance," Takeshi explained.
Yuki, clearly eager to try, decided to wait and watch his siblings first.
When Yuki did attempt, he stood on the balls of his feet, bent his knees, leaned forward, and raised his arms. However, the same thing happened: Takeshi appeared behind him, and Yuki ended up face down on the ground. Yuki looked as though he wanted to say something, but he realized that Takeshi was only pointing out their mistakes. Rising to his feet, Yuki met his father's gaze as if asking what he had done wrong. Seeing this, Takeshi calmly said:
"You were too relaxed. You must always be ready to react and counterattack. You can't afford to let your guard down."
Haru knew that the best student learns from mistakes, but a wise student learns from the mistakes of others. So, he tried to take the lessons of his brothers into account.
He immediately rose onto the balls of his feet, bent his knees, leaned forward, and raised his arms.
Everyone watched him, but then he began to emit an aura similar to Takeshi's. Even Takeshi seemed surprised. However, something went wrong, and Haru ended up the same way as his brothers. Takeshi quickly stepped forward to examine him. Realizing what had happened, he smiled and said:
"This isn't a race. You need to control the energy you channel into your muscles."
Though Takeshi identified the issue, it didn't reduce Haru's pain. Every muscle in his body cramped from the surge of energy he had inadvertently released.
Tears welled up in Haru's eyes, as even with his high pain tolerance, he couldn't bear it. Takeshi pressed several points on Haru's body, stopping the flow of energy, allowing Haru to relax. Meanwhile, Takeshi said:
"Keep finding the balance between tension and relaxation in your muscles."
Haru gradually calmed down, and after half an hour, he was able to regain full control of his body. While Takeshi had released the pressure points almost immediately, Haru's body needed time to return to its normal state.
Once recovered, Haru resumed training. Finding balance proved manageable, and by then, Yuki and Sora had already mastered the technique. When Haru rejoined, he started channeling energy into his muscles again but in smaller amounts. When he thought he had stored enough, he struck a nearby tree with his knuckles. Although he moved quickly, the bark only cracked.
He clicked his tongue in disappointment, having hoped for a better result. Sora and Yuki followed suit. Yuki's strike caused the least damage, as he hesitated, still wary of making Haru's mistake.
Seeing the differences in their results, Yuki clicked his tongue and stepped back. Sora and Haru also returned to channeling energy, now with more experience. With each strike, the "winner" alternated. Though there was no formal competition, the spirit of camaraderie pushed each of them to give their best effort.
At some point, Haru felt on the verge of a muscle cramp and stopped to observe his brothers. Sora instinctively sensed the need to stop as well. Watching them, Yuki noticed the minimal muscle movements had disappeared—they were no longer channeling chakra.
Yuki seized the opportunity and struck the tree again. Seeing this, Sora and Haru quickly followed suit. The results were similar, but Yuki's mark was the deepest, Sora's was the widest, and Haru's had the greatest volume.
Takeshi, observing their efforts, smiled and said:
"And the winner is… Haru."
The other two brothers looked at him, but Takeshi added:
"You weren't competing, were you?"
After a moment of silence, Takeshi clapped his hands to get the attention of his sons, who were exchanging glances.
"Elder Tanaka will be accompanying us tonight, along with Elder Satsuki and Elder Hirate. As far as I know, they're considering taking one of you as their disciple someday. So, pay attention to them and decide among yourselves who you'd prefer—or just try to impress them. I don't know what you'll do, but since it's only 6 PM, you have free time until bed. Meanwhile, I have some very important tasks to attend to—tasks that only someone with the title of Kuu Mono can handle."
The brothers exchanged glances, barely suppressing laughter, and headed home, while Takeshi made his way to the residence of the Masuroboshi clan leader.
When they returned, they found Hirate and Satsuki rhythmically moving pieces across a board in some unfamiliar game, while Tanaka was busy preparing something in the kitchen.
The brothers quickly washed up and returned to the main hall to watch the two masters' game. However, for Sora, it was far too boring, so he wandered into the kitchen.
There, Tanaka was stirring something vigorously in a pot, and without looking away, he said, "Ah, hello. I've seen your training, and I'm impressed that you managed to master everything so quickly and without major injuries."
He paused, adding some spices to the pot, then continued, "But your morning run disappointed me. Tomorrow, you'll be running ten kilometers."
Sora froze at the words. His entire body still ached from the damage his muscles had endured during training. But understanding the need to grow stronger, he asked, "Elder Tanaka, why do my muscles hurt so much after the morning training? I added chakra, which you said helps strengthen muscles and prevent damage."
Tanaka turned away from the pot and looked at him as if he'd just asked the most foolish question imaginable.
"Chakra strengthens and reinforces, yes, but you weren't adding chakra—you were using physical energy. And the difference is significant. Physical energy is like chakra for techniques: without it, you can't accomplish anything. But for you, chakra is like natural energy for techniques. This means that if you reinforce your body with chakra, you'll temporarily enhance it, but it won't be a permanent change. Physical energy, on the other hand, helps you survive after an extended run. I think I've made myself clear."
Sora stood there, deep in thought, as Tanaka turned back to his pot with a satisfied expression.
Meanwhile, Hirate and Satsuki started talking to Haru and Yuki. They shared nearly the same information that Tanaka had mentioned earlier in the kitchen. After hearing their words, Haru and Yuki fell into deep thought, right until Sora came in with the plates, and Tanaka placed a pot of soup on the table. Once the game was cleared from the table and Tanaka had taken his seat, everyone began to eat.
Tanaka had prepared ramen, and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Once the meal was finished, Tanaka spoke up:
"Recently, I've been studying the history of our clan's fūinjutsu and found records about who created this technique, where it originated, and why it was developed."
When he was sure he had everyone's attention, he began his story:
"It all started a very long time ago, so long ago that humans didn't even have chakra yet. There was a goddess called the Rabbit Goddess. No one knew why she was called that—apart from her snow-white skin, she had nothing in common with rabbits. But she fell in love with a man and bore him two sons. The sons were powerful because they inherited half of her chakra. In fact, she herself divided it equally between them. She loved them dearly, but something happened. The records say that the goddess went mad and began slaughtering people everywhere."
Tanaka paused briefly, as if to check whether everyone was still paying attention.
"Maybe the brothers didn't agree with her actions because they felt compassion for humans, or perhaps they had lost someone they loved. Whatever the reason, the brothers decided to stand against her. They fought for a long time, but in the end, they performed the first fūinjutsu to seal their mother away."
No one interrupted him, not even the elders, who usually added their own commentary during such tales. Everyone understood that the history of fūinjutsu was one of the oldest in the world.
Tanaka continued:
"This fūinjutsu required no papers or seals. It needed only one thing—divine eyes, the Rinnegan."
Even the elders, Hirate and Satsuki, were visibly impressed, though they remained silent.
"This fūinjutsu was known as one of the Six Paths Techniques: Chibaku Tensei!"