Ronin's past--. 　
　The young man Ronin sees is his fellow student's younger brother, Toshiro.

　His handsome face and intelligent appearance. I'm sure he'd be a ladies' man, but there was no woman on this mountain.

　It's a waste of money, but he doesn't care.

I don't care about women.

　I'll tell you what.

　He doesn't drink much, and I wonder what he enjoys doing in life. Ronin's love of women and alcohol was incomprehensible to him.

　Speaking of incomprehensible, so was his swordsmanship.
　His swordsmanship was even better than Ronin's.

　He was a better swordsman than Ronin, who spent his childhood training with the sword. Moreover, Toushiro never learned swordsmanship from anyone, he was almost entirely self-taught.

Before I met the Kamiizumi-sama, there was no one to teach me how to use a sword.

　It seems that Toushiro is from a farmer's family in Hourai. He was raised in a far inferior environment to Ronin, the son of the master of the dojo, and yet he came to surpass Ronin. I don't like it. So he lashes out at you at every opportunity, but instead of taking it into consideration, he is a good-natured guy who trains with Ronin.

............

　I felt like I was losing not just my sword skills, but my personality as well, but this man was not sarcastic, and before I knew it, a friendship had grown up.

　A friendship was formed while they were eating the same kettle of fish.

　Ronin and Toshiro were always working together, and together with their skills, the villagers at the foot of the mountain called them the dragon and tiger of Kamiizumi.

　It's not a bad feeling, but one day Ronin realizes that he's not the only one.
　He's not just a good-natured young man.

　One day, the dragon tiger of Kamiizumi has a request from a kingdom. Technically, it was his master, but he didn't want to bother him, so he gave his apprentice the job.

　The job is to hunt a dragon that is avenging the kingdom.

　It's a complicated job, but I took the job out of training, and Toushiro and I went to the village that was suffering from the dragon. A village burnt to the ground. The smell of burnt corpses stinks.

　Toshiro and I will stay in the villages to prepare for the dragon's return. But the dragons were cunning and fled as soon as we arrived. We couldn't finish him off.

　After an endless game of wrangling, Toushiro, thinking that this is not the way to go, proposes that we split up. The dragon is cunning, but not very strong. Accepting the proposal, Ronin and Toushiro each head for the village.

　As a result, Toushiro shoots the dragon, but Ronin shudders when he hears his methods.

　He discovers the true nature of Tohshiro. The cruelty and ruthlessness of his methods.

　To make it easier to capture the fleeing dragon, Toshiro has pulled off an extraordinary trick.

　The plan was to let the dragon storm the village, fill up on its belly and then take the dragon out.

　Ronin blamed him for this, of course, but Toshiro said casually.

If it went on too long, there might have been more damage. Besides, I want to return to my training as soon as possible.

　Toushirou said without changing his face. His eyes were as beautiful as a clear stream. She doesn't feel the slightest bit guilty and doesn't understand the meaning of what she has done.

　According to him, his family was very poor and lived a deprived childhood. He once nearly killed his brothers in a brawl over a rotten radish. A famine ended his boyhood with no happiness. Unable to eat even rotten daikon radish, Toushiro's family all starved to death.

　He has lived alone ever since, roaming the world.
　Kenjutsu was his life's bread and butter.

　It was a life that Ronin, the son of a dojo master, could not understand, and Ronin did not blame him for anything he said, but he looked at his back and thought, "To be strong, you must be strong.

It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get the job done. --If that's the case, then I'm going to...

　Ronin murmured casually and philosophized unusually, but in the end no answer came to mind.

　Thereafter, they returned to the bower and swung their swords as if nothing had happened.

　They worked hard and devoted themselves to the path of the sword.
　But those days were coming to an end.




　A few years later--" "Bakkyaro!

Bakkyaro!　Don't die!　Old man!

　The young Ronin's scream echoes through the bower.
　Hearing this, Kensei Kamiizumi replies bluntly.

"Your voice is as loud as ever. Your neighbors are going to complain.

　The bower of the swordsman Kamiizumi is deep in the mountains. It's dozens of miles to the next house. No matter how much he shouted, it would never reach the neighbors, but he joked.

　No other person Ronin has ever known to joke so fearlessly at the point of death. He is infinitely free from death. I wondered if mastering the sword would give me this kind of spirit. I envied him.

　But Ronin did not praise him.

"d*mn you, old man. You're always busting your ass, and now you've fallen ill so easily.

"It's not such a noble disease. It's just life. It's just life.



I thought you were immortal.

"I live an infinitely longer life than man, but I am neither immortal nor immortal. I am of predestined life. I am.

"Cut your fate to hell!

"Not so fast. No matter how you master the sword, you can't change your fate.

I'm going to change that.

"I see. Good luck.

　and Kamiizumi closes his eyes. For a moment, Ronin panics, thinking he's dead, but Kamiizumi opens his eyes and says, "It's May.

I won't go down yet. --By the way, speaking of fate, I have a child.

"Kids?　To you?　Surprising.

"I'm human. Sometimes you have to love someone.

You mean, you can be inspired by anything?

Yes. I loved a woman once. A woman from Penglai. She was a walking maiden. I met her on my way to training and we soon fell in love. She gave birth to a child.

"What's your name?

"Kasehana

Nice name.

The "will

　With a grin, Kamiizumi smiles.

"But I parted from the priestess and her daughter.

"...... bereavement?

No, I threw it away.


"............
"I was crazy about the sword back then. I was fascinated by it. I wanted to make my sword the most powerful ever, and I didn't care about my wife and children.

"You left your wife and child and ran away to the path of the sword.

That's right. You're no better than a motherf*cker.

I bet. Well, I'm not qualified to laugh at you.

　I'm the same way," he said, and with a sympathetic smile, Kamiizumi took Ronin's hand with a gesture.

"You're not.

"Nah ......

　Ronin flinches at the sheer force of it.

"What, old man, are you getting old?

Yes, I did. And now I regret it. I gave up something I loved.

I guess that's why I was able to master the way of the sword.

No. That's why I never mastered the way of the sword.

"............

It's true that I'm the best swordsman who ever lived, but I'm not there yet. I couldn't master the best of them all. Do you know why?

I don't know.

"It's because I've never had something to love. It's because I haven't held a sword for someone else.

"For someone who loves ......, ......

When a man has something he loves, he multiplies its power many times over. When you hold a sword for someone, you can exert more power than you are capable of. That's why I was on the opposite side of the strongest path.

"............

"Look, you don't want to be a man like me. Hold the sword for someone else. Find something to love.

...... That's a bit of a stretch,

No, you're all right. You haven't fallen into the path of shura and the d*mnation yet. We can still turn back. No, we will turn back. Someday you'll meet someone more important than you, someone you love. Cherish that encounter.

　Kamiizumi finally said as he squeezed Ronin's hand tightly.

"Listen. You're a person who can love people. Use that power to the fullest. --You can use it to its fullest extent.



　Finally, he said the name of Ronin's brother's apprentice, but he could not get the words out until the end. The life of Kamiizumi was over.

　Thus ended the natural destiny of the man who was hailed as the sage of swords.

　The man who was hailed as the greatest man in history died easily. He left behind nothing but a rotting arbor, a crude sword and a pair of books of secrets.

　No, he really left behind something more important, but the two disciples Kamiizumi left behind did not recognize it right away.