I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"The only difference is that I exercise for a little longer each day."

"If I had to give you some advice..."

Recalling and deliberating... the emotions unique to thinking appear on his face. Chiba Eijiro's face clearly says, "I'm thinking hard."

"...That must be 'Don't get stuck on things, learn to change your mindset'."

"Change your mood"—this strange phrase left everyone, including Shusuke, looking puzzled.

Noticing the change in everyone's expressions, Chiba Eijiro slowly composed himself, his face softening with a mixture of reminiscence and deliberation, and smiled calmly:

Do you know why I joined the Mito Domain seven years ago?

Faced with Chiba Eijiro's sudden question, the group of people in the dojo shook their heads blankly.

Why did Chiba Eijiro choose to serve the Mito Domain...? This is one of the great mysteries of the Edo swordsmanship world.

Given Chiba Eijiro's strength, it's a foregone conclusion that he will inherit his father Chiba Shusaku's mantle and become the second head of the Hokushin Itto-ryu main family and the second master of the Genbukan.

However, a surprising turn of events occurred—Chiba Eijiro did not inherit the vast Chiba family business. Seven years earlier, in the sixth year of the Kaei era (1853), he accepted an invitation from the Mito Domain to serve in their service.

The Chiba family's vast fortune eventually fell to the shoulders of Chiba Shusaku's third son, Chiba Michizaburo.

Five years ago, after Chiba Shusaku passed away, Chiba Michizaburo succeeded him as the second head of the Hokushin Itto-ryu main family and the second head of the Genbukan.

Because Chiba Eijiro never publicly revealed why he gave up the Chiba family business to serve the Mito Domain, this matter gradually became a major mystery in the Edo swordsmanship world.

Chiba Eijiro seemed to want to enjoy the expressions on Aoto's and the others' faces. He slowly turned his gaze, carefully examining each person's expression before breaking the silence of the dojo once again.

"The reason is not complicated—I just wanted to see some 'scenery' that I had never seen before and change my mood."

Chiba Eijiro half-closed his eyes, recalling the past.

"If I remember correctly... it was about seven and a half years ago when my swordsmanship training hit a bottleneck."

"No matter how hard I practice, I don't feel like I'm making any new progress."

"I was quite anxious at that time."

"I was afraid that my skills would stagnate. So I racked my brains thinking about how to further improve my skills."

"But the more I rack my brains, the more I feel like I'm getting deeper and deeper into a bottleneck."

“My father was still alive at that time.”

"Seeing that I was struggling with a bottleneck, he suggested to me: Try to see some 'scenery' that you've never seen before."

"Go see 'scenery' you've never seen before; experience a new and exciting life you've never had before; change your mood, and you might break through your bottleneck without even realizing it."

"At the time, I didn't really understand its meaning either..."

"I don't quite understand what Father meant by that. Does doing this really mean I can break through this bottleneck? What's the logic behind that?"

"But my father is, after all, a world-renowned great swordsman who created the Hokushin Itto-ryu style. Trusting in his strength and knowledge, I decided to try the advice he gave me and temporarily put aside my obsession with the sword."

"It was around that time that the Mito Domain extended an invitation to me to serve as an official there."

"So I accepted the invitation from the Mito Domain to see the 'officialdom scenery' that I had never seen before and to experience what it was like to be an official."

"Being an official is really not an easy job."

"When I first arrived at the Mito Domain, I was busy with all kinds of official business every day and had no time to think about swordsmanship."

"However, things changed in such a magical way—when I was too busy with official business to practice swordsmanship every day, I actually accomplished something that I had never been able to do even though I had been practicing and thinking about swordsmanship every day before."

"It must have been about six months after I joined the Mito Domain that I was hunched over my desk writing a document when a sudden inspiration struck me, and I suddenly understood several problems in my swordsmanship training that had been troubling me."

“At that time, I happened to be without a sword, so I used a pen instead of a sword. I picked up the brush in my hand and began to wield the sword according to the ‘meaning of the sword’ that I suddenly realized in my mind.”

"At that moment, I knew I had broken through the bottleneck that had bound me for so long."

"It was at that moment that I understood what my father meant when he told me to distract myself from my emotions."

Chiba Eijiro spread his palms out and made a grasping motion.

"Whether it's studying academic subjects or practicing martial arts, it's all like trying to catch water in a river."

"The harder you try to grab, the less you can hold onto the water."

"If you slow down and gently close your palm, you can actually hold a small handful of water in your palm."

"So, let's hone our skills with a more relaxed and comfortable mindset."

After Chiba Eijiro finished speaking, the dojo fell into a brief silence.

Everyone looked thoughtful, quietly digesting Chiba Eijiro's heartfelt words.

After a while, Nagakura, who had been seeking guidance from Chiba Eijiro, breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head again to Chiba Eijiro with heartfelt admiration: "Mr. Chiba, thank you for your guidance!"

The others followed Nagakura closely and bowed to Chiba Eijiro, who had selflessly taught them.

……

……

When Chiba Eijiro and Aoto finished their competition, it was almost lunchtime. So Shusuke naturally invited Chiba Eijiro to stay for lunch, and Chiba Eijiro gladly accepted.

After lunch, when everyone was full and satisfied, Chiba Eijiro said that he seemed to have stayed at the Shieikan for too long and it was time to head home. Aoto and the others tried to persuade him to stay, but Chiba Eijiro was determined to leave.

In the end, the group had no choice but to stand outside the gate of the Shieikan to see Chiba Eijiro off.

"Mr. Shusuke, thank you for the rice dumplings." Chiba Eijiro shook the large bundle he was carrying and laughed heartily. "Your rice dumplings are really delicious! Just these few dumplings alone make my trip worthwhile!"

"Hehehe." Zhou Zhu nodded with a smile. "I'm glad you like it."

"Haha, there have been quite a few unexpected surprises today." Chiba shook the cloth bag in his hand a few more times. "Not only did I eat some delicious zongzi, but I also got to know several promising juniors."

Having said that, Chiba Eijiro raised his gaze and looked at Nagakura, Saito, and the others: "You guys better do your best."

"Although your current strength is still far inferior to those of the real masters."

“But you are all very talented. It’s rare to see someone your age with this level of skill.”

"Good luck to everyone."

"As long as you concentrate on honing your martial arts skills and don't go down any evil or crooked path, given time, you will all have a great chance to be on par with me... or even surpass me."

Chiba Eijiro's unexpected words of encouragement surprised Nagakura and Saito, who were deeply grateful and expressed their thanks to him one by one.

Whether it was Aoto, Nagakura, or the others... in short, these people who were not very familiar with Chiba Eijiro before all developed a much better impression of him after today's brief interaction.

The Chiba family has truly excellent family upbringing.

Apart from Chiba Michizaburo, whom he had only met a few times in the previous swordsmanship competition, and Chiba Tamon Shiro, with whom he had a slightly unpleasant experience at the "Plum Blossom Festival" three months ago and thus had a somewhat negative impression, the Chiba family members that Aoto has met so far have all been of excellent personal qualities and have a very good impression of each other.

Despite being a renowned swordsman, Chiba Eijiro has no airs whatsoever.

Approachable and humble.

Not only did he humbly accept Nagakura and the others' request to spar, but he also shared his martial arts experience with everyone afterwards.

His willingness to selflessly share his martial arts experience alone is enough to earn him respect.

Qing Deng wasn't particularly shocked or moved by Chiba Eijiro's theory of "not getting stuck on things and learning to change your mindset."

After all, Qing Deng had heard similar stories and principles many times in his previous life, such as the famous story of "Archimedes discovering how to calculate the volume of an object".

However, this does not prevent Qingdeng from feeling respect for the man who was willing to selflessly share his knowledge with someone he had only met today.

At this moment, after giving a brief pep talk to Nagakura and the others, Chiba Eijiro slowly turned his gaze to Aoto.

As soon as Chiba Eijiro looked over, Aoto gave a helpless, bitter smile and spoke first, his tone tinged with regret:

"What a pity... Until the very end, I was unable to unleash the 'momentum' I did in the final of the sword tournament."

Aoto was quite disappointed that he couldn't unleash his "power" in his match with Chiba Eijiro just now... He couldn't ask Chiba Eijiro to help him figure out what made his "power" different from ordinary people.

"Hahaha." Chiba Eijiro laughed nonchalantly. "It's alright. There's plenty of time in the future anyway."

"Although I don't return to Edo very often now that I've taken up a post in the Mito Domain, we'll have a chance to meet again someday."

"I will be returning to the Mito Domain in a few days."

"I don't know when I'll be able to come to Edo again."

Chiba Eijiro adopted a half-joking tone.

"I hope that when I return to Edo and come to find you again, you will have reached the point where you can freely control your 'power'."

"Ha..." Qingdeng chuckled, "That's way too difficult."

“I’m not joking.” Chiba Eijiro shook his head slightly. “Tachibana-kun, I don’t know if you are aware of this… In addition to your extraordinary swordsmanship and your flexible mind that can adapt to the situation and correct your tactics in battle, you also possess a special talent that only one in a million might have.”

"With this talent, you are destined to go further and faster than anyone else."

*******

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Can any readers guess what Chiba Eijiro meant by the "special talent that only one in a million people might possess" that Aoto possesses?

The story of Volume 1 is nearing its end. After a long build-up, we're finally about to reach the final climax and face off against the boss of Volume 1. I'm a little excited!

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Chapter 165 Sanako: "I won't like Tachibana-kun" [6600]

"Huh?" Qing Deng couldn't help but tilt his head.

—A talent that might only be possessed by one in a million people… Is it possible to replicate someone else’s talent?

Qing Deng uttered this sarcastic remark to himself in a tone full of humor.

After observing Qing Deng's changing expressions, Chiba Eijiro raised his thick eyebrows above his raised eyes, and a relaxed smile appeared on his angular face.

"It seems you really don't realize this."

Chiba Eijiro slowly straightened up, his voice rising gradually as he straightened his body.