After being promoted to a disciple, Kaito's living situation improved significantly.
He said goodbye to the four-person dorm and moved into a two-person room. His roommate, however, was still squatting somewhere unknown, so for the time being, he had the entire place to himself.
Besides the better living conditions, the three free meals provided daily were also a major upgrade.
The Land of Iron was covered in snow year-round, leading to a shortage of resources like grain and meat, most of which had to be acquired through import trade. The Kenpu Dojo could only guarantee free provisions for its official disciples; attendants who wanted to eat meat had to pay for it themselves.
After a moment of reflection on the hard life of the people in the Land of Iron, Kaito lay down on his hard bed and began to review the morning's battle in his mind.
His opponent's swift, precise fighting style was something he aspired to, but it would require a massive amount of practice to achieve that level of mastery. If he were to swing his sword as wildly as Tetsuren did now, he was more likely to cut himself first.
Beyond that, he was somewhat surprised that he had been able to defeat her.
"Even though that Tetsuren girl isn't a real samurai yet, her strength was a lot lower than I expected. Is it because I'm just that strong?"
His opponent had the advantage in swordsmanship, but she had lost to Kaito in both strength and speed. The refinement of his chakra had significantly sped up the growth of his golden energy, leading to a leap in his physical abilities. He felt he was probably on par with Uncle Beard now.
What puzzled Kaito, however, was that Tetsuren hadn't used any chakra during their fight.
As a genius, she should have learned how to refine chakra by this age. Is it against the rules to use it?
He still knew far too little about the samurai culture of the Land of Iron.
After resting for a while, Kaito entered the seven-colored space.
The scene inside was the same as always. The new Chakra Plate had only condensed into a tiny piece, probably not even one-thousandth of the whole. He glanced at it once before looking away.
I haven't succeeded in learning any new Fire or Ice moves for several days now. Have I hit a bottleneck?
To date, he had learned five skills for each of these two types.
For Fire, he had Ember, Fire Spin, Flame Wheel, Fire Punch, and Flamethrower.
For Ice, he had Ice Punch, Powder Snow, Icy Wind, Icicle Spear, and Haze.
But after that, no matter how he tried, he couldn't learn any more.
Kaito didn't know the reason, but he guessed it was probably because his understanding of these two elements wasn't thorough enough. Right now, he knew what to do, but not why. His abilities were driven mostly by instinct. It was like facing the same math problem: he could copy the steps to solve it, but if the problem was altered even slightly, he was completely lost.
Perhaps when I truly understand how the energy flows when I execute a move, I'll be able to create corresponding moves on my own, without needing to learn them through the panel.
If he could achieve that, he'd be like the Sage of Six Paths—the founder of his own school of techniques.
A long and arduous road lies ahead.
Kaito sighed with emotion before turning his gaze back to the multi-colored plates.
Well, I should probably just learn whatever I can for now.
The night passed without incident.
In the early morning, Kaito woke up early as usual. Looking at the dark scene outside his window, he stretched widely.
"Sigh. Ever since coming to the ninja world, it's been ages since I've been able to pull an all-nighter."
Ultimately, it was because there was nothing to do. If he didn't sleep at night, what was there to play?
Play with what? Give me back my phone!
Filled with deep resentment, Kaito quickly washed up, grabbed the wooden sword he had just recently acquired, and went out into the courtyard.
Snowflakes were still drifting down sporadically, seemingly without end. The snowman he had built two days ago still stood tall and proud, as if it were guarding the dojo.
In the silent courtyard, however, a lone figure was already swinging a sword relentlessly.
There's actually someone here who grinds harder than me? Kaito paused, stunned.
It was too far to see who it was, but it wasn't like he knew many people anyway.
Kaito didn't go over to disturb them. He found his own corner and began practicing his swordsmanship, starting with the same fundamentals the disciples had been practicing yesterday.
Hearing another set of swish-swish sounds, the other figure paused and, surprisingly, started walking toward Kaito.
"Hm?" Kaito tilted his head in surprise. As the figure drew closer, his eyes, having adjusted to the dark, could make out their features more and more clearly.
"You?"
"Hmph. I knew it was you. Besides a newcomer like you, no one else would get up this early to practice," Tetsuren said, tilting her head up and pointing her smooth chin at Kaito. She was wearing a set of black cotton clothes that didn't look bulky at all.
"Heh, you're pretty smart." Kaito gave her a polite wave, a bad feeling creeping into his gut. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Good morning. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Of course I'm here to challenge you. Spar with me again!" Tetsuren said, unceremoniously raising her sword and pointing it at him.
I knew it! Kaito wailed internally. He didn't mind sparring, but he hated being pestered. Being challenged every single day would be so annoying.
He was beginning to understand how Kakashi must have felt being constantly hounded by Might Guy.
Speaking of which, Tetsuren had thick eyebrows too...
"Hmm..."
Kaito pondered for a moment before saying, "I can accept your challenge, but only at this time of day or when arranged by the dojo's instructors. At all other times, you are not to come looking for me."
"What do you mean? Are you afraid I'll never leave you alone?" Tetsuren's thick eyebrows shot up, and she snorted in anger. "Don't worry. Once I defeat you and leave you in my dust, you'll be nothing but a stranger in my eyes!"
"Sigh. Now that you've said that, I'm even more worried."
"Less talk. Get ready."
"Yep, yep, I'm ready." Kaito held his wooden sword horizontally in front of him.
"You're only using one sword?"
"I only have one sword right now. Don't worry, it won't make me that much weaker."
"It better not."
Tetsuren took a deep breath, her eyes wide with intense focus. She was in her strongest state.
Sensing her seriousness, Kaito also grew solemn, his azure eyes fixed on her right hand. He could afford to lose, but there was no need to.
"..." Tetsuren grit her teeth and charged forward first.
Her feet pressed into the snow, sinking just a little. In a single second, she had closed the distance to Kaito, the tip of her sword tracing a series of dazzling, gale-like trajectories.
She's faster than yesterday. Kaito remained calm in the face of danger, swinging his own sword at an even greater speed to clash precisely against hers.
His swordsmanship couldn't compare to hers, but he had a pair of sharp eyes that could see through her attack patterns, allowing him to meet her strikes head-on.
Tetsuren didn't know this, nor did she care to. She would just keep swinging her sword until she ran out of strength.
"Kaito, die, die, die, die!"
"...Do you really have to hold such a grudge?"
In a building on the other side of the yard, Mifune watched the two figures weaving across the snow through a window and smiled. "It's good to be young."
He returned to the center of the room and sat down, a sword resting on his knees. He closed his eyes, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
"Hah... hah..."
Tetsuren lay on the snow, her face flushed and her breath coming in ragged gasps. She couldn't even move a single finger.
In contrast, Kaito, standing beside her, had already recovered his breath after just a couple of pants.
This was the difference in their stamina.
Seeing Tetsuren lying on the ground, Kaito couldn't help but reach out and pat her on the head.
"What are you doing?"
"It's a custom from my homeland. The winner gives the loser a pat on the head to show comfort. It's called the 'head-patting ceremony'," Kaito said, spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
"I don't need your comfort!"
"I figured as much. Well, I'll be going then. See you later."
Kaito flicked his sleeves and turned to leave without waiting for her reply.
"..."