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.