A Challenge to the Ten Bows is the 860th chapter of the Kingdom manga, written and illustrated by Yasuhisa Hara.
Synopsis
In disbelief, Tan asks Jin if the "White Shadow" he fired had actually hit the enemy archer. Shakily, Jin says that it probably did, and the two prepare for retaliation with real arrows. Sou Tan regains some of his senses and drags his older brother down from his small vantage point to make him less of a target.
Jin tells his younger brother that the enemy archer they were facing was probably better than both their father and them, and that they could not let an archer of that caliber target their general. They agree that the general could not hide in his tent the entire time, lest the Hi Shin Unit's strength be cut in half, and decide that they had to take down the enemy archer right then.
On the opposite end of the battlefield, Sei Ka Un recovers from being hit with the "White Shadow". His men notice that Ri Shin had begun retreating, and despite being frustrated, decide not to pursue because of the difficulty of following him through the chaos of battle. Suddenly, an arrow shrieks through the air.
Sei Ka Un's men are confused, but after a second arrow flies, Sei Ka Un's suspicions are confirmed. In a flashback, Sou Jin and Sou Tan sat in front of their father, Sou Gen, who then told them about the traditions involved in challenging the Ten Bows of China. He brought out a small box with five special arrow tips, designed to produce a whistling sound.
Their father explained that only the Ten Bows possessed that arrow, and if the arrow was fired, any of the Ten Bows that heard its song must accept the challenge. The two brothers asked their father why he had the arrow despite not being a member of the Ten Bows, and Sou Gen revealed that his master, Shou Gei was one of the Ten Bows. Sou Gen then told his sons that he would challenge the Ten Bows when his archery was perfected, and asked them to follow in his footsteps when they believed their own archery had been perfected. He ended by warning the two boys to be extremely careful, since that a challenge with the Ten Bows was a battle to the death, and that withdrawal was not allowed.
Sou Jin continues firing whistling arrows through the air. Right as he runs out of arrows and asks his brother for the one he kept as a lucky charm, they hear a response. From the other side of the battlefield, Sei Ka Un has one of his men install a whistle tip onto another arrow, and after shooting it, remarks that it was louder than he remembered. The two archer brothers hear the repeated response and have their suspicions that their opponent was one of the Ten Bows of China confirmed.
Sou Jin resolves to protect Shin's life and prevent further casualties, but Sou Tan tries to get his brother to reconsider, bringing up that their father had asked them to only do so once their archery had been perfected. Sou Jin tells his younger brother that there was no time for thoughts like that anymore, and that they were not seeking to master the bow, they were members of the Hi Shin Unit above all.
Afraid of losing his brother, Sou Tan directly asks Sou Jin if he thought he could win. Sou Jin says that he was unsure of winning alone, but was confident that they could win together. Sou Jin tells his brother that he would take up the challenge first, and in the case that he loses, Sou Tan would have the advantage of being able to see their opponent's arrows.
Despite Sou Tan's continued worries, another arrow whistles through the air and Sou Jin steps back onto his small vantage point, reminding his brother of the story from Gaku Rai of their father challenging a Ten Bows on a chaotic battlefield like theirs currently was, and that they were going to follow the same path. The fear of losing his brother gets to Sou Tan, and he drags his brother down, rushes up, and loudly declares his name, identifying himself as the son of Sou Gen, disciple of Shou Gei, and the one sending out the challenge. Despite Sou Jin's calls to stop, Sou Tan continues calling out across the battlefield, asking his opponent to identify himself.
He sees someone step up, then hears Sei Ka Un identify himself. Sei Ka Un identifies himself as a member of the Ten Bows, and reminds Sou Tan that there would be no retreating from then on. Sou Jin and Sou Tan are struck by fear upon hearing that their opponent was the current top of the Ten Bows, and Sou Jin begins shouting his name out, trying to be the one to challenge Sei Ka Un instead. Sou Tan tells his brother to stop, since he was now the challenger and could no longer retreat.
Sou Jin asks him what he was doing, the easily frightened person he was. With resolve, he declares that it would be far scarier to watch his older brother get killed in front of him, and nocks an arrow into his bow. On the opposite side, Sei Ka Un draws his bow as well, and, expecting to see the pride of the archer brothers' archery, releases. Both sides release an arrow, flying through the air.
Characters
Qin
- Sou Gen (Flashback)
- Shou Gei (Mentioned) (Debut)
Zhao
Wei
- Duke Haku (Mentioned indirectly)
Characters Introduced
Qin
- Shou Gei (Mentioned)