I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

At the other end of the "VIP seat," Chiba Tamon Shiro's eyes were wide open, like copper bells.

"Shieikan... won...?"

Chiba Tamon Shiro looked on incredulously.

Compared to Chiba Tamon Shiro, Chiba Sadakichi, who was sitting next to him, was much calmer.

Whether witnessing Aoto and Okita launch a counterattack, or seeing his son and daughter defeated and their Chiba Kenkan's general's porcelain bowl shattered, Chiba Sadakichi remained calm, his face showing almost no change in expression.

Even after the match was over, Chiba Sadakichi's expression finally changed—he quietly looked at the cheering Shieikan crowd on the field, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"...Fourth nephew, come with me."

"Hmm?" Chiba Sadakichi's words brought Chiba Tamon Shiro, who was still in a state of shock, back to his senses.

He looked at Chiba Sadakichi, who had already stood up, and asked in confusion:

"Uncle, where are we going?"

"Follow me."

……

……

On the field—

Looking at Asakura, whose porcelain bowl had been smashed on his forehead, Qing Deng couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

—We won…

Qingdeng felt like he had lost 10 pounds in one go.

The tension in his mind eased instantly, and Qingdeng realized that his undershirt was soaked with sweat.

The entire arena was as big as three basketball courts. He ran from one end of the arena to the other, and at the same time, he fought fiercely with the Chiba siblings, Yamanami and others. Both he and Okita had their innermost clothes soaked with sweat.

Standing next to Aoto, Okita still maintains the posture of shattering the porcelain bowl on Asakura's forehead with his sword.

At this moment, Okita was in a dazed state, his eyes not even focused.

"We...won...?"

After muttering this to himself, Okita's eyes slowly began to light up with tiny sparkles.

He turned his head to look at Qingdeng, his face beaming with excited joy.

"Tachibana-kun! We really won!"

"This is a great victory for us!"

After saying that, Okita threw away the bamboo sword in his hand, rushed forward, and threw himself into Qing Deng's arms, wrapping his arms tightly around Qing Deng's neck.

Okita is only 155cm tall, a full 20cm shorter than Aoto. So when Okita jumps up and wraps his arms around Aoto's neck, his feet leave the ground and he hangs on Aoto like a large pendant.

Because Okita's lunge was so powerful, after Okita's body clung to him, Aoto could only instinctively wrap his arms around Okita tightly, then spin around in place with Okita in his arms to dissipate the momentum generated by Okita's lunge.

Okita's chin rested on Aoto's left shoulder, and Aoto could feel the heat of Okita's cheek.

Although Aoto has been living under the same roof as Okita for almost a month now, this is the first time Aoto has had such close physical contact with Okita.

After embracing Okita, Aoto realized that Okita's body was much smaller than he had imagined, making it hard to imagine how such a small body could possess such superb swordsmanship.

Okita, who was also covered in sweat, had a faint smell of sweat, but it wasn't unpleasant; at least, Aoto didn't find it unpleasant.

After carrying Okita and spinning him around six times, Aoto finally managed to stand up.

At this moment, Kondo and the other students of Shieikan rushed towards Aoto and Okita with excited expressions.

In this match, Shieikan lost a total of 4 people – all of whom fought bravely to hold back the main force of Kochiba Kenkan after Aoto and Okita launched their counterattack, and ultimately “sacrificed” themselves.

They defeated the Chiba Sword Hall with only 4 casualties... This was something they never dared to dream of before.

Their previous two victories against the Chiba Kendo Hall were both Pyrrhic victories, achieved by nearly wiping out their own side of the team.

Out of the corner of his eye, Okita noticed Kondo and the others hurrying towards them.

"Gurgle..."

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Okita's face as he released his arms from around Aoto's neck.

"I'm sorry..." Okita Asahito lowered his head slightly, muttering, "I was too excited..."

"It's nothing." Qingdeng laughed nonchalantly. "The fact that you instinctively lunged at me means you're very excited right now. In that case, I'd rather see you keep lunging at me and clinging to me for a while longer."

Hearing Qing Deng say that, the embarrassment on Okita's face gradually disappeared.

He raised his head again, and his eyes returned to their previous crescent shape, grinning at Qing Deng.

At this moment, Kondo and the others finally arrived.

They surrounded Qingdeng, either embracing him or directly hugging this greatest contributor to the victory.

The bustling atmosphere of the Shieikan and the deserted atmosphere of the Chiba Kenkan at this time form a stark contrast.

Almost everyone looked like they had lost their souls.

They either stare blankly into space, or they're just spacing out.

Of course, there were some unexpected events—such as in Shannan.

With a look of surprise on his face, Shannan looked at the Shieikan crowd gathered not far away, cheering and celebrating their victory.

"...It's a really nice sword club." Yamanami smiled slightly.

Sanako still stood there, stunned, where she had just been defeated.

"We... just like that, we lost...?" After murmuring, Sanako raised her hand and touched her empty forehead where the porcelain bowl was no longer.

"It was just a lucky victory for Shiwei Hall!" a student from Xiaochiba Sword Hall shouted, his face flushed. "We didn't send out all our elites. If all the masters from Xiaochiba Sword Hall had come today, how could Shiwei Hall have possibly won!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the apprentice realized that what he had just said was nonsense, so he pursed his lips and shut his mouth.

Indeed, not all of their elite members from the Chiba Sword Hall have gathered here today.

Many of the experts in their academy, whose strength was only below or almost equal to that of Yamanami, either did not have time today, or were not selected to participate in today's "Red and White Battle" by Chiba Sadakichi on the grounds that he "wanted to train more newcomers".

While the lineup of participants from the Chiba Kenkan today is not the strongest, their overall strength is not weak.

As a prestigious family with a high reputation throughout the country, the admission requirements of the Chiba Sword Academy are naturally quite strict. Not just anyone can become a disciple of the Chiba Sword Academy.

They at Chiba never recruit newcomers without a foundation in swordsmanship; they only recruit seasoned swordsmen who already possess considerable skill and talent in swordsmanship.

Take Asakura, the weakest player in today's match, as an example.

Although Asakura is a newcomer to their Chiba Sword Academy, before joining them, he had already obtained the "Catalogue" qualification, which is second only to "Menkyo Kaiden," at a sword academy in his hometown that teaches the Hokushin Itto-ryu style. With such strength, he would be ranked in the upper-middle level in those small and medium-sized sword academies.

Even though their lineup today is not the strongest they can field, on paper, their overall strength is far superior to Shieikan's, and they shouldn't have lost to Shieikan.

Our lineup today wasn't the strongest—that shouldn't be an excuse for their loss to Shieikan.

"One more match! One more match!" another person shouted. "We only managed to win by luck last time, just one more match..."

This person hadn't finished speaking—

"Enough! Stop saying such shameful things. A defeat is a defeat. Why make so many reasons and excuses? When you are in a life-or-death duel with someone and you lose because you are not as skilled, can you say to them: 'Today's defeat is due to my carelessness. Please spare my life and we can fight again another day'?"

An aged voice interrupted the man.

"master!"

"master……"

"It's Master! Master's here!"

……

With his hands behind his back, Chiba Sadakichi led Chiba Tamon Shiro slowly across the arena.

The swordsmen of the Chiba Sword Hall all gathered around Chiba Sadakichi.

“Father…” Chiba Jutaro hung his head and slowly walked towards Chiba Sadakichi.

Sanako followed her brother to greet Chiba Sadakichi. She lowered her head slightly, biting her rosy lower lip, and deep in her eyes, a strong sense of resentment flickered.

"Father...I'm sorry..." Upon arriving before Chiba Sadakichi, Chiba Jutaro, his face filled with remorse and regret, uttered only an apology as his first words. "We played so poorly in today's match..."

"We'll talk about that later." Chiba Sadakichi smiled and patted Chiba Jutaro on the shoulder. "Lift your head up now."

After saying this, Chiba Sadakichi, surrounded by the crowd, continued to walk slowly forward toward the Shieikan crowd who were still huddled together, celebrating their victory.

At this moment, Qing Deng and the others noticed Chiba Sadakichi walking towards them, so they stopped cheering and turned to look at Chiba Sadakichi with puzzled eyes.

Shusuke, Abi, Kiryu, Kinoshita Mai, and Saito also arrived at this time.

The five of them rushed towards Qing Deng and the others from another direction, arriving at Qing Deng's side a step ahead of Chiba Sadakichi.

"What a wonderful match!" Chiba Sadakichi said with a gentle smile as he approached Qing Deng and the others. "The exquisite formation and personnel arrangement have negated the strength advantage of our Chiba Sword Hall. I wonder which hero came up with this strategy?"

Upon hearing Chiba Sadakichi's question, the people at Shieikan immediately and consciously moved aside to the left and right, allowing Aoto's figure to emerge from the crowd.

Chiba Sadakichi raised his curious gaze and looked at Aoto, who was now standing in the center of the group at the Shieikan: "Is this the battle strategy you devised?"

Qingdeng nodded.

"May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Ju Qingdeng."

Chiba Sadakichi's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

It turned out that it was Aoto who devised the battle plan. After learning this truth, everyone, including Chiba Jutaro, Sanako, Yamanami, and others who were standing behind Chiba Sadakichi, as well as Kiryu, Kinoshita Mai, Shusuke, Abi, and Saito, all looked at Aoto with surprise.

"Oh... so you're that famous Tachibana Aoto."

Chiba Sadakichi's smile deepened.

"Mr. Tachibana, how did you devise the plan to defeat our Chiba Sword Hall? Could you tell me... ah, no, tell us a little bit?"

Chiba Sadakichi's question really hit the nail on the head for everyone present.

Kiryu, Kinoshita Mai, Shusuke, the Chiba siblings, Yamanami... they all focused their curious gazes on Aoto.

Telling them how you came up with this strategy... isn't a bad idea, since it's not something you need to hide.

So, Qingdeng cleared his throat—

……