Chương 52: Head Samurai P.O.V.

O. V.

---Head Samurai P. O. V. --- Meguri had been a samurai for almost three decades now. He might not be the best samurai out there but he knew he was a pretty good fighter, equal to a Jonin shinobi in strength. There was a reason he was the head samurai of the Daimyō's private army. Years of training and real battles had shaped him into a reliable leader who understood both the blade and how to be a good leader.

He had been assigned to test the genins from both Iwa and Konoha to find out who would be best to work with and ally with, both now and in the future. The country needed strong partners to deal with the growing problem of bandits that threatened the peace. His men were already stretched thin across the country while also protecting important cities and the Daimyō himself. Every day brought new reports of raids, and the samurai forces could not handle everything alone. That was why this test mattered so much.

Choosing the right allies could mean the difference between safety and chaos for their people. Meguri's eyes scanned the pairs of samurai trainees against the visiting genin. His lieutenant stood beside him, watching the same scene with attention. The lieutenant turned to Meguri and asked, "Sir, what are we testing from this?" Meguri took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying.

He wanted to make sure his explanation was clear so that his second in command could understand the deeper purpose behind the Daimyō's orders.

"The purpose of the test was simple. To see if our samurai can work with their village shinobi or not." The lieutenant looked confused and followed up with another question.

"How is fighting between us tell us that?" Meguri explained" For us samurai, the way a person fought with their blades reveales a lot about their true personality to us. It shows whether someone was honest, brave, or sneaky. Even though most of these genin are not using swords but their hands and kunai, the principles remains the same. We valued honor above all things in battle. We fight fairly and respect our opponents." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road.

If you see it on Amazon, please report it. He continued speaking, "We are going to see if they fight with honour or fight like the backstabbing shinobi they are supposed to be. The Daimyō sama in his wisdom decided to call genins from the villagez because they represent what the kids have been taught in their academy and what they have observed from their adults in the village. It would tell us what they perceive us as a small country and their samurai. Whether they consider us as equal or lowly pieces of trash."

"I see. Daimyō's sama wisdom knows no bounds," the lieutenant said with respect as they both turned to see the fights continue. Meguri quite liked how the Konoha genin wearing the pink kimono fought.

'He is quite skilled with kenjutsu. And he is quite good with using chakra reinforcement.' The boy moved with grace and beat his opponents effortlessly. His lieutenant added his own observations.

"His teammates are not bad either. That green jumpsuit guy is quite strong and fast for his age and I did not think I would see anyone using Nunchaku as a weapon."

"The other one seems to be struggling but he is doing his best with the senbon of his. But they are fighting with honour at least," Meguri said as he looked at the Konoha genin who were stopping the fight as soon as they won the battle. The one with the senbon was actively trying not to hit any major areas with his senbon. The Konoha genin also stopped the fight as soon as the referee samurai instructor called the winner of the fight. This behavior showed good honour and control.

They did not continue attacking once victory was clear, which earned Meguri's approval. It suggested they could be reliable allies who valued fairness. He then looked at the Iwa genin, and his expression grew serious. Two of them were beating the samurai badly even when they had already won the fight. There was no honour in the fight as they used cheap tactics like delivering a low blow or they would be pretending to lose and when the samurai seemed to think that he had won, they would attack them from behind.

Such actions left a bad taste in Meguri's mouth. It showed a willingness to win at any cost, without regard for the spirit of combat. This kind of behavior made him question if Iwa could truly stand as honorable partners.

"So we are going to choose Konoha?" his lieutenant asked. Meguri thought carefully before answering. While honour and their aptitude for working with samurai was something they would be considering, they needed to be sure of these villages' strength. Strength to win the current or future wars that their village might face.

"If we are going to ally with Konoha, we need to be sure that they would be winning this war and their genin are strong enough for their future wars because if we are becoming ally with them, we are becoming an enemy of Iwa and Konoha's other enemies. We need to be sure that our allies won't be on the losing side because if they lose our protection would also go with them. So strength is also a factor," he explained. The lieutenant began to reply, "I under..."

but his words stopped suddenly as they felt a massive amount of chakra pressure bearing on everyone present. All the other spars stopped at once as fighters turned to look at the source of this powerful energy. Shunsui stood calmly in the middle of his sparring area. The young samurai trainee in front of him had dropped his sword and was sitting on the ground, clearly terrified by the overwhelming presence. Shunsui walked forward.

He picked up the fallen sword and gently placed its blade against the trainee's neck, not pressing hard enough to cut but close enough to show complete dominance. The chakra continued to flow out from him in waves, making everyone nearby feel small and powerless. Shunsui then spoke in a cool voice, "Can I get actual samurais to learn from... I mean spar with now."