Inside Isshin Dojo—
The atmosphere was strange.
No one spoke.
Silence swallowed everything.
Gulp.
Shimotsuki Kozaburo swallowed hard, his eyes wide, staring blankly at the scene that had just unfolded before him.
Good grief…
What did he just witness?!
"That was… sword aura."
"This brat actually formed sword aura?!"
"And that move just now… that was Iai One-Sword Slash, wasn't it?!"
"In other words…"
Kozaburo's throat felt dry. For a moment, words refused to come out.
The truth was right in front of him.
But that truth was so absurdly shocking that his mind refused to accept it.
Three hours.
Was that really all?
This kid had actually learned Iai One-Sword Slash to entry level in only three hours?!
Impossible.
That was not normal.
That was not scientific.
It broke every rule he knew.
Everything about it shattered Kozaburo's expectations and worldview.
Born in Wano, then traveling all the way to East Blue's Shimotsuki Village, he'd seen far more than the average man.
But even with all that experience—
This was the first time in his life he had seen something like this.
So this world really did have such monsters.
Three hours.
Three. Hours.
What kind of concept was that?
Wano, in its prime, had been unimaginably powerful—
Even the World Government had to take it seriously.
Back then, Wano produced samurai like flowing water. Sword geniuses appeared one after another. But out of all those geniuses—
Had any one of them done what Ryukawa just did?
To learn a high-difficulty killing move in only three hours?
What kind of terrifying talent did that require?
For the first time—
Kozaburo felt like his brain had been smashed by a meteor.
His mind was in chaos, thoughts tangled beyond repair.
"Iai One-Sword Slash is not some random street trick…"
"But this kid… actually learned it to entry level in just three hours. Is this real? Or am I hallucinating?"
At that moment—
Kozaburo finally understood.
He finally understood the tone Koushirou had used when he spoke about Ryukawa.
He got it.
Only by standing face-to-face could one truly comprehend how monstrous this boy's talent was.
It was beyond exaggerated.
"Wait."
"Hold on…"
Kozaburo forced himself to take a deep breath, suppressing the violent waves in his heart.
He stared intently at the broken wood scattered across the floor.
And then—
He noticed something even more horrifying.
Something that told him…
This wasn't just as simple as "entry level."
"I remember… he swung from five meters away. His sword never touched the post. He released sword aura from that distance—and blew straight through it!"
"Five meters…"
"If I remember correctly, when someone first reaches entry level in Iai One-Sword Slash, the maximum range of their sword aura is about one meter at best."
"That's already outstanding."
"But this brat…"
"He released a five-meter sword aura?!"
"That means…"
Kozaburo's pupils shrank violently. He turned to stare at Ryukawa like he was looking at some kind of freak.
This wasn't just entry level.
Not at all.
Kozaburo could now say with certainty—
Ryukawa's mastery of Iai One-Sword Slash was definitely beyond the threshold of entry.
It had gone much higher.
To the point of near freedom and control.
Good heavens.
This kid hadn't just grasped the move—
He had trained it to the point he could use it naturally, without stiffness, and at a range far beyond normal beginners.
Where did this monster come from?!
"You—be honest with me," Kozaburo said, his breathing uneven, words tumbling out in a rush. "Just how far have you taken Iai One-Sword Slash?"
Seeing Kozaburo so anxious—
Ryukawa decided not to hide it.
"If we treat this technique as a scale of zero to one hundred," he said, "then I've probably reached around… five out of ten so far."
He glanced mentally at his system panel:
[Host: Ryukawa]
[Strength: 45 (+4)]
[Speed: 43 (+3)]
[Stamina: 48 (+5)]
[Skills: Swordsmanship Lv9]
[ Ittoryu — Iai One-Sword Slash Lv5 (+4 levels)]
[Total sword swings: 946]
That's right.
In three hours—
He hadn't just reached entry level.
He had leveled Iai One-Sword Slash all the way to Lv5.
That was why his execution seemed so natural—no stiffness, no hesitation. His sword aura was thick and powerful, and the strike was overwhelmingly destructive.
Huff… huff…
Kozaburo kept trying to steady his breathing.
But his eyes remained full of shock.
His emotional turbulence refused to settle.
"It's just like Koushirou said," he muttered internally.
"This kid…"
"Really is a monster."
"No—his talent is even more terrifying than Koushirou described. I don't think even Koushirou truly understands just how insane this boy is."
Kozaburo did his best to suppress his turmoil.
What had happened just moments ago…
Had shattered his mental defenses over and over again.
It was too much.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed such a monster existed.
After a while, he finally composed himself.
He cleared his throat, then patted Ryukawa's shoulder, putting on the air of an elder giving well-meaning advice.
"Boy, you must keep working hard," he said solemnly.
"I won't deny it—you're very gifted. But don't you dare get arrogant because of it."
"I've seen plenty of people with talent like yours. Many of them ended up… ordinary in the end."
"If you don't want to follow in their footsteps—if you don't want to fall into mediocrity someday—then you must work even harder than everyone else. Never waste what you've been given."
"The sea is full of monsters. There are many people with terrifying talent in the sword. You're not the only one."
"In my eyes, your talent is just… so-so."
Having said that, he turned around and walked toward the exit.
He left Ryukawa with only a profound-looking back—
And strode out of the dojo without a backward glance.
After leaving—
Kozaburo decided he needed to find a quiet place to calm down and digest everything he had just witnessed.
That kind of absurdity…
Wasn't easy to swallow.
"No… I have to talk to Koushirou properly about this."
"Ryukawa's talent… is really too frightening."
"With this kind of talent—forget just Wano—even if you look across the entire vast ocean, I doubt you could easily find a second one like him."
"To think, in this tiny corner of East Blue…"
"There's actually such a monster."
"Three hours… and he pushed a killing move to this level. This kid's talent has completely smashed the worldview this old man spent a lifetime building!"
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