The next day.
Early in the morning, Takumi left the Isshin Dojo and headed into the valleys surrounding Shimotsuki Village for his usual hunting practice.
This time, though, he had a little "shadow" following him—a very determined but not very skilled stalker.
Zoro, while not as talented or strong as Kuina, was undoubtedly the earliest riser and the hardest worker in the dojo. Normally, at this hour, he would be inside practicing his basics.
But today, he had decided to secretly follow Takumi into the mountains.
Watching Takumi, who was getting farther and farther away as he walked deeper into the valley, Zoro whispered to himself, "If you won't take me, I'll follow you myself!"
However, a few minutes later, after he had run as fast as he could, trying to catch up with the person who was moving farther and farther away, he lost sight of Takumi. But instead of being discouraged, Zoro was even more fired up. "As expected of Takumi, he's so fast that I couldn't keep up even when I gave it my all. Amazing! Tomorrow, I'll definitely catch up to him!"
Takumi had noticed Zoro trailing him from the start, but he didn't want to be bothered, so he had deliberately lost him.
After finishing his hunt, Takumi returned to the Isshin Dojo with his catch.
Later that afternoon.
Takumi headed to the village tavern with an empty sake gourd.
As soon as he walked in, the place was buzzing with noise.
"Hey, the kid who beat Kuina is here!"
"Kid, how did you manage to beat Kuina? Tell us!"
"I think his name's Takumi. Never seen you before—where are you from?"
"Hey, don't ignore us! Are you here in Shimotsuki Village all by yourself?"
Ignoring the questions, Takumi walked straight to the bar, placed a handful of Berries and the empty gourd on the counter. "Fill it up."
The tavern owner smiled awkwardly. "Sure, just a moment."
After filling the gourd and handing it back to Takumi, the owner asked, "Kid, have you joined Koushirou's dojo yet?"
Takumi casually replied, "No."
He took the filled gourd and, amidst the murmurs of dissatisfaction from the other patrons, left the tavern without another word.
The tavern owner chuckled, shaking his head. "That kid's got a real attitude."
Back at the dojo.
As he passed the training grounds, Kuina suddenly called out to him. "Takumi, let's have another match."
Losing to him last time, and with it, the Wado Ichimonji, had been a huge blow to her. She wasn't happy about it.
But the gap in their strength was obvious, and she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Still, that didn't mean she was going to give up.
So Kuina had decided to keep challenging Takumi until she could beat him.
She just couldn't believe she would keep losing.
But while Kuina was eager for a rematch, Takumi wasn't interested in wasting his time.
He walked past her without saying a word, rejecting her challenge with his actions.
Seeing him ignore her, Kuina quickly chased after him. "Takumi, I'm seriously challenging you—why won't you respond?"
But Takumi kept silent, not intending to acknowledge her at all.
"You...!" Kuina's temper flared.
"Kuina." Just then, Zoro appeared, stopping Kuina before she could confront Takumi. "Let's have a match."
"I want to fight Takumi! Get out of my way!"
Zoro persisted, "If he wanted to fight you, he would've gone to the dojo already. You're just wasting your time following him."
Having experienced something similar himself, Zoro knew what he was talking about.
Kuina paused, her expression dark, as she gripped her bamboo sword tightly, still staring at Takumi's back. After a long moment, she turned around and walked back.
Zoro didn't move.
"What are you standing there for? You wanted to fight, right?" Kuina snapped.
"Right! I'm coming!" Zoro quickly followed her.
Their match ended in a few minutes.
As usual, Kuina won.
But this time, Zoro managed to block several of Kuina's strikes and even came close to landing a hit on her.
Just a few days ago, there was no way he could have gotten that close.
Was it just luck, or had Zoro's swordsmanship really improved so much in just two days?
Kuina couldn't shake the unsettling feeling in her heart.
She had witnessed Zoro's relentless training over the past year. To make sure he didn't surpass her, she had pushed herself just as hard, training in secret to improve.
Even so, every time they sparred, she could feel Zoro slowly closing the gap between them.
But while it used to be a gradual process, in just these two days, his skills had clearly taken a leap forward. Could someone have been training him?
Kuina sheathed her bamboo sword, looking down at Zoro, who was sprawled on the floor.
Zoro got up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and without a word, started replaying Kuina's moves in his mind—a habit he never would've had before.
Koushirou walked over with a smile. "You lost again, Zoro. But you really have gotten stronger, especially these past two days."
As soon as Koushirou said this, the other kids in the dojo crowded around.
"Sensei, you're not secretly training Kuina just because she's your daughter, are you?"
"That's so unfair!"
Koushirou sighed. "No, no, I wouldn't do that. Zoro's definitely improved, but Kuina's getting stronger too."
"I'm going to wash my face," Zoro muttered before heading to the back of the dojo.
After washing his face, Zoro made up his mind—tonight, he would challenge Kuina one last time!
That night, as Kuina passed by the hastily repaired tea room Koushirou had been working on, she overheard something that deeply shook her.
Her father, Koushirou, didn't believe a girl could become the world's greatest swordsman.
Kuina had always known that as a girl, she might have a harder time achieving certain things as a swordsman compared to boys. But she didn't want to accept that, and she refused to believe it. Why shouldn't a girl be able to become the world's greatest?
Sitting by the rice paddies, Kuina tried to process her feelings alone.
That's when Zoro showed up.
"What are you doing here?" Zoro asked.
Kuina wiped her nose with a handkerchief and shot back, "I should ask you the same thing. Why are you out here so late?"
"I'm here for our 2001st duel. This will be our last one," Zoro said seriously. "Let's settle this, and let's use real swords this time."
Kuina blinked in surprise, then smiled slightly. "Alright."
Originally, she planned to use Wado Ichimonji against Zoro, but now she would have to borrow someone else's sword for their duel.
In an open field.
The two stood facing each other, ready to fight.
A gust of wind blew through.
Zoro, gripping two real swords, was the first to attack.
They traded blows back and forth many times. Every time Kuina was about to defeat Zoro, he would somehow manage to find a way to clumsily evade her strike.
"Hah!" Kuina saw an opening and lunged forward, aiming to knock the two swords out of the visibly tired Zoro's hands.
It was as if Zoro had anticipated this move. He instinctively stepped back.
Real swords were much heavier than bamboo swords, and he was wielding two of them, which was exhausting him far more than Kuina.
If he couldn't beat her with strength or stamina, he would have to rely on his swordsmanship or try to read her moves and find an opening to turn the fight in his favor.
That instinctive step back allowed Zoro to narrowly avoid Kuina's strike. At the same time, in a moment of surprise, he saw an opening in her defense.
Without hesitation, Zoro swung his sword, using the back of the blade to strike at Kuina's arm.
A flash of disbelief crossed Kuina's eyes as she quickly reacted, blocking the strike in time. Then, with a swift motion, she finally disarmed Zoro, sending his swords flying.
Zoro fell to the ground, panting heavily.
Even though she had won, Kuina didn't feel any satisfaction. If she had reacted just half a second slower, she would have lost!
Zoro was really catching up!