Tang! Tang!

The sounds of steels clashing against each other reverberated throughout the whole forest. The reason of the noises was the two figure who were chasing each other.

One of the figure threw several shuriken and was reciprocated by a wave of wakizashi, some kind of short sword usually used by samurai, flying at him.

They battled whilst jumping from one towering tree to another with ease.

Sometimes they would chase against each other while throwing several projectiles. Sometimes they would battle against each other in close quarter atop a titanic tree.

The battle was in a deadlock, no one had the upper hand and the battle dragged for a long time.

Dozens of giant trees were cut into pieces, several were burned by the explosive and a lot of it was turned to pincushions of shuriken and wakizashi.

Their battle left a great devastation to the forest.

Stung!!

The white robed figure warded of shurikens flying at him with his katana. He waved his katana gracefully and fended off several shurikens. He took out several wakizashi from somewhere and sent it flying. It was evaded easily by his enemy, he frowned at the sight.

“Mwahaha! What kind of counter-attack was that? I can always dodge it even if I close my eyes!”

The white robed figure, which was none other than Law, gritted his teeth. Someday he would beat the old man black and blue until his own mother couldn’t recognize him.

Master Lee, the yellow robed figure was a great teacher. But his weird teaching was always infuriating him to death. For example, Master Lee liked to poison his food or drink to teach him how to be vigilant. If he detected it, then he would be forced to ingest the poison to build his immunity. Which resulted in him having stomachache and several weird symptoms most of the time.

He flowed a lot of ki to his lower body and used the [Shadewind Step] to chase the stinking old man.

Law almost caught up with the yellow robed master Lee in a flash. He gripped his katana with his right hand, waves of ki flowed smoothly making the katana shone brightly like a beam saber. He swung it diagonally. An arc shaped sword beam flew toward master Lee. But before the sword beam could reach its target, master lee had somersaulted away from danger without looking at the sword beam behind him.

“Fuck! It was dodged with ease, did the old man grew another pair of eyes on his back or what? He didn’t even look back.”

Fruuzh!

A titanic tree was cut up by the sword beam, adding more devastation to the magical forest.

A bright looking shurikens broke him out of stupor. Those tiny little shuriken was not to be underestimated, it was literarily a mini wheels of death. Those shuriken were charged with xiantian ki by the old man. He wouldn’t be able to block it without a considerable effort.

Law channeled more of his ki to his lower body. He started to move in a graceful but weird manner. His figure grew hazy and he evaded every ki enhanced shurikens flying at him with [Shadewind Step].

Crush! Crush!

The shurikens shredded everything on its path.

Boom!

There was a great explosion behind him, he was blown away.

“Bah! You should always look at your surrounding young man! Can’t believe there’s still someone stupid enough to fall for that kind of trick!”

He struggled to stand up and coughed up blood. His skin was charred and his clothes were tattered. It was nothing but superficial wounds that would heal soon.

The pain he felt was something he had accustomed to but his heart was bleeding from all the taunting. He was so mad that he could explode at any moment.

He wasn’t that stupid.

His teacher liked to create traps. Whenever he was in the presence of master Lee, he became paranoid and always scanned his surroundings in a great detail.

The bomb must’ve been hidden with some sort of dao or true meaning. That was the only reason why he couldn’t find it with his dojutsu.

It was one of limitation he found about his cheatingan. His sharingan could imitate almost everything, but he couldn’t copy if it contained a true meaning or dao. His tenseigan could see everything but didn’t have the ability to see through a true meaning or dao yet.

The power of his mystical eyes were quite limited because of his strength. But as he grew stronger he would be able to unlock more feature of the dojutsu. He hypothesized if he mastered a true meaning then he would be able to see it using his eyes.

He used his ki to accelerate the healing and regained his composure.

The old man was nowhere to see.

He scanned the forest with his tenseigan, searching for glimpse of the old man’s ki.

Nothing. There was no trace of ki in sight. Usually when one used magical arts they would leave a residual ki, stealth art was no exception.

It was testament of master Lee’s skill.

The only thing he could see was lush forest filled with towering trees.

He tapped the tree he was standing on and sent a wave of chakra.

Shadow…. Ancient…

Unseen… Aura masked… Footsteps felt… North…

It was a new ability he found 2 years ago.

As he cultivated using [Heart of Sage], he found that his connection with nature grew deeper. He couldn’t use mokuton but he could interact with trees to an extent and strengthen it.

Even if one could hide themselves, to completely hid oneself from nature was as difficult as defying heaven.

He jumped north to search for the old man.

A shadow agglomerated behind him revealing master Lee who blended with shadows.

Thunk.

The sword swung by the old man clashed against a green vine that suddenly emerged from Law’s body. The tender looking vine wrapped around his back and protected him from the assault. The source of the vine was a white flower necklace he wore on his neck.

When he found his connection with nature grew stronger, he practiced nature type magical art the clan has. He could grow trees and used it to do his biddings but it was not mokuton. The plant he grew couldn’t absorb or restrain ki like the trees used by hashirama senju.

Even if controlling plant to battle was not compatible with his battle tactic. He stubbornly researched his ability to interact with nature. After a long time, it finally bore some fruit.

The origin of the vine protected him was a white flower necklace he wore. The plant that coiled around his neck assuming the shape of a necklace was the result of his hard work. He named the plant Leaf, it was a kind of easter lily vine.

Leaf had been nourished with Law’s robust ki. It was smarter than most plant and could be classified as a spirit herb.

Its cultivation stage was peak houtian like Law. The sturdiness of its vines could match the thick hide of some xiantian godbeast. It had low mobility but its springy vines had tremendous defensive capability. Most of attack aimed at Leaf would bounce harmlessly. It also could heal him making it the ultimate supporter.

Leaf, the easter lily vine spirit herb, counter-attacked at the old man with its vine. Dozens of vines lashed at the old man. The vines that came at him was deflected, blocked or cut with his sword.

Law turned around and joined Leaf on its onslaught. Each of his strikes were sharp and precise, aiming to kill.

Clank! Thunk!

He battled in a great coordination with Leaf. When he attacked Leaf would focus on defense and when Leaf attacked he would focus on defense.

Law frowned.

Each thrust, swipe or slash he made was neutralized with ease.

No matter what he did the old man could deal with his attack easily. Dozens of vines whipping at master Lee, he evaded it with a strange footwork, unperturbed by the vines. Every movement made by the old man was elegant, efficient and precise.

Law’s swordsmanship was pale compared to master Lee’s swordsmanship. Each time he brandished his sword, it gave off an ethereal and archaic feeling.

Even though Law seemed to have the upper hand in the exchange. No matter what he couldn’t break master Lee’s defenses, and with each passing movement master Lee’s momentum grew larger. It was akin to tidal waves against coral barrier.

The dam was finally broken and master lee counter-attacked. It was a clean thrust from the side directed at his head.

When the sword was only few centimeters away from his head. Time seemed to stop.

Sword.

Slash. Swipe. Thrust.

He saw himself repeatedly practicing with a katana.

He saw himself trained every day until his hands numbed.

He saw himself in the center of Fallen Leaf formation cutting dozens of leaf while fending of marbles.

He saw every success he made with a katana.

He saw more of his failure.

He could feel the weight of his katana clearly.

He could feel it trembled every time it clashed.

He could feel the winds when he swung his katana.

He could feel his disjointed movements.

He heard the sound of slashing katana.

He heard the sounds of it clashing.

He heard every advice given to him.

He smelled his fatigue.

He smelled his victories.

He smelled his losses.

Struck in epiphany, Law’s eyes grown brighter.

He sidestepped before the thrust could reach him. he counter-attacked with a swipe of katana.

Master Lee parried it with his sword.

Law’s swordsmanship became more harmonized. He suddenly knew when, how and where to attack.

The exchange grown more intense, both parties charged their swords with ki.

Law became faster and faster. He struck master Lee in the chest.

Only for him to dissolve like an illusion.

A bitingly cold steel rested on Law’s neck.

“You lose,” master Lee smirked and sheathed his sword.

“Congratulation on becoming one with the sword. Go back to the manor and rest.”

Law nodded and left.

Master Lee had a melancholic look when he saw Law’s retreating figure.

………………………….

In the Ji clan west prefecture manor, precisely inside Yichuan’s office. He and Yuchi Snow were having a heated discussion.

“Why must he participate? Law is too young.”

“Blue Lotus is personal maidservant, of course he has to go.”

“It is too dangerous; he is just a child.”

“Law is already a peak houtian, he could take care of himself. Besides he would be accompanied by several xiantian, he’ll be fine.”

“Isn’t it fine only sending our warriors.”

“The Blue tribe is one of the biggest tribe under the west prefecture of Ji clan. Now that they asked for our help, we must show them our sincerity.”

“Law is too inexperienced for this.”

“This is a good opportunity for him to learn diplomacy and commanding in the field.”

The argument dragged for a while.

Snow didn’t want her baby to go because Law was too tender to be in a battlefield.

He was only 10 years old. Even if he was a world shattering genius, his mother, Snow was worried of his prospect in a battlefield.

Law was already a peak houtian, only a step away from xiantian. He had a considerable chance against an early xiantian and could escape from those who had higher cultivation stage.

But no one could predict what would happen in a battlefield. Oftentimes the tallest tree would be blown away by the wind.

“Law can go but you must give him some treasures to protect his life,” Snow said with finality, leaving no room for more argument.

Yichuan nodded as a sign of agreement.

When the discussion finally came to a conclusion. A creaking sound resounded throughout the whole room. The door to the study was old, nearing two hundred years old. No one bothered to fix the door because the creaking sound was a kind of notification.

The one who opened the door was Law.

He was only 10, nearing 11 this year. But he looked like a 17 years old.

He was a carbon copy of his mother with a few notable differences.

His silky smooth white hair reached his shoulder. Having a long hair was not an exploitable weakness because he could freely move his hair if he channeled his ki.

His face was symmetries, sharp and elegant. His eyebrow was neither too thin or thick. His eyelashes were beautifully curled. And his blood red eye added a mysterious charm.

He was tall. His body was lean but well built like a leopard. He could unleash explosive power and move at rapid velocity.

“Do you need something father?” Law asked while closing the door.

“Sit,” Yichuan motioned Law to sit across him.

“Tell me everything you know about Blue Lotus and the tribe your personal maidservant hailed from.”

“Blue Lotus is the daughter of the current tribe chief of the Blue tribe. One of the biggest tribe under Ji clan…,” Law replied but seemed unsure how to continue.

“The Blue tribe controlled one of the biggest red steel mine in the west prefecture of Ji clan. This morning, we received a distress signal level 3. You will be accompanying several xiantian and eleven squadron of ninefang warriors as the commander.”

Law’s face turned ugly when he heard distress signal level 3.

In exchange for taxes, every tribe under their rule was given protection by Ji clan.

There are 3 kinds of distress signal.

First, distress signal level 1. This signal was for a significant problem for the tribe but could be easily solved by Ji clan.

Distress signal level 2 for serious problem.

Level 3 for threatening circumstances that could wipe out an entire tribe.

Lotus tribe was one of the biggest tribe under Ji clan. Even if it had no zifu practitioner, the tribe housed hundreds of houtian, several xiantian and few peak xiantian.

Something that could wipe out a tribe of such size couldn’t be underestimated.

Notes:

Dojutsu: Mystical eyes like sharingan and byakugan.

Mokuton: Seriously you don't know what mokuton is? go watch Naruto. it is some kind of plant controlling ninja magic.