Day Three.
Sosuke wrapped thick bandages around his arms and torso.
The muscle ache from yesterday hadn't faded, but thanks to the nourishment from the ninja beast meat and medicinal herbs, he could at least move.
Genzo stood holding a massive Fuma Shuriken.
It was a genuine murder weapon. Its four blades were deployed, a full half-meter wide, gleaming coldly in the morning light.
"Look closely at its structure."
Genzo tossed the shuriken to Sosuke.
Heavy. The thing weighed a good five or six kilograms. Forged from refined steel.
"You should know how a shuriken is used." Genzo pointed to a dead tree in the distance. "Today's lesson—transform into this, and let me throw you."
Sosuke paused. "'Throw me?"
"Right," Genzo sneered. "Many ninja like to transform into a shuriken and have a clone or teammate throw them to ambush the enemy. It's called the 'Windmill of Shadows' tactic."
"Sounds flashy, doesn't it?"
"But only those who have tried it know what it actually feels like."
Genzo pointed back at the dead tree.
"Transform into it. I'm going to nail you to that trunk."
Sosuke took a deep breath.
He placed the Fuma Shuriken on the ground, analyzing every detail. The curvature of the edges, the hollowed-out center ring, the distinct, cold texture of the metal.
Dog — Boar — Tiger.
Chakra flared.
Poof. An identical Fuma Shuriken appeared on the dirt.
Genzo walked over and grabbed the center ring of Sosuke's transformed body.
"Hardness." Genzo squeezed hard. "Too soft. If this were real steel, it wouldn't yield to my grip. Right now, your chakra shell feels like hard rubber."
"Compress the chakra. Imagine you are iron. You are steel. Tense every bone and muscle in your body."
Sosuke complied.
He tightened his musculature to its absolute limit. Inside, his chakra surged frantically toward his epidermis, reinforcing the illusory shell.
"A bit better."
Genzo lifted the giant shuriken and stepped back.
His eyes changed. He was no longer a drunken wreck, but a killer locking onto his prey.
"Ready, kid?"
"Remember, if you break the transformation mid-air because of vertigo or fear..."
"You'll revert to human form while spinning at high speed, and splatter against that tree like mud."
"If you soften up at the moment of impact because you're afraid of the pain..."
"Your bones will shatter."
"This is the resolve of a ninja tool. Once it leaves the hand, there is no turning back."
Whoosh!
Genzo struck.
With zero warning, his arm whipped forward. A massive centrifugal force hit instantly.
Sosuke felt the world collapse.
Everything spun violently. His vision dissolved into a blur of color. The blue sky, the yellow dirt, the black mountains of trash—all churned together in a nauseating blender.
Extreme vertigo slammed into his brain. His semicircular canals lost all equilibrium. His stomach churned, threatening to expel his morning meal.
"Ugh!" Sosuke dry-heaved on pure reflex.
But that split-second lapse in concentration disrupted his chakra.
Poof.
In mid-air, the massive shuriken erupted in white smoke. The transformation broke.
Sosuke reverted to human form, flailing wildly in the air before crashing heavily into the mud. He tumbled several times, coming to a halt five meters short of the tree.
"Trash."
Genzo stood still, his hand maintaining the follow-through of the throw.
"You're dead."
"If this were a battlefield, you would have just been shot full of holes mid-air."
Sosuke dragged himself up, spitting out a mouthful of acidic bile. His head was still spinning, like he had just ridden a rollercoaster a hundred times over.
"Again." Sosuke wiped his mouth, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
He formed the seals again.
Poof. The Fuma Shuriken reappeared.
Genzo walked over and picked him up.
"Focus your vision on a single point," Genzo instructed. "Don't look at the scenery. Use your chakra to perceive the wind, not your eyes."
"You are a blade. You only need to look at the target."
Whoosh! The second throw.
Spinning. The same violent rotation.
The wind howled past his ears like a shrill whistle.
Sosuke forced his eyes shut. Yet, the high-speed rotation instantly stripped him of his spatial orientation. The intense vertigo battered his mind.
He wanted to vomit again. Instinct screamed at him to break the jutsu, to reach out his limbs and find balance.
"Don't break it!" Genzo's roar pierced the wind. "The tree is right in front of you! If you revert, your bones will snap! If you are iron, you will pierce it!"
Sosuke choked back his gag reflex.
He couldn't help but open his eyes, watching the massive trunk of the dead oak hurtling toward him. It was solid, ancient wood.
Flesh and blood hitting that would guarantee a fracture.
Fear. It was the primal human dread of kinetic collision.
'I am iron... I am iron...' Sosuke roared internally.
He desperately clung to the form, hardening the chakra across his surface.
Thud! A loud crash.
But not the sound of metal biting into wood. It was the dull thud of a heavy object.
In the fraction of a second before impact, fear caused Sosuke to slacken his chakra just a hair.
The [Transformation Jutsu] hadn't completely broken, but the "blade" had softened. He ricocheted off the trunk like a Frisbee, slamming hard into the mud.
Poof. The transformation dropped.
Sosuke lay sprawled on the ground and violently threw up. Gastric acid mixed with morning rice porridge and ninja beast meat. Searing pain shot through his ribs; not broken, but definitely bruised.
"Garbage." Genzo walked over. "You hesitated just now."
"You were afraid the impact would hurt. So you subconsciously softened your body."
"Remember, the moment you become a weapon, you do not have a sense of pain. Your only mission is to cut into the target."
"Again."
The entire morning passed.
Sosuke spent it in an endless loop of spinning, vomiting, and crashing. This was infinitely more torturous than transforming into a scarecrow.
His vestibular system was completely wrecked; he couldn't even stand straight.
Every single throw required him to overcome a massive psychological hurdle. It was a gamble where he surrendered his life to the laws of physical inertia.
"Harder! Make it harder!" Genzo threw him tirelessly, like a demon.
Finally.
At noon.
Sosuke was thrown yet again.
This time, he closed his eyes (even though a shuriken had none). He mentally shut off his vestibular sense.
He forgot the nausea.
He forgot the fear.
He remembered only one thing: 'I am going to cut through it. I am steel. I am an indestructible blade.'
Thwack! A crisp, satisfying sound of penetration.
The Fuma Shuriken bit deeply into the oak trunk, sinking in a full five centimeters. Stable and secure. No ricochet. No deformation.
A few seconds later.
Poof. White smoke plumed.
Sosuke reverted to his human form.
But he didn't fall to the ground. He was plastered against the trunk, hands and feet braced like a gecko. His fingers were dug deeply into the bark.
"Haa... Haa..." Sosuke gasped for air, his face pale, but he smiled.
He had done it.
In that split second, he truly felt like he had become painless metal. The tactile sensation of severing the wood fibers had transmitted clearly into his brain.
"Barely passable." Genzo put his liquor bottle away. "Go back. You need to recover, or you won't even be able to walk straight tomorrow."
Sosuke slid down from the tree.
He staggered two steps; he indeed couldn't walk straight. The world was still swaying. But his mind was remarkably steady.
He had learned to be as still as dead wood, and as violently kinetic as refined steel.
This was the true profound meaning of the [Transformation Jutsu]—it wasn't just about deceiving the enemy's eyes, but deceiving one's own flesh and soul.
By the time he returned to the shop, Sosuke collapsed straight onto his bed.
He didn't even have the energy to cook. But he had to eat.
He dragged himself up, swallowed a chunk of raw Fūri liver whole, and downed a gulp of strong liquor.
This time, the lacerating sensation in his stomach didn't feel quite as agonizing.
Compared to being thrown into a tree as a shuriken, this minor pain actually grounded him. It felt real.
Sosuke pulled out the medical salve, applied it, and closed his eyes. His consciousness slowly blurred into black.