Chapter 15: 1 year later

Time passed in silence, so quiet that no one could be disturbed. In the twinkling of an eye, more than ten months had passed.

A group of young disciples sat in two rows on their knees and gazed at the two figures fighting fiercely.

Needless to say, they were Zoro and Kuina that were in the duel.

Ian was sitting aside at this time, watching the confrontation between them.

It has been a year since Zoro had come to the dojo. Compared with the time when he first arrived, the stupid boy who was acting like a wild boar turned to a powerful Nitoryu swordsman.

No one in the dojo made a sound, they only heard the sound of the two kid’s bamboo swords, Zoro and Kuina had already fought for more than 100 rounds, and both of them had put their best efforts into the fight.

Every day Ian and Zoro exercised together, Ian was aware of Zoro’s changes. From the beginning, Zoro was defeated by Kuina in two or three swings, and now the fight has not been divided for so long, which made Ian can’t help but nod for Zoro secretly.

Unfortunately, although Zoro became stronger, Kuina has always been stronger than him. Just when everyone thought they were going to fight for some time, Kuina suddenly bowed her head and stabbed him with both her hands holding the bamboo sword.

When Zoro saw Kuina’s action, he quickly tried to block it. But it was unexpected that Kuina’s attack was a fake action. After attracting Zoro to reveal a gap, she directly hit his face with a large upper sword style.

Another red mark appeared on Zoro’s face, Kuina’s move was really powerful. He had been beaten in his face more than once by her trick.

“1 point! So far! Kuina wins!” Master Sosuke shouted, “2000 wins and 0 loses!”

Ian sighed when he saw the winner. In the past year, Zoro challenged Kuina frequently. After every exercise, he felt that he had made some progress and it would undoubtedly come to this time. He fought her for 2000 times. On average, there were five or six duals a day. He really didn’t know where he came up with such great tenacity.

So many challenges, if he has won a few times, it would be okay, but he didn’t win even once. Ian now knows a little about Zoro’s thoughts. It’s shameful to lose in a girl’s hands, let alone to lose so many times.

“Damn… Damn it!” Zoro trembled on the ground.

Kuina pointed at Zoro with her bamboo sword and said playfully, “You are really weak, Zoro. How can you be so useless? Obviously, it’s because you’re a boy…”

The disciples in the dojo heard her and said, “Zoro is not weak! Besides our big brother Ian, he is among the strongest boys, he even can defeat adults.”

Kuina clearly heard it, turned to them, and said, “But he’s still weaker than me. Even with two swords, this kid is still weak!”

After that, Kuina left the crowd and stepped out of the dojo.

When Ian saw this scene, he could not help smiling. Kuina was still so strong. Every time she defeated him, she would stimulate him so much.

No one knew what Zoro was thinking. He stood up in silence and patted the dust on his body.

Master Koshiro came up to him and said, “You lost again, Zoro. It’s clear that you are really stronger…”

Before Zoro spoke, Master Koshiro was surrounded by a group of younger disciples shouting, “Sensei! It’s not because she’s your daughter, you are secretly training her?” “Yeah, that’s too lame!”

Master Koshiro waved his hand quickly: “No, no, I won’t do that. Zoro did become stronger, but Kuina is also getting stronger and stronger.”

At this time, Zoro, with a red print on his face, walked silently towards the door.

Everyone looked at his back, and Master Koshiro called out to him. Unexpectedly, he calmly dropped a sentence: “I am going to wash my face!” Then he went straight out.

Koshiro sighed and said to Ian, “Go and see him!”

Ian nodded, and walked out to the well in the yard, only to see Zoro holding the water desperately pouring it on his head.

“Damn, why can’t I beat Kuina?” Zoro said to himself, then suddenly roared, “Why!? Why? I’m going to be the strongest swordsman in the world. why would that happen?!”

Ian watched him getting emotionally, so he did not go forward, he just hid behind the tree and looked at him.

After a while of venting, Zoro finally calmed down, smeared the water on his face and said in secret, “I’m going to duel with her again tonight…”

……

After dinner that day, Master Koshiro and his brother Sosuke sat in their room drinking tea. During the conversation, it was inevitable to mention the confrontation between Zoro and Kuina in the daytime.

“It’s only been a year since he started. Zoro’s growth is amazing!” Sosuke said: “The amount of practice between him and Ian is unmatched to others, to say that this is certainly true, but still impossible to win against Kuina…”

After listening to this, Koshiro thought for a while and then said, “The female swordsman has a huge obstacle… As far as the situation is concerned, I still can’t let her inherit the dojo…”

In the past, Master Koshiro did not speak so plainly as he did today, even though he had some regrets. Perhaps it was because he and Sosuke were the only two people in the room that he finally spoke his mind. However, what he did not expect was that this sentence was just picked up by Kuina who was looking for him. She was listening to him outside the door.

“Father!” Kuina slammed open the door of the room.

“Eavesdropping is not good, Kuina!” Master Koshiro looked at her with a serious face.

Kuina was forced to endure her anger, and she said to Koshiro: “Father, I will be the strongest swordsman in the world!”

Similar to Koshiro, this was the first time that Kuina officially expressed her dream in front of her father, hoping to be truly recognized by him.

Unexpectedly, Master Koshiro was silent after a while and then whispered, “Kuina… Girls can’t be the strongest…”

Kuina had looked at her father in dismay. She had no idea that her father was still so stubborn. Her efforts had never been recognized by him!

Without saying a word, Kuina turned away and left, until her figure sank into darkness, and her tears began to flow down…

“This… was this too hurtful?” Sosuke looked at Koshiro unbelievably. “Why are you so unkind to Kuina?”

Koshiro sighed, lifted the cup in front of him and drank, after that he says, “Don’t you think so? Ian! “

Ian came out from behind the tree. He had watched the whole scene, but he was discovered by Koshiro. He was not surprised. When he came to the door, Ian sat down and asked Koshiro puzzled, “Sensei, why are you doing this? Why do you insist that girls can’t be the strongest?”

Koshiro’s smiling face disappeared, but instead, his expression turned into a frown, then he said, “Do you know that Kuina not only looks like her mother but even her strong personality is exactly the same as her mother?… I know her goal was to be the strongest swordsman in the world, but how could she be the strongest? Besides the physiological reasons, she has to constantly challenge stronger talented swordsmen. If anything happens to her, I’ll…”

“I’ve lost her mother, and I don’t want to lose my daughter…” Koshiro looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t want her to be the strongest in the world. I just want her to grow up safely…”

Ian watched the tears appears at the corner of his eyes. The impact of this on Ian was actually huge because he finally found out that Master Koshiro was not as old-fashioned as he imagined. In the final analysis, he just doesn’t want Kuina to leave him, not because girls can’t be the strongest swordsman.

This is a father’s deepest love for his daughter. No one dares to say that Koshiro was wrong…

In this case, Ian did not know what to say, so he stood up and said, “Sensei, I’ll go and see Kuina…”

Koshiro did not speak, this was his acquiescence to Ian’s actions. Ian closed the door of the room and went out.

He wanted to go out and look for Kuina, but he was surprised to see Kuina rushing to the warehouse from afar. Curiously, Ian followed her quietly.

A moment later, Ian saw Kuina coming out of the warehouse, holding a sword in her hand!

That was a real sword! Ian stayed in the dojo for so long, naturally knowing what Kuina was holding. It was the famous sword [Wado Ichimonji]!

The sword has a pure-white hilt with a circular hand-guard. The sheath is painted white, and the type of the blade is a straight blade. Although it was stored in the warehouse, it was said that it is a relic left to Kuina by her mother. This was the sword that was belonging to Kuina.

On such a night, Kuina unexpectedly took her sword out, and Ian could not help sighing.

He knows what’s going to happen next. He just felt a little surprised, thinking that his presence might have affected the development of the original storyline, but he didn’t expect it was going to happen…

Zoro and Kuina were still going to have their 2001st duel…

‘Let’s go and have a look. It’s also the moment when they made their vows.’