126 5.15 Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: The Flying Heavenly Sword Style

Hiko-sama had placed a handguard as well as a handle that he had separated from the 5 katana that he had brought back. He placed it on my Takamura while I was in the shower earlier.

He chose the oval handguard that he deemed fit for the new katana that I had forged as well as a handle that seems to fit my two little hands. The only thing now is to find someone to craft the sheath for me.

He was thinking of getting the local Blacksmith to make one for me, but he might be thinking that the local Blacksmith might be asking too many questions on where I might have gotten the blade.

Furthermore, it was forged by me so the Blacksmith would know that the blade had just been created. So he decided to take the blade by himself to the Blacksmith so there won't be too much fuss created.

As soon as I stepped out from the shower, I saw the handguard and handle. "Sensei, is this for the new blade?" I asked when I saw those things on my Takamura.

"Uh huh... That's the best choice I have seen from the other 5 katana. What would you call your katana?"

"Sensei, I was thinking of naming it as 'Shinrai to yujo' meaning trust and friendship. Later once it is ready I will use my blood essence to enhanced it before I perform blade washing on it."

"It is a beautiful name, trust and friendship. Yes... Yes... A beautifully forged katana with a beautiful name. So this katana will be used together with the Kodachi I had given you?"

"Yes, Sensei, this katana is more suited for my body height and its like a big brother an odachi or nodachi for the Kodachi."

"Yes...! Yes...! It is really a company for your Kodachi. Nodachi... Hmm, well it is slightly longer than 3 feet length and suitable for your height. Even if you outgrew the sword, at least it is something formidable since you are the one that forged it, right?"

" Yes, Sensei. Leave the blade for a while, I have other tasks to do. When I want to enter the Realm of Mind again, I will let you know. You can see the meaning of blade washing because this method is very taxing and takes 3 times longer than just to grind a katana to become sharp."

"Sure, you just go ahead and do what you need to do. My 4 jars of sake had arrived and since my Comrades would be leaving for their expedition tomorrow, maybe I have a head start in drinking."

"Well, I noticed you never got drunk when drinking sake. How much could you drink per night?"

"I could drink as many as I can as long there are full jars in front of me."

"Well, don't drink too much, Sensei. Even if you never get drunk, but it might damage your liver. Just like smoking, it damages the lungs and prolongs healing and regeneration of cells in the body."

"Haa... Haa... Haa... You talk like as if you are a physician, Himura. Ok off you go then, I heard you making compost for the backyard?"

"Yes, Sensei... I'm going to burn the grass that's in the backyard when evening comes. Evening a lot of housewives have brought in their laundry so no harm to burn these. Also, it helps to keep the mosquitoes away."

I replied as I went outside to check my laundry which had been dried by the sun. It smelled nice and warm and it seems that most of the villagers' laundry had been brought into the house.

I folded my laundry and kept in my room. Then I took an ember from the kitchenette and torched the piles of grass that I had stacked earlier. Even though the grass was a bit damp due to the snow, it caught fire easily since they were not green.

There was a lot of white smoke emitting from the yellowish tall grass that I had placed around 17 piles throughout the backyard and soon the surroundings were blanketed with white smoke. Since it was evening time, the smell and the smoke helped to rid the gnats and mosquitoes away.

Luckily this was the 19th century Japan and no one said anything when burning vegetation behind the house. If its present day, people had little or zero tolerance towards these type of burning.

All the 17 piles of grass were smouldering and it would take some time for them to burn out. I went back to the terrace and found Hiko-sama was chugging away sake like it was some kind of soft drink.

"You want to try, kid? It's quite mild you know. And it's flavoured with dried plums. It's very nice, you should try then you should be able to know."

Hiko-sama offered me a cup and he filled it up. I held it to my nose and I noticed that there wasn't a smell that rushes up to one's nose and when I stick my tongue into it I could taste the sweet, sourish taste of dried plums in them.

"This is not sake, Sensei... This is umeshu or plum sake. This umeshu will be a top hit if exported out to other villages as well as other parts of Japan. In my time... Ahem... I mean there has already someone marketing this brand, by the name Choya. It comes in a drink up straight bottle and not in a jar."

"Are you sure, Himura? There's such brand as Choya that sells the same taste like this?"

"Sure Sensei, it's more catered to the ladies drink. Even at 10% proof, if one drinks too fast and too much, they will get drunk easily. But it's nice to drink it chilled."

"Is it? Well, maybe if we put it out in the open at night to make it cool, it would taste better?"

"Yes, Sensei... The colder it is, the better.. Like putting snow inside it. But it is better to put ice inside rather than snow, as it is cleaner."

"Haa...haa...haa...you really have so many ideas. This is the first time you drink umeshu?"

"Not really, Sensei... This is not the first time, but you should also try Strong Zero. Its a fruity mix of alcohol like umeshu but will knock out a person if he drinks two subsequently."

"Never heard of Strong Zero before. You think we could find it in other parts of Japan?"

"Not in this world, Sensei," I replied as I winked at him to let him know that it exists on the Realm of Mind, or frankly speaking... It is available from the late 20th century onwards.

"Go and rest first for some time, later when the yatai comes, I will go and get supper for the both of us, OK? I think we should buy something like okonomiyaki and Oden or ramen."

"If we have okonomiyaki, we can have either Oden or ramen. OK, shoo... Shoo... Go and take some rest. Don't worry about the fires, it won't burn people's houses. Go, rest now."

Hiko-sama knew I was tired from forging earlier for 3 hours straight. And then still complete the burning of the grass and then fold the laundry. I had not taken proper rest since and it's better for me to take some now since there won't be any activity.

The umeshu I drank had a woozy effect because maybe of my small size and the absorption of alcohol would be faster. And another thing I'm just an 11-year-old kid and being offered sake by an adult.

So irresponsible! As soon as I lay my head on the Takamura, I soon fell asleep.

---Meanwhile in the terrace of the house---

"Why does that kid named his sword as 'Shinrai to yujo'... Is he trying to tell me something? Trust and Friendship; normally people would name their sword as Heavenly, or Earth Splitting or even Devil's Tongue..."

"But for him, he named it Trust and Friendship instead. Is he treating his odachi as a toy even if he had forged it with metals from parts of a weapon?" Hiko-sama was thinking aloud to himself as he drunk his sake.

"And take this sake for example, he called it umeshu and he told me people are selling it under a brand called Choya. I have been living here longer than him and I never heard of a brand Choya and earlier he even mentioned Strong Zero."

"Even he had brought me twice to the Realm of Mind, I still was unable to grasp between reality and fantasy. The bucket of parts he had used for smelting was used up when we got back to the real world, so that means what took place in the real world would also affect in the Realms of Mind, vice-versa."

"Urghh...my head is spinning again. Not from the sake, but just by thinking of this kid's ability."

"I wondered if he would be accepting the knowledge if I were to pass to him the legendary sword fighting styles from ancient kenjutsu called the "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu" which is also known as 'The Flying Heavenly Sword Style'."

---In-depth explanation of the sword style---

Flying Heavenly Sword Style was an ancient kenjutsu style from the Sengoku Jidai, developed to allow a single samurai to defeat numerous foes single-handedly.

Rooted in the concept of Ichi no Tachi, or to strike in a single blow, practitioners of this style used a combination of immense speed and agility, battojutsu, and acquired, observation-based pseudo-clairvoyance that permitted a practitioner to anticipate an opponent's movements.

Both offensive and defensive manoeuvres were executed with minimal movement to increase a practitioner's ability to counter-attack and to conserve energy.

The style commonly had the user keep one hand on the sheath at all times and stresses two-step attacks to ensure that the practitioner was never off guard while executing said attacks, and allowed the user to use the sheath as a shield to block attacks.

Arguably, its most well-known trait was the surreal speed practitioners of this style used in battle (known as Shinsoku, or Godspeed), allowing the user to accelerate, manoeuvre, and strike at speeds most eyes were unable to properly follow.

This allows the user to close considerable distance in seconds and strike down enemies before they can react. Despite each successor to this style becoming true masters of its teachings and skills, rarely have any of them be able to use this style to true perfection and bring out its full potential.

Only Hiko-sama was able to surpass the generic limits normal limits of this style, such as going beyond god-speed without the need of battōjutsu strikes, letting Hiko-sama accelerate to speeds faster than the human eye can detect.

The techniques of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū had only been held by a select few through the course of its entire history. In the face of its tremendous power as a style, this was due to its adherence to the strict yet responsible practice of Ishi Soden, which involved a single master training a single apprentice exclusively.

In this case, Hiko-sama would be able to exclusively teach Himura if he wanted to learn the sword style.

Due to its tremendous power and speed, Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu had been nicknamed "The Black Ship of the Land" in that it would almost certainly secure absolute victory for whichever side might wield it in a conflict.

In light of this probability, the practitioners of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu had historically maintained the independence of any and all political entities, stressing highly the statement of wielding its expertise in the name of their fellow man.

Under this duty, all generations of practitioners received a great deal of insight regarding the human condition from the teachings. This included the instruction regarding the relativism of morality and the idea that perceptions of good and evil were not absolute; a potentially "good" human being can have any number of beliefs that may not mesh with those of the practitioner without necessarily being wrong.

Other core tenants of the style included the idea the art of swordsmanship ultimately amounts to nothing more than a way to kill other human beings, regardless of the practitioner's intentions or beliefs, and that the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu should never be used to improve a practitioner's social standing, acquire wealth, or obtain political power.

Finally, while heirs are encouraged to protect the defenceless and less fortunate, it also permitted its practitioners to execute individuals whom they deem to be truly deserving of death.

As powerful as it may be, Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu can also be detrimental to its practitioners. Medically speaking, the physical demands for Hiten Mitsurugi were tremendous. For anyone ill-equipped, simply employing their techniques caused cumulative, physical damage to their body.

According to the physician Takani Megumi, the style was essentially a "superman's sword art", requiring someone with an incredibly athletic body to use effectively in the long term.

Normally, the training provided during apprenticeship enabled a practitioner to condition themselves properly. In turn, Hiko Seijuro is an example of the necessary conditioning for practitioners of the style to perform without incurring the cumulative trauma from regular usage, having developed an extraordinarily resilient physique with an incredible musculature over years in tenure as a Hiten Mitsurugi master.

But, with proper and regular training, the style served as a veritable "fountain of youth" enabling practitioners to suppress the ageing process and look younger despite their age.

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"If only Himura would agree, then I would pass down the sword art but he needs to train continuously or else it would take a strain on his body, indefinitely. If not, then I would make a pass and teach him how to take defence and offence effectively without the need to use his special skills."

"I would make a mental note about the hanyou he had mentioned earlier, a half dog demon and half human. It's very interesting that he could know so many things while being in that small village."

---Meanwhile in the nearby district---

Yatai owners are pushing their carts and were calling out to potential customers to buy their wares. Even though it had passed dinner time, it was the norm for villagers to buy snacks and other dinners if they hadn't cooked for the evening.

It was normal for villagers to buy their dinner rather than cook since most of them were outside and had just returned from the fields or whatever work they had been assigned to.

In order to save trouble and hassle, buying dinner would just be an additional fraction of what they would normally spend to cook. It's quite a convenience during this time of era.