Chapter 72: Ink Shadow: Life is not easy, the Crows sigh
Regarding Kanae's training, Akira ultimately concluded that he couldn't replicate the controlled environment he had created for Makomo. Kanae's deficiency was far too great in one critical area: actual combat experience.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Akira decided the only path forward was for Kanae to undertake real missions. He would, however, accompany her every step of the way, a silent guardian ensuring her safety. During this period, Himejima Gyoumei and Rengoku Shinjuro had graciously agreed to divide his patrol sectors between them, covering his absence.
While it might have appeared as if he were neglecting his public duties for private affairs, when weighed against Kanae's future and well-being, such concerns were trivial.
Kanae initially tried to refuse, not wanting to be a burden. But she stood no chance against Akira's quiet insistence and could only accept with a nod. In her heart, however, she forged a new resolve: she would meet the goals Akira set as quickly as humanly possible. She would complete this training and free him from this obligation before any of the other Hashira could gossip or look down on him for her sake.
The truth, however, was that neither Gyoumei nor Shinjuro would ever feel dissatisfied with Akira for the occasional overtime. In fact, Shinjuro went so far as to send a letter specifically to tease him, bluntly asking when he should expect an invitation to the wedding feast.
A few days after the letter arrived, Shinjuro himself appeared at the Butterfly Mansion.
Of course, he hadn't come for a wedding.
...
The former Flame Hashira arrived with a small, silent boy in tow. A white snake was coiled protectively around the child's neck.
His name was Iguro Obanai, the sole survivor of a family ruled by a demon.
The clan he belonged to had, for generations, worshipped a grotesque Serpent Demon, using its power to act as tyrants on the isolated island they called home. Obanai was the first male born into the family in over three hundred years, a fact that had sealed his fate from birth. The Serpent Demon coveted him, and he had been imprisoned in a wooden cage since he was a small child.
He had not been entirely passive in his captivity. He had tried to resist, but the price for his defiance was a brutal beating that had left the vision in his right eye permanently weakened.
When he turned twelve, the Serpent Demon issued a new command to the Iguro clan: they were to take a blade and carve Obanai's mouth into a gaping grin, mirroring the demon's own serpentine maw. It was in the aftermath of this horrific mutilation, while enduring the searing pain, that Obanai found his first real opportunity to escape the cage in over a decade. He fled into the wilderness.
The snake around his neck, whom he had named Kaburamaru, was a companion he met during his desperate flight. Perhaps it was fate, but the small serpent seemed to possess a unique empathy, its own sharp senses compensating for the vision Obanai had lost in his right eye.
But his freedom was short-lived. The Serpent Demon soon discovered his absence and, in a fit of rage over the clan's incompetence, slaughtered every last member of the Iguro family.
It was around that time that Shinjuro received a report of demonic activity on the island. He rushed to the scene, slew the Serpent Demon, and in doing so, saved Obanai, who was on the verge of being recaptured.
Shinjuro had brought him to the Butterfly Mansion to have his injuries examined—especially the hideous, raw scars around his mouth—to see if there was any possibility of surgical repair.
At this moment, Iguro Obanai's mismatched turquoise and yellow eyes were filled with a burning, bottomless hatred—for his family, and for himself. After being rescued by Shinjuro, he had finally learned the truth of what his clan had built their prosperity upon. He hated the Serpent Demon that had brought him nothing but pain, he hated the kinsmen who had willingly colluded with that monster, and he even hated the tainted blood that flowed through his own veins.
Fortunately, with his savior, Shinjuro, by his side, Obanai did not allow his self-loathing to make him refuse treatment.
"The other wounds on his body are simple enough to treat," a doctor from the estate announced after a thorough examination. "But this mouth... I can do my best to restore function so he can eat normally, but his face... it cannot be returned to its original state."
Hearing this grim prognosis, Obanai himself showed no extreme reaction. Instead, he offered a sincere, if quiet, word of thanks to the doctor.
Shinjuro, however, radiated a quiet fury, angry with himself for not having noticed the abnormality on that island sooner. The others in the room could only look on with pity at the young boy, who had already withdrawn back into his shell of silence.
Akira watched him, a flicker of apology in his own eyes. He had a vague recollection of this tragedy, but he'd forgotten the name of the island, and the family's blockade of information had been unusually strict. He'd never heard of a clan with the surname "Iguro," and as his own life became busier, the faint memory had faded entirely.
Still, his apology was directed only at Obanai himself. Every other member of that family deserved their fate. Akira also knew, with a heavy certainty, that it was impossible for him to save everyone from every regret. He was only human, not some omniscient player in a game with cheat codes. In terms of raw, natural-born talent, he couldn't even compare to some of the prodigies this world produced.
The fantasy of saving everyone could only exist in daydreams. All he could do was his best, focusing on the safety of himself and those around him before extending his reach to those he had yet to meet.
But Obanai's appearance did stir another memory in Akira's mind—Kanroji Mitsuri. The sweet, lonely girl who had hidden under a bridge, crying because she couldn't make any friends. It had been several months since their last meeting. He couldn't help it; his daily life was simply too demanding to spare the several days it would take to visit a little girl he had only met once. He could only hope to find time in the future.
Pushing aside the swirling thoughts, Akira refocused on Kanae's training.
Obanai, who was staying at the Butterfly Mansion temporarily to recover, often sat in a corner of the training grounds, watching. He longed for that kind of overwhelming strength, but he also yearned for the warmth he saw in the interactions between Akira, Kanae, and Kanao. He even found himself envying the playful teasing that occasionally passed between Akira and Shinobu.
But the psychological shadow cast by his family, which had been composed almost entirely of cruel women, left him unable to communicate normally with the opposite sex. He felt a subconscious, instinctual loathing that he couldn't control. The only reason he could even bear to watch Kanae from the corner was because her gentle, kind aura was so overwhelmingly pure that it soothed the resistance in his heart.
Even so, the thought of holding a normal conversation with her was still beyond him.
After a few more days, the external injuries on Obanai's body had mostly healed. Only the deep scars around his mouth required a longer period of recuperation. At his own request, Akira arranged for a corps member to escort him back to the Rengoku Estate.
...
Obanai's appearance was but an interlude, and life for Akira quickly returned to its established rhythm.
Another month or so passed. In that time, Akira accompanied Kanae on two missions, and in doing so, another goal of her special training was achieved: she developed a new form for her Breathing Style.
"Flower Breathing, Seventh Form: Fleeting Iris Gale."
Compared to the first six forms, which were created with the fluidity of Water Breathing as a reference, this Seventh Form incorporated the fierce, overwhelming power of both Thunder and Flame Breathing. The movements were defined by large-scale, decisive vertical slashes. As her blade danced through the air, it left behind ethereal afterimages shaped like the sharp, elegant leaves of an iris flower.
This technique finally compensated for the weakness Akira had pointed out long ago—that Flower Breathing lacked a sufficiently powerful finishing move.
It was also on this day that Kanae successfully mastered Total Concentration: Constant.
A few more days passed, and her reaction drills and physical conditioning finally reached the standards Akira had set.
With a faint, almost helpless sigh, Akira had no choice but to announce the end of her special training.
Seeing the complex, almost wistful expression on his face, Kanae stepped forward slowly and wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug. She tilted her head up slightly, her gaze locking with his dark brown eyes.
"Akira-kun," she murmured, her voice soft. "My strength has improved so much. You should be happy."
"Sometimes," he confessed, his voice a low rumble, "I wish you didn't have such incredible talent..."
"Akira-kun..."
"Forget it." He sighed again, but this time it was a breath of acceptance, and his arms tightened around her. "In any case, you becoming stronger is absolutely something worth celebrating. Congratulations, Kanae."
"Mm!" she hummed, pressing her cheek against his chest.
Just as the two were lost in their quiet embrace, a frantic cawing shattered the peace. Ink Shadow, Akira's Kasugai Crow, swooped down with a message, telling him to prepare for a Hashira Meeting in two days.
The crow didn't even have time to explain the reason for the summons before it flapped its wings and hurriedly flew away.
In that fleeting moment, it had felt a surge of killing intent from Akira. It wasn't much, but it was terrifyingly pure.
Ink Shadow: Life is not easy. The crows sigh.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]