Two months later, Yarimato had already gotten used to the cold, so his teacher dragged him to the river, where he had to stand under an icy waterfall and withstand its pressure.
When he put his foot in the water, Yarimato was covered in goose bumps and his desire completely disappeared, but still, to Takahashi’s surprise, Yarimato entered the lake and stood under the waterfall, managing to hold out for just over a minute before turning completely blue and falling into the water.
Yarimato swam to the shore, very cold, and climbed out with his body trembling.
Yarimato: Well, did I last longer than usual this time?
Takahashi: It’s still not enough.
Yarimato: You always call me weak, but what about you?
You’re the teacher, so why don’t you show me what you’re capable of?
Takahashi was surprised by Yarimato’s audacity, but he decided to show him how it should be done.
Takahashi took off his clothes, entered the cold water, swam to the waterfall, and stood directly under it.
Put his palms together, straightened up, and withstood the pressure of the waterfall as if he were standing in a normal rain.
Suddenly, after a couple of minutes, Yarimato noticed steam coming from his teacher.
Yarimato was surprised by this and couldn’t even believe what he saw.
When Takahashi returned, Yarimato asked him what it was.
Takahashi: When you were standing under that waterfall, did you feel a slight warmth beginning to appear deep inside your body?
Yarimato: I don’t remember, but it felt like something was tickling me inside.
Takahashi: So, you need to let it out, and that’s why my body heated up and steam came out of me.
Well, let’s go back, because knowing you, you’ll easily get sick from something like this. New chapters come out on g.com first.
But Yarimato didn’t want to leave.
He became curious about this feeling and wanted to try it again.
Yarimato: Wait, Takahashi-sensei, let me try again, I’ll try to extract that very energy from myself.
Takahashi: If you want, try it, but you’re unlikely to succeed on your second attempt, because it requires very long control over your body and soul, as if you are trying to unite them into one, and when they merge, you will get that very warmth.
Yarimato listened to his teacher and stood under the waterfall again, placing his palms together and bending his legs slightly, straightening his back and neck and closing his eyes.
Yarimato began to hold the huge mass of icy water.
Takahashi: It’s interesting, three minutes have already passed, and he’s still standing there.
What is he thinking?
Yarimato was completely focused, and feeling the warmth deep within himself, he began to try to draw it out of himself.
Grabbing it with both hands, he tried with all his might to draw this energy from the depths of his soul.
Suddenly, Takahashi noticed that Yarimato’s body began to thaw, and his frozen blue skin began to take on warm tones, and a small amount of steam rose from him.
Takahashi: It can’t be that such a weakling at such a young age was able to connect his soul and body together on his second attempt.
This is the first time I’ve seen this, because this is the first time I’ve seen anyone other than myself able to do this.
Opening his eyes, Yarimato seemed to come to his senses, but unable to resist the mass of water, he fell back into the water.
A couple of months later, when the snow began to melt and leaves appeared on the trees, Yarimato finally breathed a sigh of relief, as he had lived through his first winter in such harsh conditions and, as a result, had become more serious and knew for sure that he could overcome any obstacles.
Takahashi decided to change the training, and since Yarimato was now able to cope with physical exertion and weights more easily, he was able to go down the stairs with two buckets of water and weights and, with some difficulty, climb back up.
Takahashi began to trust that Yarimato would be able to complete his training.
Takahashi: Yarimato, you have worked hard this winter, improving your stamina, physical strength, and endurance.
Therefore, I am leaving the dojo to you alone and will return in exactly one month.
If, when I return, everything is in perfect order and cleanliness, and you yourself have become stronger, then I will begin to train you in the art of the sword.
Yarimato accepted the challenge and, without asking any questions, was ready to prove that he could handle the job.
Takahashi left the dojo with three servants, who went home to their families, so that Yarimato could handle everything on his own.
Left completely alone on this mountain, Yarimato trained, ate well, kept to a sleep schedule, and continued in the same spirit.
Yarimato also cleared away all the excess snow and began cleaning up the area.
During the first week, Yarimato devoted himself entirely to the dojo, and his plan was to finish renovating it in a week, but it turned out to be much more difficult.
For example, on the first floor, there was a room with weapons, and in the room with katanas, Yarimato found many varieties of katanas, starting with Tanto, a Japanese sword the size of a dagger, Wakizashi, a shortened version of a katana, Katana, a samurai sword, and ending with Odachi, a very long katana.
Next was a room with various weapons for ninjas, including shuriken, kunai, and various throwing weapons, as well as kusarigama – a weapon on a chain or rope with a huge heavy ball on one end and a sickle on the other.
It is a very difficult weapon to master, but if you do, you will be practically invincible.
There was also a living room and kitchen on the first floor, but on the second floor there were eight bedrooms.
This was done so that the owner of such a dojo could sleep in a different room every night, and then thieves or assassins would not know which room you usually slept in.
On the third floor, there was a huge, old, dusty storage room filled with lots of dusty, old things.
Yarimato decided not to touch it, lest he find something he shouldn’t.
After inspecting all the rooms, Yarimato set about completely cleaning and restoring the dojo, as it was already almost fifty years old and much of it had fallen into disrepair.