In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

The human body has four scoring areas: face, throat, abdomen, and hands. Hitting other areas is a foul.

It's not enough to strike the target location with a bamboo sword; you must also shout out the location you struck. This combination of actions has a professional term: "ki-ga".

Ancient texts in Eastern martial arts record that when one makes a sound, one's breath becomes focused, and one's strength naturally flows freely. The sound must originate from the dantian (lower abdomen). When one's movements are powerful, it is because the breath flows smoothly and in harmony, one's courage increases, and one's enemy's morale is greatly diminished!

Gen Chiya guessed that the concept of "ki" in swordsmanship might be based on a similar principle.

However, once the bamboo sword strikes the opponent and completes the Ki-A (energy combination), one must not be careless. One must quickly widen the distance, adjust the posture, and prevent the opponent from counterattacking. This set of movements also has a professional term: "Zanshin" (残心).

Just as the literal meaning suggests, it means to leave room for maneuver and to remain vigilant after each action, without letting your guard down in the slightest. This is the fighting spirit that is emphasized in the path of Kendo.

Although the rules were a bit complicated, Yuan Qianye got used to them quickly after understanding them.

It's simply a matter of hitting someone, yelling out, and then dodging away; it's easy to remember.

All three referees on the field raised the red flag without exception, awarding the point to the red team!

The strikes were powerful, the energy was full, and the mind was sharp. It was a perfect and beautiful routine, and the score was undisputed!

"Great!"

Rikka in the audience was overjoyed.

Shihua seemed very calm, but she was actually a little relieved inside.

After Yang Nai, who had noticed her thoughts, gently tapped her shoulder and teased her, she returned the tap without backing down.

Eriri kept snapping photos with her camera in hand!

Yukino stared intently at the figure on the field who had returned to the starting line and was now crouching down.

She thought she had learned a lot in the past few months in the UK and had made great progress.

But now, looking at Yuan Qianye again, she realizes how insignificant her progress during her time as an international student was.

Even after she left, he didn't slack off; he continued to strive and move forward, even... growing at a speed far exceeding her expectations. Gradually, she could only see his back as he left...

In the second match, Yuan Qianye countered with a defensive strategy. When his opponent charged at him, he dodged to the side and then swung his sword directly at the opponent's hand. Because of the great force, the opponent's bamboo sword was even knocked to the ground!

Without a doubt, the referee raised the red flag again, and the redhead scored again!

The first match of the Kawalan Kendo Club has ended, and they won quite easily.

As Yuan Qianye left the field, her teammates surrounded her in celebration!

Saeko Busujima, standing outside the circle, watched them and laughed. It was too early to celebrate, but she didn't say anything to stop them.

Yuan Qianye glanced at the audience and saw his "wife's support army," raising his right hand and waving at them!

Rikka and Eriri excitedly raised their hands in response!

Seeing that her younger sister wasn't very enthusiastic, Yang Nai seemed to understand something: "There are many geniuses in this world. If you keep forcing yourself to compete with them, you'll really live a very tiring life."

Haruno wasn't sure if Yukino had listened to her advice, but after Yukino left the table with Eriri and returned, her expression was indeed much better.

As for Chuanlan, after the first game, they made great strides and never lost again!

The main reason is that in the matches that followed, Saeko Busujima went first as the vanguard, followed closely by Chiya Minamoto.

The best-of-three format meant that after they swept their opponents like butter, there was no chance for a third game to begin!

Yusuke Ushiyama had no complaints about this, only some regret.

He shouldn't have tried to be brave in the first place; why did he have to put on that act?

Otherwise, he might have managed to achieve an undefeated record in this major competition... without even having to play.

Perhaps unsuspecting onlookers will even think they're the grand finale or something...

The situation at Chuanlan quickly attracted the attention of the audience and reporters present.

The reason is simple: the Kendo players from the Chuanlan Kendo Club have superb Kendo skills, and the competition is a pleasure to watch.

Then there are the two contestants who have been appearing on stage all along: the young man is handsome and sunny, and the young woman is beautiful and dashing!

These two sit on the sidelines like idol stars when they're not playing, but once they step onto the field, they completely transform into fierce tigers, using extremely cruel methods!

From beginning to end, no opponent ever lasted more than three moves against them; almost all of them were defeated in a single exchange!

This has created a very peculiar landscape.

The other groups of players were still exchanging blows and countering each other's moves, having a great time sparring with each other.

Their match was already over and the winner was decided. They hadn't even broken a sweat and were just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the next match to begin.

Inside the stadium, there is a huge broadcast display screen, which originally displayed live game footage.

But at some point, the large screen began to project the faces of Chiya Minamoto and Saeko Busujima as they rested very frequently.

Eriri was quite happy at first, and kept pointing at the big screen to signal Yukino that Chiya was on the big screen!

She's simple-minded, and she'll happily join in the fun when Yuan Qianye becomes famous and in the limelight!

But soon, Eriri noticed that the atmosphere on the scene was starting to get strange.

At the arena where the Kendo Club was located, a group of girls suddenly gathered! A large, beautiful group of them were taking pictures of her and Yukino's childhood friend with their phones!

What are these guys doing?!

And the competition organizers! Didn't they clearly state before the competition started that unrelated personnel were prohibited from entering the competition venue and interfering with the participants?

Where are the referees?! Where are the on-site staff?! Quickly restore order!

Eriri was extremely dissatisfied! Her upper and lower rows of small teeth were clenched tightly, revealing her fangs! She looked incredibly fierce! But all she could do was rage helplessly, there was nothing she could do!

Fortunately, the Kendo Club's accompanying advisor noticed something was wrong and realized that continuing like this would disturb their students' rest and affect their performance later on. So, he took the initiative to contact the gym's management and sent all the girls back to the audience seats.

"It should have been like this a long time ago..." Eriri pouted, still looking a little unhappy.

Because those girls who were kicked out started cheering for Yuan Qianye after that.

This trend is spreading, attracting even more reckless individuals who suddenly shout out something like, "Kawalan's Gen-kun, I want to have your babies!"—such nonsensical and shameless nonsense!

Pah! Qianye won't pay any attention to you! You should go have your own baby with a monkey!

Eriri's sullen expression did nothing to quell the increasingly chaotic atmosphere at the competition venue; in fact, it made her companions, Toka and Haruno, extremely amused.

Both of them were very perceptive, and Eriri's possessiveness towards her food was so obvious that it was hard not to notice.

However, neither of them intended to point it out; they both suppressed their laughter, occasionally exchanging glances before finally managing to chuckle!

This was one of the few pleasant things to do during the boring time of waiting for Gen Chiya to take the stage.

Apart from Sichuan Blue, the competitions at other schools were all very intense.

They didn't stop at noon, and it wasn't until after 2 pm that the top eight teams were finally decided.

Logically, the teams that have passed through layers of selection should all be strong teams, and from an entertainment perspective, the upcoming matches should be even more exciting.

However, Chiya Minamoto and Saeko Busujima continued their unstoppable momentum, showing no signs of pressure and easily advancing to the semifinals.

Saeko Busujima was alright. Although many young men were captivated by her figure, men are naturally more reserved and restrained when it comes to emotions. No matter how much they liked her, they were unlikely to make any overly flamboyant moves. The fact that they applauded her victory so enthusiastically was already a great honor!

But things were completely different when it came to Yuan Qianye. Ever since the girls at the scene discovered him as a handsome young man, his every move at the competition site caused quite a stir.

The moment he defeated his opponent on the field, the entire stadium erupted! The girls cheered and applauded incessantly! The noise made it seem like a celebrity concert rather than a kendo competition!

In the audience, Haruno noticed that her younger sister's expression seemed to be shifting towards Eriri's at this moment.

She chuckled inwardly, just as she was thinking of poking Shihua's side to signal her to sneak a peek.

She suddenly noticed... that Toka's expression had also turned gloomy at some point!

Huh? No...

Shihua, as the older sister, you shouldn't be like this...

He's such a fan of adopted brothers (not related by blood)...

Yang felt she had discovered something terrible, but her subconscious told her it was best not to use this kind of thing to amuse herself, otherwise she felt there was a risk of ending their friendship.

After reaching the semifinals, the next two matches were also without any suspense.

Thanks to the hard work and efforts of Saeko Busujima and Chiya Minamoto, the Kawara Kendo Club won first place without any major incident! They became the champions of the Tokyo region of the National Junior High School Kendo Championship!

The awards ceremony was held after the finals.

Saeko Busujima and Chiya Minamoto were gathered in the middle by the other kendo club members, and went up to the podium to receive the team honor certificate presented by the kendo president.

Several bold girls also squeezed in, giving him bouquets of flowers and teddy bears.

"How do you feel about today's match?"

After stepping down from the podium, on her way to the lounge, Saeko Busujima asked Chiya with a smile.

Yuan Qianye shook his head, not because he didn't know how to say it, but because he really didn't have any particular thoughts.

Having spent so much time with the kendo genius Saeko Busujima, training with opponents of her caliber every day, his skill level rose so high that he naturally began to think that competitions were nothing special.

Kendo is a competitive sport. He competed all day, but he barely broke a sweat, which shows how intense the competition was for him.

Saeko Busujima understood what he meant: "The national finals bring together the top kendo players from all regions. Only those who have both talent and hard work can reach that stage. It won't be as easy as it is today."

Yuan Qianye nodded slightly after hearing her words: "That would be good, otherwise the so-called competition would be too boring."

Saeko Busujima looked at him and laughed: "Gen-kun is the same kind of person as me."

"Ok?"

"That is, focus on enjoying the process of the game, rather than being so concerned about the final result."

Yuan Qianye smiled along with her.

The two of them slipped away immediately after the awards ceremony ended.

However, the other kendo club members who were traveling with them, as well as the advisor, seemed quite interested in the reporters who swarmed around them.

However, the desire for fame and fortune is human nature and understandable.

"The kendo club is having a celebration party tonight, Gen-kun, would you like to come?"

Even a partial victory is still a victory, and it certainly has something to celebrate.

"I have plans with family and friends tonight, so I won't be showing up."

"I see..." Saeko Busujima nodded to indicate that she understood, silently planning that if he didn't go, she would also refuse on the grounds that she was tired from the just-finished competition.