The Story Of The Banished Side After Banishing The Party. The Party Was Weakened, But We Aim To Be The Best In The World

at's why I kept on seeking strength.

 

I have become the oldest of the disciples, but there have not been many new disciples since then.
All of my siblings left the dojo, and Kikagei-ryu gradually fell into disuse.

 

If things continue as they are, this will really be the end of Kikagei-ryu.

 

It was around this time that I finally began to feel a sense of crisis.

 

I had to do something.

 

***

 

One night.

 

I said I wanted to talk to the old man alone.

 

“Ryu, you want to talk to me alone? Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?　Don't tell me you have a wife?”

 

“Grandpa Pai, please.
Please, old man, teach me the technique of Kikagei-ryu.”

 

Ignoring Grandpa's banter, I put my head on the tatami and earnestly ask.

 

I guess he could tell how serious I was, because he responded in a serious tone of voice.

 

“I told you before, I only want my disciple to learn how to live, not to teach them techniques.”

 

“You can convince me for that reason!　Look at the dojo now, it's a shabby place with no disciple!　If you don't do something, the Kikagei-ryu will really go under, but you don't care about that!”

 

“That's fine.
I have no regrets about the Kikagei-ryu after all.”

 

“You may be fine with it, but I'm not!　I don't want this place that raised me, the Kikagei-ryu, to be destroyed!”

 

“Ryu ……
you were thinking like that?”

 

“Yes, I am.”

 

I thought about it, too.
I thought about it a lot.
Even if I stay in the Kikagei-ryu, I can't get any stronger.
I have no choice but to leave this town or transfer to another school.

 

But I just couldn't do it.

 

I couldn't abandon my Grandpa who picked me up and brought me up to this point, and the Kikagei-ryu.

 

I wanted to repay my Grandpa for rescuing me from the worst days of my life, born of a shitty father and shunned by the townspeople.

 

That's all.

 

“Please, Grandpa, make me a legitimate disciple of Kikagei-ryu.
If you teach me the techniques, I will become stronger, and I will take over the Kikagei-ryu.
I will make it bigger and more famous than any other dojo!!!!”

 

“……”

 

I begged desperately, but Grandpa Pai didn't respond.

 

As I continued to do so, Grandpa Pai eventually let out a deep sigh.

 

“That was more than ten years ago.
The name of the Kikagei-ryu was well known among the martial artists, and the number of disciples was incomparable to what it is today.”

 

“Why are you talking about the old days……?”

 

“Well, just listen to me.
Back then, I taught my disciples the technique of Kikagei-ryu.
I taught them everything that I had honed, without hiding it.
I thought that was the natural thing to do as a martial artist and ……
martial arts propagator.”

 

The old man then said, “But that was a mistake.” and he looked as if he were overcome with remorse.

 

“Among my disciples, there was one who was particularly gifted.
I believed that he would be the successor of the Kikagei-ryu.
But he had a madness in his heart.
One day, when he disappeared, he was killing martial artists one after another.”

 

— “Why?　Why are you doing this to me?”

 

— “Why?　It is a foolish question, Master.
Power is originally something that destroys others.
I am only following the rule of reason.
You understand my feelings, don't you, Master?”

 

“……”

 

“I am sure he can't understand.
I taught him because I wanted him to reach a higher level as a martial artist.
Martial arts is not a tool to kill people.
It is a tool to help the weak and to destroy the wicked.
That is what he misunderstood.”

 

“What happened to that martial artist…..?”

 

I asked fearfully, and the old man muttered with a tearful look on his face.

 

“I gave him up by my own hand.
I didn't kill him, but I reduced him to a point where he couldn't be rehabilitated.
I wanted him to change his mind.
But he soon took his own life with his own hands.”

 

— “Why ……
did you let this happen?”

 

“I was afraid.
I was afraid that the techniques I had taught him had turned into tools for killing people and even killing other disciples.
Because of that, I stopped teaching the techniques of Kikagei-ryu to my disciples.
At the very least, they should have the ability to survive in the world.”

 

So that's the reason why you don't teach your disciples the technique of the Kikagei-ryu.

 

I have to admit I was surprised.
I didn't know he had a past like that.

 

But the past is the past.

 

It has nothing to do with me.

 

“But I still want to carry on the Kikagei-ryu.
I want to be strong as Kikagei-ryu, using my Grandpa's techniques!”

 

“I'm sorry, Ryu ……
I can't do that.”

 

“Damn it……!　You don't know what you're talking about!”

 

Even though I begged desperately, the old man didn't shake his head.

 

Then I skipped my chores and training and went into town to kill time for no good reason.

 

That's when it happened.

 

Then suddenly some idiots started fighting with me.

 

“Hey, bro, come play with us for a bit.”

 

“We're from Haten-ryu and we're dying to try out our techniques, so why don't you play with us?”

 

“Haten-ryu…..?　Oh, the dojo that's been getting a lot of attention lately.”

 

I had heard of that name.

 

It seems that these days, martial artists claiming to be from the Haten-ryu are breaking into dojos and robbing them of their money and goods.
It's not so much dojo breaking, but dojo vandalism.

 

The martial artist took a dojo and used it as a base, taking in disciples one after another and expanding his power.
However, the disciples are a bunch of jerks, and it is said that they are doing bad things in town.

 

(So the rumors were true.)

 

These guys who got involved with me were not martial artists by any stretch of the imagination.
They were just thugs in a dogi.

 

“Okay, I was just looking for a distraction.
I'll be your partner.”

 

“Haha!　Don't be a pussy, kid!”

 

“I won't forgive you if you cry and apologize!'

 

The martial artists of the “Haten-ryu” attacked me and screaming at me.

 

It was no big deal, so much so that I wondered if they were really martial artists, and the matter was settled in an instant.

 

“Guh……”

 

“Damn ……
this guy is strong……”

 

“You guys are too weak.”

 

I let out a sigh as I look down at the broken stream crawling on the ground.

 

I feel somewhat refreshed, but I'm not satisfied at all with this level.

 

I would have liked to fight a stronger martial artist anyway.

 

“If you're going to pick a fight, think about who you're fighting.”

 

With that said, it was time to turn on my heel.

 

Suddenly, I was approached by someone.

 

“You there, can I talk to you for a minute?”

 

“Oh?　–What?”

 

I turned around, and I was astonished.

 

The man who called out to me was a slender man with threadbare eyes.
He is probably a martial artist because he is wearing a black robe, but I am overwhelmed by the bizarre atmosphere emanating from him.

 

“Who are you…..?”

 

I was on the lookout, and the man with the stringy eyes gave me a thin smile that made my hair stand on end and said,

 

“My name is Tao Ron, master of the Haten-ryu.
and I look forward to getting to know you.”