I assembled the strongest swordsman group

"Okay! Here I come!"

Okita took a deep breath and then delivered a slightly lighter right straight punch to Aoto's chest.

Instead of immediately launching a counterattack against Okita, Qing Deng took a step to the side to avoid Okita's attack.

He is waiting.

Waiting for the best opportunity to tie Okita down in one fell swoop.

Seeing that his first punch missed, Okita quickly withdrew his fist and then threw another punch at Aoto, but Aoto dodged it again.

Judging from Okita's actions, it's easy to see that he was completely playing around. He didn't use his full strength at all.

However, perhaps because he had studied swordsmanship, Okita's positioning and attack angles were very skillful, and Aoto found it difficult to find the best opportunity to counterattack.

It wasn't until Okita threw his fifth punch that Aoto finally got his best chance to counterattack—

Just as Okita's small fist was about to strike Aoto's chest, Aoto, following the rope-catching technique from "Hara-Tachibana Kiyoto's" memory, nimbly dodged to the side. Immediately afterwards, he pulled Okita's outstretched right fist and left hand behind him, swiftly binding Okita's hands tightly with the sleeve strap.

How does it feel to be arrested by the "three-times" samurai? — This is what Aoto wanted to say to Okita in a teasing tone.

But just as he opened his mouth, a series of system voices in his head made Qing Deng freeze on the spot, as if struck by lightning.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully replicated talent: "Sword Prodigy"]

[Talent Introduction: Swordsmanship talent is amplified 50 times the average level]

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Chapter 13 A Stunning Skill (Part 1)

"This rope-catching technique is more difficult than I imagined." Okita, who had been carefully observing and feeling Aoto's movements, exclaimed in a low voice, "To actually tie the rope while controlling both hands... Hmm? Tachibana-kun? What's wrong with you? Why are you staring blankly?"

Okita looked at Aoto, who seemed to be in a daze, with a puzzled expression.

Startled by Okita's words, Aoto chuckled a few times and then said:

"I'm fine. I just noticed a strange-looking bug crawling on the wall, so I was looking for it."

"Insects? Where?"

"I couldn't find it. I must have been seeing things."

After making up a lie to fool Okita, Qing Deng quickly opened his system interface—

【Name: Tachibana Aoto】

[Currently possessed talents:]

Night vision, exceptional swordsmanship.

In the talent list, behind "Night Vision," there is now a new talent: "Sword Prodigy."

— Demonstrating rope-catching techniques to Okita… Can this really be considered as having fought Okita?

Qing Deng carefully recalled the scenes of his playful fight with Okita.

The time spent frolicking with Okita... did indeed exceed 10 seconds, reaching the "time required to copy a talent" mentioned in the system's user guide.

At this moment, Qing Deng realized with a start that the system's scope for judging "combat" seemed to be far broader than he had imagined.

He had only thought he was playing a game with Okita, but the system judged it as a fight between him and Okita.

Once you focus your attention on the talent entries in the list, a virtual screen will automatically appear that introduces the talent.

Unable to believe the system message he had just heard, Qing Deng quickly focused his attention on the entry for "Sword Prodigy".

[Sword Prodigy: Swordsmanship talent is amplified 50 times the average person]

Looking at what was written on the virtual screen, Qingdeng was first so shocked that he couldn't believe his eyes, and then joy burst out of his chest uncontrollably.

This is exactly the type of talent he craves right now!

A talent that can help him become stronger quickly.

After the initial joy, Qing Deng was filled with shock.

—This person... actually possesses such incredible talent?

He couldn't help but cast a surprised glance at Okita in front of him.

At the same moment that Aoto cast a surprised glance at Okita, he heard Kondo's loud voice coming from the dojo entrance—

"Huh? Souji, what are you doing?"

Kondo, carrying a brand-new set of swordsmanship protective gear, strode back to the dojo.

"Just now, Tachibana-kun was demonstrating their rope-catching technique to me!" Okita hopped over to Kondo and cheerfully explained the whole story to him.

After learning what had happened, Kondo raised his hand and tapped Okita on the forehead with a light tap, making a "thud" sound.

"Ouch! What's wrong?" Okita raised his handsome eyebrows.

"Hey... this rope-catching technique is really convenient... Souji, you can't fight back at all." With that, Kondo grinned mischievously and tapped Okita on the forehead again.

thump.

"Ah! You wait!" Okita flailed his hands wildly as if having an epileptic seizure, trying to free his hands that were tied behind his back. However, the knot that Aoto tied was a knot specifically for binding prisoners. Without some skill, it would be difficult to break free in a short time.

thump.

"Ow!"

After being flicked on the forehead a third time by Kondo, Okita, in his desperation, simply gave up on freeing his hands and, like a bull, opened his mouth wide, howling and nudging Kondo's lower back with his forehead.

Watching Kondo and Okita interact, Aoto couldn't help but chuckle.

“You two have a very good relationship,” he said.

"Sorry, you must have found this amusing." Kondo raised his hand and rubbed Okita's smooth forehead, which had just been hit by three "flicks to the head." "Alright, I apologize."

Seeing that Kondo had taken the initiative to admit his mistake, Okita stopped pursuing the matter and just glared at Kondo with a resentful look.

After calming Okita down, Kondo placed the protective gear he had been carrying on the ground in front of him. "Here, Aoto, try this protective gear on and see if it fits. If it does, then let's start training right away."

In his previous life, Aoto had never seen protective gear specifically for Japanese swordsmanship. Since "Haruto Aoto" had never been to a swordsmanship school, he naturally had no knowledge about wearing protective gear.

Kondo was also very considerate; seeing that Aoto was not familiar with putting on protective gear, he immediately came forward to help.

The protective gear that Kondo brought was brand new, had no unpleasant smell, and was the perfect size.

Seeing that there were no problems with the protective gear, Kondo nodded with satisfaction: "Very good! Then..."

Before Kondo could even finish speaking, a few scattered footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the dojo.

"Good morning, little master. We're here to practice our swordsmanship."

Good morning, little master.

……

Four young men, all of very young age, appeared at the entrance.

These four must be the rest of the apprentices at this sword-fighting school—Qing Deng concluded in his heart.

Kondo's next words confirmed Aoto's conjecture.

"Oh, you've come to practice swordsmanship." Kondo smiled at the four of them. "Come, let me introduce you. This is your new junior brother—Tachibana Aoto."

After briefly explaining Aoto's situation to the four people, Kondo suddenly asked Aoto:

"Tachibana-kun, you just told me that you learned a little swordsmanship from your father, right?"

“Yes.” Qingdeng nodded. “I’ve only learned a little bit.”

"Alright, I'd like to first confirm your current level so that we can teach you more effectively. You can have a simple spar with one of your senior brothers later. Don't be nervous, just treat it like a game."

Kondo's procedure of "confirming the apprentice's level" was a normal practice in the martial arts school, so Qing Deng had no objections. Moreover, he was more than happy to spar and compete with others, so he nodded without hesitation: "Okay! No problem!"

After Aoto nodded, Kondo turned to look at one of the taller students among the four apprentices who had just arrived at the sword-making school:

"Suzuki-kun, go put on your protective gear. You can have a simple spar with Tachibana-kun."

……

……

The tall guy named Suzuki put on his armor with remarkable speed and efficiency.

He and Qingdeng tucked their bamboo swords into their left waistbands, squatted on the left and right sides of the dojo respectively, bowed to each other, and then drew their bamboo swords from their left waistbands in a gesture resembling the drawing of a sword, before slowly standing up.

The above is the complete set of etiquette for sparring in the dojo.

After completing this entire set of etiquette, the competition can begin.

The one who launched the first attack was Suzuki.

"Ah ah--!"

Suzuki yelled and swung his sword at Aoto's head.

This isn't just an ordinary strange cry. His strange cry has a scientific name: "Qi He".

Simply put, it involves drawing energy into the dantian (lower abdomen) to produce a loud roar, which helps generate power and also intimidates the enemy.

Qingdeng didn't understand swordsmanship, but he did understand unarmed combat and baton techniques. These skills gave him a very solid foundation in footwork and a wealth of experience in sparring with others.

With such rich experience in sparring, there was no reason for him to be intimidated when competing against Suzuki.

Qing Dengji calmly took a step back, thus dodging Suzuki's slash.

Kondo, Okita, and the other three apprentices who had just come to practice swordsmanship with Suzuki were now sitting on the edge of the dojo, watching Aoto and Suzuki's duel intently.

Suzuki is the type who thinks "offense is just so satisfying."

He launched a relentless barrage of attacks on Qingdeng.

However, Qing Deng dodged all of his attacks with his skillful footwork.

After seeing Aoto dodge Suzuki's attack once again with his footwork, Okita lowered his voice and said to Kondo in a volume only he and Kondo could hear:

"Kondo-kun, Tachibana-kun just told me that he's skilled in hand-to-hand combat and the Ten Techniques, and he's not exaggerating. In terms of footwork, many of the veterans at our Shieikan are no match for Tachibana-kun."

Kondo didn't reply, but simply nodded silently, then continued to watch intently as Aoto and Suzuki competed.

This is a friendly competition to assess Qingdeng's current strength.

Therefore, Qing Deng knew that if he kept defending and dodging, Kondo would definitely not be satisfied. Kondo would definitely want to see how good his offensive ability was. If he didn't start attacking quickly, Kondo would definitely not call a halt to this sparring match.

Therefore, after dodging another attack from Suzuki, Qing Deng seized the opportunity when Suzuki's sword had just been swung out and had not yet been retracted, and slashed at Suzuki's head with the bamboo sword in his hand.

However, Suzuki is a good offensive player, and equally strong defensively.

He quickly took a step back, simultaneously pulling the bamboo sword in his hand into his robes, thus parrying Qing Deng's bamboo sword.

Undeterred, Qing Deng unleashed two more sword strikes.

Bang!Bang!

The sound of bamboo swords clashing rang out twice.

Suzuki neutralized both of Qing Deng's attacks.

Not only was it neutralized, but after parrying Qing Deng's last attack, Suzuki quickly stepped forward and, seizing the opportunity when Qing Deng's bamboo sword was parried and wide open, slashed heavily at Qing Deng's chest.

At that moment, the three apprentices who had come with Suzuki to learn swordsmanship all showed smiles as if they had seen something funny, and one of them even let out a low laugh.

For the three of them who had studied swordsmanship, Qing Deng's slashes were so poorly executed that it was like watching a child swinging a sword, so bad that they couldn't help but laugh.

Upon noticing the three men laughing, Okita immediately glared at them fiercely.

After being glared at by Okita, the three of them quickly stopped smiling.

As Okita used his eyes to stop the three from laughing, Kondo silently thought to himself:

—I've roughly figured out Tachibana-kun's skill level...

After watching the series of exchanges between Aoto and Suzuki, Kondo had already formulated an assessment of Aoto's strength in his mind: his footwork was decent, but his swordsmanship was only slightly better than that of an ordinary person who had never been exposed to swordsmanship.

—My swordsmanship is a bit weak, so I have to start learning from the very basics.