"So you're brooding over losing to some foreign queen named 'Artoria'?"
"Truly pathetic."
"How did you not just let her cut you down on the spot?"
"Is that really something a master should say to his disciple?"
Kenshin glared, his blood pressure rising. This old man's tongue was as sharp as ever.
In truth, if not for the Dragon Ball War's peculiar rules, he would be dead. He knew that better than anyone.
"So after coming back, you realized you weren't strong enough, and now you want to train under me, learn the Ougi, and go seek revenge?"
Without questioning whether the story was true or not, Hiko Seijuro looked Kenshin dead in the eye.
"No. I simply don't want to be that powerless ever again."
"With ordinary swordsmanship alone, I stood no chance against warriors of that caliber."
"..."
Hiko held his tongue. No more barbs. He could hear it plainly, the raw, unmasked frustration in Kenshin's voice.
'An opponent that even Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu couldn't handle?'
'He really did take quite the blow.'
Turning the implications over in his mind, Hiko found himself genuinely intrigued for the first time in years.
Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu had been a killing art since ancient times, a style potent enough to shift the balance of nations.
An opponent beyond even that level of swordsmanship...
By Hiko Seijuro's own standards, such a person should be extraordinarily rare.
"Come."
"Hm?"
Following his master's lead, Kenshin traversed the familiar mountain path until they arrived before a roaring waterfall at the edge of a cliff.
"Draw your sword."
"Any one will do."
Standing at the precipice, Hiko turned to face him, his voice low and commanding.
"..."
After a moment of deliberation, Kenshin drew Tenseiga.
"The higher blade. So that's the so-called non-killing sword?" Hiko's eyes narrowed appraisingly. "It looks a bit different from an ordinary katana, I'll grant you that, but claiming it can't kill seems like a stretch."
"Besides..."
"Do you really think you could kill me?"
With a sneer, Hiko drew his own beloved blade.
"!"
"A long-overdue match between master and disciple. Show me what this 'Peerless Swordsman' can do."
Still wearing his weighted cloak, Hiko launched forward. Kenshin met him head-on.
CLANG!
Sword raised, feet anchored to the ground, Kenshin absorbed the impact and held firm.
'Oh? Faster reaction than I expected.'
The ease with which Kenshin handled that opening strike caught Hiko slightly off guard.
CLANG! CLANG!!
Steel kissed steel in rapid succession, sparks scattering like fireflies. Their forms blurred as they tore through the clearing.
'The rumors hold true.'
'This brat has grown far more than I imagined.'
'No wonder everyone outside is helpless against him.'
Hiko wasn't fighting at full power yet, but Kenshin was already matching his current speed blow for blow.
That alone was a remarkable feat.
BANG!!
Their swords locked together. In a flash, Hiko threw his full weight behind a shoulder slam, using his massive frame as a weapon.
"Ugh!"
Kenshin skidded backward several paces, but adjusted his stance mid-slide and regained his footing in an instant.
'Strength, wrist control, flexibility, core stability, footwork...'
'Every single aspect is worlds apart from what he was before.'
'His physique has even gotten much sturdier.'
The all-around improvement was nothing short of astonishing.
Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu...
Dragon Soar Flash!
"Too hasty, idiot!"
Watching Kenshin rush in with the upward diagonal strike, Hiko cross-stepped backward twice, sidestepped the ascending blade, and brought his own sword sweeping down.
"!"
But his sure-kill counter missed. Kenshin twisted his body mid-air, flipping over the swing entirely.
'That hang time... that power...'
'This brat!'
A grin crept onto Hiko's face, unbidden. This was getting interesting.
'Suppose I ought to stop holding back.'
With that silent decision, the two collided once more.
"Hah... hah..."
Some time later, Kenshin lay sprawled on the ground, chest heaving, glaring at his master who sat comfortably on a nearby boulder without so much as a bead of sweat.
"Your stamina is still lacking."
"We barely fought and you're already done."
"This one believes that sparring from afternoon until dusk hardly qualifies as 'barely'..."
Every ounce of energy wrung from his body, Kenshin muttered his protest weakly.
The old man was just exploiting the difference in their builds. In terms of pure swordsmanship, Kenshin had kept up with nearly every exchange.
"Fine. Looking at your condition, I'll believe what you told me earlier."
After stretching his muscles for the first time in ages, Hiko regarded Kenshin with a newly appreciative eye.
He'd expected this foolish disciple to collapse much sooner. But to trade blows with a cloaked Hiko Seijuro until total exhaustion, that was no small thing.
It also confirmed that Kenshin's tale of encountering people from a foreign land was the truth.
"The Ougi..."
"Before that..."
"Let me ask you one more thing, Kenshin."
The sudden weight in that voice made Kenshin push himself halfway upright.
"Do you fear death?"
An unexpected question. Kenshin's mind went blank.
"Is that question truly important?"
"Critically. Your answer alone will tell me everything I need to know about what comes next."
Silence fell between them. Kenshin did not rush to respond.
Death.
The old Kenshin would have answered without hesitation. 'What is there to fear in death?'
But after battling Saber, the Kenshin who sat here now could not bring himself to speak those words. Not honestly.
Live.
Yes. No matter what happened, living was the right answer.
Death meant the end of everything. The people waiting for him, the people hoping he'd come home...
To fight with "death" as a foregone conclusion was wrong. The purpose of battle was to survive.
'Shinta... Live!'
'You truly are a magnet for bloodshed, aren't you.'
The voices of those who mattered most echoed through his memory. And with them came his answer.
"I want to live!"
Words that should have been unthinkable from a manslayer's lips. Hiko Seijuro stared for a moment, then...
"Hahaha!!"
A low, genuine laugh rumbled from his chest. He hadn't expected something so clean and honest.
After all these years apart, Hiko still hadn't fully gauged how much Kenshin's heart had changed. But hearing those words, every lingering worry dissolved.
"Well. That makes things simple."
"In your current state..."
"There's no reason I can't teach you the Ougi of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu."
Having confirmed that will to survive, Hiko felt satisfied. The disciple who'd vanished down the mountain years ago had not been consumed by the world's darkness. If anything, the boy had grown stronger in all the ways that mattered.
"But first, go haul water up from the river. Then head into town and buy me sake."
"Hah?! Why?!"
"A disciple serving his master. What's strange about that?"
Kenshin shot to his feet to argue, only to find himself completely unable to counter such bulletproof logic.
"Nnngh!!"
"Heh."
Watching that strained, suffering expression, Hiko chuckled to himself.
"Hurry up. The shops in town close soon."
"You did this on purpose!"
With no choice but to obey, Kenshin dragged himself away on stiff, aching legs.
Only after his figure disappeared into the distance did Hiko Seijuro lift his gaze to the night sky. For a long while, he said nothing.
Then, quietly, a single murmur.
"Could tomorrow be our last farewell in this life?"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
[TN: The author notes that the subsequent chapters will only cover events in broad strokes rather than in full detail.]