The four children arrive at the side of the pool and wait for some type of instruction. Chojuro sees Zitsu and waves his hand.

Zitsu nods his head then looks at Mangetsu. Seeing no reaction whatsoever his lips curl into a smile.

"I gave you your instructions yesterday" Mangetsu speaks in a dull voice.

Hearing this the kids sit down and begin pressing their palms on the water. Chojuro looks at Zitsu on the left side of the pool for a moment before sitting down and doing the same.

"I see, the seven swords don't need someone without motivation to train." Closing his eyes he begins to regen his stamina and chakra.

Because his chakra control is increasing, it takes less time to absorb the ambient chakra.

After an hour he is fully recovered. Rising to his feet he strides out into the water and draws his sword, slashing in an upward arc.

Seeing him walk on water Cho, Taisho, and the twins are stunned.

Zitsu doesn't look over at them but the corners of his lips twitch. "I refuse to believe I can't become the leader of a bunch of kid, I ran an international fan club!" He whispers to himself.

He begins to move as he slashes his sword, almost like a dance. His feet move like a crescent moon as he slashes his sword. Allowing his body to move the way it wishes as he slashes the sword feels strange. If people on earth could feel the energy in their body when they slashed the sword, a lot more people will be masters.

When he swings the sword incorrectly he can feel his chakra become jammed, so he knows his position was wrong, but as long as his chakra flows freely he knows it was ok.

Seeing his movements Mangetsu nods. Looking at the other kids causes his brows to wrinkle slightly. "Why is he so different?" it's not like he's mad at the other kids, but that Zitsu is strange.

As he swings his sword he begins reinforcing his body with chakra instead of the sword, as he found that it made his moves a lot more stable. The longer he moves on the water the better his chakra control becomes. In the beginning, he was constantly focusing on his feet, but now he can focus on the sword.

Thinking about his Taijutsu levels he looks at Mangetsu. Biting his teeth he walks over.

Seeing him walk over Mangetsu stops.

"Sir, the best way to learn is through fighting, will you indulge in my request?"

Mangetsu just looks at him for a few seconds. "You're not ready." He shakes his head.

"I want to be a member of the seven swordsmen! I have no time to waste." Zitsu stares at him firmly.

Hearing him Mangetsu's brows shoot up. "Kid let me tell you something, there are people a lot stronger than me in Kenjutsu and even they aren't members of the seven swords, what are you? Three? Four? And you're already talking big."

Zitsu nods "So negotiations have broken down." Gripping his sword he swings it in a beautiful horizontal arc.

Mangetsu quickly lifts his sword and blocks it as he narrows his eyes.

A sinister grin forms on Zitsu's face as his 1/8 full Taijutsu bar just moved to 2/8 with that one swing. Jumping back he raises his sword above his head and lunges forward.

Seeing this Mangetsu shakes his head before swinging his sword to intercept.

Their swords clash causing ripples in the waves. Drawing an arc with his sword he goes for another horizontal slash. Mangetsu easily blocks it again, but this time he spins around and slashes from the other side.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Mangetsu's face is dull as he blocks these choreographed slashes.

Seeing that his spinning slash didn't work he jumps back, but this time Mangetsu slashes at him. A diagonal slash heads straight for his body, at first he's stunned because he never thought Mangetsu would attack him.

Quickly recovering he swings his sword up to intercept, but the second their swords touch his face becomes pale. The force of the sword instantly overpowers him, causing him to shoot into the water like a cannonball.

"Your sword is to light, kid."

Cho, Taisho, and the twins are stunned as they watch from the side, why were they fighting?

As Zitsu sinks further and further into the water he thinks about what he said. Was his Kenjutsu wrong from the start?

Closing his eyes he's stunned, just from taking that attack from Mangetsu his Taijutsu leveled up, and the bar is already half filled.

Calming down for a second he swims to the surface. Climbing out of the water he looks at Mangetsu "I'm not done yet!"

"Kid don't waste my time and just swing your sword" Mangetsu turns his neck to look at him.

"Teach me Kenjutsu! I don't have time to blindly practice!"

"Don't have time?!? If you don't have time then who does!" Mangetsu starts to become angry

"What will it take then? When will I be good enough!" Zitsu stares at him, refusing to back down. The nine tails attack happens in ten days, setting everything into motion. If he doesn't get stronger in the next two years all his plans will fail.

Mangetsu looks at him, hoping his little brother isn't this stubborn. "If you can make me serious, even if it's just for a second, I will teach you."

Zitsu frowns slightly, his head lowered. Taking a deep breath he looks at Mangetsu. "Don't go back on your words." Sheathing his sword he runs away.

Watching him run away Mangetsu shakes his head.

Cho and the others excitement fades, thinking the show is over.

Zitsu suddenly stops on the other side of the pool. He's on the far left and Mangetsu is on the far right, with the kids sitting in the center by the door.

Zitsu bites his teeth as he looks at Mangetsu and makes a decision that could get him killed.

Taking a deep breath he starts making rapid hand seals for one of his favorite jutsus.

"Ushi, Sara, Oo, Nae, Ee, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Nae, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mee, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mee, Ee, Hitsuji, Nae, Jin, Sara, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mee, Nae, Sara, Oo, Ee, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Nae, Ushi, Sara, Tori, Jin, Nae, Ee, Tori"

[Chakra 5/262]

Pouring in almost all his chakra the jutsu activates.

Mangetsu watched the kid make the hand seals but thought nothing of it. What can he possibly do? But his face suddenly changes.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Six dragon heads rise out of the water and release a defining roar. Clapping his palms together all six dragons rush towards Mangetsu leaving roaring waves in their wake. Zitsu's body rocks up and down like a lone boat during a hurricane.

Mangetsu tightens the grip on his sword, no matter his age this jutsu is impressive.

"Water Transformation Jutsu" his body begins to drip as he launches himself at the dragon's, his legs turning into a jet of water. His sword slashes leaving a silver glow in the air, destroying one of the dragons. But the other five approaches him from the left, right, below, his back and above.

"Haaa!" His arm turns into a blur as he begins to rapidly swing his sword sending waves of chakra to collide with the five dragons. It doesn't stop them, but it slows them down long enough to continue rushing forward, right towards Zitsu.

"Dam, my chakra control still isn't enough, used it all just for six dragons and still failed to land a hit." releasing his palms all five dragons turn into water and drop into the pool with a splash.

Even though he failed, he still has a smile on his face. Because of that jutsu, he leveled his Ninjutsu to 6 and leveled up to 4 giving him a perk point. His Taijutsu is now 4 and Ninjutsu 6, to get his level to 5 he has to level one of his skills four more times.

Mangetsu arriver in front of him shortly after he separated his palms, pointing his sword at his chest.

"Kid not bad, but using water jutsu on a member of the Hozuki clan is a waste of time. I blocked your skill to show respect for your power, but even if I stayed still it wouldn't hurt me. So you failed, go swing your sword." Turning around he swaggers off.

Zitsu's face goes pale. Did he really forget that? Using a water jutsu was the worse possible move! He got caught up being in the land of mist, and using water jutsu, that he forgot who he was fighting! He should have used an earth jutsu!

Shaking his head he sits down to regain his chakra and puts his point into chakra reduction to bring it up to 6%. He noticed that the way it reduces the cost of Ninjutsu is by increasing his chakra control. Thinking this far, he wonders if it stacks with the reduced chakra cost from Genjutsu.

Chojuro, Taisho, and the twins mouths are still hanging open. They look at each other for a moment before one of them finally speaks.

"Can any of you do that?" Taisho whispers softly so Mangetsu and Zitsu can't hear him.

"Not even close."

"We don't even know and jutsu!"

Emina and Eminu shake their head.

They all look at Chojuro whos staring at Zitsu with wide eyes.

"No way this kid can do it, or he wouldn't be here practicing with us."

As the words leave Taisho's mouth his face turns series. "We need to practice seriously, or we will be left behind."

Not wasting any time he begins pushing on the water.

The twins face turns serious as they push their hands into the water.

Looking at everyone else, Chojuro practices as well.