The Will of Fire

7...Training Begins

It was the next day and Jared and Hanzo had traveled to the village known as Saru. Saru is a village under King Tskune's rule and is considered neighbors with Hakuchō. Saru is known for its beautiful and relaxing hot springs and the friendly wild monkeys from Sarutobi Cliff. (located outside of Saru on the outskirts) The monkeys roam about the village and play with the townspeople and even take pictures with them. It has been said that years ago, the monkeys feared humans until the late Queen Orihime spent days away from King Tskune to live on Sarutobi Cliff amongst the monkeys to create bonds with them. Since then, the monkeys live in harmony with Saru's townspeople. To get to Saru, you must cross Midori Bridge from Hakuchō. Midori Bridge is a bridge that stretches 20 meters connecting Hakuchō on one end and Saru on the other. Saru isn't full of royal like buildings and cherry blossoms like Hakuchō. Instead, there are an abundance of bonsai trees planted about along with banana trees that the townspeople constantly care for. The buildings weren't marble or granite, but wooden. The pavement was cobble stone. In the center of Saru was a huge statue made of what seemed to be shiny iron. The statue was of a woman who wore a regal like dress and a crown on her head. She stood while one hand was in the air as if she was waving and a smile upon her face.
"Hey, is this Queen Kokoro?" Jared asked Hanzo.
"Try again. That's Queen Orihime. King Tskune's first wife." Hanzo responded.
"Oh yeah! I've heard about her. She died giving birth to Lady Teikuya. I didn't see a monument of her in Hakuchō. Isn't Hakuchō the biggest village and the main village of Japan?" said Jared.
Jared looked at the engraved plaque that was at the bottom of the statue.

*We will always love you, Queen Orihime. We honor you forever*

"The people of Saru loved her dearly" Hanzo said. "She did a lot for the villages, but this village was dear to her heart. You see, Queen Orihime was brought up here by her parents. This was her home village until she married King Tskune. This statue is just how the people of Saru pay their respects."
Jared stared in amazement as  townspeople came by to bow at the statue. Hanzo and Jared began walking through the village. There was multiple shops and merchants outside of shops. They past the Jurakudai Hot Springs where monkeys bathed and soaked. They completely submerged themselves with only their nose, eyes and head showing. Old man Jin'ichi would love this. Haha.
"Alright! You ready, kid?" Hanzo asked.
They had arrived in an open area that was pentagon shaped. Nothing but the cobble stone pavement and a single structured wooden gate surrounded them.
"Uh. Where are we?" Jared asked.
"This is Jurakudai Square. This is the very place where I trained with my father when I was a kid and a teenager. He would bring me here just in case I would lose control of my fire, he didn't want me burning up Hakuchō. Kind of a scummy thing but my dad was kind of an ass." Hanzo laughed.
Jared thought of his father. He knew his mother had to have told him by now. He wondered how enraged he must have been with her when he found out.
"From this point on, you are too refer to me as sensei. Now, first thing's first, kid. Can you swallow flames?" Hanzo asked.
"Um...I've never tried to." Jared responded laughing nervously.
Hanzo placed two fingers to his head and shook his head while laughing. Hanzo then created a fire ball in his hand. He threw it directly at Jared who immediately rolled out of the way.
"Could you warn me next time!?" he shouted angrily.
"You were supposed to swallow it, kid! And always be ready. Stay ready so you never have to get ready." Hanzo responded. "Now let's try that again. When it comes at you, inhale it." Hanzo said.
Jared stood and waited for Hanzo to throw the next fireball. Once Hanzo threw it Jared inhaled deeply with his mouth open. The fireball went down Jared's throat and burned him mildly.
"Damn, what the hell!" Jared said grabbing his throat.
"It's unpleasant the first few times but you get used to it" Hanzo said. "Ingesting flames are essential to a Pyromancer. It increases our attack strength and satisfies our hunger at the same time. This is known as Flame Nutrition. You can never ingest your own flames though, remember that. It'll just disperse and do nothing for you. Won't even make it to your second stomach."
"Understood, sensei!" Jared responded.
"As Pyromancers, we have the ability to deal with fire apparently. But know that when it comes to someone else's flames to the touch, we have to be careful." Hanzo said.
"What do you mean? We can swallow other Fire Type fire so it'll never get a chance to touch us." Said Jared.
"Wrong" said Hanzo. "You're right, we can swallow fire. But everything has its limit. Once our second stomach which holds the flames becomes full, we can no longer ingest flames until an exact 24 hours has passed. If we go over that limit, the second stomach will burst and our bodies will burn violently from the inside out. So NEVER go over the limit." Hanzo said while looking Jared directly in the eyes.
Jared was shocked but quickly erased it from his face and became serious again.
"Now, to activate your Inner Fire." Hanzo continued. "Your Inner Fire allows us to ignite any parts of our bodies on fire."
Hanzo ignited his hand on fire and moved it back and forth.
"Woah! That's cool! Hey, I did that with my foot when I fought old man Jin'ichi!" Jared said happily. "I did this really strong kick when I did!"
"Really? Show me." Said Hanzo.
Jared arrogantly shrugged his shoulders and began attempting to light his hand ablaze. Come on...come on...come on!
"Damn it! I swear I did it, Hanzo Sensei!" Jared said in frustration.
"Exactly what I thought. You have to learn how to activate it at will. Your Inner Fire was activated against Jin'ichi in anger. Inner Fire doesn't just apply to Pyromancers. All Fire Types have the ability to activate their Inner Fire at will. You must learn that, or you could easily be killed by an opponent." explained Hanzo.
"Well...how am I supposed to activate it?" Jared asked scratching his head.
"Your Inner Fire surrounds your heart. It's dull, but it still burns bright. Focus your Power Energy to that flame around your heart. Once you feel like you have heartburn, you'll know you have activated your Inner Fire." said Hanzo.
"Piece of cake, Hanzo Sensei! I'll have this done before the day is over!" Jared said.
"You sure about that? This technique took a month for me to learn. I was five years old." Hanzo laughed.
He was five years old and learned to activate his Inner Fire in just one month? No way, I'll learn this in one day! Not letting Hanzo Sensei think I'm lame!
"I'm more than sure! Just watch, I'll have this done within the next ten minutes!" Jared said.