I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Before he rose to prominence, the Edo martial arts world strictly prohibited him from competing in martial arts.

The reasons behind this are quite realistic.

Why do people open martial arts schools? Isn't it just to earn a living?

What's the point of this competition? If you lose, it affects your student recruitment; if I lose, it affects mine. So why bother competing?

Thus, driven by profit, all the martial arts schools in Edo maintained a tacit understanding of "not fighting against other schools".

Otani Seiichiro disagreed with this.

He believed that martial artists should spar with other styles, learn from their strengths, eliminate their own weaknesses, and repeatedly improve themselves.

So he went to Edo alone, summoned all the famous swordsmen, and sparred with them one by one—ending in complete victory! He was undefeated!

Even Oishi Susumu, who was unparalleled in Edo at the time, was defeated by his sword and was impressed by him.

Seiichiro Otani's idea that "a warrior should learn from others' strengths to make up for his own weaknesses" was warmly welcomed by insightful people.

Gradually, a craze for "other-style martial arts competitions" swept through Edo.

Once the waves recede, it will be clear who was swimming naked.

Martial arts schools that were shoddy and cheated people out of their money closed down one by one.

Those martial arts schools with real skills seized the opportunity and rose to prominence.

Edo is the largest city and de facto capital of Japan today. Even a small sneeze from Edo could blow into the countryside and turn into a powerful hurricane.

The wave of "other-style martial arts competitions" spread from Edo to the rest of Japan. Following the Sengoku period, Japanese martial arts, with swordsmanship as its core, experienced a long-awaited period of rapid development.

The currently popular major schools and sects, such as the Hokushin Itto-ryu and the Kyōshin Meichi-ryu, were all born and developed during this period.

It can be said that Otani Seiichiro deserves much credit for the current prosperity of the Japanese martial arts world.

"Reforming the bamboo sword and setting its length at three feet and eight inches," and "starting a trend of other styles of sword fighting"—based on these two achievements alone, Otani Seiichiro's title of "Sword Saint" is well-deserved.

In terms of strength, he might not be as good as Ogata Itsuki, who is also a sword saint.

However, no one can surpass him in his contributions to the Japanese martial arts world.

The tightly closed gate shut out the sounds of wind, birdsong, and insect chirps, making the temple extremely quiet.

While Aoto was surprised by Otani Seiichiro's unrestrained and bold behavior, he found it quite to his liking.

Since the other party is so straightforward, we can't be too long-winded on our end!

Qingdeng ripped off his wine-red haori and roared imposingly:

"Bring it on!"

Ootani Seiichiro turned to look at Oishi Susumu and the others.

"Who among you is willing to be the vanguard?"

These words immediately caused a stir among the crowd.

One person stood up half a step ahead:

"Mr. Otani! Please allow me to stand by!"

Speaker: "Young Tiger," "A Talented Man of Straight Mind and Shadow"—Nobuo Imai.

Qingdeng doesn't care who comes first or who comes last.

—In the end, I'll have to deal with you all anyway.

"please!"

He faced Imai Noburo and gestured with his chin toward the center of the dojo.

……

……

In terms of status, Nobuo Imai is the grand-disciple of Seiichiro Otani.

Noburo Imai was a student of Kenkichi Sakakibara.

Kenkichi Sakakibara was the chief disciple of Seiichiro Otani.

Otani Seiichiro is the successor of the Jikishin-ryu school.

As his grand-disciple, Nobuo Imai naturally learned the swordsmanship of the Jūshin-kage-ryū style.

The Straight Heart Shadow Style emphasizes the cultivation of courage and resolve, and stresses the use of heavy swords.

For this reason, the successors of the Zhixin Yingliu school use specially made bamboo swords that are incredibly heavy during their daily training.

Imai Nobuo was seen holding a heavy bamboo sword that was three times as thick as a regular bamboo sword, waiting for Ao to take the stage.

Qing Deng took an ordinary bamboo sword, swung it a few times in the air, and after confirming that there was no problem, moved to the opposite side of Ijing Xinlang.

Imai Nobuo raised his bamboo sword and adopted a middle stance.

"Straight Heart Shadow Stream"

"Military Training School Representative"

"Noburo Imai!"

Qing Deng lowered the sword and adopted a lower stance.

"Natural Flow of Mind"

"Gyeonggi Garrison Commander and Commander-in-Chief of the Newly Selected Army"

"Orange Green Dew!"

The moment they introduced themselves, a gust of wind blew towards Qingdeng.

Nobuo Imai swooped down and slashed at me as if gliding at low altitude.

Before his sword arrived, Qing Deng had already darted backward like a slippery eel.

“呜哦哦哦！”

He shouted, drew his sword, and charged forward, launching a pursuit.

However, Qing Deng had already vanished from his sword.

Imai Nobuo's pupils suddenly contracted, and he turned around sharply—Aoto was already standing where he had just been.

He smacked his lips, steadied himself with lightning speed, nimbly spun around, and used the centrifugal force of the turn to swing the bamboo sword upwards.

As expected of a swordsman of the Straight Heart Shadow Style, the weight and power contained in his slashes should not be underestimated.

—Such a master, and he's just a substitute teacher at the martial arts academy...?

According to Qing Deng's estimation, Imai Noburo was stronger than most of the dojo masters he had challenged in Edo.

Such a powerful figure was merely a teacher trainee at the Martial Arts Academy… Qing Deng gained a completely new understanding of the Academy’s overall combat strength.

Aoto spread his arms and deflected Imai Nobuo's bamboo sword back.

The next moment, he lowered his sword, tip pointing downwards, left shoulder forward, leaned his body diagonally, and swung the sword upwards.

*Thud*—The feeling of striking a hard object was satisfying.

Imai Nobuo quickly sheathed his bamboo sword, successfully blocking Aoto's attack... but the difference in physical strength between the two was vast.

He possessed neither the superhuman strength of Saito Yakuro nor the exquisite force-dissipating skills of Chiba Sadakichi and Chiba Michizaburo.

As if he had been knocked away, Nobuo Imai stumbled back several steps, finally regaining his balance after taking five steps.

At that moment... Qingdeng's next attack came.

Thump, thump—he caught up with the other person in just two steps.

The sword, which had been advancing from above, was as swift as lightning. Imai Nobuo gritted his teeth and tensed all his muscles, managing to catch the bamboo sword in mid-air before it could strike.

The force transmitted back along the sword was unexpectedly light—half a second later, he understood why it was so light.

This downward slash was merely a feint by Qing Deng, intended to deceive Imai Nobuo's defense.

At the very instant the two swords clashed, Qing Deng released his left hand—even with only one arm, he could easily wrestle with his opponent—and with his free left hand, he made a fist and suddenly thrust out, striking Imai Noburo's abdomen.

The fist was thrown out with a loud "smack".

Noburo Imai's eyes and brain saw through Aoto's intentions... but his body was too late to react.

The firm fist pressed tightly against the soft abdomen.

In pain, his body, which was as strong as steel, turned into a soft, yielding reed.

Taking advantage of the opening, Qing Deng changed his left fist into a claw and grabbed Imai Nobuo's right wrist with a "whoosh," using a grappling technique to subdue him to the ground.

All the onlookers saw was Nobuo Imai's feet fly up to his head, and then he fell heavily to the floor with his back facing down, landing on his back.

"Imai-kun, you lost."

Seiichiro Tani, seated at the head of the table, announced the outcome of the battle in a tone devoid of joy or sorrow.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Godspeed"]

[Talent Introduction: Superior reflexes]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

["Speed+5" ability upgrade - "Speed+6"]

"……sharp."

Nobuo Imai struggled to sit up, clutching his aching back.

He did not offer any lengthy remarks.

He simply said "Impressive," and after giving Qingdeng a look that mixed feelings of admiration, resentment, and regret, he silently walked off the stage.

"I'm next!"

No sooner had Nobuo Imai stepped off the stage than a handsome young man walked up behind him.

Heart-shaped Blade Style