On the Road

"A swordsman who can cut through nothing can still cut through everything he wishes to cut!"

Master Koshiro's words gave Mu Yu much to ponder.

Mu Yu interpreted it as "microscopic control" over power. In the professional terms from the web novels he had read in his previous life, that was called Microscopic Control.

To wield lightness with the weight of heaviness, and heaviness with the ease of lightness—the true wonder lay in one's heart!

But mastering Microscopic Control was not as simple as Mu Yu had imagined. Or rather, he had yet to find an effective shortcut for training it.

Worse still, the system offered no prompt.

Or rather, there was no tree seed that could let him master the realm of Microscopic Control simply by watering it with energy.

Mu Yu was at a loss, with no idea where to begin.

Just then, Zoro came running over with a Bamboo Sword in each hand.

"Mu Yu, come settle this with me!"

Mu Yu was surprised. "You know my strength. You still want to challenge me?"

Zoro flashed a cool, cocky grin. "Is the gap between us bigger than the gap between you and Master Koshiro? I'm the man who'll become the World's Greatest Swordsman. If I can't defeat even you and Master Koshiro, then how will I ever become the Number One Swordsman Under Heaven?"

Mu Yu stared at Zoro in surprise, then smiled.

"Zoro, I acknowledge you. From now on, I'll take every battle between us seriously!"

Distance bred beauty. Training in the same dojo had gradually shattered some of Mu Yu's admiration for Zoro.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt that this little brat before him still had the same formula, the same flavor as the Zoro he had once admired.

Zoro assumed a Two-Sword Style stance and shouted, "That's how it should've been! Here I come!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Zoro charged forward in long strides, swinging both swords as he rushed at Mu Yu.

Bang!

With one Cutting Down strike, Mu Yu sent Zoro sprawling.

Zoro, with a red mark across his face, raised his Bamboo Sword and declared spiritedly, "If two swords aren't enough, then I'll train with three! Just you wait, Mu Yu!"

Watching Zoro leave with that foolishly earnest look on his face, Mu Yu was suddenly deeply moved.

In the past, Zoro's determination to become braver with every setback had impressed Mu Yu too, but never had he felt it as profoundly as he did now.

Everyone knew that failure was the mother of success. But after struggling through countless hardships, only to meet failure again and again, who could keep challenging themselves without wavering?

Looking at himself, he had only failed one challenge and had already been utterly discouraged.

Compared to Zoro, he was far behind in this regard.

"Stronger with every setback, huh?"

Mu Yu looked toward the small courtyard where Koshiro lived and could not help flashing a mischievous grin.

Morning.

After finishing the day's morning lessons, Mu Yu went to Koshiro's side.

"Master, I'll be relying on you today!"

Koshiro smiled with narrowed eyes. "Of course."

A few seconds later.

Mu Yu's vision went black after Koshiro struck him with a hand chop, and then he knew nothing more.

Who knew how much time had passed? When Mu Yu awoke, his first thought was—

Damn, Koshiro really didn't hold back. He actually knocked me unconscious in one blow.

Hah! Hey!

Hah! Hey!

Ordinary students used Bamboo Swords for chopping practice, while Mu Yu used a real sword. Ordinary students ran ten laps, while Mu Yu ran twenty or thirty laps with weights.

For chopping practice, ordinary people performed a thousand strikes. Mu Yu directly raised his count from ten thousand to twenty thousand, then thirty thousand!

Another afternoon.

"Master, thank you for your hard work!"

Koshiro gave a lazy yawn, looking utterly relaxed, like someone who had slept late through a spring morning in a thatched cottage.

But the next second, Mu Yu's vision went black, and he crashed headfirst to the ground.

Damn!

That was too underhanded!

Koshiro, wasn't your character supposed to be that eternally kind Squinty Eyes?

Your character setting has completely fallen apart!

Koshiro did not care in the slightest and continued smiling with narrowed eyes. "Mu Yu, your vigilance is still far too low!"

Mu Yu: "..."

The malice of an honest-looking man!

It really did run in the family, from father to daughter!

Nightfall.

Mu Yu bowed to Koshiro. "Master, tha—"

Before Mu Yu could finish, his figure suddenly vanished. The next instant, he slashed horizontally at Koshiro's legs.

But in the next instant, Mu Yu appeared beneath Koshiro's shoe.

The lesson from this sneak attack was exceptionally brutal. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared wherever his body met the ground.

Koshiro said, "Your breathing, your heartbeat—before a sneak attack, both your breathing and heartbeat became erratic!"

Mu Yu nearly spat blood.

Koshiro truly did not treat him like a disciple. He had gone for the kill there, hadn't he? He definitely had gone for the kill!!!

A sudden downpour.

Koshiro thrust a Bamboo Sword into Mu Yu's abdomen. Rainwater soaked his body and face.

That thrust hurt so badly that Mu Yu suspected he had cried.

Scorching summer.

Mu Yu, severely dehydrated and dizzy from the heat, began the battle.

A tsunami arrived, and the battle continued.

The temperature plummeted. He caught a fever, and the battle continued.

Hail suddenly fell. His head was struck bloody by the hailstones, and the battle continued.

As time passed, Mu Yu understood more and more what it meant to say that Squinty Eyes were all monsters.

"Focus, Mu Yu. Whether you're doing Suburi, chopping at target trees, or even running with weights, you can quickly enter the right state. Why, when fighting me, do your eyes constantly wander and you keep hesitating?"

"Concentration. Can your focused state only be used for training? Then what is the point of all your desperate training?"

"Watch in all directions and listen in every direction. On the battlefield, any seemingly insignificant factor can affect the outcome. The battlefield is a whole; you are not meant to focus entirely on the enemy!"

Wasn't that contradictory?

Mu Yu was too drained to complain, but Koshiro had no intention of explaining.

"As a swordsman, your sword is your second life. A blade is sharp, but it is also fragile. What do you take your sword for?"

"As a swordsman, even a chipped blade is a disgrace. Learn to use your sword to cut through everything you wish to cut, rather than letting what you wish to cut shatter your sword instead!"

Even when Mu Yu broke a Bamboo Sword, he would receive a merciless scolding.

Koshiro practically used a stick to carve these principles into his memory.

Mu Yu cried.

Wasn't the effect of turning a bamboo stick into a Divine Weapon something that could only be achieved after coating it in Armament Haki?

That was just wishful thinking!

But Koshiro did not care, nor had he ever mentioned a single word about Haki training.

"It is perfectly normal for a swordsman to encounter a powerful enemy. Are you helpless just because you fall behind after one move? Defense is also for the sake of counterattacking! Go back and copy the principles of Isshin-ryu a hundred times!"

"Breathe. Control your breathing, and sense the enemy's breathing. Everything in existence has its own breath. Learn to hear the source of an attack and its weakness through that breath!"

"You're scared just because of thunder? A true swordsman must possess the spirit to cut through even five bolts of lightning striking overhead with a single slash. Mu Yu, you rely too heavily on your Devil Fruit ability. Your vision is far too narrow!"

Day by day, the Ordinary students of Isshin Dojo soon noticed an extremely strange phenomenon.

Every day, Zoro desperately came to Mu Yu to get beaten up, while every day, Mu Yu went to Koshiro to get beaten up.

As for Kuina, after beating up Zoro, she would come to Mu Yu to get beaten up.

But what the Ordinary students of Isshin Dojo could not understand was that all three of them seemed to enjoy it.

That was right—they enjoyed it!

Even Zoro, who stood at the very bottom and was brutally beaten by Mu Yu and Kuina in turns every day, seemed to be in exceptionally good spirits.

The Ordinary students were dumbfounded. They could only train desperately every day, causing the overall strength of Isshin Dojo to soar by several levels!

The funniest part was that during one exchange with another dojo, mainstays like Mu Yu, Zoro, and Kuina did not even make a move. The visiting peers who had come for a "friendly exchange" were beaten into doubting their lives by an inconspicuous Little Baldy from Isshin Dojo.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

Mu Yu's strength advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching a realm that even the Instructors could scarcely imagine.

As for the Swordsmanship Tree and Physique Tree in the Garden of the Gods, they had long since grown lush and flourishing, far more verdant than they had been a year ago.

Even against Koshiro, Mu Yu could now exchange blows back and forth, though he still could not launch an effective counterattack.

As for Koshiro's saying—"a swordsman who can cut through nothing can still cut through everything he wishes to cut"—he still had not even found the threshold.

But what left Mu Yu at a complete loss was that when he challenged Koshiro again, Koshiro refused for the first time.

Koshiro still smiled with narrowed eyes, but to Mu Yu's astonishment, his opened eyes were filled with satisfaction.

"Mu Yu, let the challenges end here. There is nothing more I can teach you!"

Mu Yu was instantly dumbfounded.

What did he mean, "nothing more I can teach you"?

There was still a vast difference between their strengths, all right?!

Mu Yu wanted to argue, but Koshiro stopped him.

Koshiro said, "Mu Yu, you are one of the rare geniuses I have ever seen. Your talent, perseverance, and opportunities are all excellent. A person is like a sword, and a sword is like a person. My final piece of advice to you as your master is this—drawing your sword should always be the last resort in solving a problem. Think thrice before you draw it. Once you have drawn it, never regret it!"

For some reason, Mu Yu saw a trace of loneliness in Koshiro.

That advice was likely the summary of Koshiro's entire life.

"Thank you, Master, for your teachings. This past year, you have worked hard!"

A man had gold beneath his knees. The habits engraved into Mu Yu's soul from his previous life made him take kneeling and bowing extremely seriously.

But this bow came from the bottom of his heart. He submitted completely and sincerely!

Over the past year, he had challenged Koshiro day after day. From casual indifference at the beginning to increasing strictness later, Koshiro had taught Mu Yu far, far too much.

Seeing Mu Yu's actions, Koshiro smiled with narrowed eyes and nodded.

"Get up!"

"Running a dojo, it is my good fortune to have accepted a disciple like you, one blessed with both talent and character!"

"From here on, train on your own. Once you pass my final test, you will be able to teach Isshin-ryu swordsmanship to others!"

Mu Yu was filled with emotion, but in the end, it condensed into a single word. "Yes!"