Since ancient tis, these inspirational stories have motivated generations of ambitious warriors who wish to carve out their own path to greatness.
"I want fa and fortune! I want to use my sword, my martial arts to win great fa!" — Countless samurai, holding this belief, poured into the sword dojos, frantically practicing martial arts, all in the hope of becoming the next Miyamoto Musashi or Chiba Eijiro!
However, seeking fa and fortune through martial arts... this is inevitably a cruel path where one general’s success relies on the bones of ten thousand.
So many people want to use martial arts to achieve class mobility, why should you be the one who succeeds?
If you want to walk this harsh path with so ease... the only shortcut is to rely on connections.
If you can have solid and reliable connections, if soone can recomnd you to the Shogunate or to the fiefdom mansion of a Vassal State... then you won’t have to worry about your talent, your martial arts going unnoticed.
Therefore, martial arts noble sects like the Chiba family have beco a place of dreams for many martial artists.
The Chiba family is currently recognized by everyone as the most prestigious martial arts noble sect—bar none!
They founded the Beichen One-Sword Style, which has disciples spread across all of Japan and has the latent montum of being "Japan’s top swordsmanship school"; heroes erge within the family, with almost no diocrity, especially Chiba Eijiro, whose na is destined to be engraved in future history books...
Such a family... not to ntion anything else, just their network of connections can only be described as terrifying!
For a martial artist yearning to seek fa through martial arts, if one could beco an adopted son or son-in-law of the "top martial arts noble sect" and gain access to the vast network of connections this family possesses... that would basically an taphorical success!
Thus, countless people yearn to beco a mber of the Chiba family—Niitsuma Kan is among them.
Niitsuma Kan is very confident in his abilities. He believes that with his talent and swordsmanship, it might be difficult to gain prominence in the Shogunate, but securing a high official position with a generous salary in the fiefdom mansion of so Vassal State should be no problem at all... he just lacks the necessary connections!
Although he is a Hatamoto Samurai, his family is just an ordinary middle-level Hatamoto, not so prominent, hugely influential family, and the resources his family possesses are quite limited.
Solely relying on his family’s power and resources... obtaining a position with a salary of five hundred-koku is the limit.
Niitsuma Kan does not want his future achievents to be limited to this.
He wants to secure a higher official rank! He wants to achieve greater accomplishnts with his swordsmanship!
So... he set his sights on the Chiba family, specifically on the only unmarried mber of the Chiba family at present: Miss Sazanoko.
If he could beco a son-in-law of the Chiba family, why worry about not having connections? Why worry about not having a high official position?
After resolving to "definitely beco the Chiba family’s son-in-law," Niitsuma Kan commissioned a certain painter to create a portrait of Sazanoko, then hung the portrait in the most prominent place in his bedroom, to constantly remind himself—he has not yet beco the Chiba family’s son-in-law! He still needs to work hard!
As for Sazanoko, Niitsuma Kan does not have any special feelings.
He admits that Sazanoko is indeed a peerless beauty, but when it cos to matters between n and won, Niitsuma Kan has no interest whatsoever.
He only cares about his future, only concerns himself with his fa and fortune!
To achieve his ambitions, even if Sazanoko were an ugly woman with a crooked nose and protruding teeth, Niitsuma Kan could marry her without batting an eyelid, without hesitation.
Of course—marrying Miss Sazanoko... it’s easier said than done.
Sazanoko’s heart is like an impregnable fortress. Over the years, countless outstanding talents have exhausted all their ans, trying to conquer this solid fortress, only to end up defeated and humiliated.
In light of these dismal failures of the "predecessors," Niitsuma Kan has set for himself a plan to "proceed step by step, and advance gradually."
At this stage, he will first strive to improve his swordsmanship and reputation! He aims to raise his skill and prestige to a level that can attract the attention of Sazanoko and the Chiba family behind her!
If his strength is strong enough, strong enough for everyone in the Chiba family to regard him with respect, then the difficulty of winning Sazanoko’s heart, becoming a mber of the Chiba family, will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.
Therefore, upon learning that the Marquis of Aizu would be hosting a Swordsmanship Competition in Asakusa recently, Niitsuma Kan signed up without hesitation.
A grand competition like this, the Great Sword Dojos like Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo, are bound not to be absent. Chiba Dingji, Chiba Daisaburo, Chiba Shigetarou, they are sure to lead their dojo’s disciples to participate.
Which ans—this is an excellent opportunity to prove his strength to the Chiba family!
For this competition, which will begin tomorrow... Niitsuma Kan is determined to win!
To motivate himself, Niitsuma Kan specifically went to Kanda Jade Pool and Oke-machi this afternoon to observe Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo from afar.
This is also one of Niitsuma Kan’s personal habits. Whenever he feels his spirits need an uplift, he will sneak a peek at Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo.
Every ti he sees these two impressive Great Sword Dojos, Niitsuma Kan feels a surge of passion rising in his heart—I must beco the Chiba family’s son-in-law! Even if it ans joining into their family as an adopted son, it will be worth it!
This is what he said to Chiba Shigetarou, whom he ran into this afternoon on the street in Kanda, regarding "preparations before the competition."
"Wait and see... Chiba family..." After repeatedly caressing the portrait several tis, Niitsuma Kan finally slowly put down his hand that was touching the portrait, "I will definitely make you accept ..."
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