Daily combat practice was what Gekko Hayate looked forward to most. Each sparring session allowed him to discover new flaws in his technique and correct them.
"Since you're ready, let's begin. This time, there are no restrictions on fighting style. Meaning—you may use abilities other than swordsmanship."
Hayate took a deep breath.
"Here I go! Secret Sword: Shadow of the Moon!'"
Using the Body Flicker Technique, Hayate moved so fast he left several afterimages, making it impossible to distinguish real from fake.
A flash of steel—and his blade was already cutting toward Yosuke's neck.
Watching from the side, Uchiha Itachi was stunned.
This is training?
This already looked like a real battle.
As for Hayate—though his strike was incredibly fast—he had already planned how to respond after Yosuke inevitably blocked it. From the start, he never expected his attack to land.
As predicted, Yosuke merely shifted half a step back, and Hayate's strike sliced through empty air.
Hayate executed several backflips, widening the distance between them.
Then he activated his Kekkei Genkai, Transparent Escape, erasing his presence from sight.
Just as Hayate believed himself safe, Yosuke moved.
"Don't rely too much on your Kekkei Genkai. Transparent Escape may hide your body—but it can't hide your breathing!"
Yosuke dashed toward an empty patch of ground—utterly empty to the eye—and swung his blade without hesitation.
A metallic clang echoed. Hayate's form reappeared, his katana raised to block Yosuke's strike.
Borrowing the force of the impact, Hayate retreated out of Yosuke's range and formed hand seals with blinding speed.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Two clones appeared, each drawing their swords.
"Konoha-ryū Sword Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!'"
The clones and the original flickered around Yosuke, attacking simultaneously—one aiming at his waist, one at his throat, one at his head.
Yosuke was quite satisfied with the attack. Everything—the timing, the target points—was impeccable.
He swung his blade three times, swiftly neutralizing each strike.
Seeing his attack fail, Hayate again leapt back to create distance, waiting for his next opening.
Yosuke slightly lowered his stance, assuming an iaijutsu posture.
Hayate felt a terrifying intent lock onto him. Sweat began dripping down his forehead.
"To answer your effort, Hayate—take this technique of mine!"
"Breath of the Sun: Seventh Form — Setting Sun Transformation!"
Yosuke vanished upward, appearing in midair. The still-sheathed Kusanagi sword in his hand ignited with flames as he delivered an inverted horizontal slash.
Hayate wanted to dodge, but under that killing intent he could not move his feet at all. He could only raise his katana in an attempt to block the strike.
A sharp ding rang out.
The impact from Yosuke's sheathed blade traveled through Hayate's sword—powerful, searing hot. His grip stung violently, and in the instant the blades met, his katana snapped.
Hayate stared in disbelief at the broken weapon in his hand. His katana had been custom-made, forged with expensive chakra metal—exceptional in both flexibility and toughness. Yet it had been destroyed by one strike, and with the sheath no less.
Nearby, Uchiha Itachi was wide-eyed and speechless.
He had only come to the forest by chance and secretly watched from a distance out of curiosity. But now, seeing Yosuke up close, he realized how overwhelmingly strong he was.
Are all samurai this strong?
If so, why had he seen so few samurai—and all of them weak?
"I lost," Hayate said.
But although he had lost, he felt no frustration at all—only exhilaration.
All this time, Yosuke had trained him using only ordinary swordsmanship. Even so, Hayate had struggled to keep up.
Now that Yosuke had shown even a fraction of his true power, Hayate stood no chance.
And just the thought of being able to learn from someone like Yosuke filled him with excitement.
"That's enough for today's training."
Yosuke looked at Hayate. "To celebrate your promotion to jōnin, dinner's on me tonight. Let's go get some yakiniku. Itachi, you come too."
Itachi blinked. "I… I can come as well?"
Yosuke's overwhelming strength had already won him over completely. He couldn't help but admire him.
"Of course. Come with us."
At the yakiniku restaurant, both Hayate and Itachi sat stiffly and awkwardly.
Even though Yosuke had never said so directly, Hayate already regarded him as his teacher.
As for Itachi—this was their first day meeting, and Yosuke was already treating him to dinner, which made him feel a bit embarrassed.
The grilled meat arrived. Seeing neither of them move their chopsticks, Yosuke teased them:
"What, are you waiting for me to grill it and feed you?"
Hearing his remark, both Hayate and Itachi finally began eating.
Yosuke, who no longer needed food, ate just a few pieces to be polite and then began drinking instead.
He watched Itachi pour a huge amount of sugar into his dipping sauce, and couldn't help feeling alarmed.
"Itachi, aren't you afraid of getting cavities with how much sugar you're eating?"
Itachi lowered his head and muttered, embarrassed, "I just… really like sweets."
Remembering what he'd overheard on the street about the Nine-Tails, Yosuke decided to ask Hayate.
"Hayate, earlier today I heard some people talking about the Nine-Tails. Do you know what it is?"
Hayate paused mid-movement.
Seeing this, Yosuke raised a hand. "If it's something you can't talk about, it's fine. I was just asking casually."
Hayate shook his head. "Actually, almost everyone in Konoha knows about this. It's not really a secret."
He began explaining gently:
"The Nine-Tails is one of the tailed beasts—and the strongest of them. Every tailed beast is immensely powerful, and whenever they appear, disaster follows.
"To suppress them, and also to harness their power, people created sealing techniques to contain them. That's how the jinchūriki came to be.
"Every shinobi village treats their jinchūriki as their ultimate military weapon. But there's always a risk—they can lose control. If a jinchūriki becomes emotional or their chakra weakens, the seal can deteriorate, leading to a rampage. Because of that, people fear jinchūriki."
Itachi nodded unconsciously.
Everything Hayate said was true. Even though he was only four, his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, was close friends with the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina.
He had known these things almost as long as he could remember.
Yosuke finally understood.
That overwhelming evil, hatred-filled power he sensed when he met Uzumaki Kushina…
It had belonged to the Nine-Tails.
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