"He has no talent! Becoming a swordsman would just get him killed! I will never let him continue this meaningless suicide! The same goes for you! Everything all of you are doing is meaningless!"
Faced with Shinjuro's sudden, storm-like barrage of insults and rejection, the atmosphere in the courtyard turned icy. Kanae went pale. She knew Shinjuro had broken down after reading the journals left by generations of Flame Hashira and losing his wife, but she had never expected him to take that despair out on the innocent Rokuya.
"Rokuya, Mr. Rengoku is just acting on impulse..." Kanae tried to step forward and smooth things over.
But before she could finish, an utterly terrifying killing intent that seemed capable of freezing the soul forced her back.
That killing intent came not from Shinjuro, but from Takanashi Rokuno.
The smile had vanished entirely from Rokuya's face. His gaze turned as cold as ice, and dark blue light began flickering wildly deep within his pupils. The Shura Greatblade at his waist seemed to sense its master's fury, giving off a teeth-grating hum inside its scabbard.
He neither retreated a step nor buckled under Shinjuro's fighting aura as the Flame Hashira. Instead, the violent Arcana Power within him began to churn. His invisible aura, like a deep-sea vortex, instantly shredded Shinjuro's chaotic, fiery fighting aura.
"Old man, did you rot your brain drinking counterfeit booze?"
Rokuya's voice was quiet, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly. Those words were like a cold knife plunged straight into Shinjuro's fragile pride.
Rokuya pressed a step closer. Now taller and larger than Shinjuro, he looked down at the utterly dispirited man who reeked of alcohol.
"I don't care what bullshit setback you suffered, or what damned journals you read that made you think everything was hopeless." Rokuya's