My thoughts slowly drifted back to the present.
Only a few moments ago...
The second round of our sparring session had just begun.
"Wait..."
I ignored the unnecessary protest.
My kick landed squarely against Lucas's abdomen, driving him backward more than a dozen steps.
I gave him no opportunity to ease the pain or drive away the nausea brought on by the sudden blow.
In a real battle, no enemy would be kind enough to allow their opponent time to catch their breath, recover from pain, or simply regain their footing in peace.
Combat had always been that simple.
Either I fall...
Or...
You fall first.
My body flickered.
Shunsin no Jutsu.
In the blink of an eye, I was already beside Lucas before he had even managed to steady his footing.
His balance was still wavering.
His breathing had yet to return to its proper rhythm.
As I continued the training in accordance with the resolve he had shown only moments before, I guided him through experience rather than words.
Because sometimes...
Pain is a far more honest teacher than any lesson spoken aloud.
"Young Master Handler, the heir of a great house must remain prepared under every circumstance. Whether facing an unexpected attack... or the consequences born from your own decisions."
"..."
"Concentrate your chakra around your chest."
"Damn it, Ian."
Lucas was still clutching his stomach.
His stance had not yet fully recovered.
His body leaned forward slightly, no doubt because the ache in his abdomen and the lingering pain from the first round had yet to fade completely.
Not to mention the violent impact from when his body had crashed down from the air only moments ago.
His back was undoubtedly still throbbing from that collision.
Slowly, he lifted his head to look at me.
His face reminded me so much of Aunt Adela.
His crimson hair.
His steady eyes.
Even the contours of his features bore a remarkable resemblance to his mother.
Whether he was enduring the pain or simply forcing himself to remain steadfast, the corner of his lips still curled into a faint, stubborn grin.
"Very well. Continue."
"Good."
I carefully adjusted the strength flowing into my leg.
Not too much.
Yet far from light enough to be mistaken for an ordinary strike.
My target remained unchanged.
Lucas's chest, still left exposed.
The very moment he straightened his posture...
I moved before he could.
Thud!
Lucas immediately raised both arms to intercept my kick.
The blow was blocked.
But his guard lacked sufficient strength.
The force behind the strike still sent him sliding several steps backward.
His boots scraped harshly across the ground as he struggled to halt the momentum that continued forcing him away.
I granted him no respite.
While Lucas was still trying to regain his balance, my body had already vanished from his sight.
His expression changed instantly.
He knew exactly what was about to happen.
Yet his body was still incapable of keeping pace.
The arms that had just absorbed my kick continued trembling violently.
The ache spreading through his bones refused to disappear.
Even the chakra reinforcing his muscles and skeleton could not erase the pain entirely.
This time...
I drew a kunai.
It was time to raise the intensity of our training, just as I had done during the first round.
A battle should never become easier.
It had to continue pushing Lucas beyond the limits of his current abilities.
Shhh!
Only a gust of wind remained where I had been standing.
An instant later, I appeared directly above him.
Lucas reacted immediately.
His hand shot toward the knife resting at his waist.
The blade left its sheath in one smooth, practiced motion.
Without wasting a heartbeat, he raised it to intercept the descending path of my kunai.
CLANGGG!!
The thunderous clash of steel echoed throughout the training arena.
Because my attack descended from above, aided by gravity itself, the pressure Lucas received was far greater than before.
The tip of my kunai continued pressing relentlessly against his blade.
The steel bent ever so slightly beneath the overwhelming force I poured into it.
Lucas's arms trembled violently.
His grip began to weaken.
Even the fingers wrapped tightly around the knife's hilt quivered uncontrollably, struggling with every ounce of strength they possessed to keep the blade from slipping out of his grasp.
Lucas clenched his teeth so tightly that I could hear them grinding against one another.
Every muscle in his arm tensed.
The veins along the back of his hand bulged beneath his skin, revealing just how much strength he was pouring into maintaining that single block.
Impressive.
Compared to five years ago, his raw strength had grown far beyond anything I had expected.
"I knew it, Ian. Even with the strength I've gained now, it still isn't enough to make you fight seriously."
"Young Master Handler will need far greater resolve if he wishes to force his teacher to fight in earnest."
"You bastard... You're a terrible teacher."
"A fine compliment."
"In that case... take this!"
The grin upon Lucas's face widened.
The fire burning within his eyes had not dimmed in the slightest.
Without surrendering his composure, he twisted his wrist in the direction of the pressure from my kunai.
Instead of resisting my strength head-on, he chose to make use of it.
His body shifted a single step to the opposite side.
The movement was simple.
Yet it was enough to allow my kunai to continue surging forward, slicing through nothing but empty air beside his neck.
Seizing the opening created within that fleeting instant, Lucas immediately launched his counterattack.
The knife in his hand spun gracefully.
Its blade shot upward in a sharp vertical arc, aiming directly beneath my chin.
A swift strike.
Close.
Lethal.
Had this been a true battle, that slash had been intended to end his opponent's life in a single movement.
Father once told me...
That a true Shinobi always used close-quarters combat to strike at the body's vital points.
Swift.
Efficient.
Deadly.
Lucas had understood that lesson remarkably well.
He never allowed even the smallest opening to pass without attempting to turn the tide.
Such courage was not easily found.
My kunai continued cutting through the air.
Its momentum could not simply be halted midway.
However...
Just before Lucas's blade could reach my chin, my left hand moved first.
Swift.
Smack!
His wrist once again fell firmly into my grasp.
His attack stopped only a few inches from my face.
"A fine attack."
"It isn't over yet."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"My apologies, Master. Your student has no intention of showing mercy."
"A wise decision."
A quiet chuckle escaped Lucas.
The hand gripping his knife had indeed been restrained.
But that did not mean the rest of his body had lost the ability to attack.
I had already anticipated every possibility.
A kick.
A spinning strike.
Or...
His left hand.
Of those three choices, the greatest likelihood had always been his left hand.
The light brown eyes staring back at me sharpened with renewed determination.
A fierce fighting spirit blazed within them like an unquenchable flame.
"A little gift from me."
"!?"
"Raiton!."
Crack!
Blue arcs of electricity instantly burst across his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, the current raced through the wrist that still remained trapped within my grip.
"Ugh!"
The electric shock surged through me with astonishing speed.
The muscles in my arm stiffened beyond my control.
A sharp pain pierced every nerve, followed by a wave of numbness that momentarily robbed my body of movement.
I already knew that Lucas possessed an affinity for both Lightning and Water Release.
Even so...
His growth had far exceeded my expectations.
He was now capable of performing a basic Lightning Release Ninjutsu with only a single hand seal.
Such progress could never have been achieved without relentless dedication.
The instant my grip weakened beneath the effects of the electric shock, Lucas seized the opportunity.
His knee shot straight toward my abdomen.
A simple attack.
Yet executed at almost the perfect moment.
Even so...
I had no intention of releasing him.
The moment the numbness began to fade, my fingers tightened once more.
My grip around Lucas's wrist became even stronger than before.
This time...
I had no intention of allowing him to escape the same way twice.
Without wasting another heartbeat, I once again used my grip to spin Lucas's body, just as I had during the first round.
The knee that had been driving toward my abdomen instantly lost its target.
However...
He had already anticipated that possibility.
The same technique rarely succeeded twice against an opponent who had already begun to understand the rhythm of your fighting style.
Rather than forcing the knee strike to continue, Lucas chose to make use of the rotational force I had created.
His body turned with the momentum of my throw.
He transformed that motion into a fresh attack.
His right leg swept upward.
A swift kick shot directly toward my face.
I immediately released his wrist and leaned backward.
Whoosh!
The tip of his boot sliced through the air only inches before my face.
I gave a small nod.
"An efficient and well-measured counterattack."
I retreated several steps.
The distance between us opened once more.
Yet Lucas gave me no opportunity to catch my breath.
Instead, his fighting spirit only burned brighter.
It was as though every ounce of pain he had endured during the first round had been consumed by the blazing determination filling his heart.
"Stop holding back, Ian. Otherwise you'll disgrace yourself by getting struck by your own student."
"That would be an accomplishment instead. It would simply mean the student had finally managed to strike his teacher."
Lucas clicked his tongue.
"A dreadful comparison. I'm certain every teacher and professor throughout the Empire would curse you if they heard those words."
"Then forget I said them."
I settled back into my stance.
"Come. Prove that a student truly can strike down his teacher."
"What a terrible teacher."
A sincere smile found its way onto my lips.
Lucas answered it with an even broader grin.
His eyes blazed with the thrill of battle.
Our clash began anew.
He vanished from where he stood.
An instant later, he appeared directly before me.
Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!
The knife in his hand carved through the air without the slightest hesitation.
One strike.
A second.
Then a third.
I continued stepping backward.
Each slash passed only a few inches before my body, cutting through nothing but empty air.
Yet I could already sense the change taking place.
Chakra surged ever more fiercely into both of his legs.
Lucas's speed increased little by little.
His mastery of Shunsin no Jutsu continued to improve even in the midst of battle.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Now his blade no longer sliced through empty space alone.
Every slash and every thrust collided against my kunai.
Showers of sparks burst into the air whenever steel crashed against steel.
His attacks came without pause.
A vertical slash.
A direct thrust.
A sweeping horizontal cut.
A curved strike from an unexpected angle.
Every opening my body revealed became his target.
I answered each assault calmly.
The kunai in my hand never stopped moving.
Parrying.
Redirecting.
Deflecting.
Not a single attack succeeded in breaking through my defense.
The two of us continued shifting across the arena.
At times we disappeared entirely.
Then reappeared elsewhere an instant later.
Every collision shook the training grounds.
Dust billowed upward with every step we took.
Cracks continued spreading across the earth beneath our feet.
The long trenches and shattered craters left behind by our earlier Ninjutsu still stood as silent reminders of just how fierce today's training had become.
A moment later...
The two of us leaped almost simultaneously.
Our bodies crossed paths high above the arena.
Clang!
Kunai and knife collided once more.
Taking advantage of the brief opening created after the clash, I immediately drove a kick toward Lucas's body.
Thud!
However...
The impact felt wrong.
Far too light.
Lucas's body dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.
Bang!
It was only a Bunshin.
A clone deliberately left behind to divert my attention.
I understood his intention immediately.
Before my feet had even touched the ground again, my instincts detected another source of chakra high above me.
I landed and lifted my gaze.
The real Lucas was already suspended in the air.
Both of his hands moved swiftly through a series of seals.
Ram Seal.
His unwavering gaze remained locked upon me, his expression calm, focused, and utterly serious.
"Raiton: Jinraisen!"
Lightning burst forth from his outstretched hand with blinding speed.
The brilliant bolt tore through the air like a spear forged from pure electricity, racing directly toward my position.
However...
I had sensed his presence long before my feet had returned to the ground.
With nothing more than a few measured steps to the side, I slipped effortlessly beyond the attack's path.
Boom!
The bolt of lightning slammed into the earth.
A thunderous explosion shook the entire training arena.
Chunks of shattered stone and soil erupted in every direction, while countless arcs of crackling electricity continued dancing around the freshly formed crater, illuminating the battlefield with fleeting flashes of blue-white light.