Along the shores of Kyushu; the waves that crashed along the rocks were disturbed due to the shift of balance that recently transpired. A soft fire crackled as Yamato was resting on a blanket while his wounds were still healing. The swordsman (whom was in Kiseki) had found his body losing a great deal of blood, and so he had worked on his wounds shortly after the Sou Dan attack. Had he not shown in time, he would not have lived. Meanwhile, the entire countryside across the Kanto region was in a land of flame with a blood red hue covering the once peaceful blue sky. Hideoshi had made his move into total conquest of Japan; his first order of business was to confiscate the people's belongings as "luxury tax".
He then sent his men into various villages and kidnapping every working male to become his workers along with the option of seeing everything they worked so hard become wiped out or heeding the call to Hideoshi. The bandits took every female (except the elderly) away from the villages and placed them in chains only to be used by Hideoshi. The last force that was under his command was the youma, in which they accepted the task to exhaust every resource that the people worked hard for.
As night fell, Yamato gasped as he opened his eyes very unaware of his surroundings.
"You finally woke up, Yamato Ichimonji...”
He turned towards the swordsman with a slight nod as he was offered a bowl of mackerel soup. From the look of his attire, he did not look a swordsman, but more along the lines of a monk or a medicine man.
Nevertheless, regardless of appearance, he was indeed a master of the blade but his art was different and its own right, unique.
"I am Tachibana Ukkio, but you may call me Tachibana...”
Yamato sat up on his knees bowing in thanks for saving his life as he shuddered getting back on his feet. Yet his wounds weren't entirely healed, he suited up with sword in hand to make his journey back to the Kanto region.
"If you're that willing to fight evil, you'll need this.”
Yamato paused as he caught the sash turning back to him slightly. He raised a brow at Tachibana while attaching his sash over his uniform holding off his sudden departure out of respect for him.
"Do you know something Tachibana?"
"I know that if you go out there now, they'll kill you faster than you drawing your sword. You have potential, Yamato Ichimonji, but your anger for revenge needs to be channeled. I can teach you the art of Issen as well as about the history of Hattori."
"Hattori?" he asked.
"That sash you're wearing is endowed with special powers. And without special training, you'll not be able to use them."
Yamato agreed to receive special training from Tachibana and promised that his regimen was not going to be easy but the reward is well worth the wait.
