“Senior, please advise!”
El pointed at Koushirou with a bamboo sword in his hand, and said with a serious expression.
Although the person in front of him is a mountain that he absolutely cannot defeat at this stage.
But that didn’t stop him, he wanted to see how big the gap between himself and the Master swordsman was.
“Hehe…Young man, who is your teacher?”
Just like when Zoro came to play in the gym.
Looking at El’s appearance, Koushirou not only did not get angry, but instead showed the smile that Kuina has been longing for, and eyes full of admiration, and asked gently.
“teacher?”
El’s surface was slightly taken aback, and then he said proudly: “I don’t have a teacher. My current strength is based on my own efforts.”
Seeing El’s innocent appearance, Koushirou’s heart suddenly burst into excitement.
At first, he thought that El was just a gifted child with this level of physical fitness at a young age.
But he did not expect that in addition to his strong physical qualities, El was also a swordsman who understood the “breath of All Things”.
Judging from the fact that he stirred the air with the bamboo sword, turning the bamboo sword into a ‘real sword’ and severing the other bamboo sword, Koushirou was sure that El had mastered the “cutting through steel”.
A young swordsman who is at most eleven years old, the person who carves this rough jade must be skilled in swordsmanship, or even a strong man whose strength is no less than his own.
However, Koushirou had no idea at all.
El, a young swordsman, is still a rough jade that has not been carved by anyone.
At this moment, Koushirou’s heart for accepting disciples was unprecedentedly rising.
his face is showing anticipation, and his voice was even mixed with a trembling that no one noticed when speaking “Then, are you willing to worship me as a teacher?”
“I reject!”
El chose to refuse without hesitation, still with pride on his face and said a sentence that shocked the audience and made all the students look at him: “Although apprenticeship will make me take a lot less crooked paths. But I prefer the adventure type of self-improvement than a shortcut.”
“And this is why I ventured out to sea when I was eight years old and came here to Challenge the Dojo!”
These words are the words from El’s heart.
El’s speech shocked all the students including Zoro, and also shocking Kuina who just ran out. She wanted to hide in a corner and cry, but she thought that El would challenge her father next, and wanted to see his swordsmanship. After being tangled, Kuina secretly returned to the corridor to eavesdrop.
“…Eight years old, are you only eight years old?!”
Koushirou’s heart was also very shock.
He thought that El, whose height was similar to his daughter, was at least ten years old, or even eleven years old.
But he had no idea that El was only eight years old.
Eight-year-old Master Swordsman…
What’s wrong with this world?
Even if he was as strong, he couldn’t help but doubt his life at this moment.
“that’s right!” El raised his head.
“It’s a lie…he’s even younger than me?!”
Zoro was also hit hard.
“…Come with me!”
Koushirou calmed down his complicated mood. After taking a deep look at El, he slowly stood up and said to the shocked middle-aged man, “You continue to teach everyone.”
“Yes, Master.”
The middle-aged man who came back to his senses quickly replied respectfully.
On the other hand, El threw the bamboo sword back into the wooden barrel, took his sword handed over by Carina, who had a stern look on her face, and took the two Girls who were shocked even though they didn’t understand, and went with them.
Koushirou walked towards the corridor.
Seeing them coming this way, Kuina, who was peeking, hurriedly left.
At the end of the corridor is an ancient courtyard.
There are ponds, wooden stakes, small bamboo forests, and a relatively large open space.
“Father.”
After Koushirou walked out of the corridor with the trio and Zoro who followed them subconsciously.
Kuina, whose eyes were slightly red, was already standing there waiting for them.
Looking at Kuina, who couldn’t help coming over to watch the battle of the Master swordsmen because her curiosity outweighed her inner depression, Koushirou nodded and said. “Go and get a real sword.”
“Yes, father.”
Kuina nodded vigorously, then glanced at El, whose height was not much different from hers, but her real age was two or three years younger than her, and jogged away.
After a while, Kuina came back with an ordinary samurai sword.
After handing the samurai sword to her father, Kuina did not stand next to Zoro, but stood next to Carina and Nami, looking at El who was standing opposite her father, and couldn’t help but comparing her height at the two girls who were not as old as her, asking softly, “Are you two of El’s companions?”
It is not difficult to see that Kuina, who was defeated in seconds, was already full of curiosity about El.
Ever since she was a child, Kuina has always been full of dissatisfaction and sadness towards her father’s words that “a female swordsman will never become the number one swordsman in the world because of her physical strength.”
For this reason, she kept accepting the challenges of zoro that her father was optimistic about and defeating this little junior brother, again and again, just to prove to her father that girls would not lose to boys.
But now, Kuina suddenly understood her father’s words.
A female swordsman might not be inferior to a male swordsman, as long as they don’t encounter real monsters.
Limited to Isshin Doho in Shimotsuki Village Kuina may be the strongest of the younger generation.
But after leaving Shimotsuki Village, there are countless swordsmen who are better than her.
And El is one of them.