Chapter 33
The steel was singing as one sword clashed with another. Yahiko tried everything to get close to Master Isshin. Letting Master Isshin's sword slide on his own sword's edge, he approached forward, only to be stopped, as Master Isshin's reach was longer than his.
Before Yahiko could reach him, his sword tip was already at Yahiko's chest. One more step and he would have reached Master Isshin, and one more step and a sword would have entered his chest.
"That's enough." Master Isshin flicked his sword, easily disarming Yahiko. "You have come far; to last thirty bouts with me isn't something to be scoffed at."
Yahiko only silently picked up his sword with his tired arms. Every strike that he blocked or parried put enormous strain on him. He still couldn't believe how this thin old man was so damn strong. He pushed Yahiko around like he was a little kid.
More physical training. That was all he learned from this spar. He needed to train his body even more. It had been over a year since he started staying with Master Isshin, and it had only been a month since he started sparring with him.
Though he said nothing and let Yahiko learn on his own, through these sparring sessions, Yahiko could quickly see his shortcomings. First was his footing and balance. He had been neglecting it in favor of training his upper body and learning sword techniques.
In the first few spars, being put down into the melting snow, showed how lacking he was and how wrong he was to ignore it. In the past month, he trained his footwork nonstop, but now he saw that he shouldn't just focus on one thing and ignore the other weaknesses he had.
So what if he could move a bit faster and more surely than before if he couldn't take a few hits head-on? Everything had a balance, and without it, everything would fall apart. A year had passed, but there were still many things he needed to learn, and it seemed that this training road was longer than he expected.
But he wasn't discouraged. No, he was quite happy. To be able to focus purely on his training was a blessing. Even Jiraiya could only teach so much before he would have to leave. But Master Isshin was always watching, and though he said nothing, he showed Yahiko what he had to do with his actions.
"Master Isshin, I came to see you!"
Clank!
Yahiko's sword was split in half as he blocked Master Isshin's strike. Damn it, he completely missed this person. Usually, Yahiko would have already turned away anyone who even walked in the temple's direction, but this time he was focused on his spar, so he didn't even survey the path leading to the temple.
Not a single person apart from him had set foot on the temple grounds. And now, there was a portly and ugly-looking man stepping inside. Before a second strike could be delivered by Master Isshin, Yahiko kicked the man who entered the temple grounds out.
There was no way he could block another strike with his tired arms and now destroyed sword. Master Isshin didn't show any mercy, even if Yahiko stood in the way. If anyone whom he deemed undeserving tried to step onto the temple grounds, they would be cut apart.
"What is the meaning of this? I have you know..." Yahiko shut the man up by putting his foot on his mouth.
"Listen carefully, buddy. If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here." Yahiko stabbed his broken sword next to the man's head. "Weren't you warned about what happens to people who enter the temple grounds?"
So far, Yahiko had managed to steer those idiots away, so he wasn't about to break his track record just yet. And Yahiko knew that Master Isshin despised those kinds of people coming to look for him. Killing them would be more than enjoyable to him.
Yahiko had to admit there was no kindness in Master Isshin's heart. He was a ruthless man who no longer cared about anyone else's lives, if he ever cared about them to begin with. Even Yahiko wasn't an exception; if he ever showed weakness or an opening, he would be cut down, too.
But it wasn't for Master Isshin's ideology that Yahiko stayed here to learn, so he didn't find it wrong. It wasn't up to him to tell others how they should live. All he could do was stop it if it happened before his eyes.
After kicking the unwanted guest out, Yahiko looked at his broken sword. Well, it might have been time to change it to begin with. He had trained with it every day for the past year, and it was already worn out. And as he grew taller and his limbs longer, he wanted a slightly longer sword, too.
"Master, I'm going down to the city to look for a blacksmith!"
Yahiko was ignored, as he expected. Still, he didn't care much about it and changed into his regular clothing. It was also a good excuse to see if he could find anything about Konan and Nagato. For that, he probably should visit Mifune.
…
The first thing he did when he entered the capital city of the Land of Iron was inquire about Mifune. And as it happened, he was away on a mission or something. Yahiko could only get that much information, since there was no way anyone would trust him enough to provide more about the whereabouts of their general.
Since the first thing he ought to do had failed, he looked for the best blacksmith in the city. He still didn't know if he would have his sword fixed or get a new one, but either way, he needed to find a good blacksmith first.
He didn't settle for the biggest and most well-known; he went out of his way to question people, samurai he met on the streets, and asked them who they thought was the best blacksmith in the city.
And that led him to this place: a very busy and loud workshop, with a dozen people working hard behind the counter. Even though it was still cold as spring had just begun, topless men worked tirelessly outside before the burning fires of their forges.
"Hello there," Yahiko greeted the man at the counter, a young apprentice. "I'm looking for a master who could fix my sword if it's worth the money."
"Uncle!" The young apprentice immediately knew he wasn't suited to answer such a question as Yahiko presented him with his broken sword.
"Here, here," a burly man came out, wiping his sweaty face. "What do you want, brat?"
"Hello," Yahiko introduced himself. "I wondered if..."
"Wait a second! Are you perhaps Yahiko?"
"Yes?" Yahiko answered honestly, though he was suspicious of how the man knew him.
"Can't believe it, the young lass was right. Wait here for a moment."
That was weird, but he had no reason not to listen to the blacksmith. After a few moments, he returned with a box under his arm. He set it down on the counter and opened it, showing a brilliant sword with an elegant scabbard.
"This was commissioned by a girl with blue hair. She said to prepare it and wait until a boy with orange hair like yours, named Yahiko, came looking for a sword. I call this sword Nagakiba; it is one of, if not the finest work I have ever done."
Damn, Konan seemed to be doing just fine on her own, as she could afford such a great sword to gift to Yahiko. Without too much pretense, he took the sword in his hands. It was long, quite a bit longer than normal swords, but the balance was great, and it felt like it was tailored to his hand.
The blade was as sharp as a razor, the hilt was sturdy and just heavy enough to balance out the sword. He could tell it was made of the finest steel and would not break easily. Even the scabbard was made of fine wood that could take a few hits. It was top-quality work.
Still, even though Yahiko accepted it, he bought another sword just for training, as he didn't want to wear out Konan's gift. Ending his business with the blacksmith, a bit disappointed that Konan hadn't left any message for him, he didn't know what to do next.
It didn't seem like he was going to find any information about Konan or Nagato, so he just ate some candy, though it didn't taste as good as he remembered, and rested for a bit. He came to realize that he only enjoyed this kind of candy and stuff because he always shared it with Konan and Nagato.
He did hear something about a mountain god that had settled not too far away from the city, but he dismissed it as a traveler's story to gain some fame. Though it seemed many people who were lost or injured on these mountains were helped by that god of theirs. Though it has nothing to do with Yahiko, he just ignored it.
…
The apple split right in the middle, one smooth cut. Even the seeds were split in half, and yet Yahiko wasn't satisfied. In this world, where the impossible was possible, where there were powers that could destroy mountains, why couldn't Yahiko cut the seeds but not the apple? Or vice versa?
"It never has been done to my knowledge, and from my experience, it will never be done."
"So we should accept what it is and what it isn't?" Yahiko asked Master Isshin. "You said the sword was just a tool, meant to kill and nothing more. But I disagree. I will choose what kind of tool this sword is to me, not anyone else. Not even the sword can make that decision."
Maybe it really was impossible. But Yahiko was ready to chase after it anyway. Even if he spent his whole life and achieved nothing, he would continue to chase after this impossibility. Because this was his path. His way.
He would never accept any other compromise. And so, he tried again. And again. And again. Until the sun fell over the horizon and then rose again. When he wasn't training, eating, or doing other chores, he would try again and again.
Getting that gift from Konan reignited something within Yahiko. He always wanted to get stronger, but as he looked at his end goal, he began to forget about what was already very close to him: Konan, Nagato, and Jiraiya.
He wouldn't let them down. He couldn't. They would get an ending deserving of them. That's why he didn't care what was possible or what wasn't; none of it mattered. He only needed to swing his sword and believe he could achieve it.
Only after achieving the impossible can he bring peace to this world and forge a better future for everyone. Without killing or hurting others. Even if it was impossible, he would rather dream than wake up to reality and accept it as it was.
He could, and he would, cut through everything and anything, the apple, the falling leaves, the air itself, and nothing at all. Though he knew he wouldn't be able to do it in a day or two, he would continue to focus on one thing at a time.
…
First, he started with water. In the river outside the temple, where Yahiko used to carry water from, he stood against the current. He raised his sword and then cut down. There was no need for any fancy techniques that were used against humans.
It was a simple and mindless action. He saw Master Isshin do it countless times, cutting the air. Yahiko never copied it because he thought of it as just an exercise, and there wasn't really anything to copy. But now he understood what he had been lacking the most.
He could learn balance, footwork, and techniques, but none of it would matter if he couldn't simply cut things apart as he intended them to be cut. That was what he wanted to learn, after all. So, he did just that, over and over again.
Never stopping from that day on, ten times, a hundred times, thousands of times a day. It didn't matter how many times he swung his sword. He continued, even if he was tired, even when he was freezing, even when he was starving. He continued this simple and mindless action.
Even when the water reached his chest as spring fully bloomed and the snow fully melted, he continued cutting. Even as the current tried to push him away when the summer storms raged, he continued cutting. Even when the winds tore at him in autumn, he continued cutting.
Until he could cut through the water itself, then through the current of the river, and finally through the wind itself, just by doing this mindless action every day, not missing even a single day, no matter how tired he was from regular training or sparring with Master Isshin.
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.