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“How dare you humiliate me!”

Sanemitsu boiled with rage when he felt his dignity being publicly trampled. The Spirit Power in his entire body erupted. He drew his sword with a sharp noise, then swung it at Lily.

Instead of dodging Sanemitsu’s blade, Lily tossed the foxtail grass at him. The grass spun past the blade and flew in front of Sanemitsu’s eyes.

It was at that moment, Sanemitsu’s Uchigatana came down forcefully!

“Clap!”

The blade stopped about three centimeters away from Lily’s forehead. Lily’s silky hair fluttered in the wind that was conjured by the blade’s motion.

“What?!” Sanemitsu was shocked!

Even Yagyuu Munetoshi, the villagers and ronin who were watching from the side gaped.

Lily’s fair arms were exposed from the sleeves of her red kimono. She had stopped Sanemitsu’s blade between her palms.

She caught the blade with bare hands!¹ Lily’s gaze turned sharp as she made a twist.

“SNAP — !” An unimaginably powerful force snapped Sanemitsu’s blade.²

The impact caused Sanemitsu to stumble a few steps to the side before he fell and landed on his hands.

Lily swung her long sleeve, then the broken blade flew toward Sanemitsu like a bolt of white light and struck the ground right in front of him!

Sanemitsu shivered at the sight of the sharp blade.

It was only then the foxtail grass that had been fluttering in the draft landed softly before his eyes.

Sanemitsu Jirou’s eyes widened at this moment, looking as though he had just suddenly realized something…

He turned around and kneeled on the ground, looking at Lily in shock as his heart palpitated. “An expert! This woman is a true expert! She could have killed me effortlessly just now if she wanted to!” he thought to himself.

“Lady, if I may ask, just which dojo were you trained in?” Sunemitsu asked in all seriousness.
“Master is ranked third in Genji Dojo of the East,” Shiu replied.
“Shiu, don’t shoot your mouth off,” Lily whispered.
“WHAT?!”

The samurai and ronin in Edo Village turned pale with fright.

“Genji Dojo of the East?” Sunemitsu’s eyes widened at Lily.

To Sunemitsu, the Genji Dojo itself was already an incredibly superior existence that was out of his reach. This lady actually ranked third among those elite samurai?

“Let’s go…” Sunemitsu’s voice suddenly turned calm.
“Lord Sunemitsu…” The other ronin looked at Sunemitsu, unsure of how to react.

Sunemitsu got up and bowed deeply to Lily. “Lady Kagami, I didn’t know that Lady Shiu is serving you. Had I known that she is the servant of an elite female samurai from Genji Dojo, a barbaric ronin like me wouldn’t dare to get carried away by my own wishful thinking! Please forgive my ignorance, Lady Kagami!”³

“Lord Sunemitsu, I apologize. I didn’t intend to make a fool out of you. I just…” Lily felt rather bad for disrespecting Sunemitsu. After all, he seemed like a ronin that was worthy of respect.⁴

“No, it is a great honor that an expert like Lady Kagami is willing to give me a pointer or two and show me that there’s always someone stronger than me out there. You have made me realize the huge disparity between the strength of a ronin from Musashi and a real powerhouse from the heart of the East! I want to thank you, Lady Kagami!” Sunemitsu cupped his fist respectfully.

“I am to blame for this,” Yagyuu Munetoshi stepped forward and also apologized to Lily. “Lady Kagami had no choice but to take action because I had spoken rudely yesterday and expressed my contempt toward women’s swordsmanship. I have learned a great deal from witnessing Lady Kagami’s impressive demonstration of catching a blade with bare hands. It is Yagyuu clan’s honor that Shiu is allowed to serve an outstanding woman like Lady Kagami!”⁵

Lily accepted Yagyuu’s kind words. “Thank you, Lord Yagyuu. Please allow me to bring Shiu back.”

Yagyuu Munetoshi nodded in approval. “Shiu, follow Lady Kagami and work hard in learning swordsmanship. Although you can’t inherit the dojo, your every word and action still represents the Yagyuu clan at the end of the day.”

“Yes, Father!” Shiu’s face flushed as she shouted in excitement.

After saying that, she shyly went over to Lily.

Lily turned around and spoke to Sunemitsu. “I’m sorry for breaking your sword. If you will travel to Suruga Province in the future, look for Master Blacksmith Ehiro. Tell her my name and have her forge you a grade 4 sword or lower for free.”⁶

“Master Ehiro!” Sunemitsu had also heard of the famous blacksmith in the Land of East. He hurriedly kneeled on the ground and prostrated himself before Lily. “Thank you very much!”

The sword that Lily broke was only an inferior grade 3 sword. If it was from a master, even a grade 3 weapon would be cream of the crop. Instead of a loss, he received a great gift from Lily. Sunemitsu was naturally moved to tears.⁷

Sunemitsu and his men left after bidding their farewell to Yagyuu Munetoshi. Lily stayed another night in the residence at the request of Yagyuu instead, and would return to Kamakura City with Shiu early next morning.

It was now midnight in Yagyuu residence’s courtyard.

Yagyuu Munetoshi sat cross-legged in the cold autumn garden in silence.

“Father…” Shiu had changed into a sexy⁸ and cool-looking ninja attire, carrying a straight sword on her back. She was ready to leave.

“Shiu… As a father, I heartlessly sent you to the Fuma clan back then. Do you resent me?”⁹ Yagyuu Munetoshi didn’t even turn his head around. He was simply staring at the peaceful pond.

“Why do you ask, Father? If Father wasn’t strict, Shiu wouldn’t be who she is today. If I didn’t join the Fuma clan, I would never get to know Master. Shiu is very blessed, and all of this is thanks to you, Father.”¹⁰

“It seems like you really admire your master.”
“Master is my everything.”

“Hohoho. Fortunately, your master is a woman. Otherwise, I would really be a little jealous as your father… Go now. Since you have chosen to be loyal to your master, forget about your father. One cannot be loyal and filial at the same time. Go with your master and carve your path of light amidst this dark era!”¹¹

“Father…”

“Your master is by no means an ordinary woman. Following someone like that means that you will encounter danger that ordinary people won’t. Father won’t comment further on this since you must have already been aware of that. Don’t come back again after you leave this time.”

“Father — !” Shiu knelt down on the stone path. Tears rolled in her eyes as she watched her father’s lonely, old but tough back.

“Shiu, since you have become Lady Kagami’s ninja, you won’t be able to carry on the Yagyuu clan’s swordsmanship. No matter. You may create a new road to ninja for my Yagyuu clan! Father thinks that you can do it if you follow this woman! Now, go — !”

“Father, Shiu… shall leave now.” Shiu lowered her head as tears streamed down from her closed eyes.

“Take… care.”
“I will!”

Shiu bowed down to her father for the one last time, then lifted her head to gaze at the silver moon in the autumn sky. Her figure transformed into a shadow as she jumped onto the eaves of her house. Using the path that a ninja would use, she rushed out of the Yagyuu residence and never looked back.

It was only then Yagyuu Munetoshi turned his head to look at his daughter’s silhouette that was about to swiftly and vigorously vanish into the night. There was a look of mixed emotions on his tough-looking face. Yagyuu Munetoshi perhaps only felt the profoundness in the bond between a father and a daughter at this parting moment.

Lily was already standing under the old pine tree in front of the residence as she waited for her female ninja in her red kimono. She smiled warmly when she saw Shiu jumped off from the eaves and ran toward her.¹²

“Shiu —”
“Master!”¹³

1. Robinxen: This is SOOOOO anime.
2. Robinxen: JESUS CHRIST! I do not want Lily’s hands anywhere near my precious sword…
3. Robinxen: He’s not a bad guy…huh?
4. Robinxen: I’d be awkward too. Too used to those scum.
5. Robinxen: He changed his tune fast. I don’t like him either way.
6. Robinxen: She’s just handing out treasure now. Gold ingots and now IOU’s.
7. Robinxen: Dude made a profit from pure luck and a bit of a fright.
8. Robinxen: …
9. Robinxen: DAMN RIGHT I DO!
10. Robinxen: YOU ARE WAY TOO OPTIMISTIC AND NAIVE BUT I LOVE YOU!
11. Robinxen: Minimal level of self awareness. Not enough.
12. Robinxen: I DEMAND ART!
13. Silva: And so, they lived happily ever after, Fin~