Sword Heart Clarity

At night, in Toyama Prefecture, Eastern Capital, inside the estate of the Kujo Clan, a family of swordsmen.

A long-haired boy stood there, dressed in white training clothes, his eyes wrapped in a strip of black cloth that obscured his features.

At that moment, he stood motionless beneath a tree, both hands holding a bamboo sword level in front of him!

The branches of the tall ginkgo tree in the courtyard swayed gently in the breeze. Yellowing leaves, each about the size of a coin,

drifted down toward the ground in a random shower.

"Breathe..."

Just then, the boy drew in a light breath and lowered his stance.

He raised the bamboo sword in his hands and, taking quick, light steps, swung it again and again at the falling leaves in the sky above.

The bamboo sword in the boy's hands became a blur.

But strangely, even though his eyes were covered by black cloth, why were the steps beneath him and the movements of his hands

completely unaffected?

A moment later, even after the breeze had died down, not a single whole ginkgo leaf had landed safely!

When the leaves stopped falling, the boy once again stood motionless like a stone statue, both hands holding his bamboo sword level in front of him.

Only the shredded leaves at his feet bore witness to the astonishing scene that had just unfolded.

"Cough... cough..."

A muffled cough came from the room behind him.

Kujo Tachibana lowered his bamboo sword and untied the blindfold.

A pair of clear black-and-white eyes stood out on the boy's handsome face.

Yet, on closer inspection, a trace of sorrow could be seen on his refined features.

After composing himself, Tachibana headed for his father Kujo Kai's room.

The dim room was lit by nothing but a short white candle, and the air was thick with the smell of herbs.

Tachibana's father, Kujo Kai, was sitting on the tatami, wrapped in a quilt and leaning against the wall.

With his pale face and lifeless eyes, Kujo Kai seemed lost in memories.

Only when Kujo Tachibana entered and called to him did a hint of life return to his expression.

Kujo Kai looked at his son with gentle warmth and said softly,

"Tachibana, I've been a burden to you. You've worked so hard lately."

Kujo Tachibana shook his head and tucked the quilt more securely around his father. He said nothing.

The weather wasn't particularly cold this time of year, yet even with a thick quilt over him, his father's arms were still a little chilly.

His father's mind was also growing hazy.

Tachibana knew his father probably didn't have much time left.

He had gone through this state himself before.

Sadly, Tachibana still didn't know how to comfort his father.

I hope Father can go to the next world, just like I did, and live a good life.

Tachibana prayed for his father silently.

Kujo Kai slowly raised his arm and, with effort, rested it on Tachibana's head.

"Tachibana, you have a great gift for the way of the sword. You're far better than I ever was. I only hope... cough... cough..."

Kujo Tachibana hurried to his feet and gently patted his father's back, his voice full of sorrow.

"No, Father! I still have a long way to go. I only hope you'll recover soon and continue teaching me swordsmanship."

"Heh."

Kujo Kai smiled at Tachibana.

His son's genius was so extraordinary that even he found it hard to fathom.

Ever since Tachibana turned ten, Kujo Kai had known that his son had left him far behind.

He could no longer understand the level of Tachibana's swordsmanship.

Though the Kujo Clan's circumstances seemed somewhat shabby now,

the Kujo family had once left a significant mark on Japan's history.

The reason for their decline wasn't entirely that their descendants had failed to work hard. The outside world had simply changed too much, too quickly!

For ordinary people like them, the gulf between Japanese sword-drawing techniques and American gun-drawing techniques was all but impossible to overcome...

The Sword Abolition Edict and advances in technology had made powerful, easy-to-use firearms the natural replacement for the swords in their hands.

By Tachibana's generation, the once-grand Kujo Clan had dwindled to just Kujo Tachibana, his father Kujo Kai, and this old estate.

Kujo Kai had no idea that his genius son, "Kujo Tachibana," was actually a transmigrator. In his previous life, Tachibana had been a bona fide Chinese man from Hua Country on Blue Star.

Poor Tachibana had been just twenty-seven, at the height of his career, when—whether from being worked overtime too much by his unscrupulous boss or eating too much food cooked with gutter oil—he was tragically diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer.

Tachibana had chosen to forgo treatment, and the cancer cells quickly spread. In less than two months, he had received his last boxed meal from the crew of his previous production.

He was reborn as Kujo Tachibana in this world, but he didn't regain all his memories until he was four.

Perhaps it was because the souls from his two lives had merged.

After arriving in this world, Kujo Tachibana discovered that he had a far better memory than in his previous life, along with extraordinarily keen senses!

Even memories he had long since forgotten in his previous life were now vivid in his mind!

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch!

All five of these senses were far stronger than those of an ordinary person.

Perhaps because Tachibana had suffered so much from illness in his previous life,

when he came to this new world, he made his health his top priority.

Having a young, energetic body again was the greatest gift Heaven could have given him!

In this life, Kujo Tachibana absolutely refused to become a sickly weakling!

With that conviction, Tachibana exercised and practiced the family's swordsmanship year after year.

After keeping at it for so long, he finally reaped the rewards.

By the age of ten, Tachibana had mastered the family's swordsmanship. Whenever he picked up a sword, he felt as if he could do anything!

Even if all he held was a bamboo sword.

At first, Tachibana thought it was just an illusion and that he was still a powerless child.

It wasn't until he was ten, when Tachibana beat more than a dozen adult thugs with a bamboo sword...

that he realized he really was strong!

And that this world was no ordinary place...

How could a normal ten-year-old child have that kind of strength?

In Tachibana's eyes, these adults were weak and slow!

A casual strike from him could knock an adult down.

At least, he had never heard of anything this outrageous happening in his previous life.

Still, the feeling of commanding such strength,

was truly intoxicating!

It made Tachibana grow more and more obsessed with practicing his family's swordsmanship, step by step!

To ordinary people, sword training was a dull, tedious ordeal—a double trial of body and mind!

But to Kujo Tachibana, it was a process he relished, a chance to feel himself growing stronger!

His obsession with swordsmanship, combined with just a tiny bit of talent!

It also enabled Tachibana to complete the most difficult training method in the history of the Kujo Clan!

"Five-Sense-Enhancement Sword Training!"

After completing the Five-Sense-Enhancement Sword Training, Tachibana unknowingly developed a powerful sixth sense, one that transcended the five senses of ordinary humans!

The clan's historical records had mentioned this sense. It was called "Sword Heart Clarity!"

No detailed information about Sword Heart Clarity had survived.

The Kujo Clan's records only stated that the first Kujo ancestor to reach the realm of "Sword Heart Clarity" had already been sixty-five years old.

Tachibana was only fourteen!

After reaching the realm of Sword Heart Clarity, Tachibana could sense even the slightest changes in his surroundings from every direction, even with his eyes closed.

He could also hear sounds from far away with his ears plugged.

Smell, taste, and touch!

They were the same.

He could even sense the state of an object's interior by concentrating.

Perhaps it was because of this powerful perception that the Kujo ancestors had named it "Sword Heart Clarity"!

As for whether Sword Heart Clarity had any other special properties, Tachibana still hadn't figured that out. He would have to explore further.