Volume 1: Re:Zero -Starting Life as a Samurai Chapter 48: Itagaki! Come on! (Part 1)
This time, unlike before, there was no Sato Magoro who was eager to go on stage.
After several seconds, a tall and thin man walked up to the dojo . He picked up the wooden sword that Hirano and Sato had used and dropped to the ground when they fainted. He said:
"Shimada Sangoro, here you go!"
Ogata looked at the wooden sword in Shimada Sangoro's hand.
"Would you like to switch to a wooden sword?"
"This wooden sword is not broken, why do we need to change it?" Shimada Sangoro raised his eyebrows, looking puzzled.
"I'm just worried that after you lose to me, you will blame the wooden sword in your hand."
Ogata shrugged.
"You know, there are always some people who don't know what 'shame' is. After losing to others, they always like to find all kinds of excuses for their loss."
"The wooden sword is innocent. After losing to me, please don't make excuses for yourself like 'my wooden sword is heavier than Ogata's', 'the center of gravity of my wooden sword is completely wrong', 'this wooden sword is cursed, so everyone who uses it loses'."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Shimada Sangoro roared:
"You bastard! Stop being so arrogant!!"
"I'm just stating a fact." Ogata said nonchalantly.
"Humph! After I defeat you, I'll see if you can still be so arrogant!"
Shimada Sangoro raised the wooden sword in his hand and assumed a mid-fighting stance.
At almost the same time, Ogata and Shimada Sangoro raised their swords and got ready.
The moment both of them were ready, Shimada Sangoro suddenly took a step forward, let out a terrifying roar, and launched a fierce attack on Ogata.
In the two battles just now, Shimada Sangoro had already seen that Ogata's sword speed was very fast. If foolishly waited for Ogata to attack, he would only fall into a disadvantage.
Therefore, Shimada Sangoro decided to use a completely different strategy from that used by Hirano and Sato in the previous two rounds - after the battle began, he launched a fierce attack on Ogata, leaving him no chance to breathe.
Sangoro Shimada was actually gambling.
Ogata is not good at defending or dodging.
It’s a pity that Sangoro Shimada made the wrong bet.
…
…
——It’s so slow.
Looking at the wooden sword in Shimada Sangoro's hand that kept attacking various parts of his body, Ogata silently lamented Shimada Sangoro's slow speed.
In the eyes of others, Shimada Sangoro's sword speed might be very fast, so fast that only a little afterimage could be seen.
But in Ogata's eyes, Shimada Sangoro's series of actions were no different from slow motion.
Some time has passed since I arrived in the Edo period.
During this period of time, Ogata has fought countless battles with others.
After so many competitions, Ogata realized one thing - people who are agile enough and have quick reactions can really gain the upper hand in a fight.
Sufficient agility + quick enough reaction speed = the ability to dodge so that every attack of the enemy will miss.
The increase in agility can make Ogata's sword speed faster.
The increased sword speed allows Ogata's sword to hit the enemy quickly, and the enemy will not realize that Ogata has drawn his sword until he is hit.
Therefore, being agile enough also means having super strong attack power.
Ogata's agility and reflexes have both reached 8 points.
Although Ogata didn't know what level he was at in Japan with his current numbers, it was more than enough to deal with someone like Shimada Sangoro.
Ogata could see clearly with his eyes the path of every attack made by Shimada Sangoro.
Ogata's feet were quick and well-timed to dodge every attack from Shimada Sangoro.
The winner has been decided.
After dodging more than a dozen slashes from Shimada Sangoro in one breath, Ogata took advantage of the gap when Shimada paused his attack and adjusted his breathing, and aimed directly at Shimada Sangoro's chest and performed the bird thorn.
Although Sangoro Shimada, who was stabbed to the ground, did not faint directly like Hirano and Sato in the previous two rounds, his blood was boiling and he temporarily lost his fighting ability.
After stabbing Shimada Sangoro to the ground, Ogata still did not listen to the system voice in his mind. He turned his head and looked at the people at the edge of the dojo.
"Next."
This time, after nearly 10 seconds, another person stepped out with a sullen face and slowly walked in front of Ogata...
…
…
"Well--!"
A shorter disciple of Ishikawa Kenkan rolled to the edge of the dojo like a Cuju ball, and finally stopped after bumping into several people kneeling there.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
While gasping for breath, Ogata retracted the wooden sword that he had just thrust forward.
Then, in a low voice that only I could hear, I whispered:
"The... 9th..."
The man who was knocked out of the arena by Ogata just now was Ogata's ninth opponent and also his ninth defeated opponent.
Since the first round of competition with Ichiro Hirano, Ogata has fought for 9 consecutive rounds and defeated 9 disciples of Ishikawa Sword Hall.
Although Ogata knocked down each of his opponents with one blow, after fighting 9 consecutive games, Ogata couldn't help but feel that his physical strength was a little insufficient.
After all, the series of battles that Ogata had today were not the kind of friendly exchanges that he usually had with his fellow disciples in the Sakakibara Sword Gym.
It is a battle where one wrong move could result in injury or death.
Every opponent of Ogata fought with the belief that it would not matter even if he was severely injured or killed.
Therefore, Ogata had to tense every nerve in his body and not dare to be careless for a moment.
After having been on edge for nine battles in a row, Ogata began to feel that he was getting mentally exhausted and his concentration was starting to lose focus.
But the battle is not over yet.
There is still one person that Ogata must face off against who has not yet appeared on the stage.
Ogata kept waiting for that guy to take the initiative to come on stage.
But even until Ogata had defeated his nine fellow disciples, that guy was still hiding at the edge of the dojo, and was afraid to come forward.
Since that guy is so cowardly, Ogata can only use some rough means to help him make up his mind to go up and fight Ogata.
Ogata once again turned his head and looked at the people kneeling at the edge of the dojo.
Now, the number of people who can still kneel and sit properly at the edge of the dojo has decreased by nearly a quarter.
Now no one dares to fight Ogata anymore.
In the eyes of most people today, Ogata's heroic performance of defeating 9 people and winning 9 rounds in a row is like he is possessed by the god Hachiman.
Ogata's superb skills have already frightened most of the people present.
No one dared to go on the field to ask for a fight again.
Wherever Ogata's gaze moved, the people who were caught by his gaze would quickly lower their heads, not daring to meet Ogata's gaze.
Ogata slowly turned his gaze.
Finally - let your gaze rest on someone.
"Itagaki! Get on the court!"
