Chapter 72: The Beautiful Woman Trap
Takumi's senses—nose, ears, eyes, everything—had been sharpened far beyond normal thanks to repeated use of his fighting spirit. Lately he'd caught whiffs of his tyrannical little sister's scent, Ryūko's fragrance, Nao's aroma, Aoi's subtle perfume… all carrying that legendary pure maiden sweetness. But Shigure's scent was something else entirely: a natural, clean fragrance, like an unknown wildflower blooming deep in an untouched mountain forest, free from pollution or worldly interference.
The smell hit him like a jolt. Takumi took a deep, greedy breath, as if trying to draw it straight into his soul. He was utterly entranced. Even Shigure's normally blank face flickered with something unusual. She flipped smoothly from hanging upside-down to standing upright, putting a slight distance between them.
"Young man, you haven't… answered me."
Shigure's speech always came in those odd, halting pauses. Takumi coughed awkwardly.
"Kōsaka-sensei, what we did earlier was just shopping. Not a date."
"A date… isn't just… going out and buying things?"
"No, completely different!"
Takumi shook his head furiously. Shigure actually seemed intrigued by the topic.
"What… is the difference?"
"Well… how do I put it? We eat to live, but we don't live just to eat… something like that, right?"
Takumi had no idea how else to explain it, so he borrowed an old saying. Shigure mulled it over for a moment.
"Very… philosophical."
Takumi gave a wry smile. (Hey, I didn't come up with it!) Squeak squeak. Tōchūmaru leaped from his head straight into Shigure's arms—or more precisely, right into her cleavage—clinging to the mesh fabric there. Takumi stared in open envy. (Damn it, trade places with me right now! I wanna bury my face there and inhale that heavenly scent!)
"Tōchūmaru… seems to like you. You're… good…"
"Uh… really?"
Takumi couldn't exactly feel happy about that. So in this world, only mice can sense my charm? While he was sulking, a piece of paper suddenly shot from Shigure's hand. It looked like ordinary paper, yet it flew with the sharpness and chill of a throwing dart. Takumi dove flat. Thud thud thud—the sheets embedded deep into the doorframe. Cold sweat poured down his back. (Did I offend this expressionless big-breasted ninja goddess?!)
"These… things… are for you."
"What are they, shuriken?!"
Takumi slowly got up, puzzled, and looked at the door. Several photos fluttered in the breeze. He was too stunned to marvel at how she could turn photos into lethal projectiles. Instead he reached out curiously and pulled them free—then froze, blood rushing to his head.
They were incredibly "loving" shots. One showed Shigure just stepping out of a hot spring, steam obscuring her flawless figure in a tantalizing haze that only heightened the allure. The other captured Miu in the exact moment her swimsuit failed to keep up with her explosive growth—fabric ripping apart as she frantically covered her chest, but that split-second gap had been perfectly immortalized.
"Th-this… these are… really for me?"
Takumi stammered. He half-expected a trap or a cruel joke, but Shigure simply said,
"You… like these things, right?"
"Y-yes…"
No point hiding his desire in front of her. Shigure nodded.
"To protect something precious… even if it costs your life… I admire that about you."
"Uh…"
"So it's fine. Akisame said a gentleman doesn't 'steal love with a blade.' Therefore… they're yours."
"It's 'a gentleman doesn't steal another's love,' right? Why bring blades into it?"
Takumi was both overjoyed and exasperated. Shigure answered seriously,
"Whenever I take something… I use a blade. So it's correct."
"Wahhh, no, I'm the one who's wrong! Shigure-sensei, arigatou! Thank you so much!"
Takumi bowed deeply and carefully tucked the two priceless photos into his inner pocket. He finally got it: none of Ryōzanpaku's six legendary masters were remotely normal. What most women would find mortifyingly embarrassing was, to Shigure, just… nothing. If someone treasured them, she had no problem giving them away.
(But then why did she go after Ma-sensei with murder in her eyes? Sigh… women are impossible to understand. Wait—does this mean I actually have game?!)
Takumi stroked his cheek smugly. Shigure suddenly remembered something.
"Oh… right. Forgot to mention. Akisame said you're too slow… so he prepared a new training method for you. 'Grilled Squid' started timing thirty minutes ago. Chatting here with me… you okay?"
"Wha—what?!"
Takumi's eyes bulged. Without thinking he spun to run—only for a soft whip to lash around him. Shigure said calmly,
"I was… asked to bring you back. Don't even think… about escaping."
With a flick of her wrist, Takumi—with his iron ball chains and fifty-kilo Jizo statue—was hurled through the air. He screamed the whole way until a figure leaped up, caught him mid-flight, and carried him into the hall. It was Apachai. Before Takumi could even thank him, Apachai deposited him in front of a stone-faced Akisame.
"Apachai brought little Takumi, Akisame!"
"Mm, excellent. I've been dying to test my new training regimen."
Akisame flashed a demonic smile.
Five minutes later, Takumi's ankles were tied to the horizontal bar, lead balls strapped to his hands, and a fire pit blazing directly beneath him.
"M-Ma-Ma-Master! This is straight-up murder! Aaaahhh! Help—murder!!"
"This is called… the Grilled Squid Dance!"
Takumi howled in outrage.
"Naming it doesn't make it okay!"
"Hm? As long as you twist around before your stomach gets burned… no problem."
"That's attempted murder!"
"Only when pushed to the absolute limit does a person surpass their boundaries. For someone with a body already far above average… this is perfect training."
Takumi despaired.
"No way—!"
Even moving frantically, he could feel the fire's heat exceeding all reason. Stop for three or four seconds and he'd be scorched for real. But…
One full hour of nonstop abdominal crunches to swing his body?! With forty kilos of lead weights on his arms?! This is murder!!
"It's okay! Master believes in you!"
"Don't believe in me for this kind of thing!!!"
Beyond grilled squid there was the "Life-or-Death Plum Blossom Posts"—each post hiding razor-sharp spikes below. Fall and you're dead. And Akisame and Shio, those two demon masters, kept sweeping long bamboo poles across the posts, forcing Takumi to leap and dodge. Every near-fall—when he was inches from becoming a pincushion—they'd hook him back up with the poles. No hedgehog death, sure, but the constant flirting with death left Takumi waking up in cold sweats every night.
(This is literally climbing mountains of blades and swimming seas of fire! Next time someone swears 'I'd go through hell for so-and-so,' I'm shoving them in to make it real!)
By the end of the day Takumi didn't even have strength left to eat dinner. He crawled into his room, trembling as he muttered to himself, then pulled the two photos from his secret pocket and gazed at them for a dose of courage and willpower.
"Young man… you're not eating?"
Shigure appeared upside-down from the ceiling like a ghost. Takumi gave a tired smile.
"No energy to eat… just let me sleep."
"That won't do. Skip dinner and tomorrow you won't even stand up."
"Wahhh, Shigure-sensei, those two masters are just enjoying tormenting me! I can't take it anymore!"
"I see… you don't want their guidance anymore?"
"Uh… well…"
"Then let me teach you. Your karate foundation is too deeply ingrained—learning another empty-hand style would be difficult. But weapons… no problem at all."
"Really? Shigure-sensei?"
"Really."
Takumi stared at her beautiful, expressionless face. After a long internal struggle, he finally shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Shigure-senpai… I think both masters are genuinely pouring everything into teaching me. I already reached twelveth-dan—no, karate black belt fourteenth-dan level. That proves their methods work—they've unlocked my potential. Quitting halfway isn't my style. Switching masters mid-way… that would be betrayal. I, Takumi Hoshino, absolutely won't do it."
"That's… your decision? No regrets?"
"Nothing to regret. Yeah, I complain nonstop… but I've never once thought of running away."
"…Very well. Then I'm leaving."
Shigure vanished like a ninja. Takumi gave a bitter laugh and lightly bonked his own head.
"What an idiot I am… Sigh. Even though I really wanted a beautiful woman master… what I came here for was to train myself properly."
Exhausted, Takumi flopped onto the tatami and fell into a deep sleep.
Outside the door, Shio leaned against the wall with arms crossed. Akisame flipped through a newspaper. Neither spoke. Then Kensei popped up out of nowhere.
"Heh, you two must be feeling pretty smug, huh? Finally got yourselves a good disciple. But managing to make Shigure pull the beauty trap on him… even heroes fall to a pretty face. I was half-worried he'd switch sides on the spot!"
"Hmph. Worry about what? He's my disciple."
"Oh really? So confident, yet you're eavesdropping right here?"
"Cough—I was just taking a walk."
"…"
"Hm, newspaper's done. Time to prepare new tools. Haha, Takumi's definitely going to love them."
"Got some new torture method ready?"
"How could you say that? I'm a very gentle person. Not strict at all."
Akisame smiled warmly. Kensei and Shio both fell silent.
Wanna read ahead? Join my Patreon and support the story — up to 6 new chapters are published for you every day!: patreon.com/ArealMaster