A person in Japan, a sword that soars to immortality.

In a Japanese-style room not far from the dojo, Senta was carefully sketching the eyes of a figure on a drawing board with a brush.

"As for the depiction of facial features, I think we should try to be as realistic as possible. I really can't learn the style of Ukiyo-e."

"Hmm, it's a little bit missing at the corner of the eye, that's the key..." Senta picked up his pen and slowly placed the tip on the corner of the beautiful woman's eye in the painting, preparing to add an eyelash, but just as he was about to start writing...

boom!

"Holy crap! Who is it?!"

Looking at the beautiful woman on the canvas, posing with a coy and alluring expression, her eyes already covered by a black horizontal line, Senta, while annoyed, suddenly realized that his painting seemed to have acquired a subtle and inexplicable flavor.

"The sound is coming from the dojo. Let's go see what's going on."

He hurriedly wrote the name of the woman in the painting, "A widow from a branch family - Takayanagi Sumie," in the lower right corner of the canvas, then immediately got up and rushed towards the dojo.

At the same moment, countless birds perched on the rooftops, eaves, and trees of the Yamada Asaemon family's house suddenly cried out and flew into the sky.

Many servants and maids put down their work and looked in the direction of the temple.

In the Buddhist shrine in another corner, Shugen, who was appointed as an ashigaru by the shogun and became the only member of the Yamada family to receive a stipend, was kneeling on the ground chanting sutras, wearing his signature robe.

"All sentient beings...whether they have thought, or do not have thought, or are neither with nor without thought, I will lead them all to Nirvana without remainder and liberate them..."

boom!

Shuxian, who was chanting sutras, put down his prayer beads after hearing the sound, turned around and picked up the famous sword given to him by the general—Zhenfo Jianming—and walked towards the temple with a frown.

As the closest witnesses, most of the samurai from the Yamada Asaemon family at the dojo were pale-faced and their hearts were pounding.

No one expected that Taiichi's seemingly casual swing of the sword would create a sonic boom.

"Ouch~ Ah, my ears! Taiyi is really messing around." Dianzuo pressed his hands to his ears, rubbing them incessantly, while asking Shiyuan, "Master, what's going on? Is it some kind of sorcery?"

"It's not sorcery. It's just that when you swing a sword, because of its length, the tip of the sword is often much faster than the hilt. When we swing a sword quickly, don't we often hear the sound of it cutting through the air?"

"But even so... Taiichi's sword-swinging speed is just too exaggerated."

At this moment, in Shi Yuan's eyes, in the pitch-black world, the "waves" on Taiyi's body had returned to normal.

Just now, though it was only a fleeting moment, he still managed to catch a glimpse of a tiger suddenly appearing and then lunging out with its gaping maw towards the tip of the knife.

Snapped!clap clap clap!

Just as everyone was still immersed in Taiyi's casual wave, the sound of bamboo swords clashing together suddenly rang out in the dojo.

"You charlatan!" Kiyomaru lunged forward, and without warning, first slashed with his right-handed sword, which was precisely intercepted by Taiichi. Then, he followed up with a reverse-sleeve strike and a left-handed upward cut: "I'll see just how powerful you really are!"

"Did you notice?"

Taiichi squinted, retreating while desperately wielding his sword to block Kiyomaru's attacks.

As expected, he is a swordsmanship genius even Shugen acknowledges!

Name: Yamada Asaemon Kiyomaru

Age: 15

【Lifespan: 71】

[Essence: 129.7]

Qi and Blood: 145.2

【God Soul: 4.4】

The opponent's data caught Taiyi's eye, especially the glaring blood and qi value, which made his expression darken.

"The fact that my Qi and blood levels are so high proves that Kiyomaru's martial arts skills are superb. It is precisely because of this that he was able to detect my current decline in Qi and blood levels, thanks to his keen perception of them."

After analyzing these, Taiyi immediately turned his attention back to his own data.

[Sword Control System]

Name: Yamada Asaemon Taichi

Age: 20

【Lifespan: 53】

[Energy: 75.5 (+)]

Qi and Blood: 17.5 (+)

[God Soul: 11.2 (+)]

[Breathing Techniques (+): Roar of the Yin Tiger (+), Chant of the Yang Dragon (+)]

[Additional effects: Rapid recovery; Possession burning;]

[Martial Arts: Test-Sword Style Secret Sword Modified (+)]

【Title: Nameless Ronin (When facing enemies, the only thing they'll notice about you is your good looks)】

[Common points: 5]

"In the Yin Tiger's Roar breathing technique, the method of attribute conversion is not as extreme as the Yang Dragon's Roar, but it has the advantage of twice the duration."

"But in this situation, I can only barely defend myself and am completely unable to retaliate."

Taiichi realized that Kiyomaru's moves were clearly aimed at killing him, and then he hardened his heart and thought, "Since that's the case..."

"Test of the One-Sword Style - Sudden Rain of the Young Tree!"

Unable to break through after a prolonged attack, Kiyomaru grew angry and unleashed his killing move.

He didn't care what would happen to his opponent after he hit them; as long as he could defeat the enemy and vent his anger, that was enough!

"Breathing technique shift, try the modified One-Sword Style Secret Sword—Yanglong..."

Click! Click!

"Both of you, stop right now! Do you want to make a fool of the Yamada family in front of outsiders?!"

Shuxian turned his back to the two men and slowly sheathed his sword. Behind him were two broken bamboo swords.

whispering sound!

Kiyomaru threw the broken bamboo sword on the ground, then stretched out his palm and made a throat-slitting gesture towards Taiichi.

"Little guy, you're really naughty." Taiyi sneered, a "well" shape appearing at the corner of his eye, as he began to ponder how to deal with the other party next.

"Taiyi!" A pair of soft hands suddenly enveloped his hand that was holding the sword.

Turning back, seeing Sachi's anxious eyes, and more importantly, seeing Shugen place his right hand on the hilt of the sword, Taiichi stopped practicing his breathing technique.

[Name: Yamada Asaemon Shugen]

Age: 25

【Lifespan: 82】

[Essence: 232]

Qi and Blood: 211

【God Soul: 18.5】

"As expected of the strongest warrior in hell, these attributes are truly outrageous."

"Now is not the time to be angry. Give me some more time, until my stats improve..."

Having figured all this out, Taiichi regained his usual composure, then released the bamboo sword from his hand, letting it fall onto the floor of the dojo.

But putting down the bamboo sword didn't mean he was empty-handed. For example, he grabbed Sachi's small hand.

With a face flushed red, Taichi turned to the side and calmly asked as he approached the door:

"Senior Brother Shuxian, is the clan's annual Martial Arts Trial going to be held next month?"

"What do you want to say?"

Shuxian lowered her head and glanced at Taiyi out of the corner of her eye.

"I will have another match with Kiyomaru then, and I hope that Senior Brother Shuxian will not interfere again."

Taiyi said calmly.

"How arrogant! You want to defeat me in swordsmanship? You'll have to wait until your next life, hehehe." Kiyomaru pulled open his eyelids and made a face.

"Heh, you need to be taught a lesson. I'll show you how to be a decent human being later!"

After saying that, he pulled Sōche away from the dojo.

Meanwhile, Rantaro Fujinami, who had been observing from the sidelines the whole time, watched Taichi's departing figure with an unusual glint in his eyes.