_________ POV Narration_________

The next thing that Tosho knew when he woke up was that he was in a cave. At least he assumed so, as he couldn't see anything at all.

It was pitch black, not a single thing could be made out.

He couldn't recognize where he was, nor remember how he had gotten there, but he knew what had happened before that...

'That masked man... No, it should be a child... That tone of voice is too strange.'

Tosho could clearly remember almost being beheaded by that masked child, the hairs on the back of his neck stood when he remembered the feeling of cold despair that had washed over him in those 'final' moments.

Through newfound willpower, he had managed to somehow roll away. Most likely thanks to his previous life as a child soldier.

Still, the masked child showcased a much superior speed to his own and knocked him out almost instantly.

'Is he a shinobi? Or maybe a samurai?! The Land of Iron doesn't involve its young in warfare like the elemental nations, so that shouldn't be the case...'

Tosho quickly started struggling against his bindings. The rope around him seemed to be wrapped loosely, which allowed him to move his arms to some extent.

Slowly but surely, his bindings came off, and he shakily got up.

He was thankfully not hurting anywhere, he ran his hands across his body to make sure, so he was well aware of his own condition.

While touching the wall, he started walking forward blindly, hugging the wall for as long as he could until he eventually reached an entrance.

It didn't lead outside, and there was no light in that room, but Tosho could tell it was bigger, the temperature in it dropping a bit and the echo of his steps becoming a bit more noticeable.

Tosho continued walking to a side, sticking to the wall, knowing it was his best bet at finding an exit and avoiding any holes that he could fall into.

That was when it happened.

"Dodge..." A raspy and low voice followed by something more 'substantial'.

A loud thump and a burning sensation on Tosho's side, the sheath of a long blade hitting him in the side and sending him tumbling towards the middle of the large room.

"Do as instructed..." Was the first thing Tosho heard when his ears cleared and he managed to catch his breath once more.

He quickly got up, opening his eyes and trying to look around desperately, but the room was still pitch black, so he might as well have not opened his eyes at all.

"Dodge..." He heard again, and before he could even react, another strike hit his leg, making him kneel once more. He expected a follow-up, so he put up his guard in a hurry, but nothing came.

Tosho recognized that voice now, it was also the only person obviously looking to torment him in some way...

"Why are you doing this?!" Tosho asked with a frantic tone, still kneeling as he raised his arms around his head in a defensive manner.

"... Drunk, Useless, Weak, Pathetic..." The words echoed in that cave as Tosho clutched at his head in fear.

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"Do you want to go back to that? Or do you want to become strong?"

Ken's voice sounded in the cave, emotionless, uncaring, absolutely chilling for the scared former Child Soldier.

Tosho tried his best to locate Ken using that voice, but he had no chance thanks to the echo in the cave.

He looked around frantically again, hoping for something to happen, and then Ken's words finally managed to sink in...

'This... This isn't some form of torture or prolonged execution... This is training...?' Tosho immediately realized what was happening after that.

Ken wasn't his enemy, but rather the opposite, the masked child wanted him to grow stronger.

Tosho had no clue why that was.

How was he, a washed-up drunkard and former child soldier, supposed to be of use to someone like Ken?

Ken was an exceedingly young, talented and powerful swordsman/shinobi.

And he? Well, he was already past his prime, no one would even give him the time of day... So why?

The more he thought about Ken, his masked attacker, the more confused he was. But there was also a feeling of awe slithering in the depths his mind.

Ken was even faster than Tosho's former Jonin teachers while being most likely younger than or just as young as academy graduates...

Tosho took a few seconds to mull over his life till that point, all that he had gone through and the humiliation he had suffered. After that, he started getting up again.

'If someone like him shows interest in my talent... Then I will at least try not to disappoint him...'

"Dodge..." Another auditory cue was given and another blunt strike hit him. This time, his guard was up, so his arm took the brunt of that hit.

He rolled on the ground, the force of that strike made it clear that it wasn't meant to be blocked.

The second Tosho got up again, he heard Ken's voice again... "Dodge!" A bit louder this time, and he was struck in the back.

This continued for a while, as Tosho slowly remembered the jutsus he had learned in his youth, that stressful situation managing to force them out of his mind in order to find some way to defend himself.

He tried to use a sensory technique, but he wasn't able to get even the faintest whiff of a chakra signature beside his own. Then he got struck down again.

Then he tried to use a defensive jutsu, raising an earth wall. The wall was broken instantly, and he was sent flying further, injured by both the Sheath and the broken rocks.

Making clones also didn't work. Tosho wanted to use a few more visual illusions, but each time he tried something he was struck to the ground regardless.

With each word spoken, a strike was sent Tosho's way, and more and more pain accumulated.

With each strike, Tosho grew calmer. The more pain he felt, the more focused he became.

Eventually, nearing the end of that gruelling training, he managed to sense one single strike.

He could feel it approaching, a moment of pure comprehension, as his eyesight seemed to be forgotten completely.

Tosho had no clue whether it was thanks to the auditory cue or a sickening sense of premonition after hundreds of strikes, but he managed to roll away in time.

Ken's sheath hit the ground loudly. and that was also where the training stopped, as Tosho collapsed to the ground, unable to get up anymore.

He was injured, to the point where he couldn't even move anymore.

"I-I can't... I'm too tired..." Tosho felt his entire body burning with both fatigue and pain. There was not a part of his body that was uninjured.

He was not passing out, holding on with sheer will.

Then he started to hear a rock being moved, and a light shined into the cave room. Clearing up his surroundings as he closed his eyes, readjusting slowly to the sunlight seeping into the large cave.

He was in a cave that seemed to have been formed naturally but was enlargened unnaturally, the room he had come from was also dug up.

Then he saw a shadow coming closer and closer to him. Looking up, he saw that exact same mask that had looked over him in the past.

The same wild and overgrown spiky hair, the same blood-red armour covered by a tattered black cloth.

"You did a lot better than anticipated... You lasted around 5 hours even. With this type of determination, you are bound to go far above ordinary."

Ken's voice sounded out, this time his tone wasn't cold or uncaring, which shocked Tosho, instead, it was warm, prideful even.

Tosho smiled widely when feeling the odd warmth in Ken's words, before finally passing out in the warmth of the sun.

Ken simply let out a sigh as he looked at his trainee.

'A lot better than I expected... He actually surpassed my expectations a lot. He was quite resourceful too. I guess my judgement was right this time around.'

Ken shook his head in the end. Retracting that last thought as another one replaced it.

'Can't say his success has anything to do with me though... He was the one to motivate himself and break his limits.'

In that manner, Ken gained a newfound sense of respect for his trainee.

'I should probably get to bandaging him though, don't want him dying on me...'