"You cannot be serious." Takeo said, covering his face with his hands in disbelief and disappointment in himself for not discovering something this easy sooner.
Yukio just nodded, Sora was on the other side of the room swinging a sword around and familiarising himself with the movements.
The old man groaned. "So… all I had to do was just insert my chakra and some will into someone's body and tamper with their senses? It was THAT simple?" He massaged his temples.
Sora looked over and laughed at the old man. "Yup and we discovered it like… three days after even learning what chakra was!"
Takeo's face just darkened further. "Okay, as promised… what techniques of mine do you want to learn, aside from the swordsmanship. You get one choice each, so basically you get two." He finally lifted his face and pointed two fingers for dramatic effect.
Sora's attention was now fully drawn to this conversation and he walked over. "I get to pick out any of your techniques? Even the teleporting one?" Sora asked, he was very interested in all of the old man's techniques but the idea of instantly going anywhere instantly was too awesome.
Takeo just shook his head. "I said effectively teleport, it isn't necessarily teleportation. It is just a sudden burst of speed that allows you to move faster than what the human eye can see." He said, suddenly moving his hands together, his index fingers against each other with the other fingers interlocked.
*FWOOSH!*
He vanished and reappeared behind Sora and then behind Yukio before ending up where he first stood.
Sora's eyes shot open wide, even though he was caught off guard, it really did look like the old man had just teleported. "Yes! I pick that one! Please teach me that!" Sora said enthusiastically, already making the same hand sign trying to figure it out.
Yukio didn't mind, he was also quite interested in that technique but he was more leaning into something that would help him develop his swordsmanship a little more. Sure, the teleportation or speed boost technique thing would help out in the quick bursts of speed that Sensei had talked about. But… the techniques that stood out to him were the ability to create clones and the ability to hide his chakra. Yukio was smart enough to understand that the clone creation technique would probably take an absurd amount of chakra. Chakra he didn't have.
Not only would it take a lot of chakra, he also figured that it wouldn't help him too much other than having someone to practice with. But he already had Sora so that wasn't necessarily a problem right now.
So he decided. "Sensei, I would like to learn the technique that allows me to hide my chakra!" Yukio said, determined.
Takeo rubbed his chin in thought. "I can teach you that right now as a matter of fact because it is rather easy, for the teleport… I'll teach that tomorrow I suppose."
Yukio's expression brightened and Sora scoffed, a little bit disappointed. He was starting to suspect that this old man has a favourite student.
"You can both feel and manipulate your chakra, correct?" Takeo started, sitting on the padded floor.
Yukio sat down first, ready to learn a cool new technique. He figured if he is able to hide his chakra then he can eventually learn how to hide his presence, which can improve the swordsmanship since it relies on deception and hidden movements.
Sora sat down next, less interested than Yukio but still eager to learn something new after so long.
"Yes, Sensei. We can both use, feel and control our chakra." Yukio said, Sora did not bother to reply.
Takeo nodded. "Alright, you know how to flare your chakra and make it larger… right?" He asked, directed more at Yukio.
"Yes, sensei!" Yukio said enthusiastically, suddenly flaring his chakra as proof.
"I see, that's very good. Now can you do the opposite? Can you make your chakra appear smaller, reduce the output to zero?" Takeo asked, resting his chin on his palm.
Sora suddenly vanished.
Both Takeo and Yukio's eyes shot open wide and they stumbled backward.
"Huh? What the hell is wrong with you idiots?" Sora's voice came from where Sora was just sitting.
As he finished his sentence, his figure slowly flickered back into existence. "What is your problem?" Sora gave Takeo a dirty look.
"What did you just do?" Takeo immediately raised his voice, getting serious.
Sora's dirty look only grew dirtier as he frowned. "Uhh, I just did what you told me to do you old geezer. I tried to make my chakra smaller, I didn't feel any less chakra though."
Takeo's frown deepened too. "That's not possible. When I hide my chakra it means my chakra output is at zero, meaning I can't use any techniques related to chakra. Including the ability to feel and manipulate it. Are you telling me you are able to turn invisible, hide your chakra and STILL use chakra?" He started stammering, getting frustrated.
Sora nearly just left the dojo then and there since no one wanted to answer his questions. "Look, idiots. I still have no idea what the hell you are even talking about. Invisible?" He said, starting to get angry.
"B-big bro… you just disappeared when you used the technique!" Yukio managed to cut in.
Sora's mind started to calm down a little at Yukio's explanation. "Oh, so that's it?" He sighed in relief.
"Woah what?! I vanished?" Sora immediately realised and his eyes widened in disbelief.
He suddenly tried it again and looked at his hands, he could see a translucent outline around them, but overall they were effectively invisible.
His eyes widened, this only took a very small amount of chakra to actually maintain but he was invisible. Sora wasn't sure if this was due to his natural elusiveness combined with hiding his chakra, but why was he still able to use his chakra? He didn't know how this worked, but it did. Maybe a special trait because of his eyes? A special bloodline trait? Or was he just awesome.
He slowly rippled back into existence, clenched and unclenched his fists, getting a feel for this strange new sensation. "Well, all I did was hide my chakra and that is about it. Anything else that happens is probably just because I am awesome." He said, slowly looking up at Takeo with a glint of superiority in his eye.
Takeo caught that glint and his eyes narrowed slightly. 'He truly is the spitting image of myself from back then… that look of superiority at the idea of having something the other does not.' Takeo thought to himself, slowly getting more and more wary of Sora and his apparent unstable nature.
"My dear descendant, that ability you are using belongs to my lineage. Our race can naturally suppress our chakra, I however, am able to suppress my entire presence and even my observable form. Praise me, relish in the glory of my bloodline!"
Sora flinched slightly at the familiar pain ripping through his brain. But his eyes widened at the revelation. 'Seriously? It's related to… you?' Sora asked, trying to communicate with his ancestor mentally.
"Yes… not only this ability but also my Tenrigan and appearance were all inherited by you, you lucky little duckling."
'Tenri…gan? What is that?' Sora nearly said out loud.
"Those eyes of yours are called the Tenrigan. They allow you to perceive and manipulate ambient chakra and nature energy and condense them into physical constructs."
'Why are you suddenly telling me this? You could've told me this much sooner. Are you going to wait another year or so before you give me more advice?' Sora thought, he couldn't make any emotion clear when communicating telepathically but his face displayed disdain.
By now, Yukio and Takeo were just staring at Sora, occasionally taking glances at each other. "What do you think he's doing? He's just kinda standing there looking off into space…" Takeo whispered to Yukio.
Yukio's eyes just narrowed and he whispered back. "I have no idea, maybe it's some kind of technique?" His head tilted.
Takeo started to wave his hand, but Sora didn't take note of it and just continued to stare off into space.
"I'm sorry my dear descendant. I cannot tell you everything at once…"
Sora's expression shifted to confusion. 'Why are you suddenly acting regular and being polite? You're not slick, I know you want something from me. So leave it THERE.' Sora shot back, deciding to ignore the voice for the remainder of the month.
"Oh, sorry guys I was just lost in thought." Sora rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Trying to figure out why it works for me and not for you, it's probably a trait belonging to my family since we are naturally elusive."
Takeo hummed suspiciously. "Right… okay well, you can return home for the day. I'll be here training Yukio." He said, looking at the pale boy.
Sora nodded and gave a thumbs up. "Alright, works for me. I had something I wanted to do anyways."
…
…
After leaving Yukio and Takeo to go and train by themselves, Sora walked along the side of the village road with his hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed and his steps unreasonably balanced.
It was evening time. The sun made the street glow amber, catching on the wooden walls and things of that nature. The muffled voices of the villagers surrounded him but he moved through it all.
However, one place was a hell of a lot louder than anywhere else. Sora's eyebrow raised as he heard extremely loud chatter coming from what looked to be a bar.
The laughter was way too loud, too unrestrained, it was like the people in there were purposely trying to overpower each other with their voices. Then came the stench, sour alcohol, sweaty old men and nicotine clinging to everything.
Sora just covered his face to block out the stench and kept walking, but he heard something that caught his attention suddenly.
It wasn't a good thing.
His steps slowed before they just fully stopped all together. Just near the open window where most of the sound was coming from. He leaned his back against the wall, squinted his eyes and placed an ear next to the window, no one noticed him thankfully.
Inside, a middle aged man's voice rose far above the others, his voice was slurred and overconfident.
"…don't care how she looks at you, I'm telling you, that Fuko girl—"
Another voice cut in, everyone was laughing like lunatics.
Sora's jaw tightened, but he stayed right where he stood. "They're talking about big sis?" He muttered beneath his breath.
Suddenly a number of women's bars were tossed around casually. Fuko's name was mentioned on multiple occasions, moving from each mouth as if it belonged there, like her name was nothing more than public property, like she existed just for their entertainment. The men spoke over each other, feeding off shared approval, trying to say something worse than the last about all of these women.
No one even tried to step up or say anything. As a matter of fact, they all leaned into it.
"Oh yeah, if I could have my way with anyone… I'd have that Fuko chick begging on her knees!"
Sora kept listening, his fist tightening. His breathing slowed. His chakra started to flare up before he pushed himself away from the wall and took a glance into the window.
He wanted to do something about it, but if he was caught fighting such a large number of people… he could never get away with that.
He looked to his left and saw a long ragged piece of cloth next to a dumpster. He made a disgusted face and picked it up, dusted it off and wrapped it around his head.
No one looked over at him, no one even noticed he was there actually.
Suddenly his vision went blurry and he saw a familiar figure, the figure of his older sister back when they were children.
She was running through the street, holding his hand with a bright smile, laughing. He had resented her for always getting involved in his life.
But now that he thought about it… she was the only person who loved him despite everything.
She was there for him.
His gaze sharpened, the pattern in his golden eyes shifting to the star-like variant as all the muscles in his body relaxed.
As he stepped out into the open street and entered the bar, he suddenly vanished.
Did he even need to cover his face? After all… they can't resist what they can't see.