Chapter 22 - Kenjutsu

Waking up the next morning, he was greeted by his teacher, as soon as he left his room.

"Yo! You're finally up, I was a bit worried last night when they told me you were so exhausted that you went to bed before dinner…"

Sakumo was sitting at the table in their shared living room eating his breakfast, so he went over and sat down with him to eat his breakfast, while continuing the conversation.

"Don't worry Sakumo-sensei, I just did some training yesterday, and it was rather exhausting. I'm trying to learn this technique that I found in the Namikaze compound some time ago. And yes, I used clones first for… safety reasons, which may or may not involve getting torn apart in a space-time rift…"

"I had originally planned to start training you in Kenjutsu, since I found it inspiring to do in a village as well known for their Kenjutsu as Uzu, but… now I'm curious what clan technique involves getting torn apart in a space-time rift, which would probably make some higher-ups in the village question my qualification as a teacher…"

"You don't have to worry so much about it, I'm almost done with the first step I think, so, if anything, I would rather have some help with my magnet release, I found out that the way I'm using it is far to vulnerable, and not nearly as efficient as I would like it to be… maybe you have some ideas of what I can do to make it better?"

Sakumo was someone he truly wanted help from, mostly due to his mastery in lightning techniques, but also someone who had fought against Suna's S-rank shinobi, including the kazekage and the jinchuriki of the one-tailed beast, both of which could use magnet release… (AN: I'm implying that Shukaku gives his jinchuriki magnet release, which implies that Gaara's sand techniques can be done by mixing the sand with nano-particles of metal in a similar manner to ferrofluid)

"Hmm, now that I think about it, in terms of efficiency, using massive amounts of sand is rather inefficient, but with the open desert terrain, It makes sense why the third kazekage's iron sand techniques are so deadly… you have nowhere to run or hide…"

Somehow, after a few minutes of Sakumo's ranting about pros and cons for sand, he said a single sentence, that sparked a new idea from his student.

"… I don't get it, on a basic level wouldn't it be more effective to swing around sharp blades instead of sand, that can do little more than crushing the opponent, I mean…"

'THAT'S IT, how could I forget! Bleach, fuċkɨnġ Bleach, one of the big five anime… or was it seven? Never mind that, this is perfect, the Senbonzakura, it was many forms, and it can deal a lot more damage than dust, I was too focused on the Naruto universe, that I totally forgot about the many uses of magnetism in my old world… At least I got something to go on now.'

With that, he promptly interrupted his teachers rant, and went on to explain the idea to him.

"Well, it certainly has more potential, so I guess that's fine, but before you run of, we will be training your Kenjutsu until past noon, so don't get too excited yet"

"uhm, ok then… Why would I even run of in the first place, I would need to get back to Konoha to get some dust re-forged for testing, and…"

He was cut off by Sakumo's stare, in which he made no effort to disguise the look that just said; are you stupid?

It took another few moments before he though about it and facepalmed as he realized how utterly stupid his thinking was…

Sakumo nodded

"I'm never going to live this one down, am I?"

"Nope, but if you pick up Kenjutsu quickly, I might consider not telling all of Konoha about it"

"Fuck me then, let's just go train, I'm done eating anyway"

With that, the master and apprentice left the table to go train.

The training field wasn't that far away, since they were allowed to use the private training ground of the Uzumaki main family. When they arrived at the training ground, they found that it was already occupied by Daiki and his youngest son Kamin.

Kamin was about six years old, which was the same age as kids in Konoha started in the academy, so it was not unusual for Daiki to have already started his training… what was peculiar though, was that Kamin was holding a blade larger than the size of his torso, while Daiki was instructing him on some basic kata.

Seeing the pair of Uzumaki, Sakumo had an idea… Since both Kamin and Yoshio was beginners in the art of Kenjutsu and seeing that the Uzumaki sword fighting style wasn't taught until one has mastered the basics, Kamin and Yoshio would be perfect sparing partner. Despite the age difference between them, Kamin had the advantage of already having started the training for a few months.

"Daiki-sama, I wasn't expecting you to be here, much less that you had already begun Kamin's training in Kenjutsu"

"Yes, but seeing this opportunity I can't help but feel that this is the perfect opportunity for Kamin and Yoshio to spar and learn Kenjutsu together, since I was about to start Yoshio on the Kenjutsu, what do you say?"

"A tempting offer, how much does he now already?"

"Nothing much as far as I know, but I remember Hokage-sama telling me about a close combat technique, which mixes the use of different weapons with the help of his magnet release, so I don't know if he started Kenjutsu before…"

"Sakumo-sensei, I have been doing some basics, but I have been mainly focusing on bo-staff, which I'm quite advanced in."

"Yeah I remember, you did indeed use a staff when you were fighting your brother, but it is good, that you already know something"

"Well then Sakumo-san, Yoshio-kun, you are welcome to join in when you are done warming up"

And that they did…