Gate of Healing

Natsume hunched over, hands on her knees, breathing heavily. She wasted a lot of chakra in that strike, but the memory played back in her head over and over. She did it! Although it wasn't perfect, this is the chakra blade she hoped for. Most of the samurai she encountered were using a different style of chakra blade, but only this One Sword technique fit her aesthetic. Natsume collected herself and bowed toward the elderly man standing on the walkway.

"Thank you for your guidance, Ojiisan!"

"It's a good start, but there is still a long way to go. If you're only satisfied with this, then you may as well stop now." His words were harsh, but accurate. Natsume withdrew her internal celebration and reconsidered the technique. Seeing her regain her focus, the old man smiled.

"What is the One Sword?" The man asked her.

Natsume thought about the message left behind at the entry way. "Taking down a thousand enemies with one strike?"

"Is that a question?" The man chuckled and walked toward the training area with his hands behind his back. He reached out and picked up two wooden swords from the rack. "How many swords do I have?"

"Two."

"Wrong." He put back both swords. "How many do I have now."

"None."

"Wrong again." The old man was cryptic, but Natsume could tell he was trying to teach her something, so she tried to process the two questions. Seeing that she was trying her best to think of the right answer, he plucked a piece of grass. "The One Sword is not the sword in your hand."

He covered the blade of grass in chakra and swung it at one of the dummies. A fine line appeared on the dummy, cleaving it in two. Compared to Natsume's attack, the edges were smooth. He opened his palm and blew the blade of grass away. It floated in the wind for a moment before falling lifelessly onto the ground. Not a single nick or scratch was made on the grass.

"How many swords do you have?"

Natsume digested the teachings in these few minutes and bit her lip. She looked down at her hand and understood. She gave herself a self-depreciating smile and quietly replied, "None."

"You must be my Grand disciple's new apprentice. It's no wonder he asked this old man to shelter you."

"Suzume greets Great Grandmaster!" Natsume knew in her heart who the old man was, but since he didn't introduce himself before, she didn't want to be presumptuous.

"Hehe, what is a name that can be changed by the mouth that speaks it. Just call me like before." He smiled and patted her shoulder. He was very gentle, despite his ominous words.

"Yes, Ojiisan!" Natsume gave him a genuine smile. She didn't realize it before, but the image of Hideyoshi appeared in her mind and became superimposed with this elderly man. A deeply buried emotion surfaced, causing her nose to feel sour and her eyes to glaze over. The moment was intense, but it quickly passed. The elderly man was very sensitive to the emotional changes in Natsume but didn't say anything. He was no stranger to loss.

"Ojiisan, Meme-chan!" A little white rabbit appeared at the walkway and bounced toward the duo. Hikari was surrounded in white furs and skipped as she ran. The image of a bunny became clearer. Hikari arrived by their side and jumped into the old man's arms.

"Aka-chan, you're so energetic this morning. I almost confused you for a little rabbit!"

Hikari leaned back and looked the elderly man directly in the eye, and with a serious expression said, "Pyon-pyon."

His eye twitched and his facial muscles froze. "Pfft!" Unexpectedly, it was Natsume who keeled over. The dry delivery was too brilliant. Hikari turned to look at her with a victorious expression. Natsume straightened her back and cleared her throat. "Good morning, Hime-sama."

"Ojiisan, guess what!" Hikari ignored the boring greeting and wanted to share some exciting news with her grandfather. "Hikari has lots of chakra! Can I train now?"

However, instead of the happiness she expected, the old man frowned. He placed a hand on her head and felt the circulation of chakra inside her body. Unexpectedly, she was correct. Her chakra was immense, even higher than the average adult samurai. She would easily place in mid-ranking warrior with chakra reserves alone, and she didn't even have any formal training. "Let's go see your father. Continue practicing, little disciple."

"Yes, Ojjisan." Natsume bowed as the elderly man left with Hikari in tow. She had a sad expression seeing that her grandfather wasn't happy with the news of her having opened her chakra pathways. Natsume expected this to come back around to her, so she decided to focus on comprehending the One Sword as quickly as possible.

There were several wooden swords left on the rack for her to use so she didn't stand on ceremony. Natsume spread out her awareness and activated her sharingan. The quickest way to reach minor success in this technique was by utilizing her greatest asset. The control of her body and chakra increased by a margin, allowing her to delve into the mysteries of the One Sword technique. Then she began to attack.

Several hours passed and her chakra was completely emptied. At one point, she reverted her eyes to normal in order to conserve chakra and get a few more swings in. Once she reached her limit, she pushed forward and kept squeezing out every ounce of chakra, while actively moulding more. Natsume hadn't exhausted herself that much since doing Monkey Sage training. Bringing herself to exhaustion was the method to find the second gate, the Gate of Healing.

Once the body was pushed to a certain physical limit, the gates that defined that limit would become clearer. Natsume sat down and calmed her breathing and heart rate. Once her chakra began to accumulate, she circulated it and focused on the Tenketsu of the second gate. The Tenketsu was much more clearly defined than it was before. Natsume pushed the gates to the last step and held them there while she memorized their positions.

After her chakra recovered, the gates nearly vanished. However, Natsume could still discover their positions along her chakra network. If needed, she could push them both open. This hidden card was especially useful in her current situation. When Natsume opened her eyes, it was already dark. Someone had come by and lit the braziers in the training area. Natsume decided to return and rest for the night. However, as she walked past one of the braziers, she noticed a suspicious piece of coal. She quickly stuffed it into her sleeve and continued walking.