On a country road, a merchant caravan laden with goods moved slowly forward.
"This weather is so hot," the chubby caravan leader said, fanning himself and sticking out his tongue, feeling as if he were being roasted by the fierce sun.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Look, there's a small grove of trees over there. Let's go rest for a bit."
However, just as they entered the grove, a group of menacing-looking men blocked the path in front of and behind them.
"Excuse me, this forest is mine. If you want to cool off in its shade, you'll have to pay."
"?!?!" The chubby leader's eyes widened. "Isn't this just a robbery? You make it sound so refined."
"Glad you understand. Now hurry up and hand over your money and valuables!" The bandit leader dropped the pretense and laid his cards on the table.
"In your dreams! Guards, get them!"
Seeing that the bandits outnumbered them two to one, the guards complained bitterly but, bound by their duty, had no choice but to charge forward.
"Hmph. You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Men, get them!"
More than twenty bandits swarmed forward, shouting and yelling. Their bloodthirsty demeanor made the merchants, who were too weak to even truss a chicken, turn pale. The chubby leader trembled, slightly regretting his tough stance, but giving up his wealth was more painful to him than death.
Just then, a voice full of righteousness boomed like a thunderclap. "Hoi! To dare commit such an inhumane act under the bright, clear sky—we, the Twin Swords of Wood and Iron, will absolutely not allow it!"
"The Twin Swords of Wood and Iron?" The bandit leader looked toward the source of the voice with suspicion, but then couldn't help but burst into laughter. "I thought it was someone impressive, but it's just two little kids. Oh, and a little girl, too. My luck is really good today."
"You... you dare look down on the Twin Swords of Wood and Iron? You deserve to die!" After saying this with a flushed face, the girl who had been called out shot a murderous glare. Her body leaned forward, and she sprang out like a nimble cheetah.
Her right hand was clenched tightly around the hilt of the sword at her waist. Only when she was close did she suddenly draw the blade from its sheath, a brilliant blue light flaring to life on its surface.
"Sword Technique: Iai Slash!"
A winding, bright light flashed and was gone. Blood spurted from the necks of all the bandits as they collapsed to the ground. The people of the merchant caravan stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what they had just seen.
Clap, clap, clap!
The boy who had spoken earlier applauded and said with admiration, "Not bad. As expected of the 'Iron Sword Heroine' who makes bandits tremble in fear. Your killing hand is getting more and more skilled."
"Hmph!" The girl snorted coldly and sheathed her sword. "In the future, can you not make me say things like that? It's so embarrassing."
These two were, of course, Kaito and Tetsuren.
They had passed through the Land of Iron and arrived in the Land of Rice Paddies. This place would later become the site of Orochimaru's secret base, where he single-handedly established the Village Hidden in the Sound. Of course, that was a long time in the future. Right now, the Land of Rice Paddies didn't even have any ninja, and an air of poverty permeated everything. Only a few merchant caravans passed through.
As for the earlier speech, it was all just Kaito's wicked sense of humor. He had long dreamed of being a wandering hero, righting wrongs with his sword. But after trying it out, he felt the style didn't quite fit, and the stares of the passersby did indeed make him feel a bit ashamed.
Sigh. If only I had transmigrated into a wuxia world. I would definitely be a first-rate, magnanimous hero.
Suppressing his frustration, Kaito nodded. "Alright, let's come up with a nickname that better fits the style of the ninja world. How about we call ourselves..."
"No!" Tetsuren refused without a second thought.
"Urgh. You have no sense of humor. What use are you?!"
As they were bickering, the chubby caravan leader walked over, wiping cold sweat from his brow. He squinted his eyes into a smile. "Thank you for your help, esteemed masters. We would have been in great danger otherwise."
"You're welcome. That'll be one hundred thousand for our trouble." Kaito abruptly held out his palm.
"This..."
"What? You have a problem with that?"
"No, no, not at all!"
The chubby leader forced a strained smile, his heart aching as he took out a stack of banknotes from his robes and handed them over.
"Heh heh." Kaito took them with a grin, counted them carefully, and nodded in satisfaction.
Beside him, Tetsuren quickly turned her head away, pretending not to know him.
Kaito rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're so noble, so high and mighty. Don't you know that food and drink cost money? If you don't have money, are you going to drink the northwest wind? Now hurry up and loot the bodies. Especially that bandit leader. Be thorough."
"..."
After shooing away the eye-sore Tetsuren, Kaito, who had grown a little taller, managed to sling an arm around the chubby leader's neck and asked in a friendly tone, "Where are you all heading?"
"Um, we're planning to take our goods to the Land of Hot Water to sell."
"What a coincidence, that's on our way. Let's travel together. Any bandits we encounter from now on will be handled by our Wood... ahem, will be handled by us."
"How could we impose?!" The chubby leader rubbed his hands together, his heart filled with excitement. With such powerful guards, their journey would be safe.
"No imposition, no imposition at all. Each time we act, it's a flat fee of one hundred thousand."
"...??!"
When the world fell into chaos, bandits rose up everywhere.
For several days in a row, Kaito and his group encountered bandits. Fortunately, they were all ordinary people, and just unleashing Tetsuren was enough to deal with them easily. It had to be said that Tetsuren's swift sword style was a god-tier skill for mowing down mobs; ordinary people couldn't even follow her movements. Through frequent real combat, her swordsmanship also developed by leaps and bounds. When she drew her sword, there was a hint of lightning in her movements. It seemed she was on the verge of mastering her nature transformation.
After accepting another hundred thousand ryo from the chubby leader with a smile, Kaito patted his shoulder and said, "It's getting dark. Let's find a place to camp for the night."
"Mm!"
Unfortunately, just after they had finished dinner, a light rain began to fall from the sky, accompanied by the rumbling of spring thunder.
"It's thundering! Quick, bring in the clothes!" Kaito said, speaking words no one understood, and chuckled to himself.
"It's thundering? So this is lightning?" Tetsuren lifted the flap of her tent and looked at the lightning snakes flashing across the dark night sky, her expression one of astonishment. The Land of Iron was a frigid place where thermal convection was not significant, so thunderstorms were extremely rare. Tetsuren only had a vague memory of them; this was the first time she had witnessed lightning so clearly.
An idea struck Kaito. He raised an eyebrow, pulled Tetsuren out of the tent, and stood with her in the rain.
"Want to feel the power of lightning?"
"Huh?"
"I don't know if it will work, but there's no harm in trying. Remember not to blink in a moment." Kaito chuckled softly and drew his standard-issue iron sword.
When the silver snakes dancing in the sky became more and more dense, Kaito, under Tetsuren's confused gaze, threw the sword in his hand diagonally up into the air with all his might.
BOOM!
As if it felt provoked, a thick bolt of heavenly lightning descended from the sky with majestic power and struck the iron sword.
In an instant, the world lit up. An inverted silver tree filled Kaito's entire field of vision, then vanished in a flash. The earth-shattering roar of thunder exploded in his ears, deafeningly loud. Faced with such heavenly might, the people of the caravan had long since prostrated themselves on the ground in terror.
"Hahahaha! It worked on the first try!" Kaito's laughter sounded particularly abrupt amidst the roaring thunder.
"What do you think? Isn't lightning powerful?"
Tetsuren stared fixedly at Kaito, nodded heavily, and broke into a smile even more excited than when she was in battle.
"Yes! I want to see it again!"
"Er, my sword is probably ruined. If you want to see it again, use yours."
"...Never mind then."