The sun was high in the sky, and it was as blue as it could possibly be in spring.
Toji and I were outside, staring at the cabin we would probably never see again.
From where I stood, I could hear Toji sniffling beside me.
I placed my hand on his shoulder in support.
As agreed during our meeting with Naobito, we had to move to the main estate.
Yet it did not happen without a blow to our morale.
This house had witnessed our greatest sufferings, but also our greatest joys.
It was here that we slept hungry and in tears, but it was also here that I heard Toji laugh and speak for the first time.
It was here that Toji almost died, but it was also here that I trained him so he could survive.
It is here that I faced the greatest difficulties of my life, but it is also here that I progressed beyond all expectations.
Eventually, Toji could no longer hold it in and burst into tears.
"WAAAAAHHHHH !!"
I stayed silent and let Toji release everything he was feeling. I simply rubbed his back to support him.
After several minutes of crying and tears, Toji stopped, although he was still sniffling.
"Sniff! Big brother sniff I don't want to leave."
"I know, Toji, but we have to." I took him into my arms. "Stay strong, brat. We'll come back one day, I promise you."
We took one last look at our cabin—no—our home, and walked away with heavy hearts.
Narrator
Zoro and Toji were being escorted to a different place than usual, and by a different person than usual.
The person escorting them this time was a young man dressed in combat attire.
He wore a white kimono top, black ninja pants, and traditional sandals.
He was obviously a member of the Kukuru, one of the squads of the Zen'in clan.
Unlike the Hei, which gathered elite members with innate techniques, the Kukuru was a squad composed solely of people without innate techniques.
The Hei had no more than 15 members, which made the Akashi and the Kukuru the main mobile units of the Zen'in clan, and it was this latter unit that Zoro and Toji were about to join.
Naobito had asked a Kukuru member to escort them to their training grounds.
When they arrived, he simply told them to follow him. Other than that, he hadn't spoken a single word.
Strangely, during their first meeting, he had stared at them for a few seconds before looking at them with contempt.
Seeing this, even Zoro was surprised.
'Already? It hasn't even been 30 seconds.'
But contrary to what he expected, the Kukuru member did not insult them directly and simply led them forward.
They crossed a good part of the clan. Toji's curious gaze kept moving, absorbed by the ever-changing new sights.
Zoro wasn't as involved, but he was still somewhat moved after six years without seeing anything new. However, the cursed energy he felt quickly put an end to that contemplation.
The deeper they went into the clan, the more he could feel the increasing number of people emitting that putrid energy, and the more he felt like vomiting.
Yet he kept his Observation Haki active to react at any moment. He had reduced its range to 10 meters around him, but the mental pressure was still heavy.
He could already feel his willpower gradually decreasing.
'At this rate, I should be able to last 15 hours before needing to rest. And that's if I don't use Armament Haki. I don't know how long the training will last, but I hope it will be enough.'
Finally, after nearly ten minutes of walking, Zoro and Toji arrived in front of what appeared to be the Kukuru training ground.
The field was packed with people training.
It consisted of a large space with an arena scattered with white tiles, where the crowd was practicing.
Around the arena were various training weapons, ranging from katana to naginata, including axes and hammers.
"Woah!!"
That was the only thing that came out of Toji's mouth.
As he kept looking, Zoro noticed other weapons scattered further away, but this time it was different.
They were no longer simple wooden weapons — they were real tools of death. He could even see some stained with blood.
After a moment, Zoro saw someone walking toward them.
He was dressed differently from the others. Instead of formal combat attire, he wore a white ceremonial suit.
From the clothes, which resembled what he remembered, Zoro understood that the man standing before him was the current leader of the Kukuru.
"You've arrived. Nobuaki, you may return to training."
"Yes, chief."
The Kukuru leader then stared at them the same way Nobuaki had, the only difference being that once he reached his conclusion, he didn't bother staying silent.
"What is the clan head thinking, sending me trash like this?"
The frown on his face clearly showed his displeasure.
"Has the Kukuru become a zoo where we put monkeys?"
He wasn't speaking extremely loudly, but everyone heard him, and his words made everyone stop.
He looked at Zoro and Toji with disgust and covered his mouth with his hand. He turned around and didn't even bother facing them.
"I don't understand what scum like you are doing here, but orders are orders." He pointed at a building that looked like locker rooms. "There are no uniforms in your size, and it would be an insult for people like you to wear them anyway, so go train as you are now."
He didn't stay any longer and walked away. He went to Nobuaki, whispered something in his ear, then left for good.
Toji and I walked calmly despite the gloomy atmosphere around us.
Once on the field, they began running to warm up.
The others' gazes were still on them, and smirks began appearing on faces.
Toji wasn't used to all of this and felt stressed, but Zoro had always told him never to show weakness in this clan, so he kept his poker face as if he were completely indifferent.
Zoro was different. The others' gazes didn't affect him, but the thoughts underlying them made him uneasy.
'We haven't even been here for 10 minutes and they're already thinking about making us suffer. Just how rotten is this clan?'
Still, he hid everything behind a poker face.
They ran for 30 minutes, carefully avoiding legs that were "accidentally" placed in their path.
After finishing their warm-up, they stretched briefly and truly stepped into the arena, which was essentially the real training ground.
They hadn't even taken three steps before two people blocked their path.
"What do you think you're doing, newbies?"
It was Nobuaki and another unidentified person.
"Trash like you come here and think you can do whatever you want? Who authorized you to train? And besides, there's something I need to confirm."
He was clearly looking for confrontation, and Zoro gave him what he wanted.
"Let's stop beating around the bush. You want to know if we really have no cursed energy? You're right. We were born with a complete Heavenly Restriction," Zoro said irritably.
His voice reached the ears of everyone present. They were first shocked, then burst out laughing in unison, Nobuaki laughing the loudest.
"Hahaha!! I understand now why the chief called you monkeys. You don't even deserve to be called human."
He laughed so hard he had to hold his sides.
After several minutes of mockery, the laughter eventually faded, replaced by pure disgust.
"I heard you're here by order of the clan head, but monkeys like you don't deserve it."
A dangerous glint shone in his eyes.
"Oh, I think I understand why he sent you here."
The killing intent emanating from him was palpable.
"He sent you so we could get rid of you discreetly." His smile darkened by the second. "We will obey those orders."
Nobuaki lunged at Zoro, while the other did the same toward Toji.
No one intervened. They even seemed eager to see the result of the attack.
Yet the result was very different from what they expected.
CRACK!
The sound of a bone breaking echoed — but it wasn't Zoro's.
One hit.
Only one
And the nose of Nobuaki was broken.
Author's thoughts
I don't have much to say about this chapter except that I think I overplayed Zen'in's contempt for them.
I'm not very proud of the chapter, but oh well, that's how it is. Sometimes you write a good chapter, sometimes not.
If you could still continue sending power stones, that would be appreciated.