The Meiji government finally realized the local domains could never recover on their own.
Two catastrophic earthquakes had shattered the country in less than ninety days.
The Emperor officially funded long-term village relocations across the entire Tohoku region.
The imperial military physically forced surviving citizens to abandon the vulnerable shorelines.
They marched the commoners higher up the mountain slopes to rebuild.
The government printed and distributed thousands of tsunami safety guides across the nation.
The entire country was forced to adapt to the relentless tragedy.
Because of the massive, compounding death toll, Japan's ambient cursed energy was literally boiling over.
The thick negative emotion accelerated the birth of curses in every single prefecture.
--<>--
Time: 04:05 PM (Present Day)
Hanzo stood in the dusty courtyard and pulled the hemp string of his wooden bow back to his cheek.
All around him, the training ground was busy and completely chaotic.
Ren aggressively thrust a wooden spear into a thick straw dummy.
THWACK.
Yumi practiced wide, sweeping arcs with her long wooden naginata.
Kenta repeatedly smashed a heavy wooden katana against a wooden post.
CLACK. CLACK.
Daiki stood next to Hanzo holding his own wooden bow.
The eight year old boy groaned and dropped the weapon into the dirt.
"...I can hit the target five out of ten tries" Daiki murmured. "... But still doing this my fingers are covered in blisters."
Hanzo lowered his bow and looked at Daiki's red, shaking hands.
"... Isn't just constant reption?" Hanzo pointed out gently. "...We just let our muscles memorize the exact moment where we can hit the target perfectly."
Daiki blew on his sore fingers and scowled at the dirt.
"...You got a point but Hanzo you're really weird for switching from blades to bows" Daiki added. "...And also why can't we just get real cursed weapons from the clan and practice with them?"
Hanzo smiled quietly and reached for another arrow from his quiver.
He had asked that exact same question exactly one week ago.
--<>--
[Flashback]
Hanzo walked up to Tokichi near the boiling laundry pots.
"...Tokichi-senpai," Hanzo asked politely. "...Do you have a small clay jar of sake I could borrow?"
The bald servant wiped his wet hands on his apron.
"...I can do three extra laundry shifts this week to pay for it," Hanzo offered quickly.
Tokichi laughed out loud and walked over to a small wooden cabinet.
He pulled out a sealed clay jar and shoved it directly into Hanzo's hands.
"...Take it," Tokichi smiled warmly. "...That foot-pedal wringer you built already paid for a hundred jars of sake."
Hanzo bowed deeply and carried the jar straight to the training grounds.
Instructor Juzo was sitting alone on the edge of the dojo porch.
He was watching the sunset and rubbing his sore knees.
Hanzo walked up the wooden steps.
He placed the clay jar respectfully on the floorboards.
CLACK.
"...Sensei," Hanzo greeted him. "...I brought this to thank you for the extra lessons."
Juzo looked down at the jar and let out a low chuckle.
"...You are a very strange kid, Hanzo," Juzo muttered.
The instructor popped the cork off the jar and took a long drink.
GLUG. GLUG.
Juzo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed in pure satisfaction.
"...Alright," Juzo said, resting the jar on his knee. "...What do you actually want to know this time?"
Hanzo sat down on the floorboards next to him.
He put on his perfectly curious child persona.
"...How do we get real Cursed Tools, Sensei?" Hanzo asked with wide eyes. "...Will the clan give us one?"
Juzo shook his head slowly.
"...The Main Family holds every single cursed tool inside the warehouse," Juzo explained.
Juzo took another sip of the sake.
"...A branch member will never even see one," Juzo continued. "...Unless you survive long enough to become a Zekko (Master)."
(Zekko = Grade 1 sorcerer)
Hanzo kept his face perfectly innocent.
'I will never get a custom weapon from this clan,' Hanzo realized internally.
"...Can we just make our own cursed tools?" Hanzo asked.
Juzo tapped the wooden floorboards with his knuckles.
TAP. TAP.
"...There are rumors of ancient sorcerers pulling legendary weapons out of thin air," Juzo noted. "...But anyone who tries that technique today usually drains their own life force and dies."
Hanzo nodded slowly, filing the information away.
"...There are also twisted curse-users who forge metal out of human bones to trap the energy," Juzo added darkly. "...We execute them on sight."
Juzo looked out at the empty dirt courtyard.
"...The only real way for us is Prolonged Imbuement," Juzo stated quietly.
Hanzo leaned forward slightly.
"...What does that mean, Sensei?" Hanzo asked.
"...A sorcerer takes a completely normal weapon," Juzo explained. "...They channel their cursed energy into it every single day for decades."
Juzo gripped his own wooden cane.
"...They use it until their very soul stains the steel," Juzo said softly. "...The weapon permanently retains the power and becomes a semi-cursed tool or maybe a complete one after he died. I never seen and saw someone like that."
--<>--
Hanzo knocked his wooden arrow onto the bowstring.
He stood in the noisy, dusty courtyard and stared at his straw target.
He did not channel any cursed energy into the arrow this time.
He was relying entirely on pure physical aiming.
He needed to completely isolate and perfect his muscle memory.
Hanzo resolved to acquire a modern firearm as soon as he was old enough to leave the estate.
He would carry the gun every single day.
And channel his cursed energy into the steel barrel for years.
He would force the mundane metal to become a lethal cursed tool through pure, repetitive imbuement.
Bullets required far more precision than arrows.
He needed a flawless, one hundred percent hit rate to hunt curses from a safe distance.
'Using the gun as an extension to shoot blood in the future is a good direction.'
Hanzo pulled the hemp string back to his cheek.
HUFF-PUFF.
He exhaled slowly and released the arrow.
THWIP.
It buried itself perfectly into the dead center of the straw target twenty meters away.
THWACK.
--<>--
Location: Dark Woods, Kamo Estate
Time: 12:00 AM | Four Months Later (December 1896)
Hanzo threw his final right hook into the freezing winter air.
SWISH.
His bare knees hit the thick snow instantly.
THUD.
He dropped his arms to his sides and gasped for breath.
HUFF-PUFF.
Thick white steam rolled directly off his hot, red skin.
He had just finished his two thousand nine hundredth limit-break strike.
His muscles screamed in absolute agony.
Hanzo forced his shaking legs to stand back up in the snow.
He needed to test his barrier activation under extreme physical exhaustion.
A month ago, it took him a full thirty seconds to mentally map the spatial coordinates.
That delay was a guaranteed death sentence in a real fight.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the freezing wind.
The strict conditions of his equivalent exchange is sacrificing all rear and lateral defense were already permanently burned into his formula.
He just needed to execute the mental mapping in seconds while chanting.
Hanzo raised his right hand and crossed his index and middle fingers.
He pushed his refilling cursed energy outward into the cold air.
"...Guardian Angel, Superior Protector," Hanzo chanted into the dark woods. "...Bring unto me the fruits that thine garden doth bare; as I render unto you."
He forced his exhausted brain to calculate the flat five-by-five meter grid in a fraction of a second.
"...Ensure that the attempts of the malicious Demons prove fruitless!" Hanzo continued.
The cursed energy hit the invisible geometric plane in his mind and locked into place.
"...Annihilate their offences!" Hanzo chanted aggressively. "...Vanquish their hopes! Split the Void!"
FWOOSH.
A massive, semi-transparent blue wall snapped into existence right over the snow.
The one-sided custom barrier hummed with dense energy.
Hanzo uncrossed his fingers and exhaled sharply.
He had successfully dropped the activation time down to eight seconds.
He stepped exactly one foot away from the glowing flat wall.
Hanzo pulled his right fist back to his waist.
He channeled his physical strength directly into his bare knuckles.
SWIISH
And slammed his fist straight into the center of the barrier.
SMASH.
A small shockwave violently kicked the snow up around his ankles.
The flat wall completely absorbed the hit and held perfectly firm.
Hanzo pulled his bruised, red fist back.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled widely.
"I still needed to conjure it below five seconds. And omit chanting in the future."
That's right.
This is the Bakudo #81: Danku.
--<>--
Hanzo stepped over the edge of his hidden wooden tub.
SPLASH.
He sat down in the freezing winter water and leaned his head back against the rim.
Colw water splashed against his hot chest.
"Ohhh.."
He shivered violently as the cold shocked his nervous system.
CLICK. CLICK.
Hanzo teeth chattered loudly in the dark woods.
They were bruised and completely red from punching his own barrier.
'Eight seconds is still way too slow,' Hanzo thought.
He closed his injured hand into a tight fist.
'And me punching it doesn't make much sense.'
Mapping spatial coordinates in a quiet forest was entirely different from doing it under extreme combat stress.
Hanzo needed a live, moving target to truly field-test his barrier speed.
The twin earthquakes had flooded the entire country with negative emotion.
Countless low-grade curses were definitely spawning around the massive estate.
He needed to find a Grade 4 or Grade 3 spirit to hunt without alerting the clan.
"What about the two of them?" Hanzo thought about Genji and Ryu.
The two teenage guards worked the inner perimeter around the Clan Head.
They loved to gossip and complain about the other patrol squads.
"...That's it then" Hanzo smiled in the freezing water.
He would find them tomorrow afternoon and figure out exactly where the location and blind spots were.
--<>--
Time: 05:00 PM (Next Day)
Genji and Ryu sat on the edge of the wooden porch with their legs dangling over the dirt.
They were off-duty and eating rice balls before their night shift.
CRUNCH.
Hanzo walked out of the washing yard carrying a small wooden bucket of damp rags.
He put on a bright, cheerful smile and walked over to the two teenagers.
"...Good evening, senpai," Hanzo greeted them.
Ryu swallowed his mouthful of rice and waved.
"...Hey, Hanzo," Ryu smiled back. "...Just finished your afternoon training?"
Hanzo set the wooden bucket down and sat on the porch next to them.
He wrapped his arms around his knees and looked nervously out at the darkening tree line.
"...Ota-san was telling scary stories yesterday," Hanzo muttered quietly. "...About cursed spirits coming out of the woods because of the earthquakes."
Genji laughed out loud with his mouth half-full.
Hanzo tilted his head and looked at them with wide, innocent eyes.
"...Do you guys have to fight them at the Main Estate?" Hanzo asked.
Ryu scoffed and took a drink from his water canteen.
GLUG.
"...We never see a single curse near Lord Noritoshi," Ryu bragged. "...The inner barriers are way too strong."
Genji nodded and pointed a thumb toward the distant woods.
"...Only those assigned on the outer perimeter actually have to draw their swords," Genji added.
Hanzo hugged his knees tighter and shivered slightly.
"...But the forest is so big," Hanzo whispered. "...Do they just wander around in the dark looking for them?"
Genji rolled his eyes.
"...No, curses are completely stupid," Genji explained casually. "...They pool up in the exact same spots every week."
Hanzo leaned forward, acting deeply terrified.
"...I heard they come from the eastern river," Hanzo guessed innocently.
Ryu immediately shook his head to correct the kid.
"...Not even close," Ryu stated. "...They always spawn out west near the abandoned burial mounds."
Genji took another bite of his rice ball.
"...Yeah, those people assigned there complain about it constantly," Genji grunted. "...They say it is crawling with ugly insect curses right now."
Hanzo kept his eyes wide in fake horror.
"...How do they even get there?" Hanzo asked nervously. "...I would get completely lost in the trees."
Ryu laughed at the boy's fear.
"...It is actually a straight shot," Ryu explained easily. "...You just follow the main dirt path past the old weapon forge."
Ryu capped his canteen and set it on the wood.
"...Then you take the left fork at the dead oak tree," Ryu finished. "...It leads directly to the mounds."
Hanzo let out a heavy, shaky breath.
"...I am never going near the western woods," Hanzo declared.
Genji chuckled and patted the boy firmly on the shoulder.
"...Just stay in the communal house and you will be fine, kid," Genji promised. "You're still young.. When you reach fourteen, we will help you in your first exorcism."
"Really? Thank you senpai."
"...No worries" Genji replied.
"Haha... I still remember my first cursed spirit I exorcised." Ryu added.
Hanzo stood up and grabbed his wooden bucket.
He bowed politely to the guards and walked away to finish his chores.
Step. Step.
Then his scared, trembling expression completely vanished the moment he turned the corner.
'Past the forge, left at the dead oak tree,' Hanzo thought.
He had his exact coordinates and was going hunting tonight.
--<>--
A/n: Good day everyone. To all of my 400 active and silent readers. Thank you for sticking and reading up to this point.
It would be very much appreciated if you can take even 30 seconds to create a review or even put on a rating. Good, bad, criticism or anything.
It has been 2 weeks with 15 chapters but the traffic of this book is still all time low. I would be very happy if you can take time and give it a rating to make the algorithm push and make this fanfic known.
Thanks in advance
-Dr_Chad
--<>--
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