The chief chuckled, bending down until his eyes were level with Zen's. He grinned..
"Cursed mana, huh?" he murmured, patting Zen's arm.
Zen's hand shot up, gripping the chief's wrist. His eyes narrowed, glaring.
The chief only chuckled again. "Why so feisty?" he teased, straightening to his full height, looking down upon Zen.
"If you want a fight, just say so," Zen replied, pointing towards the armed men behind the chief.
The chief glanced back, then slowly lowered his hand. The soldiers obeyed, letting go of their weapons clattering to the ground.
"My apologies" the chief said, closing his eyes as he smirked.
Zen's glare softened—slightly. The chief smirked placing a hand on his shoulder. Boom.
Zen flinched as a searing surge of mana burned through him. The chief lunged back grabbing his hand, wincing whilst looking up at Zen. "Thats his mana alright, truly cursed" the chief thinks to himself, shaking slightly.
Shaking his arm, Zen kept his eyes fixed on the man, noticing him shake msking him grin.
"Oh I'm sorry" Zen says, smirking making the chief narrow his eyes, but he lets out another laugh. "Dam boy has an ego huh" the chief thinks walling cloder to Zen laughing even more.
From the sidelines, one soldier noted the shift in tone, glancing seeing thr others stand still like statues. "The chief's usually colder even though kid might be his target..". The soliders sigh but mutters "he's a lot more welcoming".
The chief sat down casually, flicking a few stones between his fingers, sighing but grinning aa he flick a rock at Zen. Zen catches it but in a blink of an eye the chief's appears behind him. Zen's calm but the chief leans forward smirking before saying,
"What's your purpose, kid?"
Zen raised an eyebrow at the man's calmness, then smirked.
"Easy. To become the strongest," he said, tapping his thumb against his chest. "To be number one!"
The chief's eyes widened before he broke into another chuckle.
"He didn't even hesitate with that answer. but he's still pathetic. Just a kid born with cursed power, one soldier thought" glaring at the smirking Zen.
The chief's hand landed back on Zen's shoulder, his face turning grave.
"Why do you want to be the strongest? Don't you know it's impossibl-?"
"I DON'T CARE!" Zen's voice cracked like thunder, cutting him off.
He clenched his left fist. "There's darkness here… in this hand," he said, closing his eyes.
"He's still out there. Yui is still out there!" His voice rose to a shout, his whole body trembling as stones lifted from the muddy ground.
The chief smirked, raising his palm. A red aura flared to life.
"You know mana, kid?" he asked.
Zen's gaze locked onto the glow, eyes wide. Mouth gasps.
"Mana…" he whispered.
"So that's a no." The chief sighed, blowing out the aura before turning away. He raised one hand in parting.
"If you want to be the strongest but don't even know the gift heaven gave us…" His voice dropped to a cold growl. "You're nothing but vermin. Not even worthy to be samurai."
Zen stops walking.
His eyes fell to the ground. His teeth clenched.
Not even worthy…
A violent vortex of purple mana burst from him, surrounding the entire village.
The chief choked, blood speckling his lips. Soldiers collapsed, some gasping for air, others not moving at all.
Clutching his chest, the chief looked up at the swirling storm around Zen.
"Then teach me this mana," Zen growled.
The vortex vanished. He looked up, eyes now a pale, steely grey, black mana coiling around him.
The chief's breath hitched—then twisted into a dark laugh. Zen's glare didn't waver.
"Come with me to the dojo," the chief said, turning away.
The soldiers stirred weakly, fear etched into their faces. Only one boy remained standing—a young figure with flaming red hair, trembling not from fear, but from excitement.
"Huh…" one soldier muttered, stepping back as crimson fire erupted from thr ground.
"STEP BACK!" another shouted as flames licked the muddy grass.
The boy grinned at Zen as he walked away with the chief.
"So… Father wants to train a rodent," he whispered, his laugh eerily similar to the chief's.
Sure! Here it is with quotations clearly marking the thoughts:
Zen's eyes flicked toward him. His gaze hardened as the boy covered his face with his hands, laughing.
"A new rival I'm about to crush… or just a little boy who's about to learn the hard truth of us samurai," the boy thought, a devious grin spreading across his face.