Our newest destination was the capital of the Land of Iron.
Held within the Sanrou Mountains, the core of the Land of Iron- where all Samurai came from, was entrenched within a natural defensive barrier which hardly anyone could break. Even if those Genryu started to cause a mess, anywhere around it, they wouldn't be able to reach the proper city due to how thick its 'walls' were. Right as we passed through the main checkpoint thanks to Muramasa's documents, Nashiro and I were gawking at the size of this city.
In a way, this all reminded me of the underground system underneath Cappadocia in Turkey, except it was extended and 'refined' to absurd levels compared to this example. I knew chakra had been involved to create such a flawless and quite polished settlement. I would have expected this to be made somewhere in the Land of Earth, not in the Land of Iron.
"What are those holes for?" Nashiro inquired, pointing at a few unusual holes onto the wall and... I realized why this settlement came to be.
"Diggings for iron," I muttered, gaining a grin from Muramasa as he was surprised I knew of those.
"You heard of the history behind this place?"
"I didn't. But... it's easy to deduce from what's the name of this land. This was once a large iron mine which probably caused a major interest in iron-based equipment," I replied truthfully, still looking around. "I heard that it became a necessity once Shinobi started to grow more belligerent."
"It was, yes. In one way, you could say that we were shaped into war by those trying to bring it to us," The old man answered.
"But why did Shinobi bring war here?" Nashiro inquired innocently and I sighed.
"Bad people exist everywhere. And those groups with greater power at times will have the most vocal horrible human beings this world can muster," I remarked, with Muramasa merely nodding and the girl frowning in a degree of disappointment at the notion.
We went back into looking around for anything interesting. The old man mentioned that we could buy resources here, which could mean food and... stuff he was looking for due to a new source of inspiration. He said something about having gotten a new idea as of recently and needing the materials to get this sword made in time. He didn't explain why he was so invested into it, and I decided against pressing too much on the reasons why a swordsman was being that.
And while he was off scouting for some alloys by the market area, I found myself wandering with Nashiro. There were no kids playing around- at least, not in familiar games which the girl would feel interested to try out. It was after a few minutes that we stopped before an unusual sight.
Competition! Whoever beats the amazing and most dazzling Miyamoto Musashi shall win the greatest treasure she holds.
Two things: one, what the hell?, and second, why is Miyamoto Musashi a thing and a female here? I had a feeling other legendary characters of Sengoku Japan would come up but... why the hell is Musashi a chick? I really tried to ignore the whole thing, but our wandering was noticed by someone that was operating the whole thing.
"Ohi, mister! You look strong," A small child of around 6 said, and I stopped to glance at the boy that had just stopped us. "Care to try this challenge."
"Nope."
"Pleeeease?" The kid pressed.
"No," I repeated tiredly.
"Are you a wimp, mister?" The brat inquired, which caused me to frown.
"Did your parents ever tell you how rude it is to try and sell a product to customers by calling them bad things?"
"I don't have parents," The child muttered quietly, said comment having us both pause... and thus make a mistake.
I don't know how long she has been listening to this, or if this was actually an elaborate plan but... a particularly familiar girl around my age was soon there, standing right behind the boy as he finished saying that.
"Never heard someone say something so horrible to a child. Have you no shame?"
I don't know, how about you Miyamoto Musashi-san? After all, I have heard some peculiar memes about this specific version of yourself.
Which was quite similar in appearance to her Type Moon version with her mellow pink-blonde hair combined in a short single-bun style and with her blue eyes, thus I had a feeling that this may not be a pleasant individual to talk to if that meme trait was indeed a thing here.
"Depends on how the thing was staged. Are you really exploiting orphans to help your own activities?"
"Mifune-kun is doing this out of kindness and he is not bound to do any work for me," She replied sternly, giving me a fierce look. "And with that, I have no choice but to challenge you to a duel!"
...Wait, that's Mifune? The future Taishou* of the Land of Iron? I mean, I knew he was younger than me but... it was making quite the impression to see him be a bit younger than Hanzou.
"I'm fine with that," I shrugged, feeling in the mood to relieve myself of some frustration after recent events. "I hope you're ready to lose."
The girl looked surprised at my calm acceptance, but recoiled just in time to smile and led Nashiro and I to her mini-arena near the 'rock park'. Nashiro remained with lil' Mifune, and I was soon standing in front of a giddy Musashi... as we both wielded wooden swords. It was reasonable for her to use that sort of stuff to avoid issues with the law enforcement as kids were involved in this challenge and could get really hurt with real swords.
I took one, she used two long ones. I don't exactly remember much about this tale in particular, but I remember that Musashi did fight against Sasaki Kojiro and... I don't remember how it went. Did Musashi win? If so, then it's time to 'alter history' this time around.
"Say, what's the name of the soon-to-be loser?"
I took a stance, grinning wildly as I tightly held my sword in preparation. "Oh? Maybe you're mistaken. That would be your name, Miyamoto-san. My name, however, is Sasaki Kojiro. Don't forget it~."
"Fuh~, I will show you then, Kojiro-baka!"
She dashed forward, striking with both her blades and leaving herself open for an attack... if only I could move fast enough to do that. Before my stab forward hit her, she jumped and shifted behind me. I rolled forward, dodging just barely an attack from her left sword and taking the time to set my stance again.
"Impressive dodge," Musashi muttered, smiling a bit. "But you are painfully slow."
You cheeky woman, you!
I pressed forward, only to be pushed back by another attempt to mimic the previous move only for it to be stopped... clumsily so, but still done right as I almost tripped on the ground to prevent her approach.
"Wha? Are you some sort of novice? That was so sloppy."
Her cocky attitude was halved the moment I picked up some speed and got her to bite down some of the words she uttered. Musashi raised her swords in a defensive manner, but while the two weapons helped her keep a more stable defensive pattern, it did nothing to lessen the knock back with each strike from mine. And as she tried to scramble to defend herself, she retreated the moment my sword hit her on the right arm.
She flinched, eyes now sporting annoyance as her steps started to gain momentum and her speed picked up. It was like watching a highly-choreographed dance. One I was slowly losing as Musashi proved herself to be a hassle to keep away from pressing her assault. She understood my defense was crap and that the moment I stepped into the offensive was where she would really struggle the most.
The girl had gotten me deciphered in that regard, but I didn't allow this disadvantage to stop me from being victorious. If the fairness of the fight was leading me to a defeat, I shifted my pace to start hitting where it would really matter. And that was her flexibility. A major difference many tended to ignore about Samurai and Shinobi was the fact that the former can't, on most occasions, shift in a flexible manner. The latter could to an incredible degree if properly trained into that.
And while Musashi was a girl and she clearly took great care of her gymnastic knowledge, she was not as flexible as I was. So, as I began turning my interest in blocking into only dodging as I began my offensive in the middle of hers, the girl realized a bit too late that I got her tricked and defeated by hitting her legs.
Her pace faltered and her strikes started to lose precision. I wasn't completely unscathed, but I held a strong control over my steps and pushed through until I managed to force her to trip on the ground and have my sword poised at her throat.
"Give up."
It wasn't a request, it was an order and... she happily accepted it.
"Fine! I am beat anyway," Musashi admitted, sighing in relief. "So, I suppose... you won the greatest treasure in my possession."
"And that is?"
"A most prestigious title," She proclaimed as she stood up from the ground. "Be my boyfriend!"
...
"Nope."
Musashi froze, then glared at me before screeching up. "What?! What do you mean 'nope'! You won-"
"And I have the right to refuse such a cheap prize," I answered flatly, dropping the wooden sword and walking up to Nashiro.
"C-CHEAP PRIZE!? I will have you know that many men are after my beautiful self."
"Then why did you make a 'competition' for that?" I remarked. "Just pick the best one and be done with it."
"That's not how love works!"
"And does it then work with the notion of just forcing a guy you barely met to be your boyfriend?" I asked back and I didn't let her answer. "And this argument is over. I have stuff to do, people to catch up to and not get any annoyances on my butt."
"T-This isn't fair-"
I didn't listen to her any longer as I picked Nashiro up and left the premises of that place altogether as I had no intention of dealing with that nightmare.
"Niichan, why was that girl trying to make you her boyfriend?"
The girl asked a good question and I nodded at it. "Because that girl is lonely in a stupid sense of the world. She has people around but is frustrated because no one wants to date her."
"Oh. Why is that stupid?"
"Because she didn't understand the problem was her attitude. Think of it, if someone tried to force you to be your friend without even knowing you, how would you feel?"
"...Upset?"
"And now imagine that happening for something as important as being a couple to someone. It's a bigger step than mere friendship."
She nodded. "So, what she did wrong was that she was forceful about it?"
"And her attitude. She is someone that tricks people, that's not a pleasant thing to keep in mind when it comes to trust."
"I see, so you rejected her because she was a silly liar?"
"That's one reason. Plus I have... people at home."
"Oh?" Nashiro hummed, quite interested in that.
"And I bet they would love playing with you."
Her smile erupted with greater brightness. "Really~?"
"Yep," I muttered, knowing that we were finally on our way to where Muramasa was. "And I have ways to have you meet them once this whole story is over without putting you in danger."
Her tiny tail wagged at that and I ultimately decided to waste the rest of the time we were there sitting with Muramasa and be bored by his explanation about iron-working and creating swords. Like, I am someone that would normally be giddy at learning new stuff of that kind, but this was... well, excessive even for me. I thought this would have been. A disappointing encounter with a female Musashi, a lot of boredom from Muramasa in 'knowledge mode' but Nashiro still being there to be emotional support through that nightmare.
What I didn't notice was that the capital had let in a group of 'pious people' that were looking around to spread the word of their God while also looking for a young girl.