Chương 28: Team Training

After the individual training session ended, it was time for the team training. The sun was still high in the sky so they still had lot of time today. Choza stood at the side, watching his three students with a calm expression. Shunsui stepped forward and faced Guy and Genma.

"We will be playing snakes and ladders today," Shunsui said.

"I hope that you have taken my advice and played the game at home?" Shunsui asked as both Guy and Genma nodded.

"Good then let's begin," Shunsui said. He summoned his two blades out of thin air with a casual wave of his hand. The swords appeared instantly in his grip. He then recited the poem in a calm but serious voice.

"The Flowery Winds Become Disturbed, The God Of Flowers Sings, The Heavenly Winds Become Disturbed, The Devil Of Heaven Sneers... Katen Kyokotsu." As the blades shifted and changed into the large black scimitars, a couple of seconds passed. Shunsui then spoke again.

"The area around us is now the playing board of the game." Both Genma and Guy looked around carefully. They did not feel anything happening. The ground, the trees, and the air looked exactly the same as before.

"Both of you are not sensors," Shunsui explained patiently.

"Non-sensors would have it hard to tell when I have used my shikai ability and you are inside one of the games. A sensor can sense me using chakra at the start and passively to know that I have done something, but they still won't know which game it is." He continued, "You will have to rely on my hand signals to know which game it is or my verbal answer." Both Guy and Genma nodded, showing they understood.

"Now you both would be sparring against each other within the game," Shunsui said as both took their fighting positions.

"Before you two begin, I hope you two have memorized the general layout of the game, where the ladders and snakes are?" Shunsui asked. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Genma nodded confidently, but Guy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"We had to remember them? Well, I was too busy training so I fo... forgot to do it in my youth!!" Shunsui just sighed.

"Very well."

"I will guide you. Just remember that 3 full steps is equal to one block of the game board," Shunsui said. Genma nodded but asked a question.

"Since you asked us to memorize where the snakes and ladders are... does that mean they would be in the same position every time we play the game?"

"Yes. If we are fighting together, they would be in the same position. With me as the start location. From there you can imagine the board."

"Of course, as I have told you before, I can tweak the games a little so I can change where the snakes and ladders are to my advantage," Shunsui said as Genma nodded at that.

"Also, ladders can only be set at the start of the game but not during the game. If I want to change the position of ladders and snakes, I have to restart the game and thus waste chakra."

"It would be advantageous to use one single setup too with you guys. A default setup that you would know about and can take advantage of to dodge attacks and take your opponents by surprise."

"Now time to play." With that, Genma and Guy exploded into action. Guy headed straight toward Genma with his usual powerful charge. Genma, instead of meeting him head-on, moved 6 steps to the right and suddenly teleported behind Guy. Guy looked around in confusion and realized too late that Genma was behind him. A senbon pierced his thigh before he could react.

Genma then took 12 steps backward, but if Guy had been paying closer attention, he would have noticed that Genma had skipped two steps and had moved a couple steps to the side. Guy followed straight away and stepped on those two blocks. A small-sized snake popped up from the ground and bit Guy on the shoulder. Guy punched the snake away, but he immediately knelt as he felt poison spreading through his body. His muscles began to stiffen.

Genma quickly threw him an antidote that he had prepared earlier after taking a sample of the poison from Shunsui's game. Guy drank it quickly and stood up again, shaking his head to clear the effects. Shunsui called out, "Guy, from now on follow my instructions." Guy nodded. Genma threw a volley of senbon at Guy. Shunsui immediately gave the command.

"Take 4 steps to the right." Guy did as told and teleported a little behind Genma, causing the senbon to miss completely. Genma then took 8 steps to the left and teleported to the right side of Guy before rushing at him with a kunai. Shunsui called again, "Guy, take 10 steps to the right." Guy followed the instruction and teleported behind Genma, landing a strong kick to his back.

Choza, who was observing the entire fight from the side, thought with visible excitement, 'It is like every member of the team can use Minato's Flying Raijin. I can't wait to show them off in the chunin exams.' He imagined the shocked faces of the other villages when they saw his genin teleporting around the battlefield like yellow flashes. A small chuckle escaped him as he pictured Guy yelling about the power of youth while suddenly appearing behind an enemy.

'This team is going to be a handful for everyone.' The spar continued for a long time. Shunsui kept giving clear instructions while staying in his position as the starting point. Guy and Genma slowly got better at listening to the commands and using the ladders to their advantage. Snakes appeared at unexpected moments, forcing them to be careful with every step. The training was tiring but effective. Choza eventually called an end to the session.

"That is enough for today. Good work, all of you." Shunsui dismissed the game with a small wave of his hand. The black scimitars returned to their normal form before vanishing into thin air. Guy and Genma walked over, wiping sweat from their faces.

"You both did well," Shunsui said.

"We will practice more tomorrow. Try to memorize at least the default layout of the game perfectly." Guy gave a thumbs-up.

"Yosh! I will train even harder tonight!" Genma simply nodded, already thinking about how to combine his throwing weapon techniques with the teleportation ladders.