Chapter 11

A remote street, with few pedestrians.

Under the black street lamp, the two stood still a few meters apart, each drawing their bamboo swords and making a starting stance.

"Please!"

Junichi gave a low drink, instantly breaking the silence; his body moved, and the bamboo sword in his hand stabbed out like a spirit snake, the sword momentum fierce, carrying a whistling wind.

Snap!

The next instant, Junichi looked down blankly at the bamboo sword that had fallen to the ground.

When?

"Do you want to try again?"

"Come again!" Junichi gritted his teeth and picked up the bamboo sword tightly.

He had just intended to hold back and test, if he had gone all out, he would definitely not have...

Snap!

The bamboo sword fell from his hand again.

After rolling a few times, it stopped right at Junichi’s feet; he was dazed for a long time, his knees gradually bent and hung down, kneeling on the ground, looking at his bamboo sword in despair.

This, how is this possible?

At the Isshin Dojo, he was the strongest of the two sessions, almost equivalent to the status of a senior brother, and sometimes even served as a teaching assistant, assisting Koshiro in teaching the younger generation of children.

If not for this.

He wouldn't have been so confident, running to Asakura Island alone to try to win the Kendo Tournament championship and revive the Sakuraba prestige.

But...

The sturdy boy opposite him was clearly two years younger than himself.

But his attainment in swordplay had reached a realm that he couldn't figure out or see through, like an insurmountable high mountain.

One move, just one move.

He was defeated completely, not even qualified to see the trajectory of the opponent's blade or parry.

At this moment.

He felt as if his self-confidence in kendo was like broken glass, cracking bit by bit.

Opposite.

Siano put away the bamboo sword, his eyes swept over, and he saw all of Junichi’s reactions.

Tsk, is doing this a bit too hurtful to him?

However, telling him the truth now, saying that he actually didn't know any swordplay, seemed even more hurtful.

Better to wait until the competition is over, and if there is a chance, explain it clearly.

"Time to go."

Siano patted his shoulder lightly as comfort, then took the lead and walked toward the inn.

On the way.

Junichi hadn't recovered from the blow for a long time, keeping his head down, while Siano was focusing on the system panel he had just opened, his eyes thoughtful.

[Name: Siano]

[Age: 13 years old]

[Height: 176cm]

[Strength: 2.2]

[Agility: 2.0]

[Stamina: 2.1]

[Spirit: 1.4]

This was the first time he checked his current panel data after ending his closed-door hard training this afternoon.

Each basic attribute had improved significantly compared to before the breakthrough.

"2.0 seems to be a key hurdle; those who can cross this hurdle are no longer like the same species compared to ordinary people on this sea."

Siano made an inference.

Not to mention the strength aspect where the gap with Junichi was the largest.

Just the muscle reaction speed and the capture speed of dynamic vision were completely not on the same level.

All the movements from Junichi’s drawing to stabbing were like slow motion in his eyes.

Frame by frame, he could find the most suitable timing at any time, press pause, turn defense into offense, and break the opponent's offensive.

In the manga, the battle between Zoro and Mihawk at the Baratie restaurant was somewhat similar to this.

Before Mihawk took out the black sword Yoru to show respect, the fight he had with Zoro using a small knife couldn't be considered a duel between swordsmen.

In Zoro’s view, it was Mihawk’s swordplay that was too superb, being able to easily defeat himself with a small knife.

But in Mihawk’s view, it was the same perspective as Siano defeating Junichi now; it had nothing to do with swordplay, just a dimensionality reduction strike by a higher-level species against ordinary humans.

It didn't matter if the small knife was replaced with a toothpick or his own finger.

The gap is too large, and one force can break ten thousand laws.

……

Siano closed the system panel and looked at the thin boy behind him who seemed to have been swept by Perona’s ghosts, pondering in his heart.

"Although Junichi has been immersed in kendo since childhood and is a bit single-celled, he is not the kind of guy who has no sense of numbers in his heart."

"He said he was going to compete for the championship, not empty words, but really had this confidence."

He could easily defeat the other party with one sword by relying on the huge gap in physique.

Then it seems that the gap with the rest of the contestants is also huge.

The East Blue is, after all, the weakest sea.

There is not even a real master swordsman left here.

No matter what dark horse emerges in this Kendo Tournament, he should be able to deal with it easily without worrying about his clumsy swordplay being exposed.

Only delaying for one day to get 5 million Berries for nothing, and being able to help Junichi by the way, is a win-win no matter how you think about it.

————

One day and two nights flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the competition.

At seven o'clock in the morning, when Junichi finished packing and walked out of the room door, he found that in the empty courtyard downstairs, there was a figure practicing.

"Three hundred, three hundred and one... eh, awake?"

Siano folded his legs together, snapped back to the ground, picked up a towel to wipe his sweat, and said with a smile, "I've prepared everything too, shall we go?"

"Hmm!" Junichi nodded hard.

From the night before yesterday to now, his mentality had gradually recovered a lot.

Especially since Siano went to the beach to practice alone at dawn every day and didn't return until twelve o'clock at night, that kind of hard work made even him look at him with admiration.

If the other party had been living like this since childhood and possessed swordplay talent, then being defeated in one move didn't seem so hard to accept.

Junichi took a deep breath, his eyes bright, looking at the huge banner faintly visible in the distance.

He couldn't compete with Mr. Siano for the championship, but today was a day he had been longing for for a long time, and he also had his own battle!

……

Asakura Island is high in the north and low in the south; the Seven Great Dojos are all in the north of the city, arranged in a line along the terrain, and the end of the convergence is the wide, crescent-shaped square in the center of the city.

At this moment, the square was already crowded with people, bustling with noise and excitement.

Nearly a hundred temporary wooden platforms were scattered, the registration office was lined with long queues, and staff wearing dojo uniforms were busy running around.

Huge banners hanging at the four corners, pale pink decorations everywhere, and cherry blossoms falling with the wind brought a rich festive atmosphere.

On the second floor of the nearby cafe, two cups of cappuccino were steaming on the table.

"Boss, that kid is here." On the right side of the round table, the tall swordsman wearing a white fox mask looked at Junichi who was following Siano into the square and said in a low voice.

"Hmm, saw it."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite was dressed luxuriously and took back his gaze after a glance.

He tapped the table with his index finger and said faintly: "That muscular guy with him looks young; what is his identity, has it been investigated?"

(End of this chapter)