The time is now

[joutenkira]

Location:Temple grounds...

Jouten walked forward and stopped right outside a building. He had nowhere else to go at this point, so he decided this was the best course of action. Aaron walked out the temple and slowly descended down the stairs.

" Jouten, what are you doing here? You should be preparing to attack Salvation" he said arriving at the foot of the steps.

Jouten remained silent for a few moments, then walked forward ; " Thats the problem. I'm not strong enough to kill Nitas, not yet. I gained more power from Shunketsu but I still can't control the form. I need to train instead of rapidly gaining power." he explained

Aaron nodded his head ; " I understand. There is a man stronger than me who can train you, and it just so happens that he is here right now. Hes the same man who taught your father, Nagataka, and myself. He even trained Kain. Let me go get him" he said walking back up the stairs into the temple.

Jouten waited until Aaron finally walked out about 10 minutes later; " So did he say he would train me?" he asked eagerly. Aaron nodded ; " Yes he decided since you were Hiro's son that he would" he explained.

Jouten looked around ; " So where he is?" he asked trying to see if someone was behind Aaron. Aaron just smiled ; " He's already here" he said.

Jouten turned quickly to see an old man with a small energy orb in his hand ; " Defend yourself!" the old man shouted. Jouten quickly activated his transformation and tried to block the attack, but as the orb hit him, it sent him flying through one of the buildings on the temple grounds.

The old man laughed ; " Well well. I'm impressed you didn't die from that. That aura around you most be pretty strong" he said spinning a cane around in his left hand.

Jouten angrily stepped out of the hole that was made in the wall ; " I can't believe you just went and attacked me like that" he said rubbing his back.

Aaron started laughing ; " Thats how Master Ryoku works. He was testing your power" he explained.

Master Ryoku nodded ; " I'm going to put you through the same paces I put your father through Jouten Kira" he said with a crazy looking smile on his face.

Attachments:

[joutenkira]

Zack walked up behind Aaron, watching with interest as the temple grounds were being decimated around him ; " So whats going on here? Is their an enemy attacking us?" he asked.

Aaron smirked and shook his head " No. Master Ryoku is testing Jouten. He needs to be absolute full power if we want a chance in this war coming up. Jouten needs to reach the level Hiro was at all those years ago" he explained.

Zack nodded and took out his cellphone from his pocket " I have had to dig around in the underworld a bit, but the information I got maybe worth it" he told Aaron.

Aaron turned around in surprise " What is it?"

Zack grinned widely " Carmack is still alive" he replied.

[joutenkira]

Another building crumbles as Master Ryoku smirks.

Jouten pushed himself up from the rubble, breathing heavily as the blood dripped from his forehead ; " What the hell are you!?"

Master Ryoku smirked ; " I am more powerful than you, that's what. To me your like a baby bird. Or to be more precise, a kitten or a lamb. Now if you want any chance to defeat me, show me your most powerful moves"

Jouten gritted his teeth ; " If that's the why you want it you crazy old bastard. Let me show you my true power". He suddenly activated Kirin Fu Zan and attacked Ryoku in 9 different directions at that the same time. Ryoku seemed to know exactly where Jouten's punches and kicks were coming from though, even though Jouten was moving 20 times his normal speed. Jouten and Ryoku smashed fists and were blown away from each other.

Master Ryoku laughed and spun his cane once again, jumping up and down with energy that didn't seem possible for an old man. " Interesting. If i'm correct that technique you used translates to Lightning Speed Burst. That was quite a technique, too bad speed doesn't help when I can read you like a book"

Jouten remained silent, since talking to the old man wouldn't help him win. He decided to end it in one attack, raising both his arms above his head. He mustered all the strength in him and focused as much as he could on the single target. It would be enough energy to level a mountain, but contained to hit one man. He wouldn't stop there though, he charged his power more than he had ever done before.

Master Ryoku dropped the smile on his face " It seems like you do possess a huge amount of power. Its almost feral and dangerous, I don't know if I will be able to block this one"

Jouten smirked and brought down both his arms, his hands outstretched at Ryoku ; " Rail Gun X 5!" He shouted unleasing the blue and red electrical energy at the old man.

Ryoku quickly swirled his arms back and forth, and then caught the blast with his hands. The pure unrestrained energy started pushing him back, further and further. He started to say a chant and started bringing his hands together. As his hands came together, the energy imploded on itself, and dissipated in thin air.

Jouten fell to his knees, breathing harshly " Damn it. That was everything I had. This old guy is no joke"

Master Ryoku looked at the burn marks on his hands then to Jouten in front of him, and decided he had no other choice but to listen to his instincts. " Alright, after a display like that, I have decided to train you. Though let me tell you it won't be easy.

Jouten shook his head in disbelief ; " So you went through all that to just test me. I still find it hard to believe you trained my dad".

[joutenkira]

7 hours after the fight began.......

Jouten ran up to Master Ryoku and attempted to punch him, but was quickly slammed down by Ryoku's cane.

Jouten coughed up blood and tried pushing himself up, but his body just couldn't handle anymore and he fell back down.

Master Ryoku shook his head " You should be able to handle more than that at this point. Though it would seem that beating into you the basics to survive might take longer then I first thought"
"
" What the hell are you talking about!? I don't have all the time in the world!". Jouten attempted to push himself up again but quickly fell back down.

Master Ryoku shook his head " Listen kid. The training I gave your father took years for him to complete. Even if you rushed it, the minimal you could do it in would be 2 years. At this point Nitas can't make any big moves while the seal is still active, so you should take this opportunity and get stronger"

Jouten pounded his fist on the ground, he wasn't sure or not he could agree to train for that long. To many bad things could happen if he didn't hurry and stop Salvation as soon as he could. He couldn't bear to watch another one of his friends die.

He slowly managed to put himself in a sitting position, while exhaling deeply " Listen to me. If you really can make me incredibly strong then do it, but I'm only willing to do two years the most"

Master Ryoku glanced at Jouten and then to the sky " Very well. For the next two years you will be my student. I will beat everything I can into you in that time, so be prepared to die or get stronger"

Jouten smirked, at this point he was ready for anything this powerful old geezer could throw at him. The only problem would be telling all his friends about his plans, to power up for 2 years while letting Salvation run free would be a big problem.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later.......

Suddenly Zack walked over to Jouten and let out a sigh " I heard about your little plan. I encourage you to do what you need to do, but I just found out some information. Carmack is alive, and is being held in one of Salvation's bases. I'm going to rescue him and Aaron is coming with me. If you need to stay thats fine, but I can't just let Carmack stay in their hands"

Jouten looked into the eyes of his friend, and saw the same sadness from before. He knew Zack's pain from losing Jean, and he understood Zack refused to lose anymore friends. " I understand completely. I will help you rescue him, even if it costs me the training with Ryoku"

Zack smirked " Ok then. Let this be the final raid we do against Salvation. Let's get Carmack back buddy". Both of them bumped fists and laughed.

Jouten knew that they would be invading an enemy they couldn't win against, but as long as they played it safe they could rescue Carmack " This time we will succeed."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About a hundred yards away......

Aaron stood behind Master Ryoku, shaking his head " Your just going to let your newest student go like that? He might get himself killed". Master Ryoku chuckled " If he were to die that easily, then I wouldn't have accepted him as my student. Anyway his training isn't set to start for another 3 days, and I know your going to be there to help him. So stop trying to make me regret my decisions and go now, Aaron"

Aaron smirked " Very well. I will bring back Jouten in one piece"

Master Ryoku began to walk back towards the main temple " You better. Because if he dies then the balance of power will be disturbed and then THEY will rear their ugly heads. Good luck my former student".