Chapter 158 — Sniper Training Begins
S.C. 1511 — Early March
Foosha Village — Cliffside Ridge
The morning wind was sharp and clean, rolling over the cliffside like a steady whisper.
Ren lay flat on his stomach on the rocky ground, rifle resting on a small sandbag he improvised from cloth scraps.
Kiro crouched nearby, holding a notebook.
Zemo lay behind Ren, tail moving slowly, ears twitching at every distant sound.
Ren closed one eye and adjusted the iron sights of the rifle.
He whispered:
"Breath first… sight second… trigger last."
His breathing slowed to the rhythm of his power-breathing technique.
---
The First Lesson — Breath
Kiro watched carefully.
Ren inhaled deeply—slow, steady, full.
The breathing technique circulated air faster, oxygen flooding Ren's system.
Exhale.
The rifle remained still in his hands.
Kiro noted, "Your heartbeat just dropped. It's visible in your posture."
Ren nodded without looking away.
"The breathing technique helps. It stabilizes micro-movements."
He inhaled once more, feeling the oxygen sharpen his sight, reduce shaking, and clear his focus like a lens being wiped clean.
Zemo barked softly, as if telling him his breathing was steady enough.
Ren loaded a round.
---
The Second Lesson — Sight
The wooden target stood 90 meters away.
Ren's vision zoomed in—not literally, but the way his brain now parsed detail made everything sharper.
The grain of the wood.
The tiny crack in the upper left corner.
The angle of the light hitting the surface.
He didn't force it.
His enhanced senses aligned automatically.
He whispered:
"Wind… left to right. Low pressure."
He could hear the air brushing past the edge of the cliff.
He could feel the faint shift in the breeze.
Kiro looked up at the sky. "You can tell wind direction that easily?"
Ren didn't answer.
He simply adjusted the aim.
---
The Third Lesson — Trigger Feel
Finger on trigger.
Not pulling.
Just touching.
He let his breathing fall into a slow pattern:
Inhale…
Hold…
Exhale—
Shot.
BANG!
The recoil pushed against his shoulder softly.
The distant target jerked.
Zemo barked in celebration.
Kiro squinted. "Upper right hit. Around two centimeters from center."
Ren cocked the bolt open, reloaded.
"Again."
---
Training Repeats
BANG!
Left side.
BANG!
Center.
BANG!
Clean hit—right through the circle drawn on the wood.
Ren stayed silent, steady, consistent.
His mind didn't race the way it used to.
It didn't overflow.
It simply calculated—quiet, fast, calm.
Telepathy sensed wind movement.
Hearing sensed the vibration of the target.
Breathing stabilized the aim.
Eyes refined the pattern.
Everything worked together.
---
Luffy Arrives (Naturally Loud)
"REEEEEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Ren flinched.
His shot went five centimeters off target.
Zemo looked betrayed.
Kiro groaned.
Luffy sprinted across the grass, stopping beside Ren.
"WOAH!! IT'S THAT LOUD STICK AGAIN!"
Ren sighed. "It's a rifle."
"How loud?! Shoot it again!! Shoot! SHOOT!!"
Kiro held Luffy by the collar. "Calm down. You'll mess up the shot."
"I'm not loud," Luffy protested.
Ren and Kiro spoke in unison:
"You are very loud."
Luffy pouted but sat on a rock nearby, bouncing.
---
Range Increase
Ren moved the target farther.
150 meters.
He lay down again.
Kiro set the new target.
Zemo kept watch behind him.
Ren repeated the process:
Breath.
Sight.
Trigger.
BANG!
Direct hit.
Kiro blinked. "You hit it… from this far?"
Ren didn't answer.
His mind was already processing next adjustments:
barrel drift
temperature
powder load
eye fatigue
Another inhale.
Another shot.
Another hit.
---
Testing Under Stress
Zemo suddenly barked loudly.
A bird flew overhead.
Luffy sneezed.
The wind shifted.
Ren shot anyway.
BANG!
The bullet struck slightly low—still on the target.
Kiro whistled. "Even distracted… you hit it."
Ren lowered the rifle slowly, rubbing his temples.
The focus took effort—not because of difficulty, but because of precision.
"I'll need to build a long-range scope," Ren muttered.
Kiro wrote it down.
Luffy pointed. "I want one too! I wanna hit mountains!"
Ren stared at him. "You'll blow up the mountain."
"I KNOW!!"
Zemo groaned.
---
End of Day — Notes and Adjustments
Back at the lab, Ren cleaned the rifle carefully.
He wrote:
Sniper Training Day 1 — Observations • 90–150 m reliable
• breathing technique effective
• wind reading accurate
• sensory alignment improving
• need scope for long-range
• cartridge refinement needed
Zemo curled beside his chair.
Kiro organized the spent cartridges.
The lamp hummed faintly.
Ren exhaled, calm.
Tomorrow, he would push farther.
Not because he needed to.
But because precision demanded it.
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End of Chapter 158