"To be completely honest with you all, I do not know why he chose that name or title," Iaiashin began softly, her gaze drifting away from the patriarch and down toward the arena sands.
She did have an idea as to why, though.
She suspected that the Beggar Sage had pulled some strings to plant a seed of hope in Merun for all the common folk of Gifu... but in Iaiashin's opinion, "Commoner's Wrath" was a dangerous declaration.
It instilled the idea throughout Gifu that the boy standing before them was an avatar of the common man. Combined with his peasant background, it intensified a narrative the noble houses absolutely despised.
Iaiashin couldn't even fathom what on earth he was thinking.
He might as well have sent letters to all the noble houses containing the words:
"I'll kill you all. — Merun Furutsu"
Still, she deliberately kept her tone smooth, leaving out any mention of the Beggar Sage or the shadowy strings of the Beggar Sect. The Furutsu family was safe for now, and involving them in the deep, toxic politics of the underworld would only invite ruin.
"For now, it is best to refer to him by that name," Iaiashin continued. "After he fled your home, he was sent to train under the absolute best conditions possible to forge his current strength. He is a battle genius, possessing a constitution I strongly suspect to be the legendary Tyrant Strength Body."
"The... Tyrant Strength Body?" Ichigo interrupted, her voice a mix of awe and confusion.
Having gained great appreciation for books and knowledge, she had read through hundreds of martial scrolls belonging to the clan, but she had never even heard of such a thing.
"Does it have anything to do with his physique? His tail? Come to think of it... he's always been incredibly gifted in strength and durability, even as a small child. Does that have something to do with it?"
Iaiashin spoke slowly, pleased by the girl's knowledge.
"You've got it. He is a biological anomaly. The Tyrant Strength Body is a curse to those who face it and a supreme blessing to those born with it. It means his physical form is fundamentally that of a peak martial body. Even if he had never trained a day in his life, he would still be well beyond his peers."
She raised a brow thoughtfully.
"It could be the reason for his tail, as it is said that such a physique can manifest bizarre abnormalities."
"As I hinted before," the Master continued, steering the conversation back toward grim reality, "he went into hiding because he almost killed a high-ranking noble of the clan—specifically one from the Yamaguchi noble house, who are currently hunting him like a rabid animal. Their rage has reached a point where even my authority as the sole Martial Master of the Kinzoku cannot sway them."
The Master paused, a rare flicker of profound gravity crossing her ageless, beautiful face.
"Seeing his limitless potential, I planned to cultivate his strength so that this magnificent tree would not be stepped on while it was still a mere sapling."
She looked back down at the cracked stone of the arena below, a proud, sharp smirk finally breaking through.
"And it seems my investment has paid off."
She recalled sacrificing her only treasure—her sole fruit from the Tree of Healings.
The family took a slow, heavy second to absorb that staggering information.
The image of the lazy, foolish boy was completely shattered. He had been born with the body of a mythical titan, training nonstop, pushed to the absolute brink, and provided with every resource a Martial Master could mobilize, all to survive beneath the shadow of a noble house's wrath.
"But the danger..." Nashi whispered, her voice trembling as tears nearly ran down her face. "You said he made an enemy of the Yamaguchi house. If they hate him so much, won't this name just make them want to kill him even more?"
"They already want to kill him, Nashi," Iaiashin said bluntly, refusing to sugarcoat reality. "A prominent Yamaguchi elder has already tasted defeat and deep humiliation at his hands. In the dark, a noble house can make a commoner vanish with a single command. But out there? Under the gaze of ten thousand spectators? Surrounded by the elite of Sekigahara? If Moretsuna performs well in this tournament, he becomes untouchable."
Iaiashin's smirk grew cold and dangerous.
"The nobles are cowards of status. They cannot secretly assassinate a public phenomenon without risking a thorough investigation from me. His raw power is his shield. His arrogance is his armor. He is forcing them to accept him entirely on his terms."
Ichigo swallowed hard, her heart hammering against her ribs. She looked down at her hands, remembering how she used to scold little Merun for his antics—and how he had saved all their lives on that fateful day.
"Is he really that strong now, Master?" Ichigo asked, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Strong enough that he didn't even need to activate his Martial Heart against a Senior?"
She knew, deep down, that he was now completely out of their league. They were powerful martial squires, yes, but a Martial Senior was something else entirely.
She needed to hear it.
She needed to know the truth.
The Master closed her eyes as though recalling the fight she had just witnessed.
"He is... hmmmm..."
She simply smiled.
"Much stronger than I thought."
The comment sent a shockwave through the viewing deck, causing her daughter, Inyen Iaiashin's jaw to drop.
The Master's daughter stared at her mother in utter disbelief, her lips curling into a sharp pout.
Her mother never admitted that someone had exceeded her expectations. Throughout her entire life, only the prodigy Hideyoshi had ever received such praise.
Not even Inyen herself had ever heard those words.
Hmmph!
Ignoring her daughter's silent tantrum, Iaiashin turned her attention to Ringo, who had stepped forward with a look of intense focus.
"What kind of defensive technique did he use?" Ringo asked eagerly.
As a member of the Shinken clan, Ringo had been exposed to library upon library of defensive martial arts. Her own chosen martial style, the Flowing Vortex Style, was not a popular martial art. It was a niche style that attempted to perfectly neutralize an opponent's attacks through pushing and pulling—a goal most deemed far too ambitious for a mere martial squire.
Evasive, high-speed martial artists were historically a defensive specialist's worst nightmare because defensive styles lacked the immediate offensive tools needed to catch them.
But Merun had exposed a fundamental loophole:
If your body was tough enough, you could simply ignore their speed entirely.
Ringo desperately wanted to add that unyielding concept to her own repertoire.
Master Iaiashin smiled, shaking her head gently.
"It is an ancient fighting style, little Ringo, and it is not meant for the constitutions of ordinary martial artists. Your brother has great compatibility with it, as one must be born with a blessed body—one that fundamentally surpasses all of its peers. Throughout Panama, only one other individual is publicly known to possess a candidate physique for it, and he can be found guarding the borders of Kandria. The legendary Martial Senior they call 'the Gatekeeper.'"
Ringo's face fell slightly in disappointment.
"Apologies," Iaiashin added with an amused glint in her eye. "I cannot tell you the specifics because I do not know the exact mechanics myself. Perhaps, when this is all over, Moretsuna can teach you."
"And his next opponent?" Ichigo asked, her eyes darting back toward the massive tournament brackets updating across the stone monolith in the stadium. "The one you called Senior Ephraim?"
"True Strike Ephraim," Iaiashin noted, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared toward the dark threshold of the competitor tunnels.
"Unlike Roro, Ephraim doesn't play with flashy domains or illusions. He is a pure pragmatist. A veteran who spearheaded frontline skirmishes during the bloody wars against rival kingdoms. In terms of offense, he is close to unmatched."
The Master turned her gaze directly toward Mikan, who was still leaning heavily against the rail.
"If Senior Roro is the storm that batters a mountain, Senior Ephraim is the drill designed to pierce it. He definitely noticed that Moretsuna stashed his device mid-fight. He already knows the boy was playing with his food. That means he won't underestimate him."
The reality of her words settled over the Furutsu family.
Merun was stepping into a realm completely untouchable to people of their status.
While Martial Masters were usually put in charge of defending major border cities, it was actually the Martial Seniors who enforced those borders, serving as the true, bloody frontline against foreign invaders.
They belonged to the realm that harnessed the raw power of a martial artist's heart, unlocking the full, terrifying potential of the human body... for a price.
And their little brother had reached that level of power.
Nashi turned a worried, questioning gaze toward Budo, and the sturdy man gave his wife a reassuring nod, silently telling her to trust the Master's judgment.
The family took turns asking the Master questions and she did her best to answer all of them honestly while the other bracket fights happened within the arena. Fights were completely overshadowed by the very first bout between the Hail of Blades Roro Noa, and the Commoner's Wrath Moretsuna.
Eventually, the stadium speakers violently crackled to life, the announcer's voice booming with a mixture of terror and forced excitement that shattered the tension in the stands.
It was the moment they were all waiting for.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE FIRST MATCH OF THE QUARTER-FINALS HAS BEEN DECIDED! STEPPING ONTO THE SANDS... TRUE STRIKE EPHRAIM!"
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A/N:
I changed Būdo to Budo because I got too lazy to type "ū".
Thanks for reading!