Chapter 25
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By the following evening, Keiji was fully grown and able to hear his father's mental commands. Kenshin was overjoyed, and immediately engaged his son in training, giving him exactly the same training programme as Ichiro.
Ichiro had made some progress in chakra control, and although he couldn't walk on walls yet, he could masterfully leap over trees or walls, lingering for half a second and then pushing off the wall and leaping higher, provided there was another wall on the opposite side. He was best at jumping over trees, pushing off of one and landing on another.
Keiji really wanted to become as strong as his older brother, so he plunged headfirst into training, awakening his chakra quite quickly by following his older brother's advice.
The two brothers sparred every evening under the competent guidance of their father, and grew stronger every day.
Keiji's talent was even slightly higher than his older brother's, at 17 units, one unit higher than Ichiro's. Kenshin was in no hurry to draw conclusions based on ephemeral 'talent' figures. He believed that talent was important, but without hard work, no talent would help.
Kenshin decided not to have new children for the time being. He wanted to find a kunoichi, level up, and only then have new children with Aya. He was disgusted at the thought of it, but even more unwelcome was the thought of losing his children in the cycle of events to come. He refused to treat his offspring as bargaining chips to achieve his goals. To him, they were the little ones who stomped their little feet on his chest, disturbing his sleep.
Ichiro and Keiji trained hard for the next week. Keiji quickly caught up with his brother in strength and speed, apparently chakra-fuelled muscles and internal organs, but he was still noticeably behind in technique.
Kenshin made his sons spend at least an hour every day practising shuriken and kunai throwing, setting a good example for them, and practising himself. There were no kunai sparring matches for obvious reasons, but Kenshin found a good alternative, throwing small stones at his sons and making them hit them with kunai. After a few days, he switched to shurikens, and both of his sons quickly learnt to deflect the objects flying at them.
Kenshin and Aya's sex life had died down a bit, but he still found his wife in the shower every few days, or dragged her into the bedroom, and thanked the soundproofing for keeping Aya's incredibly loud moans at bay. She knew no one could hear them, so she didn't hold back, and screamed at the top of her voice as the head of his big cock slammed into her small uterus, sending sparks into her blue eyes.
On the fifty-fifth day after Kenshin's arrival in this world, another batch of wine matured, and Kenshin decided to sell a record-breaking large batch. Twenty bottles of ten year old wine, and five bottles of twenty year old wine. Kenshin "ordered" Aya to stay at home, and not to go out unnecessarily, because he was taking both of his sons with him.
- Be careful... - Aya whispered, and took turns hugging all three of them, and kissing Kenshin.
- Don't worry, Mum, everything will be fine, Dad and I have been to town many times before. - Ichiro said, adjusting his shoulder bag.
- Yes, Mum, don't worry. We'll bring you a roll of silk so you can sew something! - Keiji said, and smiled with all his thirty-two teeth.
- Have fun, sweetheart. And remember, don't leave the house without an emergency. - Kenshin reminded her, and hugging her one last time, he turned and stepped outside.
As soon as Aya saw the three departing backs, her heart twitched. She suddenly felt something very wrong, and called out: - Kenshin!
- М? Is something wrong? - He asked, turning round.
- Yes, Mum, what's wrong? - Asked a cheerful Keiji, who was eager to go to town.
- Umm, no, nothing..." she muttered, and gave a strained smile.
Kenshin shrugged, and turning round he adjusted his shoulder bag and stepped forward, his two sons following him.
****
The trio reached the town without incident, and went straight to the liquor store.
The old salesman, seeing five bottles of 20-year-old wine, couldn't believe his eyes at first, and stared at Kenshin.
- O-where did you get that wine? - He mumbled, returning to the sight of what he thought was a work of art.
- Sir, as I have already explained, our grandfather was a wine collector, and this is his most valuable stock. We, the three grandchildren, decided to sell this wine, reasoning that our grandfather's labour, in which he put his whole soul, should not go to waste, and who but a wine collector could appreciate it? - He gave a pre-prepared speech.
- You're right, young man, you're right! Wait a few minutes, I need to check him properly. - The old man said, and stepped into the back room behind him. A few minutes later, he came out holding five pieces of paper with a strange hieroglyph. He stuck a slip of paper on each bottle, and after a minute, when all the slips had turned a dark yellow colour, he grinned in satisfaction.
- Indeed! More than twenty, but less than twenty-five! It's a real bargain! I'm willing to give you 6000 ryo per bottle. - The old man said, not taking his eyes off the bottles.
- We agree! - Kenshin agreed at once. He was in no position to argue, and he could "age" as much wine as he wanted with the proceeds.
After a few minutes, the old man counted out 37,000 ryo, and gave it to Kenshin, who quickly counted the money, and hid it in a secret breast pocket, and then hastily bade farewell to the seller, and accompanied by his two sons, went out of the door.
As soon as Kenshin and his two sons left the liquor store, a sturdy lad of about sixteen with a Konoha tread on his forehead came down from the first floor, he politely said goodbye to the old salesman, and went outside.
On the first floor of the wine shop was an elite room for connoisseurs of expensive wine, being there the black haired shinobi of Konoha with his keen hearing could hear almost the entire conversation between Kenshin and the old salesman, when he heard the price of five bottles of twenty year old wine he couldn't contain his greed. Each bottle of wine was worth more than the reward for a rank-D mission, and he decided to act.