Chapter 31
Yahiko looked at the old man, and the old man looked back at Yahiko with his closed eyes. Breathing like a tired horse, Yahiko removed his almost completely cut-apart shirt. Wiping the blood and sweat away, he prepared himself again.
It was getting late. Maybe he should say that he was lucky that it wasn't snowing, as it was already hard to deal with the cold of winter. The falling snow would only complicate his situation further.
He had completely forgotten how much time had passed as he stared down at the old man. He hadn't spoken a word, but somehow Yahiko understood that it was a challenge that he had to go through if he wanted to learn anything.
That sword of his was invisible. Yahiko couldn't even see it being drawn; he only felt the wind against his skin. And that was all the warning and time he had to avoid it. He barely managed to make three steps onto the temple grounds.
With every step he had to take, he had to avoid certain death. And with each step, it became increasingly harder to avoid it. Barely by the skin of his teeth, he managed to back away, leaving his body scarred and his shirt completely torn.
Luckily, the old man never aimed at his legs. If he did, and Yahiko had them injured, he would have long since given up. But he also felt quite insulted to be looked down on like this. He was getting humbled a bit too much lately by those damn monsters.
He was already too tired to try it again. And he probably should rest right now and try tomorrow. But he hated losing so easily, and he hated losing even more, especially to this old man, who looked smugger with each failure Yahiko experienced.
"Phew." Calming himself down, Yahiko prepared to try it again.
By now, he more or less knew what he had to do. Take a big step and use minimal movement to avoid the sword coming for him. The moment he felt the wind against his skin, he had to act, a millisecond too late, and he would be cut.
Looking at the setting sun, Yahiko focused on the path he had to take that separated him from the old man. Yahiko hasn't even made the old man open his eyes once. Even knowing his limits, he was pissed, and he wouldn't accept a loss today. So, he moved forward one last time.
Once he took the first step, he tilted his head. He could feel the tinge of the wind against his skin, caressing his cheek like a lover. With the second step, he turned his body. If he had any hair on his chest, he was certain it would have been cut.
He dropped to the ground with the third step. The previous two times, he had no choice but to roll away from the temple grounds to save himself at this point. But this time, he pushed himself forward with his hands, somersaulting in the air toward the old man.
When he landed, he only had a moment to realize that the soles of his sandals were cut away. He had now entered the point of no return. He was halfway through, so there was little point in turning back, but now it was an unfamiliar path.
He had experienced the previous steps dozens of times before, but now he had to do the rest for the first time. But thinking was done before he entered the temple grounds; now he had no time for it. His concentration was fully set on the feeling on his skin. He completely abandoned his sight since there was no possibility of seeing the sword.
And yet, when he felt the wind on his chest, it was already too late. In that moment, time seemed to have completely stopped. He was going to die. There was no way to bend his body to avoid it. He could already feel the blade cutting through his skin.
Clank!
The tip of Yahiko's kunai flew away from him as he somehow managed to block the cut. Though blood still sprayed onto the ground as his chest was cut. It reached his muscles, but not deeper. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't life-threatening.
And he had no time to even think about the injury as he took another step forward. Again, he felt the wind, this time on his stomach. By now, he could even feel the line along which he would be split apart.
Clank!
"Ugh…" This time, it was an even deeper wound, so much so that he was brought to his knees, but still not lethal, as his kunai managed to take most of it, though it was now completely useless. "Ahh!"
He knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the next cut. So rather than think he could for that millisecond, he used that time to concentrate his chakra into his arms and put them before his neck, where he felt the wind tickle him.
He felt the cut go through his skin and flesh and only stop at his arm bones. His mind didn't have time to perceive the pain, and he put everything he had into moving forward. His body moved before his mind could register, jumping forward.
For whatever reason, he no longer felt the wind. But his body turned cold. If he hadn't experienced death before, he might have thought this was it. The tip of the old man's sword was resting against Yahiko's skin, under which was his heart.
"I have never seen a boy who came to die want to live so much."
It was the first time he heard the old man speak. He wasn't slow with his words, but his voice was steady and cool, like winter's wind. It was impossible to miss any of his words. It took all of Yahiko's attention, whether he wanted it or not.
"I didn't come here to die," Yahiko replied.
"Then have you come here to survive?"
"I want to live," Yahiko answered. "I came here because I want to live."
The moment he realized that this test posed danger to him, he probably should have turned away. But a part of him realized that in this world, if he wanted to live the way he wished, he would always be in danger.
A danger he couldn't see, couldn't avoid, or predict. And yet, even knowing that it existed, he still wanted to face it, because he wanted to live the way he wanted with no compromise. So, he took this challenge personally.
"You failed my test spectacularly," The old man said. "Ever since the first assassin came to take care of me, I created this test. Only those who wish to step into death could pass through my blade. All you had to do to avoid it was step forward through it, and it wouldn't have harmed you."
"What?" Yahiko couldn't believe what he heard.
"Yet, you wanted to live so much that you still managed to avoid it, and even block it. So, it is funny. I have never seen someone like you, who steps into a certain death while giving his all to live every time."
Suddenly, the old man smiled and withdrew his sword. Yahiko hadn't realized it, but the sword was holding him up. So, with the sword gone, he collapsed to the ground. And before he could check on his injuries, the old man threw him a needle with thread and bandages.
In the cold, Yahiko quickly cleaned his wounds and stitched his cuts as fast and well as he could before bandaging himself. With the bleeding stopped, he looked at the old man, who continued sitting with his eyes closed.
"Who sent you here, boy?"
"I came here by recommendation of Lord Mifune."
"Do you see all those swords outside?" old man Isshin asked, his relaxed expression suddenly tensing up.
"Yes, there are hundreds of them."
"Three hundred and fifty-eight," he corrected Yahiko. "There was nothing left of their bodies. They were burned, and their ashes thrown away. I could only collect their swords so they would be remembered. Do you know why they died?"
"No."
"Because Lord Mifune killed them all." With those words, Yahiko could feel a cold wind touch his skin again, and he felt the lines on his body where he would be cut; there were at least a hundred of those lines.
"You betrayed the country first." Yahiko swallowed his cold saliva and replied.
"Tell me, boy, is Mifune the general now?"
"That's what he called himself."
"I was the general before him, and the three hundred and sixty of us were all colleagues who served our Daimyo. That is, until he ordered a complete massacre of a noble family that allegedly betrayed the country. I listened to his orders. I killed women, children, and men alike. Cut them all apart without a shred of hesitation, because protecting my country was more important than my own heart and soul."
"They were innocent, weren't they?" Yahiko asked, knowing where it was going.
"All they did wrong was have land and a business the Daimyo's nephew wanted," the old man replied. "That was all the reason needed to kill them all. So, when I found out, I was ready to do the same to the Daimyo's family, too. And every single man, even Mifune, agreed with me."
"Why did Mifune betray you then?" Yahiko didn't think Mifune would have been bought by anyone to betray his colleagues, especially in this matter.
"Hmm, it seems I have had no company for far too long and have started to yap your ears off. But since I started my story, I should finish it," the old man said, realizing in what situation he was. "Mifune betrayed me because I wanted to kill every single member of the Daimyo's family and all their allies. Children are innocent, and I wanted the throne for myself because I knew I was more suited for it than those idiotic children obsessed with the material world. So, after I killed the Daimyo, he challenged every single one of us to battle."
"He won against you all?"
"He fought for three days, fighting more than a hundred of us every day until only he and I were left," the old man replied. "Without sleeping or resting, one by one, he cut them all down. I could have cut him down easily. After all, I taught him everything he knew, but I accepted my loss. I couldn't kill such an excellent student of mine. And I knew that as long as he was here, the country would be safe. Though I didn't expect my life to be spared and to be imprisoned here."
"I didn't know Lord Mifune was such an amazing person." Yahiko knew Mifune was strong, but he had never heard such a legend about him. "This world sure has a lot of monsters roaming unbeknownst to me."
"Enough of that. I am tired. Speak of your intentions in coming here." Suddenly, the old man became impatient and raised his voice. "Did Mifune start to regret his decision to spare my life?"
"I came to learn the mastery of the sword from you, Master Isshin."
"Buwhaha!" Laughing like it was the most ridiculous thing he had heard, the old man looked at Yahiko with wide eyes. "You were almost cut apart for such a trivial reason? Sure! I will teach you how to cut anyone and anything, since you amuse me so much."
"But that isn't what I want to learn," Yahiko replied. "I want to learn how not to cut anyone at all."
"How not to cut anyone?"
"I don't want to kill anyone in this world, but I have a lot of people I want to protect. So please teach me how to do so without killing anyone."
"You are ridiculous!" The old man seemed unable to believe what he heard. "All I know is how to cut someone apart. So that's all I can teach you. Everything else is up to you to learn."
Yahiko bowed his head in acceptance, as he had expected this kind of answer. He just hoped for something more, but from the very beginning, he knew the path he wanted to walk wouldn't be easy. There weren't any simple answers to his problems.
…
Nagato looked down from the mountaintop he had climbed all day. He couldn't see the capital city anymore, and considering how big it was, it showed how far he was from it. It was an isolated, cold, and barren place where barely any animals passed by.
A perfect place to understand the powers he had. To understand everything about his eyes. He knew how rare and dangerous those eyes were, and how many people would like to have them. If people discovered them, not only would he be in danger.
To protect Yahiko and Konan, he needed to use this power. And to use it, he needed to understand it. He was prepared to spend years in this place just doing that if he needed to. He wouldn't return to them until he had the confidence to protect them from any danger.
…
In the center of the capital city of the Land of Iron, Konan was dressed prettily in silken robes and a golden hairpin, holding her hair up. And yet she was just a mere servant of one of the most prominent merchant families in the country.
More specifically, she was a maid serving the young lady of the family. Unlike Yahiko or Nagato, Konan knew how she could get stronger, but apart from that, she wanted to help them in other ways. So, she decided to make connections.
No matter how much time passed, she would not return to the rest of them until she managed to set up something concrete, something that would help them, from hiding them when they needed to gather information for them. And she would start right there.
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.