CHAPTER III
Becoming a Manji
Manji ninjas trained Yoshimitsu ever more than Tatsuo
and Goha. They wanted to teach him every secret of Ninjutsuu, so he can help
them in destroying Kudji-Kiri.
Ninjas brought Yoshimitsu to their sensei, Zeku
Nasa.
Zeku was an old man, unable to fight, but he
was very intelligent and that’s why all Manji ninjas respected him.
His short gray hair shined on Sun’s light. He
wasn’t very tall, and he had about 70 years, but his green eyes looked like
eyes of a 20-year boy.
- Welcome! – said Zeku, smiling – Welcome to our clan! We’ll accept you as
one of us, but you must respect all rules we give to you. Understand?
- Yes. – Answered Yoshimitsu politely.
- Firstly, a ninja can’t reveal his real face. You’ll
need a mask.
After few minutes, Yoshimitsu looked totally different;
nobody could recognize him behind the mask and armor. All Manji ninjas had
smiled masks, so Yoshimitsu got one too. He had a mask which mimicked skeleton’s
face. He also had horns, a helmet and golden teeth. Eyes were sad and happy at
the same time, so it was hard to guess his feelings behind the mask.
His armor was strange, but useful. He was
completely in golden color, looking scary and happy at the same time.
- Kobayasha, you will be his personal trainer! – Ordered Zeku Nasa to Kobayasha, best Manji
fighter.
He was all in white armor, carrying gray mask
with horns and smile on his face.
- OK. Yoshimitsu, come here. I’ll teach you
ninja basics, then their secrets and special attacks. It will be fun, I promise.
Now come.
Yoshimitsu and Kobayasha walked into forest.
- I first want to see what you know. Do you
know to fight?
- Little. – Answered Yoshimitsu silently.
- Show me.
- We will fight without swords, right?
- No. We will use them, but not real swords. Let’s
start with these. – Said Kobayasha, pointing
to 2 wooden swords. Now try to beat me.
Yoshimitsu was very fast, he rushed to Kobayasha
and waved his sword, pointing to Kobayasha’s head...but Kobayasha was faster
than Yoshimitsu thought... He did a backflip, so Yoshimitsu ran below him, missing
his whole body. When he landed, he turned around slowly and smiled.
- Hmm...not bad, but I can see you need much
more practice. What do you think about...
Yoshimitsu jumped to Kobayasha, wanting to surprise
him with his attack. He waved his sword again, and used all the power he’s got...but...
...Kobayasha was faster than lighting, he
raised his sword, blocking Yoshimitsu’s attack!
Yoshimitsu was angry, but he didn’t give up. he
tried to fool his opponent, he acted like he’s going to throw his sword, but he
quickly aimed to Kobayasha’s stomach!
Kobayasha just did a small sidestep so Yoshimitsu’s
body lost control and he fell on ground. He quickly rolled and got up. Kobayasha
was smiling.
He started waving his sword all around, pointing
to every point of his opponent’s body. If that don’t confuse him, nothing will...
Suddenly, he stopped his rushing because he
didn’t see anybody! Kobayasha just disappeared!
- I’m here – said voice behind him.
Yoshimitsu quickly turned around, pointing his
sword to Kobayasha’s chest, but his opponent was too fast again, he waved his
sword with such a power that two wooden swords broke to parts when they crossed!
- What...how? How did you do that? How you disappeared?
How did you...
- Don’t worry. You can do all this, with
practice. You are not bad fighter, you have the power, speed, but you need to
improve your skills. I’ll try to teach you as much as I can. Let’s start with
the training.
Kobayasha and Yoshimitsu started with basic
attacks, punch, kick and combos. Yoshimitsu learned very fast, he was a very
smart person.
They trained all sorts of attacks...punch, kick,
low attack, high attack, jump attack, crouching techniques, counters, blocking
the attacks, grabbing strategies...
After 4 hours, Yoshimitsu was very tired, but
he learnt most of fighting basics. He knew when to attack, when to block, when
to counter...where are most sensitive dots of human body... Kobayasha was a
real master, and he truly wanted to teach Yoshimitsu all he knows.
They started with punching. Yoshimitsu’s
punches were slow at the beginning, but later his attacks were a real hurricane,
he punched with incredible speed, and with huge power.
After that, they started kicking training. Kobayasha
knew all sorts of kick attacks, kick combos and other kick techniques. Yoshimitsu
learnt those moves very fast and his kicks were truly powerful. He also learnt
that he can block with his legs, instead of arms...
Later, they trained air attacks, crouch attacks,
and grabbing techniques. Kobayasha enjoyed watching Yoshimitsu does some of his
famous moves, hat no other Manji can do. He was very happy about that, and he
respected Yoshimitsu more.
At the end, they practiced combos – deadliest
attacks if a fighter knows to use them. Yoshimitsu already learnt connecting
his attacks in a combo, but Kobayasha taught him combos he never saw in his
life, and he was amazed. Kobayasha was much more amazed when he saw Yoshimitsu does
those combos easily, like he knew them all his life.
- You are a very smart person. And a good
fighter.
- Thank you for teaching me all these things. I’ll
owe you for this forever. – said Yoshimitsu with different voice.
His voice wasn’t different just because of his mask,
it was different because he really respected Kobayasha. He didn’t want to hide
that emotion.
A man who is so strong, fast, who knows how to
fight, and he want to share his knowledge. Those people should be treated with
biggest respect...
- I see you are restless about invisibility and
other tricks...– Said Kobayasha, smiling, although Yoshimitsu couldn’t see that
because Kobayasha’s face was covered by mask.
- Can you show me them?
- Not now. It still isn’t the time for that. Tomorrow,
we’ll continue the training. And, after you become a really good fighter, we’ll
proceed to more complex things.
They came back to Manjis, and Kobayasha
described them Yoshimitsu’s advancement. They all were very proud of their new
member.
Tomorrow was a new day for Yoshimitsu and his
training.
Yoshimitsu and Kobayasha entered the same place
in forest.
They trained again, repeating moves from yesterday,
but adding new moves and connecting them to previous ones, making the whole
attack more deadly.
Yoshimitsu started to be a true Manji ninja. He
was fast, strong, and most important of all – He knew how to use his brain. He
was a very smart fighter.
After a long training, which was longer than
previous one, they went back to Manjis hideout. Yoshimitsu went to sleep, but
he could hear Kobayasha’s words while he whispered to Zeku Nasa:
- He is very good. One of the best fighters I
ever seen. He isn’t a Manji yet, but after more training, he will be deadlier
than Kudji-Kiri ninjas theirself.
- That’s great. We need him, and he has clean
soul and good skills. Practice more with him, but don’t excess. He needs to
rest.
- Don’t worry.
Yoshimitsu was happy, and he started sleeping. He
was tired...but happy.
He and Kobayasha trained for one more week, then,
when Kobayasha felt that Yoshimitsu mastered the basics of Ninjutsuu, he said:
- To do these moves, you’ll need full concentration
of your body and your mind. If you don’t concentrate you can’t be good in these
complex things.
- OK. I’ll try.
Kobayasha took two Samurai swords, whose were
old, but deadlier than a bunch of snakes.
- Now we will practice fighting with sword. It
may look easy, but it is much harder than any of our previous trainings, so pay
full attention. Take this sword, and try to do what I do.
Kobayasha did a confusing sword combo, he
firstly waved it to right, then to left, then turned around, rolled and stabbed
the sword in ground.
It was Yoshimitsu’s turn. He did exactly same
moves like Kobayasha, but he was slower.
They practiced the same combo for one hour, and
after all that practice, Yoshimitsu managed to be even faster than his teacher!
After that, they moved on to more complex and
harder sword combo. Kobayasha pointed the sword like he is going to stab
himself, but then he stabbed the sword under his arm, jumped, turned around in
air, and finally slashed the ground with his sword. After that, he rolled to
side, and did a confusing 5 hit sword combo.
Yoshimitsu wasn’t slower this time, in his
first try he managed to be faster than Kobayasha!
- Wow...seems like you understand sword
techniques. – said Kobayasha.
But training didn’t end, they practiced all day,
doing new attacks, and increasing Yoshimitsu’s skills.
They practiced with sword for 2 more weeks, the
Kobayasha brought Yoshimitsu to sensei Zeku Nasa.
- Zeku Nasa, Yoshimitsu become a really good
fighter! – Said Kobayasha.
- Congratulations Yoshimitsu! Soon, you will
become of us!
Although his face was hidden by mask, Yoshimitsu
smiled, he was very happy for becoming a Manji soon.
- Thank you. – Yoshimitsu said.
- Tomorrow is your last training day – said Zeku
– You’ll learn Manji tricks...
Tomorrow, Yoshimitsu and Kobayasha went to
finish the final lesson.
- OK, let’s start this one : INVISIBILITY! You
probably wondered how I disappeared in that match against you, I’m going to
reveal you the secret.
Yoshimitsu listened to Kobayasha with full
attention. He wanted to be invisible from the moment he saw Kobayasha disappears.
- The secret is...meditation!
Yoshimitsu narrowed his eyes. Meditation?
- Yes...you need to meditate every day...and
when your spiritual energy frees itself, you will be able to be invisible! You
will not be really invisible, because that’s impossible, but you can trick your
opponent’s eyes so he or she can’t see you!
. - Hypnosis?
- Well, yes...that’s some kind of hypnosis...but
deeper, and it can only be done if your soul is totally relaxed and your spirit
is clean. You must meditate to do this.
You need to look into your opponent, and dive
into his mind. If you hypnoze him properly, he won’t be able to see you!
But beware, you can’t be invisible to all
people, some ninjas from Kudji-Kiri clan passed an anti-hypnosis treatment, and
you can’t trick their eyes...so, be careful.
Also, being invisible will reduce your energy
slowly, so use it wisely. You can stop your «Invisibility» whenever you want. One
more thing...you can only be invisible in air. If you are in water, or in room
with no air, you can’t concentrate and you can’t be invisible. Understand?
- OK! From now on, I will meditate every day!
- Good. Next trick...Teleportation. When you
master this one, you can teleport, but in small distances. But the distance
doesn’t matter if you are in a middle of a fight, and you want to disappear and
appear on another place.
- Is that hypnosis too?
- Sort of. You need to sit meditation stance, then
rotate yourself as fast as you can. You won’t rotate much fast, but the Manji
power in you will rotate you faster and faster...while smoke is around you. Opponent
will think you disappeared, and in that short time, when smoke is around you, so
opponent can’t see you, you need to go on a place you want to be. After that, smoke
should disappear and you will be on another location. You must be very fast and
meditate a lot.
When you master the art of hypnosis, you can
experiment and trick your opponent’s eyes in many ways...
- Interesting! – Said Yoshimitsu. – I
must try that once! – said Yoshimitsu, excited.
They practiced Manji tricks for whole day, always
discovering something new. It was his most interesting training day.
At the end of his last training, Yoshimitsu
asked:
- But shouldn’t I learn to use Ninja tools like
Shurikens, Explosive pellets and others?
- Well, in that part of Ninjutsuu, I can’t help
you because you must have your own style. Every Manji has his own style of
throwing shurikens, using Ninja tools...don’t worry, you will learn them soon.
When they came back, Zeku as waiting for them.
- Congratulations, Yoshimitsu.
- Zeku Nasa, did I...
- Yes, Yoshimitsu. You became one of us! Here, take
this. It is our gift for you.
Zeku handed a beautiful Samurai sword to Yoshimitsu.
- Thank you very much. – said Yoshimitsu, excited.
Yoshimitsu was full of happiness. He thanked Zeku
Nasa and especially Kobayasha, the Manji who learnt him basics and secrets of Ninjutsuu.
He meditated all night, proud of himself
because he was a MANJI.