"Hey, the assessment is about to start."
Chosuke stood in front of two snow mounds, his voice muffled by the scarf covering his mouth.
After a few seconds, one of the snow mounds shook violently. Snow cascaded off, revealing a person underneath.
Kaito brushed the fine snow from his clothes and smiled at Chosuke. "Thanks."
He looked around and asked, puzzled, "Huh? Where's Tetsuren?"
Chosuke pointed to the other, motionless snow mound.
"No way! She copied me and buried herself in the snow?" Kaito's face paled in alarm. "What are you standing there for? Let's get her out of there!"
Together, he and the bewildered Chosuke dug through the snow, pulling out a purple-faced Tetsuren from inside. After a flurry of frantic first aid, Tetsuren finally came to.
"I thought you two were doing some kind of training, so I didn't want to disturb you. It was my oversight," Chosuke said apologetically.
"It's not your fault. This one brought it on herself," Kaito said, poking Tetsuren's forehead, slightly angry. "You can't just assume everyone has the same constitution. I can handle the cold, but you can't! If you died like this, you'd be nailed to the pillar of shame for eternity."
Tetsuren shot him a sideways glance, her tone icy. "You think I wanted this? Someone exhausted me and then just left me there. I didn't even have the strength to get up."
"Er, is that what happened?" Kaito wiped a cold sweat from his forehead, pretending to be deep in thought. "I don't think so... Besides, I didn't know you were that exhausted."
"Ahem." Seeing that Tetsuren was about to explode, Chosuke quickly interjected, "The assessment is really about to start. We should head over now."
"Ah, right, right!"
"..."
More than four months had passed since Kaito arrived in the Land of Iron.
The country was still buried under a constant snowfall, but spring had long since arrived in the outside world.
For the past four months, Kaito had trained with Tetsuren every morning without missing a single day, and had gradually become familiar with Chosuke, who was always the third one to wake up.
When the three of them arrived at the dojo, the other disciples had already assembled. The assistant instructors stood at the front, all wearing solemn expressions. The rarely seen dojo master, Goshin, was also present, sitting in the seat of honor and slowly sipping hot tea.
"You're here."
Mifune glared at the three of them. "Get in line, quickly!"
"Yes, sir!"
They lowered their heads and obediently fell in at the back of the line.
With a slight sigh, Mifune composed his expression, turned to Goshin, and bowed respectfully. "Master, everyone is here."
"Mm, good. You can preside over it. I'll just watch," Goshin said with a wave of his hand.
Anyone with eyes could see that Mifune was the next dojo master.
Well, he is the most stable and the strongest among them, Kaito thought, blinking and letting out a bored yawn.
"Yes, sir!" Mifune bowed again before turning back to the eagerly waiting disciples. "You all know what day it is, don't you?"
"Yes!"
"Very good. Then, will all disciples who wish to participate in this year's samurai selection please step out of the line!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chosuke, Tetsuren, and more than a dozen other confident disciples took two neat steps sideways, leaving the queue.
"Hmm? Kaito, are you not planning to participate?" Mifune asked, noticing Kaito hadn't moved.
At his question, nearly everyone's gaze focused on Kaito, including one filled with killing intent.
Kaito licked his lips and replied, "Master Mifune, I've only just arrived in the Land of Iron. I'm still an outsider. It wouldn't be right for me to become a samurai."
"Whether you are an outsider has nothing to do with how long you've been in the Land of Iron. These few months of getting to know you have been enough for me to understand your heart. You will not become an enemy of the Land of Iron, will you?"
"Well, that's not for certain. Who can say what the future holds?"
Especially in the ninja world, with its tradition of students killing their masters, anything outrageous could happen. For example, he could suddenly turn evil and want to destroy the ninja world or something.
"..." Mifune's brow twitched, and his voice rose a notch. "Becoming a samurai doesn't mean you are bound to the Land of Iron. You can leave whenever you wish. Our country may be closed off, but it is not a cage from which you cannot escape."
Seeing Mifune's clear stance, it would be ungracious for Kaito to refuse any longer. So he nodded and moved to stand beside Chosuke.
Mifune let out a breath and said, "Alright. Will the remaining disciples please step back? Those participating in the assessment, come forward to draw lots and determine your opponents. The content of this assessment is simple: you will duel each other until only one final winner remains. Whether you can advance will depend on the evaluation of us instructors. Everyone, show us your full strength!"
"Yes, sir!"
The results of the draw were quickly determined. As it happened, Kaito, Tetsuren, and Chosuke were all in different brackets.
To win the favor of the judging instructors, one naturally had to win all the way through, maintaining their exposure. Therefore, from the very beginning of the competition, everyone went all out, trying to display their strengths even in defeat.
Relying on his outstanding dynamic vision and sword speed, Kaito cut through his opponents one by one, advancing all the way to the finals.
Tetsuren wasn't so lucky. Having been frozen for a while that morning, her body wasn't in top condition. Furthermore, the round-robin format was most disadvantageous for a swordsman of her type. By the time she faced Chosuke, she had less than a tenth of her strength left and was easily defeated.
Thus, the final match was between Kaito and Chosuke.
"Both of them defeated their opponents with ease. It's hard to see who has the advantage."
"In terms of swordsmanship, Chosuke seems a little stronger, but Kaito's physical abilities are clearly superior. And then there's his golden chakra; it's definitely not that simple."
"Well, Chosuke is good at using the weak to defeat the strong. The outcome is really hard to say."
"Senior Brother Mifune, what do you think?"
The finals hadn't even begun, but the instructors couldn't help but start discussing it.
"Who wins and who loses, we'll only know after they fight." In truth, Mifune leaned toward Kaito, but to avoid being proven wrong, he kept his answer ambiguous.
On the field, Chosuke didn't have as much confidence. He knew he was bound to lose. Over the past few months, he had sparred with Kaito more than once, and every time had ended in a crushing defeat.
Still, if you want to beat me, you'll have to show me something more!
As the duel began, Chosuke launched the first attack, which surprised many.
"What's going on? Isn't Chosuke known for his counter-attacks?"
"Heh, a last-minute change in tactics? He's getting smarter." Kaito was also slightly taken aback, his internal guard raised. A straightforward person like Tetsuren posed no threat at all; it was the sly ones like Chosuke he had to worry about.
Sure enough, after a period of entanglement, Chosuke spotted an opening in Kaito's defense and unhesitatingly unleashed a technique he had been hiding for a long time.
"Secret Technique: Whirling Slash!"
Layers upon layers of wind suddenly swirled around his wooden sword. As he spun, he created a small tornado in the dojo!
"That's... a nature transformation!" Mifune and the others exclaimed in surprise.
Goshin remarked with interest, "Self-taught? And he can perform it with an ordinary wooden sword. A very fine talent."
Faced with such a powerful sword technique, Kaito decisively raised his hand:
"I surrender!"