Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

The bamboo rustled in the courtyard, its leaves swaying in the dappled sunlight, exuding a serene summer atmosphere.

Occasionally, a few leaves twirl and fall onto the pond's surface, creating ripples that startle the fish and splash into shimmering water. The sound of bamboo tubes striking the rocks adds to the serene and pleasant atmosphere.

There is a pond and a covered walkway here. If you walk up, you will reach the temple with the plaque that reads "Only I Am of One Mind".

When Uesugi Kai comes to the dojo, he usually sits in the rest area and looks at the four large characters that can be seen when he looks up directly opposite.

He often looked at it, and he often thought about it.

What were the thoughts of the person who wrote those four characters?

After warming up at the kendo dojo, Nanmyu Maru was in high spirits.

He put down his wooden sword, sat down next to Uesugi Kai, and picked up a bottle of cola and drank it.

He gulped it down in two big gulps, making a satisfying sound, and looked at Uesugi Kai, who was staring at him as he drank his cola.

"300 yen." Uesugi said calmly.

Nanmyu Maru put down the empty bottle and said with a smile:

"Why are you always sitting in the rest area? I've never seen you spar with anyone. What's the point of just practicing the most basic movements?"

His swordsmanship is very advanced; he had already left several disciples breathless during the warm-up alone.

He kept saying, "No, no, I can't take it anymore."

You should know that a few days ago when the Mountain Martial Arts Academy came to exchange and compete, those disciples were able to spar with them on equal terms.

Yamanaka Budokan is a well-known kendo dojo in the Tokyo area.

Dressed in white robes and black hakama, Uesugi Kai didn't make many movements, but simply looked at the plaque and asked:

"How does Senior Brother Nan understand the meaning of those four words?"

"ha--?"

Nanmyu Maru followed his gaze and saw the four characters: "Only I Am of One Mind".

He rubbed his chin, then clenched his right fist and struck it against the top of his left palm: "Isn't this a simple matter? It's just what it sounds like!"

Uesugi Kai didn't respond, but instead spoke to the bamboo grove outside the gate:

"Then what are these?"

"Bamboo."

"I care more about the sunlight shimmering and swaying through the gaps between the bamboo stalks than the bamboo itself."

"What does this mean?" Nanmyu Maru didn't understand what he was saying.

"It means that only with something to outline it can we better show the movement of bamboo in the wind."

Nanmyu Maru glanced at the bamboo outside the wooden gate, then at Uesugi Kai.

He spread his hands and shrugged.

Kai Uesugi continued, “Cherry blossoms in spring, fireworks in summer, ginkgo leaves in autumn, and snow in winter—these things make people’s feelings about the seasons more intense. I’m wondering…whether our understanding of ‘single-mindedness’ has become distorted due to different times.”

Tachibana Yuga suddenly walked in from outside, stood in front of the two of them, paused for a second, and then said:

"Senior Brother Fujimaki is here."

Nanmyu Maru suddenly laughed and said to Uesugi Kai, "The troublemakers are here."

When I first arrived at the dojo today, Uesugi Kai had already heard from Kusunoki that this Fujimaki was the eldest disciple.

He is the senior disciple of the One-Sword Style of their generation.

Uesugi Kai joined the sect relatively late, and most disciples called him "senior brother" only out of respect for the strength he had displayed before.

In this team competition, he ousted his senior brother from his position as the team's general.

Without prior notice or reminder, the senior brother was suddenly pulled off the team.

It feels like when you're about to eat and someone suddenly kicks your rice bowl away.

Just as I had said, Senior Brother Fujimaki arrived soon, and his two other senior brothers, Koshin and Higuchi, also entered the dojo with him.

It was clear that the group had just met.

At first glance, Fujimaki makes no impression; she seems unremarkable.

He was neither as handsome as Keimi in the heart of the lake, nor as short as Nanmyu Maru.

In terms of appearance, it really doesn't have any special features.

However, one thing is quite impressive.

He arrived at the kendo dojo without bowing, glanced at everyone in the dojo, and then, under everyone's gaze, approached Uesugi Kai.

Whispers began to circulate within the dojo.

Everyone knows now that Uesugi Kai has taken the top spot in this tournament.

So much so that the disciples were all paying attention to what changes would occur in the rest area.

They don't know who's better...

All they remembered was the incident where Uesugi Kai went berserk a while ago.

—Anyway, they're all fellow disciples whom I can't afford to offend.

Fujimaki Asuka's gaze swept over Tachibana Yuga and Kusunoki Mukumaru before finally settling on Uesugi Kai.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and both his demeanor and expression suggested he had never encountered setbacks in his life.

"Oh--"

Uesugi Kai greeted her calmly as usual, "Fujimaki-senpai."

"No need."

Asuka waved her hand to interrupt, "You can call me senior brother, but junior brother! Why should Master appoint you as the general in this battle?!"

Seeing this, Hu Xinjing, who had come with him, stood between the two and explained with a smile:

"Of course you have to ask Master about this; Junior Brother doesn't know either."

"If I could find my master, I wouldn't have come here!" Fujiki Asuka said crisply, her words tinged with anger and resentment.

He then turned to ask Uesugi Kai, who was about the same height as him:

"Does Junior Brother know?"

He speaks with great authority, and despite his ordinary appearance, he exudes a sense of distance that keeps strangers at bay.

The details, such as arms crossed over the chest and chin slightly raised, further illustrate this.

Kai Uesugi shook his head.

He's been looking for the older man lately; he wants to ask him about the magatama.

This relates to the completion of the task.

But Ms. Sakakibara only said that her father had gone out, and no one knew where he had gone.

It might be Kansai, it might be Hokkaido, or it might be in the mountains near Tokyo.

"I didn't know that before."

“Junior brother,” Fujimaki Asuka said, “your sudden intervention surprised me a little, but I don’t think your involvement will change the final result. Today is the third year, the eighteenth national championship of the Yushin Ittō-ryū, the first three-peat, and I will definitely continue to win this three-peat.”

After saying that, he turned and left.

Just as they came, they left just as decisively.

He was accompanied by his senior brother, Higuchi.

He seemed to be talking to Fujimaki, but Fujimaki only glanced at him before looking straight ahead without responding.

......

"Haha, I thought Fujimaki was here to cause trouble."

Nanmyu-maru had one arm around Uesugi Kai's neck as he laughed and said this.

Although his height, which barely reached Kai Uesugi's chest, made his gesture of patting the shoulder seem somewhat comical.

Fujimaki left.

The disciples in the dojo, seeing that no fight had broken out, were quite bored and, under the urging of their senior sister Tachibana Yuga, continued their training.

"Hey, Mirror, didn't you say that Fujimaki was here to cause trouble for Junior Brother?"

“Don’t call me that,” Hu Xin Jing Jian said, brushing away the hand that was about to pat his shoulder. “And I must remind you, I’m talking about a possibility, a possibility! It’s certain that he will come looking for Uesugi.”

“Then it seems more like he just made a bunch of threats and ran away?” Nanmyu Maru said. “It’s really boring. I thought someone like him would take action without hesitation.”

"You can ask your senior brother about that."

"If I could ask him, would I be asking you?! He completely ignores me and doesn't even respond to my greetings."

"That's just my senior brother's personality."

"Tch," Nanmyu Maru curled his lip, then suddenly laughed, "Junior Brother is so nice. A couple of days ago, even though he knew I was here to cause trouble, he still greeted me politely and called me Senior Brother. The way he called me Senior Brother made me completely give up the idea of ​​causing him any more trouble!"

Kai Uesugi: "......"

Lake Mirror glanced at him and said, "Here we go again."

Nanmyu Maru glared back, his eyes wide: "Huh!? Start what? Are you bragging?"

Hu Xinjing scoffed, "Isn't that right? If I hadn't been there, wouldn't you have just dragged Uesugi into a match? Calling it a match is just an excuse to bully Uesugi and show off your status as the senior brother, Fifth Junior Brother."

"You arrived first, and now you're criticizing me? If I hadn't come, wouldn't you have gone to challenge your junior brother to a duel too?"

Then, Nanmyu Maru deliberately imitated Huxin Jingjian's tone and repeated, "You call it a competition, but you just want to take the opportunity to bully your junior brother so as to show off your status as the second senior brother."

Seeing that he wasn't angry, the person in the lake smiled and said, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"What do you mean by 'manage'? It's not up to you to decide."

Lake Mirror laughed and said, "Haha, it's like hitting a mad dog and getting bitten back!"

"A mere glib tongue!" Senior Brother Nan scoffed. "Shall we have another match today?"

"Afraid of you!?"