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

Finally, there's the Five Elements Sword Drawing Technique.

Seeing that he didn't have much practical combat experience, Sakakibara Isshin demonstrated each move to him.

......

It's unclear how my cheap master could possess so many Katori Shinto-ryu techniques.

But after watching Isshin Sakakibara demonstrate it once, he also remembered the general idea.

These techniques each have their own characteristics and belong to ancient sword styles. It remains very difficult to deal with their evolution in modern swordsmanship.

Seeing that Naito Genichiro had not made an attack yet, Uesugi Kai didn't want to wait any longer and took a step forward.

He switched from the middle stance to the upper stance, unleashing a series of slashes with his sword. Even the master of the Katori Shinto style had to retreat and counterattack when faced with this sudden change in technique.

clap clap clap!

The sound of bamboo swords striking each other rang out in unison, and the rhythmic and powerful exchange of blows almost suddenly erupted.

However, his experience as a teacher training college student ultimately gave his defense a unique edge.

Naito Shinobu took the initiative and struck the middle leather of Uesugi Kaizuki's bamboo sword with his own sword, causing a sense of pause to appear as he continued to swing his sword.

This is called the art of swordsmanship, also known as the technique of the katana—the swords of Itsu, Shichitsu, Kamishyu, and Yagami.

The principle lies in the coordination of defense and offense.

In general, defense usually involves retreating to defend against the opponent's attack, and then counterattacking when there is an opening after the opponent's attack.

Shinto-ryu strives to minimize the time required for a counterattack.

In other words, it skips the defensive step and directly attacks the opponent's sword, thus achieving both defensive and offensive objectives simultaneously.

This technique is now used with unparalleled skill by Genichiro Naito, a middle-aged man in his forties.

###Chapter 383 The Way to Win###

How should one respond to a renowned teacher from a prestigious school?

Genichiro Naito's mid-stance appears difficult to break, allowing him to parry and counterattack with ease.

For a moment, the afterimages of the bamboo swords clashing repeatedly obscured Uesugi Kai's vision. With a resounding "crack," the two swords met face to face, their hilts pressing against each other.

'The Katori Shinto-ryu's Onmyoji no Tachi technique...?'

Uesugi Kai gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with both hands, his mind replaying the several exchanges they had just had.

Genichiro Naito's gaze, peering through the kendo hood, also fell upon his face.

He had heard of this young man who had advanced all the way to the semifinals without a single loss.

The sword technique I just used was...

The Mindless Katana Technique of the One-Sword Style.

He is Sakakihara's disciple...

Naito Genichiro is still unsure about Uesugi Kai's strength. Although he is the seventh generation of Shinto-ryu instructors, he will not let his guard down just because his opponent is too young.

Kai Uesugi took the initiative.

Genichiro Naito deflected Kai Uesugi's attack with a backhand.

The next second, he quickly stepped forward, turned his hand back and held the sword upright, and threw it out in a face strike!

They managed to launch a counterattack in just two moves!

The rapid transformation left the audience dazzled.

I don't understand it, and I can't comprehend it at all!

In their eyes, one second they were on the offensive side of Uesugi Kai, and the next second, the roles were reversed.

Naito's kendo skills are both unexpected and awe-inspiring.

"noodle!!"

Naito Genichiro's move was incredibly powerful. Even though Uesugi Kai reacted, he was still hit in the face first.

The point has been validly awarded.

However, this aspect cannot be considered a valid score.

One referee raised his flag to indicate that the score was valid, but the other two referees indicated that it was not.

Hanabi Hanabi couldn't understand it, so she asked Hiroki Hanabi sitting next to her:

"Does this...not count as scoring?"

"Ah."

Hanamaru Hiroki nodded and replied, "A score requires at least two referees to raise their flags. Naito's hit just now wasn't very effective; it was almost a graze on the kid's mask. It was easier to see from our side, so the other two referees didn't give a score."

Good for you, young man, you've finally realized it.

Genichiro Naito stared intently at Kai Uesugi's sword-wielding movements.

That was...

The Four-Touched Sword in the Five Elements Katana Technique.

Kai Uesugi recognized her.

The key to Yotsu no Tachi lies in its rapid changes of moves.

For example, a strike might be an upward slash, but in the next instant it could very well be transformed into a downward chop.

The difficulty of the Yotsu no Tachi lies in the transitions between these techniques.

It's difficult enough to make a good strike, let alone to give up and then switch sides.

Uesugi Kai kept defending against Naito Genichiro's changing moves. Sometimes Naito's moves were very strange in angle. Even if he could see the location of Naito's attack with 100% certainty, his body might not be able to react and defend.

So difficult to deal with?

Despite a series of probing attacks and sword techniques, the young man was not forced to concede the center line.

He began to suspect that the young man had deliberately thrown the first round.

After Naito Genichiro's face-hitting attack was blocked again, he didn't pause and suddenly launched another attack, sending several slashes at Uesugi Kai. However, unexpectedly, Uesugi Kai's movements were exceptionally steady, pressing, repeating, advancing and retreating...

This reminded Naito Genichiro of a phrase: an unparalleled tortoise shell.

In his final moments of dodging, Uesugi Kai instantly spun his bamboo sword around, delivering a diagonal slash that deflected Naito's sword, and launched a counterattack.

At the same time, he shouted:

"Striker!!"

Caught off guard, Naito Genichiro quickly turned around and took a step back to buy himself more time to react and allow his bamboo sword to return in time.

He was somewhat surprised, because he hadn't noticed during his attack that Uesugi Kai had consciously raised his hand by using footwork as a guide.

This prevented him from using the middle stance and forced him to use the upper stance for defense.

Are you trying to force me to use a high-level attack followed by a side-attack to the torso?

Genichiro Naito saw through Kai Uesugi's intentions and didn't give him a chance.

Kai Uesugi realized this in time and did not pursue the matter relentlessly.

The bamboo swords of the two swords collided suddenly as if by unspoken agreement, forcing each other to a stop.

Naito Genichiro and Uesugi Kai simultaneously raised their bamboo swords and each took a step back.

In a short period of time, they fought several times with evenly matched opponents, which looked quite exciting.

A burst of enthusiastic applause immediately erupted from the audience.

Beside reporter Kazuhiro Miyata, Nanahiko Eto instinctively opened his mouth: "Wow, impressive."

Miyata Kazuhiro tapped his notebook on his lap with his pen, making a series of crisp tapping sounds: "I didn't expect Uesugi-san to be so amazing, but... I also have to thank him. He's been covering all the kendo news in our newspaper lately. The national archery champion is about to win the national kendo championship... I've never seen anything like this before."

Jiang Tengqiyan turned his head and asked, "Is he a newcomer?"

"Not entirely. He participated in the kendo club in high school."

"What about past competition results? Maybe we can uncover more information."

"No, he only participated in this one official kendo tournament."

While answering, Miyata Kazuhiro kept an eye on the battle situation on the field.

There are three minutes left in the five-minute match.

Despite his opponent being a level above him in skill, Uesugi Kai has found a way to defeat him.

In the first two rounds, he was learning and making progress.

In Naito Genichiro's eyes, Uesugi Kai's original mid-stance stance had changed into an upper-stance stance.

Moreover, this pose of raising the sword diagonally with the right hand... doesn't exist in the One-Sword Style.

This setup looks more like... a manifestation stream.

Will this young man also demonstrate the flow?

In the audience, reporter Kazuhiro Miyata also witnessed this scene. He said excitedly, "This is the first time I've seen Uesugi-san use his current form in the National Tournament!"

Kai Uesugi was unaware that a reporter had been following him from the qualifying rounds to the national semifinals.

But none of that matters now.

Uesugi Kai assumed a fighting stance and slashed at Naito Genichiro with his sword.

The footwork of the Shigenryu style has a unique feature: it uses the parts of the body below the knees to change the center of gravity and the orientation of the body. Over time, the footwork will feel like moving close to the floor. If you wear long pants or a skirt, it will give people the feeling that the body is "floating".

Such footwork is fast, and the strikes are powerful and heavy.

This is why the manifestation stream has such a strong suppressive effect.

Demonstration flow...

Genichiro Naito is very experienced. He was born into a family of ancient sword-fighting masters and has studied all the existing schools of swordsmanship.

He understood that the best way to deal with the Shigenryu style was to fight back, and never to passively block.