Fate: Hero Simulator

[3rd POV]

"Father, is this enemy really that dangerous?"

Yagyu Munenori looked at the bodies on the ground, examining those who had been killed by the Demon Blade Monk.

Apart from the clean and quick, there was nothing remarkable about these deaths.

He couldn't feel any particular presence from the swordsman.

"Munenori, it's exactly because there's nothing to sense that makes them terrifying."

Yagyu Munetoshi, as a father, offered advice to his son.

This son, much like him when he was young, was both young and proud and didn't fully understand the dangers until he met his own master, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna.

"Do you know how many forces Lord Tokugawa has already sent out? It's not just our Tokugawa clan—Oda, Takeda, Mori, Azai... countless others are eyeing that blade, yet the demon blade monk is still alive and well. That alone tells you something."

It was just a matter of running fast.

Out of respect for his father's authority, Munemori didn't voice this thought.

In his mind, the Demon Blade Monk was nothing more than someone who feared the army, a coward hiding in the shadows.

"We've found them."

Munetoshi looked into the distance at a man and a woman.

In an instant, he knew his target was right before him, recognizing the ominous aura emanating from the blade.

It was no ordinary blade.

"I am Yagyu Munetoshi of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. I've come to take the cursed sword, Murasame."

"With the Tokugawa clan now allied with the Oda clan and with Nobunaga Oda's rising power, do you really need this cursed sword?"

Kyouya could never hand over the cursed blade Muramasa, even though Oda was already on the path to unifying the country.

Many people believed that the era of war would soon come to an end, and giving the cursed blade to either the Tokugawa or Oda clans seemed like a good choice.

But as someone from the future, Kyouya knew all too well that the mighty Oda Nobunaga would soon fall in the Honnō-ji.

At that point, the flames of war would continue, and peace wouldn't come until after Hashiba Hideyoshi's death and Tokugawa Ieyasu's rise to power when the shogunate would finally be established.

It would only make things worse to hand over Muramasa right now.

"We've come so far, but we must not fail now. Ieyasu-sama would not want to fail at the last moment. Even if the cursed sword Muramasa cannot be used by our side, it cannot fall into the hands of the enemy. I ask you, Master, to agree."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then I'll ask you the way of the swordsman."

Since establishing his school and taking on official duties, Munetoshi hadn't fought with anyone in a long time.

On one hand, it was due to his increasing age and the loss of his youthful bloodlust.

On the other hand, he considered that "winning by bullying the weak" was dishonorable, and losing would be even more embarrassing.

Gradually, he stopped engaging in duels altogether.

But this time, as he looked at the bodies lying before him, the clean and quick way in which they were slain began to stir his blood.

He felt younger again.

There was no warning.

Munetoshi seemed to have already prepared for the attack.

This was a battlefield, not a dojo, and here, there was no holding back—only real swords and bloodshed.

'Reduced Earth.'

This advanced technique allowed for high-speed movement over short distances.

Such speed could easily land a strike against most enemies, but...

Clang~

Kyouya drew his blade to block the strike, and then his counterattack began.

He created distance, sheathed his sword, entered a meditative stance, and finally... Boundless Zen.

He first entered an absolute "emptiness" before transforming it into a violent "motion," mastering the Buddha's mercy to channel the wrath of the Wisdom King.

This was Kyouya's Boundless Zen.

What did Munetoshi see when facing this attack?

It's fast, powerful, and... empty.

Kyouya was indeed not a swordsman, and he didn't use any traditional kendo, but there is a saying that everything in life can connect in surprising ways.

In the realm of battle, Kyouya had accumulated the experience of multiple lifetimes.

Did changing his weapon to a blade mean he couldn't apply the techniques he had used before?

It's simply because he chose not to, not that he couldn't.

The biggest difference between Kyouya and the swordsmen of this era is that while others slowly improve from the bottom up, Kyouya effortlessly applies his skills from the top down.

It was precisely because he knew nothing and did nothing that he could rely on his original martial arts to directly reach the "emptiness" that many swordsmen could only dream of.

The wind was torn apart in front of Kyouya's sword.

Munenori, too, used his own technique to block this pure strike.

[Your sword isn't anything special, but with the power of the Boundless Zen, every strike you make can release tremendous power. If you wish, this strike could be called the 'One-Cut Killer: Murasame'.]

'What kind of nonsense is that? Why is he not dead if's one cut?'

At that moment, Kyouya not only confirmed that this simulator was a bit weird, but it also had really poor taste.

However, there was one thing the simulator didn't get wrong: this strike was pure, pure enough that even a normal draw of the sword could put enough pressure on a master swordsman.

"Boom~"

Beside him, Musashi immediately covered her ears, her sharp instincts warning her in time, protecting her ears and preventing the risk of losing her hearing.

As for Yagyu Munemori, he was even more shocked.

Before meeting Kyouya, he had just thought of him as a person with a bit of fame thanks to the sharpness of his cursed sword.

However, this power, this speed... could this also be considered a form of swordsmanship?

Yes, this is a form of swordsmanship.

Yagyu Munemori, whose talent was no less than that of his father, could now sense it with his sharp swordsmanship intuition.

When Kyoya unleashed that strike, the overwhelming "will" and "momentum" surged forth like a tsunami.

That Demon Blade Monk was usually as calm as the sea, but once he got serious, it was like a tsunami...

The battle continued.

The exquisite sword techniques and wild blade strikes clashed continuously in the air.

Whether it was Munetoshi's attack, as beautiful and intricate as a blooming flower, or Kyouya's free-spirited and straightforward swordsmanship, the two contrasting beauties deeply shook the two spectators.

For the first time, they felt the vastness of the world.

The world was theirs for the taking.

This thought deeply rooted itself in the hearts of the two of them. While the shock was overwhelming, neither of these geniuses could stop here.

Reaching this level and then surpassing it—that was the path they were meant to follow.

At this moment, Kyouya wasn't thinking too much. He simply felt that this old man's strength was indeed impressive and would be suitable to teach Miyamoto Musashi.

That's right.

He was the teacher Kyouya had chosen for Musashi.

To be continued...

...

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