I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Under the bright sunlight, Aoto's figure and Shin-chan Hiroshi's figure overlapped once again.

Snapped!Snapped!

The moment the two passed each other again, two rapid sounds of bamboo swords clashing rang out.

I still can't feel the impact on the opponent's armor in my palm.

*Smack!*

*Smack!*

The two people who passed each other stomped on the ground at the same time, stopping their forward momentum and falling. More handfuls of white sand and gravel on the ground were crushed and kicked away, flying outward in a beautiful fan shape.

The two simultaneously stepped to steady themselves, and then quickly turned around at the same time.

After confirming each other's current positions, the two engaged in battle once again.

……

……

After Qing Deng and Niizuma Kan started fighting, the gasps from the spectators never stopped.

A considerable number of people... including Shusuke and his group from the Shieikan, Chiba Sadakichi and Chiba Eijiro and their group from the Kochiba Kenkan, as well as Saito Yakuro, Niizuma Hiroshi's master, couldn't help but frown and cast questioning glances at the arena.

Chiba Eijiro, Shusuke, and others who were skilled in swordsmanship were the most puzzled, because based on Niizuma Hiroshi's performance in yesterday's match... Niizuma Hiroshi should not have the strength to contend with Aoto.

Shinzuma Hiroshi could probably only withstand three or four of Aoto's attacks at most—this was the consensus among swordsmen with extremely high swordsmanship, such as Chiba Eijiro and Shusuke, before the finals even began.

Therefore, the scene of Aoto and Niizuma Hiroshi fighting fiercely on the field at this moment was truly incomprehensible to Chiba Eijiro and the others.

The uncle and nephew, Chiba Sadakichi and Chiba Eijiro, were the first to discover why Shinzawa Hiroshi had suddenly become so strong.

"This guy's concentration is incredible right now..." Chiba Eijiro, who was staring intently at Hiroshi Niizuma's figure on the field, narrowed his eyes slightly.

Compared to Chiba Eijiro and the others who were puzzled as to why Niizuma Hiroshi's strength had increased so much, most of the spectators in the stands didn't have so many complicated thoughts in their minds.

Aside from a few people who were disappointed at the prospect of "Qing Deng once again crushing his opponent," the rest of the spectators are quite excited.

The swordsmen were fighting fiercely—this was exactly the scene they wanted to see at the sword-fighting tournament!

The vast majority of spectators were now watching the match between Qing Deng and Xin Qi Kuan with great interest and excitement, which successfully heightened the excitement and exhilaration that filled the stands.

Even most of the daimyo from the vassal states on the "VIP platform" were watching with great interest.

Such a spectacular swordsmanship contest was extremely rare even for these daimyo.

Aizu-no-Kou, who is still attending the competition today, is still sitting in the center of the VIP stage.

Although he remained expressionless and inscrutable as always, his eyes were fixed intently on the field, showing that he was watching the game very seriously.

There were also a number of people who showed emotions other than doubt and excitement—that was Kondo, Hijikata, Okita, Yamanami, Chiba Jutaro, and others.

They all thought that Qing Deng would easily defeat Niizuma Hiroshi, but now that their original assumptions had failed, they all looked worried, concerned that Qing Deng might lose.

Chiba Jutaro was the most excited.

He stretched his neck out, his eyes fixed on every movement on the field, his legs trembling as he sat cross-legged on the ground. His anxious appearance was in stark contrast to his sister, Sanako, beside him.

Sanako, kneeling with her hands folded on her lap in a perfect, flawless pose, showed no emotion, as if she wasn't particularly concerned about the match.

Chiba Jutaro noticed Sanako's appearance out of the corner of his eye, and a bitter smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

He knew that the plan to "bring together Aoto and Sanako" was still a long and arduous task...

It's obvious that Sanako still only sees Aoto as an "acquaintance" or an "ordinary friend," which is why she's showing this expression of not being particularly concerned about Aoto's match.

He couldn't care less about his sister right now, so Chiba Jutaro turned his attention away from Sanako and focused all his attention on the arena where the sounds of fierce bamboo swords clashing were still coming from.

……

……

In a corner of the spectator stands—

The Rakshasa, who was hunched over and supporting his head with his right hand, had a jubilant smile on his face.

“Oh…” Rakshasa whispered in a voice only he could hear, “It seems that a person’s mental state can indeed affect the effectiveness of the ‘Mindlessness Pill’…”

Having said that, Rakshasa revealed an even happier smile.

……

……

Hiroshi Niizuma feels that he is in a really great state right now.

Just now, after swallowing that pill, Hiroshi Niizuma immediately felt a "boom boom boom" sound inside his head.

The enormous "noise" in her brain almost made Hiroshi Shinsawa cry out in pain.

After gritting his teeth and enduring the waves of excruciating pain, a strange sensation immediately spread from his brain to his limbs and bones.

My mind was clearer than ever before; I had never felt so refreshed in my entire life.

My attention was extremely focused; it was the first time in my life I had ever experienced such a state of concentration.

The clarity of his mind allowed Hiroshi Niizuma to think several times faster, and the increased concentration enabled him to react more quickly to Aoto's various actions—in short, the pill gave Hiroshi Niizuma a leap in reaction speed.

The most direct change brought about by the increased reaction speed is that it makes Qingdeng's attacks harder to hit him, while he can frequently find the best opportunity to launch a sharp counterattack against Qingdeng.

We can win!

—I can beat Tachibana Aoto!

—I have a chance to win this competition!

Shinzaku Hiroshi wielded his bamboo sword with even greater ferocity, putting all his strength into a fiercer attack on Aoto.

His lips curled into an excited grin.

However... his excited smile didn't last long.

Both he and Qing Deng are now wearing protective gear from head to toe. With the masks covering their faces, Shinzuma Hiroshi has not been able to see what Qing Deng's expression looks like.

At this moment, after he parried Qing Deng's attack once again, Shinzakuan suddenly caught a glimpse of Qing Deng's face, which had been hidden under his mask.

The first thing you see is Qingdeng's bright eyes.

And beneath those bright eyes... was a smile.

A smile that was even happier than his.

……

……

—My body is starting to sweat…

Qingdeng could now clearly feel that the increased body temperature from the fierce battle had caused fine sweat to bead up on his skin.

Before the final match even started, Aoto thought he could easily defeat Hiroshi Niizuma, so he was quite surprised when things didn't go as planned.

As the person currently fighting against Hiroshi Niizuma, he was the first to discover why Hiroshi Niizuma had suddenly become able to contend with him.

Hiroshi Niizuma's swordsmanship did not become more refined, nor did his strength or speed increase.

It's purely because his concentration is so high that his reaction speed is now extremely fast.

Is it because of a desire for victory that I'm performing exceptionally well? Or is it simply because I'm in excellent physical condition today? Or is there some other reason?

Forget it.

Who cares!

I'll think about these things later.

Let's defeat him first!

Qing Deng himself didn't realize that as his fierce battle with Niizuma Hiroshi raged on, the corners of his mouth were slowly widening into a grin.

Qing Deng has always felt disappointed about this competition.

Thanks to Zhou Zhu and his friends' "white lie," Qing Deng had been looking forward to the competition.

I look forward to meeting some strong opponents in this competition, so that I can not only tap into my talent but also improve my swordsmanship and experience the charm of different schools of swordsmanship.

However, once the competition officially began, the opponents' poor performance caught Qing Deng completely off guard.

No matter who he faced, he could end the match with a single strike. Although it was easy, it also gave Qingdeng a feeling that there was something stuck in his chest.

But now—hiro Niizuma before him has unleashed a power sufficient to rival his own.

The formidable opponent he had been looking forward to before the match, someone he could have a good fight with, has appeared!

The boring match finally saw some changes.

The "object" stuck in Qingdeng's chest slowly slid off and disappeared.

The muscles in the limbs, which were originally stiff like stone, seemed to awaken from a slumber, becoming soft and elastic.

—I see… He habitually initiates this combo from this angle… His combo only unleashes its full power when launched from that angle…

After glancing at Niizuma Hiroshi's slashing strike, Qing Deng twirled his bamboo sword, which moved like a nimble snake, deftly striking the blade of Niizuma Hiroshi's sword and breaking through his attack.

Seeing this, Shinzaku Hiroshi quickly withdrew the bamboo sword that had been parried, then straightened his posture and this time changed to slashing the bamboo sword diagonally from the lower right to the upper left towards Aoto's chest.

—This move… when slashing out, I deliberately gripped the hilt lower to increase the attack range… The reason for using the lower right stance is to make it harder for the opponent to predict the change in attack range…

Qingdeng took a small step back, just enough to make the tip of his new wife Kuan's sword barely graz the air.

what happened? !

The smile that had just appeared on Niizuma Hiroshi's face slowly froze, and the smile gradually turned into a look of exasperated anxiety.

At first, Hiroshi Niizuma thought it was his imagination. But now, he finally had to realize—Aoto seemed to be getting more and more familiar with his moves…

No matter what moves he used, Qingdeng, who was already familiar with his moves, was able to execute exquisite defenses or dodges with increasing skill.

At the beginning of the battle, some of Niizuma Hiroshi's attacks posed a considerable threat to Aoto, repeatedly forcing him to retreat and relocate.

Now—Qingdeng's body is as if glued to the ground, flexible and stable. No matter how fiercely Xinqi Kuan attacks, Qingdeng can easily block or dodge them.

All of his moves were seen through and understood by Qing Deng... The most direct impact of this was that the balance of the battle began to tilt toward Qing Deng at a visible speed!

This is only natural – if your opponent gets used to and sees through all your moves, then it's only natural that you'll be suppressed by them.

What happened?! What happened?!