A Cook, A Doctor, A Ghost and A Ronin.

Mist Hashira & Ronin.

Zoro and Muichiro left the woods, leaving Tanjiro and the little boy alone. They went to a place that's suitable to have a fight as Zoro promised. Muichiro agreed and went with him. Saving Tanjiro and the boy from troubles with the Mist Hashira.

Tanjiro is curious to follow and to see how strong Zoro and Muichiro actually is. He'd heard that Zoro had defeated the Serpent Hashira and Wind Hashira altogether at the same time. He's also curious at how Muichiro's Mist Breathing works.

But Zoro said that he wanted a duel between them. They do not require any spectators or audiences. Moreover, Tanjiro is more interested about this so-called "key". Tanjiro squatted and ask the boy.

"Why is he trying so hard for a key and wanted it from you? Although you seem to had no choice earlier. But I shouldn't talk about it since I don't really know what was happening in the first place anyway." Tanjiro took a glance on his arm. He blocked Muichiro's attempt to pass him out but his arm actually hurts from doing that.

"No! No! I'm happy! You don't know me, but you stood up for me! Thank you very much." The boy is thankful to Tanjiro for standing up to him. He is very grateful. He bowed over Tanjiro to express his gratitude.

"But I wasn't any help." Tanjiro thought that he didn't deserve the gratitude since he didn't do much of help anyway.  If it weren't for Zoro saving his ass, he's pretty much dead anyway. Tanjiro is humble as always.

"But this key, what its a key to?" Tanjiro is really curious from back then when he was eavesdropping Muichiro and the little boy.

"A mechanical doll." The boy answered straightforward.

"Hmm? A mechanical doll?" Tanjiro wonder if he heard it right.

"Yes. My ancestors made it and it can do 108 movements. It's stronger than a human so we use it for combat training." The boy explained that it was made by his ancestors and it was use as a sparring partner.

"Really?! That's amazing!" Tanjiro is truly amazed by the fact that it could do over 108 movements. Scratch that, even mechanical doll is extremely rare to come by. 

"So he wants to train with it?" Tanjiro now understand why Muichiro wanted the key to the doll. But not anymore since he had a much stronger sparring partner.

"Yes, but its getting old and might break." The reason why the boy didn't let anyone use it because it's getting old and might be broken when it is used. Tanjiro understood his feelings. Its a family heirloom after all, passed by his ancestors. It must be precious to the boy.

"Follow me. I'll show you where is it." As thanks, the boy decided to show Tanjiro the mechanical doll that is made by his ancestors. Tanjiro followed the boy. Tanjiro is stunned by the characteristics of the mechanical doll.

"That is the mechanical doll that was made for combat by my ancestors." The boy presented the doll to Tanjiro. It has six arms and hands that each hold a katana. It's appearance resembles closely to someone that Tanjiro had seen before in his dreams.

"Yoriichi Type Zero!"

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" What do you think of this place? *Achoo!* It's okay for us to duel here. No one's going to be here to bother us anyway." Zoro wiped his nose. He didn't know why, but he had kept sneezing since last night.

"Do you have a cold? It's better for you to get rest. I didn't want to fight against you when you're in your weak condition." Muichiro honestly gave Zoro an advice.

"Never mind. *Achoo!* It's just a cold." Zoro said that he is fine and cold won't do anything to him. It's not that easy for him to succumb to sickness.

He presented the Mist Hashira to his private training grounds. He didn't like the training grounds that was given to him before by Ubuyashiki. He prefers a quiet place so no one could ever bother him while he's training. They were inside even thicker forest, but most plants and trees have been cut to provide large space for training, and sparring.

"Not bad. I like it. It's calm and quiet. Far from people around." Muichiro give him an honest opinion about how he liked this place.

"Well then, let's settle this fight right here and right now." Zoro sheathed both Shusui and Wado Ichimonji altogether. Muichiro raised his eyebrows.

"If I recalled, you use Thunder Breathing wasn't it? I forgot about that." Muichiro randomly guessed what kind of Breathing Technique that Zoro used.

"Yup and you used Mist Breathing." Zoro had already knew what kind of Breathing Technique that Muichiro used. Mist Breathing, derived by Wind Breathing. Breathing Style that mimics mist, specifically the obscurity of mist. 

Most known techniques and forms involve swift strikes and movements performed in a unique pattern that obscures the opponent's senses and surroundings as if the battlefield were enveloped in mist. Zoro revised back everything that he learned about Breathing Technique in his head.

"Why do you only unsheathed both your swords? You usually use all three of your swords wasn't it?" Muichiro recalled when he first fought against Sanemi and Iguro and beat their ass using three swords.

"I'm going to give you a handicap. I'll go easy on you since you're still a kid." Zoro stated a lie and a truth. The reason why he didn't use Enma is because he didn't mastered it yet. It's an overkill if he used that. To him, two swords is enough to fight against the kid.

"Fair enough. Don't blame me if you lose." Muichiro sheathed his blade. Muichiro carries around a standard sized and shaped Nichirin katana that is white in color. His sword's hilt is rectangular with hollowed rectangles at each corner. Along with his katana, Muichiro also carries a standard sword sheath that is black in color.

"Nice sword." Zoro complimented. He loved the design behind Muichiro's sword.

"Stop with the pointless conversation, let's fight." Muichiro instantly covered the distant between the two of them and goes for a swing.

*Fwoosh!*

*King!*

Their blades clashed against each other. He's fast! Zoro is impressed by the speed and power of this kid. His agility and strength weren't something that a 14 year old brat could achieve easily. This kid has so much potential.

"Looks like this won't be a waste of time at all!" Zoro grinned. This is going to be fun for him.