Chapter 117: Uchiha Kenjutsu Techniques
Kaida was left alone in the training area. He decided to first master memory implantation and hypnotism before moving on to other tasks.
All 80 shadow clones, including Kaida, began training in hypnotism. During practice, many rats fainted, though not intentionally.
'Looks like there are many ways to make your enemy faint. The technique brother taught me must be for allies, so they won't suffer any lasting injuries to their brain,' Kaida thought as he continued practicing.
His goal was to achieve something similar to what Shisui did, but the problem was the rats saw him as their nemesis. So, his objective was to make them believe the opposite of what they currently believed.
Though difficult, this was the most practical training Kaida could do, since a similar scenario would likely occur with an enemy.
…
Kaida continued training until midnight, and after seven hours of practice, he finally achieved a single success.
'That took way longer than I expected. Well, now that I've grasped the basics, the only thing left is to practice this repeatedly,' Kaida thought. He dispersed his clones, as most of them were low on chakra by now.
He then created 85 shadow clones. Ten out of the 85 continued to practice genjutsu, while the rest went off to complete some missions.
These D-rank missions took time. When Kaida first started doing missions, he chose ones that took the least time. But now that he had to complete 2,000 missions every week—nearly 70 percent of all D-rank missions assigned to the Uchiha clan—he couldn't be picky. He had to complete many time-consuming missions.
Because of this, Kaida had to constantly use at least 50 shadow clones for three days straight to meet the 2,000-mission quota.
On the positive side, since his shadow clones used a myriad of jutsu to complete these missions as fast as possible, Kaida's ninjutsu proficiency improved along with his contribution points.
It was like hitting two birds with one stone.
Seeing all of his clones busy with their tasks, Kaida decided to use the fire room until 4 AM, knowing he had a kenjutsu practice session with Shisui afterward.
…
(At 4 AM)
Both Kaida and Shisui arrived at the training area at the same time.
"Good morning, brother," Kaida greeted.
"Good morning, Kaida. How's your training going?" Shisui asked.
"I've grasped the basics of what you taught me yesterday, though the success rate of memory implantation is only 10 percent for now. I'm training to improve that," Kaida replied.
"Great. Now, are you ready for some kenjutsu practice?" Shisui asked, drawing his sword.
"Absolutely," Kaida said, drawing his own sword.
"First, I want you to work on your offense, as that's the weaker part of your kenjutsu," Shisui said.
"Yes, brother," Kaida replied.
"Okay, now try to follow me as best you can," Shisui said.
Kaida nodded and began copying the moves Shisui demonstrated. After completing all the stances, Shisui asked, "Were you able to find the difference between this and the basic stances you've learned?"
"Yes, brother. What you just showed me is much more complex and harder to predict," Kaida answered.
"Correct. This is the Uchiha way of fighting on the battlefield. With our Sharingan, we can predict everything that's going to happen, while we become an unpredictable variable. For us, the battlefield is a stage where everyone moves according to our instruction. An experienced Uchiha can control the battlefield like no one else," Shisui explained.
Kaida nodded, having experienced the power of the Sharingan and understanding that what Shisui said was completely possible.
"Now, your task is to use the various stances you've just learned in a spar," Shisui said, pointing his sword at Kaida.
"We're going to spar already?" Kaida asked.
"Yes, there's no better way to learn than through practice. Don't worry, I'll only be defending," Shisui reassured him.
"Okay, brother," Kaida said. He then began using the new, complex stances against Shisui. Since he had only seen them once, Kaida couldn't use them perfectly, but Shisui hadn't expected him to.
After practicing until 6:30 AM, Kaida was panting in a corner.
"You monstrous brat, at this rate, you'll master this in just a month," Shisui said.
"It's all thanks to you, brother," Kaida replied.
"Maybe I'm a genius at teaching too," Shisui said with a smug expression.
Kaida just shook his head.
"Now, let's head back before we find out just how dangerous Mom can be," Shisui joked.
Kaida nodded, and both returned home. After eating breakfast, Kaida created a new batch of shadow clones and went to the hospital.
He treated patients until 4 PM, then returned to the training area to practice the new kenjutsu stances with five shadow clones. He practiced for hours, stopping only at 11 PM before heading to the fire room. At 4 AM, he returned to the training area, just in time to meet Shisui.
"Brother, I think I'm getting addicted to this fire room," Kaida said when he saw Shisui waiting for him.
"Yeah, feeling your elemental chakra affinity grow is pretty great, but sadly, that feeling fades after a while," Shisui replied.
"Right," Kaida said with a hint of sadness.
"Leave that aside. Are you ready to learn something new?" Shisui asked.
"Yes, brother," Kaida answered.
"Since we worked on offense yesterday, today I'm going to teach you about defense," Shisui said. Seeing Kaida nod, he continued, "Your defense is already really good, but it's not efficient. You're using way too much power to block attacks. What I'm going to teach you is not to block, but to change the direction of the attack. Since you can see the muscle movements of your enemy, you can guess which direction they're putting most of their power into, right?" Shisui asked.
"Yes, brother," Kaida replied.
"Once you see that, all you need to do is apply a small amount of force at the right time to deflect the attack away from you. This will also give you an opening."
"How will I know where and when to apply the force?" Kaida asked.
"Simple. Keep practicing. With time and experience, you'll learn those things naturally," Shisui said, pointing his sword at Kaida. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, brother."
This time, it was Kaida's turn to defend. Since he was trying something new, he took a lot of hits, but he kept improving, slowly figuring out the timing and spots to apply force.
Even after two hours of training, Kaida saw little improvement. Seeing his dejected expression, Shisui said, "Do you know why you're not making rapid progress like you usually do?"
"No, brother," Kaida replied.
"That's because your defense is already very good. It's become part of your muscle memory, and now you're trying to do the opposite, so it'll take time. Don't worry, you'll improve with time. From today onward, we'll spar every morning. I'm sure that'll help," Shisui said.
"Okay, brother," Kaida replied.