Hiruko lay in the middle of the Senju training ground, exhausted, his face bruised and anus aching.
For the last 2 hours, Hiruko and Arata had been going back and forth fighting; well, fighting is a bit of a stretch. Arata relentlessly attacked Hiruko, and Hiruko got hit after the first or second interaction.
When Hiruko, however, did manage to dodge more than twice, Arata would resort to using his Thousand Years of Death.
Arata, seeing Hiruko's exhausted figure, peered over him with a giant smile, which gave Hiruko flashbacks.
"Okay, Hiruko, get some rest; we'll pick up on our lesson when we both have some time." Arata said, extending a hand toward Hiruko with a giant smile.
Hiruko eyed Arata's hand wearily, it being the hand that hurt him so deeply; after a few moments, he took it with a small smirk.
As he slightly leaned in, "This isn't over; I can promise you that, Big Brother." Hiruko said, whispering, his words carried a sweet but eerie chill.
Hiruko walked past Arata, who stood rooted with sweat dripping down his face as he worried about what Hiruko would do.
"Come on, whoever's tagging along. I'm going to go get some lunch before I and Sakumo have our spar," Hiruko said simply as he walked towards the house with Sakumo, Tsunade, and Yuri following in tow.
—-
The group, now sitting in a seemingly abandoned training area, ice cream in hand, got ready to watch Sakumo and Hiruko's spar.
They decided to do it here due to its proximity to the restaurant the group ate at.
On one side stood Sakumo, his sword sheathed in hand.
"Forgive me, master, but since you asked for a spar, I will give it my all." Sakumo said seriously, unsheathing his sword.
He didn't like raising a sword to them, man; he decided to follow, but at the same time, it's what was asked of him as a sword.
Hiruko, however, on the other hand, simply nodded as he unsheathed 'Miyuki'; a luminescent blue screen caught the corner of his eye.
But Hiruko, needing to focus, paid no attention to the mission he received.
Between the two stood Yuri, who was officiating the match as she extended her porcelain white hand and brought it down as she yelled, "Begin!"
As she did, she jumped from the ring to the side of Tsunade as both started watching the match.
Immediately once Yuri was clear, Hiruko charged in with raw speed, trying to rely on his sword experience from the system to try and get a leg up.
Bringing Miyuki up, Hiruko immediately brought the sword down on Sakumo, targeting his left.
Sakumo, seeing this, easily kept his composure, parrying the attack like it was second nature.
He then used his strength to push Hiruko back slightly to give himself room to work.
Hiruko, also needing a moment, let himself be pushed back and began to catch his breath, but before he could, Sakumo charged right back in, his sword charging at all of Hiruko's weak spots.
Hiruko, seeing this, could only try and avoid it, which allowed Sakumo to dictate the rhythm, which only made Hiruko more tired.
'Now I see why they called him White Fang; it's because he's like a beast, relentless and wild in his pursuit and always on the offensive unless absolutely necessary.' Hiruko thought as he struggled to gain back footing in the spar.
'Shit, I can't even cheat and use the Kilo-Kilo Fruit; he'll know.' Hiruko thought as he mentally went through his possible courses of action.
But before he could come to a decision, Sakumo's sword was already at his throat.
"Like old times, huh?" Hiruko said with a slight smirk, sweat pouring down his face.
Sakumo quickly took his sword away from Hiruko's neck and, sheathing his sword, sweetly smiled back.
"Yes, you are right, master, and don't be discouraged if we fought with ninjutsu; including all it would've taken is one finger for you to beat me." Sakumo said, alluding to Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai.
"Though I must ask who taught you swordsmanship." Sakumo asked, genuinely curious; it was weird to him.
It's like Hiruko has the puzzle, but he only put the beginning pieces together.
As a swordsman, he could see the swordsmanship Hiruko was using was just step 1 of swordsmanship, but it seemed like step 1 was all Hiruko could do, no all he knew.
But that wouldn't make sense. Why not learn the next step? Hiruko had this step done and perfect; aside from a few faults that came with inexperience and lack of battle against others, Hiruko could be seen as perfect at step 1.
'Could it be some lost swordsmanship?' Sakumo thought to himself,
Hiruko, not knowing any of Sakumo's thoughts beside the one he voiced, simply answered.
"No one, I just piece together random stuff I learned from watching Shinnobi train in the training ground.
But aside from the basics, they wouldn't let a child not of their family watch their more personal kenjutsu.
And since I had no way to improve, I didn't touch it really for the last month and a half," Hiruko said, coming up with a random lie.
Sakumo, hearing this, instead of being skeptical, thought, Hiruko was some sword genius with awe.
"Master your amazing." Sakumo said as Hiruko looked at him weirdly.
"By the way, Master, what should we do with our two peepers?" Sakumo said seriously, drawing his blade slightly.
Hiruko, lazily drinking his water, decided to use this chance to test this new sword of his.
"Get them and bring them here, Sakumo." Hiruko said,
At his words Sakumo wasted no time disappearing to complete his duties.
10 minutes later Sakumo came back with a child his age; on his head was a large bump, and his eyes were white. It seemed he was knocked unconscious.
However, his white teeth, still helplessly exposed, carried the warmth and beauty of a prince despite the boy's ugly green spandex and a bowl cut.
"Master, my humble apologies.
The second peeper got away; he's like a slippery snake. I couldn't catch him." Sakumo said solemnly this was his first mission, and he failed.
Hiruko, however, didn't care; just from that description alone, he already knew who the second watcher was and why Sakumo failed.
"It's fine, Sakumo; good job." Hiruko said, kind of awkwardly, he never complimented someone like that.
Sakumo, on the other hand, liked it and ignored Hiruko's awkwardness, as he was happy in a world of his own.
"Now who is this?" Hiruko posed, already knowing who this was.