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Shinko walked calmly behind his brother with a smile on his face, his three tails swishing back and forth at the same pace of his even stride. There was nothing that Shinko enjoyed more than seeing his brother train, except maybe seeing him beat people in sparring matches. He looked up to Kazemaru even more than he did his own parents, and loved him more dearly than anything else.

Kazemaru stopped once he reached a clearing in the woods, and glanced around the surroundings with his almond eyes. In that brief instant, it was all burned into his memory; he knew the position of every last blade of grass at that moment. What made this even deadlier was that if anything decided to move, his whiskers would pick it up, and burn that new placement into his mind. These supersenses acted on their own accord. Kazemaru had sharpened them so thoroughly that he no longer needed to think about them. This let him focus 100% of his mind on fighting.

Kazemaru calmly walked up to a a boulder and looked it over once. Just like any defense, it could be cracked; he thrusted his palm forward and cracked the rock, causing it to collapse into two pieces. This was a technique he would never use against a fellow kitsune, for it would mean instant death. His senses worked so quickly, that they would eventually unravel patterns in an object's composition; a skillfully placed strike would cause it to collapse. This was just as effective against bone and organs as it was against the rock.

Shinko watched his brother carefully, and imitated his stance. He thrust his palm against a tree with all his might, but the jagged surface only cut he hand.

Kazemaru's hyper-sensitive ears heard his brother's quick intake of breath as he struck the tree. He sighed walked over to Shinko, and then knelt down to the six-year-old's level. "You can't just go around hitting trees," he said gently. "They're a lot stronger than you and I and if you fight them head-on you'll loose." He pointed to the cut on Shinko's hand.

"But I did exactly what you did..." the young kitsune protested. "You broke the rock, but I couldn't break the tree." His tails drooped down. "I'm never gonna be as strong as you..."

"Hey, don't say that," Kazemaru interrupted. "You just didn't go about ith the right way. What works on one opponent won't always work on another. Take this tree for example. If you hit it head on with a blunt surface, you'll just get cut. There are much better ways to knock down trees...but I think I'll let you figure it out." He smiled and ruffled Shinko's hair, and then stood up, resuming his training.

Better ways to knock down a tree? Shinko thought. How could he do it if all of his strength couldn't even budge the thing? He just sat down, looking at the tree, and looking at his brother, thinking of how he could possibly knock it down. Kazemaru always seemed so relaxed when he fought, and each blow was made to count. But Shinko got that part down. What was Kazemaru doing differently?

After ten minutes Shinko finally saw it: Kazemaru had a different type of attack for each object he struck. He just needed to find the right way to hit the tree. Well, I know straight attacks won't work. I need a way to get around the spikes...Maybe a spinning attack!

Shinko stood up as soon as he got his new idea, and looked at the tree with firm resolve. He searched his mind, sifting through his brother's various kicks until he found the right one. He took a deep breath, focusing his energy, and the delivered a heavy roundhouse kick to the tree's flank.

Bark flew through the air and leaves tumbled to the tround, but not a crack was made in the tree's sturdy trunk. Shinko's tails drooped at the sight of his failure; he really thought he had it figured out that time.

The young kitsune sat down on the ground and stared up at the tree, the sounds of his brother training slowly fading into the distance. Once again, he surfed through his mind, searching for the right piece of information, and stumbled across much of Kazemaru's advice: Make sure you focus. Check. Think about who you are facing before you make a move. Formulate strategies based on what you know and what you don't know... But that wasn't much help...

"Hey Shinko! Watcha doing?" The scruffy Shinsuke's voice pulled Shinko out of his trance and back to the real world. Kazemaru had apparently moved on to another spot, and Shinsuke was standing in his place, looking at Shinko with a pleasant grin.

"I'm trying to train," Shinko retorted, hoping that the troublesome Shinsuke would get the point and just let him be.

"Looks like you're just staring at a tree..."

Shinko was beginning to get frustrated now. "I'm analyzing it for weak points," he replied, borrowing his brother's jargon.

"It's a tree," Shinsuke said simply. "Just chop it down."

"I'll chop you down if you don't leave me alone," he said, and Shinsuke decided not to push Shinko's patience. The scruffy kitsune just shrugged his shoulders and went back to the river with the other kids.

It's a tree. Just chop it down... For some reason the words echoed in the young kitsune's mind. You can't just go around hitting trees...If you fight them head-on you'll lose... Of course! If the tree was stronger than him, he'd have to find a way around that; he'd have to chop it down. Already the plan was formulating in his mind. This tree was going down.

Shinko stood up and faced the tree, sizing up his opponent before he attacked. The trunk didn't seem incredibly thick, so his plan would likely work. He dashed forward, the claws on his left hand extended, and drove them deep into the tree's side. Embers kindled on his fingertips, facilitating the slash, and once his claws were through, there was a five-inch gouge on the side of the tree. After breaking through the tree's first line of defense, Shinko pivoted on his left foot -- it was a bit sloppy, but he hadn't practiced this maneuver much -- and then delivered a mighty kick with his right foot to the other side of the tree. Upon contact, there was a promising crack; the gouge in the side had destablized the tree rendering it susceptable to Shinko's attack.

The young kitsune watched in awe, his three tails swishing back and forth in excitement, as the once mighty tree tumbled down to the ground. "I did it..." He couldn't believe it at first, but there it was. He tore down the tree in a single attack with his own arms and legs. "I did it!"

After the shock of the initial victory wore off, Shinko raced through the woods to find his brother. "Kazemaru! Come see! I really did it!" He eventually found his brother resting by the river, and then pulled on his arm, half-dragging him to the battleground. The other kids at the river all followed behind, curous to see what the big deal was.

"See? I knocked the tree down," Shinko said, pointing to his fallen adversary. Some of the other kids stared in awe, others went off kicking trees, trying to do Shinko one butter, but Kazemaru just looked down at him and smiled.

"Good job bro," he said and patted Shinko on the head. He was met by a wide grin on the youngster's face. Shinko didn't need to prove anything to the other kids; he was a great fighter, but an even better brother.