Female Swordsman Training Dojo

Even in a competition limited to disciples under 30, the news of someone having their head shaved would inevitably have an impact on them, and as the culprit, Harunobu would naturally be the center of attention.

But looking at it this way, they felt something was off.

It's normal for Taira Yukiko to stick close to Taira Harunobu; the two are practically husband and wife except for not having a wedding ceremony. But why is the girl from the Hosho Dojo sticking so close? Wasn't she just standing behind Taira Harunobu before?

Or……

Whether it was Harunobu's colleagues or the presiding officials and priests, they all learned about Harunobu's previous feats through various channels. However, they only knew the final result—that Harunobu had dealt with a shrine maiden who had made a contract with the Red Oni shikigami and saved his third disciple, Hosho Amu.

Is this a classic case of a hero rescuing a damsel in distress and then offering himself in return? Is it really that cliché?

No one noticed that the kitten in Harunobu's arms had an unhappy expression. Although she knew it was because she was Eta and therefore not taken seriously by these superiors, it didn't stop the kitten from being annoyed.

Just wait and see.

The competition began amidst a flurry of stares, with the host announcing the names through a megaphone.

"Number One! Aozorakan! Tennen Harushin-ryu - Communication University of China! Hirai Sachiko!"

"A showdown!"

"Number Two! Aozorakan! Tennen Seishin-ryu - First Transmission! Hosho Amu!"

"Now—the outcome!"

"I didn't expect we'd be the first ones." Amu Hosho and Sachiko walked onto the ring side by side, bowed to each other, and then kept their distance.

“Everyone knows the basics, so let’s not waste time. How about we settle this with one strike?” Hirako said, striking a pose as if she were about to unleash a lightning bolt.

Amu Hosho readily agreed and struck a sharp, fanged pose: "Indeed, you'll have to deal with that troublesome cat later."

"That's your problem," Hirako retorted. "Or are you now confident you can beat me?"

"Of course, Shi Fandai. Now I finally understand why my father always disagreed with me learning swordsmanship. It's because I accidentally broke his bone with a knife when I was a child, so he was worried that I would become possessed by swordsmanship and turn into a monster that kills people."

"However, I wouldn't do that now, because the thoughts in my head have been redirected in another direction."

Hojo Amu pointed to her head and said with a smile, "It's really thanks to that shrine maiden who tricked me out that I realized this."

Amu Hojo appeared with 1000% real power, and all her mixed thoughts were unified into the single goal of defeating Yukiko Hira. Her overflowing ambition made the judges' eyes widen in surprise.

Are you kidding me?

This aura... Is Hosho Ichijo crazy? He actually sent such a genius to another dojo?

"Master Ping, aren't you going to stop them? There might be injuries or fatalities."

Someone suggested this to Harunobu, but Harunobu simply shook his head: "They know what they're doing."

Since Harunobu had said so, no one else could interfere. However, the master craftsman of Toshogu Shrine had already prepared the spell, ready to throw it out at any time to save lives.

“I see… then I can’t hold back either.” As Hirako spoke, her voice still lingering in the same spot, she had already appeared in front of Hosho Amu.

Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire Thunder God!

Amu Hosho's pupils contracted, her body moved fluidly, and she extended her right hand, tightly gripping the katana.

No Outflow - Secret Technique - Fang Thrust - Zero Style!

Both swords were wielded with the full force of their bodies, but Hirako's sword was a horizontal slash, while Hosho Amu's sword was a thrust. Given the same material, in a clash between a point and a surface, the point was clearly superior.

But this is on the premise that the forces are aligned.

With the enhancement of Thunder Breathing, Hirako's power was far greater than Hosho Amu's, but this was still within Hosho Amu's calculations; her willpower should have allowed her to counteract this direct difference.

If she can just withstand it, the katana used in the competition won't be able to withstand such a high-intensity collision. As long as she destroys Hirayukiko's katana, she's guaranteed to win!

But things didn't go as Amu Hojo had hoped... or rather, they did at first.

Chapter 116

The Fire and Thunder God clashed head-on with the Fang Tu. Amu Hojo felt a teeth-grinding noise coming from her arm, but Yukiko Hira's sword also started to crack from the middle.

But at that moment, her mind suddenly went blank.

A thunderclap exploded in her mind, slowing her movements by a beat. In that instant, Hirako's knife had already passed hers and was pressed against her neck.

"The victory is decided!"

"The victor! Aozora-kan! Hira-yukiko!"

The host announced loudly, while Amu Hojo looked down at her hands and asked, "When did you master telekinesis?"

"When you're betrayed by a man? When he answered you last night, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning." Hirako sheathed her knife, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth; the side effects of the Fire and Thunder God technique were still a bit too much for her.

"..." Hojo Amu pursed her lips. "Then why did you continue..."

"Of course it's because he's already my only family. And if anyone's going to leave, it should be you, the one who stole the fish later, right?" Hirako said. After Asuka Eiko died, the entire Heizaburo family was arrested. It was Hirako herself who did it. They were sentenced to death for fraud, human trafficking, and colluding with Asuka Eiko. They were to be executed by firing squad at a later date.

“Even if you win this time, Shihan Dai,” Hosho Amu sheathed her sword and stood tall. “But I won’t give up.”

"You're always welcome to take on the challenge, little sister, but you should think about how to deal with that troublesome cat first."

As Hirako stepped off the stage, a smile appeared on her icy face. She brazenly pressed herself against Harunobu and whispered in his ear, "I won, Master. You have to make up for yesterday's loss today."

What else could Harunobu say?

Now that things have come to this, let's watch the kitten's game.

The author says:

Author's note: It flopped, but I still expect votes and continued reading >︿<

Chapter 112: New Year's Gift

"The victory is decided!"

"The winner! Aozorakan! Taira no Koneko!"

The gym leaders' hopes were completely dashed. The only non-Blue Sky Gym member in the semifinals, "Koma Menshin-ryu Menkyo Kaiden," who defeated Saten Yoko to advance, was defeated by Koneko.

Qingxin was not surprised to hear the system notification:

Main Quest: Dominate the Region - Completed

[Gain 1000 Diligence Points, 1 Broken Sword Monument Blueprint]

Because the Koma Menshin-ryu school is the strongest dojo in the Shitani district, and the swordsmanship taught at the Koma Dojo is the one that Koma Masaya, who obtained the Menshin-ryu style at the age of 29, is the head instructor of the Koma Dojo and the next head of the Koma family.

Therefore, all the dojos in the Shigoku district have been defeated by the disciples of the Aozora dojo in full view of everyone. Even though there are still instructors left, those instructors may think that they are no less brave than Hiraharu Nobuo. But the audience and other bystanders obviously don't care what they think.

Aozorakan is awesome!

Looking at his accumulated study points, which had already surpassed 3,000, and the blueprint he had just acquired, Harunobu began to consider whether to upgrade the gym facilities and complete the main quest first, or to try his luck with the lottery.

What if the goods are shipped out?

Harunobu, who was itching to compete, was awakened by the host's loudspeaker, and the competition between Hojo Amu and Koneko for the runner-up title began.

The whole process can be roughly described as follows:

The kitten has the advantage when it goes first.

The kitten had the upper hand.

The kitten wreaked havoc everywhere.

The kitten's decisive blow.

Congratulations to Amu Hosho for winning second place!

Hojo Amu's 1000% mental boost was still too much, while Koneko couldn't even use Steel Waltz. It was normal for her to lose to her. She knew this herself, otherwise she wouldn't have attacked first and tried to interrupt Hojo Amu's charging Fang Thrust. Unfortunately, she was still killed by the instant-cast Fang Thrust Zero.

Harunobu pinched the kitten's cheek and forced a smile: "The awards ceremony is about to begin. This expression of yours will make Master Toshogu think that we have a problem with him."

Tōshōgū Shūshō rolled his eyes and simply pushed the prepared prize money and awards next to Harunobu: "Anyway, they're all from your department, so you might as well go and present the awards."

"Really?"

"real."

"Then I won't be polite."

Harunobu then led Hirako and the others back to the ring and began giving their awards and acceptance speeches, which were all fairly standard and nothing special.

In short, Aozorakan will gain an additional 3000 + 1500 + 1000 yen in revenue, along with a magical artifact, an opportunity to have the master craftsman of Toshogu Shrine exorcise evil spirits, and a famous sword.

The ritual implements are the same as the rosary beads that the master craftsman of Toshogu Shrine gave to Harunobu, with no difference whatsoever. The famous sword is called Chidori-maru, a 1.1-meter-long katana with a white hilt and a blue hilt roll. The blade is smooth and unadorned, capable of cutting hair with a single blow—similar to Yukigiri.

Incidentally, Saten Yoko, who is among the top ten, also receives a reward; the rewards for those outside the top three are awarded privately.

As Harunobu handed the famous sword along with 1000 yen to the cat, the reporters below the stage snapped photos, and the fireworks prepared by Senso-ji Temple soared into the sky, blooming into dazzling patterns in the bright sky, contributing to the covers and headlines of newspapers and magazines in the following days.

However, we'll set aside Qingxin's matter of taking his disciples home to prepare for the New Year for now.

On New Year's Eve, it was clearly not a time to concentrate on sword practice. The disciples mostly stayed at home, and Qingkong Hall became quiet again. However, it was still much more lively than when there were only two people in Qingkong Hall.

Hirako was busy preparing food in the kitchen, while Saten Yoko was helping out, mainly keeping an eye on Hanazawa Nana to prevent her from sneaking a bite.

The kitten was leading her little brothers to inspect the various New Year decorations inside the Blue Sky Pavilion. These children, the oldest being only fifteen or sixteen, had excitement and joy on their faces as they followed the kitten from one end to the other, as if they had inexhaustible energy.

However, not all kittens follow the kittens' wild behavior. The twins quietly ran to Harunobu's side and began to fuss over him. Even though Harunobu was just lying lazily by the heater, they could find all sorts of angles to praise him for being calm, composed, and having a tranquil mind.

Then, as they were praising each other, somehow, the twins snuggled into Harunobu's arms.

The little girl, her face flushed, glanced around furtively. Before she could decide what to do next, the terrifying figure of the kitten descended upon her. Enraged to discover that her favorite spot had been stolen, and by one of her own kittens, Qingxin grabbed her by the scruff of the neck as she lunged forward.

Holding two little girls in his arms, Harunobu lay lazily on the ground and yawned.

"How relaxing!"

The kitten and the twins were cheek to cheek, nestled in Qingxin's arms, no longer able to hear what he was saying. Qingxin was just speaking casually, but in reality, he had already opened the system page.

In the end, Harunobu managed to restrain himself from drawing cards. Instead, he prepared to upgrade the dojo facilities. After all, even without considering the main quest, upgrading the dojo facilities could increase the disciples' progress speed, which was equivalent to increasing the efficiency of obtaining study points.

During this time, Qingxin had accumulated 3891 Diligence Points, which was more than enough to complete the [Main Quest: Dojo Construction], but he was still a little short of completing the challenge quest.

The training ground and main dojo are already at level two. Upgrading to level three only requires 2,000 points, but the rest of the dojo facilities are still at level one. The mission requires five level two facilities, and the challenge requires three level three facilities.

Hmm... I'd better level up Benkei Bridge to level 3 first.

Harunobu made a decision: the training ground and main dojo would be upgraded immediately, and with the remaining 1891 points, 1500 points would be used to upgrade Benkei Bridge to level three as well.

Chapter 117

Now, their efficiency bonus has reached 20%, which means that Hirako and the others can now have a maximum efficiency bonus of 110% when practicing swordsmanship.

It seems that the time for the ban to be lifted is not far off.

The third main quest, "Master and Disciple," has been unlocked. Since Hirako had previously broken through to the Arcane Mastery of Thunder Breathing quite smoothly, the requirements for this quest have now changed to Arcane Mastery 1/1 and Intermediate Mastery 1/2.

It is worth mentioning that the system's determination of disciples' levels is comprehensive, based on the total number of sword techniques they have learned from Qingxin. Naturally, the higher the level of sword technique, the greater the weight given to it.

For example, if Qingxin currently possesses two SR-level sword techniques, then when the system determines a disciple's strength level, it will primarily base its calculations on the disciple's mastery of these two sword techniques.

Therefore, Hirayukiko, who has reached Thunder Breathing: Mastery, provides Mastery +1, while Hojo Amu, whose stats show No Outer Flow: Mastery, is only counted as Intermediate Mastery. Although Koneko has reached Laurent's Mind's Eye: Intermediate Mastery, she is still lacking in other aspects, so she is still considered a First Mastery.

This serves as an explanation: even if one's advanced swordsmanship is poorly mastered, a strong enough low-level swordsmanship can still pass the assessment.

So the next key points are whether we can get Hirako to break through to Thunder Breathing: Menko Kaiden, and whether we can get Nekomi to break through to the middle stage of Thunder Breathing.

As for Ye Zi and Nana, one is an R-rank and the other an N-rank, and they are still learning the Flying Sword Style. They can't even use the Nine-Headed Dragon Flash yet, so let's not force them.

After closing the system page, Qingxin watched as the monstrous construction team arrived at lightning speed and began wielding sledgehammers. He yawned again and sat up.

Hirayukiko and Saten Yoko brought over a sumptuous meal. Hanazawa Nana dramatically collapsed to the ground, making snoring noises, seemingly having been knocked out in one blow by the One-Handed Demon Sword Princess.

"You lazy bum, hurry up and get the cutlery."

With a disdainful shout, Harunobu watched as Hanazawa Nana slowly crawled into the kitchen, then released the two large cushions, put his hands on his hips, and stood up.

The free-spirited kitten beckoned the kittens to sit at another table, and a group of people busily brought out the food they had been preparing in the kitchen all day and set it on the table, just as night fell.

The Asakusa Festival has begun, and the dazzling fireworks can be clearly seen from the Aozorakan.

"Happy New Year!"

Harunobu raised his glass of juice. "I hope you'll all take good care of me in the new year!"

"Happy New Year!"

The disciples raised their cups in unison, and the little devils of the Edo tribe shouted loudly, even drowning out the sound of the fireworks exploding.