Chapter 6 - Kendo

Kimura Kazuya was baffled by He Muyang’s answer.

“Surviving with your own power is the easiest and, at the same time, the hardest thing to accomplish,” Kimura Kazuya murmured, looking at He Muyang with a firm look.

“I won’t take you in as my apprentice.” However, upon seeing the disappointed look on He Muyang’s face, Kimura Kazuya added, “However, I don’t mind offering you some advice based on my experience.”

He Muyang was suddenly overjoyed and immediately thanked Kimura Kazuya. “Thank you so much!”

“And while we’re at it, as you can see, I’m pretty old. It wasn’t a problem to put food on the table for myself, but now that there’s another mouth to feed, I’m really in a pickle here.” the sly tone that He Muyang hasn’t heard for a while finally returned.

A drop of sweat dripped down from He Muyang’s forehead as he humored the old man: “Just leave it to me, consider It the accommodation fee,” while secretly cursing the old ma: ”He really is a vexing old man, and what he did before was just an act.”

“What accommodation? Are you planning to take my room from me again?” Kimura Kazuya looked at He Muyang with a look of contempt. “I don’t know you’re that cheeky!”

“Then where should I live?”

“After you leave this house, turn right. There are a bunch of trees there. It’s still pretty early in the morning right now, and if everything goes well, you should be able to build a hut before dark. At least you can use it to rest, and don’t forget to cook!”

“I….” He Muyang resisted the urge to clobber the old man in front of him. He knew that he couldn’t win against him, so he just cursed him in his heart.

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He Muyang’s house basked in the setting sun’s afterglow. He called it a hut, but it looked nothing like one.

“How does it end up like this? It looks nothing like a hut.” He Muyang muttered.

“It’s the foundation!” A faint voice startled He Muyang. Kimura Kazuya continued, “The foundation of the hut you built is weak; that’s why it looks weird. Of course, it applies to everything else in this world, not just a hut.”

Looking at He Muyang contemplating what he just said, Kimura Kazuya snapped him back from his thought: “Okay, let’s have dinner first. You can stay in my house for the time being until you build your own.”

“But I feel bad for using your bedroom again.”

Kimura Kazuya squinted at He Muyang as if watching an idiot: “What are you talking about? Of course you’ll be sleeping outside.”

This damned old man!

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“Okay, let’s set the whole building a hut thing for now. You can’t build it a proper one that quickly anyway.” He Muyang paused for a while upon hearing Kimura Kazuya’s word, and Kimura Kazuya immediately added, “Let me teach you something first.”

He Muyang was excited because no one has taught him anything until this point. He had to learn everything on his own through battle. As Kimura Kazuya said last night, “weak foundation.” That was his biggest problem at the moment, which will halt his progress, so it couldn’t be helped if Kimura Kazuya suddenly said that he would teach him.

“Zankensoki, Shinigami’s Four Basic Techniques. Among them, Zan refers to Zanjutsu, which is Sword fighting techniques for the Zanpakutō, the most basic fighting technique; Ken refers to Hakuda, which is An unarmed fighting technique that makes use of one’s own body in a fight; So refers to Hohō, which is high-speed movement, in this case, Shunpo, since that’s what Shinigami uses; Ki refers to Kidō, a battle style in which Shinigami used advanced spells that require strong spiritual power.” Kimura Kazuya, who realized that He Muyang was getting bored from this explanation, added, “Among these Four Basic Shinigami Fighting Techniques, I couldn’t use both Hakuda and Kido. Technically, I could use Shunpo, but only to some extent. However, it’s safe to say that no one could best me in Zanjutsu in the entire Soul Society!”

He Muyang was disappointed for a moment when he heard Kimura Kazuya couldn’t use both Hakuda and Kido. However, he was a little relieved upon hearing Kimura Kazuya could at least use Shunpo to some extent. Although the old man was annoying, he seemed to be telling the truth, and since he said that he could use Shunpo, then his Hoho should be pretty good. Last but not least, He Muyang was surprised when the old man said he was the best in Soul Society in terms of Zanjutsu. If this old man was really telling the truth, then his strength really is immeasurable!

Kimura Kazuya smirked upon seeing He Muyang’s surprised look and then said: “And what I want to teach you is mainly Kendō and some Hohō skills.”

“What do you think a sword is? What is Kendō?”

Sword? A Sword should reflect one’s gentleness, benevolence, and righteousness, so Kendō is the way of gentleness, benevolence, and righteousness.” He Muyang said hesitantly after recalling a book he once read.

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“Wrong!” Looking at He Muyang seriously, Kimura Kazuya said, “Sword is the means to fight, and Kendō is the way of killing!”

“Swords are not toys. You must not draw your sword lightly. The moment you draw your sword, a bloodbath will surely happen.”

“Remember, the sword itself is made to kill!”

He Muyang was shocked by Kimura Kazuya’s answer since he has heard various answers to that exact question from TV and books, and all of them were profound. As He Muyang contemplated Kimura Kazuya’s answer, he recalled his journey so far while stroking the Zanpakuto on his sash, and as Kimura Kazuya said earlier, whenever he drew his sword, a battle would always occur.

Looking at He Muyang’s eyes clearing from doubt, Kimura Kazuya said with relief: “It seems that you’ve already figured it out. It will always be a battle with your life on the line whenever you draw your sword, so don’t draw your sword on a whim.”

He Muyang then grinned and said: “err, what about the Zanpakuto of the medical division? They are saving people with their swords!”

Kimura Kazuya was baffled by He Muyang’s comment and immediately scolded him out of embarrassment: “Don’t interrupt me! That’s an exception anyway? Can’t you at least differentiate that?”

Kimura Kazuya cleared his throat and said in serious tone while staring at He Muyang intently: “I have 2 styles of swordsmanship, one is for a show, the other one is for practical killing. Which one do you want to learn?”

“Didn’t you say that Kendō is the way of killing? Then why can you use the exhibition swordsmanship?” He Muyang jokingly said, but as Kimura Kazuya glared at him, he once again stopped joking: “Do you have the elegant and practical one?”

Seeing Kimura Kazuya was about to snap, He Muyang instantly shut his mouth and then muttered: “Don’t be angry, I’m just joking. Can’t you at least differentiate that?”

“So? Which one?”

“Do you really have to ask? Of course, I want to learn the swordsmanship for practical killing!” He Muyang said with determined eyes. “Besides, why would I pick the exhibition swordsmanship? Am I supposed to please them with that so they can spare me?”

“Now that you have chosen this path, don’t regret it. Rest assured, I will teach you properly myself! I’ll be sure to drill it into your body so that you’ll never forget it.”

He Muyang shivered when he heard Kimura Kazuya’s words.

“I did say Kendō, but we’ll be using Zanpakuto. The sword technique that you’ll learn emphasizes fast, accurate, and ruthless. Since this is the swordsmanship meant for practical killing, it mainly relied on techniques such as cleaving, slashing, stabbing, thrusting, blocking, intercepting, etc., so you’ll have to pay attention to small details when it comes to movement, and that’s where my Hohō comes along. Your physical prowess is a decisive factor to exhibit powerful and effective swordsmanship, and at your current state, it may be difficult.”

Looking at the worried expression on He Muyang’s face, Kimura Kazuya smiled insidiously, “But don’t worry, I’ll properly teach you and strengthen your physique to the point where you can practice these. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain. You may get tired or injured during the training, but I believe you can do it.”

Upon seeing Kimura Kazuya’s frightening grin, He Muyang realized that there must be something fishy about this old man’s training regime later, especially when he recalled this old man’s personality. He Muyang realized that he was done for as he looked at Kimura Kazuya smirking at him.

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