Seeing Eichi's expression, Muramasa stroked his unkempt beard with a hint of pride. Masamune's gaze was currently quite terrifying; after a short while, it returned to normal and vibrated its wings to return to Muramasa's side.
"Next, I will teach you how to use Cross Slash," Muramasa said. He continued, "First, have Scizor use Air Slash for me to see."
Eichi nodded, and Scizor understood, swinging its dual claws toward the waterfall. Two wind blades formed out of thin air and struck the distance, crashing into the waterfall, but they left no trace and vanished quickly.
The wind blades Scizor swung could not compare to the ones Masamune had just unleashed, whether in power or size; the difference was far too vast. Muramasa didn't react much; he simply nodded and said, "This time, charge up for a moment, then use Air Slash with all your might."
Hearing this, Scizor followed his instructions. It closed its eyes to sense the energy within its body, mobilizing it and gathering it together. After a moment, once it reached the limit of its charge, it released it all at once.
This time, the wind blades were significantly stronger in both power and size than before, but they were still a far cry from Masamune's.
"That's acceptable," Muramasa said. "Next, use X-Scissor."
Scizor complied, crossing its two large claws to begin charging, then swung them out fiercely, shattering a massive boulder in front of it.
Muramasa instructed again, "Try to gather energy in your dual claws, and then swing them out just like you do when using Air Slash."
Scizor closed its eyes, mobilizing the energy within its body to gather in its claws. After about ten seconds, it swung out with force, but the result was not what it expected. It still used X-Scissor, though there was a slight difference—a small gust of wind accompanied the swing, and then nothing else happened.
Scizor looked at Muramasa, then at Masamune and Eichi. Although their expressions hadn't changed, it felt a bit embarrassed.
"Try again, Scizor," Muramasa encouraged.
Scizor took a deep breath and closed its eyes, mobilizing its internal energy even more seriously this time. Unconsciously, it entered the state of Perception. It began to sense its internal energy more clearly, and under its guidance, a surge of energy gathered into its dual claws.
This time, Scizor felt a bit more confident, sensing that it might actually succeed. It snapped its eyes open, its gaze turning sharp instantly.
Noticing the change in Scizor, Eichi thought to himself, Could it succeed this time?
Scizor aimed at a large boulder and swung its claws with great force, releasing the mobilized energy. However, the result was the same as before—it was still X-Scissor, just with a slightly stronger gust of wind this time.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Scizor was dumbfounded; what happened? Why did it fail again? I thought I had it, Eichi thought. Indeed, another failure. Masamune and Muramasa had thought Scizor might succeed after seeing its aura, but it still turned out this way.
At this result, Scizor's face turned red, though because its entire body was red, the blush was impossible to see. Refusing to believe it couldn't be done, Scizor continued to try, but every attempt yielded the same result. It felt like it could do it, yet every time, it only used X-Scissor.
Finally, Eichi couldn't bear to watch any longer and said, "Scizor, stop trying for a moment. Let's listen to what Teacher Muramasa has to say."
Only then did Scizor stop and look at Muramasa.
"Do you know why I didn't teach you the details just now?" Mr. Muramasa asked, stroking his beard. Scizor shook its head. "I just wanted you to try in advance so that you can accept what I say next more quickly."
Muramasa continued, "Alright, now listen carefully. First, enter the state of Perception; only in that state can you better feel the flow of energy. Next, mobilize the energy in your body. Remember not to go too fast; move slowly during your first attempt. Gathering the energy slowly into your dual claws, let it accumulate continuously.
Then, allow the energy in both claws to flow into and through each other. Remember, what follows is the critical part. You must control the energy perfectly during this flow; otherwise, the gathered energy might injure you. Finally, let the interconnecting energy gather, flow, and compress—do you know Taiji? Gather the energy in your hands until it reaches the limit, and finally swing your claws, drawing a cross with the energy as you release it."
After finishing in one breath, Muramasa added, "Doesn't it sound simple? Try it again."
Eichi had memorized every word Mr. Muramasa said without a single error. He then said to Scizor, "Did you remember everything Mr. Muramasa said? Good, Scizor, let's begin."
Scizor closed its eyes and carefully mobilized its energy. This time, it didn't rush; it mobilized slowly, allowing the energy to flow gently into its dual claws. Gathering a portion was quite simple, and nothing went wrong.
The next step was to control the energy in both claws to interlink and flow. Streams of energy began to flow from the right claw to the left, and from the left to the right, eventually gathering at the central intersection.
Scizor had seen the Taiji Yin-Yang diagram; Eichi had once drawn it for the Pokémon. It was said that a Trainer had seen this diagram in a distant region and drew it upon returning. Scizor attempted to make the energy flow into a sphere according to the image of the Taiji diagram in its memory.
The two currents of energy wound around each other, but suddenly, the energy began to riot. It stopped obeying Scizor's commands and started racing around wildly. The energy impacted its body, causing great pain. In an instant, all the effort Scizor had just put in went to waste.
Eichi saw the pained expression on Scizor's face. When Scizor opened its eyes, he knew it had failed.
Seeing this, Muramasa spoke up, "You failed. It doesn't matter, take it slow. You don't need to try mobilizing so much energy all at once. Start with a little energy; once you succeed, then try with more."
Scizor closed its eyes once again. This time, it only mobilized two small currents of energy to gather from its dual claws. Then they met at the intersection. Scizor imagined the energy in its right claw as black and the energy in its left claw as white. The two currents gathered into a ball, but during the process of winding and merging, they suddenly lost control again.
Scizor opened its eyes and began to sink into thought. Although it hadn't succeeded this time, it had already found some clues. Thus, it closed its eyes once more, mobilizing its energy to continue.