Hanabira gently cradled Torakichi’s head on her lap as she gently ran her hands through his messy hair.

She had spent the better part of an hour plucking out the many twigs and stones that could be seen here and there.

The small campfire nearby gently lit the cave and it seemed as though the icy storm from before had yet to end.

Keii tightly bound his pouch to his back as he prepared to leave the cave again.

“By the way, I forgot to say just how amazing your discovery was, Amai. The more I think about it, the more applicable the daggers become. We could even use your technique to create- ah! Even arrows would be in the realm of possibility!” Keii said excitedly as he crawled towards the cave’s exit.

“Stay safe.” Amai said and Keii simply nodded before partially sealing the cave with another wall of Ne.

A deep silence then filled the cave was the wall of Ne kept the sounds of the storm from entering the cave.

Amai crawled to Hanabira’s side and wrapped around her as their bodies were gently warmed by the small fire.

“Amai.” Hanabira called.

“Mmm?” Amai sounded as Hanabira looked into her eyes.

“Is Mr. Kanemoto going to leave us?” Hanabira asked.

Amai’s eyes widened as tears welled up in Hanabira’s eyes.

“I don’t want him to go.” Hanabira said before leaning further into Amai’s arms.

Amai’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest as her eyes went from Torakichi to Hanabira to the dark cloak that sat next to Torakichi.

“Shh.” Amai sounded as she rubbed Hanabira’s arm. She then realized that she too had started crying.

“Mr. Kanemoto wouldn’t want us to cry like this. We must be strong.” Amai said, even as her throat tightened.

Her face was now completely covered in tears and her heart ached beyond words.

“He will return to us, I’m sure.”

.

..

Hanabira and Amai had been crying for so long, that their tears had run out, leaving only the pain in their hearts.

Amai noticed that the campfire had died and so she pried herself from Hanabira’s hold before starting another fire.

A few moments passed after Amai sat back next to Hanabira and Keii eventually returned with a deer in hand.

He resealed the cave before sitting next to the campfire and shaking off the snow that covered his body.

“How is he?”

“Still. Apart from breathing, he won’t move.” Hanabira said weakly.

“I see. All we can do is wait for his recovery then.” Keii said before sighing.

“Anyway, I conducted many tests out there and I think I realized how Jundo was able to break Torakichi’s katana. He used a technique not too dissimilar to what we normally do to weapons to protect them from shock, only instead of having a static layer of Ne around the weapon, Jundo coats his Yari’s blade with Ne, turns that Ne into a flat blade that’s constantly moving at an incredible speed.” Keii exclaimed while rubbing his hands.

“This made me think about different ways we could use Ne. I tried making different weapons. Daggers, spears and arrows and they were all perfect. Strong and extremely sharp. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the move as quickly as Jundo did. Not the Ne in my katana or anywhere else.” Keii said with a sigh.

“Could we do it together?” Amai asked.

“Do what?”

“We could work together to make a single turbulent blade of Ne.”

Keii’s eyes widened.

“You… have you been possessed by the spirit of a great general?” He asked with narrowed eyes, but Amai didn’t react.

“Ahem! That sounds like a brilliant idea. Come. Let’s try it outside.” Keii said before hopping onto his feet.

Amai followed him out and coated herself in Ne while Keii prepared to seal the cave.

However, just as he raised his hands, Hanabira rushed out of the cave.

“Can I help?” She asked as Keii sealed the cave.

He then unsheathed his katana before pointing it at a random tree.

“Let me show you what happens when I try to emulate Jundo’s technique.” Keii said as he gathered some ambient Ne around his katana’s blade and tried making it spin and it did, but extremely slowly.

“Wow.” Amai gasped, but this only made Keii feel worse.

“Unfortunately this is nowhere near as fast as it needs to be to counter Jundo’s technique.” He said as he walked up to the tree he’d picked earlier.

It was fairly tall and thick.

Keii raised his katana before quickly striking the tee’s side leaving a fairly small mark.

“My katana has been hardened with Ne, so we don’t have to worry about breaking it.” Keii said as he keenly inspected the mark he’d made.

“Our goal is to cut down a tree of this size before Torakichi recovers. Then we’ll teach him how to use our newly developed technique in our eventual rematch against Jundo.”

“That’s assuming we can developed the technique.” Amai said.

“Ah, have faith, Amai.” Keii said before taking a few steps away from Hanabira and Amai.

“Now, send all the ambient Ne you can towards my katana’s blade and keep doing so without pouring any into the blade itself.” Keii said as he firmly gripped his katana.

Hanabira and Amai raised their hands and almost immediately, countless streams of Ne flowed around Keii’s katana.

Keii bit his teeth as the force of the Ne streams jerked his katana around and he had to forcefully keep it in place.

“Not enough. Keep going!” Keii said prompting Hanabira and Amai to send even more Ne to his katana.

Keii sent some of his own inner Ne to try and get control of the small vortex of Ne that spun around his katana.

It eventually reached the point where Keii could barely hold onto his katana and a the noise from the vortex became quite loud.

“That’s enough!” Keii yelled.

Hanabira and Amai lowered their hands as they watched Keii awkwardly stumble towards the tree.

With a grunt, he raised his katana before striking the tree from before.

“Ah!” Keii cried as he dropped his katana.

“Mr. Umihara!” Hanabira and Amai called as they ran to his side.

Keii ignored them before quickly looking at his katana to find that the vortex of Ne was slowly dying.

His attention then went to the tree.

His eyes widened as he saw that the tree’s side had been brutally mangled.

It was as though a ferocious beast had torn the tree’s side apart.

“Mr. Umihara!” Amai called shaking Keii out of his daze.

“Yes?” He asked without looking away from the tree.

“Are you alright?” Amai asked.

“Y-yes. Did you see that?” Keii asked as he stood up. His knees still trembled as they remembered the sheer force of the strike.

“Yes. I don’t think us mortals were ever meant to use such a terrifying technique. Perhaps the only reason why Jundo can use it is because he is a dragon.” Amai said, but Keii shook his head.

“No. With time and persistence, we can make this technique our own.”

“And if any mortal can use this technique, it’s Mr. Kanemoto.” Hanabira said.

“Do you really think so?” Amai asked.

“Ah, yes. If anyone will be able to do it, it’ll be Torakichi Kanemoto. However, he is unable to move right now, so we must do what we can to polish this technique.” Keii said and he watched as Hanabira and Amai’s eyes lit with enthusiasm.

“Good. Now, I feel as though we may be using the wrong form of rotation. Or at least, the direction we’re spinning the Ne in isn’t the most practical or usable.” Keii said as he picked up his katana. The vortex of Ne had long since dissipated.

Keii took several deep breaths before raising his katana.

“Instead of sending Ne around the blade, I suggest we spin it along the blade from the hilt to the tip.” Keii said, prompting Hanabira and Amai to nod in understanding.

Keii pointed his katana at the scarred tree again.

“Again.” He barked, prompting Hanabira and Amai to send Ne to his katana’s blade, but it quickly became clear that no e of it was sticking to the weapon.

Instead, the Ne shot forward and away from the katana before hitting the tree with a negligible amount of force.

“Oh… well, that didn’t work.” Keii remarked as everyone stopped sending Ne forward.

“Umm… Mr. Umihara.” Amai called.

“Yes?”

“Jundo's blade had another above it. Sort of like the one’s we can make now. It was made of a strange, dark Ne. Let’s try creating a blade above your katana.” Amai suggested, much to Keii’s amazement.

“Yes! You’re right! I did notice something strange about his Yari before he… let’s try it.” Keii said before once again pointing his katana at the tree.

“Do it.” Keii instructed with a smirk.

A layer of Ne gathered over one side of Keii’s katana.

“No, if we’re doing this, we’re going to have to go further than what we think is possible. Create another blade on the other side!” Keii gleefully ordered and lime that, another layer of Ne gathered on the other side.

“Reinforce both sides.” Keii said and the blades seemingly became more defined.

“Haha! Now for the last part. You mentioned that Jundo’s Ne seemed strange. I think that’s because he is a dragon. However, I think we made be able to replicate a Dragon’s level of control if we use our own Ne to create a single hilt for both of the blades.” Keii said before nearly falling as Hanabira and Amai poured Ne that gathered beneath his fingers.

He poured his own Ne into the invisible hilt while his feet dug deep into the snow under the increasing pressure of the Ne in the hidden weapon.

“Good. Now for the unthinkable. Spin the Ne just like we did in our first attempt.”

Hanabira and Amai glanced at each other with widened eyes.

“Don’t worry, just do it!” Keii barked and in the next instant, a loud crack pierced the air.

“Ah!” Hanabira cried as something hit her face.

Keii bit his teeth as his eyes fell to his katana to find that its tip had broken off, but above it was a single vibrating blade that was had a pale white glow.

“Ah!” Keii cried as he struck the tree once again, resulting in an explosive force that sent him, Amai and Hanabira tumbling backwards a bit.

Keii quickly stood up before checking up on Amai and Hanabira.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I’m fine, but I think Hanabira got hurt.” Amai said as she helped Hanabira up, revealing that she had a relatively shallow scar that ran from her lip to her right ear.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I should’ve told both of you to take cover first.” Keii said as Amai inspected Hanabira’s scar.

“No, it’s fine. We couldn’t have known such a think would happen-“

Hanabira gasped as she looked at something behind Keii.

Keii raised an eyebrow before turning around to find that his katana was embedded halfway through the tree. Not only that, but the tree had bend backwards significantly and was severely splintered in many places.

“Huh… how are we gonna get my katana out without breaking it?”

.

..

“Your hands… they still tremble.” Amai said as she threw her last bone into the campfire.

“Mmm?” Keii sounded before looking at his hands to find that they were indeed quivering slightly.

They had just finished eating the cuts of deer Keii butchered and Keii roasted some for later.

“May I ask you something, Mr. Umihara?” Hanabira asked. They had run out of bandages and so her scar remained visible on her face.

“Of course. Ask me anything.”

“What makes a just warrior?”

“Oh… that’s an interesting question. Before I answer it as best I can, what made you ask such a question?” Keii asked.

A faint from formed on Hanabira’s forehead as she peered into the campfire.

“You warriors are a stubborn lot. You get cut, beaten and broken in your battles and yet not only do you stand afterwards, you keep moving. Ever since my journey with Mr. Kanemoto began, I imagined that he was a just warrior. A man who protected others regardless of his own well-being, but is that really all that life amounts to? When do you live for yourselves?” Hanabira asked.

“Mmm…” Keii droned before looking up at the cave’s low ceiling.

“I probably don’t count as a just warrior, but in my opinion, a just warrior is someone who holds his beliefs tightly and never turns on them or runs away, regardless of whether they are right or wrong in the long run. A just warrior is a person who selflessly gives themselves to their mission and I concur, Hanabira. I think Torakichi is a just warrior. As for when men like him get to live for themselves… I think that a father is never happier than when he’s watching over and protecting his children.” Keii said, but Hanabira’s frown intensified.

“But that- protecting us has only caused him pain. I’m sure he’d be much happier somewhere where he didn’t constantly suffer!”

“Hanabira!” Amai called, but Hanabira shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I know. I sound ungrateful, but surely you understand, Amai. Surely it hurts with each passing moment.” Hanabira said as Keii stood up.

He then walked up to her before pulling her head onto his bosom.

“There is nowhere Torakichi would rather be, than by your side.”

Hanabira broke into a full wail as Keii offered Amai his free hand.

Amai accepted it graciously.

“He isn’t simply a warrior, following some secret code. He isn’t the blade to some lord. He is a Swordsman, yes, but he is also so much more.”