25
Masanori
The arrow whizzed through the air and thunked into the bales behind the target. Masanori rubbed his hands together, easing the winter cold from his flesh, before taking another arrow and nocking it in his yumi. Since he and Ryoka hunted the nodeppō, she insisted on teaching him archery.
“To kill the bats,” she had said when he asked why.
Masanori found that he liked the feel of the string, the way his arms flexed when he used the bow. It challenged his body and mind in ways the naginata didn’t. He would master them both, in time.
He flattened his shoulders, aimed, and then released. This time, he punctured the edge of the makeshift target—his first hit without Ryoka’s guidance.
Archery was one of the many warrior arts Masanori had been forbidden from learning as a Genshu,
