Brotherly Love

Lying on the table was clearly the Nichirin Sword that Senju Kyogawa had been longing for. However, the blade of this Nichirin Sword was silver-white; other than that, its shape was identical to the one used by the man with the markings.

As soon as Senju Kyogawa saw the Nichirin Sword, he was reminded of the man with the markings from his dream, who had appeared like a god.

I didn't expect the system to reward me with a Nichirin Sword directly! Isn't this too generous? Senju Kyogawa thanked the system in his heart.

He quickly climbed out of bed and gripped the Nichirin Sword, intending to lift it up for a closer look.

Senju Kyogawa applied a little force.

Hm?

He hadn't budged it?

Senju Kyogawa felt a bit awkward.

This must be an illusion! Senju Kyogawa thought.

So, he exerted more force, trying to pick up the Nichirin Sword.

Very well, he failed again.

Senju Hashirama was still standing to the side, looking at this unfamiliar Nichirin Sword with curiosity, and asked, "Kyogawa, is this sword very heavy? Should I give it a try?"

Senju Kyogawa didn't have the energy to pay him any mind; right now, he only wanted to lift this Nichirin Sword.

He politely declined Senju Hashirama's offer.

After all, this was his first real Nichirin Sword, and he wanted to lift it himself.

For some reason, this Nichirin Sword was exceptionally heavy; Senju Kyogawa couldn't lift it with one hand at all.

Thus, Senju Kyogawa began his third attempt, this time gripping it with both hands.

Fortunately, he managed to lift it this time.

Senju Kyogawa gripped the Nichirin Sword with trembling hands, having finally managed to pick it up. However, he couldn't hold it for long, and the tip of the Nichirin Sword hit the floor with a "thud." Senju Kyogawa had to lean against the floor just to keep holding onto the sword.

What the hell, why is this Nichirin Sword so heavy? The one I used before wasn't this heavy... Senju Kyogawa asked the system in his heart.

*Host, please do not underestimate system rewards. What you redeemed before was a bootleg Nichirin Sword; this one is the genuine Nichirin Sword once used by ***, the system replied.

What? By whom? Senju Kyogawa asked in confusion, as the four characters the system spoke were automatically muted.

However, he could roughly guess that those characters were likely the name of the man with the red markings on his face from his dream.

I didn't expect this real Nichirin Sword to be so heavy... Senju Kyogawa sighed in his heart.

He was struggling just to lift the sword now, let alone use it.

Seeing the disappointed expression on Kyogawa's face, Senju Hashirama couldn't help but ask, "Kyogawa, is this sword yours? How come I've never seen it before?"

Senju Kyogawa was still immersed in his disappointment, so he gave Senju Hashirama a perfunctory response: "Yeah, yeah, it's mine."

Senju Hashirama didn't quite understand why Kyogawa was so down, but he happened to hit the nail on the head: "Kyogawa, are you sad because you can't lift the sword?"

After Senju Hashirama asked that, an awkward atmosphere spread between the two. Senju Kyogawa didn't want to deal with this big brother who had poked at his sore spot.

Seriously, who could understand this? Is it reasonable that I can't even lift my own sword?

"Don't worry, Kyogawa. Kawarama couldn't lift a sword when he was your age either. Look at how well he swings his blade now; if you practice, you can be just as impressive as Kawarama."

"Well, thank you so much, big brother..." Senju Kyogawa had a black line of sweat appear on his head, but hearing Senju Hashirama say this, he did feel a bit better.

Although most members of the Senju clan possessed monstrous strength and exceptional physical fitness, that strength still required gradual training. Even the Senju clansmen couldn't lift something nearly half their body weight at five or six years old, let alone Senju Kyogawa, a ninja who hadn't exercised in four years and had only recently started "rehabilitating."

Senju Kyogawa's third brother, Senju Kawarama, had quite a talent for swordsmanship. At only seven years old, he could swing a large blade with such vigor that it whistled through the air, looking quite imposing. Even the teacher who had once taught him swordsmanship said that Senju Kawarama was ready to graduate.

Even someone like Senju Kawarama, now known as a prodigy with immense talent for swordsmanship, could barely lift a sword at Senju Kyogawa's age.

Under the golden sunlight, Senju Kyogawa was exercising in the heat.

Although the temperature in spring wasn't high, the sun near noon was quite intense, so exercising under such sunlight could by no means be called comfortable.

Sweat dripped from Senju Kyogawa's hair; his forehead and temples were covered in beads of sweat, and his small face was flushed red from the sun. His white hair stuck to his scalp in strands, and his clothes were soaked through with sweat. The fabric clung to his back, feeling sticky and clammy—Senju Kyogawa hated this sensation.

Ever since he had made up his mind to lift the Nichirin Sword, Senju Kyogawa had humbly asked his brother Kawarama how he had practiced his swordsmanship so well.

Upon hearing that Senju Kyogawa was interested in swordsmanship and already possessed a sword of his own, Senju Kawarama didn't hold back at all and was very happy to pass on his own experience to Senju Kyogawa.

And ever since Senju Butsuma had determined that Senju Kyogawa was capable of taking on missions independently, he rarely came to train Senju Kyogawa personally, so Senju Kawarama had conveniently filled the vacancy of the teacher.

Thus, from that day on, the Senju clansmen could often see a small, three-headed-tall boy with short white hair lifting weights at the training ground.

Yes, lifting weights.

In addition to the most basic taijutsu practice, Senju Kyogawa needed to perform strength training through weightlifting.

Senju Kawarama told Senju Kyogawa that the most useful method for strength training was weightlifting.

Just as Senju Kawarama had said, Senju Kyogawa's strength and grip had improved significantly after several days of weightlifting training; a layer of muscle was even faintly visible on his once-thin upper arms.

Senju Kyogawa was now able to pick up his Nichirin Sword without dropping it. Although he still had to use both hands, this was already a massive improvement.

Beyond that, Senju Kyogawa could clearly feel a greater sense of power in his punches lately, no longer feeling as soft and weak as he had in the past.

However, in correspondence with this, the daily weightlifting practice left Senju Kyogawa's arms incredibly sore. Although he could rely on the Pain Immunity Card to dull the sensation, the feeling of weakness and soreness in his arms would not disappear by the next day, sometimes becoming so severe that Senju Kyogawa could not even lift his hands.

Thus, every night, Senju Kawarama would come to massage the sore muscles in Kyogawa's arms to ensure he could sleep soundly and continue his training the following day.

Consequently, over the past month or so, the two of them had not only practiced together but also eaten and slept together, even massaging each other's sore muscles at night; as a result, the bond between Senju Kyogawa and Kawarama had progressed by leaps and bounds.

"Little Kyogawa~ come and eat~" Senju Kawarama called out from outside the training ground to Senju Kyogawa, who was engrossed in his practice.

Senju Kawarama had come to bring Senju Kyogawa his meal once again.

The two sat together in the small woods outside the training ground, enjoying fragrant rice balls while chatting about their training insights.

Senju Kawarama took a cloth to wipe the sweat from Senju Kyogawa's face, then had him sit in the shade of a tree and picked up a fan to cool him down.

The two brothers talked about everything under the sun, dreaming of the future...

However...

Good times do not last.

Not long after, Senju Kawarama died on the battlefield.

When the tragic news arrived, Senju Kyogawa was on the training ground, practicing his sword swings.