"Chokata Sonjirou?" Aoto asked with confusion.
"Yes... I guess I haven’t told you yet, Mr. Tachibana."
"Chokata Sonjirou was my previous name... or rather, my former alias."
"My real name is actually ’Chokata Sei.’
"In order to successfully sneak into Shiwei Hall under the guise of a male, I gave myself a very masculine name, which was ’Chokata Sonjirou.’
"When I was young, I thought this name was very impressive, but as I grew older, I felt the name was a bit ordinary and lacked distinction."
"So after I reached adulthood, I decided to change my name."
"I added the character ’Toshi’ to my original name."
"That’s the origin of my current name... ’Chokata Toshisuke.’
"After that, you probably already know the rest, Mr. Tachibana."
"I showed extraordinary swordsmanship talents, which gained the favor and attention of my master."
"Not long after, I was accepted as an inner disciple by my master and moved into Shiwei Hall to live and eat together with my master, my mistress, Brother Kondo, and Uncle Gen."
"My ability to disguise was quite strong."
Toshisuke spoke in a tone tinged with pride and self-satisfaction.
"Even living under the same roof as my master and Brother Kondo in Shiwei Hall as an inner disciple, I never let my true gender be exposed."
"It wasn’t until I was 12 years old, when my body started having its monthly cycle, that I was inadvertently caught by my mistress while secretly changing my sanitary cloths in the room, leading to the exposure of my true gender."
"Haha... I still remember the expressions on my master’s and Brother Kondo’s faces when they found out I was a girl."
"Especially the master."
"It was the first time I realized my master’s thin eyes could open so wide."
"Unfortunately, I didn’t have the leisure or interest to observe their facial expressions closely at that time."
"Back then... I was just too scared and trembling."
A smile, as if recalling some amusing memory, appeared on Toshisuke’s face once more.
At this moment, the smile on Toshisuke’s face was relaxed and sunny... It significantly diluted the underlying heaviness in her previous words.
Even without Toshisuke going into detail, Aoto could roughly imagine the scene at that time.
Anyway, it was an undeniable fact that Toshisuke deceived her school by disguising herself as a man to sneak into a Shiwei Hall that didn’t accept female apprentices.
For Zhouzhu and the others, who had high hopes for her and whom she had spent years with day and night, to find out their esteemed disciple was a girl, and that she had been deceiving everyone... it was understandable that they would be angry and furious.
At that time, Toshisuke must have been very uneasy.
Worried that Zhouzhu and the others would be furious with embarrassment...
Afraid of being expelled from Shiwei Hall...
The next words from Toshisuke perfectly matched Aoto’s guess:
"My master had always strictly adhered to the rule of ’not teaching swordsmanship to females,’ and had never taken on a female disciple in decades."
"Because I concealed my true gender, my master was forced to break this rule... To be honest, at that time, I was mentally prepared for the ’raging master to draw his bamboo sword and chase after me.’"
"Of course, compared to being chased and hit by my master, I was more concerned about being expelled from Shiwei Hall at that time."
"Not being able to continue studying the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream... That was even more painful for me than getting beat up."
"But luckily, although my master was strict, he was not cold-hearted."
"By the time my female identity was accidentally revealed, I had already lived at Shiwei Hall as an inner disciple for three years."
"After spending so much time together as master and apprentice and almost as a family... Even my usually indifferent mistress had developed deep feelings for me."
"Ultimately, their feelings for me overcame the rigid rules."
"When he first found out I was actually a girl in disguise, my master did get quite angry for a while, but he soon cooled down and forgave me."
"In the end, my master decided to make an exception, choosing to ’pretend that nothing happened and let everything continue as usual.’"
"With my master’s special permission, I was able to continue living at Shiwei Hall and learning swordsmanship as an inner disciple... up until now."
Toshisuke finished sharing her past.
Aoto, who had been quietly listening, thought for a while before asking:
"Since your female identity was discovered by your master and the others four years ago... why do you still continue to disguise as a man? Did your master want to avoid shaming the school, demanding you continue to disguise and not let anyone know Shiwei Hall mistakenly accepted a female disciple?"
"That’s not it."
Toshisuke shook her head.
"It was my insistence to continue disguising as a man."
"My master, Brother Kondo, and the others all suggested that I stop pretending since they already knew I wasn’t a boy, and to just present my ’true self’ to others."
"But I refused their suggestion."
"Why?" Aoto asked further.
"Because learning swordsmanship as a male is ultimately more convenient than as a female."
Toshisuke smiled.
"Although compared to three hundred years ago in the Warring States Era and even earlier times, people’s disdain for women has lessened significantly, most people still can’t fully accept women practicing swordsmanship."
"If I revealed my ’true self,’ it would inevitably attract some criticism and odd looks, affecting my daily training."
"Given that, I would rather continue to present myself as a male."

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