EXTRA: An Anecdote of a Certain Master

A few mornings after the incident involving Shu.
Aiha, having finished her morning training alone, was seated on the veranda of the residence.

With quiet breathing, she lightly stretched her wings.
Her large wings, the color of wet feathers, swayed gently as they caught the sunlight.

Then, Suzuran appeared, carrying a tray with two teacups.
She quietly sat down beside her and offered one to Aiha.

“Good work, Aiha-sama. It’s starting to get hot.”

The early-summer breeze brushed against her wings, and from the teacup offered to her, faintly scented steam drifted softly upward.
For a moment, a gentle silence flowed between the two of them.

“Come to think of it, I remembered one tale about Shu—”

At Suzuran’s words, Aiha set down her teacup and showed interest.
“Is it something new?”

“Of course.”
Suzuran’s eyes sparkled.

“You said, didn’t you, that ‘Shu nullifies the attacks of the opponent facing its master’?”

“That’s right. When I took Shu in hand, that was how I understood it.”

“Those who faced it at the time also seemed to say, one after another, ‘I tried to attack, but I couldn’t even make a move.’ However, in the oni village of long ago, there was said to have been a martial artist who launched attacks unilaterally.”

“…What did you say? Is such a thing possible?”
Aiha, uncharacteristically, wore a troubled expression and folded her arms.

“Suzu, wait a moment. I’ll think about how that could be done…”

Saying that, Aiha lowered her gaze and began muttering to herself, while Suzuran watched over her with a gentle smile.
Before long, as if resigning herself, Aiha lifted her face.

“…I don’t know. What became of that martial artist?”

“Nothing in particular—he simply struck as he always did.
However, it is said that he was always saying this.”
Suzuran lowered her voice and spoke as if confiding.

—If you decide to strike and then strike, it is already too late.

Aiha stared, her mouth slightly open, then immediately let out a voice of admiration.
“…Indeed. In that case, the attack would go through.”

“For that reason, the one holding Shu was struck without any means to respond, and in the end was forced to flee in defeat.
Also, it seems that he never realized, to the very end, that his opponent was the legendary Shu.”

Suzuran covered her mouth and smiled, as if holding back laughter.
Aiha gazed into the distance.

“I still have a long way to go.”
Saying that, she took a sip of tea from her teacup.

“From here on, it becomes another tale about that man, but… it seems he lived by the principle of always on the battlefield. Even outside of bouts or training, if there was an opening, he would strike.”

“His disciples must have had it rough.”
She let out an exasperated sigh.

“No—even ordinary people just walking around.”

“That’s an unbelievable madman!”
Her voice rose before she could stop herself, and the tea in the teacup rippled.

Suzuran continued with a small laugh.
“One day, it seems that led to a dispute.”

“…Well, that’s only natural.”

“However, it seems he beat nearly twenty opponents unilaterally and forced them to admit defeat.”

“…Wasn’t the weapon he held something with a notorious history?”

“No. It seems that no matter what he held, he was just as strong.”

After gazing at the sky for a while, Aiha murmured quietly.
“I, too, would like to become someone whose tales are told.”
With a gentle smile, she took another sip of tea.

Suzuran was watching her profile.

—There’s a dangerous tengu who fights oni head-on without jintsūriki.

Suzuran secretly knew that such a rumor was being whispered in the oni village.