Chapter 5: Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts.

‘What exactly is “Ancient Butoh”, anyway?’

‘It’s not dance, it’s butoh?’

‘What is butoh?’

‘A masquerade ball?’

Ishikawa Yuka knew her mother always wanted her to learn refined arts like Japanese classical dance.
But the “Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh” spoken of by this eccentric old man was something she had never even heard of.

“Mm… whether I will take you as a disciple depends on your natural talent. Let me spend a moment alone with the one seeking entrance.”

The old man, who seemed to be the teacher here, said this, and her mother and older brother stepped out.

Before leaving, her mother told her to “work hard”, but did she really understand what this so-called Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh even was…

“Did you come here knowing what kind of dojo this is?”

The old man looked straight at her.

Unfortunately, Yuka knew nothing about Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh.

“No… I’m sorry. I don’t know what Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh is. I said I wanted to learn martial arts, but somehow I ended up here.”

Lying to an elderly man would do her no good, so Yuka decided to speak honestly.
Since he said he would judge her talent before accepting her, if he learned she didn’t even intend to join, he would probably reject her anyway.

“Martial arts? You?”

“Yes. I want to learn a fighting art like jujutsu or aikido, something where even with a difference in physical size, a woman or a child can fight an adult man.However, jujutsu and aikido seem to focus mainly on transmitting kata, so I’m not sure how effective they are in real combat.
So, I want something more practical…”

Dancing could never protect her.
She needed to grow stronger—at least strong enough that one day she wouldn’t be crushed easily by the protagonist-blessed and rapidly evolving Yashima Hiroki.

“Mm!”

The old man suddenly lowered his head, his body trembling slightly.

Was he holding back anger? Understandable.

He expected someone eager to enter his school, but instead got a child who didn’t want his art and asked for another style outright.

Being angry over wasted time was only natural.

“Kuhahaha! I see now!
You think jujutsu and aikido are too soft, so you came here! Perfect!
Though you look like a little girl, within you lies the soul of a warrior who has seen life!”

“…Eh?”

Yuka froze.

She had no clue what the suddenly laughing old man was saying.

What nonsense was he spouting?

Was his brain broken… or was he never sane from the start?

She should leave this place immediately.

They were clearly different martial traditions—better to run now.

“‘Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh’ is merely a disguise!
Its true identity is ‘Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts’!
It contains all eighteen martial disciplines—Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts is the strongest martial way!”

“…Haah?”

Yuka was even more confused.

This old man… wasn’t right in the head, was he?

She really should get away from this strange place…

“It seems you still don’t understand.
Very well… watch closely!”

The old man stood and tapped the wall.

That wall rotated open, revealing—

“Weapons?”

The inside of the rotating wall was filled with weapons.
Swords, spears, naginata, staves, kusarigama, shuriken…
It was a chaotic display of everything one could call a weapon.

“Ha!”

“—!”

Whsh! A spinning blade flew past Yuka’s cheek!
The thrown shuriken embedded itself deep in the wall behind her with a solid thunk.

Hey!
Hey hey hey!

This old man wasn’t normal—no, he was more than abnormal, he was dangerous!
She couldn’t stay here—she needed to run!

“Oh… even now, you’re able to react immediately. Extraordinary.”

“Only someone like this is worthy of being the successor of my Tiger-Rock lineage!”

“Child! State your name!”

“Eek!”

Yuka screamed.

The old man grabbed a long staff and chased after her.
That wasn’t an ordinary stick—it was a true training staff used by a master of bojutsu.

“Take this!”

“—!”

The staff swept toward her legs.
Yuka nearly fell.
But if she went down now, the crazy old man would catch her.
Who knew what would happen once she was caught by someone like this!

“Hmph!”

At the moment she was about to fall, Yuka threw herself into a forward roll, avoiding collapse and standing again.

This was a wooden floor dojo, not tatami—her palm stung where she hit the floor, but this was no time to worry about pain.

“Not bad! Then how about this!”

“Uugh!”

This time, the staff hooked the back of her collar. The moment of choking made her nearly black out. But fainting now would be disastrous.

“Tch!”

Lifted by the hooked collar, Yuka kicked backward against the staff, using the recoil and vibration to break free.

Landing, she continued running without stopping.

She had no time to entertain this crazy old man!

“Oh! Even this technique you can neutralize? To gain talent like this, one must thank the heavens.”

The old man kept muttering, but Yuka didn’t care.

The exit was right ahead!

Once she reached the outside, her mother and brother were there.

Even he would be in trouble if he was caught abusing a child in front of adults.

So long as she got outside—

“Gyaa—! What is this?!”

Just before the exit… Chains wrapped around Yuka’s body, immobilizing her.

“It’s a fundo-kusari! (the weighted chain from a kusarigama)”

“You know? Impressive. You’re more and more suited to be my successor.”

The old man praised her. He had been careful not to hurt her the entire time. Even so, against such overwhelming strength, she was captured.

He used staff, shuriken, fundo-kusari… This wasn’t martial arts—this was a ninja!

Even the fundo-kusari was controlled perfectly, not hurting her.
She was bound and unable to move—but there was no pain, no impact.
This level of precision required skill.

“This isn’t martial arts at all—it’s ninja!”

“Ninja… if you want to think that, fine.

Names and forms are unimportant—time changes them.
Once you master Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts, call yourself ninja or call it ninjutsu as you like.”

The old man spoke calmly.

This old man… was impossible…
But bound in chains, unable to move, Yuka had no choice.
Was this the end…?

“You said you wanted skills to survive in any environment, didn’t you?
If so, nothing is more fitting than Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts.
What is there to refuse or hesitate over?”

“…Eh?” Yuka froze.

Now that he said it… wasn’t that true?
What she wanted was survival skills—like sambo or Systema, anything and everything to survive.
She hadn’t meant limited to bare-handed combat.
She thought hand-to-hand was good only because she couldn’t always carry weapons, so she wanted unarmed techniques.

If this Tiger-Rock Style was what he claimed, then she could learn everything—armed and unarmed.

Not just one weapon, but all kinds.
From a “hand-to-hand martial art” perspective it might be questionable, but as “survival techniques for any situation”, there might be nothing better.

Ninja? Ninjutsu? Awesome!
If so, maybe she really could resist Yashima Hiroki!

“I’ll learn! Please teach me Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts!”

“Hoho! I was waiting for that.
However, outwardly, it is still ‘Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh’.
Don’t forget. You will practice butoh as well.”

“Ugh… fine… I guess I have no choice…”

Yuka compromised.

Not just because of his demand—she needed to show her mother she was learning dance.
Since the old man promised to teach that too, she had to do it to hide her martial training.

But… how did her brother even know this place?

Did he try learning here before?

“And, I am Tiger-Rock Santayū.
Not ‘old man’, and certainly not ‘crazy geezer’.”

“Uhh…”

Yuka flushed in embarrassment.
Had she said that aloud?
Or was that also ninja arts—reading minds?

“Now then, child, your name?”

“I’m Ishikawa Yuka… please take care of me…”

“Mm.
Yuka, from now on, call me Master.”

“Yes… Master Tiger-Rock…”

And so, on the surface, Ishikawa Yuka began learning “Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh”, while secretly training in “Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Martial Arts”.
After agreeing with Master Tiger-Rock on the excuse to give her mother, she calmly called her mother and brother back inside, officially confirming she would study here.

****

Back home, Yuka relaxed in her room and reviewed the day.
It had been a very meaningful day.

At first she thought her brother tricked her, but thinking it over—in the end, the result was a surprisingly ideal combination.

As for cram school, she avoided the pain of starting from elementary basics again.
Her plan was to review all middle and high school material during her six years of elementary school.

She would still need to talk to the teacher later.
Although they agreed on starting with high school content on the spot, she preferred to begin reviewing from middle school courses.

The fitness club was good too.

At first she thought it was just a social salon for wealthy housewives, wasting time.
But after talking to the trainer, she learned she could train at the level she wanted there.

The key wasn’t the location—it was whether the person going was serious.

Would she be like those ladies who just chat there, or would she genuinely train?

The results depended on her alone.

Then, Tiger-Rock Style Ancient Butoh… Thinking about it, wasn’t that place incredible? It was basically a modern ninja training base, wasn’t it?

Unlike those tourist-trap ninja villages—this was the real thing.

Of course, in modern society, saying “ninja” sounded suspicious.

But Master Tiger-Rock’s skills were real.
He wasn’t some lunatic waving weapons at a child—those were practiced techniques.

At the very least, if it was Master Tiger-Rock, he could probably handle Yashima Hiroki with one hand—of course not the current kindergarten version, but the “monster” version in upper division.

She didn’t need to master Tiger-Rock Style fully.
She only needed enough skill to escape when Hiroki harassed her.
She was fundamentally a young lady—so silently slipping away like a ninja was ideal.

Master Tiger-Rock demanded daily training, but that wasn’t realistic.
Her other lessons had just begun…
And she couldn’t spend all her time learning suspicious ninja techniques, either.

She could start the fitness club and Tiger-Rock Style immediately, while cram school would begin before the new semester.

Cram school followed the school year, while the other two could start anytime.
Especially Master Tiger-Rock, who wanted her to come tomorrow—right away.

Thanks to her mother and brother’s persuasion, the start was delayed, and the “every day” demand was reduced, but the old man wanted her there any chance he got.

Studying only Tiger-Rock Style was obviously impossible.

“Yuka, do you have a moment?”
As Yuka was thinking, a knock and her brother’s voice came from the door.

“Brother? Please come in.”
Yuka replied.

Ryoji, well-raised as he was, would never open a lady’s door without permission.
Yuka opened the door to let him in, and after a short pause, he asked:

“So?
Did it meet your expectations?”

“Ah! Yes! It’s perfect! As expected of you, Brother!”

“Thank you so much!”

Only now did Yuka realize she hadn’t thanked him yet, and she hurriedly bowed.

Her brother had convinced their stubborn mother yesterday, arranging such a perfect combination of lessons—that was a huge effort.

She couldn’t believe she forgot to thank him.

“It’s fine.
It may differ a bit from what you originally wanted, but to convince Mother, that was the only way.”

“No, not at all.
I’m very grateful.”
Yuka said sincerely.

She understood what he meant.

For their mother, who had been so firm yesterday, to approve these lessons, her brother must have worked hard.

She could imagine how difficult persuasion was, and she believed he made the best choices for her.

“Hehe, as long as it helps you.”

“Mm! Thank you so much!”

And so, thanks to her brother’s support, Ishikawa Yuka finally began all the lessons she had wished for.