Chapter 522: Chapter 353: Demonstrate Strength_2
"Strike!"
With great momentum, Kanoyama Shigeki swung his sword defensively, attempting to defend with a technique to see through the attack.
Yet, unexpectedly, this side strike was also a feint, aiming to hit the hand but actually stabbing the face.
The tip of the bamboo sword hit Kanoyama Shigeki’s face guard.
He was struck back, retreating two steps.
Effective score!
"Hand reverse face thrust!" journalist Miyata Kazuhiko immediately shouted.
Beautiful!
This counterattack was very solid.
The audience, seeing this, felt relieved, but in their excitement, suddenly burst out laughing.
They saw that one of the referees shook his flag so hard that he dropped it and was now bending down to pick it up.
Probably he was too focused on the transformation and slipped a bit.
Uesugi Sakura and the other senior brothers were sitting right behind the referee, watching these actions clearly.
The opponent, that fifth-rank uncle, seemed to have the initiative, yet did not expect to be read by Kusunoki Kubomaru, scoring a point with a reverse hand face thrust.
One could say, the uncle’s previous aggressive stance was completely undone.
...
Kanoyama Shigeki gazed through his face guard at Kusunoki Kubomaru, who was also wearing swordsmanship armor, and fell into contemplation.
The competition, difficult to win.
He frowned, beginning to ponder a strategy to defeat the enemy.
But so far, he hadn’t even seen the shadow of the opponent’s style’s moves, wanting to win... very hard.
At the referee’s signal, the two returned to their respective positions in the competition.
Just after the salute, this time Kusunoki Kubomaru did not hold back, no longer waiting.
He twisted his wrists, stamped his foot, the whole person seemed to soar, striking Kanoyama Shigeki’s face guard with a super-long flying face thrust.
The distance was so far that one could feel a noticeable pause during his brief flight.
The referee signaled, effective score.
The audience applauded heartily.
Two points.
Kanoyama Shigeki retreated a few more steps, unexpected that he lost these two points so quickly.
As the Deputy General of the team, a senior figure to many disciples, he could feel someone watching him.
This gaze represented their hope for him to win, to defeat the opponent.
This was an expectation, and it was also his goal.
Third round.
Both players re-entered the field, standing at the starting line.
With both hands gripping the handle, maintaining a middle-position stance.
Words are redundant, fully displaying one’s strength is the essence of a sword dao competition.
Kusunoki Kubomaru did not hesitate, decisively moved forward with sufficient steps, swinging the bamboo sword directly targeting the opponent’s center torso.
His speed was very quick, Kanoyama Shigeki also learning from the previous lesson, quickly retreated, without hesitation swinging back to counterattack.
A series of continuous strikes clashed.
Sword shadows swiftly passed, trajectories hard to follow, the intense clashing sounds engrossing the audience’s attention.
Pop—!
With a loud noise, the bamboo swords of both collided, tsuba pressing against tsuba, both exerting force towards each other.
Kusunoki Kubomaru seized the opportunity to laugh: "Aren’t you using your Kasumi Shinto Style techniques?"
Kanoyama Shigeki heard it, but the two quickly separated at the referee’s indication.
When they engaged again, Kanoyama Shigeki swung his bamboo sword, swiftly turning back, yelling loudly: "Hand strike!"
Kusunoki Kubomaru placed his bamboo sword diagonally, "pop", coincidentally blocking.
Retaliate, counterstrike, hit the torso, each strike one hit, without hesitation.
In the counterstrike, the bamboo swords of both dudes confronted each other again, faces close.
Kusunoki: "No, huh?"
Kanoyama: "No need, sword dao is sword dao."
Kusunoki Kubomaru laughed again: "If you don’t use them, it’ll be too late."
He rotated his wrists, turning the blade from a diagonal state to a horizontal one.
The steps stepped forward, pushing forward, both hands suddenly exerted force.
Both hands struck down, direct hit!
Being pushed away, Kanoyama steadied his lower body, unwaveringly defended, counterstriking with a backhand, simultaneously retreating, distancing himself from the opponent.
Both returned to the initial probing stage.
Both quickly reverted to a middle stance, the referee indicated, this round’s time was about to end, if over time this round will be stopped.
Kusunoki Kubomaru’s steps pressed forward, shaking the sword tip back and forth.
Applying continuous probing pressure.
Left, or right?
Sweat lingered inside Kanoyama’s face guard, a single wrong move and he would lose.
The sword tips of both kept waving up and down, positioning simultaneously back and forth, making the audience anxious.
Outsiders couldn’t see it.
But in fact, several seme from Kusunoki Kubomaru were seen through by Kanoyama.
seme (using one’s bamboo sword to disrupt the opponent’s bamboo sword in the center, thereby swaying the sword position, also seen as probing, controlling the opponent’s psychology.)
Sword dao has face strike, hand strike, belly strike, throat thrust, counterattack, and other attack methods.
Each method can also evolve into different angles.
A seme provides numerous opportunities to strike, applying pressure to the opponent from multiple aspects.
Studying sword dao requires judging which direction the opponent should strike from the seme.
If the judgment is wrong, that means losing a point.
Kanoyama, after all, is a fifth-rank player, ordinary seme cannot trouble him.
Kusunoki Kubomaru swung the sword tip right, with the center of gravity to the left.
With the shift in center of gravity, Kanoyama quickly judged, it’s the left side.
The sword tip swinging right was just a fake move, at the moment of strike, the opponent will quickly counter with a backhand.
However, at this moment.
Kusunoki Kubomaru, wielding the bamboo sword, suddenly slid forward, due to learning ancient swordsmanship regularly, Kanoyama’s body reflexively thought he was going close, retreating backward.
Just as his body moved, his mind realized something was wrong.
Kanoyama Shigeki’s pupils shrank drastically, sweat sliding down the bridge of his nose.
Oh no!
"Flaw."
Kusunoki Kubomaru did not miss this golden opportunity, with both hands rotating the sword hilt inwardly, firmly gripping, stamping his foot, his entire upper body followed swiftly out with the straight bamboo sword, simultaneously shouting loudly:
"Belly!"
Striking the armor on the abdomen, Kusunoki Kubomaru swiftly reverted his stance, maintaining Residual Heart.
The three referees raised their flags simultaneously, indicating a point, the applause from the audience thundered.
"Impressive, truly champion material."
Both competitors bowed to each other.
Kusunoki Kubomaru smiled inside the face guard: "Just luck, just luck."
"I originally thought losing to a junior would be very embarrassing, but being scored three times... Losing so disgracefully, I don’t have any reluctance."
Kanoyama shook his head saying these words, then turned and left the field.
Uesugi Sakura watched from behind the referee, paying attention but not too seriously.
He thought, as the General, after all, he’s the last position, with the brothers being so strong, having won the championship twice, he might just win lying down!
Kusunoki Kubomaru came over: "Junior Brother, it’s your turn."
"?"
Uesugi Sakura heard this untimely statement and looked sideways at his senior brothers with confusion.
"Aren’t I the General?"
"Yes."
"It was agreed, right? The General should be in the General position."
"Yes, that’s correct."
Uesugi Sakura with doubts about whether he misunderstood his senior brothers earlier: "Doesn’t it mean, as this General I’m the last one?"
"How can you think like that," Koshin Kagami said, "The General must fight the General, the second Deputy General of the opponent has left the field, and the second is the General, your Senior Brother Kusunoki saw the order secretly, we are very honest, this second position is yours, right?"
Is it possible like this?
Uesugi Sakura thought about taking it easy, but it seems... he couldn’t.
Alright, if it’s on the field, then on the field it is.
In the audience seating.
Journalist Miyata Kazuhiko was paying attention to who the second player on the Urahara Dojo’s side was, and when he clearly saw Uesugi Sakura step out, he was really surprised:
"Isn’t he the General? Why is he coming out in the second position?"
His colleague and friend Edo Tsurumi asked: "Is this very strange?"
Miyata Kazuhiko: "It is not strange for the General to play second, but he is an unknown player, regardless of skill level, shouldn’t he be kept until the end as a trump card? Because right now no one knows how strong he is, many teams don’t know how to handle him, there’s high strategic value in that."
Edo Tsurumi: "But for us, isn’t this just perfect? Both the audience and our readers want to know how strong he is, this match’s involvement gives us enough to write about."
Miyata Kazuhiko nodded: "That’s true."
...
Uesugi Sakura stood on the starting line at the referee’s signal.
The opponent is a 28-year-old fifth rank, the General of the Meguro Ward Kasumi Shinto Style team, Maehara Takeshi.
I heard, since high school, he was exceptionally formidable.
In the Jade Dragon Flag, he even fought seven alone, quite legendary indeed.
A 28-year-old at the fifth rank, and the selected General captain from the Tokyo 23 District competition.
Uesugi Sakura donned his gear, stood up from a kneeling position, holding the bamboo sword.
"You’re called Uesugi Sakura, right?"
Uesugi Sakura didn’t expect him to try and chat during the preparation phase.
"Uh, yes."
"That’s good."
Maehara Takeshi turned around, suddenly raising his hand, calling out to the referee:
"Referee, I forfeit."
The practice of sword dao inherently relies on shouting loud, his voice boomed, quickly echoing through the entire venue due to the loudspeakers.
Miyata Kazuhiko’s pen, poised to write, paused, brow furrowing:
"Did I hear that wrong, forfeit!?"