Inside the Yatogami Family dojo, discussion buzzed everywhere.
Before everyone's eyes, Yatogami Jingxue passed through the whispering crowd and walked to the front of the dojo. From Yatogami Soshu's hands, she accepted the sword that symbolized the title of "Guardian."
This was the Yatogami Family's ceremony for transferring the position of Guardian, witnessed by three hundred disciples of the main family's inner branch.
Blade-sharp gazes fell upon the girl, but she remained unmoved. To her, the jealous looks directed at her now were undoubtedly far gentler than the stares she usually endured.
After giving a respectful bow, Yatogami Jingxue, her face neither sorrowful nor joyful, hung the family heirloom blade called Night Watch at her waist. Meeting Yatogami Soshu's complicated gaze, she slowly stepped down.
Dressed in a black kimono, carrying two peerless famous blades, with blue eyes and white hair, she was as serene as snow.
The girl stood silently at the head of the crowd, standing apart from all others.
"Yatogami Jingxue shall be the next Guardian."
At last, the head of the Yatogami Family, Yatogami Taizo, lightly tapped the ground with Kitetsu's scabbard and spoke in a deep voice, bringing the succession ceremony to a perfect close.
The three hundred inner disciples of the Yatogami Family were silent as cicadas in winter, offering nothing but silence.
Seeing this, Yatogami Soshu, the previous-generation Guardian of the Yatogami Family, furrowed his brow deeply, seemingly angered by his clan's lack of spirit. Yet in the end, all his emotions became a long sigh. Only now did he finally understand the meaning behind the bald old man's words.
"A canary caged in a dojo will never set foot on a battlefield strewn with corpses."
After years of pressure from the bald old man, not one of the three hundred Yatogami disciples,