Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist is a martial art invented and taught by S-class hero Silver Fang, real name Bang. It focuses mostly on defensive moves and quick, strong retaliatory strikes, hence the name.
My original plan was to learn both Bang's Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist and his brother Bomb's Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, then combine them into something greater. Though that plan went right out the window almost as fast as it came to me, and for good reason.
Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist was way too deadly to use in a world like this. The martial art focuses on manipulating air to generate razor-sharp whirlwind pressures capable of slicing the target into pieces. I can not use that on normal people. I'm not trying to catch a body and go to prison before I even turn 12.
Would I still learn it? Yes, but only to have it on hand, just in case. I'll also be learning Bang's original martial art, which he used when he was younger, the Exploding Heart Release Fist. Once again, too deadly to use, but I will have it nonetheless.
I decided to start with Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and that led to the first of the problems I didn't account for.
When I started learning the martial arts a year ago, I had no idea how fucking dumb an idea choosing these was. Learning the moves was not that hard; I could do them with lots of repetition and practice. The real problem came from the fact that I did not have the full manual to learn from, nor a teacher who could instruct me.
'For a guy with genius-level intellect, I was pretty fucking stupid sometimes. Maybe Oga was rubbing off on me.'
So how did I fix this problem? The internet, my friends, the oh so beautiful internet. I studied and memorized hundreds of different martial arts and slowly pieced together a working version of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Was it the same as Bang's version? No, probably not, but it works and that's good enough for me.
----
One day, about four months into my martial arts training, I decided to test how my skills were coming along, so while I was with Oga, I asked, "Hey Oga, do you want to fight?" By this point, I know the guy well enough to know that if somebody asked him to fight or even looked at him wrong, he would start swinging.
So I was caught off guard when he just stopped and stared at me for a full minute before speaking. "You want to fight me?" he asked, eyeing me like I was some strange new creature he'd never seen before. For a second, I couldn't figure out why, then it hit me. He's never actually seen me fight. Whenever he or the Red Tail fought others, I was always on the sidelines, just watching and enjoying the violence, never part of it.
"Yes, Oga, I want to fight you. I've actually been learning this new martial art and-" Before I could even finish my sentence, the little fucker punched me. Sure, it didn't connect because I saw it coming and I deflected it away, but still, if it had hit me, it would have broken my nose.
I stepped back and dropped into a stance. "Not cool, man. That would have hurt." I stepped forward, deflecting his next strike while moving lower and hitting him in the gut. This staggered him, but he quickly fought back with a kick.
Our little spar went on for about ten more minutes before Oga finally collapsed, bruised and exhausted. I was a bit winded myself, but he hadn't landed a single hit. Panting, he asked, "When did you learn to fight?"
"Well," I said, catching my breath, "if you'd let me finish talking earlier, I was trying to say that I've been learning a new martial art. It's only been a few months, but seeing as I can already beat you, I'd say I'm moving in the right direction."
"Hey! You didn't beat me, I'm just catching my breath for a second, then I'm going to kick your ass!" He exclaimed while pulling himself up.
"Sure, man. We could go another round, and I'd still take you down. But I'm pretty sure Misaki will kill you if you're late with her magazines again," I said, in a smug but flat tone.
His eyes went wide. "Crap, crap, crap," he muttered, breaking into a run toward the arcade. I just watched for a moment, then followed at my own pace.
By the time I arrived, Oga was facedown on the ground with what looked like a massive pool of blood around him and Misaki sitting ot a chair resting her feet on his back while reading her magazine. '... I'm sure he's fine. Pretty sure I saw his chest moving.' I thought as I walked over to Shizuka and Haruka. But before I could say anything to them, Misaki spoke to me.
"So Takakchin, Tatsu tells me you're learning martial arts, ...show me!" I could barely even react before she was on me with a high kick. I dodged it, but she just kept going. I got a few good strikes in, but she still kicked my ass. That was the day I learned not to be arrogant about small victories and that I still had a lot to learn.
That day, I also decided I needed more practical experience. From then on, whenever the Red Tail clashed with other gangs, I joined the fights too. It really helped sharpen my martial arts skills and made my body stronger. Back then, I didn't have much experience defending against multiple attackers at once, so I got hit a lot. But over time, my body adapted, and now I think I've even developed a bit of a healing factor.
----
So here I am now, a full year of mastering my version of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and while I know it still needs polish, I can do that during my fights. For now, it's finally time to take full advantage of the archmage and get started on some magic training. And by magic, I mean chakra.
Yes, yes, I know very cliché, but no matter what you think, shadow clones are so fucking useful when it comes to training. Naruto pulled some serious BS out of his ass because of his clones.
I went through my library and gathered everything I could find about chakra training from both the show and the manga, along with a few theories I found in fan fiction.
The general consensus on where to start was with the leaf-sticking exercise. I was about to head outside to grab a handful of leaves when I paused. 'Why do I need to use leaves?' I thought. 'Can't I just use paper?' Sitting back down, I pulled some paper from my backpack and tore it into small pieces.
I held a piece to my forehead and closed my eyes. I didn't know what chakra was supposed to feel like, but I did know what mana felt like. Ever since I gained my essence, I'd spent plenty of time experimenting with it. I might not have been hurling fireballs or summoning lightning like Thor, but just moving the mana through my body and getting used to its flow had been a solid start.
Moving the mana to my forehead, I felt the paper stick, so I dropped my hand slowly and opened my eyes. Seeing it there, I smiled widely. "This is just the first step."
----
"You're twelve years old?" The man in front of me asked. He was a thin, peculiar-looking man with wide, unblinking eyes and very distinctive lips. In his hands were a few pieces of paper tightly bundled together.
"Yes, sir." I was sitting in a booth beside my mother at the headquarters of Shueisha, the guys who publish the most popular manga magazine, Weekly Shounen Jack. Yes, Jack, not Jump. This was one of the things I found that differed from my last life.
In my last life, the company had the same name, but the magazine was called Jump. When I saw the Jack magazine in a store one day, it was like a bomb went off in my head; a flood of memories came rushing back about a certain show I'd watched when I first got into anime: Bakuman.
Bakuman was a manga about two middle school students, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi, who team up to create manga together.
As soon as I remembered, I rushed home and started doing some research. Turns out the manga from this world is similar to my old life, but also different. Big manga like One Piece, Dragon Ball, and JoJo's were here, but at the same time, stories like Bleach and Naruto were gone.
No, this couldn't stand. Having two of the Big Three out of publication was a travesty to the anime community, and I had to fix it. Naturally, I did the only logical thing someone in my situation could do: plagiarism! …It also helped that it was a guaranteed way to make some good money, but that's besides the point.
After months of practicing how to draw and plenty of fuck-ups along the way, I found myself sitting across from none other than Akira Hattori, submitting my manga for serialization.
"Fullmetal Alchemist, okay, let's see what you've got."
I chose this one first for two reasons. Number one: it was short. Just a hundred and eight chapters, plus five side stories. At that length, it'd wrap up in a little over two years. The second, and honestly, the more important reason, was that it was my favourite manga of all time. And I'm not exaggerating. In my last life, I even had the symbol from the back of Edward's coat tattooed on my arm.
I watched as Hattori flipped through the pages without even blinking. When he reached the end, he reset the stack and said, "Let me read it again," before going through them a second time, much slower this round.
As he read, my mother leaned toward me and whispered, "Takayuk, are you sure this is what you want to do? I've heard mangaka get sick a lot, and they don't make much money when they're starting out." She looked so nervous, and I knew why.
Ever since I started coming home with such high grades, she's been ecstatic about my future prospects. She probably thought I'd end up becoming a doctor or a scientist or something. So when I told her I wanted to draw manga for a living, she was more than a little surprised.
She didn't mind that this was what I wanted to do; she was just worried because, as much as she supported me, she knew it wasn't an easy job for anyone who wasn't extremely successful.
"Don't worry so much, Mom, I got this." I gave her a big smile, and she smiled back.
"It's great! It blends action, comedy, and emotional storytelling really well. The art's also excellent; it feels like we could drop this straight into the next issue. The only problem is, this isn't a one-shot. Most new authors start with a one-shot to test their skills and gauge reader interest before committing to a full series. This, on the other hand, feels like the first chapter of something much bigger." Hattori said as he put the papers down on the desk.
"Yeah, about that… the truth is, the story's done. I've got all the chapters from beginning to end ready to be published. Other than a bit of polishing on the artwork, it's all finished."
What I said was mostly true. I did have the whole story finished, 'cause, you know, it ain't mine, but I didn't have it all drawn yet. I've got a team of shadow clones working on it at home right now.
"Hah!? What!?" both my mother and Hattori shouted at the same time. Hattori leaned forward, eyes wide. "If you're not lying to me, kid, and the other chapters are just as good as this one, then I think you're gonna go real far here."