The Cloud Over The Leaf

Akumu smiled devilishly as he waited for Hii to respond.

He looked over and noticed Hii's mouth was open and he wasn't blinking.

"Ugh.... Hii? You okay?"

"You look so cool!!"

Akumu was taken aback at Hii's sudden movement towards him.

"So cool!! Is this what you looked like before?!"

Hii zoomed all around him, checking out Akumu at every angle.

Akumu's face became a bit red at the insistent praise from Hii.

"Ok! That's enough! Let's get serious here."

Akumu grabbed Hii by the head and held him in place until he calmed down.

Hii's face was bright red as he collected himself.

"S-sorry. I lost myself a bit."

"It's okay. I'd be surprised too if a wolf became a man suddenly. Anyway, check out the space! I'm sure you'll love this!"

Akumu sat on the ground on his knees and motioned Hii to join him.

Hii took a seat and waited for Akumu's explanation.

"Let me tell you more about this technique. I learned how to use my eyes properly today from Fugaku-san. It turns out my Sharingan is a bit special when it comes to Genjutsu."

"Special?"

"Yeah. My Genjutsu can be used to make illusions and fears seem real. My eyes can also do simulations of things I want the opponent to experience. This area can do all of those things."

".....Simulations?"

Hii tilted his head while Akumu slapped his forehead.

"Of course you wouldn't know what the hell that is! Ok! Let's just say this world is like a lucid dream. You can be considered a like a part of my dream right now."

"Eh?! I'm a dream?!"

Akumu nodded his head.

"In a way. You can fade away like a clone here. Watch."

Akumu extended his hands out and focused his attention on a spot near Hii.

*Poof*

"Eeeeeh?!!!"

From the smoke, Hii could see.... another Akumu?!

Hii looked at Akumu to explain, who was snickering at his reaction.

"In here, I rule everything."

Akumu summoned a kunai and threw it at the other Akumu!

*Puchi*

The kunai went right into his chest, knocking him down.

"I dragged your consciousness in this world so you can train in the stuff I know. It's also to protect you."

"To protect me? From what?"

"From how intense my training is."

Akumu extended his hand and focused his imagination again.

*Poof*

This time, a rack of swords appeared in front of them.

"Oooooh!!!"

Hii couldn't help, but look through all the weapons that appeared. The swords came in different shapes and sizes, all different and unique.

"These swords! They're amazing!"

"Right? Pick one up you want to fight with."

Akumu chuckled while he grabbed a katana on the rack and walked over to the side. He also got rid of the other Akumu on the floor with a thought and watched Hii choose a blade.

Hii took a long time inspecting each blade, swinging a few of them as well before settling on a shorter katana his size.

"A wakizashi eh? Good choice for you."

"This is called a wakizashi? It feels just right! So do we practice forms now?"

The weapon rack faded away while the walls of the dojo began to expand and spread out.

" Now we'll have a match with real swords."

"Eh?! A match?!"

"Don't worry. You can't die in here. It'll still hurt as if it's real, so you better pay attention."

Akumu smiles devilishly as he drew his katana from the sheath.

Hii drew his blade as well and took his stance. 

"Start when you're ready."

Akumu just stood there with his sword in hand. He leisurely waited for Hii to make his move.

Hii could feel the killing intent on his skin as he edged closer towards him. 

He could feel the weight of a real sword in his hand as he slowly got into position.

"Hup!"

Hii shot toward Akumu, aiming to slice at his chest.

"Naive."

*Clang*

"Uwaaah!"

Hii was sent flying back as he barely managed to stabilize himself.

One swing.

It only took one swing to knock him back!

"The old man has been holding back on you, slowly building up your skill."

Akumu slowly walked forward towards Hii.

"I'm not that nice. I'll treat you like an enemy when we fight."

He stopped right in front of Hii.

"I won't go too easy on you. I'll cut you deep if you give me the chance."

*Swoosh*

"!!"

Hii immediately dodged Akumu's slash, but it wasn't a clean miss.

*Drip Drip*

Blood spilled from the gash on his shoulder as Hii tried to hold his blade.

'He's serious!'

His blade shook lightly as he tried to keep his arm still.

Hii did a handsign with his free hand, preparing to use chakra to boost his speed.

"Huh?"

But Hii couldn't feel anything but the sting from the cut on his arm.

Akumu walked towards him again.

"This space makes it so you can't use Jutsu or Chakra. You can only use your body and your skills."

Akumu held his blade with two hands as he grinned deviously.

"Can you cut me, I wonder?"

Akumu shot towards him and swung for his neck!

*Clang*

Hii barely managed to block the blade, rolling away from Akumu for some space.

Akumu, however, wasn't going to hold back anymore.

*Clang Clang Clang*

Screeches of clashing metal rang out of the dojo as Hii desperately tried to fight back!

Akumu just leisurely swung at any opening Hii offered without fail.

"Your stance is too wide. Fix it."

*Puchi*

"Ugh!"

Akumu corrected Hii's mistakes with slashes and light stabs.

"Hold your sword firm, even if your arm is shaking."

"Haaa. Haaa."

Hii couldn't seem to escape Akumu's slashes.

Hii's legs and arms were cut in multiple areas, but he wouldn't give up.

He didn't want to give up.

'He's hitting all the weak points Grandpa told me about in my stance. I can try to correct some errors here!'

Hii straightened his sword and keenly watched Akumu's every move.

Akumu nodded his head and dashed towards Hii!

*Clang Clang Clang*

The echoes of clashing steel rang out in the dojo as the two went back and forth exchanging blows.

Over time, the cuts Hii received from Akumu started to lessen.

"Good. Just a few more exchanges."

*Clang Clang Clang*

The two clashed for a while longer until Akumu finally relented.

"It's not perfect, but you've got most of your errors corrected for now."

"Haaa haaa, how, haa, are you not tired?!"

"Genjutsu. I control everything in here. Remember?"

"Not, haa, fair."

"You'll get to used to it in no time. Now for the next part of this training."

Akumu snapped his fingers.

Hii suddenly felt refreshed and full of energy once again. Even all of his cuts disappeared!

"Woah!"

"Don't get shocked yet. This next part will be more intense than before. Do you want to pick a longer blade? You may need it."

Hii eyed his wakizashi, checking the edges and curve of the blade.

"I'll stick with this one. I feel pretty familiar with it already."

"Familiarity is the best thing for a choice in a weapon."

Akumu nodded his head as he started to think about an opponent for Hii.

" Hmm. Someone who would die and not affect him too much. Uhhhh...."

Akumu continued to think when suddenly, he clapped his hands with an idea!

"Right! That guy Miyu and her friend told me they struggled with! What was that game he was from again? Something with a soul? Hmm, can't remember. I believe he looked like..."

Hii wondered what Akumu was talking about as he summoned someone on the other side of the dojo.

Hii looked over to see ...a man with a uchigatana. He had pale skin and only seemed to have a loincloth in his possession besides his sword. He was mostly skin and bone, but his eyes held a strange lust for battle.

"Umm? Who is that?"

Akumu smiled devilishly.

"Your next opponent. The next fight will be one to the death. You better be careful, I've heard he's killed a lot of people."

Hii wondered where Akumu had seen such a man before, but he didn't have enough time to figure it out.

The man rushed towards Hii with an overhead slash!

Hii jumped back from the attack and got into his stance, holding his blade in front of him. The man moved his weapon to his side, his shoulder facing towards Hii, ready to draw. The two circled each other slowly as they watched each other.

"You are allowed to use Chakra against this guy! Just be cautious of his Iai. It's pretty fast."

Hii nodded his head as he felt the familiar rush of Chakra flowing through his body once again. 

Hii would usually rush towards his enemy quickly to catch him off guard, but something told him it would be a bad idea with a long reaching weapon.

His thought struck true as the man dashed in instead and swung his blade towards Hii's neck!

'He's really fast!'

Hii ducked the slash and sent his own attack towards his arm!

*Puchi*

The blade struck true, but the man seemed unfazed as he attempted to slash him overhead once more.

Hii dodged most of the slash, but his arm was cut by the edge of the blade!

"Ugh!"

Blood steadily trickled from his arm, but Hii kept his focus.

'Akumu said this is a battle to the death. I'll have to kill him to progress.'

Hii saw the wound on the man's arm barely leaking any blood despite the notable size.

The man shot towards Hii again, making similar slashes like the last clash.

*Clang Clang*

Hii and the man clashed against each other multiple times before Hii started to notice something was off about the man.

'He seems like he's not alive. It's like he's a puppet!'

Hii tightened his grip on his blade as he cautiously started to circle towards the man. 

'If that's the case, I won't need to feel bad. I should be able to kill him.'

Chakra began to coat the blade as Hii's gaze became steady and clear.

He could see the man starting to step in, hand on hilt of his blade as he aimed his blade towards Hii!

Hii felt the direction of the attack and kept his cool, waiting for his opportunity to counter.

'Once it's close, I'll go for the head!' 

Once the man fully commited to his slash, Hii moved!

The man sliced for Hii's neck again, but Hii dodged it!

Ducking barely under the blade, Hii strengthened his arms and legs with all the chakra he could muster and sliced!

*Slash*

Hii passed the man as the two held their sword forms like statues. 

The man's head slowly slid off his body as he slowly fell to the ground.

"Haaaa! Haaaa!"

Hii could finally breath as he gulped air in voraciously.

"Breathe in deep! Let it out slowly."

Hii followed Akumu's advice as he breathed in as much air as he could, then released it as slow possible.

He did this a few times before he felt he had calmed down.

"So? How was it?"

"It, it was definitely intense. I feel like I learned something from it."

"Good. As long as you learned something from it, that's enough. I hope that was beneficial for you."

"Akumu?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did I have to kill him?"

"......Haaa."

Akumu scratched the back of his head as looked towards the dojo wall. Hii waited for Akumu to respond, but soon noticed he was pointing towards the wall.

Hii turned his head to find the wall had a banner on it that he hadn't seen previously.

"Hesitation leads to death?"

"That's right. In this world and in the world of warriors, hesitation is one of the most frequent reasons for death. This is especially true here."

Akumu walked next to Hii and patted his head.

"I'll have you kill that guy everyday until I leave. I don't want you to ever experience the consequences of freezing in the moment. They can be life or death decisions on missions and in general."

Akumu smiled as he lifted his hand. Hii nodded his head and looked at the banner once more.

"Come on. That was enough for today. Let's head back and rest."

The dojo walls soon became wavy and then stark white and blank as before. Hii felt the world around him shifting as he suddenly shivered violently!

Once he stopped shivering, he realized he was back in his room, facing Akumu.

"Wow! That was-"

[Alright! I understand it was amazing, but first, lie down on the bed for me please.]

"Uh,okay?"

Hii did as he was told and laid down with his head on his pillow.

[Good. Now just relax and lay there.]

"Huh? But wh-"

Hii suddenly felt his world crash as he blacked out on the bed.

Akumu watched as Hii went soundly to sleep, sounding very exhausted.

[As I suspected. The downside is extreme fatigue for both of us. This is good for capturing someone, but I better only train people near beds if this happens all the time.]

Akumu shook his head as he laid next to Hii's bed.

[We'll train more tomorrow. Goodnight, Hii.]

Akumu laid his head to the floor and went to sleep as well.

The two slept soundly asleep, even as the family came in the room to wake them up.

They both got scolded by Grandma the next day for missing dinner and worrying her.

It was then decided the training would he be moved to bedtime by the two unanimously.