The shinobi nodded and gave his instructions:

"All you need to do is to drink from one of these bowls. Four of them are poisoned. Only one ensures survival. You are allowed to use whatever method you wish. However, you are forbidden to spill any of the bowls, and you are only allowed to drink from one bowl."

"Fair enough," said Rai as he opened his bundle.

The shinobi watched him curiously, wondering what trick Rai had up his sleeve. The challenger has so far impressed him, making it farther than any contestant who wished to become the new Grandmaster. Rai noticed he was being watched, and simply smirked knowingly.

There were many things Rai learned from his deceased lover Naoru. But perhaps the most important ones were the ones about poison. You see Rai has always been curious as to why Naoru's family planted strychnine trees across many generations. Naoru smiled and explained that the seeds of this tree were used to make machin, a poison that was useful to the shinobi. They would often feed these to enemy guard dogs, leaving them intoxicated and dehydrated. She added that the shinobi would often dip their shuriken in this poison, but cautioned him not to try it on larger blades like the katana or the wakizashi. Rai once again inquired, and Naoru responded with a demonstration. And these were the steps that Rai was about to perform.

Taking a wakizashi from the pile, he dipped the tip blade into the leftmost bowl. He then observed the blade as he pulled it back up, comparing it with another wakizashi. He noticed that the blade he dipped seemed blunter at the edges and nodded.

Unlike the shuriken, dipping a larger blade increases mold growth around the blade. This one is definitely poisoned.

Repeating the same process with the other bowls, he saw that the least blunt blade belonged to the fourth bowl from the left. Yet even with that confirmation, he hesitated. There was a possibility that he could have miscalculated and that whole experiment might have been all in vain. To calm his nerves, Rai simply assured himself that should he die here, then at least he would finally reunite with his beloved in the afterlife. Strengthening his resolve, he quickly grabbed the fourth bowl and drank it to the last drop. Nothing happened. After a while he saw the shinobi clapping.

"Congratulations," he said. "You have chosen wisely. All that remains is the final test."

"Tell me," said Rai.

"It's simple," the shinobi replied. "Clear your mind and meditate. When you are ready, slay what you cannot touch."

"Okay..." Rai said, puzzled at what this meant as he watched the shinobi leave.

Doing as he was instructed, he meditated. For about half an hour it was silent, as if there wasn't a single soul around. Then he heard it, the sound of some feral beast growling in the distance. It was faint at first but it gradually got louder. Opening his eyes, Rai picked up his kusarigama nonchalantly as he stood to face his final opponent. Looming before him amidst the thick layers of fog was a gigantic enenra.

The monster let out a sinister laugh, mocking this seemingly foolish warrior that would dare oppose him. Rai however didn't falter and simply glared at the beast as he held a defensive position. This made the enenra boast to his opponent.

"This is the test where many warriors succumb," the enenra spoke in a cold, eerie voice. "What makes you so special that you think you can actually survive?"

"I don't waste my time listening to your garbage," Rai scoffed as he swung his kusarigama.

The sound of the yokai's maniacal laughter filled the air as the blade simply passed through its body.

"Fool! I am a spirit of smoke and darkness!" the enenra growled. "You cannot touch me!"

Rai attempted another swing, but once again the blade passed harmlessly through the enenra harmlessly. This time however, the yokai decided to pursue. Rai could only watch helplessly as the monster was soon upon him, trapping him in a pillar of smoke. He felt the life slowly leaving his body as the enenra coiled around him like a snake of smoke. Once again, Rai could hear the yokai's maniacal laughter as he slowly lost consciousness.

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"Why me?" the young Rai cried as his friends egged him on.

"Look dude we all tried," one of his friends replied, a young shinobi like himself. "You're the only one unscathed."

He pointed at the rest of their gang all groaning in pain. You see these bunch of youngsters attempted to break in their master's locked dojo. In their recklessness, they barely escaped with their lives after dealing with all the booby traps their master placed around it. What was so special about this dojo? From what the boys heard it housed the legendary kusarigama Sanda. It was one of the nine magical weapons that contain the legendary Ina's essence, passed down from generation to generation until it finally came into the possession of the Uteki clan of shinobi

Now the Uteki was one of the clans who resisted against the might of the powerful Yako clans. Rai was the son of two well-known warriors of the group. He was born during a thunderstorm, prompting his parents to name him Rai after the mythical yokai known as the Raiju or thunder beast. His father was a shinobi general who was their finest warrior, while his mother was a kunoichi who excelled in battle tactics and strategy. Unfortunately, Rai lost his parents when he was just fourteen years old as they gave up their lives to defend the clan's Grandmaster. As a sign of gratitude, the Grandmaster took in the young Rai as his own apprentice. Perhaps he also had an ulterior motive, as he had a beautiful daughter Naoru who was the same age as Rai. Some say that he wanted to train Rai so that he could become a suitable husband for his daughter and the future leader of the clan.

Rai proved to be a natural, growing up to be gifted not only in weapons and martial arts but also well-versed in military texts. Unlike the other boys who were brash and eager to show their skills, Rai was more cunning and calculated. His friends used to tease him that he seemed more suited to be a samurai or a general than a shinobi. Yet Rai also had a darker side, one who wasn’t shy to get what he wants by any means necessary. His peers were wise not to make him angry. In fact, it was only Naoru that was able to calm him down, sparking rumors that the two were destined to be lovers. And for the most part, that became true.

Rai's peers were often jealous of him since his skills were far ahead of them, even teasing him that he was their master's favorite. They would often seek ways to gain any kind of advantage over him. This eventually led to the other youngsters attempting to steal the enchanted kusarigama. It came to a point where Rai and Naoru were the only ones who haven't attempted to take the kusarigama. Naoru obviously would not take her own father's possession, so the group swallowed their pride and tried to force Rai to give it a try. If he fails, then at least they can boast that Rai was no bother than them. The peer pressure soon proved too much for Rai as he reluctantly made his way to the Grandmaster's dojo.