Chapter 8

Massive water pressure struck.

Uesugi Toru opened his eyes once more in the broken old thatched hut; he leaned by the door and listened for a while, and after confirming there was no movement he quietly pushed the door open.

The creak of the wooden door only traveled two or three meters before being swallowed by the heavy rain; Uesugi Toru poked his head out, and after verifying that the gassho-style houses on both sides were indeed not hanging upside-down he let out a breath of relief.

That outrageously strong ghost samurai really is mobile……

At this moment, he finally took the Walking Token from the Storage Grid and hung it at his waist.

Turning back and closing the door, Uesugi Toru narrowed his eyes and discovered that his vision was limited to about twenty or thirty meters because of the pervasive rain mist.

You have to understand that in reality, with the Hundred-Eyed Demon eyes equipped in his Hannya body, he could even see a person's face two to three hundred meters away with incomparable clarity.

So how is he supposed to dodge monsters and scavenge?

This is not good.

Edo Castle is a Four-Star Map; the little monsters wandering here are probably all above One-Star……

While thinking, Uesugi Toru stepped one foot into the sticky mud, held his breath and looked left and right; he hadn't gone far before he saw a black shadow lying across the roadside.

【11】 What thing? A corpse?

What the hell? A Corpse?

Uesugi Toru swallowed a mouthful of saliva, gripped the kitchen knife in his hand and paced forward, already prepared to go to school with eyes open.

Closer, even closer.

When the distance remaining was roughly ten meters, without any probing, Uesugi Toru — who had observed for a long time — directly smashed through the rain curtain and broke into a mad sprint, gripped the kitchen knife and executed a jumping slash.

Seize the initiative!

The sensation of the blade entering flesh was incomparably clear; the round object that rolled away to the side also proved the success of this slash.

However, no kill prompt popped up before his eyes.

"A real corpse?"

Uesugi Toru picked up the rolled-off head, examined it for two seconds then put it down, pressed his palms together and recited a prayer for the dead.

Then he began to carefully search over the corpse.

【You obtained: Kiai Technique Fragment (Mortal Grade).】

【Learn?】

As Uesugi Toru withdrew his hand, he also pulled out a book soaked through with blood and rain.

He flipped through it a little and found the pages all stuck together and impossible to pull apart; the parts that could be opened were too blurred to read the writing.

The idea of self-study was directly strangled; Uesugi Toru did not hesitate further and directly chose to learn.

【You have learned: Kiai Technique Fragment.】

【Kiai Technique Fragment (Entry Level 0/100)】

【Effect: Gather the scattered Qi of the flesh body into one place.】

【——Created by a certain Sword Saint of the Heian Period as a prerequisite for the arduous Breathing Technique cultivation; entry is relatively easy, effect relatively shallow.】

Just as he finished reading the introduction, memories related to the Kiai Technique surged into Uesugi Toru's mind.

Then he felt a condensed and undispersed Qi rise in his chest cavity, and his four limbs obviously became more powerful.

【Physique: 10→11】

Huh? Didn't it say the effect was relatively shallow?

Uesugi Toru, who was lowering his head, saw the Laughing Hannya Mask in the water surface and suddenly understood.

This "effect relatively shallow" is probably for ordinary people; but right now he is a proper, genuine Yokai, and a Hannya famed for strength at that!

This Hannya Qi — how could it be the same amount as an ordinary person's Qi!

With this harvest from roadside corpse-searching, Uesugi Toru's steps became even more powerful.

However the good scenery did not last long.

Upon seeing a black shadow by the road a second time, Uesugi Toru — wanting to repeat the same trick — was met by the black shadow striking his kitchen knife aside with one slash and decapitating him with one slash.

【You died】

……

Uesugi Toru opened his eyes baring his teeth and grimacing, clutching his neck and frantically sucking in cold air.

This time the pain sensation was much greater than last time, and the slashing sensation was still all twisted and crooked; probably because this little monster's swordsmanship hadn't been perfected.

He recalled the 【Wandering Samurai】 he had last seen atop that little monster's head and the half-star following behind it, and cursed angrily:

"Sword tendons not straight!"

Practicing sword for decades only to be one star higher than his juvenile-form Laughing Hannya — did those decades of sword go into a dog's stomach!

After speaking, Uesugi Toru rolled twice on the bed in pain again.

A few minutes later, the pain on his neck gradually faded; Uesugi Toru opened the Laughing Hannya's upgrade progress bar with a black face.

【"Laughing Hannya (Juvenile Form)" upgrading: 10%】

Tsk.

It's already been nearly eight hours and it's only 10%; wouldn't a full upgrade require waiting 80-plus hours, that is three days approaching four days?

Slow, really too slow!

This means he still has to be casually chopped to death by this kind of roadside little monster seven or eight times!

Uesugi Toru's neck started hurting just thinking about it.

This won't do; he still has to think of ways to become stronger besides sitting and waiting for the Laughing Hannya to upgrade.

Thinking this, Uesugi Toru directed his gaze at the new skill "Kiai Technique" he had harvested not long ago.

Although the Qi inside his body was quite a bit less than when he transformed into the Laughing Hannya, for him in this state it was still a force not to be underestimated.

Estimating, it should have increased his Physique attribute by about 0.5.

Uesugi Toru closed his eyes, carefully and cautiously gathered the Qi within his body, and the moment he felt all the Qi condense into a single mass, he suddenly opened his mouth:

"Drink!"

Accompanied by a loud shout, Uesugi Toru briefly felt his limbs and bones strongly stimulated, becoming extremely agile and powerful.

He looked at the proficiency of the Kiai Technique again—Entry Level (1/100).

This was probably the training method of the Kiai Technique.

But then, wouldn't he be unable to use class time to train the Kiai Technique...

Right.

Uesugi Toru remembered that Tokugawa Ririko was the president of the school's Kendo Club; if he wanted to find time and a place to practice the Kiai Technique like this, the Kendo Club dojo was undoubtedly the best choice.

By then he would learn swordsmanship and train the Kiai Technique—wasn't that killing two birds with one stone?

Decided, he would go join the Kendo Club right away.

"Dad, I'm going out."

After saying goodbye familiarly, Uesugi Toru put the Nanjo Doll and the Walking Token together into his schoolbag.

Just as he was about to walk into the school, Uesugi Toru discovered a familiar figure at the school gate.

"Ririko?"

After blurting it out subconsciously, Uesugi Toru realized their relationship didn't seem that close, so he corrected himself: "Tokugawa classmate."

"Just call me Ririko."

Leaning against the school gate, Tokugawa Ririko, with a cold expression, sighed upon seeing him: "Not bad, I've lived another day."

The girl swaying a brand-new bamboo sword pendant at her neck walked beside him, and under the curious gazes occasionally cast by surrounding students, it was Ririko who first broke the silence:

"Thank you for last night."

Ririko bowed slightly to him: "If Uesugi-kun has any requests, I will do my best to satisfy you."

Do my best.

Uesugi Toru wasn't being polite; he spoke directly: "I want to join the Kendo Club to learn swordsmanship, today."

"Okay."

Tokugawa Ririko didn't care that this request was actually quite unreasonable, but directly called the Kendo Club's instructor teacher.

After a minute of back-and-forth, the girl hung up the phone and nodded to Uesugi Toru: "Come to the Kendo Club at noon; I'll wait for you at the doorway."

Such outrageous efficiency left Uesugi Toru opening his mouth, and only after a while did he continue speaking:

"Regarding the Friendship Club..."

As if triggered by a keyword, Tokugawa Ririko suddenly stared fixedly at him.

End of Chapter