The Canary and the Crow

Jingxue was a taboo within the prestigious Yatogami Family.

Not only did the outer disciples avoid her like the plague, even the inner disciples of the main family shunned the girl, despite bearing the Yatogami name themselves.

"That girl is a monster."

Whenever Yatogami Jingxue stepped out of her courtyard, similar whispers would always rise behind her. It was not as though she could not feel those wary, disgusted gazes at her back, but she had never once turned around.

She was as cold as snow.

When Yatogami Taizo entered the quiet courtyard, the girl was still kneeling on a straw mat, gently wiping down her blade. Even the arrival of the main family's patriarch failed to make her look up at him.

With a glance at his attendants, the men, fat and thin alike, silently withdrew. They carefully stood guard at the courtyard entrance, no longer disturbing the conversation between the patriarch and the girl.

The bald elder, meanwhile, paid no heed to the girl's cold attitude. He simply sat cross-legged on the mat and waited in silence.

The girl did not raise her head, and he did not speak. One old, one young, they sat facing each other without a word.

After waiting for a long while, the girl finally finished the most important task of her day. She sheathed her sword, and her blue eyes happened to meet those of the bald elder.

"What is it?"

Clear and icy as snow, light and melodious. No one had ever known that the girl, who rarely spoke, possessed such a beautiful voice.

"There is something."

The girl's question was brief, and the bald elder's answer was equally direct.

"Speak."

Gently stroking the scabbard, the girl seemed somewhat distracted. Though seated opposite her was the head of the Yatogami Family, one of the most powerful men in the world, none of it meant anything to her.

Because her world existed only within this tiny courtyard.

"After he enters the family, follow him and protect him."

The old man pushed up his glasses and took a photograph from his robes.

After glancing at the person in the photograph, the girl frowned slightly, but said nothing and nodded softly.

"Fine."

With the matter settled, the bald elder did not waste any more words. He rose and departed, leaving the girl alone in the courtyard, lost in thought.

"I'm sorry."

Only after the bald elder had been gone for a long time did Yatogami Jingxue let out a faint sigh. Looking at the boy in the photograph, who was much younger than she was, she murmured to herself.

"My sword can only protect myself."

Yatogami Taizo walked silently through the ancient-style dojo.

As he turned a corner, an elderly man with long hair, roughly his own age, suddenly appeared. It seemed he had been waiting for quite some time.

The old man's appearance made the four attendants behind the bald elder straighten at once and bow respectfully. Judging by their expressions, they showed him no less respect than they did the bald elder.

"You may leave."

The long-haired elder spoke softly. The four attendants hesitated and instinctively looked toward the bald elder, only to find that their supreme patriarch gave no response.

Their minds put at ease, the four withdrew in an orderly manner, leaving the two men room to speak alone.

"You should know that Jingxue is not suitable."

The long-haired elder was far from polite to Yatogami Taizo, with no intention of showing the Yatogami Family patriarch any face.

"Heh. Back then, I thought you weren't suitable for that position either. But what happened?"

Yatogami Taizo did not mind the long-haired elder's attitude. He casually leaned against a nearby pillar and, rather unusually, rolled his eyes.

"Soshu is Soshu. Jingxue is Jingxue."

Yatogami Soshu was quite helpless. In his view, any one of the Yatogami Family's three hundred inner disciples was qualified to become a "Guardian," except Yatogami Jingxue.

"You won't know unless you try."

Pushing up his glasses, the bald elder showed no intention of backing down. Even if the old man before him had saved his life countless times, making him the closest family he had in this world, he would not compromise on his decision.

"A Guardian exists to protect the head of the Yatogami Family. But the only person Jingxue can protect—or wants to protect—is herself."

Yatogami Soshu understood the Yatogami Family's greatest genius extremely well. Her talent in swordsmanship was unmatched, yet she could not become a Guardian, a position second only to the patriarch.

That girl only drew her sword for herself.

"Hey, do you understand Long Yi?"

Rather than respond to Yatogami Soshu, the bald elder abruptly changed the subject and asked a somewhat unexpected question.

"Long Yi, that demon who is about to become this place's next master? Do you think I wouldn't pay attention to him?"

Like the rest of the Yatogami Family, Yatogami Soshu had strongly opposed the bald elder's decision at first.

Though he had never met the boy who had caused such a massive uproar in the holy land of Mary Geoise, he knew a great deal about him.

Hearing Yatogami Soshu's words, the bald elder gently shook his head and said to his old companion of several decades, "You can never truly understand that child from written records alone. When I first met him, he had only just officially enlisted. Even now, when I think of that impossibly young face, I still find it hard to believe that he wiped out an entire pirate fleet."

The bald elder narrowed his eyes. Long Yi's figure in the Fleet Admiral's office seemed to appear before him, and the words, "Walk in openly and honorably," still echoed in his ears.

"They were merely a few insignificant pirate ships. Even that Belik would only take one sword strike from me. If we're talking about strength alone, the Yatogami Family's descendants are far superior to those pirates."

Yatogami Soshu was somewhat unconvinced. Born above others, he had always looked down on those commoners from outside.

Although Long Yi's feat at the age of thirteen surprised him somewhat, deep down, he still refused to acknowledge any bloodline outside the Yatogami Family.

"I dare say that in a fight to the death, aside from Jingxue, all three hundred inner disciples would die at the hands of that boy you look down on."

At that, the bald elder smiled.

"How could a flock of canaries raised in a dojo possibly contend with hawks?"

Yatogami Soshu furrowed his brow deeply upon hearing this and loudly retorted, "Even if those disappointing children in the dojo are all canaries, that demon you favor is, at best, a crow. A crow!"

"But he can wield Kitetsu."

Unwilling to keep arguing with Yatogami Soshu, the bald elder revealed his trump card. Sure enough, Yatogami Soshu fell silent the moment those words left his mouth.

"Forget it, I won't meddle anymore! Sooner or later, you'll run the Yatogami Family into the ground!"

In the end, Yatogami Soshu still failed to change the bald elder's decision.

The next patriarch of the Yatogami Family would be Yatogami Long Yi, while the next Guardian would be Yatogami Jingxue.

The bald elder left with a hearty laugh, ignoring Yatogami Soshu's furious outburst behind him.

In a voice only he could hear, he murmured softly, "What is wrong with a crow? You can't expect canaries to set foot on a battlefield littered with corpses, can you?"

While undercurrents surged through the holy land of Mary Geoise and hidden turmoil stirred within the Yatogami Family, Long Yi in the North Blue began training once again.

This time, his goal was to completely master Observation Haki!