Ririko and Nioh Hachishaku's "Spar"! Heavy Blood Stage Complete, Twenty-Three Acupoints Opened!

Okabe Motonobu's gaze lingered on the shoulder of the expressionless woman for two seconds.

That insignia meant she had seen it before.

More precisely, she had seen it while she was still alive.

Five hundred years ago, during the Sengoku era, she had received the then-undisputed Sword Saint, Kamizumi Ise-no-Kami Nobutsuna.

At the time, the shoulders of the two servants beside him had borne exactly the same insignia!

Okabe Motonobu frowned beneath her sunglasses.

How had someone from the current Sword Saint's side come to a place like this...?

Although Okabe Motonobu's gaze had paused for only an instant, the little monk beside her, who was eating cotton candy, still caught it with remarkable sharpness.

He looked in the direction Okabe Motonobu had been watching, then turned back after giving an enlightened "Oh."

"She was sent by that Sword Saint to stay by my side... Apparently, she's supposed to observe and assess my potential around the clock, then decide whether I can become a candidate for the next Sword Saint.

Big Sister, you don't need to worry too much."

The little monk helplessly spread his hands. "Since my master and everyone else agreed to it, I couldn't do anything about it. If she wants to watch, then let her watch. It's not like she can figure anything out."

"However... if that Sword Saint wants to decide whether I can become a candidate for the next Sword Saint, then doesn't that basically mean he wants to take me as his disciple?"

Hozoin Inrai suddenly chuckled, his gaze distant. "I'd also like to know whether this generation's Sword Saint has the qualifications and ability to say something like that..."

The sheer amount of explosive information left Okabe Motonobu stunned.

Wait, was he really allowed to say that outright?

She looked at the