Isshin Art

The Isshin Art was one of the five schools in the Raiden Gokaden, Inazuma's five most renowned bladesmithing practices. The Isshin Art had three main clans: the Kaedehara Clan, Niwa Clan, and Akame School.

The Isshin Art was one of only two schools to survive Scaramouche's attempt to destroy the Raiden Gokaden, alongside the Amenoma Art, albeit barely. Following an incident known as the Case of the Eccentric, the Isshin Art's influence was all but ruined, although the Kaedehara Clan still survives through Kaedehara Kazuha.

History[]

Isshin Art strives for complete harmony between blade and mind from the moment that forging begins. For only a blade thus forged can capture and convey its maker's thoughts and feelings, and eventually become an extension of its wielder's will.

—Kaedehara Kazuha, Through the Mist, a Name Unveiled

According to legend, the Raiden Gokaden were developed when a ronin taught his five disciples the art of forging. These five disciples went on to form five different bladesmithing schools, each with its own techniques and secrets,^[1] although it was not unheard of for members of one school to learn from another school.^[2]

Over 500 years ago, Futsu Masayoshi — more commonly known as "Masagomaru" — left the Futsu School to prevent a succession crisis between him and his sworn brother, Futsu Hiroyoshi. After traveling the world, Masayoshi returned to Inazuma and traveled to the other schools in the Raiden Gokaden to trade techniques. He took on three apprentices from the Isshin Art: Kaedehara Kagemitsu, Niwa Nagamitsu, and Akame Mitsunaga, who would go on to become the "Isshin Sansaku,"^{[2][Note 1]}

Akame Mitsunaga's skills made the Akame School the leader of the Isshin Art. However, the school aimed to make the best blades for killing and its members often had some kind of "evil" within them. As a result, the school's leadership was revoked by the authorities only three generations after Mitsunaga,^[3] and the Kaedehara Clan assumed leadership by Kaedehara Yoshinori's time. Kaedehara Yoshinori was born into the Niwa Clan but was adopted into the Kaedehara Clan after his father's disappearance.

Case of the Eccentric[]

As revenge against the "bladesmith," Scaramouche, going by the self-given name "Kunikuzushi," plotted to destroy the Raiden Gokaden. He masterminded the downfalls of the Futsu, Senju, and Hyakume schools before making his way to the Isshin. After sabotaging the Isshin swordsmiths' attempts to make an important Goshintou blade for the Raiden Shogun by tampering with the blueprint she had given them,^[4] Scaramouche and the Fatui granted the swordsmiths — who feared punishment for their failure — refuge by taking them into self-imposed exile to Snezhnaya. Akame Kanenaga, the head of the Akame School, was among those who fled Inazuma.^[3]

While investigating the matter, Yoshinori and the Kamisato Clan head ran afoul of Scaramouche, who inflicted them with severe wounds. However, after realizing that Yoshinori was from the Niwa Clan, he decided to spare them and left them a message for "her."^[4] Scaramouche grew bored of the Raiden Gokaden after that and left the Amenoma Art untouched by his schemes.^[5]

Aftermath[]

Fearing retribution from Scaramouche should they reveal the truth, Yoshinori and the Kamisato Clan head decided to cover up the incident by claiming they had faced resistance from the swordsmiths and failed to capture them. The Kamisato Clan head eventually died from his injuries, while Yoshinori decided to close the family business to protect his family. This decision met much resistance from his son, Kaedehara Hisamichi, but after he failed to produce a successful blade with the diagram — never catching Yoshinori's hint about the "secret hidden within" — Yoshinori cemented his decision.^[4]

Although the Isshin Art officially ended its practice after this incident, Kazuha, Yoshinori's great-grandson, learned some of it nonetheless. With the Niwa Clan's presumed dissolution after Yoshinori's adoption into the Kaedehara Clan and the Akame School coming to an end with Kanenaga's death in Snezhnaya, Kazuha is the only known practitioner of the Isshin Art by present-day events.^[6]

Trivia[]

Etymology[]

• The phrase "Isshin" (Japanese: 一心) means "one mind," derived from the school's philosophy of perfect unity between blade and mind, as well as the stillness of the mind and a freedom from distractions.

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Other Languages[]

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