CHAPTER 2 the child named after the sun but acts like the moon

ken hideyori Yamamoto has always been a quiet child. his family understood he was interested in anything or not when they looked into his eyes and a spark of emotion was visible.

Ken wasn't pampered or spoiled by his mother, the day he turned two he had started his training.

being taught by the greatest swordmasters was something no one other than the heir of the Yamamoto family could obtain not even the daimyo could hold a candle against them in that category

ken started his training at the age of 2, starting with small exercises fitting his body but as he grew his training grew exponentially, and along with his wish to make his mother proud he pushed his body to the limits, and as they say hard work never goes to waste.

he had a very strong base for his sword style, he perfected and refined basic movements to utter elegance and with simplicity as key.

he practiced his swordsmanship with his grandfather every morning where he would get beaten up from sparring but this just made the boy stronger.

his uncle being a dojo master also helped in learning the basic stances and techniques of a samurai.

Ken found the sword fascinating..as a military family he was quite used to seeing different types of weapons but the blade always caught his attention.

the way the sword cut through the air with elegance and beauty, he never felt tired seeing it. His grandmother was the only one who wasn't as oppressive and dominating as his other family members and he acted like a child in her company.

that all changed when he witnessed the bodies of 42 assassins sprawled on the floor, his grandmother was in the process of flicking her blade off blood and putting the sword back in its sheath.

The terrifying gaze of the light blade made him admire his lineage even more.

Now he was 7 years old and he was facing his mother.

She had a serious expression on her face, in contrast to her doting but strict gaze she usually has.

" son, you are only 7 years old...you want to find the purpose of your sword?".

His mother asked while gazing into the eyes of the youngster.

" yes, I want to find the meaning of the sword"

the mother-son duo looked into the eyes of each other for a while.

closing her eyes she stood up and walked to the patriarch's room.

" follow me ken Yamamoto," she said with no visible emotion in her voice.

Ken followed her silently with smooth steps and his head held up high.

yumi walked up to the room and knocked on it thrice.

" come in, " a low voice said, the small but deep voice managed to intimidate the small boy, his body flinched in fear but held his head high still.

Yumi entered and sat down in front of a man filled with scars and a cane in his hand supporting him as he sat on his simple seat.

The old man's eyes ignored his daughter and looked directly into his grandson's eye.

" Do you believe your worthy to embark on the journey of the sword? ...it might have looked cool or something for you...but the sword isn't the strongest handheld weapon...for that, it's a spear...so tell me why the sword? because it isn't some blunt Piece of iron... it's meant to kill. so explain yourself...child"

the old man said his tone getting heavier as the speech prolonged...the man's eyes fixated on the boy.

The boy, stunned yet unshaken...replied to the old man.

" I want to get stronger to protect what I love....so I don't care if I have to work harder than everybody else and my hand will spill the blood of many...at the end, my sword will spill blood whether or not I like it..."

the old man squinted his eyes and said...

" go back grandson..your answer wasn't agreeable and is naive..think of your path in life and where u stand and come again when you aren't so naive....daughter give him a bokken and send him out of the house so he can know more about this world...and how different you are from your peers. and you want to be a samurai with these pathetic ideals? ...."

the woman beside her son widened her eyes as she understood her father's implications. if he had agreed then he would personally train her son and after that only will he be sent to the cruel world but she didn't even expect her father to refuse and think of her son resolve as naive...she looked at her father pleadingly but he just ignored her and went into another room.

The woman gave up begging her father and looked at her son beside him...

he was sitting there contemplating what his grandfather had told him.

Sighing at her and her son's fate she got up and went to the dojo to get clothes and two bokkens for her son.

she came back and saw ken still in contemplation, she tapped his shoulder, bringing him out his thoughts, facing his mother he noticed the bokkens and clothes packed carefully for him.

Without much talk between them, he rose from the tatami floor and grabbed his clothes and bokkens, and swept past his mother.

Not looking back at his family home he went past the guards and servants bit informing anyone, afraid it will reduce his motivation to strive for heights.

He walked into the streets of the fire capital, blending and disappearing midst the mass of the people in the streets.

The mother and grandfather silently watched him go in their residence quietly hoping for the best.

Later in the afternoon...

The main residence of the Yamamoto clan head,

A breeze of wind swept the whole fire capital originating from the manor, immediately after, a terrifying force of pressure impended upon the capital immobilizing the whole capital.

The other military family generals were quick to action fearing a tail beast attack like the leaf village.

Upon the generals reaching there with their army with immense difficulty, they came into a picture where the 3 young masters and the wife of the Yamamoto clan head looked menacingly upon their clan head.

The clan head sat in indifference even under the pressure, beside him was his only daughter with her head down in despair.

The old man's eyes tracked to the generals and looked back at his family and said in a low voice

" .....settle down "

right after he said it an even more terrifying force descended upon the fire capital nullifying the other forces of pressure. and eventually, the feeling of doom vanished.

" There isn't any threat to the fire capital, Tadashi, Watanabe, saboru..... it is just a misunderstanding..please head to the guest room we will accommodate you with refreshments...please give us a moment, we will greet you properly. . "

Tearing their eyes off the scene in front of them, they quietly went to the guest manor where servants were running rampant to meet the demand of refreshments for the armies that came with the generals.

Back in the main manor, the old man sat in his seat silently looking over his family.

"are you opposing my decision? .."

he asked, the family reacted by flinching their bodies in fear knowing they crossed the line today.

" how can we stay still...you sent away the HEIR of the clan because he was naive? what do you expect from a 7 year old ?this isn't times of war or anything there isn't a need for him to quickly get strong! are you still fucked in the head!?"

Tateo Yamamoto said indifferent to her husbands intimidating stare.

" are you saying he can't survive in the outside world? we haven't brought him out the manir and no one knows him, he won't be associated with the Yamamoto clan..is the blood that runs inside him not my clans?...this is how it has been done since ancient times and this is how we will select the heir now..."

" times have changed father!it hasntt been long since the previous war ended and there are bandits and ronin running around murdering people heck, even cults of new gods have rose, jashin or whatever he was..my point being it's too dangerous out there and you haven't even sent anyone to look after him! if you let us know we would've ordered someone to look after him in his journ-"

"ENOUGH OF THIS FARCE! IF HE CANT HANDLE THIS THEN HE WILL BE REPLACED BY ONE OF YOUR FUTURE CHILDREN! THE YAMAMOTO DOESNT NEED A WEAK HEIR MUCH LESS A WEAK CLANHEAD! DO YOU THINK THIS IS EASY FOR ME? I LOVE AND CARE FOR HIM AS MUCH AS YOU DO! THIS IS DETERMINANT TO HIS GROWTH! SO STOP THIS ARGUMENT AND THINK HOW YOU CAN MAKE THE CLAN STRONGER IN THE FUTURE !HE WILL BE BACK BY 5 YEARS, THE MONASTERY HAS GIVEN ME THE VISION THEY GOT ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE CLAN IF I HADNT TAKEN THIS STEP THEN THE CONSEQUENCES ARE INNUMERABLE!"

The old man spouted out finally folding to his inner emotions ,teary eyed he quieted down panting after telling the reason to his family.

The rest stood there dumbstruck by the relevation and true reason for this move, facing all their heads to the floor they couldn't do anything but grit their teeth.

The night went on, the Yamamoto housed the generals and their elite squads for the night and by the morning all the news were shut down by the clan.

Just outside the fire capital in near a small village, a young boy in humble clothes but regal aura was resting in a cave beside him a died down campfire and his belongings.

He slept late in the night sweaty from traveling and practicing his sword.

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hey guys author here, found some time to write this chapter even though I have final exams, wish me luck y'all 😁hope you guys enjoy the chap. I know for sure I'm going to cringe reading this chap in the future tho 😅