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

The movement, the gaze behind the mask—it's all incredibly captivating, reminiscent of kendo.

Hongo Taito had to admit it.

That's incredibly accurate!

This young man!

Meanwhile, sweat beaded on his forehead beneath his mask. Uesugi Kai's swordsmanship seemed to have a clear purpose, everything was just right, everything was flawless.

He felt that if he used a little more force in the first few attacks he used, he could break through his opponent's defense.

With this in mind, he deliberately increased his strength in the previous few exchanges, but he was still defended perfectly.

And now, he has the same feeling again.

If only the power were a little bit greater, just a little bit more.

This idea has persisted since the referee announced the results of the second round.

His strength was indeed gradually increasing, but in terms of the feedback he received from attacking Uesugi Kai's bamboo sword, it was still not enough.

His strength seemed to have remained unchanged.

It felt like the opponent was controlling the force of your sword strike!

After scaling the high wall, you see yet another, even higher wall.

And that high wall was just a little bit taller than the previous one.

Standing below and looking up, the imposing and solid wall makes one feel powerless and listless, losing all expectation of climbing further.

Outsiders, spectators, and swordsmen alike had no one who shared this experience.

Can't understand.

Completely incomprehensible.

Hongo Taito defends against the next attack and takes a step back.

Walking barefoot on the competition field floor caused the hard keel wood floor to creak repeatedly.

Uesugi Kai assumed a high stance and charged forward.

His black armor and robes gave him a profound and mysterious air.

here we go again......

Hongo Taidou frowned, gripping his bamboo sword with both hands. Years of experience allowed him to stabilize his stance immediately.

In the first round, I made a mistake in my own rhythm. The pace was too fast in the later rounds, which gave my opponent an opportunity.

Now, in the second round.

All you need to do is maintain your rhythm.

Even if you can't break through his defenses, you can still weaken him by using your physical strength advantage.

He could see that Uesugi Kai's face was also covered in sweat inside his mask.

This young man's outrageousness is also within acceptable limits.

He gets tired too, but his swordsmanship is so outstanding that it's unmatched.

Uesugi Kai held the sword in both hands and raised it straight up from below, then stepped forward with his right foot and thrust his body forward.

I could see Hongo Taito's resolute face through the mask!

There's hope this time!

This attack from the opponent.

It's still an illusion.

Hongo Taito realized that Uesugi Kai's attack was using the exact same technique as the feint attack earlier.

The next move might shift from "attacking the body" to "attacking the hands," or it could be a shift from "empty" to "real," directly "attacking the surface."

In other words, when facing Uesugi Kai's high-level downward slash, Hongo Taito needed to defend three points simultaneously.

Even a human cannot fight with both hands simultaneously, let alone defend three points at the same time.

Hongo Taito can only rely on experience, judging the true intention of his opponent's attack by observing the angle, force, and footwork of his moves.

This is the advantage of taking the initiative: it allows you to completely control the pace of the game.

but,

When Uesugi Kai's hands swung down, Hongo Taito judged that he was going to attack his face directly, and began to raise his sword upwards from his abdomen to defend.

Suddenly, Uesugi Kai's bamboo sword, which was cleaving down, grew a section longer and moved a little faster.

In an instant, the tip of the bamboo knife appeared to grow larger in his pupils behind his mask.

Tiger Eye Style Technique!!

Honjo Taito was immediately terrified.

How could I have forgotten this? It's a trick that young people love to use these days.

By the time he realized what was happening and tried to mobilize his body through his brain, it was already too late.

The bamboo knife landed on his mask.

The vibration travels through the frame to the head, and then from the head to the rest of the body.

Immediately following was a powerful shout from Uesugi Kai:

"noodle!"

Uesugi Kai retreated with his sword raised, his steps light as if he were floating on the floor, in the instant he maintained his remnant spirit.

The three gray-haired referees simultaneously raised the red flag, indicating that Uesugi Kai's team's score was valid.

While the audience was still in shock, Kazuhiro Miyata had already raised his camera, his eyes and lens both focused on the competition field, capturing the moment.

He discovered that taking photos with this young man was full of surprises.

During the last Kanto region competition, he gave himself a raise, and several of his articles were adopted by the editor-in-chief, which boosted sales significantly.

When ordinary people see an archery champion challenging a national kendo tournament, it generates significantly more buzz.

We lost again!!

In the Ehime Prefecture police force, Shishido Yuuya wasn't angry, but rather inwardly marveling at the young man's control of the rhythm; every step of his attack seemed calculated.

It's like a sword technique built up to make the captain careless.

His offensive rhythm was all geared towards the final move, the Tiger Eye Style technique.

He also learned dual-wielding?

Tiger Eye Style is a technique in two-sword kendo.

The name comes from the "Tiger Eye Style" in the manga "Shikuu Tournament," and it is indeed a technique that can be used in actual combat. Young people think it's cool, so they have developed it into actual combat.

But in fact, this technique has long been circulating in the dual-wielding swordsmanship.

Tiger Eye Style Technique.

It's a special name young people use for this move.

Simply put, it means that the hand holding the hilt slides downwards when attacking and swinging the sword.

By moving the hand from the upper part of the hilt to the lower part, the bamboo sword can be used to attack from a greater distance.

Although the name comes from a manga and seems unusually juvenile, it is indeed a real technique in kendo.

The National Kendo Association has not yet imposed any restrictions on this method.

In other words, using this technique in a formal competition can be profitable.

Inside the martial arts hall, the chairman and several councilors dressed in white, with the National Kendo Federation Association printed on their uniforms, began to discuss whether this technique should be considered a delicacy.

Judges around 50 or 60 years old believed this was a trick, a deceptive tactic, and should not be used in official competitions; it was not worth it.

The older judges were less stubborn, believing that skills are also part of the competition rules, and as long as the most basic rules are not broken, such skills can be used in the competition.

They are all council members of the National Kendo Federation Association.

The National Kendo Federation Association has between forty and sixty councilors, all of whom are current instructors of various styles and are highly respected.

In addition to electing directors and supervisors, the organization also makes resolutions on matters such as document approval and articles of association provisions.

The term of office for councilors is four years, and they receive no compensation.

In addition, the National Kendo Federation Association has a dedicated committee responsible for publishing a monthly report.

The newspaper was called "Sword Window".

The aim is to concisely summarize the latest information in the world of kendo and publish it monthly.

Famous figures would appear in the "Sword Window" newspaper.

Its quality far surpasses that of ordinary gossip news.

The man sitting among the various councilors and directors is none other than the current chairman of the National Kendo Federation, Yanagizumi Tsunaichi.

After a discussion at the chairman's seat, the feedback given to the referees was that this point would be counted, but whether this technique could be used in the main competition in the future was still up for debate.

Ordinary spectators obviously couldn't see the details of the match, but the key scores would be replayed several times on the big screen inside the Tokyo Budokan. After being replayed two or three times, some people noticed that Uesugi Kai's final strike was a bamboo sword that suddenly grew longer.

These are details that can only be clearly seen when the display is fully expanded.

###Chapter 373 I Just Love You Like This###

Kendo is not about who is faster or stronger.

But there is no doubt that speed and power can give athletes a certain advantage.

In the third round, both players started from the mid-stance again.

The middle stance is fundamental and the basis of kendo kata.

When attacking, you can strike the face; when counterattacking, you can swing the opponent's knife to the right.

If the opponent presses further, you can also use the sword's edge to launch a counterattack.