Hirata's Resolve - Part 2

"Mother~ Why are you here~" Hirata was surprised and rushed over to greet his mother.

He was pained to see the wrinkles and tears on his mother's face. He wiped away the tears and hugged her tightly, "Your unfilial son is back!"

"No! You are not unfilial, you are my treasure. How can you say that~" Tears kept falling from Lady Yuka's eyes as she returned the hug. She hugged Hirata even tighter as she was afraid that the moment she released her son, she would be separated from him again.

"It's okay, mother~ From today on, we will never be separated again!" Hirata showed his gentle side and stroked her mother's back, reassuring her. Only then did he truly realise that he had been doing stupid things all these years.

He was searching for something that almost led to his downfall, while ignoring the most important person at his side. Thank you~ Master! I will repay this favour! I will!'

"It's good! Good!" Lady Yuka nodded her head on her son's chest and continued with a sobbing voice, "So don't cut your ties with this family, okay? No matter what happens, he is still your biological father! This is still your home!"

Musashi Hirata's hand stopped moving, but he did not contradict his mother. After a moment of silence, he promised, "All right, I won't cut ties with this heartless clan, but there is one condition!"

He pushed his mother and held her shoulder, looking into her eyes with a strong determination, "You must follow me! I will not let you stay in this hell! That's the condition!"

Even if you don't want to follow me, I will take you away with my power!

Lady Yuka's eyes trembled, she could feel a strong hatred but also a strong determination in her son's tone. Looking at his serious face, she realised that her son was not joking with his words.

"But... But..." She hesitated as she glanced at her husband, who was looking at her with a blank expression. Finally, Lady Yuka replied with a nod.

"Do you think you can take my wife without my permission?" Musashi Kenzan's cold voice resounded.

"And who let Lady Yuka enter this hall? I told you not to let women enter this hall, this place is no place for a woman!" Musashi Kenzan's angry voice.

"Hahaha... So you still consider her your wife all this time?" Hirata laughed when he heard his father's words.

"Men! Take Lady Yuka back to her room!" Musashi Kenzan ignored his son's sarcasm and called for the servants. At his words, four young maids rushed into the hall, but they met Hirata's fierce gaze.

"Touch my mother with any of your hands or fingers and I will see to it that you have fewer hands or fingers!" Under Musashi Hirata's threatening gaze, the four maids cowered in fear.

"And you can't stop me from taking my mother away from this hell!" Hirata turned to his father with a sneer on his face.

Musashi Naizen wanted to speak to calm the atmosphere between his father and brother, but his father spoke first: "Hahaha... It seems you have gained some confidence after wandering outside like a punk!"

"Good! I will give you a chance. Defeat your brother and I will let you take your mother away from this hell!" Musashi Kenzan suggested with a broad grin. He had watched his two sons grow up and Musashi Hirata had never won.

"Only the strong can get what they want!" Musashi Kenzan added with a sneer. It was a match where the winner was decided from the start, an Emperor Class Hero against a Gold Class Ranker.

Other elders had the same thoughts, it was a fight Hirata could not win. Even if Yoneda Isamu's defeat against Hirata had come as a surprise to them. Musashi Naizen was on a different level.

"Don't do it! He is your brother, you can't fight against your brother!" Lady Yuka tugged at Musashi Hirata's shirt. She didn't want to see the brothers fighting, "Let's just stay here, okay? We don't have to move out, we can stay here together~"

Lady Yuka tried to convince her only son not to fight against his brother. Of course, Musashi Naizen hoped for the same. He did not want to fight his brother who had just returned after three years, at least not now, they could spar later.

But Musashi Naizen could not refuse his father's order. Everything was decided by his brother. If his brother accepted the challenge, they would have to fight.

"Don't worry, mother~ It will be very quick and of course, I won't hurt my brother. Besides, I have found a new home, a new home for us. I think you will like it more than this place. And there's someone I want you to meet, someone who's going to change my life! So we must leave this place! Trust me, mother, ~"

Hirata's soft voice reached Lady Yuka's ears and of course, tears streamed from her eyes. Although it had only been a few minutes since they had been reunited after three years, she could feel the change in her son, not in a bad way, but she could see a positive change in her son.

The soft eyes, the soft voice and a smile she had not seen for a long time. As if she was seeing the little Hirata who always had a smile on his face.

"Good~ But you have to be careful and don't hurt your brother~" In the end, Lady Yuka had to give in and gave her son her approval.

"Good, mama's boy, your mother has given her consent. Why don't we begin the fight and see how strong you have become after three years of wandering in poverty?" Musashi Kenzan rose and walked over to Musashi Naizen.

"Do your best and let's see how strong you have become, my boy!" He patted Naizen on the shoulder and left.

"Yes, Father!" Musashi Naizen followed his father out.

*** ***

The Musashi Clan's training ground, located in a deeper part of the Musashi Clan's residence.

This was a special training ground that the clan provided for its core members. But the arena in which the brothers fought was a special arena. An arena where the core members were ranked every month.

When Musashi Naizen and Musashi Hirata entered the arena, a crowd had gathered around the arena. The news that the Second Young Master had returned and challenged the First Young Master spread quickly.

On the uppermost seat, Lady Yuka looked worriedly at her son. She began to regret agreeing to her son's request. This, combined with the discussion around her, made her uncomfortable. None of them had a favourable impression of her son and they predicted that her son would lose in a few moves.

"Hoho... The wild young master has returned and he has a death wish to challenge young master Naizen as soon as he returns..."

"I heard that he never won against Young Master Naizen before... Maybe he learned something out there..."

"Haha... You fool! No matter what he learned outside, it cannot be compared to our Musashi clan's sword art... This second young master is doomed..."

The arena was filled with a buzz from the crowd. Lady Yuka had a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, Lady Yuka~ Young Master Hirata seems confident to win the fight. Let's trust Young Master Hirata this time!" The old maid next to her comforted her with her soft voice.

"Haha... Dream on, old lady! There's no way that Young Master Naizen will lose to this rebel!" The old maid's mouth dropped immediately upon hearing this. She recognised the voice, Lady Aimi's assistant.

Lady Aimi was the first wife of Musashi Kenzan, the descendant of the Hanzo clan. The one who had been oppressing Lady Yuka all this time.

Sure enough, when Lady Yuka and the old maid turned around, they saw a lady in her early forties walking towards them. She was wearing an elegant kimono and was accompanied by two younger maids. Despite her age, Lady Aimi looked younger than her years.

A look of pride was etched on Lady Aimi's face as her gaze fell on Lady Yuka. As for Lady Yuka, she lowered her head, not daring to meet Lady Aimi's eyes.

"Who brings this low born into this arena? This is not her place!" Lady Aimi opened her mouth. An overbearing tone flowed out as she spoke.

Yes, Lady Yuka's oppression came from her pride. As someone who was born into a prestigious family, she could not accept someone from the outside who had the same position and treatment as her in the clan.

Therefore, since Musashi Kenzan was appointed as the successor and paid less attention to Lady Yuka, Lady Aimi began to oppress Lady Yuka. Everyone in the clan knew this, but no one stepped in to help Lady Yuka.

Lady Yuka simply bowed her head, but a series of footsteps approached. Yoneda Isamu, covered in gauze, approached Lady Aimi and spoke in a low voice, "Lady Aimi, Master hopes you won't make a scene in front of the crowd!"

The message was clear, leave Lady Yuka alone.

"Huh!" Lady Aimi muttered and turned around.

Meanwhile, the exchange between Lady Aimi and Lady Yuka was seen by Musashi Hirata from the arena. Not only Hirata, but also Naizen saw it and he let out a sigh.

There was no conflict between him and his brother, the conflict was started by his mother and Hirata started to hate him because of his mother's deeds. He could not blame his brother, so he always tried to treat his brother well.

But because of his mother, Hirata always gave him the cold shoulder.

"You see! I could not help but hate you because you are related to that witch! If it were the young me, I would cripple you after seeing how your mother treated my mother like garbage. But will that make me happy? No, it will give me temporary satisfaction, but not happiness!"

Musashi Hirata opened his mouth. His voice was calm and collected even after witnessing his mother being treated badly.

Musashi Naizen remained still, giving no answer, and Musashi Hirata began to distance himself from his older brother. When the distance reached ten metres, Musashi Hirata turned and continued.

"All this time, I have been searching for a way to become stronger! To surpass you, to raise my status in the clan so that I could make my mother happy. Until one day, I met someone. He opened up a new world for me, and then I realised that I had been wrong all along!"

Hirata's serene look turned serious as his hand went to his sword. He made a draw sword technique stance.

"I was wrong! Will raising my status in the clan bring happiness to my mother? No, it will only bring her more misery! It will only make that witch oppress my mother even more! That witch will see me as a threat to your position, and she may even try to kill me or my mother!"

"I realised that the happiness I was looking for is not here. This is hell, I have to take my mother out of this hell if I want to make my mother happy! And today, I will do that, and besides, I will show you that you are just a frog living in a well!"

"The sword art you are proud of is just an incomplete technique! I will show you!"

By this time, the referee was already in the arena. Musashi Naizen felt guilty inside, but he had no intention of losing to his brother.

After hearing all this, he wanted to mend the relationship between them. He also wanted to show his brother that this clan was not hell for him. After this match, he planned to talk to his mother about it.

Musashi Naizen was determined not to lose this fight, as he did not want to lose his only brother.

He took the same stance as Musashi Hirata: "This is not an incomplete technique, it's just that you don't fully understand the technique! I will show you now!"

The referee looked to both sides and nodded his head, "Start!"

Whoosh!

As soon as he said to start, the referee felt a gust of wind hit his cheek.

Musashi Naizen, who was preparing to move, halted his steps when he saw his brother's figures blur.

"Too fast!" Musashi Naizen changed his stance to a defensive one.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

He blocked four slashes that came towards him, but could not see his brother's figure.

"It seems I won!" Then Musashi Naizen heard his brother's calm voice from behind him as the cold of the sword touched his neck.