I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Before Aoto could even settle his mind, he saw Chiba Eijiro's lower bamboo sword coming at his shoulder from a completely different direction.

Both the speed of their footsteps and the speed of their blades were incredibly fast.

There's no time to marvel at Chiba Eijiro's speed any further.

Qingdeng stepped back about half a foot with his right foot, gripped the sword with both hands, and held the bamboo sword diagonally in front of him with the tip of the sword pointing diagonally to the right front of his body.

The bamboo knives collided in mid-air once again.

The instant the bamboo swords clashed, Aoto let out a muffled groan, his hands holding the swords trembled, and Chiba Eijiro's bamboo sword slid away as if on a slide, sliding to the side along the blade of Aoto's bamboo sword.

Aoto's body and hands tilted to the right. After deflecting Chiba Eijiro's attack, the bamboo sword blade swung back towards Chiba Eijiro's mask with a "whoosh".

This was Qingdeng's first counterattack in the competition.

Such a meaningful strike seemed to have been anticipated by Chiba Eijiro.

Chiba Eijiro seemed to have anticipated Aoto's counterattack, and casually leaned back to dodge Aoto's attack.

Using the momentum of his backward lean, Chiba Eijiro quickly stepped back, simultaneously pointing the tip of his knife at Aoto—

Ugh!

The tip of the knife pierced towards Qingdeng in mid-air.

Aoto was on guard against Chiba Eijiro's counterattack.

Instead of taking Chiba Eijiro's straight thrust head-on, he stepped to his right and back, causing Chiba Eijiro's blade to futilely pierce through the air.

Although Chiba Eijiro's counterattack did not hit Aoto, it had another effect—it prevented Aoto from coming to pursue him, and Chiba Eijiro, who was retreating, thus steadily widened the distance between himself and Aoto.

Chiba Eijiro stopped five steps away from Aoto, his sword stance shifting to a mid-level position, the tip of his blade swaying slightly in the style of Hokushin Itto-ryu, making it difficult for his opponent to discern his intentions.

"Huff...huff...huff...huff..." Qing Deng looked at Chiba Eijiro across from him with a solemn expression.

Even though he had only exchanged a few blows with Chiba Eijiro, Aoto already felt his breathing becoming heavy.

Chiba Eijiro's sword speed was so fast that Aoto had to hold his breath and concentrate his whole body to barely dodge or defend against Chiba Eijiro's attacks.

This immense psychological pressure and mental strain caused Qingdeng's physical strength to be depleted at several times the normal rate.

Qing Deng didn't dare blink as he carefully observed Chiba Eijiro, who had suddenly stopped attacking, trying to find a weakness in Chiba Eijiro's defenses.

However, the more carefully Qingdeng observed, the more alarmed he became.

Chiba Eijiro's sword-wielding stance was very standard—which wasn't really anything remarkable.

Anyone with a certain level of swordsmanship can master the perfect sword-wielding stance.

For example, Qing Deng had already practiced all the basic knife-holding stances until there was nothing wrong with them.

But Chiba Eijiro was different.

Chiba Eijiro's stance is more than just standard.

His posture, while technically perfect, also possessed a unique "aura".

This "aura" made Chiba Eijiro appear as an unshakeable, indestructible rock!

Suddenly, the "rock" moved.

While Aoto was observing Chiba Eijiro, Chiba Eijiro was also observing Aoto.

He lowered his eyes, glanced at Qingdeng's eyes hidden behind his mask, and then charged forward like a raging tide, attacking Qingdeng once again.

In the blink of an eye, Chiba Eijiro was already in front of Aoto. He quickly swung his bamboo sword horizontally, aiming for Aoto's neck with the intent of beheading him.

Chiba Eijiro's bamboo sword stopped just two finger-widths away from Aoto's neck—Aoto's bamboo sword moved to a defensive position in time, blocking Chiba Eijiro's sword.

Chiba Eijiro's bamboo sword was already slashing towards Aoto when the wind generated by his charge finally reached Aoto's face.

The two men held their bamboo swords together, neither giving way to the other.

"Your reaction speed is very fast..." A faint voice of praise came from behind Chiba Eijiro's mask.

Qing Deng grinned through his mask and at the two men's swords, which were locked together: "Thank you for the compliment..."

Chiba Eijiro's praise is not actually very accurate.

Qingdeng isn't actually that fast in reaction time; he hasn't yet copied any talent related to reaction speed. He just has exceptional eyesight.

The "Eagle Eye" technique, copied from Shusuke, allows Aoto to see through Chiba Eijiro's swordplay with his powerful dynamic vision, enabling him to strike first even after being caught off guard.

After offering a simple compliment to Aoto, Chiba Eijiro smiled slightly and then withdrew from the standoff where his sword hilts were clashing with Aoto's.

He nimbly leaped to the right, creating some distance, and assumed a stance for the upper right, his blade slashing straight at Qing Deng's left shoulder like a meteor.

His strike was powerful and heavy. If one were not wearing armor and had taken Chiba Eijiro's blow head-on, even if the shoulder bone did not break, the entire shoulder would be bruised.

Chiba Eijiro's attack was much faster than his previous strikes.

Qingdeng's eyes could still keep up with the speed of the sword... but his body couldn't keep up with the reaction!

Unable to dodge in time, Aoto could only grit his teeth, raise his sword, and prepare to take Chiba Eijiro's downward slash head-on.

Although Qingdeng had tried his best to raise the bamboo sword in his hand at top speed, he was still a beat too slow.

Snapped!

The dull thud of bamboo swords clashing against protective gear echoed in the spacious dojo.

Chiba Eijiro's bamboo sword struck Aoto for the first time.

If Chiba Eijiro had been wielding a real sword... then Aoto's entire right arm would probably have been severed off by now.

Seeing the stabbed Qing Deng, Okita and his group, who were watching the battle from the edge of the dojo, couldn't help but change their expressions slightly.

In a normal competition, Qing Deng, who had been stabbed in the shoulder, would have already lost, and the match between the two would have ended.

However, the fierce battle currently unfolding between Aoto and Chiba Eijiro is no ordinary contest.

This is a contest with the ultimate goal of "forcing Qingdeng to unleash his 'momentum' once again".

Therefore, their competition has only two ending conditions.

Or perhaps Qingdeng unleashed his "momentum" unconsciously once again.

Or fight until one of them is too exhausted to continue.

Despite wearing protective gear, after taking Chiba Eijiro's powerful downward strike, Aoto still felt a tingling pain in his right shoulder that made his entire right arm feel numb.

Stimulated by the pain emanating from his right shoulder, Aoto jumped back, widening the distance between himself and Chiba Eijiro. At the same time, he changed his sword stance, switching to the Kasumi stance with the tip of his sword pointed directly at Chiba Eijiro's chest.

He prepared to unleash his most powerful technique on Chiba Eijiro—the Mysterious Sword of the Natural Rishin-ryu School.

The Xia Duan stance is Qing Deng's forte.

The Mumeiken of the Tennen Rishin-ryu style is a thrusting technique performed from a mid-stance, but Seido prefers to use his most proficient Kasumi stance to deliver the Mumeiken.

Aoto held his breath and unleashed the Mumei Sword at Chiba Eijiro.

This is Qing Deng's most proficient move, executed in his most skilled stance—this move is basically the most powerful ultimate technique Qing Deng currently possesses.

However, Chiba Eijiro simply held the sword in his hand in front of him and easily parried Aoto's ultimate move.

"Didn't that hit him either...?" Qing Deng gritted his teeth, and with the bamboo sword that had been deflected by Chiba Eijiro's defense, he spun half a circle in mid-air, and then swept it fiercely towards Chiba Eijiro's chest from an extremely tricky angle.

Qing Deng's attack was also delivered with all his might.

The blade's force intertwined, like swirling clouds and a whistling wind, stirring up the air currents.

If Qing Deng's previous Wuming Sword was "good at speed," then Qing Deng's current diagonal slash is "good at power."

However, whether he was "good at speed" or "good at strength", he couldn't even touch Chiba Eijiro.

Chiba Eijiro leaned to the side, causing Aoto's bamboo sword to merely glide past the air beside him.

Then, in the next instant, something unexpected happened to Qing Deng.

Chiba Eijiro thrust his left shoulder forward, using it as a weapon to strike Aoto's body.

Caught off guard by Chiba Eijiro's "human bomb attack," Aoto had no time to defend or dodge, and his chest made very intimate contact with Chiba Eijiro's shoulder.

Chiba Eijiro's "visible impact" knocked him back two steps, causing him to lose his balance.

Oh no—this thought had barely crossed Qing Deng's mind when a scene that confirmed his exclamation immediately appeared before his eyes.

Taking advantage of Aoto's unsteady stance and the resulting opening, Chiba Eijiro made his move.

He used the classic fighting technique of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style: cutting off the hand.

Attacking the enemy's hand holding the sword... this is considered the most classic fighting tactic of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style.

When an opponent wants to inflict effective damage on you, they must aim for your head, chest, abdomen, or other vital organs. In this way, if you aim for the enemy's hand to strike, the path your sword needs to traverse will inevitably be much shorter than if you aim for your vital organs to strike the enemy. This is the principle behind the "hand-slashing technique" of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school.

Chiba Eijiro attacked Aoto's right wrist with a mid-range sword strike, but Aoto narrowly retreated, deflecting the sword to the side.

Chiba Eijiro's offensive continued. He raised his sword, adopting an upper stance, and Qing Deng's figure was completely exposed within the circle of his sword.

Because of Chiba Eijiro's fierce attack, Aoto was unable to adjust his disordered center of gravity for a long time.

Moving and dodging before his body's center of gravity was properly adjusted was too strenuous, so Qingdeng had no choice but to raise his sword to block.

When Chiba Eijiro showed the posture of about to cleave down with his bamboo sword, Seito took a deep breath, suddenly lowered the tip of his sword, and changed to a lower sword stance.

Ugh!

Ugh!

Two sounds of swords being swung rang out almost simultaneously.

At almost the same moment, Aoto and Chiba Eijiro swung their swords.

Chiba Eijiro's sword swung downwards.

Qingdeng's knife moved from bottom to top.

Their knives clashed in mid-air before passing each other.

Aoto's upward slash successfully deflected Chiba Eijiro's downward slash, preventing it from hitting Aoto's body.

But in the next instant, Chiba Eijiro delivered a new attack.

He strode forward, passing by Qing Deng. In that instant of passing, their bodies seemed to press tightly together, and Chiba Eijiro's bamboo sword swept a heavy white light across Qing Deng's side.

Chiba Eijiro's offensive is not over yet!

In the fleeting moment as the two passed each other, Chiba Yujiro pivoted on the toe of his left foot, spun around half a circle, and then swiftly swung his sword with the momentum of his turn.