Tokyo Sick Girlfriend

Chapter 208 Unstoppable
The purpose was to cheer for Saori, but in reality, the venue was ridiculously large. Even if you shouted "Cheer!" loudly, your voice would be drowned out by the noisy discussions, cheers, and the clattering of bamboo swords among the audience.

Furthermore, Shiratori Seiya felt that if his cheers actually reached Saori's ears, it might actually affect her performance.

In the kendo arena, the decisive sword strike often happens in an instant, faster than the blink of an eye.

Moreover, the most brutal aspect of the knockout stage is that you are very likely to encounter a player with the strength to win the championship in the very first match.

None of the players who made it to the finals of the kendo tournament were bad. To get to this point, even if they avoided strong opponents and were lucky enough to encounter players who were weaker than themselves, their strength was still above average. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they had been through countless battles.

Not wanting to affect Saori, but also wanting to cheer her on as much as possible, Shiratori Seiya stood in the front row. As soon as the competition ended, she could immediately see his position by turning around towards her club.

This situation led the referee, who was maintaining order at the scene, to signal him to step back several times, and finally glared at him fiercely.
"Step back. I've told you several times. Which school are you from? If you continue to interfere with the scene, we'll replace you."

Helpless, Shiratori Seiya could only take his soda water and towel and retreat to the sideline.

After the referee left, he looked at Saori on the field. She had already put on her helmet and had looked back at the audience before going on the field, only to find that he was not there.

Saori's spun around even larger, turning her head until she finally stopped in the audience. She looked at him and visibly stiffened for a moment before realizing what was happening and waving at him.

Only after Shiratori Seiya smiled and waved did she turn around, walk up to her opponent, and bow.

"First round, begin!"

When the referee gave the signal, while her opponent was still cautiously pacing and probing, Saori took the initiative to attack.

In Shiratori Seiya's view, her movements were like a ghost, and in an instant she appeared in front of her opponent. The bamboo sword in her hand was even faster, as fast as lightning, leaving only afterimages in the air.

The moment the opponent saw her charging towards him, he was clearly caught off guard. He didn't have time to adjust his footing and could only parry with his sword in a defensive stance.

However, Saori Hasegawa strangely slapped the sword in her hand to the side.

The two bamboo swords were only a hand's width apart, but when they collided, they produced a sound like a fully charged attack.

'Snapped! '

The opponent's bamboo sword was knocked off course, and Saori Hasegawa's sword blade pierced straight for the opponent's throat.

"Tab! (Turbo TSUKI)"

As soon as she shouted out the location of the hit, Saori retreated swiftly like a rabbit.

Her opponent, attempting a counterattack with his sword, couldn't even touch her shadow.

When the referee lowered his whistle and raised the red flag, the female player standing opposite Saori realized what was happening, turned around unhappily, and twisted her neck.

Seeing the other person's displeased expression, Shiratori Seiya couldn't help but laugh. Having sparred with Saori before and experienced the terrifying speed of her progress, he understood how she felt.

'Losing is one thing, but at least let me get a chance to fight back!'

It's like a battle. Even if you can't beat the opponent, at least you can fight back, giving people the illusion that you've at least had a 'back and forth' fight with the opponent.

However, even when you've concentrated your energy and given it your all, you can't even catch a glimpse of the other person, which can really leave you with a feeling of being played and frustrated.

I was extremely angry.

The two sides were not even on the same level; Saori had truly achieved the unity of 'qi, sword, and body'.

If the opponent is Silver, then Saori is at the Master or even Grandmaster level.

For the player standing opposite Saori, this was a battle that was impossible to win.

And that was indeed the case. When both sides got into fighting stances again, the other side clearly wanted to change its fighting strategy this time. Instead of defending, it took the initiative to attack.

However, the gap between the two was far from being bridged by the first strike. Saori clearly anticipated the opponent's straight slash, slightly shifted her footwork to dodge the opponent's fatal blow, and then made a horizontal slash, her bamboo sword striking the opponent's ribs heavily.

'Boom! '

"Card!"

When Saori once again jumped out of the range of her opponent's bamboo sword, the referee raised the flag.

A piercing whistle rang out in the air.

Excluding the elaborate rituals of bowing, the two scoring exchanges in this match lasted no more than thirty seconds. It's no exaggeration to say that if this were a battlefield, Saori would have already killed her opponent twice in thirty seconds; without rules, it would have been even shorter.

"Oh!!"

Upon seeing Saori's victory, the audience in the small area behind Shiratori Seiya immediately erupted in cheers and applause.

Shiratori Seiya was not surprised by this. To those who understood swordsmanship, Saori's fighting style was incredibly visually striking: fast, accurate, ruthless, clean and efficient, giving her opponents absolutely no chance to retaliate. Her opponents couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.

Of course, for someone who doesn't understand swordsmanship, they can't even see if either sword strikes a vital point, which makes it much less interesting, as it ends before they even know what happened.

Indeed, that was the case; Shiratori Seiya could hear some hushed discussions behind him.

"Huh? Did she win? That was fast!"

"Yes, we won. Did I tell you? Anki, this is the person I told you about before. She was definitely going to win this time. She's too strong."

"Really? I thought kendo matches were like in manga, with back-and-forth exchanges and three hundred rounds of fierce fighting. Is she just too strong?"

The girl named Konishi Anki looked at her friend with a puzzled expression, while the latter had a complicated smile of envy and jealousy on her face, clenched her fist and shook her head.

Before she could even speak, another girl next to her, holding popcorn, muttered as she ate:

"No, no, no, Anki, the kind of situation you described in comics is too fake. In real-life sword duels, only two novices would exchange blows back and forth. True masters would draw blood and kill with a single strike."

"Whether it's the speed, accuracy, or power control of her sword strikes, none of her opponents could match her; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they far surpassed her..."

As she spoke, Noriko Fukui shifted her gaze from the audience to the female support staff member, then looked at her friend beside her and asked:

"By the way, Yua, you said she's a favorite to win the championship, which school does she go to? I've never seen her before. She's so strong, didn't she participate in the competition last year?"

Upon hearing this, Harada Yua's lips moved as she explained:

"Uh, C University, her name is Hasegawa Saori. She didn't participate in the competition last year because she was only a freshman. Oh right, during the last qualifying rounds, she was mentioned on the school's kendo forum..."

"I was sick last month and couldn't come to see the competition, right? The qualifying rounds weren't broadcast live. Besides, you know I don't go online..."

Upon hearing this, Yua Harada, sitting in the middle, immediately became excited to share. She sat up straight and began to tell Noriko Fukui with an exaggerated expression:
"Oh, you probably don't know, but she really, really, really... is incredibly outrageous! You know Oda-senpai, the eighth-dan master, right? Oda-senpai offered to take her on as a disciple during his secluded training, but she refused!"

"Huh? You rejected him? Really?"

"real!"

Noriko Fukui's face showed surprise, then she frowned and said:
"Why would she refuse? Which sword-fighting family is she from?"

"Yua, what you said is so strange."

Listening to their discussion, Konishi Anki, sitting on the other side, tilted her head and asked in confusion:

"If she were really as strong as you say, she couldn't have been completely unknown before, right? Kendo is a sport that can't be mastered overnight, could it? Hasn't she participated in any competitions before?"

"Furthermore, if she could refuse Oda-senpai, who is an eighth-dan, then she must have a teacher. Who is her teacher?"

Upon hearing this, Harada Yua was speechless for a moment, then hesitated before saying:

"Uh, I really don't know... But I think I saw someone on the forum say that she won a championship in high school? But that was in her first year of high school."

"First year of high school? What was she doing in her second and third years? Were her school clubs idiots?"

"Hey? Fa Zi, what are you doing?"

Seeing her friend take out her phone and start making a call, Yua Harada looked puzzled.

"Call my sister."

"what?"

"This is definitely a super hot news story, right? She's a top favorite to win! I need to get her here quickly, otherwise she won't even get an interview after the competition ends."

……
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(End of this chapter)