I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

On the field—

His cardiopulmonary function is stronger than that of the average person... In Qingdeng's personal opinion, this should be the most useful talent he has replicated today.

Good cardiopulmonary function is very useful both in martial arts and in daily life.

Cardiopulmonary function refers to the body's ability to pump blood and inhale oxygen.

The human body relies on oxygen to burn stored energy and convert it into heat energy to power normal bodily functions. Oxygen is inhaled through the lungs, so lung capacity and frequency are important; the heart is responsible for delivering oxygen to various organs and parts of the body through the circulatory system, so the strength of the heartbeat affects blood flow.

In martial arts, cardiopulmonary function is linked to physical strength.

In daily life, good cardiopulmonary function means strong physical resistance, which greatly reduces the incidence of many diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases.

He had finally acquired a powerful and useful talent... but Qing Deng didn't have the time to savor this joy right now.

He vigorously swung his bamboo sword as he slowly rose, his face expressionless as he gazed at Chiba Michizaburo, who was still locked in combat with Souji and the others not far away.

The "Red and White Battle" is a competition that is not over until the commander-in-chief is defeated.

Chiba Michizaburo, wearing the ceremonial haori of a supreme commander, still had the porcelain bowl on his forehead intact... so the battle between Aoto and the others was not yet over!

In the end, Souji and his team perfectly accomplished their mission of "holding off Chiba Michizaburo".

Since the start of the battle, Chiba Michizaburo has been constantly entangled by Souji and his group.

While successfully holding off Chiba Michizaburo, Souji and his men were all unharmed, with not a single one of their bowls broken.

Moreover, judging from the expressions of the commander and the others, they still have enough energy left.

--strangeness……

At this moment, Qingdeng felt something was amiss for no apparent reason.

—Did Souji and the others have it too easy...?

Although Qing Deng had met Chiba Michizaburo several times before, he had never had the chance to see him fight.

Regarding Chiba Michizaburo's strength, Aoto only knew that he was very strong... but he had no idea exactly how strong he was.

Is Chiba Michizaburo's strength truly that great? Or is it...?

As this question arose in Qing Deng's mind, he subconsciously looked up at the expressions of Souji and the others—he was surprised to find that Souji and the others all had varying degrees of confusion and solemnity on their faces.

Aoto was unaware that, as the one who directly confronted Chiba Michizaburo, Souji and the others had long sensed a... strange unease.

To put it in more detail... Souji and the others felt that their battles with Chiba Michizaburo so far had been like fighting cotton—no matter how much force they used to hit the cotton, it would remain intact and return to its original shape due to its soft elasticity.

Souji and his men held nothing back, fighting Chiba Michizaburo with all their might.

No matter how they attacked, they couldn't inflict even the slightest effective damage on Chiba Michizaburo...

While Aoto and Souji were still secretly puzzled—

"……pretty"

Chiba Dozaburo, who was standing with his left hand holding the wakizashi hanging down naturally and his right hand holding the katana casually slung over his shoulder, scanned the faces of Aoto and the others in a clockwise direction.

His gaze swept over everyone else quickly, but lingered longest on Aoto and Souji's faces.

"Everyone except me, including Shiro, was wiped out... To be honest, this result was really beyond my expectations."

“I’m starting to understand what my father and uncle meant when they used to say ‘the younger generation is to be feared.’”

At this point, Chiba Dosaburo gave Aoto and the others a faint smile.

It was not a sarcastic or mocking remark.

It was a pure smile of appreciation.

"Hey." Hijikata picked up where Chiba Michizaburo left off in a teasing tone, "You're only 25 this year, right? Why are you talking like an old man who's about to die?"

"Please forgive me. I was a little sentimental without realizing it." Chiba Michizaburo slowly lowered the katana slung over his right shoulder. "It was a truly delightful day."

At that moment, Chiba Michizaburo's smile changed.

The appreciative smile turned into a radiant smile, as if she had thought of something happy.

"My blood is boiling... Come on, let the battle continue!"

The moment Chiba Michizaburo uttered that shout... the atmosphere suddenly changed!

In that instant, Qing Deng and the others felt as if a huge monster was pressing down on them like an overwhelming force!

An overwhelming and oppressive aura emanated from Chiba Michizaburo!

Qing Deng... no, it was Qing Deng and the others on the field, as well as some of the spectators in the "audience seats," whose pupils involuntarily contracted sharply.

As for those who have no knowledge of martial arts... such as the Okita couple, Kyubei and others, although they could not keenly sense the aura emanating from Chiba Dosaburo, they could notice that the atmosphere in the arena had suddenly changed.

In an instant, the expressions of Qing Deng, Souji, and the others on the field became extremely solemn.

The powerful aura emanating from Chiba Dosaburo at this moment was something that Qing Deng and the others knew perfectly well.

It's about "momentum"!

In the stands, Kiryu, calmly gazing at the distant arena, murmured softly, "The match has officially begun..."

At this moment, Chiba Michizaburo took a deep breath and then quietly sheathed his sword.

With his left hand lowered to hold the lower section of the wakizashi, and his right hand raised to hold the upper section of the katana… Chiba Michizaburo, assuming this strange stance, said with a half-smile:

"Hokushin Two-Sword Style, Chiba Michizaburo."

"It's on!!"

*Smack!*

Chiba Michizaburo's hind legs slashed at the ground as he pounced on Aoto like a predatory beast!

As Qing Deng's vision went dark for a moment due to blinking, a katana that filled his entire field of vision swept across!

Qing Deng's pupils contracted sharply, and driven by muscle memory and physical instinct, he quickly raised his sword to defend himself.

Snapped--!

The bamboo swords rubbed against each other, producing a sharp noise that seemed to tear the blades apart and the eardrums apart.

—What incredible strength!

Aoto, separated by the two swords held together, gave Chiba Michizaburo a surprised look.

He held the sword with both hands, while Chiba Michizaburo held it with one arm. As a result, he was unable to gain any advantage over Chiba Michizaburo in terms of strength!

For every bit of effort Chiba Michizaburo exerted, Chiba Michizaburo would immediately counter with equal force... The two were locked in a stalemate, neither able to overpower the other in terms of strength.

"Tachibana-kun! Watch out for his other sword!"

The commander's loud reminder came from his right side.

The commander's reminder was actually unnecessary.

Because Qingdeng had already spotted it—a short, narrow black shadow was suddenly attacking his waist from the corner of his field of vision!

It's Chiba Michizaburo's left-hand wakizashi!

Sensing the approaching danger, Qing Deng quickly dodged to the left, moving with his sword to Chiba Dosaburo's right side, thus withdrawing from the struggle.

A cold, bamboo wakizashi brushed past his lower abdomen.

Chiba Dosaburo's surprise attack was so close to his body that Aoto could clearly feel the presence of the wakizashi shinkasa on his abdomen.

At this moment, Qing Deng belatedly realized that this seemed to be the first time he had fought against a swordsman who used two swords.

Chiba Michizaburo is a swordsman who can multitask and achieve the effect of "double attack" on his own—this information about Chiba Michizaburo, which he had heard before, flashed through Aoto's mind as if it had its own consciousness.

Just then, the commander and his men arrived.

Souji, Kondo, Hijikata, and Inoue approached Chiba Michizaburo from behind from four directions.

Chiba Dosaburo turned his head slightly, glanced quickly at the positions of Souji and the others out of the corner of his eye, and then his tall body began to spin rapidly like a windmill!

The torso is the axis of the "windmill," and the two swords held in the hands are the blades of the "windmill."

Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff...

The two bamboo swords, constantly being swung, stirred up gusts of wind.

Sometimes the two swords slashed in the same direction, and sometimes they separated and unleashed fierce strikes in different directions.

The "windmill" spun faster and faster... making it impossible to get close.

Aoto, who had intended to rush forward and join forces with Souji and the others to launch a pincer attack on Chiba Michisaburo, could only look on in despair at the "windmill" whose rotation speed and potential energy could only be described as terrifying. He had no choice but to retreat rapidly like Souji and the others, widening the distance between himself and Chiba Michisaburo to avoid being caught in the "windmill's" "blades".

The "windmill" spun a full 10 times before finally stopping.

At this moment, Qing Deng and the others surrounded Chiba Michizaburo in a formation resembling a five-pointed star.

At this moment, Qing Deng and the others all stared at Chiba Michizaburo, who was surrounded by them, with expressions and eyes that were extremely serious and solemn.

Aoto, who had just joined the battle against Chiba Dosaburo, might not be aware of it, but Souji and Kondo saw it quite clearly—compared to when the four of them were desperately holding him back, Chiba Dosaburo's sword speed and power had been greatly enhanced!

"You bastard..." The hot-tempered Hijikata shouted with a stern face, "Weren't you using your real skills to fight us the whole time?"

"No."

Chiba Michizaburo gently shook his head.

"I had a tough time playing just now too."

"It took me a lot of effort to barely hold off the attack from the four of you."

"But things are different now—I won't hold back anymore."

Chiba Michizaburo rearranged his peculiar stance, holding his wakizashi in the lower position with his left hand and his katana in the upper position with his right, his eyes gleaming with an intense desire for battle.

"Even if I were to take on all five of you by myself, I wouldn't dare to be so arrogant."

"I will do everything in my power... to crush you!"

A powerful fighting spirit, accompanied by a surging "momentum," burst forth from Chiba Michizaburo!

"I see..."

Despite the overwhelming pressure from the powerful aura, Qing Deng calmly prepared to rest his sword.

He smiled.

An unpretentious smile.