I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

"Such a confident child is truly rare. You can call me Iwabuchi. I have a daughter who is a little younger than you and also loves skiing. At such a young age, she already possesses skills that surpass mine. Among all the children her age that I have seen, no one can rival her. I am quite looking forward to seeing if you can demonstrate skills that surpass my daughter's."

After Coach Iwabuchi finished speaking, he also started putting on his ski equipment, intending to really have a competition with Amane.

In fact, Coach Iwabuchi's initial choice was not due to Amane's provocation. On the contrary, Coach Iwabuchi thought it was a good reason. In a competition, the two of them would definitely be more convincing if they competed together. In this way, Coach Iwabuchi could test Amane's strength while protecting her at the same time.

This is much safer than simply letting Tianyin run wild on the ski slopes.

Upon hearing that Tianyin, the only student in the entire school to have chosen the advanced course, was going to compete with the ski instructors, everyone from the ski resort staff and instructors to second-year students and teachers gathered around.

The other two coaches, who were well aware of Coach Iwabuchi's abilities, appeared extremely relaxed. They had absolute trust in their colleague; if others didn't know, how could they not? Iwabuchi was a former ski athlete with extensive experience in major competitions and an exceptionally high level of skill. It was only because he had changed his surname after retiring and getting married that people felt unfamiliar with him. These two coaches even thought that if Coach Iwabuchi's real name were revealed, it wouldn't be impossible for the students to line up for autographs.

Although I haven't participated in formal competitions for many years, my foundation is still there. I might have a bit of a hard time against professional athletes, but I should be able to easily beat an ordinary high school girl, right?

"What kind of competition are we having? Snowboarding or skiing? Superspin or downhill?"

Upon hearing that Tianyin actually wanted to compete in the single-slide rock climbing contest, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

No wonder he dared to compete with her, a ski instructor; it turns out he's already a master who can complete downhill snowboarding.

If Tianyin can complete the downhill snowboarding without any mistakes, there is no doubt that he has the same level of skill as the lowest-level skier.

At this moment, Coach Iwabuchi slightly abandoned her underestimation of Amane. Why would she believe that a high school girl could do such a difficult move? Because her daughter could do it!

Iwabuchi believed that there was a group of people in this world who were called geniuses. Even as one of the top experts in the past, she dared not say that she could easily defeat these rising stars now.

"While I'd like to suggest that double skis would be safer, it's obvious you won't accept that suggestion. So, let's go with snowboarding. Downhill requires preparation and wastes time, as does super giant slalom, so let's have a parallel giant slalom snowboarding competition."

The so-called parallel giant slalom is a fairly common and relatively safe competitive event. After both sides start, they repeatedly circle the flag, and the first one to reach the finish line wins. It is a very simple and easy-to-understand competition.

"Then that's settled."

Tianyin understood the other party's thoughts, so she readily agreed to the request.

This event tests short-duration acceleration and potential physical contact. If it's a short course, it can compensate for the decline in technique and explosiveness caused by age. Older skiers are more experienced in this event.

With everyone present as witnesses, Amane and Coach Iwabuchi arrived at the starting line. Facing the snow slope bend divided by twenty-five red and blue flag gates, the two wore determined smiles.

"3, 2, 1...ready-GO!"

At the referee's signal, two figures sped down the slope.

Chapter 307: An Unexpected Name

With the referee's whistle, Amane and Coach Iwabuchi shot off from the starting line like arrows.

After rushing down the snow slope, the two began to accelerate continuously. With her excellent physical qualities, Tenon began to accelerate rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, she passed seven gates in a row. On the contrary, the more professional coach Iwabuchi was temporarily at a disadvantage.

However, Coach Iwabuchi, with his rich experience, kept close behind Amane and was not much slower than her. He even used his weight advantage to quickly adjust his center of gravity at the seventeenth gate and successfully overtook Amane during a turn.

This caused a series of exclamations, and the ski instructors on the sidelines were also commenting on the shrewdness of this move. At this point, the end of the competition was already quite close, and Coach Iwabuchi deliberately chose this moment to overtake, not only to avoid Amane's burst of speed, but also to make Amane, who was behind, feel anxious.

Even if a high school student has the most advanced skiing skills, it is impossible for him to easily defeat Iwabuchi, a former skiing champion. Experience and mindset are things that take time to accumulate and achieve.

When you see Instructor Iwabuchi's thrilling and skillful overtaking maneuvers on the curves and his deliberate blocking of Tenon's turn, even those who don't know skiing techniques can see that Tenon is at a complete disadvantage.

But just as Coach Iwabuchi was about to finish the game with only two goals left, she suddenly sensed danger. Her ears twitched, and something was hurtling straight toward her.

'That child is crazy!'

Coach Iwabuchi was suddenly struck by this extremely dangerous thought. Although parallel giant slalom, which is not very competitive, involves physical contact, it is generally impossible for such a situation to occur because the distance is too short. At most, a skier's physical condition can only allow for one sudden burst of speed before it ends. Therefore, most skiers do not focus their energy on situations where accidents may occur, but instead use all their energy for the initial burst or the final sprint.

Coach Iwabuchi devised such a tricky tactic because she saw that Amane had chosen a starting burst approach to the race, so she was very confident that as long as she blocked Amane's route around the flag gate, she would basically have a guaranteed win.

If you were to draw an analogy, it would be like two people on a straight road who need to keep making turns to reach the finish line. However, Coach Iwabuchi blocked the gap in the middle where both of them had to make a turn just before reaching the finish line. If Amane didn't want to collide, she had to slow down.

In such a short race, slowing down means defeat, but if you don't slow down, you can only rely on skillful maneuvering and dodging within the limited turning angles, which is extremely energy-consuming for a person, especially a competitor.

Amane clearly knew that even if she successfully turned past the flag every time she followed Coach Iwabuchi, she would always fall behind him, which was not the result Amane wanted.

Therefore, Tianyin chose the most dangerous but only way to break the deadlock, which was—

One reason why there is very little physical contact in skiing is that it is a speed competition. Engaging in close physical contact can easily lead to tragedy by neglecting the most crucial aspects of speed and balance. Therefore, almost no skiers engage in physical contact in competitions that allow it, and naturally, no one practices how to prevent such contact.

If you really encounter such a madman, you can only rely on improvisation to find a solution. Only a fool would gamble his entire life on a single match.

So when Amane was about to engage in physical confrontation with her, Coach Iwabuchi decisively chose to give up the chance to win the race and slowed down to avoid her, thus clearing the bend.

But to Coach Iwabuchi's surprise, Tenon's physical confrontation was just a pretense. After seizing the advantageous line, Tenon actually managed a second burst of speed, a super-fast cornering maneuver around the gate, and then drifted across the finish line.

Although Coach Iwabuchi reached the finish line three seconds later, there was no doubt that she had lost the race.

"Congratulations, you won. I didn't expect you to be so young... no, it's precisely because you're young that your last move fooled me. Sigh, it's true that the older you get, the more afraid you become."

Coach Iwabuchi finally understood Amane's tactics the moment Amane crossed the finish line.

Tianyin already possesses an extremely rare ability to perform twice in a short distance.

She possessed explosive physical strength and physical qualities, but at the beginning she deliberately pretended to be a naive and unskilled person. Then she used explosive starts to lure Coach Iwabuchi into misjudging that Amane's tactics were to win by speed. Therefore, she boldly used her experienced cornering and speed control.

Little did she know that this would lead her straight into Amane's trap. Just as Coach Iwabuchi was about to turn the tide of the battle by overtaking Amane, Amane was watching him coldly from the sidelines. She was waiting for Coach Iwabuchi's stamina to decline, and then she would secretly accelerate for the next burst of speed.

Logically speaking, skiers should be very sensitive to speed, but Amane's reckless behavior led Coach Iwabuchi to mistakenly believe that Amane was desperate to lose and wanted to engage in a physical confrontation that would result in mutual destruction. How could Coach Iwabuchi possibly choose to injure himself in such a competition? Therefore, rationality led Coach Iwabuchi to choose to back down, which was tantamount to giving up all his previous efforts.

Taking advantage of the moment when Coach Iwabuchi was absent, Tenon seized the opportunity to accelerate and cross the finish line first.

By the time Coach Iwabuchi realized he had been tricked, it was too late. This is why Amane chose to overtake at the last two flags. In such a short time, Coach Iwabuchi's brain could not think rationally. He was faced with only two options: victory or safety. With less than a second left before the collision, Coach Iwabuchi naturally chose safety.

In other words, Tenon defeated the former skiing champion through courage rather than skill.

"Not at all. Compared to you, I still have a lot to learn in terms of skills, and I have a long way to go in the future. I am very grateful to Coach Mingchuan for giving me this rare opportunity. Although it is impolite to say this, Coach Mingchuan, you used your true strength, right?"

Mingchuan.

Hearing that familiar name again after more than ten years, Coach Iwabuchi almost couldn't react. However, that name embodies glory and is what she is most proud of, a name she will never forget.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me. No wonder you deliberately provoked me. You wanted me to use all my strength as your whetstone, right? You're really a bold guy to use a world champion as a whetstone."

But I really did use all my strength, so how about that? Disappointed?

Coach Iwabuchi smiled and gently brushed the snow off Amane's body.

Her era was when she was sixteen. In that era, being able to keep up with her was the highest praise for a skier. But unfortunately, age and injuries have reduced her strength to less than one-tenth of what it was back then. Now she has been defeated by sixteen or seventeen-year-old Miyako Amane. This makes Coach Iwabuchi sigh and say that there is no shortage of geniuses in any era.

talent.

Two words have stopped 99.9% of the world's population; how heavy that burden must be.

Tianyin shook her head slightly upon hearing this.

"A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, but when it grows up it is afraid of a wolf. You have not lost to me in terms of skills and experience, but time has made you lose your courage to forge ahead."

Tenon's words left Coach Iwabuchi stunned.

It wasn't that Amane's two sentences contained any profound truths that enlightened her; on the contrary, Coach Iwabuchi had understood this principle long ago, and even knew that he had lost to courage when Amane crossed the finish line.

But to Coach Iwabuchi's utter surprise, Amane would use the saying "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, but when it grows up it is afraid of a wolf" as a metaphor.

Because she had heard this phrase twelve years ago.

It was because of this sentence that she completely gave up professional competition.

In an instant, Coach Iwabuchi's memory seemed to return to twelve years ago, when that person had also provoked her and then defeated her at the peak of her life using almost the same method. In that battle, she also lost to courage, because as a world champion, she did not want to get injured in a friendly match, but instead, she was defeated by her opponent in an extremely humiliating way.

This was the first time in her more than ten-year professional career that she had been defeated by such a large margin, and she had never even heard of the other person. In other words, an amateur skier defeated a top skier in excellent form and at her peak, and that was without the other person holding back.

That failure completely crushed her. It wasn't that she hadn't experienced failure before, but the other person's parting words, "You're old," dealt Coach Iwabuchi the heaviest blow of her life.

Every time I recall that defeat, how I kept making excuses for my failure, which led to a mental illness and ultimately forced me to leave the competition in such a sorry state, I can't help but tear up.

However, just as her vision began to blur, Tianyin's figure seemed to gradually overlap with that of the woman who had defeated her. They had the same rare white hair, and even their humble yet arrogant eyes were so similar.

"Iwabuchi-senpai, are you alright?"

When Tenon saw that Coach Iwabuchi's eyes were already filled with tears after hearing her words, she quickly asked him with concern.

Even her tone became incredibly gentle, as if she was afraid that she might actually make Coach Iwabuchi, who was more than twenty years older than her, cry. That was not her intention.

"It's nothing, I lost my composure. I was reminded of a woman who defeated me when I was at my peak. She used similar tactics to you and said the same things. Don't laugh at me, but I was really affected by her, which is why I chose to retire from the competition..."

Upon hearing that someone could actually defeat Coach Amane Iwabuchi in his prime, she couldn't help but show a shocked expression.

Because she had never heard that Coach Iwabuchi's retirement was due to a failure, and that the outside world said that she had to retire because of mental illness caused by too much pressure, she never expected that there was such an unknown secret behind it.

"Who is that person? As far as I know, there shouldn't have been any professional players in your era who could bring you such a crushing defeat, right?"

Tianyin asked curiously.

"That person wasn't a professional athlete, well... I don't know how to describe him, let's just say he's a skiing enthusiast..."

Skiing enthusiast?

Amane's expression suddenly became incredibly interesting; she even began to wonder if Coach Iwabuchi was joking with her.

Even if Amane considers herself to have some talent in sports, she wouldn't dare say she could reliably defeat Coach Iwabuchi now, let alone at her peak.

Seemingly sensing Amane's thoughts, Coach Iwabuchi gave a wry smile.

"I'm not lying to you, I really was defeated by a skiing enthusiast, otherwise I wouldn't have lost my confidence. I still can't forget that person's name, Kiryuin Marina. But strangely, I've never seen that name in any official competition. It's a pity that she has such great talent but doesn't participate in competitions. But everyone has the right to choose their own life, and we can't force them... Miyako-san, what's wrong?"

Coach Iwabuchi, seeing Amane standing there in a daze, waved his hand in front of Amane in confusion.

This name really isn't anything special, is it?

After the match, Coach Iwabuchi went on a frantic search for the woman, hoping to avenge his defeat, but to no avail. He even began to suspect that the name was a pseudonym.

However, what Coach Iwabuchi didn't know was that this name was her real name, and it was truly her real name. No matter how strong Amane's mental fortitude was, hearing her mother's name in this place was still a bit hard for Amane to accept for a moment. Although she was a top-tier human woman who could hunt bears with just a knife, wasn't her mother going a bit overboard?

If Amane remembers correctly, Marina was also Kaede's kendo teacher...

Despite the fact that Kaede's kendo skills were so bad that she was always defeated by Amane in one move, who would then teach her a lesson by whipping her buttocks with a wooden sword...

However, Maple's moves are indeed quite remarkable.

As expected, Maple Flower is the one who's bad at cooking.

Just as Amane came to her senses and was about to have a good chat with Coach Iwabuchi about the details of Marina's match with her, she heard a familiar voice coming from the snow slope.

"Hey! Looks like I've come at the perfect time. Skiing is definitely something I can't miss! Miyako Amane! Come on, let's have a showdown!"

Tianyin blinked.

"I think I just hallucinated Maple's voice. Hmm, did I eat too much at noon?"

Seeing that Amane didn't respond to her challenge at all, Kaede got angry and bent down to pick up a snowball and threw it at Amane. Because Coach Iwabuchi was right next to her and Amane was afraid that he would be accidentally hurt, she chose to stand still and catch the snowball with her face.

"Yay! I knew my pitching technique was the best in the world!"

Before the maple blossoms could finish showing off, a puddle of snow flew right in front of their faces and knocked them to the ground.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Tianyin, who was standing at the bottom of the snow slope, dozens of meters high, in a throwing stance.

Someone who can throw a snowball at high speed for dozens of meters before it explodes in front of the opponent due to the enormous impact is definitely someone you shouldn't mess with in a snowball fight.

However, compared to throwing a snowball, many people imagined how terrifying the destructive power would be if Tianyin threw a lead bullet or some other steel ball.

Many people imagined what would happen to them if they were hit on the head by a lead bullet thrown by Tianyin... and couldn't help but shudder.

Just as everyone was still marveling at the power of Tianyin's snowball, Tianyin appeared before them with her face still covered in snow stains.

"If I remember correctly, third-year students aren't eligible to participate in educational trips. Kaede, you didn't run away, did you?"

Chapter 308: Intrigue and Schemes

Upon hearing that Kaede was actually a third-year student, a large number of people immediately gathered around, even alarming Majima-sensei, who was in charge of leading the group.

According to tradition, the A-class homeroom teacher should lead the team when they go out to participate in various special exams. Chashu has also led teams in some special exams before. However, this educational trip is of extraordinary significance and is the largest and longest educational trip in the history of the school.

Concerned that Ms. Chabashira's lack of experience might lead to mishandling of certain aspects, the school appointed Ms. Majima from Class B to lead the educational trip.

"Ouch... I didn't run away! I got permission! Ouch, Arisu! Why did you hit me?"

Before Fenghua could even stand up and show off in front of Tianyin, she was gently tapped on the head by Youxi with her cane.

"Approval? Where did you get approval from? The student council doesn't approve any outing requests unless it's an emergency. When Majima-sensei led us away, we didn't see you, which means you weren't with us at all. You yourself said you got approval, so obviously you submitted an application to someone... Tell me, who did you apply to, and who approved your outing?"

Before Mashima-sensei could speak, Arisu took over the direction of the conversation. At this moment, Kaede suddenly realized that Arisu's intention was to exonerate her.

If Ms. Majima speaks up, regardless of whether Kaede has received approval or not, she will be reprimanded and ordered to return to school.

The reason is simple. On the one hand, the third-grade final exam is in a week, and it is the last final exam. Unless it is an emergency, if it is just a trip, even if someone has permission, the teacher in charge has the right to refuse to accept this student who is not in accordance with the regulations.

On the other hand, if you want to participate in the educational trip, you should first submit an application to Ms. Majima or the student council. Even if they disagree, this is a necessary procedure. Whether in school or in society, the most taboo thing is to do something beyond your grade level. Even if Ms. Majima and Arisu are not people who care about this, this rule cannot be easily ignored or transgressed.

So Arisu cleverly handed over the power of interpretation to Kaede, so that Majima-sensei only needed to decide whether or not to give face to the person who agreed to Kaede's educational trip to Hokkaido.

They would subconsciously overlook the most taboo thing: reporting to a higher level without authorization.

After understanding each other, Maple revealed the name of the person who had agreed to let her teach the traveler.