Rude Old Man's House
"How did he get here? The village where he lived was quite far from here..." Kaito was genuinely surprised to see who the person called by the old man was.
At the same time, while Kaito was surprised, Daichi, who was in front of him, had a similar expression on his face, as he didn't expect to encounter one of the shinobi who had helped in his revenge here.
"So, Daichi, I'm very surprised to see you here. I thought you were still living in your small village," Kaito spoke after the initial shock wore off.
"I'm also surprised to see you here, Kaito. You helped me a lot with my revenge, but a man noticed my sword skills after I returned to the village and offered me power to protect my honor, so I accepted and ended up here," Daichi spoke right after Kaito broke the silence.
The old man observed from the side a bit but wasn't surprised that the two already knew each other, after all, the man who brought Daichi here was Kaito's father.
Kaito obviously didn't know this, and after hearing Daichi's story, he became curious to know who had offered power to Daichi.
'This sounds like something from a book where a villain appears and gives power to a secondary character to manipulate them and turn them against the main character.' Kaito immediately thought about what evil being could have offered power to him, while analyzing Daichi thoroughly for any obvious marks or differences.
However, after his brief observation, he found nothing suspicious. The only thing different was that Daichi now had more muscle instead of being a scrawny kid.
"Haha, that's good, Daichi. But then, what was this man like? Was there anything suspicious about him? Did he wear a hood, cloak, mask, or something like that?" Kaito asked directly, afraid that young Daichi might have been deceived.
"He did wear a black cloak. I was even afraid when he approached. I tried to fight him with my sword, but within seconds, my sword had been knocked out of my hand. After that, he gave me some instructions on how to use a sword. Every time my sword fell, he made me pick it up and attack him again, for several hours until I felt exhausted. Finally, he offered me training and brought me here, where I've been training ever since," Daichi explained quickly, afraid that Kaito might have misunderstood.
Kaito looked at the old man and all the people present for a few seconds and sighed.
'Well, I guess you weren't deceived. This seems to be a really good place to learn; everyone here has hands marked by constant training, and I can see from their postures that the training is of quality.' After thinking this, he put the matter aside.
"You've talked enough. Here is your gift; I hope you like it," the old man turned to Daichi and handed him the present.
Daichi's eyes widened as he realized what his gift was: a katana with a white handle, a black blade, and dragon engravings.
Daichi took the sword and swung it in the air for a few seconds, then tested its edge, becoming increasingly excited with his new gift.
"Hehehe, thank you, master, this gift is amazing," Daichi thanked while looking at the old man.
"No need to thank me. The truth is, this gift is from the person who brought you here. I could have gotten one here in town, but the quality wouldn't have been the same," the old man said shortly after, looking at him and at Kaito, who was now silent.
'Now the pieces fit together. Everything makes sense. The evil person who tempted Daichi was my father, so he is really being manipulated for some wicked scheme by my old man. Hahaha,' Kaito amused himself in his mind, but he was relieved that the person was his father.
"Now, Haruki gave me another instruction: you will train here until I say your sword technique is acceptable to my eyes," the old man turned to Kaito.
Kaito finally understood why his father had sent him here besides delivering the sword and why perhaps his father thought his sword technique wasn't acceptable enough.
"Alright..." He agreed, looking around, but soon the old man began to walk and asked him to follow.
The three arrived in front of a training area at the end of the property, which was quite large, something Kaito hadn't noticed from the outside.
The other people present turned to watch what the three would do.
"Ready, now I want you to show me what you've got, but without an opponent, it would be boring, so Daichi will fight you. I know you're a ninja and must be quite powerful to come here, but I want a sword fight only, no ninjutsu or chakra," the old man said as they stopped; he needed to see how much Kaito knew about using a sword.
Kaito and Daichi agreed and soon stood face to face, causing several people around to approach.
"It seems like the newbie is going to fight someone. But do you guys know him? Have you seen him somewhere before?" One of the people asked.
"I've never seen him anywhere, but I believe if he were from here, we would have seen him at least once, especially with that green hair; it would attract a lot of attention," another said, making most of them agree.
The people around continued talking more and more until the fight finally began, making everyone quiet instantly.
Kaito and Daichi were staring at each other inside a circle that had been used as the fighting ground.
Both took their fighting positions, with Daichi holding his katana at eye level while Kaito still had his katana in a quick draw position.
A few seconds passed, and neither of them had moved yet, leaving the people wondering who would advance first.
But it didn't take long for Daichi to take the first step, making everyone pay attention again.
Daichi advanced slowly and when he was close, he attacked with a vertical cut; Kaito made a quick draw, causing both blades to collide, showing the world what his katana was like, a white handle with a white stripe in the middle of the blade, making a stark contrast with Daichi's weapon.
Both blades were being forced against each other, while Kaito and Daichi smiled, clearly testing each other.
They both quickly backed away and returned to their positions, seeming like they would return to a stalemate, but as soon as they got into position, both advanced, striking their katanas.
The katanas collided again, generating sparks. At the moment of impact, Kaito felt how firm Daichi's base was, so he didn't wait a second to unleash attacks from different angles, making Daichi defend himself hastily.
Daichi briefly defended himself from the attacks until he found an opening and made Kaito withdraw his arm, giving him time to counterattack. Kaito saw Daichi's katana approaching and realized he couldn't block it in time, so he stepped while spinning his feet, causing him to spin slightly, successfully dodging the blow, taking advantage of this, he spun his arm, delivering a spinning attack with his katana; Daichi didn't expect this, but he jumped back
, narrowly avoiding the blade.
Kaito, realizing he missed, planted his left foot firmly on the ground and made a quick charge towards Daichi, who was still about to touch his feet on the ground; he attacked quickly to not give him time to react, but unlike expected, Daichi managed to defend himself from the blow, albeit by stepping back a bit as he was in the air and didn't have his base to stand firm.
'Oh, Daichi has improved a lot since the last time I saw him; I thought I would catch him with that blow. ' Kaito thought as he saw Daichi advancing towards him.
Both clashed again, making them both stare at each other.
"You've improved a lot, Daichi, you're much stronger "Kaito praised him. After all, it hadn't been long since they last saw each other, and reaction time, strength, agility, and sword skills had improved dramatically.
"Hehehe, thank you, Kaito, my master has been quite strict with me, so I've been improving bit by bit," after saying this, Daichi pushed Kaito back.
The old man who was observing this smiled, while some of the people who were watching improved from his example.
"Master, who do you think will win this fight?"
"The young man with green hair is very good, and he had an excellent teacher. However, I can see that he doesn't dedicate much time to his swordsmanship, unlike Daichi, who dedicates 95% of his time to perfecting his blade. So the winner has been decided long ago, but if the young man could use everything he has, all of you here would lose," the old man responded upon hearing a question from one of his students.
This left everyone shocked and focused on the fight again.
"Kaito, I think it's time we end this," Daichi said as his stance changed, bringing his katana to the side of his face, while his base closed in.
"Haha, I agree," Kaito replied as he put his katana behind him and held it with both hands.
They both advanced with full force and exchanged various blows, creating sparks again, but Kaito felt how Daichi's attacks were more precise and faster, leaving him no time to look for openings.
Kaito felt increasingly pressured but continued to strike and defend himself as best he could.
When Kaito least expected it, a blade came straight towards his face, leaving him no time to react; the blade stopped near his nose.
"Hahaha, I lost," Kaito sheathed his katana while smiling at Daichi; he wasn't sad or angry about his defeat. After all, it just showed him something more. He needed to train more; his kenjutsu was falling behind his ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, and that wasn't something he wanted.
"Hehehe, it was a tough fight, Kaito. You almost caught me several times," Daichi said as he approached him.
The old master noticed the interaction between the two and was relieved to see that there was no anger from Kaito towards Daichi, and that he had accepted the defeat gracefully.
"Houhoho, you both fought well, but Kaito, do you know why you lost, right? Your swordsmanship is good, but it lacks refinement, lacks a solid foundation. I would say you've been learning for a short time and don't dedicate much time to your swordsmanship, but I'm impressed with your style; it reminds me a bit of your father..." The old man spoke as he approached both of them.
Kaito nodded in agreement and listened silently while the old man spoke; after all, he knew his flaws.
"But you don't need to worry, Kaito. I will train you until your foundation is solid and your swordsmanship sharp. Now, Daichi, show Kaito where he will stay these days," after saying this, the old man began to leave.
The old man's students briefly looked at the two, but soon returned to their training; after all, the fight was over.
Kaito began to follow Daichi, and soon both had left the training area and were walking inside the city.
At that moment, a small furry head emerged from within Kaito's clothes; it was Little Black, who had spent a long time sleeping in his clothes, and even with Kaito's movements, he was still asleep. Kaito's clothes were loose enough to not hinder his movements, and there was a pocket where Little Black was sleeping, making him comfortable.
"What cat is this, Kaito? What's he doing in your clothes?" Daichi asked, surprised to see that.
"Hahaha, this? He's Little Black, and he loves to be in warm places. I found him when I was coming here, in the middle of a forest, and since then, he's been my travel companion. Let's just say we have a bond," Kaito said as he stroked the feline's head.
Daichi understood and didn't ask any more questions about the cat, continuing to walk until they reached a house not far from the training ground.
"Here we are; there are many spare rooms, some students leave to improve themselves and never come back, leaving these rooms empty, so you can choose one. Soon, this place will be crowded with students when they finish their training, so it's a good place to make friends," he said as he walked through the door.
Kaito was shocked by the size of the house, or rather, the hotel, as it was enormous and had hundreds of rooms; clearly, the old man had a lot of money.
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