Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

Priest: A person who has attained the status of a priest after five years of cultivation, possesses outstanding character, skills, and insight, and has excellent guidance abilities.

Fan Shi: After ten years of service, a priest who is of high moral character, well-versed in the doctrines and etiquette, and skilled in the arts is a model of virtue.

Therefore, a master of the eighth dan is usually at the top of the martial arts world.

He was very old, with gray hair.

Due to physical reasons, the strength of the warriors will actually decline a lot. Their skills are not as good as they used to be, and they rely more on prestige and experience.

Those who understood this had nothing to worry about.

The guidance of Noriyuki Ogasawara is something that can only be encountered by chance.

Let's focus on improving our own accuracy first.

###Chapter 119 For Uesugi, hard work is also part of slacking off###

Kyudo is divided into two branches: martial archery and ceremonial archery.

Ritual archery emphasizes the elegance of movement and posture.

Martial archery emphasizes both power and accuracy.

Sugita Sohei belongs to the Ogasawara school of archery, one of the major schools in modern archery.

Kai Uesugi didn't know which school of kyudo he belonged to, but judging from the movements he learned in the archery club, he could be considered to be of the Ogasawara school.

Because of the need for precision, many movements will be slightly different.

In Sugita Sohei's words—just as different stringed instruments produce different sounds, each person has their own characteristics. Schools of thought are just a category and are not important to the individual.

The sound of the strings was clear and melodious, followed by the creaking of the bow being drawn.

The members of the archery club were all practicing hard, and Uesugi Kai, who liked to slack off, was no exception.

Chitose Mai stood at the edge of the shooting position, using her notepad to record the two rounds of hits.

8〇〇〇〇|〇〇〇〇—Uesugi

4〇︸〇Ｘ|〇XXＸ〇—Sugai

5000X|0X0X—Qingyou

3〇XXXX|〇XXXX〇—Hirata

8〇〇〇〇|〇〇〇〇—Sugita

〇 indicates "in" and X indicates "missing the target".

With 28 out of 40 arrows hitting the target, this is already considered an excellent result in previous district competitions.

"Sigh, I've dragged the team down again." Masanobu Hirata sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Have I been too lazy in training? No, I've been trying my best."

Kanai Eiji glanced at the bow in his hand. "I always feel like my arrows are going a little to the left. I can't control the technique and timing well."

"Actually, everyone is about the same level, and their strengths are very similar, so there's no need to be too discouraged."

Qing Youya could also sense that both of them were somewhat listless.

"With Uesugi and Sugita as our backup for the qualifiers, we still have plenty of time to train."

“Yes, both of you are very talented.” Chitose Mai said as she put the paper recording the grades on the wall.

Uesugi Kai and Sugita Sohei displayed extremely consistent skill levels, rarely missing their targets.

Sakurai Fuko walked over and asked, "By the way, why isn't Uesugi-kun participating in the individual competition?"

"No money to be made." Uesugi Kai's words were succinct and cryptic.

He checked and found that only the team competition had prize money this year.

In individual competitions, there are only medals and certificates.

The other members of the archery club didn't say anything more when they heard Uesugi Kai's words.

Since you choose to participate in the competition, you naturally want to gain something from it.

Growth, honor, experience, achievement... these are all goals.

They wouldn't be foolish enough to say something like, "True archery practitioners don't care about prize money; they only care about improving their mindset."

The pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty, and the pursuit of victory and honor, will lead to a successful and accurate shot.

A week of intensive training began, with Uesugi Kai taking a new, targeted approach.

------

Yuzhi Higher Private College.

Compared to Shingoshi, Michi High School has a more deeply ingrained sports culture.

They can be seen in many different competitions, big and small, including basketball, football, baseball, kendo, and archery.

Unlike the archery club at Shingoshi High School, students at Michi High School place more emphasis on grades and status.

In the archery club with more than 110 members, most of them never had the opportunity to stand on the shooting position in the dojo.

As first-year students, they could only retrieve arrows and stretch rubber bands, standing in the corner watching the seniors draw their bows and arrows, and doing some errands.

At this moment, all members of the three grades of the Michi Archery Club have gathered here.

Some crowded dojos were very quiet.

"Mr. Ikemoto, which opponents should we be wary of in this competition?"

An elderly man named Ikemoto sat on a small wooden stool, his graying temples interspersed with inconspicuous black hair, and his voice was deep and resonant as he answered:

"Sagami High School, Kaijo High School, Tokyo No. 10 High School... it's nothing more than these few."

He is the advisor for the archery club at Michi High School.

In the spacious and bright shooting position, a man exuding an air of elegance put down his bamboo bow, turned around at the sound of the voice, and asked, "Kansaki Eshito?"

"That archery prodigy didn't participate in the individual competition this year." A smile appeared on Advisor Ikemoto's wrinkled face; he knew who he was asking.

"You participated in the team competition?" the man asked.

Advisor Ikemoto nodded: "Only one person from the God of the Go team is outstanding. Last year, their archery club had several other good players, but they all went on to higher education."

As he spoke, the old consultant stood up, straightening his bent back.

“I’ve also looked at their entry list. Apart from Sugita Sohei, there’s nothing noteworthy about them. There’s even a newbie in the competition.”

"A novice? Does that mean he's only practiced archery for a month?" Shimokawa Akira's frivolous face revealed an uncontrollable smile. "Hahaha, they can't even find anyone from their third year to compete?"

Hearing his unrestrained laughter, Yagi Toshihito, who was sitting upright, couldn't help but glance at him: "What about the etiquette of archery?"

"Was what I said too harsh?" Shimokawa Akirou asked with a smile.

“Learning to respect your opponent, isn’t that the most basic attitude for a kyudo practitioner?” Yagi Ryūjin frowned, displeased.

“That’s the rule of your ceremonial archery department, but I’m from the martial archery department.” His smile, which never changed, seemed to be fixed on his face.

"Regardless of the system, etiquette is essential!" Yagi Eijin said righteously.

Shimokawa Akirou didn't care at all: "Isn't it enough to shoot accurately? Look at me, a first-year student, being able to participate in the competition with you third-year seniors, doesn't that prove the fact?"

"Too arrogant! That's why you're stuck at level one and can't move up!"

"Haha," Shimokawa Akirou chuckled, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Rank doesn't really matter. Having the ability to prove yourself is enough."

He pointed to the elegant man in the shooting position.

Isn't this what brotherly love is all about?

The rather dignified Feng Yeti seemed used to their bickering and remained silent, offering no comment.

"You arrogant fellow, how dare you compare yourself to Tei? You're overestimating yourself!" Yagi Reijin grew increasingly disgusted with this guy.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm just on the same level as you, Yagi-kun."

Consultant Ikemoto frowned and raised his voice: "Alright, Ruiren, Binlang, quiet down for a moment! Is today's training over? Can you both hit the bullseye every time like Ti?"

To Yagi Eijin, this statement was clearly biased towards Shimokawa Akihiro.

However, he could understand that the old advisor didn't want this pointless internal strife to continue.

After glaring at the smiling Shimokawa Akihiro, Yagi Eijin had no choice but to pick up his longbow and silently walk to his shooting position.

Advisor Ikemoto sighed, shook his head, and turned back to face the members gathered inside the dojo.

He caught his breath and said loudly, "Alright! Let's continue selecting the remaining participants. Regardless of whether you're in a lower or higher grade, as long as you have experience, everyone has a chance!"

"Yes!"

"Yes..."

Unlike older students, younger students mostly speak in a low voice.

After all, very few junior high schools have archery clubs, and those who have just joined the club and can only stretch rubber bands have no experience, so how can they compete?

###Chapter 120 Before the Match###

Effort is a dreaded thing, but sometimes you can get caught up in it without even realizing it.

After a week of training, the time to participate in the preliminary rounds has finally arrived.

Beside the open-air dojo, Uesugi Kai, dressed in a pristine white kyudo uniform, walked along the corridor with his four companions.

The surrounding area was full of high school students carrying long bow bags.

"There seem to be so many more people this year." Looking around at the chatting crowd, Masanobu Hirata felt as if he were in a bustling city.

Aoyuuya: "Actually, there are fewer people this year than in previous years, but there are still quite a few people practicing archery."

"I thought there would be more participants this year," he added.

"Then why are there only a handful of people in our club?" Uesugi Kai asked, explaining that he actually preferred quiet places with few people.

“Yes, yes,” Chitose Mai quickly nodded in agreement, “Now there are only three girls left in the club, even though everyone is very nice.”

"Haha, it's my fault, it's my fault. I didn't try to persuade them to stay." Qing Youya also turned around.

"You can't blame the ministers; it's their own problem."