Author's note: Chiba Eijiro has appeared as a narration in the previous article, but some book friends may have forgotten who Chiba Eijiro is and what is his relationship with Chiba Nobuyoshi, so I am here to help you quickly

Let’s review.

Chiba Eijiro is the second son of the late Chiba Shusaku (the founder of Hokushin Itto-ryu and the elder brother of Chiba Seikichi), so Chiba Eijiro is the second nephew of Chiba Seikichi and the second brother of Chiba Tamonshiro

, Chiba Jutaro, Sanako’s cousin.

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"Oh?" Chiba Sadayoshi raised his eyebrows, his eyes lit up, and he spoke excitedly: "Eijiro, have you...reached this legendary realm?"

Chiba Eijiro nodded, and then said softly in a tone as if he was talking about a trivial matter:

"Just over half a month ago...that is, on the eve of my decision to return to Edo after a long absence, I accidentally encountered a black bear when I went hunting alone in a certain mountain."

"Black bear?" Chiba Nobuyoshi raised his eyebrows again, and the "excitement" that just appeared in his eyes turned into "surprise".

"Yeah, a black bear about two times as big as me."

Chiba Eijiro, who still had a soft smile on his face, opened his arms and compared the size of the black bear he encountered.

"Maybe I accidentally entered that black bear's territory, so that black bear was particularly ferocious."

"After seeing me, he immediately attacked me without any explanation."

"An animal like a bear, which can even slap a wild boar to death, is indeed quite terrifying."

"Suddenly he jumped out of the grass and rushed towards me. If I had reacted a little slower, my head would have been smashed."

"However - although I successfully dodged the first blow from the black bear, the bow in my hand accidentally fell into a deep ditch that was beyond my reach."

"With no other choice, I can only draw the sword from my waist to fight."

"This is the most difficult battle I have ever experienced in my life."

Speaking of this, Chiba Eijiro smiled freely.

"This is the first time I have encountered an enemy with such terrifying strength, speed, and physical strength."

"The black bear's paw casually swung and smashed a big hole in a tree with a trunk as thick as the mouth of a bowl."

"No matter how carefully I stare or look, my eyes can't keep up with the speed of the bear's paws. I can only see afterimages."

"In order not to have my head smashed by the bear's paw, which was bigger than my head, I didn't even dare to blink. Every time I had to blink, I was always in fear."

At this time, there was a hint of reminiscence between Chiba Eijiro's eyebrows.

His appearance... seems like he is recalling some good memory...

"It's been a long time since I last... This feeling of dying if you don't win, and going all out."

"At the beginning, I had a hard time playing."

"Not only was it impossible to get close to the black bear and effectively kill it, but I almost died several times."

"But...suddenly, I entered a rather 'mysterious' state."

Chiba Eijiro's voice suddenly paused at this moment, as if he was thinking about his words.

After a while, he continued:

"I actually don't remember very clearly what happened at that time."

"I just remember that I held my breath and concentrated on defeating that black bear. There was no other thought in my mind except 'defeat it'."

"At...a certain moment, my mood suddenly became so calm."

"The whole person feels like standing on a pool of very quiet water."

"My head is empty, with almost no distracting thoughts."

"In my eyes, I only see the knife in my hand and the big black bear in front of me."

"Because I have no distracting thoughts, my reaction speed has become much faster in the face of every attack launched by the black bear."

"As a result, the sword in my hand became extremely fast and sharp."

"After I entered this mysterious state, the situation of the battle turned around instantly."

"In my eyes, the movement of that big black bear is no longer so fast that it can only keep up with the afterimage."

"My footsteps became able to easily penetrate into the distance where my sword can cut down this big black bear."

Chiba Eijiro raised his right hand, made a knife gesture with his right hand, and made a cutting motion on his nose.

"I spotted a flaw in the big black bear, got close to the blind spot of its vision, cut off its big nose with a knife, and successfully repeled it."

"My mood has become extremely calm, there are no redundant distracting thoughts in my mind, and my own strength has made an exaggerated jump because I am not distracted... These changes are all in line with what my father and Uncle Dingji said after entering the 'selfless realm'.

The state they will have is exactly the same.”

"So I guessed that the mysterious state I entered in order to defeat that big black bear... should be the legendary 'selfless state'."

Ever since Eijiro Chiba began to tell the story of how he entered the "state of no-self", Chiba Nobuyoshi, who had been quietly listening to the audience, stared straight at him with complicated eyes that were mainly filled with shock.

Eijiro Chiba.

After a while, Chiba Nobuyoshi squeezed out a look that didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"Defeating a bear by myself and escaping unharmed... Oh, if word of this gets out, there will be one more legend about 'Chiba no Chiba'."

"I don't think this is a big deal." Chiba Eijiro smiled slightly, "Didn't the legendary 'wonderful hero' Goro Majima also try to hunt down a bear with just one person and one sword?

The bear he hunted was the big brown bear found in Ezo."

"That's just a rumor." Chiba Nobuyoshi waved his hand, "There are still different opinions on whether Goro Majima, the 'Knight Hero', has ever singled out a bear."

Chiba Sadayoshi didn't care much about Chiba Eijiro's feat of repelling a black bear with only one sword.

After talking about the matter in one word, Chiba Nobuyoshi put down the teacup he had been holding and let out a sigh of relief:

"Listening to your description... Eijiro, you really entered the 'selfless state' at that time!"

"My father and I have both entered this state of 'everything is empty'."

"Eijiro, have you ever tried to recreate the 'selfless state' afterwards?"

Chiba Eijiro nodded:

"After the battle with that big black bear, I tried to enter the 'selfless state' again."

"But it's a pity... No matter what I try, I end up in failure. I can never get back to the state where there are no distracting thoughts in my heart."

"Well, this is all normal." Chiba Nobuyoshi nodded, "The 'selfless realm' is the ultimate in martial arts. It is something that can only be encountered but not sought."

"Eijiro, take your time, don't be impatient."

Chiba Sadaki grinned and showed an encouraging smile towards Chiba Eijiro.

"You have already entered the 'selfless state' once at this age... This is an extremely incredible achievement."

"It was only when we were in our thirties that your father and I first touched this supreme realm that countless warriors have never been able to see in their entire lives... Ugh! Hiss!"

Before Chiba Nobuyoshi could finish his words, he suddenly let out a low cry of pain.

"Uncle Teikichi?" Chiba Eijiro was startled, and quickly stood up and moved forward to support Chiba Teikichi, "What's wrong with you?"

"Ah, it's okay." Chiba Nobuyoshi smiled wryly and waved his hand, "It's just that my waist hurts again..."

"Last night, my old back problem suddenly relapsed. No matter how much I rested, I couldn't get better... Sigh..."

"Uncle Taikichi, do you want me to give you a massage? After I became an official in Mito Domain, I learned a massage technique from a colleague that can effectively relieve people's joint pain."

"No, no, no." Chiba Nobuyoshi waved his hand again, "I just asked Jutaro to grab medicine for me."

"The medicine I asked Jutaro to take for me is very effective. As long as I apply the medicine on my waist, my old waist problem will be relieved immediately."

"Counting the time, Jutaro should be back soon with the medicine."

…

…

Edo, Okemachi, somewhere——

"Huh? Mr. Jutaro? What a coincidence, good afternoon." An old lady carrying a basket of vegetables in her hand greeted Chiba Jutaro warmly, who was walking towards her.

"Ah, Granny Le, good afternoon." Chiba Jutaro responded to the old lady with the same enthusiasm.

This old lady, whom Chiba Jutaro calls "Grandma Raku," is the owner of a certain 800-storey house in Okemachi.

The so-called "eight hundred houses" are vegetable shops.

In the early Edo period, vegetable stalls were initially divided into: "appetizer stalls" that only sold one or two types of vegetables such as eggplant or green leafy vegetables, and "Yabaoya" that sold a variety of vegetables.

But as time went by, such a distinction was gradually no longer made, and all shops selling vegetables were collectively called "Babaiwu".

The Eight Hundred Houses run by this Granny Raku is adjacent to the Little Chiba Sword Hall, so Chiba Jutaro and his family have always been regular customers of this Granny Raku's shop.

So after going back and forth, the two sides formed a quite deep friendship.

After a brief exchange of greetings with Grandma Le and Chiba Jutaro, she cast a curious look at the large paper bag held in Chiba Jutaro's hand.
To be continued...