On the training ground, Gisei Shiraishi was once again getting absolutely thrashed by Anna Takemoto.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Gisei felt that Anna wasn't quite right today.
Did she have a grudge against him?
I didn't provoke you! Gisei cried out in his heart, once again blocking Anna's vicious groin kick.
Hey, that was already the fifth time!
Gisei's face turned red. He wanted to jump out of the battle circle to get some distance, but Anna seized the opportunity.
With a textbook shoulder throw, he was slammed into the dirt, and before he could react, she was sitting directly on top of him.
"Anna-nee, I surrender!"
Gisei felt that if he didn't surrender now, he would legitimately be beaten to death by her.
"You're not allowed to surrender!"
Huh?
Gisei was completely dumbfounded. Seeing her raise her fist again, he hurriedly turned his head to look for reinforcements.
Shuichi Takemoto had left at some point.
Gisei despaired.
Anna sat on him and began to unleash a frenzy of attacks. Gisei could only cover his face with his arms and take the beating.
"Anna-nee, what did I do wrong?"
"Anna-nee, stop! I'm really going to die here!"
The more he spoke, the harder the beating got. Gisei thought he understood Anna's logic: If he can still talk, it means he's still alive, so I should hit him harder.
This one-sided beatdown lasted for twenty minutes.
By the end, Gisei lay on the ground, unable to even stand up. Anna stood aside, gasping for breath.
"Stand up!"
After catching her breath, Anna shouted at him.
The corner of Gisei's mouth twitched. Seeing her raise her fist again, he forced himself to climb up, wanting to cry but finding no tears.
"Anna-nee... are you unhappy today?"
"Yes. That's why I beat you."
Do you understand what being subtle means?
This crazy woman actually used me as a punching bag. I'll make you pay for this sooner or later!
Gisei roared frantically in his heart, but on the outside, a smile piled up on his face as he began to act hypocritically.
"It's okay, I have thick skin. Have you vented your anger, Anna-nee? Do you want to punch me a couple more times?"
"Really?"
You actually want to hit me again...
The smile froze on his face. Gisei was puzzled.
Normally, in this kind of anime routine, shouldn't the girl feel sorry and then become gentle and considerate?
Psychopath!
"Fake."
Gisei completely lost his smile. He couldn't understand Anna's thoughts, nor did he dare to ask.
It wasn't that he was afraid of being beaten, it was mainly...
Okay, he was afraid of being beaten.
He didn't know how long he would have to train here. If he offended this woman too much... she could beat him up "legitimately" under the guise of sparring.
"Are you cursing me in your heart?"
Anna suddenly stretched her head in front of him, staring into his eyes.
"No."
Gisei understood this routine very well. No matter what, he couldn't show a guilty conscience. He looked back at her without flinching, not even blinking.
In the end, Anna looked away first. Gisei laughed wildly in his heart; With this level, you still want to fight with me!
"Coward. You get beaten and don't even dare to curse."
Gisei was speechless. So you're right no matter what? If I really cursed at you, I'm afraid I'd be pressed down and rubbed against the ground again.
Anyway, he couldn't win the argument, so Gisei simply shut up.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Anna seemed even angrier.
"Continue training. Or else when Grandpa comes back later, he will be angry."
"Are you very afraid of your grandfather getting angry?"
"Did you forget what Grandpa looked like when he was furious the day before yesterday?"
"..."
Gisei remembered the fear of being dominated by Shuichi. It was just that he didn't have masochistic hobbies and really didn't want to be a punching bag for someone else's granddaughter.
"Don't worry, I will explain to your grandfather. Stop using me as a sandbag. If you are this violent, who will dare to marry you in the future?"
Anna glared at him. "You don't need to worry about that. Anyway, I won't marry a coward like you."
Heh, thank you very much.
Seeing that she didn't intend to attack again, Gisei simply lay on the ground to rest. Anna sat nearby, looking at him.
"Do you dislike our clan?"
"No."
"Then why are you unwilling to accept Grandpa's arrangement and insist on entering the hospital?"
"Personal reasons."
"Can't say?"
Gisei glanced at her and ignored the question.
"Are you dissatisfied with having your life arranged by others?"
Gisei still ignored her.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking just because you don't speak. Do you find me annoying?"
So you know you are annoying, then why do you keep talking non-stop?
"I will probably be following you all the time from now on, so you can't—and are not allowed to—find me annoying. Otherwise..."
Anna waved her fist, signaling a threat.
Gisei couldn't listen anymore. "What do you mean by following me all the time? Is this your grandfather's idea?"
"Yeah."
"You should have a ninja identity, right? If I enter the hospital, will you follow me in there too?"
Gisei seemed to understand why Anna had beaten him up.
"Yeah."
"Always 'yeah, yeah, yeah'... what exactly do you mean?"
"Nothing."
Gisei: "..."
What exactly did that old man Shuichi mean? Letting his granddaughter monitor him? Or protect him?
Gisei frowned, looking unhappy.
"You probably don't want to enter the hospital either. I will persuade your grandfather to cancel this decision."
Anna looked at him strangely. "You can't even beat me, and you want to negotiate terms with Grandpa?"
"Do I have to be able to beat you to negotiate terms with your grandfather?"
"No, you have to be able to beat my grandfather."
...
Psychopath.
Gisei sighed, feeling that worrying about this kind of thing was really silly. He couldn't be bothered to guess other people's minds. The village, the clan, whatever.
Anyway, he had a plan in his heart. If nothing unexpected happened, he would leave here sooner or later. Whether he left actively or passively, he and the people in this village were destined to be in two different worlds.
At noon, Shuichi brought bento for them.
After eating, Gisei demonstrated the lightning nature change to him.
Shuichi watched in a daze.
"How did you do that?"
"Just injecting chakra into the weapon and then controlling it, and it became like this," Gisei said as he waved the blade and slashed at a tree.
After Shuichi examined the cut on the tree, his eyes were shining. Anna looked at Gisei like she was looking at a monster.
No matter how dull Gisei was, he sensed something unusual now.
He probed: "Is this difficult?"
"You really are a genius. This kind of chakra control ability is hard to achieve even for a Jonin."
"Is it not because of the butterfly seed in my body?"
"The butterfly seed takes at least ten years to form a support. You haven't even had it for ten years."
Gisei looked strange. If it wasn't the butterfly seed, was it really because of his soul power?
But in the past, he clearly didn't have much talent... If his talent had been slightly better, he wouldn't have failed to complete tree climbing and water walking by the age of six.
It was strange, but he didn't understand where it came from. This should be considered a good thing, right? He didn't feel anything wrong with himself, so he simply put the question to the back of his mind.
"How can lightning have this kind of change? Grandpa Shuichi, how is your Lightning Release used?"
"Your kind of change should be considered a combination of shape and nature transformation. As for my Lightning Release..."
Shuichi walked to a tree and began to form hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Scorching Stream Kill!" (Raiton: Shakuryusatsu!)
Dense plasma appeared on his body and then gathered towards his right hand. Facing the big tree, Shuichi blasted out.
Gisei thought the big tree would at least be blasted into two pieces, but miraculously, Shuichi punched a hole directly through the big tree.
Gisei watched very carefully.
When Shuichi's fist hit the tree, it encountered no resistance at all, like a red-hot iron rod touching plastic. It melted right in...
If this hit a person's body, Gisei dared not imagine the scene.
This old man was indeed not to be trifled with!
"I'm old. In the past, using this move didn't take much effort. Now just controlling it is a bit of a struggle."
Shuichi still looked unsatisfied.
Gisei's eyelids began to twitch. If this was unsatisfactory, he really didn't know what kind of monster this old guy was in his prime.
"Grandpa Shuichi, is this change in your lightning high temperature?"
"That's right. Condense chakra on the body surface, then use the conductivity of lightning to gather it together to form this kind of high-temperature fist."
"Can I learn this move?"
"Impossible right now. This move requires a massive amount of chakra. It would be difficult for you to even form plasma on your body."
Alright, another ninjutsu that is just for show.
Gisei was a bit disappointed.
Shuichi smiled. "This kind of ninjutsu is actually not suitable for you. Your chakra is relatively low, suitable for those small-type ninjutsu. I suggest you use the conductivity of lightning to cast ninjutsu."
Conductivity?
Shuichi took out a shuriken from his ninja tool bag, tied a steel wire to it, and threw it on the ground.
"Since you can apply lightning change to a sword, then this combat method is quite suitable for you."
A flash of electric light passed, and the shuriken on the ground also began to flicker with electricity.
Gisei watched this scene, his brain beginning to churn.
He felt he was really stupid. Why did he insist on practicing the Lightning Release ninjutsu from the plot? Just this use of shuriken to apply lightning nature change opened a big door for him.
Didn't Sasuke also use this kind of combat method?
Wait, lightning conductivity...
A light flashed in his mind, and the smile on Gisei's face gradually became perverse.
"Grandpa, has he gone silly?"
"Maybe he thought of something."
"That smile is really disgusting."
Shuichi: "..."
After coming back to his senses, Gisei didn't care what they were saying about him. He bowed directly.
"Thank you very much for your guidance, Grandpa Shuichi. There is a guest at home today, so I will go back first."
Without waiting for their answer, Gisei turned and ran.
He was very eager to go home now. Not only because Kawano was coming today, but more importantly, he had an idea he wanted to test.