He still has a black beard

The samurai felt humiliated and attacked Itachi once again, this time with the broken sword. While Itachi wasn't a prodigal kenjutsu-based ninja like the White Fang, he was proficient enough to parry the attack from the samurai's half-broken katana.

And just like the previous encounter, the half-broken katana got cut once more. Itachi's blade went straight through it, much like a hot knife through butter or something along those lines.

The first incident could have been attributed to a one-in-a-million chance, but the subsequent one definitely jolted the samurai awake. He stared at his own katana in horror, then at Itachi, and back at the katana again, as if ensuring he wasn't in a dream.

Other nearby samurai were equally shocked, and they all swiftly jumped into action, charging at Aoto and the others. Their motivations might have been shame, anger, and the need to defend their samurai captain's honor, sensing that a young child had tarnished their pride.

Seeing this, Itachi's friends let out sighs of anticipation. They knew this confrontation was inevitable, and now they had to find a way to escape and return safely to the Land of Fire. Suddenly, the samurai whose sword was sliced yelled,

"Stop!"

This command brought all the samurai to a halt, leaving them bewildered.

"Can you sell me your katana?" The samurai stared directly at Itachi and made the request. Aoto's face lit up with a smile, his gamble had paid off – this samurai was clearly intrigued. Itachi understood exactly what Aoto intended, which was why he had positioned himself in between. Despite his young age, Itachi was incredibly astute.

Itachi didn't respond to the samurai's query; instead, he glanced at Aoto. The samurai grasped the subtle cue and inquired,

"Are you here to sell katanas?"

"A multitude of things, but yes, selling similar katanas is one of them," Aoto replied. This statement sent a shiver down the spine of the samurai and everyone present. He paused briefly before asking.

"Can I know your name?" The samurai asked. This finally put a smile on the face of Aoto and the first ice was broken. These people really cared about their katana, just like the land of Wano on One Piece.

Of course, Aoto and others would have made a run if they weren't convinced or tried to rob them. He had heard that samurai of Land of Iron had a very upright and stubborn ideology and this had been proved today. Aoto introduced himself and also introduced his friends.

"You are the famous Copy ninja.. It's nice to meet you. I am Musashi Miyamoto. Captain of the 13th group of guards. Welcome to the land of Iron." The samurai said. He lead them away and somehow all the guards around who were very vile and angry towards them were now trying to curry favor, especially to Aoto.

Some samurai even asked if they could use the sword of Itachi, to which he agreed. And when they tried it, they were very surprised to know that this sword didn't even a chink on the blade even after they used it to cut other katanas.

This made the samurai mad about it and promised that if they would sell such katanas, they would definitely buy it. Normally a skilled samurai could never make their swords break in any sword fights.

But the samurais weren't perfect. There was bound to have blade chips fall of and at the end break. It was the same reason why Zenitsu from Demon Slayer never had to change his katana, it was because he had perfected his move and his blade was never destroyed. While Inosuke and Tanjiro had their swords broken because their techniques weren't perfect, especially Tanjiro who was switching from two breathing styles in the beginning.

The samurai knew this and they wanted to have a sword that wouldn't break and make themselves stronger. They slowly walked and followed them and soon they could an see an open expanse, revealing the magnificent village of the samurai. Set against a backdrop of towering and snow covered mountains with slow chilly winds, the village was a testament to the samurai's commitment to tradition and strength. Tall walls, built from dark stone, encircled the settlement, serving as both a protective barrier and a symbol of the samurai's unity.

The village gates, adorned with intricate metalwork. Beyond them lay streets made of cobblestone, polished smooth by years of footsteps, and flanked by traditional wooden buildings with sloping roofs.

Beyond them laid streets made of cobblestone, polished smooth by years of footsteps, and flanked by traditional wooden buildings with sloping roofs. People bustled along the streets, dressed in attire that bore the hallmarks of their warrior heritage—kimono-style robes interwoven with armor plates, creating a balance between tradition and protection.

They were soon approached by the guards of the village and after knowing that the guards were responsible, they didn't stop them and soon took them to the main administrations building of the village of Samurai.

"I always wanted to go to Wano. Now this is the best I can do." Corazon said. This made everyone confused and only Aoto understood the reference.

"You would have died if you had gone there." Aoto laughed. Itachi and others didn't ask as they could feel that it was some kind of secret of them. "Can I know who is the Taisho at the moment?" Aoto asked.

"Mifune-sama is the current Taisho." The samurai replied honestly and proudly. He seemed to be proud of the current Taisho.

'So he is already the head. Well, supposing he was quite old during the 4th Great ninja war, it was very apparent that he held the position for long and everybody respected him to even consider hearing the call of Taisho' Aoto thought.

After a some changing alleys, they finally reached and was led inside a big office, at least bigger than the Hokage which had papers and documents around, with a middle aged man sitting on a chair.

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