The trio’s final month of training was accompanied by heavy snowfall. It was the beginning of a new year, and the cold winter came in full force. On days that the sun was seen, it was never for long as the sky remained cloudy most of the time. Sunrise came after breakfast on most days while sunset was in the early hours of the evening–which meant shorter days with longer and colder nights.

  The trio knew that this was their final month of training of which afterwards, they would head back to Kaminari vilge, a lot stronger than they had ever been.

  “For this month we are going to continue the kenjutsu training, focusing mainly on elemental conduction and learning the remaining four katas during the day. In the evening, we will look at Ajna meditation and Fudoshin activation. Since time is no longer on our side, we will also increase our time in the shadow pne to six hours outside per day which will give us a total of four hundred and sixty five days inside.” Hanzo told Kazuo while taking a rge gulp from his hyōtan to stop his hands from shaking. He argued that it was the freezing cold that made them shake instead of withdrawals from addiction to saké. “I think you will be ready by the end of the month. Understood?”

  Kazuo nodded.

  “Very well, let us begin. Simir to opening the seven chakras, the difficulty in conducting each element increases as you go up. Which means we will start with Dōjin, followed by Sūijin then stly, Raijin since we do not have Kajin at our disposal. When you conduct any of the first six elements, you envision its chakra rotating in a clockwise motion and use its respective mudra to channel the flow of prana from that chakra to whatever part of your body. Lightning conduction, as you will see however, is a special case that involves conducting light and fire at once.”

  “If I called each sword by name won’t it awaken? I once did it with Dōjin when I fought against Daichi and broke his sword. I remember saying this phrase from my great grandpa’s memories. Fu–Fu–something.”

  “Funsai.”

  “Yes, that’s it.”

  Alright. Let us see if my Zanken will break if you do what you did before without using any prana.”

  Kazuo took the Earth bde and swung at Hanzo. “Dōjin: Funsai!”

  Hanzo raised his Zanken with a single hand and readied to block Dōjin’s bde.

  A loud cng sounded when the two bdes struck one another.

  “Huh?” said Kazuo when he saw Hanzo’s katana still intact. Why didn’t it work?

  “I see, Dōjin does not want to come out and py…” Hanzo chuckled as he sipped his saké. “Do you know why that is? What is different from this moment and your fight in the Earth Country? What state where you in back then?”

  “What state was I in?” Kazuo thought out loud. “Well, back then, if I didn’t act in time… I was gonna die!”

  “Kazuo-kun, if you are going to rely on near death experiences when fighting, you will surely die when you go up against a Shadow elite. Those guys will not give you the chance to call out your sword’s name. So, more than anything, it is not just shouting the sword’s name but rather, having conviction in your kata and being able to control your prana.”

  “By the way, how did Zanken not get broken into pieces?” Kazuo asked.

  “I used earth amplification by imbuing her with my prana whilst conducting earth.”

  “That means you cheated?”

  “I never said anything about me not conducting.” Hanzo chuckled as he took another sip. “Zanken and Dōjin were forged using the same type of high carbon steel but Dōjin has a diamond encrusted tip that would have shattered my bde had I not used earth amplification. Understand this Kazuo-kun, awakening a sword god and mastering it are two different things.”

  Kazuo worked tirelessly on his conduction and amplification as well as mastering the remaining four basic katas each day as he understood that time was no longer on his side. The evenings were reserved for hour long Ajna meditations followed by Fudoshin activation and kenjutsu practice in the shadow pne. For the Ajna, he visualized an indigo sphere at the centre of his forehead as he made the Chinmaya mudra on each hand.

  ?

  “Fudoshin is mainly about strengthening your resolve and fortifying your will. It represents a state of total peace in every situation. When Kazuro-sensei had you battle your shadow self, that was one of the first steps to achieving this state of mind. The immovable mind spirit protects you against anger, fear, doubt and surprise which are known as the four sicknesses of the mind.” Hanzo had expined to Kazuo on the first day in the shadow pne. “So, when you meditate be sure to dwell on the things that make you experience any of those four without judgement and just let the thoughts come and go. This will be very important when you face off against a projector as your mind needs to be calm and your will unshakable.”

  Towards the end of the month, he had spent a total of three hundred and sixty days in the shadow pne retive to the twenty-four days outside. Kazuo had achieved Fudoshin, banced his Ajna and learnt the remaining four katas which had not been easy feats to accomplish. When he first used the Chinmaya mudra to channel prana to his Third Eye chakra, he caught a glimpse of everything as it really was. He could see the flow of prana in all living and nonliving things. Hanzo told him that Ajna allowed a person to even see the different auras and their respective colours in the spectrum as they seeped out from all objects.

  ?

  Too bad this Ajna shit doesn’t let me see through clothes. Kazuo focused his sight and channeled prana into his Third Eye chakra, “I can see a green fme coming out of Mikoto.”

  “Right! That is her aura.” Hanzo shifted Kazuo elsewhere as he had been ogling the kunoichi for far too long. “And what of Takumi-kun over there?”

  “His aura is red.”

  “Yes, which means that they are conducting their dominant elements, air and earth respectively. Since we are headed towards the st week of the month, we can use these remaining seven days to perfect your kenjutsu forms with the sword gods.”

  Kazuo listened attentively, trying not to miss a single word that was spouted.

  “For this final training, you will fight against me each day until you are able to disarm my Zanken. Understood?”

  “Yes!” Kazuo answered loudly. “But sensei, why are we rushing? Can’t we train with Senshin and the seventh chakra like we did with Fudoshin and the sixth?”

  “Enlightenment is no easy feat Kazuo-kun…it took me six years to reach Senshin and open Sahasrara. Furthermore, you need real battle experience before you can even perfect your Zanshin, Mushin and Fudoshin let alone learn Senshin. As of yet you are still a novice at those three.”

  “Will I be able to defeat the Shadow King with those three then?”

  “Kagero only mastered Mushin and cannot project… his son, Kagemaru fights at Fudoshin level and he is a shadow projector. However, since the source of all prana is the sun and there is not much of it now because we are in winter; the projections will not be as strong as they require a lot of prana to manipute. So, for the purposes of this training, I will fight you at Fudoshin level–”

  “Oh!” said Kazuo, raising his brows as though he were following. “Now it makes sense… If I can defeat you, I will be able to take on the Shadows.”

  Defeat me? This kid! Hanzo took another sip. “Well then, come at me with all you have got, I will not hold back!”

  “Bring it on!” Kazuo gripped Raijin and charged towards Hanzo in full sprint.

  With seven days to go, Kazuo solely focused on wielding Raijin and learning lightning conduction. He had already learnt Dōjin and Sūijin’s basic attacks but was still unable to nd an attack on Hanzo with the lightning sword even though both of them were at the level of Fudoshin. He realised that he was a long way from mastering the state as he could only hold it for a few moments.

  Kazuo found the concept of lightning conduction challenging at first. As such, they used the shadow pne to buy more time to practice spinning Ajna and Manipura simultaneously. After sixty days of chakra meditation in the shadow pne; which was equivalent to four six-hour evenings outside, the young Inazuma had grasped how to rotate two chakras at once—effectively achieving lightning conduction.

  On the final day of training, Hanzo found himself on the receiving end of an electrically charged ssh which he managed to dodge. “You almost had me there.” He chuckled as he jumped backwards but his ugh was cut short when he noticed that his haori jacket had been sliced through. “Nice. I think you are now ready.”

  Takumi finished his individual training around the same time as Kazuo whilst Mikoto had finished hers a few days prior. During their st supper with their sensei, Hanzo congratuted them for completing their training.

  Hanzo bid the trio farewell in the morning, “It has been an interesting six months with the three of you. Mikoto, I hope you become the strongest kunoichi, not only in the Lightning region but the entire nd of Nihon. As for you Takumi, I know you will become one of the greatest Grandmasters in the Artisan Country. Lastly Kazuo, I hope you find soce and remember that vengeance is never the answer. Use what you have learnt responsibly and protect one another… jaa ne.” He got sentimental.

  “Hanzo-sensei, are you crying?” chuckled Mikoto.

  “No, there was something in my eye…” he sniffled and chuckled.

  Kazuo, Takumi and Mikoto thanked their teacher and bid him farewell. The trio had already stacked up on supplies to st them for their trip back home. They got on the carriage and were off.

  The journey back home would have normally taken ten days but the snow had piled up and added another four days onto their trip. They did not face any other adverse challenges as they trekked back home and they arrived in the afternoon of the fourteenth day.

  ?

  “There is the vilge right up ahead,” said Takumi, pointing in its direction.

  “Home,” said Mikoto with a sentimental show of mixed emotions.

  Kazuo lowered his orange scarf. “Right… ikuzo!”

  “Not just yet,” said Takumi. “We need a pn first. The main gate has to be swarming with ninjas.”

  “So, what do you suggest?” Mikoto asked. “I’m sure you already have a pn, Taku-kun.”

  “Yes, we must look for another way to enter.” Takumi thought for a few seconds. “The bck water line will do.”

  “Bl–bck water?” said Mikoto, cringing as her face turned green. “Anything but going through a sewer canal.”

  “It’s just a little shit Mikoto,” said Kazuo after he understood what they were talking about. “Unless you’ve got a better pn.”

  She did not, and had no choice but to agree to Takumi’s pn.

  The trio took their weapons and left the carriage. They walked around the vilge wall at a slow pace to avoid alerting anyone that was on the scout for intruders and they stayed under the cover of bushes that were painted white by the snow. They also ensured to stay clear from the wall until they reached the sewer opening which was North West from the main gate. Upon arrival, they could smell the unbearable stench and luckily for them, the foul water was frozen and at a low level. After covering his nose with his scarf, Kazuo used Dōjin to cut through the iron bars and the trio entered the vilge.

  “So, where to from here?” Kazuo asked.

  “We can’t go to the school for obvious reasons,” said Mikoto underneath her own red scarf. “There’s enemy ninjas there.”

  “Affirmative,” said Takumi. “We will have to go to Shin’s residence. Since he is the one who notified us of the attack on the vilge, he can help us pn a more coordinated counter coup.”

  Takumi suggested that Kazuo covers his distinct purple hair with his scarf for obvious reasons. Mikoto helped him wrap the piece of cloth around his head then they followed the Artisan as he led them towards Shin’s inn.

  ?

  Takumi gently knocked on the door and fortunately for them, Shin called from deep in the house. He came to answer the door and was surprised to see the three familiar faces that awaited him outside.

  “What the hell are you guys doing back here?”