She must have sat in meditation before her sword for a day and a night, nurturing her current momentum.
In fact, Mitsuyuki was the same; he had been sitting here, waiting for her arrival.
To Mitsuyuki’s question, Okita Souji did not reply.
After all, the only thing that could answer was the Sword Intent currently in her hand!
And so,
In the backyard, under that familiar cherry blossom tree.
The morning light of dawn shone upon them.
Okita Souji drew her sharp sword against Mitsuyuki once again.
This was the third time.
The only difference was that she had already shed the greenness of those early years.
The weapon she drew now was the Kikuichimonji Norimune, representing the highest achievement of her life.
This weapon, which had left its name in history, glinted with a cold light in the morning sun.
At the same time, this would probably be the last time.
Mitsuyuki also drew onikiri, the Spiritual Blade engraved with eerie flames.
His eerie red eyes met Okita Souji’s pale gold eyes.
“Teacher, do you feel it?”
Not far away, Hijikata Toshizo spoke to Kondo Shusuke.
How could the sword momentum on Mitsuyuki and Okita Souji possibly escape their eyes?
The difference was that this time, Hijikata Toshizo seemed no longer satisfied with being just a spectator.
“The aura emanating from him…
I have once cut such an aura, and you must have too, Teacher.”
Hijikata Toshizo said to Kondo Shusuke with a serious expression, “That is absolutely not a human aura!”
Hearing this, Kondo Shusuke remained silent for a long time.
He looked at Mitsuyuki in the courtyard.
After a long while…
he sighed.
…
“Mitsuyuki, there were so many times I wanted to write to you.”
Under the cherry blossom tree, Okita Souji suddenly said to Mitsuyuki, “I wanted you to join the Shinsengumi, but in the end…
I didn’t do it.
Because I knew you didn’t belong here.”
Mitsuyuki did not reply.
“My intent is to use my blade to tear through the darkness of these Troubled Times…
I know these times won’t last long, and I know my own weakness, but even so, I want to use the sword in my hand to offer my meager strength!”
With those words, Okita Souji raised her sword and took the starting stance of the Tennen Rishin-ryū.
The blade was sharp, bright, and shining!
“Therefore, I will cut down everything that stands in my way!”
Mitsuyuki was silent for a moment, then he too raised onikiri and took the starting stance of the Tennen Rishin-ryū.
The next moment, a flash of sword light swept across.
The hidden aura burst forth in an instant, like falling cherry blossoms, blooming with momentary brilliance.
“I’ve caught up to you, Mitsuyuki.”
Then, Okita Souji gave a sweet smile.
It caused Mitsuyuki, who had blocked the strike, to momentarily lose himself.
Then, amidst the flashing cold light and slight vibrations, Mitsuyuki and Okita Souji clashed blades several times.
“Honestly…
with such a cute expression, the sword in your hand shows no mercy at all,” Mitsuyuki said with a wry smile after coming back to his senses.
“How much effort do you think I spent to catch up to you?!”
Okita Souji said, “Every day, every single day, I swung my sword without ceasing just to catch up to you!
And for some reason, whenever I dream, I always dream of chasing you, as if I were chasing your back in a previous life as well.
Having chased you for two lifetimes, do you know…
how tired I am?!”
With those words, Okita Souji swung her sword down fiercely.
Under the flash of sword light, a white shockwave seemed to ripple through the air.
Mitsuyuki’s eyes narrowed as he blocked it.
Immediately after, cracks appeared on the ground beside Mitsuyuki and began to spread bit by bit.
“…Is this necessary?”
Mitsuyuki’s eyelid twitched.
Such great resentment?
Okita Souji hadn’t had time to reply to this.
“And it’s only been two lifetimes, what are you panicking for?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Mitsuyuki smiled and said, “Perhaps there’s even a third lifetime?”
“Hmph, such a future…
I don’t want it!”
After a light snort, Okita Souji stopped her attack.
Her pale gold eyes stared at Mitsuyuki as she said, “Mitsuyuki, are you making fun of me?
Why have you only been using Tennen Rishin-ryū to fight me until now?
Where is that single sword strike of yours?”
“No, I don’t mean to look down on you,” Mitsuyuki said, shaking his head gently.
“I just felt it would be best for us to settle this using Tennen Rishin-ryū.”
“There’s no need for that.
Bring out that sword strike of yours, and…”
Saying this, Okita Souji lowered her body slightly, her hand pressed against the blade, the tip pointing toward the middle of Mitsuyuki’s left eye, as she took a charging stance.
The sword momentum she had been nurturing finally began to converge into this single strike…
This was precisely the certain-kill secret sword that would become her Noble Phantasm in later ages!
Salted Fish Three-Stage Thrust!
Ah, no, I misspoke, it’s the Mumyo Three-Stage Thrust!
“Aren’t you seeking an answer from me?!”
“…As expected of you, Souji.
To think you’ve already reached this step in such a short time,” Mitsuyuki said with a shake of his head and a soft smile.
“In that case, let it be as you wish.”
With those words, Mitsuyuki sheathed onikiri.
He took a Battōjutsu stance, one he had refined through Tennen Rishin-ryū and Hokushin Ittō-ryū.
The technique’s name was—[Shunkan]!
Indeed, it was the current ultimate expression of Mitsuyuki’s martial arts.
Calming the mind, restraining the breath, feeling the power of heaven and earth, drawing it in with sword momentum, and at the moment of the strike, unifying heart, breath, and strength.
A strike so fast it reached the extreme, like a fleeting moment!
It was undoubtedly a certain-kill secret sword!
At this moment, the expressions of Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Shusuke changed slightly.
Kondo Shusuke even stood up subconsciously, wanting to stop them from continuing.
But while Kondo Shusuke hesitated, knowing they must determine a winner,
Okita Souji had already used Shukuchi to appear before Mitsuyuki, swinging the sword that would become a Noble Phantasm in the future.
This was also the peak of her Sword Intent!
At the same instant, the blade in Mitsuyuki’s hand left its sheath.
In this moment, the world in Okita Souji’s eyes was reduced to a single beam of light.
As for Kondo Shusuke and Hijikata Toshizo on the side, they couldn’t even see the cold, piercing flash of the swing.
In an instant, this light swallowed everything.
When they finally regained their senses, the sword in Okita Souji’s hand had fallen to the side, and Mitsuyuki was sheathing onikiri…
the match was decided!
“I lost…”
Okita Souji felt helpless, but she wasn’t overly dejected.
She even puffed out her cheeks at Mitsuyuki quite happily and said, “Honestly, losing to you again, how many times has this been!”
“Just you wait, next time I will definitely defeat…”
The words were not yet finished.
“I think, there might not be a next time.”
Hijikata Toshizo suddenly stepped forward, looking at Mitsuyuki with a heavy expression.
Mitsuyuki, as if he had expected it, looked at him calmly.
“Senior Hijikata, what do you mean by that?”
While Okita Souji was feeling confused, Kondo Shusuke also walked out.
He looked at Mitsuyuki, his gaze lingering for a moment on Mitsuyuki’s eerie red eyes, and sighed, “Mitsuyuki, you…”
[With your Half-demon body, how could you possibly hide it from their eyes?]
[Soon, you were personally guarded by Kondo Shusuke and the others and brought back to Kyoto, to your home within the Watanabe Swordsmanship Elite circles.]
[During this period, Kondo Shusuke and the others secretly gave you several opportunities, signaling that you could leave.
Okita Souji even expressed absolute trust in you, but you did not do so.]
[You simply returned to the family with a smile, and then, under the eyes of almost everyone in the family—first in disbelief, then in utter rage—you were thrown into prison.]
[At the same time, you were stripped of your status as the current generation’s master of onikiri!]