I assembled the strongest swordsman group

After being relentlessly instructed by Okita, everyone looked like they had swallowed a bitter pill.

Finally—after instructing Suzuki and the others, Okita strode up to Aoto.

“Tachibana-kun, before Kondo left, he specifically told me that you only learned a little swordsmanship from your father and did not receive formal swordsmanship training at a sword school. And when I watched your match with Suzuki-kun just now, I also found that your foundation is indeed somewhat weak.”

"Therefore, I will not teach you anything else today. I will first teach you some of the most basic training movements in swordsmanship."

"First—is Suzhen."

"The so-called 'Suzhen' is the training that Uehara-kun is currently undergoing."

Okita gestured towards Uehara, who was not far away, looking miserable and struggling to complete his "50 repetitions of standing still" practice task.

“Su Zhen looks simple, as if he is just swinging his sword at the air in front of him. But there are many points that must be paid attention to, otherwise your swordsmanship will not only fail to improve, but you will also ruin your wrist.”

"Let me demonstrate it for you first."

After saying that, Okita took two steps back and then raised the bamboo sword in his hand.

Upon hearing that Okita would give a personal demonstration, Aoto immediately opened his eyes wide and watched intently.

The instant he got into position, Okita took a deep breath, let out a loud breathing sound, and slashed a clean slash at the air in front of him.

call--!

The sharp sound of wind cutting through the air made Qingdeng feel as if his eardrums were about to be ripped apart.

Clean and efficient, without any unnecessary movements, full of momentum and power.

Due to his limited swordsmanship, Qing Deng couldn't discern the approximate level of Okita's Sujin just now, but he could tell that it was many times better than Uehara's Sujin, who was practicing not far away.

The difference between the two is roughly like the difference between a primary school student's doodle and the Mona Lisa.

"The sword isn't slashing downwards, but forwards. When you swing the sword, you must use all your strength; only then will the practice be effective..."

Okita explained Sujin's key points to Aoto one by one.

At the end of his narration, he held the knife in his right hand and put his left hand on his hip.

“I don’t think you can remember it just by saying it. Tachibana-kun, try to do a simple movement now. I’ll help you correct your movements little by little.”

"Yes!"

Qing Deng took a deep breath, then imitated Okita's earlier action, spreading his legs and raising the bamboo sword.

Just as Qing Deng raised his bamboo sword, he suddenly saw Suzuki and the others not far away looking at him with gloating expressions.

After carefully observing Suzuki and the others' "watching the show" expressions out of the corner of his eye, Qing Deng couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness on his face.

He was all too familiar with this scene.

After experiencing bad luck, people often hope to see others suffer the same misfortune.

For example, if you do terribly on a test, you might look forward to seeing others... especially your friends, also do terribly. This gives you a strange sense of satisfaction.

In his past life, when he was learning free fighting and other unarmed combat techniques outside of school, after being beaten up by his coach, Qing Deng would also look forward to seeing his other companions being beaten up as well.

—That's so realistic...

After silently complaining in his mind, Qingdeng withdrew his peripheral vision and focused his attention.

—Facing forward…unleash the full force of your slash…

In the talent list, "Sword Prodigy" shines with golden light!

The image of that "high-speed camera" resurfaced in Qing Deng's mind.

This time, the camera was showing scenes from Okita's demonstration of the sub-vibration.

Qing Deng slowly raised the knife.

Then, mimicking the scene projected in the "high-speed camera," he forcefully swung the knife in his hand!

call!

The bamboo sword slashed down.

Okita, who had been carefully observing Aoto's movements, suddenly showed surprise in his eyes, and his expression involuntarily froze slightly.

Meanwhile, Suzuki and the others, who had been secretly watching Aoto's practice with the intention of enjoying the show, stared wide-eyed at Aoto with disbelief.

"...Tachibana-kun," Okita asked tentatively, "did you really only learn a little swordsmanship from your father before, and never received any formal swordsmanship training?"

“No.” Qingdeng shook his head. “That was my first time formally practicing Suzhen. My late father never taught me how to use Suzhen correctly.”

“…Your left wrist was a bit too flipped, and your right wrist was a bit too pressed.” After looking Qing Deng up and down several times with a surprised gaze, Okita came forward and slightly adjusted the position of Qing Deng’s two wrists. “Only in this way can you avoid injuring your wrists.”

"Let me tell you a little secret to make it less likely to flip or press your wrist when performing a simple wrist movement."

"Imagine your two hands are wringing a towel. From raising the knife to swinging it, both hands must maintain a motion like wringing a towel."

"I don't know if you can understand the little secret I just mentioned. It's hard to explain to you in specific words."

"Try the simple wrist vibration again now, but this time remember not to flip or press your wrist."

"Okay." Qingdeng nodded, then straightened his stance.

—Wringing out a towel...is that...like that...?

call!

Qing Deng slashed at the air in front of him again.

As Okita watched Qing Deng unleash his second strike, a look of astonishment, even more intense than before, welled up on his cheeks.

“Hmm…” Okita looked Aoto up and down and murmured.

His mouth closed several times, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Finally—he let out a silent gasp.

"Not bad... That last strike was excellent. The movement was very precise. Keep it up."

"Now let's move on to the next stage of practice—from now on, you will stand here and concentrate on practicing the basic vibration until your arms are exhausted. I want to see roughly where your current limit is."

"Yes."

After responding loudly, Qingdeng regrouped.

At that moment—Qing Deng suddenly saw Suzuki and the others looking at him with a strange gaze that was mixed with envy and jealousy.

Because everyone's attention was focused on Qingdeng, their practice slowed down.

Okita also noticed that Suzuki and the others were not practicing attentively.

"What are you all looking at!" Okita said unhappily. "Why aren't you concentrating on your practice? Or I'll double your practice load today!"

As soon as Okita finished speaking, Suzuki and the others quickly refocused their attention and continued to concentrate on their respective practice.

However, a very few individuals continued to secretly look at Qingdeng with strange eyes.

Seeing this scene, Qingdeng couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

He could understand why Suzuki and the others were looking at him like that.

The same teacher can lead to two people being harshly reprimanded for over ten minutes, while another person is only nagged twice before receiving praise from the teacher—this "other people's child" certainly evokes extremely complex feelings.

—Sorry.

Qingdeng thought to himself.

—Being exceptionally gifted means being able to do whatever you want.

*******

*******

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[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

If someone tells you that they easily swung the bamboo sword hundreds of times on their first try, don't doubt it: they're either bragging or their practice is completely off-target; they're just randomly swinging a bamboo sword around.

The most standard Suzhen requires both body and mind to be tense, focusing all attention on wielding the sword.

You're practicing while simultaneously thinking about what to eat tonight; that's not called a proper dance...

Chapter 18 The Plump Female Ninja of Edo Legends

After concentrating his mind, Qing Deng focused intently on practicing Sujin as instructed by Okita.

As for Okita, he carried his bamboo sword and walked around the apprentices, supervising their practice.

Each time his watchful gaze swept over Qingdeng, a flicker of surprise would appear in his eyes.

—This person is amazing!

Beginners often make various small mistakes when practicing sword swings, such as swinging the sword downwards instead of forwards; or flipping or pressing the wrist while swinging the sword...

Generally speaking, it is quite normal to spend several days practicing until Su Zhen can practice without making any more mistakes.

If someone can master Su Zhen's technique to a high standard in just one day, that would be considered exceptionally talented.

And this new junior brother... actually watched him demonstrate once, then practiced it himself once, and was able to execute the Su Zhen perfectly, without a single flaw...

—This person's talent... might even surpass that of Kondo and Hijikata...

Okita uncontrollably focused nearly half of his gaze and attention on Aoto.

The handsome young man's training requirement for Qing Deng was to practice until he could no longer wield the sword, to see what Qing Deng's current limit was.

A standard strike requires you to exert maximum force with every blow, so it is extremely physically demanding.

When he swung his sword for the 32nd time, Aoto felt extreme soreness in his arm muscles and could no longer lift his arms. Therefore, he had no choice but to give up practicing and loudly informed Okita, "I can't swing anymore."

"Hmm...not bad." Okita slowly walked to Qing Deng's side, dragging his bamboo sword. "I've been silently observing you to see if your movements are up to standard."

"You did a much better job than I expected."

"Except for the last few cuts, when my form became a bit messy due to lack of stamina, every other cut was quite standard."

"I feel a little embarrassed..." Qing Deng said with a wry smile, "I only swung the knife 32 times, and I can't swing it anymore..."

—This body is so frail!

Qing Dengdi has complained about his new body countless times.

“Beginners don’t need to worry too much about the number of repetitions,” Okita smiled slightly. “The most important thing is whether the repetitions are performed correctly.”

"It's better not to practice at all than to do a thousand incorrect exercises."

"I originally intended to spend all of today teaching you how to perform the Suzhen routine."

A sense of helplessness slowly appeared on Okita's face.

"But your progress... far exceeds my expectations. There's nothing else to correct in your basic rhythm, so let's move on to the next step of practice."

"Next, I will teach you how to draw and sheathe your sword."

"Drawing and sheathing the sword are the most basic skills in swordsmanship. If you can't even draw or sheath the sword properly, then don't talk about swordsmanship."

"Take a rest for a bit now, and call me when you're ready. I'll go get you the tools for practicing drawing and sheathing your sword."

"Yes."

……

……

Qingdeng rested for a full half hour before he finally felt that the soreness in his arms had mostly subsided.

After informing Okita that he had finished resting, Okita happily ran outside the dojo and returned with two sheathed wooden swords.

"So heavy..." Upon receiving the wooden sword from Okita, Aoto couldn't help but let out a low gasp of surprise at the unexpected weight of the sword.

“This is a wooden sword specifically designed for practicing drawing and sheathing the sword,” Okita explained. “It has been specially weighted to perfectly simulate the weight of a real sword.”

Qing Deng weighed the sheathed wooden sword in his hand—in terms of weight, it was truly no different from a real sword.

“Okay, now watch me demonstrate.” Okita slung the wooden sword over his left hip. “There’s only one key point to drawing and sheathing the sword—make sure your hand takes the shortest route to touch the sword, without making any unnecessary movements.”

"look carefully."