Sora looked at the elderly man and had an idea. He nudged Yukio, signaling him to look over, and he did. The two boys peeked over the edge of the rooftop at the old man with a sword at his hip.
Sora wanted to try influencing his chakra without inserting his own, which could work in theory due to the nature of his eyes.
He focused on the man's chakra and noticed that it was circulating throughout his body, similar to the practice that he and Yukio had been doing for the past few days.
Sora's eyes widened involuntarily, looking at Yukio. "He is circulating his chakra, like we do! This might be a bit more difficult. But it could help my training, I suppose." He said incredulously.
Yukio was also pretty shocked at the discovery, sizing up the old man from a distance.
Sora focused on the chakra in his eyes and attempted to manipulate it the same way he would his own. But it just wouldn't budge, so he sighed in defeat.
Not letting that discourage him, Sora quickly took a deep breath and stared at the old man before he focused the chakra and intent into his words. "Blind." He muttered, attempting to make the old man go blind for a moment.
He watched as his chakra entered the man's body and the moment it did…
It was immediately expelled? Sora's eyes widened as he saw the old man suddenly look in the direction of the rooftop.
Thankfully, Sora and Yukio both had hidden before he could see either of them. "Woah… no way he stopped that!" Sora looked at Yukio with disbelief in his expression.
Yukio was also pretty shocked, he didn't experience it himself but judging by Sora's reaction and the old man immediately pinpointing them… it was quite scary.
"How crude…" an elderly voice suddenly came from the side of the duo, making them both get even more shocked.
The old man with long gray hair and closed eyes with the sword at his waist was standing on the other side of the rooftop.
Sora and Yukio were both staring at him in shock, completely unaware as to how he had gotten there without either of them seeing him.
Sora's eyes sharpened as he looked at his chakra, his eyes widening once more, shocked for the third time. He… couldn't see his chakra!
"Can't see my chakra? Ha! I never had anyone to actually see if this technique worked. But sure enough, it works like a charm." The old man chuckled before his chakra became visible again.
He hummed in thought for a moment before slowly walking towards Sora. "Now, I have always been thinking about ways to use chakra and have spent a large amount of my life experimenting and I am quite curious about that technique you used…" he said, looking at Sora's eyes.
"Hey… don't come any closer!" Sora said before gritting his teeth and pointing a finger gun at the old man, a bullet of pure golden force already forming at his fingertip.
The old man just chuckled again. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to force you to do anything. I was just a little curious is all."
Sora looked at Yukio, who kept glancing at the sword at the man's hip. Sora noted this and looked back at the old man.
"And if I teach it to you… can you teach me how to… hide my chakra like that? And what else can you do?" Sora squinted his eyes and lowered his hand.
The old man ever so slightly opened his eyes for the first time since Sora had seen him. He stopped walking and tilted his head. "You don't know how to hide your chakra? How much do you even know?"
"Well… I can walk up surfaces, perceive my chakra, use the sense manipulation technique, manipulate my chakra and I know how to empower my body with chakra." Sora answered, Yukio looking a little worried that Sora was just telling this stranger all about their techniques.
The old man froze, finally being the shocked one. "T-that's all?" He said, quite surprised. "You know how to manipulate the senses of others but you can't hide your own chakra?"
Sora took that as an insult and raised an eyebrow. "So? You're dodging my question. What can you do?" He asked, his guard raising again.
The old man sighed and explained. "Well, to start. I am able to perceive and manipulate my own chakra, sense if there is any interference in my chakra, hide my chakra, empower my body and objects with my chakra and effectively teleport. I also know some hand signs that seemingly have a connection to chakra and can allow me to use some techniques." He said.
Sora was taken aback, he did not know all of that could be achieved and was about to reply but instead…
"I can create a clone of myself, swap myself with that clone using the teleportation technique, momentarily paralyse someone, various sword techniques, walk up surfaces, walk on water and that is about it." The old man continued, making Sora and Yukio even more shocked.
Sora was once again cut off as Yukio immediately exclaimed. "Can you please teach us?" He shouted before twirling his thumbs, embarrassed at his outburst.
The old man immediately started laughing before he looked at the pale boy and his eyes widened slightly before he smiled. "And what exactly do I get in return?" He asked.
Sora finally spoke up now, not allowing himself to get cut off again. "I can show you what these eyes can do and I can also show you some techniques that you don't have… oh! And I can help you improve any of your techniques so long as you teach them to us." He said with a bargaining glint in his eye.
The old man raised an eyebrow. "Hm? I'm not very interested in what those eyes can do. I am well aware. And techniques I don't have? You have already displayed all you can do and improve my techniques? I'd like to see you try." He burst out laughing, as if Sora had told a joke.
Both Sora and Yukio's eyes shot wide open in unison. 'Not interested in the eyes?' They both thought.
"Are either of you interested in swordsmanship?" The old man suddenly asked, for the first time appearing quite serious.
Sora and Yukio looked at each other incredulously and then back at the old man. "Sword's, man ship? What the hell is that?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
The old man just smirked and pulled out his sword, Sora's eyes sharpening slowly as he analysed the blade. From what he could see, the old man's chakra was flowing into the blade as if it were a part of him.
Sora kept a close eye on him, though he wasn't nearly as interested as Yukio was. While Sora was watching with suspicion, Yukio was watching with passion.
The old man raised his sword, then slashed down before moving around while swinging the sword.
Sora's eyes widened, the way this old man was moving… it was as if he and the blade were dancing, as if they were sharing a friendly dance. However, he felt danger. Just by watching, he felt primal fear.
The sword moved perfectly with every movement, as if it were alive. The old man's chakra moving exactly as it should to deliver precise and efficient blows. Sora and Yukio were both watching in awe, neither had seen something so beautiful.
After one minute of the old man's display, he sheathed the blade and pressed his hands together in prayer before turning and looking at Sora and Yukio. "So? Interested?" He asked with a smug grin.
"Absolutely!" They both shouted in sync, making the old man laugh once again. "C-can you teach us that?" Yukio asked, he had already moved past learning any chakra related techniques from the man and had his sights purely on this swordsmanship.
Sora didn't say anything, he wanted to ask the exact same thing. So instead, he just looked expectantly at the old man.
The old man grinned. "Well, you still haven't given me any reasons as to why I should teach you yet!"
Sora stepped forward and placed his hand on his chest. "I will tell you everything I know about chakra and that includes the sense altering technique." His eye twitched involuntarily, acting submissive like this was totally out of his nature.
The old man hummed in thought. "All that and a toilet for me to teach you swordsmanship? Hmm… sure, why not! But, the results are your responsibility. Whether or not you achieve good results and become successful in the art of swordsmanship depends on how hard you train." He said with a soft smile and pointed at the two.
Yukio just nodded enthusiastically with sparkles in his eyes while Sora squinted and tilted his head. 'And a toilet…?' But he quickly just got over it and grinned. "Really?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not. I've had a few students over the years, yet I have not found a successor. If you work hard enough, I suppose one of you could be my successor." The old man chuckled before he asked. "Well, if I'm going to be teaching you, you might as well introduce yourselves." He gestured for Yukio to go first.
Yukio's eyes widened slightly and he stood up straight. "M-my name is Yukio Sunohara I am eleven years old, my birthday is on the twenty ninth of September, so in five months." He said enthusiastically.
"And your specialty? What are your likes and dislikes? And what would you like to achieve?" The old man asked, taking a seat on the edge of the roof.
Yukio just tilted his head before he understood. "My speciality? Uhm, I'm not too sure yet but I hope for it to be… that swordsmanship in the future! As of now, I'd say it is chakra control I suppose." He scratched his cheek with a flustered expression before continuing. "I like the yummy food my mother makes, learning new things and experimenting with different techniques. I don't like bullies or people who treat people differently because of how they look or something they can't change. And my dream is to one day show the world that I can also be strong." He said, his fists clenched.
Sora raised an eyebrow, not expecting Yukio to have such an answer. But he quickly looked back over to the old man to see what he had to say.
The old man was frozen, his mouth slightly agape. 'He's just like…' he thought to himself before he shook his head and looked at Sora. "Your turn, let's see if your dream is as noble as young Yukio over there." He said.
Sora took a deep breath before he answered, not as enthusiastic as Yukio but still. "My name is Sora Hino. I am Thirteen and my birthday is the Fourth of March. My specialty is fighting and anything related to my eyes. I like training and fighting. I hate people who are weak and act strong. And my dream is to attain the power of God so that no one can oppose me and the people I hold dear to me." Sora said, crossing his arms to see what the old man had to say.
The old man's eye twitched. 'And this one is pretty similar to me…' he coughed awkwardly and waved Sora off. "My name is Takeo Natsuki, I am eighty years old and I was born on the Twenty First of June. But you two can call me Sensei for the time being, meet me at The Lord's temple at 5:00 AM every morning."
The two froze. "5:00 AM?" The two asked with regretful expressions. Yukio then raised both eyebrows and realised that this man was 80 years old. 'He is in amazing shape for someone so old! Could this be another benefit of swordsmanship…?'
Takeo Natsuki -