I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

However, it's more than enough to sustain it for a few seconds.

Those few seconds... were enough for Shannan and the others to rush back to their "main camp"!

The few seconds that Asakura managed to hold on with all his might gave Chiba Kendo a final chance to win.

The three men from the south, like ink spreading, approached from three sides behind Qing Deng and Okita.

Soon—Aoto, Okita, Asakura, and the three returning defenders, the six figures, passed by each other at a dazzling speed in the "main camp" of the Chiba Sword Hall, their bamboo swords clashing and producing one clear sound after another.

This was a two-on-four battle, with the Chiba Kendo Hall team having the advantage in numbers, and also having a master like Yamanami.

However, despite being outnumbered, Shieikan's side gained the upper hand in this battle of outnumbered forces.

The reason is simple—aside from Yamanami, none of the other three posed a threat to Okita.

Okita quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming the positions of everyone around him, then crouched down and launched a fierce attack on the enemy on his right.

He stepped forward, bent his upper body, and swept his bamboo sword upwards. With a "crack," he shattered the porcelain bowl of the enemy to his right.

The enemy to Okita's left swung his sword at Okita, but because he didn't step in properly, his bamboo sword only grazed past Okita's side and struck only air. Okita seized this opportunity, suddenly rushed to his left, and thrust his sword at the enemy to his left.

The man stumbled backward, narrowly dodging Okita's thrust. Before he could regain his footing, he suddenly felt his right wrist, which was gripping the sword, being caught by an "iron clamp."

Aoto and Okita once again demonstrated their excellent teamwork.

After Okita forced the man to flee in a sorry state, revealing his weaknesses, Aoto, who was standing next to him, swiftly raised his left hand and accurately grabbed the man's right wrist.

Now, Qingdeng possesses the talent of "skillful hands," with finger strength and dexterity far exceeding that of ordinary people, and his grip strength is quite astonishing.

Qingdeng pinched the Jinmen acupoint with his index and middle fingers, and the man immediately cried out in pain. His right hand unconsciously loosened, and the bamboo sword in his hand fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Qing Deng, who still hadn't let go of the man's wrist, turned around and executed a swift over-the-shoulder throw, slamming him to the ground. Then, he used the bottom of the bamboo sword hilt to strike the porcelain bowl on the man's forehead, shattering it.

The two-on-four battle quickly turned into a two-on-two duel with equal numbers of players.

This was the first time Qingdeng had faced off against his old friend Shannan since they had met.

His old friend was praised by Okita as one of the "Three Great Masters of the Chiba Sword Hall," which shows that he indeed had considerable strength.

Shannan's goal has always been clear.

He knew that with the Chiba siblings already defeated, Kondo and Okita still alive, and the swordsmen of the Shieikan still highly motivated, it would be extremely difficult for their Chiba Sword Hall to win.

Their only chance of winning right now is to take advantage of the current standoff between them and Aoto and Okita and immediately try to break Aoto's porcelain bowl!

Shannan lowered his center of gravity and slashed at Qingdeng as if sliding across the ground.

But as soon as he raised his sword, Okita immediately returned to Aoto's side to protect him. After charging into battle with Aoto, Okita never left Aoto's side for more than two steps in order to protect their commander-in-chief.

The tip of the knife from the south of the mountain grazed the ground as it was swung up from below.

Okita, as if trying to suppress Yamanami's swift strike, swung his sword from above.

The bamboo swords clashed, and the two fought to a draw.

At this moment, Asakura, the general of the Chiba Sword Hall, attempted to launch a sneak attack on Aoto from the side, but Okita had already seen through his attack.

Okita flicked the tip of his sword toward Asakura with a whip-like motion, striking Asakura's left wrist. Asakura, in pain, staggered back several steps.

Immediately afterwards, Okita clashed with Yamanami again.

Okita launched a slash at Yamanami, who deflected it with his sword.

After exchanging attacks and defenses several times, Okita let out a long breath, sheathed the bamboo sword in front of him, assumed the stance of the Hirai-gan, and pointed the tip of the sword at the porcelain bowl on Yamanami's forehead.

Seeing Okita's action, Aoto immediately recognized that Okita was probably about to use his signature sword technique—the thrusting technique: Mumei no Ken.

The Unnamed Sword is Okita's most proficient move.

The Mumeiken of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school originally started with a mid-stance stance, but Okita preferred to start with the Hira-Seigan stance.

As Qing Deng had predicted, Okita indeed intended to use the Mumei Sword.

Okita's bamboo sword, like a streak of light, slammed into the porcelain bowl on Yamanami's forehead with terrifying force.

His attack was incredibly fast and powerful.

Shannan's pupils contracted sharply, and he barely had time to raise his bamboo sword to parry—

Snapped--!

A tremendous explosion occurred.

Yamanami barely managed to parry Okita's unnamed sword strike.

But his posture became messy due to this overly strained parry.

Qingdeng once again sensed a rare opportunity!

He quickly moved closer and thrust his sword towards the porcelain bowl on Shan Nan's forehead.

Shannan, who had no time to adjust his posture, was no longer able to defend against or dodge Qingdeng's attack.

Snapped.

This is the fourth porcelain bowl that Qing Deng broke during this match.

[Ding! Talent detected]

Successfully replicated the talent: "Photographic memory"

[Talent Introduction: Amazing memory; even after reading a book only once, one can clearly remember every word and sentence years later]

The main camp of the Chiba Sword Hall... is now down to just one person.

Is it commendable courage? Asakura has not lost his fighting spirit and will to fight.

Even when he was all alone, he still gritted his teeth and gripped the bamboo sword tightly in his hand.

To deal with the Asakura who has no help, Okita alone is enough.

Okita simply swung his sword horizontally, deflecting Asakura's blade and breaking through Asakura's defense. Then, Okita aimed his sword at the porcelain bowl on Asakura's forehead and swung it again—

*Snap*

The porcelain bowl of the Grand General of the Chiba Sword Hall... is broken.

On the south side of the arena, the shrine priest of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, who was acting as the chief referee, stared blankly at Asakura, whose porcelain bowl had been shattered.

A moment later.

He cleared his throat and slowly stood up.

"The winner of today's match—"

The shrine priest raised his hand and gestured towards the east of the arena, in the direction of the main camp of the examination hall.

"Red team! Test Guard Hall!"

As soon as the deity finished his announcement, the audience fell into a brief silence.

A moment later, a huge wave of sound, a mixture of exclamations and praises, erupted from the audience, transforming the stillness into a roar.

Chapter 99 Oh dear! Ms. Kinoshita, are you blushing?

"No way? That Chiba Kendo Club actually lost?"

"Hey, didn't you say this Shieikan was an obscure little sword-making school?"

"It is indeed an unknown sword school! Ask around and see if anyone recognizes any of these schools."

"So, that means the famous Chiba Sword Hall actually lost to an unknown little sword hall?"

……

Some of the spectators in the stands came to watch the match solely because the Chiba Kenkan (Little Chiba Kendo Hall) was participating.

I just wanted to see just how powerful the swordsmen of the Chiba Sword Hall, whose quality of apprentices, scale of the sword hall, and reputation were second only to the Genbu Hall, Shigaku Hall, and Renbei Hall, the "Three Great Sword Halls of Edo," were.

They had never paid any attention to the obscure Shieikan from beginning to end.

The outcome of this match is obvious, isn't it? How could a small kendo school like Shieikan possibly be a match for a large kendo school like Chiba-kan? They were all so certain of this.

However, now... the Chiba Kendo Club, which they were certain to win, has actually lost...

And the loss was quite embarrassing.

The Shieikan only sent Aoto and Okita, yet they broke through the combined defense of the Chiba siblings and the subsequent return defense of Yamanami and others, and breached the main camp of the Little Chiba Sword Hall.

These spectators, who had presumed that "Shieikan would lose and Chiba Kenkan would win," were now staring wide-eyed and gaping in astonishment.

Of course, only a small portion of the audience is currently shocked by the defeat of the Chiba Kenkan.

The vast majority of the audience are just ordinary people who don't recognize Hokushin Itto-ryu, Tennen Rishin-ryu, or even Kochiba Kenkan and Shiei-kan.

They just wanted to watch the swordsmen fight and have some fun.

For spectators who just wanted to have some fun and enjoy the spectacle, today's match was incredibly exciting, full of unexpected twists and turns.

The test site first set up an extremely strange and completely incomprehensible defensive formation.

When everyone thought that Shieikan's defenses would be easily breached by Kochiba Kenkan, Shieikan's defenses stood firm and successfully blocked Kochiba Kenkan's fierce attack.

While almost all the swordsmen at the Chiba Sword Hall were being held back by Kondo and his group, the commander-in-chief, Aoto, led Okita to personally charge to the front line and broke through the Chiba siblings' joint defense in the midfield in one go.

Then, when some people thought that the backcourt of the Chiba Sword Hall was empty and that the Shiei Hall was going to win, Yamanami and the others finally managed to return to defense, making everyone's hearts jump again.

Yamanami and his group's return defense was a close call, but Aoto and Okita defeated Yamanami and his group one by one, and finally successfully shattered the porcelain bowl on the head of the headmaster of the Chiba Kendo Hall, winning the match.

It features both brilliant plot twists and exhilarating battles, making it extremely enjoyable to watch.

These people, who made up the vast majority of the audience and were simply there to have some fun, are now cheering and celebrating the birth of the winner.

In the VIP audience seats, Abi stared blankly at the already decided match, as if she had lost her soul. It wasn't until about half a minute later that her "soul" finally returned to her body.

As her "soul" returned to her body, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and she kept raising her hands to slap her thighs as if she felt no pain.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Abi was unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Although Zhou Zhu was not as agitated as his wife, his expression was equally unsettled.

He, who usually keeps his eyes squinted, opened them slightly at this moment, and his eyes, which were staring straight at the field, were no longer as calm as usual.

“…Impressive.” Kiryu smiled slightly. “It was truly a wonderful match.”

Although Kinoshita Mai didn't slap her thigh with the same excitement as Abi, her face was also flushed with excitement.