The Rusty Sword

Tsubaki wakes from a dream of her old training days with Sazanka in the Land of Iron, puzzled that the memory has resurfaced. Team 15 visits a merchant recovering in the hospital after a bandit assault, but the sound of Tsubaki handling her blade sends him into a panic, shouting that samurai are hunting him once more, and a nurse ushers the team out. Certain the attacker was a swordsman, they search the scene and find neatly severed bamboo that Tsubaki reads as the work of a master.

The cut jogs her memory of Sazanka, once a prodigy who trained to earn the right to wield Mifune's blade Kurosawa, the prize rumored to await the retirement of its owner. At the Lightning Burger, Wasabi reports a fresh attack, and Tsubaki finally voices her suspicion. She explains that Sazanka forsook his path in pursuit of power alone, was caught trying to steal Kurosawa, and cut down his fellow trainees to escape. Confident she can face him, she drills alone through the night.

Team 15 baits the bandits into a trap and rounds up most of them, but the gang has hired Sazanka as their guard. He slashes Tsubaki before she can even unsheathe her weapon, shrugs off Namida's technique, and the team pulls back. Tending her wounds, Wasabi presses her on why she froze, and Tsubaki asks to be removed from the mission, admitting she blames herself for the man Sazanka became after she beat him by luck in the tournament that changed him. Her teammates remind her how far she has grown since joining the Leaf, and her resolve returns.

In the rematch Tsubaki singles out Sazanka, who insists a blade exists only to cut and dismisses her progress as false training. She answers his flawless offense with her Secret Sword: Snowstorm Beheading, and though he shears through it, she rejects his demand that she concede, crediting the strength she has drawn from friends who trust her. When their swords meet again, Tsubaki cuts him down, saddened by the outcome even as Sazanka concedes her power.

The chapter deepens Tsubaki Kurogane's arc within Team 15, tying her growth in Konoha to her samurai roots and her signature Secret Sword: Snowstorm Beheading. It closes on a lighter beat as a recovering Tsubaki teases Wasabi and Namida while they help her get around.