The night was filled with many conversations, though none of them concerned Kaito.
He woke up early and, unsurprisingly, ran into Tetsuren just as she was leaving her house.
"You look a little pale. Did you sleep badly last night? Was Sister Koharu a restless sleeper?"
Tetsuren shot him a sideways glance and said, "I have trouble sleeping in new beds. I couldn't fall asleep."
"That just means you weren't tired enough." Kaito shook his head and wiggled a finger at her. "Come on, I'll take you for some morning training."
"Alright!" The moment training was mentioned, Tetsuren immediately perked up.
The two of them went to the riverbank. Many chunks of unmelted ice still floated on the water's surface, emitting a bone-chilling cold. Without needing to say much, they did some simple warm-up exercises and then began to clash swords as usual.
A short while later, Tetsuren lay on the ground, out of stamina.
As was his custom, Kaito patted her head while he spoke. "Your 'three-axe-swings' approach is too monotonous. It works well enough for a quick win against weaker opponents, but you'll be giving away a free victory against anyone slightly stronger. Can't you be a little more flexible?"
"No."
"I knew it. Well then, what about nature transformation? Do you know what your affinity is?"
"Lightning."
"Lightning?" The first thing that came to Kaito's mind was the muscle-bound men of the Land of Lightning. He sighed; it figured, given her similarly reckless personality. Only then did he think of the Second Pillar who developed the Chidori Nagashi, paralyzing opponents with lightning before finishing them with lightning-fast sword strikes. A true killing machine, and a rather elegant one at that.
"What's your progress? Chosuke has already mastered it. I assume you're not far behind."
"...None of your business!" Tetsuren turned her head away, annoyed.
"Sigh. So you're far from it, then." Kaito shook his head with a sigh. "The gap between people really is huge."
"What about you? Don't tell me you've already mast—"
Seeing the thick layer of ice covering Kaito's sword, Tetsuren was rendered speechless.
"Heh. Why do you think I was always burying myself in the snow?" Kaito said smugly, stabbing the icicle-sword into the ground next to her.
"Ice? I've never heard of anyone mastering an Ice Release nature transformation." Tetsuren raised a finger and tapped the icicle. It was solid, a genuine block of ice.
"Hmph. Naturally, that's because I'm one of a kind." Kaito then asked, "So you definitely don't know shape transformation either, right?"
"Shape transformation?"
"Usually, we just simply coat our swords with chakra. Shape transformation is when you extend and reshape your chakra into various forms, even something like a blade of pure energy that you can throw. It's incredibly strong."
"So you can do that too." Tetsuren muttered to herself, as if a door to a new world had been opened. "Can you do it?"
"Nope." Kaito only understood the theory. He didn't even know how to train it, so how could he possibly have mastered it so quickly?
"..."
"I'm just giving you a general idea of how to get stronger, so you don't run around like a headless chicken."
As he spoke, Kaito looked at the clear river, and suddenly felt an itch. The Land of Iron lacked everything; it had been a long time since he'd had a proper bath.
Without further hesitation, he stripped off all his clothes. "Tetsuren, I'm going to take a bath in the river. Don't you dare peek."
"Eh???" Tetsuren was still lost in thought when a pile of smelly clothes was thrown over her face. Startled, she shot up and flung the clothes away.
By then, Kaito was already bare-assed and had jumped into the river with a splash. The icy water made him involuntarily shout, "Awesome!"
"..." A dark look crossed Tetsuren's face. She turned and walked away, leaning against a large tree to rest, her mind still preoccupied with what Kaito had just told her.
Kaito, on the other hand, was enjoying himself immensely. He scrubbed the grime off his body, thrashed about in the water, and occasionally surfaced to shoot a jet of water from his mouth.
Mm, not bad power. Looks like I'll be learning Hydro Pump soon.
After messing around for more than half an hour, when his body could no longer stand the cold, Kaito reluctantly jumped ashore and made a dash for his pile of clothes. His own "great swinging hammer," which was beginning to show its ferocious face, was quickly tucked away into his clothes.
As light as the wind, Kaito walked over to Tetsuren's side and waved a hand in front of her face. "What? Still thinking?"
"..."
"This isn't something you can accomplish overnight. Come on, let's go back and get some breakfast."
After getting Tetsuren a bowl of meat soup from Granny Hana at the village entrance, Kaito let out a long breath. "Still the same taste. Absolutely amazing. I, Kaito, hereby declare Granny the undisputed queen of meat soup."
"Mm, it does taste really good." Tetsuren expertly ignored Kaito's incomprehensible praise and gave a thumbs-up. "What kind of meat is this?"
"Uh, I'd advise you not to ask."
"???"
Suddenly, the sound of a gong being struck echoed through the village. Kaito turned to see Uncle Beard. With his booming voice, he shouted, "All villagers, meeting in the open square!"
"A meeting?"
"Come on, let's go see."
By the time they arrived at the square, a crowd had already gathered. Kaito's sharp eyes spotted Koharu, and he pulled Tetsuren over to her side.
"Sister Koharu, good morning."
"Kaito, Tetsuren, good morning to you too." Koharu smiled, then asked with a puzzled look, "We haven't had a village-wide meeting in a long time. Do you know what it's about?"
"Ahem. You'll find out in a bit."
After a short wait, everyone had arrived. The elderly village chief, supported by Captain Okihira and Uncle Beard, stood on top of a large wooden crate.
"Everyone, I've asked you all to come here today to discuss a matter together."
The old man spoke slowly, his words not entirely clear, but everyone listened with rapt attention.
"We all fled here more than a decade ago because of the war, and slowly formed the village we have today. I'm sure you all understand the horrors of war. Now, the nations are in turmoil, and I've heard that the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass are already at war. It is very likely that war will break out again, sweeping most of the countries into it. This place is no longer safe."
"Ah, this..." Many faces turned grim.
"Therefore, Okihira has proposed that we all move again. This time, to the Land of Iron. The Land of Iron will protect us," the old chief said forcefully. "Let us all decide together whether to abandon this place."
After finally settling down, they had to give everything up again and go to a strange new environment. Most people were filled with doubt and unease.
Someone raised their hand. "But I heard the Land of Iron is closed off. It's not that easy to get in, is it?"
"On this point, I can give you my guarantee," Captain Okihira stepped forward and said. "I am originally from the Land of Iron, so you need not worry."
"Me too!" Kaito raised his hand and shouted. "I spent the last few months I was missing in the Land of Iron. Besides being a little cold, having a few less things, and the scenery being a bit lacking, it has no other flaws."
Tetsuren: "..."
"Then let's go," said the weathered uncle, a man of few words. "No matter what, survival is the most important thing. We were able to build this village from nothing, and we can build our homes from nothing once again."
"That's right!" someone agreed. "My parents died in the war. I don't want to go through that pain again!"
"Mm, me neither."
"Same here!"
In the end, the vote was unanimous. The entire village would move to the Land of Iron.
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