"It was just a joke, meow!" On the way to the cafeteria, Shiro giggled, scratched the back of his head and explained to Louis: "We're good friends, meow! If we really meet in battle, we'll just play rock, paper, scissors and decide the outcome of the fight, meow."
"That's noble," Louis replied with a warm smile.
"Hahaha, of course, meow!" Shiro laughed so hard that his eyes became slits, "We're friends, right?"
Louis didn't understand what was going on in this guy's mind, but he knew one thing for sure: if they actually had to face each other, his chances of winning would be slim.
Shiro ate a devil fruit, a cat model, Zoan type. Louis did not know the exact form of his transformation, but it undoubtedly strengthened Shiro's body significantly. And even if his doriki were slightly lower than Stuart's, using the ability of the devil fruit, Shiro could easily win.
The difference in their strength was obvious.
Louis couldn't think of a suitable way to defeat Shiro. After all, his power covered all aspects, and it was extremely difficult to defeat him.
The training continued, but the atmosphere in the camp had changed noticeably. The formerly invincible leader, Stuart, had been defeated by Shiro. And now, the once proud man had become very irritable and aggressive, repeatedly sending the people who followed him to the infirmary. Because of this, an instructor was eventually assigned to train with him, and his henchmen dispersed, leaving Stuart without support.
On the other hand, Shiro's reputation had risen sharply, and he was now considered the strongest in the camp. Louis, who had been ranked second, had dropped to third, taking Shiro's former position. Some of the people, trying to emulate those who had previously followed Stuart, offered their loyalty to Shiro.
Something similar happened in the dining room, and Louis clearly heard Shiro reply, "Eh? Sorry, meow, but cats don't make friends with mice, do they?"
As the upset students left, Louis realized clearly: this man had never been kind, and he was certainly not his friend...
.....
Louis completed his Rankyaku training, but saw no particular need to develop any advanced techniques. The only thing he tried was using different body parts, such as his hair.
After mastering the Seimei Kikan, Louis could freely manipulate his hair, as well as use Tekkai to strengthen it. In the original story, CP9 agent Kumadori used his hair to later attack his opponent with the Shigan technique. Given this example, it seemed natural to Louis that hair could be used to perform Rankyaku as well.
As for the results of the fifth month of training, in addition to the fact that Louis learned the Rankyaku technique, he began to study the last of the six techniques - Shigan.
The essence of this technique is to harden the fingers and the explosive force of the blow. Due to this, initially weak fingers become similar to the most powerful spear, capable of piercing even a hardened human body.
The process of hardening itself is not difficult - it is the application of Tekkai. Louis, who mastered Tekkai-Ryu(the variation he created), coped with this task with ease. And now all that remains for him is to develop explosive power.
The rigidity of the fingers alone is not enough to penetrate the opponent's body. The real secret of Shigan is the maximum use of muscles, which creates an effect reminiscent of a shot.
During his training, Louis thought: what if he applied this power to other parts of the body and used it on his fist or leg?
The penetrating power of Shigan was impressive, but it was limited in application, which meant it needed to be expanded. And as practice showed, Louis's idea was correct. It was enough to harden the wrist instead of hardening the fingers, thereby significantly increasing the force of the punch. And although the leg required much more effort, such a technique was also feasible.
Soon Shigan was fully mastered, and from that moment on Louis mastered all of the Rokushiki techniques. And now, if you compare him to when he first came to this camp, you can say with confidence that his strength has increased incredibly.
At this point, there were still seven months left until the end of the year-long training course.
In the fifth month, Louis' opponent was again an insignificant opponent, whom he easily dealt with. And Shiro, as usual, "played cat and mouse."
But the most interesting were two people who changed noticeably during this time. The first was Stuart, who became even more aggressive during this time, as if deliberately demonstrating his strength. He treated opponents so cruelly that he broke their bones, crushing them to the smallest fragments.
The second person was Erika. After the last battle with Louis, this hot-tempered girl seemed to have calmed down. Now she acted more balanced and restrained, completely different from how she was before.
After completing his Rokushiki training, Louis focused entirely on mastering the Seimei Kikan technique. Manipulating the skin turned out to be quite a lengthy process. Controlling what covered the entire body turned out to be no less a challenge than controlling the digestive system. And in addition to the freedom to manipulate the skin itself, Louis also had to learn to control the subcutaneous layers, including the fat.
The seventh and eighth months passed unnoticed.
The training continued at a calm pace, and Louis was completely immersed in his work. Concentrating on having complete control over the surface of his skin.
Then, in the ninth month, something unusual happened.
"Instructor, is something wrong?" Louis asked when one of the instructors pulled him away after finishing his lesson with Anna.
"Louis, you're only thirteen years old, right?" the instructor asked thoughtfully.
"Yes," Louis nodded. He had indeed turned thirteen, and his body had already begun to develop rapidly, and thanks to the Seimei Kikan, this process was going much faster than usual.
"You are a real genius!" the instructor exclaimed with admiration: "At such a young age, you are already the third strongest in the camp after Shiro and Stuart."
"Stuart?" Louis thought, "Don't count him out."
"Oh? Hahaha! That's funny. You're quite the cocky guy. But that's right. Geniuses are allowed to be proud," the instructor laughed, "You really can't handle Stuart. I'll tell you straight, Louis: Mr. Skylo is very impressed with you. He asked me to tell you that his CP9 would be happy to accept you into their ranks."
He particularly emphasized the word "his."
"Mr. Skylo? This is..." Louis tried to give his face a thoughtful expression.
"Mr. Skylo is the current head of CP9. That is, your future leader," the instructor explained.
"Really? Such an important person is showing interest in me?" Louis smiled sincerely: "Don't worry, instructor, I will definitely become the best agent of CP9."
"No, no, Louis," the instructor shook his head, "Mr. Skylo wants you to become the best agent of his CP9."
"Of course," Louis smiled, "After all, he is the commander of CP9."
"..." The smile on the instructor's face gradually disappeared: "No, Louis. I mean that you should be loyal to CP9 because your superior is Mr. Skylo."
"Isn't it the same thing?" Louis asked.
"You think so?" the instructor raised his eyebrows: "Well, Louis, go. I understand your position. I hope that all your plans will come true."
Louis raised an eyebrow as he watched the instructor leave. Joining Skylo's team now would be like joining Nazi Germany when the Allied Forces reached the walls of Berlin. Of course, it wasn't hard to feign agreement and respect for the man. But he still had to remember who would be the next head of CP9...
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