After Keiji’s birth, Kenshin reached level three and spent a long time deliberating where to put his free skill point, ultimately choosing “Formation Creation,” raising the ability to level three.
At first, Kenshin didn’t feel any changes, but waking up the next morning, he found that his knowledge of the art of formation creation had improved somewhat.
Kenshin now knew how to improve the efficiency of many “old” formations.
He had finally learned how to create a primitive formation for defense against physical impact, but he needed practice, so the day after Keiji’s birth, he devoted almost the entire day to training in applying his new knowledge, trying to put what he’d learned into practice.
Ichiro spent nearly the whole day diligently training his body.
Aya tended to the baby and some daily chores, while little Keiji crawled around constantly, putting everything his little hands could reach into his mouth.
In the evening, Kenshin went to sleep with his wife and little son, having spent the previous night in the “barracks” with Ichiro in the next bed.
He’d completely lost the habit of sleeping alone and found it hard to fall asleep without his beloved girl, so ten minutes later Kenshin was already sleeping like a log, paying no attention to the restless Keiji, who kept trying to crawl onto his dad and laugh loudly, spraying saliva.
On the second day after Keiji’s birth, Kenshin called Ichiro to the gym after breakfast and said, “You’ve probably heard about shinobi and chakra.” Kenshin waited for an interested nod and continued, “Unfortunately, I myself am deprived of the ability to interact with chakra, so I can’t teach you anything specific, but I’ll try to point you in the right direction.
If it doesn’t work out, no big deal — we’ll earn money for a manual and make a shinobi out of you!” Kenshin declared with a laugh, then told Ichiro to sit in the lotus position.
For the next fifteen minutes, Kenshin tried to recall everything he knew about chakra, urging Ichiro to concentrate, to sense the energy flowing within him, or to ignite an invisible flame inside his belly.
Ichiro didn’t understand how to do it, and the “training” was going nowhere.
“Alright, sit and try to feel the chakra.
You’re excused from physical training today, and if you don’t feel anything in six hours, we’ll drop the idea of figuring out chakra on your own,” Kenshin declared, then left the gym and headed outside, wanting to reinforce the old concealment formation.
Finishing that task in about three hours, Kenshin grunted with satisfaction and returned home, pleased that now no random genin would wander onto his territory, instead intuitively choosing another path or suddenly changing their mind about going there.
Unfortunately, the formation wouldn’t work on genin who deliberately headed into the area, but it turned away ordinary people who deliberately approached his territory perfectly.
By lunchtime, Kenshin sat in the kitchen, drinking coffee and playing a little with little Keiji, who sat on Aya’s lap.
“It worked, Father!” he suddenly heard over the telepathic link, and nearly spitting out his coffee, he quickly headed to the gym.
“It worked?!” Kenshin asked excitedly, approaching his son.
“Yes, it worked!
For a long time I felt nothing, and then, like you said, in the area of my stomach, I suddenly felt a little flame — it’s still burning!” Ichiro declared enthusiastically.
“Good job!” Kenshin praised him, and added, “Now try directing the chakra through your whole body.
I don’t know how it all works, but there are invisible chakra channels in the body — try to influence your chakra and make it circulate through your body.”
“Alright, I’ll try now,” Ichiro said, and focused on controlling the chakra.
For a long time, nothing worked, and Kenshin’s enthusiasm waned a little, but half an hour later, Ichiro suddenly jumped up and shouted joyfully, “It worked!”
“Ha-ha-ha, good job!
Come on, you’ll have lunch, then get back to training.
You haven’t eaten anything since morning — your mother will skin me alive if she finds out you’re hungry!” Kenshin said with a laugh, leading Ichiro to the kitchen.
“Aya, our son finally managed to feel the chakra!” Kenshin said joyfully, entering the kitchen.
“What?!” the girl asked in surprise, and then her eyes lit up, and she added happily, “God, Ichiro, sweetheart, that’s so great!”
“Mom!
Stop calling me sweetheart!” Ichiro protested, blushing.
“Oh, come on.
To me, you’ll always be a little boy!” Aya replied with a laugh, in a wonderful mood.
After lunch, Ichiro returned to his chakra circulation training, while Kenshin went off for more rabbits and fish.
Toward evening, the wine finally “matured,” and Kenshin planned to head to the city of Shukuba the next day, bringing Ichiro along.
After seven in the evening, Kenshin decided to check on Ichiro’s progress and entered the gym.
“So, how’s it going?” he asked his son.
“Hm…
I don’t know, but it’s already much easier for me to make the chakra circulate through my body.
Also, I think I’ve gotten a bit stronger…
I don’t know how to explain it…” Ichiro muttered in a doubtful tone.
“Stronger, you say?
Come on, hit the bag.”
Ichiro got up, put on the gloves, and delivered a very fast punch to the bag, making it sway noticeably — even farther than before.
“Hm, indeed, your punch has gotten about twenty percent stronger.
Come on, let’s have a sparring session — we need to test your strength in action,” Kenshin declared, picking up the helmet and gloves.
For about a minute, Kenshin withstood Ichiro’s pressure, but then took several hits.
One of them was especially precise and made Kenshin lose his coordination and fall.
“Father!” Ichiro exclaimed, dropping to his knees before him and helping him up.
“It’s fine…” Kenshin muttered, waving off the help.
Then he got to his feet and said, “You’ve become incredibly strong, and now I’m definitely no match for you.
From this point on, our sparring sessions are pointless.”
Kenshin was deeply impressed by Ichiro’s strength and speed.
He figured that within a week, even the strongest boxers from his past world wouldn’t be able to defeat this young man.
He wondered what had caused the boost in Ichiro’s physical stats, and besides the obvious fact that chakra was to blame, Kenshin had only one hypothesis.
“Maybe chakra somehow nourishes the muscles, making them tougher and stronger?
That bastard Kogi had unusually tough muscles, like a draft ox, almost steel…” Kenshin mused.
He couldn’t confirm his assumptions until he found a competent shinobi.
He was more and more convinced that he needed to come up with a plan to seduce a kunoichi.
He had one idea, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it for moral reasons.
It all helps promote the story.