Morning light filtered through the high wooden beams of Kurogane's inner training grounds, dust drifting lazily in the air. The courtyard was wide, stone-laid, surrounded by shrine pillars carved with old contracts and warnings long forgotten by most of the world.
Raizen stood at the center.
Barefoot. Sleeves loose. Calm.
Around him, five presences formed a loose circle.
They weren't enemies.
They weren't allies either.
They were tests.
The chiefdom elders watched from the veranda above, silent. This was not a formal duel. This was proof — proof that the one they had chosen to invest in was worth the risk.
Senji exhaled slowly, fingers brushing the paper seals tucked into his sleeves.
"So," he muttered, half-amused, half-serious, "we're really doing this?"
Kaito rolled his shoulders, veins faintly visible beneath his skin. "I don't care what doctrine they taught him. I'm not losing."
Haruka tightened the cloth around her wrist, eyes sharp despite her gentle expression. "Don't hold back. I won't be able to protect you if you do."
Mika and Aoi stood side by side — mirrored stances, fists loose, weight low.
Aoi's eyes flicked to Raizen for half a second.
He didn't look back.
That hurt more than she expected.
The chief's voice echoed calmly.
"Begin."
⸻
First Movement — Kaito Breaks In
Kaito was the first to move.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he surged forward, his newly learned technique igniting — Impact Reversal Form. Every step compressed force into his legs, storing momentum like coiled steel.
His fist came down like a falling hammer.
Raizen didn't dodge.
He stepped inside the punch.
In that instant, his mind moved faster than his body.
Stored force. Linear release. Predictable follow-through.
Raizen twisted his shoulder, letting the impact glance off, while his heel swept Kaito's ankle. At the same time, his palm struck Kaito's ribs — not hard, but precise.
The stored energy detonated inside Kaito instead of outward.
Kaito slammed into the ground, coughing, eyes wide.
"What—?"
Raizen stepped back calmly.
"Your technique is strong," he said evenly. "But you think like a hammer."
Kaito didn't get up.
⸻
Second Movement — Aoi & Mika's Paired Style
They moved together.
Aoi and Mika split apart, circling Raizen from opposite angles. Their breathing synced — Twin Vein Flow, the paired hand-to-hand art taught only to siblings or bonded fighters.
Mika attacked high.
Aoi attacked low.
Feints. Locks. Pressure points meant for non-human joints.
Raizen retreated three steps, eyes tracking both at once.
They expect reaction. They expect separation.
He stepped forward instead.
Raizen slid between them at the moment their attacks crossed paths, his hand striking Mika's wrist just enough to redirect — Aoi's strike missed by a breath.
Aoi reacted instantly, twisting mid-motion, catching Raizen's sleeve.
For the first time, Raizen felt resistance.
Her grip was iron.
Her eyes burned.
"Don't underestimate us," she said.
Raizen didn't pull away.
He dropped his weight.
Aoi stumbled forward as her own momentum betrayed her, and Raizen's elbow gently — precisely — tapped the base of her collarbone, cutting her breath without injuring her.
Mika came in from behind.
Raizen spun, caught her wrist, and used Aoi's still-held grip to flip both sisters away from him in opposite arcs.
They landed hard but controlled.
Both breathing fast.
Both stunned.
Not hurt.
⸻
Third Movement — Haruka's Intervention
Haruka raised her hands.
The air shifted.
Her shrine-based technique activated — Spirit Pulse Threading. Thin streams of spiritual energy wrapped around Raizen's limbs, not to bind, but to disrupt muscle harmony.
Raizen felt it instantly.
His movements dulled.
"Raizen," Haruka said softly, "stop."
She wasn't attacking.
She was restraining.
Raizen closed his eyes for half a second.
Spirit threads respond to emotional intent. Not force.
He exhaled.
Let go.
The threads lost tension.
Raizen stepped forward and placed two fingers against Haruka's forehead — a sealing point taught only to shrine healers.
Her technique collapsed instantly.
She staggered back, shocked.
"You… read it?"
Raizen nodded once.
"You didn't want to hurt me."
Haruka smiled faintly — then collapsed to her knees, exhausted.
⸻
Final Movement — Senji
Silence fell.
Senji stepped forward slowly.
No stance. No aggression.
Paper seals drifted into the air around him, forming a loose spiral.
"You're growing too fast," Senji said. "That's dangerous."
Raizen met his gaze.
"So are you."
The seals ignited.
Barrier Suppression Field.
The ground dimmed, sound dampened, space folding inward.
Raizen felt his senses blur.
Senji vanished.
A seal slapped onto Raizen's shoulder.
Then another.
Then a third.
Each one drained perception, not strength.
Raizen dropped to one knee.
Senji appeared behind him, hand raised.
"I win."
Raizen smiled.
"No."
He slammed his palm into the ground.
The seals reacted — not to chakra, not to force — but to intent.
Raizen's doctrine training activated: Battlefield Override.
He predicted the seal network — inverted it mentally — and moved before Senji could react.
Raizen stood, seized Senji's wrist, and pressed two fingers into a pressure seal carved into the man's own glove.
The barrier shattered.
Senji hit the ground flat on his back.
Silence.
⸻
Aftermath
All five lay defeated.
Breathing.
Alive.
Shaken.
Raizen stood alone at the center again, chest rising slowly.
The chiefdom elders rose.
One bowed.
Then another.
The chief spoke quietly.
"This is why the world will notice you."
Aoi pushed herself up, staring at Raizen — fear, admiration, and something warmer twisting in her chest.
He's walking further ahead…
Raizen looked away.
Because if he didn't —
He wasn't sure he'd keep walking at all.