3: Was that Icha Icha?

"Good morning." Shoji greeted Satoshi Hino with a smile. "Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked, reaching for the teapot.

"Yes, please," Hino nodded after pausing briefly to rub his aching chest.

"Here you go." Shoji handed him the cup before picking back up his own.

A sense of peace settled over them as they watched the dojo students practise shinai swings in the open air.

After finishing his tea, Hino decided to break the silence. "Lord Takeda," he started.

"Yes?" Shoji turned to him, putting down his half-empty cup.

"Why did you save me?" he asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Then, can you tell me why you want to win that fight so badly?" Shoji asked another question instead of answering him.

"I..." He was hesitant at first, but then he took a long breath and gathered his courage. "I want to become the General of the Land of Iron!" he declared.

His head hung low in embarrassment. However, after waiting for a few seconds, the expected laughter never came. He felt a little bit confused. He rarely talked about his dream because he'd been laughed at too much in the past.

When he opened his eyes, all he saw was Shoji staring at him with his usual dull, half-lidded gaze.

"Don't you find it funny?" he asked in a quiet voice, feeling lost.

'A dirt-poor ronin like me wanted to become the most powerful military leader in the Land of Iron? What a lofty goal I have,' he thought bitterly.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Shoji replied with a shrug. "I think it's a good dream," he continued, sipping his tea.

"Who knows? You might just become one someday. Remember, the sky's the limit."

That made Hino feel a little better. In all his years, this was the first time he had ever heard someone tell him to go after his dream.

Slowly, his eyes turned red, he wanted to cry his heart out. 'But a samurai shouldn't cry,' he thought through a sniffle.

It was at this point that he realised why he lost to Shoji. Fighting back his tears, he slowly got to his feet and bowed deeply.

"Lord Takeda! Please accept me as your student!" he requested.

Meanwhile, Shoji was starting to get irritated. He was only trying to be nice. How did Hino end up suddenly wanting to be his student?

"Sorry, I don't take any students." He shook his head. It was a flat-out no from him.

"Please, Lord Takeda! Accept me as your student! I will take care of the washing, cleaning, and cooking. Whatever you want! Just please take me as a student!" Hino pleaded.

At that, Shoji sighed and rubbed his temples. Then, a light went off in his head. As he mulled about it, he started to consider Hino's request. It would be much easier for him to deal with his problems if he had a few lackeys…err, students, to help him.

He snapped out of his thoughts and cast his gaze over to Hino. "Okay, I'll let you be my students if you agree to one thing."

"What is it?" Hino looked up, excitement glowing in his eyes.

"You have to be ready to work hard," he said seriously.

"Yes, Lord Takeda!" Hino said, bowing once again.

At the moment when they finished the teacher-student ceremony, a little version of Shoji was rejoicing inside his head.

With a satisfied nod, he said to Hino, "You're still hurt. Take it easy for a few days."

"Yes, Lord Takeda," Hino replied, tears welling up in his eyes. He was no longer a ronin!

Hino spent the following several days recovering at the dojo, and the story that he had been accepted as a student of Takeda Shoji had spread far and wide. Every samurai who were there a few days earlier sighed in regret for having missed the opportunity.

Why hadn't it been them?

Shoji, one of the parties involved, failed to fully see the impact of this news, however. As it turned out, the story proved to be an interesting conversation, and it quickly became popular.

After this incident, his popularity went through the roof. And much of it was credited to the samurai who had learned the breathing technique from him.

These samurai would go about challenging anybody else they came across. After defeating their opponents with the breathing technique, they would then teach it to them. It didn't take long for every samurai in the Land of Iron to sing praises about him.

Unfortunately, by the time he found out about the situation, it was already too late.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Helplessly, Shoji shook his head as he listened to Hino excitedly talking about what had been going on in the past week.

Hino stopped when he noticed Shoji's frown. "Lord Takeda, why are you making that face? Isn't this a good thing? You're famous now!"

"I'm just worried about these samurai. They are being cocky. I think they might have forgotten that ninjas could easily kill them with just a few moves," he lied, keeping a straight face. The truth was that he couldn't have cared less about them.

"Let's forget about this. How's your training been going so far, Hino?" He swiftly changed the subject.

Hino broke into a broad grin. "No problem! I've already mastered Sun Breathing."

He nodded. "Good. How far have you gotten with sword techniques?"

"I've only got to the seventh form," Hino said with an embarrassed look. "I'm still having trouble with the rest."

"You do know that you can make your own Breathing Styles, right? There's no need to learn them all," he pointed out.

"Ah!" Hino slapped his head. "I completely forgot about that."

"Thank you for reminding me, Lord Takeda." Hino bowed slightly before walking towards the door.

"Wait a moment, Hino," he called out to Hino, who was about to leave the room.

"Yes?" Hino turned to him.

"Come see me first thing in the morning. You need to learn how to meditate," he said.

"But why?" Hino asked in a puzzled tone. Wasn't samurai only supposed to hack and slash and be done with it? Why would they need to learn meditation?

"While it won't make you a better fighter, meditating can help you relax and reflect on your past," he advised.

"Still, I don't see the point in that," Hino replied.

"Sigh. Do you see this?" He moved closer to Hino, lifting his chin slightly as he did so.

Hino didn't know what or how Shoji did it, but he was a little surprised to see a flame-like pattern rising up Shoji's neck as if it were alive.

"What is that?" he asked, curious.

"This is the Mark," Shoji said, pointing to his left cheek, where the flame pattern could now be seen. It glowed with the same fiery crimson colour as the sun itself.

"So, what does this have to do with meditating?" he asked while looking at the Mark.

"While using Breathing Style improves your physical and mental capabilities, it also puts a lot of strain on your body," Shoji began.

"And at some point, as you get better at using it, you'll enter a special state that grants you an even bigger boost to your already considerable power. Having this Mark is the sign that you have attained that state."

Hearing that, Hino was almost giddy with excitement. "Can you teach me how to awaken the mark, Lord Takeda?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes," Shoji said with a little grin. "But there's a catch; anyone who awakens the Mark will slowly lose their lifespan, meaning they will die."

His heart almost jumped out. He had no idea using Breathing Style could be so dangerous. But suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"So, are you going to die soon, Lord Takeda?" he whispered, feeling worried.

Snap!—Shoji put down the Wado Ichimonji with a popped vein on his head. "I'm not going to die, you idiot. Do you remember what I said about learning meditation?"

Hino nodded quietly while rubbing his sore head.

"Meditation can teach you how to control this special state. What I mean by that is you can turn it on and off." He finished, knowing Hino would understand what he said.

Yes, they had electricity. If not, there wouldn't be a utility pole for Itachi to stand on.

To prove what he had said, he showed his neck to Hino as the mark began to fade. His face was soon rid of the flame-like pattern, revealing the fair skin on his cheek.

Hino nodded thoughtfully after listening to Shoji's explanation. But then something clicked in his mind.

"But what about the samurai who learned the breathing technique from you? Aren't they going to die if they awaken the mark?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Um, I kinda forget about that," Shoji said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head.

He face-faulted before quickly standing back up. "What should we do Lord Takeda? They are going to die!" He exclaimed.

"Don't worry too much about that. Just tell them to come to me if they awaken the mark," Shoji said, waving off his concern.

"Okay." He let out a sigh of relief before returning his attention to Shoji. "Lord Takeda? Can you teach me how to meditate now?"

"Didn't I say it'd be tomorrow?' Shoji grumbled. "Can't you see I'm busy here? Go ask the students from the dojo if you want to learn. They already know how to meditate." Shoji waved his hand as if he was shooing him away.

"Busy?" He cocked an eyebrow at Shoji, who was lounging on the porch with a book in hand. Wait a minute, was that Icha Icha?

Shoji quickly closed the book and let out an embarrassed cough. "It's not what you think. What I am reading right now is Jiraiya's Tales of a Gutsy Ninja."

"Right…" he drawled out. "Aren't you too young for that though?"

"What are you doing standing there for? Don't you have any training to do?" Shoji retorted.

In an instant, Hino was out of the room. Shoji let himself relax before he picked up the book he read just now from the table. "Hehe." A giggle escaped him as he opened it.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Near the three mountains called the "Three Wolves," where there was ice and snow, stood the capital of the Land of Iron. Situated in the middle of the city was a large structure capped by a dome, and a steady stream of people were constantly filling in and out of it.

In a room with big windows, a man in a purple kimono sat with his eyes closed. He was old, around his mid-fifties with long graying hair, a goatee, bandages wrapped over his head. This man was the current General of the Land of Iron, Mifune.

After Mifune opened his eyes, a man who had been standing quietly next to him hurriedly went to hand him a folder.

Mifune took the folder and began to read it. As he looked over the latest report his men had put together, something suddenly caught his eye.

"Takeda Shoji, huh? The Land of Iron finally had a good seedling," he murmured with a relieved look.

In recent years, the talents in the Land of Iron were starting to dwindle. More and more young people now started to abandon the samurai way to learn the ninja way.

There was detailed information about Takeda Shoji on the paper along with the Breathing Style he had created. He had read about it and thought that although it could not be compared to chakra, it would greatly improve the samurai's fighting ability.

So how could he give up such a talent? He made up his mind and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Once he stamped it with his seal, he summoned the clerk that was outside of his office.

"Take this and send someone to Ashikaga Town." He handed the paper to the clerk.

The clerk took the paper and read it.

"This… "Lord Mifune, isn't he too young?" A hint of doubt flashed over the clerk's eyes as he glanced up.

"I don't want to do this either, but I don't have any other choice," he sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm reaching sixty soon, and I still haven't found a suitable successor. He is the best one I found so far," he added.

"I'll get on this right away, Lord Mifune." The clerk made a little bow and walked out in haste.

"Achoo!"

In Ashikaga Town, Shoji, who was relaxing in the dojo, suddenly sneezed.

"Why do I feel someone is talking about me?" he murmured before lifting his shoulders in a dismissive shrug. Maybe he was thinking too much. "Achoo!"