After his training with Muichiro, Goku reached the next Hashira to train: Mitsuri.
"I already know this is going to be the worst training among all of them by far..." muttered Goku, already knowing he'll need to stretch his body to its absolute limit. Then, the boy heard a voice.
"Goku-kun! Welcome here!"
"Hey, Mitsuri-chan!" exclaimed Goku.
"At three o'clock, I'm going to brew some black tea!" exclaimed the Love Hashira, grabbing Goku's hand.
(She's holding my hand... I really hope Shinobu-chan doesn't see me right now...) thought Goku, blushing a bit.
"I'll prepare pancakes for you as a thanks for what happened at the Swordsmith Village!" exclaimed Mitsuri.
(Pancakes? Is she really going to cook pancakes? This isn't a training. This is a try not to fall in love with this girl...) thought Goku.
"There you go, Goku-kun!" said Mitsuri, once Goku sat on a chair and gave him pancakes.
"How am I supposed to eat this...?" asked the boy.
"Well... like this!" replied Mitsuri, slicing a piece of a pancake. "C'mon, open your mouth and say 'Ah'!"
"Okay, okay, wait, I'm not a baby, I can eat on my own..." muttered Goku, grabbing the fork. Then, the boy ate the slice of pancake.
"So, how does it taste, Goku-kun?" asked Mitsuri.
"I... I feel in Jannah..." muttered Goku, widening his eye.
"Jannah? What is it?" asked Mitsuri.
"Jannah is the muslim heaven. Just like you have Nirvana, we have Jannah..."
"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Mitsuri. "Anyway, when you're done eating, please put this adherent suit on. It's needed for the training."
(Do I really have to wear that embarrassing thing on? I, who am a Hashira?") thought Goku.
Later, Goku found himself aligned with other slayers, with that adherent suit on. (Okay, this one is by far the worst training session I ever had in my life... And it hasn't even begun...)
"All right, everybody stay in sync now!" exclaimed Mitsuri.
(I'll regret this...) thought Goku. Thus, Goku began to stretch and follow Mitsuri's commands.
"Stretch your body!" she said.
(How is she so flexible? I don't feel so drained even when I fight demons...) thought Goku.
"It's extremely important to have a flexible body so you can make your moves crisper!" explained the Love Hashira.
(Flexibility is hell...) thought Goku.
Some time later...
After finishing the stretching training with Mitsuri, Goku reached the next training ground. As he arrived, he saw Obanai.
"Hey, Obanai!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, that's you, Goku," the Serpent Hashira said. "Did you have fun with Kanroji's training?"
"Hell nah," said Goku. "I absolutely hate stretching."
"A letter from Kanroji-san!" exclaimed Obanai's crow. Obanai dashed and grabbed the letter.
"Iguro-san, how are you? After training today, I had a tea with Goku-kun! Every time he eats something sweet, he looks like he died and went to heaven! Or Jannah, as he calls it. He's so adorable!"
After finishing reading the letter, Obanai grunted. "Goku... you said you didn't have fun!"
"Yeah, because it's true! I hate stretching!" said Goku.
"Kanroji said you're adorable! You probably really don't like her, but she likes you!"
"What's the problem? Are you jealous?"
Yes, I am! I am VERY jealous!"
"Can you please stop and show me what kind of training you have for me?" asked Goku, trying to change the topic.
"Tch... Fine. Come here," said Obanai. Goku approached and got in front of a door. As Obanai opened the door, Goku saw slayers tied up on sticks with bands on their mouths.
"Are you psycho or what?!?" asked Goku. "What the hell are you doing with these guys?"
"I want you to swing your swords while avoiding these obstacles," explained Obanai.
"Fine, I'll do it," said Goku. "But... did the people tied up here commit any crime?"
"Yes. The crime of weakness and failing to learn," said Obanai. "The crime of wasting my time and annoying me. That's it in a nutshell."
"You're crazy," said Goku.
"Glad to be," said Obanai. "Now, will you begin your training?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry..." muttered Goku. "Just, can I use two swords? I'm used to using two now."
"Fine, use two swords," said Obanai. And so, Goku grabbed two wooden swords and swung them in the space between the air and the slayers with extreme precision.
(Impressive...) thought Obanai.
"So, how's that? Did I do right?" asked Goku.
"Yeah, you definitely did," said Obanai. "You moved at insane speed and didn't hit even one of the slayers tied up here. Good job."
"Eh, eh... It's no coincidence I'm a Hashira..." muttered Goku, smirking.
At night, when the slayers got untied, Goku kept up training.
"Tsugikuni-san... How can you keep going like this after all the hard training you sustained...?" asked a slayer.
"Because I don't want to make trouble for all of you. And because I wanna get stronger, too," replied Goku, delivering a frontal blow to the air. (Well, that's true... Even though I never would have said it, this training is really paying off...)
After four days, Goku's training with Obanai ended.
"Well, you managed to hit my sleeves at least two times a day. I could've let you go much earlier, but you wanted to stay a bit longer..." said Obanai.
"I don't regret it!" exclaimed Goku, smiling. "I wanted my fighting skills to improve even more! I didn't even hit the other slayers, and I use two swords!"
"Fine, see you. Shinazugawa surely is waiting for you..." said Obanai.
"Yeah, I'll reach him. See you, Obanai..." said Goku, turning and starting to leave.
"We should talk more often," said Obanai.
"We will," replied Goku. "If you don't lose your tongue in battle, of course."
Then, the boy left, starting to make his way to reach Sanemi for the next stage of the training.
Chapter 46 - End