When An Yun said this, everyone in the room was shocked.
"Aki-kun!" Naoshige quickly recovered from his shock and shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about! Take back what you just said and leave!"
After scolding Anyi, Naoshige immediately turned to look at Yagi, the owner of Yuanmingkan.
"Yagi! Tell your disciple to take back his rude words! And then ask him to leave! Don't interfere with the progress of the 'Grand Test'!"
Facing Naoshige's rebuke, the head of Yuanmeikan, Yagi, simply glanced at Naoshige, then asked Anki, who was still pointing the tip of her sword at Nanjo:
"Anyun, are you serious about what you just said? Do you really want to challenge Nanjo?"
"Of course I'm serious." An Yun shrugged. "I've long wanted to see the owner of 'Osaka's No. 1 Sword Hall'... Is he running the hall with real skills, or just relying on his reputation?"
After saying this, Aki gave Nanjo an undisguised mocking smile.
"I see..." Yagi nodded gently.
Then he turned his head and gave Nanjo a weird smile that would make anyone who saw it feel extremely uncomfortable.
"In that case - Nanjo, you should come on stage and fight with my apprentice."
"Use your sword to teach my apprentice a lesson: you have real skills, not just a title."
“Yagi?!” Naoshige exclaimed, staring at Yagi with a face that read “unbelievable” in large letters, “What’s wrong with you?”
Nanjo of Zenhyokan, and Shimura Kiichi, the owner of Shimurakan, who had been silent since the start of the "Great Test", now showed the same expressions as Naoshige.
As for Ogata, as an outsider who was invited to watch the trial, he looked at An Yun on the field with a confused look on his face, and then looked at Naoshige and others.
He previously thought that this "big test" was just an ordinary test competition that would only make him sleepy.
However, judging from the current situation... the direction of this "big trial" is already beyond Ogata's expectations.
Ogata's current mentality... To use a more vivid example to describe it, it is like he originally came to watch the "Sushi Eating Contest", but when he arrived at the scene, he found that everyone was competing to see who could eat the most cockroaches.
"Yagi! What nonsense are you talking about?!" Naoshige roared at Yagi.
"I'm not talking nonsense." Yagi said calmly, "Every word I said just now was said in an extremely calm and sober state."
"Since Aki wants to personally test Nanjo's true ability, let him try."
"Young people should be full of vigor and courage to challenge the strong."
"The reason why martial arts are deteriorating is because there are fewer and fewer warriors with blood and courage."
"We should encourage Aki-kun's extremely passionate behavior."
"and--"
Yagi once again gave Nanjo a smile that made people feel uncomfortable, and then continued in a sarcastic tone:
"Nanjou shouldn't be able to lose to a junior like this, right?"
"Let Nanjo take this opportunity to show his strength and teach my apprentice a lesson. This will also be beneficial to my apprentice's future development."
With every word Yagi spoke, Naoshige's eyes widened a little.
He now felt that Yagi in front of him was so strange...
No matter how he looked at it or thought about it, he felt that Yagi was extremely strange today.
Although he was not familiar with Yagi before this, he knew more or less what kind of person he was - taciturn and not sociable.
Normally, he seldom speaks, whether in public or in private.
No matter what, Naoshige found it hard to equate the Yagi in front of him who was constantly talking nonsense with the taciturn Yagi in the past.
"Yagi..." Naoshige opened his mouth and was about to say something else when a deep male voice interrupted him:
"…Okay, Isshiki, you don't have to say anything more."
As the deep male voice fell, a figure slowly stood up - it was Nanjo.
Nanjo's face now looked so gloomy that it seemed like water was about to drip out of it.
After slowly standing up, he stepped forward and walked onto the dojo: "Since you want to test my abilities, I will do as you wish."
Originally, the three contestants sent by his own sword gym to participate in this year's "Grand Trial" had all been eliminated, and Nanjo's mood had been very bad because of this.
Nanjo couldn't stand Aki, who eliminated two of the three contestants from his sword gym, including his favorite student Kitahara.
And this little guy, whom he had always disliked, now threatened to challenge him and said a lot of rude words to him for this.
His master Yagi had no intention of trying to stop the fight, but instead fanned the flames. Every word Yagi said to him was full of sarcasm.
A junior like An Yun challenged him in public, and his master was also fanning the flames - under such circumstances, it would be a real loss of face for him not to take the stage.
For a samurai, face and honor are always more important than life.
What's more - Nanjo's anger... was already so full that it was about to burst out from every pore of his body.
In order to defend his honor and vent his anger, Nanjo went to the dojo.
"Nanjo! Don't be so impulsive!" Naoshige, who didn't want to see the situation develop in an increasingly uncontrollable direction, tried to persuade Nanjo earnestly.
All the apprentices in the Quanbing Academy were also there to persuade their master.
Nanjo turned a deaf ear to these advices.
…
…
“Hmm…”
Beiyuan woke up quietly.
"here it is……?"
As soon as Beiyuan woke up, he heard the joyful calls of his fellow apprentices from both sides of him.
"Ah! Senior Brother!"
"Senior Brother Beiyuan! You're awake!"
After Beiyuan was knocked unconscious, his fellow disciples were carried off the field.
As the head of the Zenbei-kan, Nanjo is used to seeing all kinds of injuries among his disciples and is also well versed in how to treat various injuries.
After Kitahara was carried down, Nanjo immediately examined his injuries carefully - apart from some swelling where he was cut, there was nothing serious and he would probably wake up on his own soon.
After confirming that Kitahara was not seriously injured, Nanjo sent several disciples to carry Kitahara to the corner of the dojo and asked these disciples to take care of Kitahara until Kitahara woke up.
Kitahara covered his head and slowly stood up.
The memories before he fainted flooded from Kitahara's mind like a tide.
Da Shihe, Yise Hua, An Yun, were killed instantly...
After recalling these unbearable memories, Kitahara's eyes suddenly widened, and then he subconsciously looked towards the dojo.
"What... is going on?" Kitahara murmured.
Standing in the center of the dojo were Ayun, who had killed him instantly, and his master Nanjo.
…
…
"Boy, come over here." Nanjo gripped the wooden sword tightly and got ready.
Since An Yun was so rude to him, he naturally had no reason to be polite to him anymore and just called him "kid".
Kara, Kara.
An Yun moved her neck vigorously twice, making two loud "click" sounds, and then she put the knife on the table: "Please give me some advice."
A good "big test" has turned into the current situation - everyone in the venue has a complicated expression.
“Drink—!”
The first person to launch the attack was Nanjo.
Nanjo used his dantian to make sounds, and a sound of air and breath came out from his throat that was loud enough to scare the timid.
He took a step forward and swung his sword at An Yun twice in a row, all in one smooth motion.
An Yun took a deep breath, took two steps back, avoided Nanjo's first knife, and then used the Wu Wai Liu move to block Nanjo's second knife.
Katori Shinto-ryu is one of the schools that Ogata is most familiar with.
Looking back two years ago, when he had just traveled to the Edo period, the first swordsmanship he came into contact with, excluding Sakakibara Ittoryu, was the Katori Shinto-ryu taught by the Ishikawa Sword Hall at that time.
Every move of Nanjo and every sword technique of Katori Shinto-ryu he used can be said to be perfect.
Facing Nanjo's fierce attack, Anyi could no longer transform into a "one-sword superman" as she had done in the previous competitions.
At this moment, he had a serious expression on his face and was concentrating on exchanging offense and defense with Nanjo.
Ogata was watching the fierce competition silently when he heard Isshikika ask him:
"Sir, who do you think will win?"
When Isshiki turned her head to ask Ogata this question, her eyes never left Aki and Nanjo. She looked a little cute.
"...In terms of strength, the two of them are probably on par with each other." After a moment of silence, Ogata said slowly, "But in terms of chance of winning, Anyi should have a better chance of winning."
"Compared to Nanjo, Aki has two major advantages."
"First, Anyi is much younger than the head of the Zenhyokan. And judging from his physique, he is also a man who has no shortage of stamina and strength."
"As for Nanjou... you see, Nanjou's breathing is not as steady as before. But it's not surprising, after all, he's not young anymore."
"Nanjo's physical fitness is far inferior to Aki, so if he fails to quickly take down Aki, the situation will inevitably become increasingly unfavorable to Nanjo, who is not physically superior."
"Second: Nanjo's mentality is unstable right now."
"He is probably eager to save face and vent his anger. His emotions are obviously unstable right now."
"When the strength of both sides is roughly equal, the one who reveals flaws first is usually the one who cannot remain calm and composed."
Just as Ogata finished speaking, the competition on the field suddenly took a turn.
“Drink—!”
Nanjo launched a sharp thrust at Aki's chest.
But I don't know if he was distracted for a moment or was too eager to win quickly, so he used a little more force, resulting in the force of the stab being too strong - and the flaw appeared.
An Yun's eyes shone brightly, and she quickly tried to dodge to the side, avoiding Nanjo's stab.
Then, he took a step forward, his body turned into a shadow, and ran towards the left rear of Nanjo.
When he dodged to the left rear of Nanjo, Aki held the sword with only his right arm, with his right hand grasping the top of the handle - this is an inconspicuous detail, but it is very useful and can make Aki's slashing speed faster.
The moment she passed by Nanjo, Aki swung her sword and slashed heavily at Nanjo's left abdomen.
“Aaaaaaah!”
A cry of pain erupted from Nanjo's throat.
His facial features were distorted, one hand still holding the knife, and the other hand covering the place where he had been stabbed. After staggering forward a few steps, he knelt on one knee.
"master!"
"Master! Are you okay?"
All the apprentices in the military hall cried out in surprise one by one and rushed forward to support Nanjo who was kneeling on the ground.
"Fortunately, it wasn't a real sword fight." After knocking Nanjo down beautifully with one blow, Aki was now carrying a wooden sword on his shoulder and said to Nanjo, who was sweating from the pain, in a mocking tone, "If it was a real sword fight, you would have been cut in half, and your intestines and kidneys would have been all over the floor."
An Yun's sarcastic words were like a spark that ignited the powder keg of "anger" in the hearts of all the disciples in the military academy.
"You bastard!"
"That's enough! You keep saying rude things over and over again!"
"Everybody, come on! Teach this impudent bastard a lesson!"
He pointed the tip of his wooden sword directly at Nanjo and specifically asked Nanjo to come on the field to fight him - this was already a rude provocation. As early as when Aki threatened to compete with their master, the disciples of the Zenhyokan were already very unhappy.
And now , this bastard not only defeated their master, causing their entire military academy to lose face, but also continued to speak rudely and be sarcastic to their master.
All the disciples in the Bingguan wanted to tear An Yun to pieces alive immediately.
Dozens of disciples from Quanbingguan surrounded Anyi.
And Anyun - facing the people surrounding him, he just showed an indifferent expression, as if he was surrounded by not a dozen people, but a dozen flies.
However, just as all the apprentices of the entire military school surrounded An Yun and were about to rush over to capture An Yun, they heard Nanjo, who was still kneeling on the ground, yelling:
"Stop it! Everyone, get back off!"
"Master?" The disciples looked at Nanjo in confusion.
"If you really want to rush over like this to help me get revenge and vent my anger, then our entire military hall will be disgraced."
Nanjo, who was still covering his wound, pushed away the hands of the disciples beside him who were trying to support him, and slowly stood up with his own strength.
"If I lose, I lose. I am speechless and have no objection or excuse."
"Everyone, stand down."
After saying that, Nanjo took the lead and walked towards their seats in the All-House Hall.
Although Nanjo stopped his disciples from seeking revenge for him, when he walked back to his seat, he turned his head and glared at An Yun with eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.
After hearing the order from their master, Nanjo's disciples looked at each other with complicated expressions. In the end, they chose to obey their master's instructions and slowly walked off the field.
When they returned to their seats, they all glared at An Yun with ferocious eyes, just like Nanjo.
The glances they cast at Anyun had no effect on her. Anyun was now humming a tune, and her joy was visibly evident.
"Ah... this 'big test' is finally becoming more interesting... after all, it's more interesting to compete with these skilled people."
Stretching seems to be An Yun's habitual action.
I saw him stretching again.
Then he pointed the tip of the wooden sword at the head of Shimura-kan, Kiichi Shimura, who was sitting on the west side of the dojo.
"I feel like I haven't fought enough. Master Shimura! Can you please come forward and fight me?"
"Aki-kun!" Naoshige, who was unwilling to let this year's "Grand Test" go on any more chaotically, shouted at the top of his voice, "What are you doing? What do you want to do?! Do you want to compete with all the masters of the halls?"
Naoshige struggles to save the order of the "Great Test".
However, some people did not cooperate with Zhi Zhou's intention.
For example, An Yun, who turned a deaf ear to Naoshige's words, and Yagi, the owner of Yuanmeikan, who had been deliberately indulging An Yun.
Another example... Shimura, who is now being challenged by Aki...
Shimura, who was challenged by Aki, did not show any displeasure or any other negative emotions.
Instead, he grinned and showed a hearty smile.
"What a hot-blooded person!"
"You just challenged Nanjo, and now you challenge me again?"
Shimura stood up suddenly.
"Great! That's just what I want!"
"Just now, I saw you defeat Nanjo, and I just happened to be itching to do it!"
After saying that, without giving anyone a chance to react, Shimura took a wooden sword from the knife rack next to him and strode into the dojo.
"This man is Shimura Kiichi, the master of Shimura Sword Hall, which teaches Shinto-ryu."
Isshikika introduced Ogata very conspicuously.
"As you can see, he is a very bold man."
When introducing Shimura to Ogata, a look of blatant disgust appeared on Isshikika's face.
Noticing the disgust on Isshikika's face, Ogata asked:
"What's wrong? Why do you look so disgusted? Do you have any grudge against this person?"
"I don't have any grudges against him... I just simply don't like this person." Isshikika said, "I don't like people who are too bold."
"But what annoys me most about him is his words and actions."
"Shimura was a good friend of my father and he often came to our house to drink with my father."
"This person's historical knowledge is obviously not very good, but he always likes to talk about history with others. The history he likes to talk about most is the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu more than 200 years ago."
"He admired Tokugawa Ieyasu very much and told others how great Tokugawa Ieyasu was whenever he had the chance."
"That would be fine, but I don't know if he is biased against Toyotomi Hideyoshi or for some other reason. Every time he praises Tokugawa Ieyasu, he always belittles Toyotomi Hideyoshi."
"Toyotomi Hideyoshi was just a commoner who became a ruler simply by sheer luck."
"How can a person of such a lowly origin be qualified to rule the world? Tokugawa Ieyasu was following the will of heaven by taking over the world from the Toyotomi clan. The Tokugawa army that conquered the Toyotomi clan was an army of justice."
"I'm not a fan of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but I still don't like Shimura's remarks."
"No matter what, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a great ruler who created great achievements two hundred years ago. It is too much to belittle him."
"If Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became the ruler of Japan as a commoner, is worthless, then what is he, a mere swordsman, worth as a gym owner?"
"In my opinion, it is self-righteous to abuse these historical figures in such an arrogant manner."
“I don’t like such self-righteous people.”
While Ogata and Isshiki were talking, Shimura had already stood in front of Aki, holding his knife tightly, and getting ready.
"Are you ready?" Shimura asked loudly.
"Come on over here." An Yun licked the corner of her lips.
"Then I'll do it!"
Shimura's voice rang out along with the sound of his footsteps as he stepped forward.
Bang!
Shimura and Aki's wooden swords collided heavily in mid-air.
Faced with a situation that has completely gotten out of control, Naoshige now looks like he's giving up.
Shimura was a tall man, though not a big man. His height, converted into modern units, would be about 1.76 meters.
His sword-fighting style is also quite consistent with his tall stature - his sword style is extremely fierce.
Continuous slashes came towards An Yun one after another.
Shimura's attack was far more powerful than Nanjo's. Aki did not dare to take it lightly and frequently relied on footwork to dodge Shimura's attacks.
Although at first glance, Shimura's strength seemed to be stronger than Nanjo's, his attacks were not only fierce but also continuous, forcing An Yun to only dodge and not dare to take them head-on.
But Ogata still saw from his own experience that Shimura's strength was not as good as Nanjo's.
In terms of footwork alone, he is not as good as Nanjo.
Nanjo's lower body can be described in one word: stable. Whether he was moving forward or backward, it was both fast and steady, and his lower body did not reveal any flaws from beginning to end.
However, Shimura's lower body is not as stable as Nanjo's.
Ogata was thinking that Shimura's lower body was unstable, and if he took Shimura's lower body as the main attack direction, the attack would be twice as effective with half the effort. Then he saw Anyi change to a lower stance at lightning speed, and then swung the knife at Shimura's right calf.
Although Shimura did not scream, his facial features were distorted by pain.
The severe pain in his right calf made Shimura's lower body, which was already weak, immediately become like a shaky building, and the center of gravity of his body became unstable.
When fighting with someone, if your body's center of gravity is unstable, you will be defeated soon.
As expected - after successfully destroying Shimura's center of gravity with one strike, Shimura slashed vertically from bottom to top.
The tip of the knife cut from Shimura's right abdomen to his left shoulder. Shimura, who was stabbed in the chest, staggered back a few steps and fell heavily to the ground with his head raised.
Anyi - wins again.
"master!"
"Master! Are you okay?"
A scene similar to what happened when Nanjo was defeated just now appeared:
All the apprentices of Shimura-kan came forward, intending to check on Shimura's injuries and help him up.
However, just as they stood up, they heard Shimura shouting in a cheerful voice:
"I'm fine!"
Shimura stood up, holding his chest, and then laughed:
"You're so amazing! You defeated me so quickly!"
"I didn't expect that Yuanming Pavilion actually had such a powerful master hidden in it!"
"With such strength at such a young age, his future is truly limitless!"
"I admit defeat!"
After saying this, Shimura covered his chest and limped back to his seat.
Shimura was different from Nanjo who had been glaring at Aki fiercely when he returned to his seat just now. When he returned to his seat, he had a frank expression on his face, as if he was not the one who had just lost.
Aki defeated two people in a row, and these two people were the owners of Zenhyokan and Shimurakan.
The expressions of everyone in the venue at this moment are extremely exciting.
When Shimura was defeated just now, some of the apprentices of Zenhyo-kan looked relieved - relieved that Shimura was also defeated.
Otherwise, if only their master was defeated, it would be really embarrassing.
However - although some people in the military hall showed relief on their faces, the vast majority of people in the venue had heavy expressions on their faces.
Their master was defeated by an apprentice from Yuanmingguan who was only in his 20s - if this matter were to spread, they would become the object of everyone's ridicule.
Being laughed at by others will have a negative impact on the reputation of the sword hall... Thinking of this, the disciples of the Zenhyo-kan and Shimura-kan couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted and look grim.
Of course - there were also some people who showed... envious expressions.
They looked at An Yun who had defeated two gym leaders in a row, and a bit of envy appeared in their eyes.
Although Aki made both Zenhyōkan and Shimurakan extremely embarrassed and her actions were extremely rude, one has to admit that Aki, who challenged two hall masters in succession and defeated them both, was extremely impressive.
Many people secretly thought in their hearts: I wish I could be so majestic...
If we were to ask who had the most interesting expression in the scene, it would undoubtedly be Kitahara who had just woken up not long ago.
Beiyuan looked confused at this time, as if he had lost his soul.
At half an hour old, he was still extremely confident, thinking that he was unbeatable among his peers in Osaka, and confidently set himself the goal of performing well in front of Isshikika.
As a result, he was killed instantly and knocked unconscious as soon as he came on the court.
And the blow is not over yet.
When he woke up, he saw the man who had killed him in one blow, defeating his master, who was still a distant relative to him...
This is not the end. After defeating his master, this man immediately defeated the master of Shimura Hall...
——So… there are people my age in Osaka who are much stronger than me…
Kitahara now...just feels like his brain is blank.
In his heart, something called "self-confidence" and "worldview" was slowly shattering and collapsing...
An Yun, the culprit behind this series of events, is now leisurely stretching as usual.
"Ah... It feels so good... I've been living in peace for too long recently, and my body has become a little stiff."
"Since I have already challenged the masters of the Zenhyokan and Shimurakan."
"So……"
An Yun slowly turned her gaze...towards the direction where everyone at Isshiki Sword Hall was.
When they saw An Yun turning her gaze to them, the expressions of everyone in Isshiki Sword Hall changed.
The four major sword halls, including Zenhyokan, Shimurakan, Genmeikan, and Isshikikan, jointly organized the "Grand Test".
Excluding Yuanmeikan where Aki was, the masters of Zenbeikan and Shimurakan were all defeated by Aki.
Everyone naturally thought that Aki would challenge Isshiki-kan, whom she had never challenged before.
Everyone in Isse Sword Hall was facing a powerful enemy.
However, what An Yun said next surprised everyone and was beyond everyone's expectations.
I saw An Yun first looked at Naoshige with a meaningful look.
Then he turned his attention to Ogata——to Isshikika who was standing beside him.
"Ms. Isshikika! I have long heard of your great name as a 'female swordsman'. Could I take this rare opportunity to learn a few moves from you?"
An Yun did not challenge Isshiki Naoki, but challenged his granddaughter.
As soon as Anyun finished speaking, Naoshige immediately stood up as if he could no longer bear it and glared at Anyun.
"That's enough! Aki Uenosuke!" Naoshige, with his hair and beard all standing up, called out Aki's name, "I can no longer tolerate your behavior of interfering with the normal progress of the 'Grand Test'!"
"Get out of here! Don't disturb the 'big test' anymore!"
"Otherwise, all of us at Isshikikan will help you get out of here!"
As soon as Naoshige finished speaking, all the apprentices of Isshiki-kan stood up in unison and glared at Anyi who had messed up the scene of the "big test".
What was surprising was that Yagi, the head of the Yuanmeikan who had been indulging Anyi to challenge Nanjo and Shimura, now changed his expression slightly when he saw that Anyi actually wanted to challenge Isshikika.
"Hey, Anyi." Yagi frowned slightly and said seriously, "Challenging Nanjo and Shimura is fine, but why challenge a woman?"
"There's no special reason." An Yun said frivolously, holding the wooden sword, "I just want to broaden my horizons and see how capable a woman who is supposed to mend clothes, do housework, and help us bear children to continue our offspring can be after holding a sword."
Isshikika's face was filled with resentment and anger at a speed visible to the naked eye as Ayun uttered every word of this sentence.
Another person whose expression changed was Ogata.
As soon as An Yun finished speaking, Ogata raised his eyebrows, and then looked at An Yun, who now had an arrogant look, quietly with a look that made it difficult to guess what he was thinking.
"I don't want to listen to your crazy talk anymore." Naoshige's expression now became extremely terrifying because of his anger towards An Yun.
But just when Naoshige was about to command the apprentices of Isshiki Sword Hall to rush forward together to drive them out of the dojo, Isshikika stood up slowly with her hands folded in front of her body.
"……OK."
Isshikika said expressionlessly.
"Then I will do as you wish and show you what a sword like a woman like me looks like."
"Xiaohua?" Naoshige looked at Isshiki with surprise at first, then the surprise turned into anger, "Xiaohua, you..."
Before Naoshige could say anything, Isshikika said in a firm tone:
"I am the daughter of a Wu family anyway."
"If it was just a normal provocation, it would be fine, but I can't just ignore what he said just now."
"If you pretend nothing happened, it would be more embarrassing than losing."
"Please let me play."
Isshiki looked at Naoshu with a firm gaze.
Naoshige just now looked like he wanted to reprimand Isshiki.
But after hearing what Isshiki just said and seeing Isshiki's eyes that were now full of determination, his expression changed.
He hesitated.
After pursing his lips, he looked at An Yun not far away, then looked at Isshiki in front of him, and sighed softly:
“…Don’t get hurt.”
Isshikihana cast a grateful look towards Naoshu.
Then, she opened her hands that were folded in front of her, took out a cuff that was the same goose yellow as the kimono she was wearing from her arms, and tied up the wide sleeves on both sides of the kimono.
Just as she fastened her sleeves, a voice that made her expression stunned suddenly sounded from beside her:
"Come on."
Isshikika's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and she turned to look at the person who had just cheered her on - Ogata.
Ogata was now looking up at her.
Under the brim of her hat, Isshikika saw two encouraging glances.
Even though it was just a simple "Come on", Isshikika miraculously felt a sense of security rising from the bottom of her heart.
This sense of security made Isshikika smile again.
"Hmm..." Isshiki nodded gently to Ogata, then slowly put away her smile and stared at Isshiki with a cold look who was slowly waiting for her to get ready.
Isshiki Ka not only rolled up her sleeves, but also lifted the hem of her kimono to reveal her smooth calves to make it easier to move. She then took off the pair of white socks on her feet, revealing a pair of fair little feet.
Isshikika is the type of person who is more accustomed to competing barefoot in the dojo.
Looking at Isshikika's small feet exposed after taking off her white socks, Anyun gave a malicious smile.
"What a beautiful pair of feet. Not only are they very white and small, but the toes are also very evenly shaped and have no dead skin."
"Let me confirm this - you didn't know in advance that I like women's feet, so you took off your socks to seduce me and distract me, right?"
Anyi's words undoubtedly made everyone in Isshiki Sword Hall and the other people who admired Isshiki Hana angry.
Some people with more explosive tempers started cursing at An Yun directly.
Some people with more explosive tempers stood up without saying a word, with an expression that showed that they would die together with Anyun even if it meant death.
Regarding those who wanted to go on stage and beat up Anyi, Isshikihua simply said: "Thank you for your kindness, but this is a contest between me and Anyi Uenosuke, please don't come up and disturb us."
Isshikika's father also has a hot temper.
Just now, when I heard An Yun say something like Isekana was seducing him, I wanted to stand up and rush over to teach this foul-mouthed brat a lesson.
However, when he had just stood up halfway, Zhi Zhou held down his shoulders.
"This is a contest between Xiaohua and others." Naoshige said, "You rushing forward like this is rude and disrespectful to the contest."
Being stopped by her own father, Rushui could only sit back in her seat dejectedly.
As for those who originally wanted to step forward to help Isshikika teach Aki a lesson, after hearing Isshikika's words "Please don't disturb me", they all sat back in their seats with angry expressions.
Isshiki didn't react much to An Yun's words that were disrespectful to her. She stood behind An Yun with her wooden sword in hand and said coldly, "Don't tell me that you are a pervert with very unusual hobbies."
"You say my hobby is perverted, but I don't agree with that." An Yun shrugged, "Hasn't anyone told you? In fact, most men are more or less interested in women's feet, but most people are not as frank as me and dare not say out loud what they really like."
"Shut up now. I don't want to hear your nonsense anymore." Yi Se Hua Jia Hao Dao.
An Yun shrugged again with a smirk on her face, then put down the wooden sword on her shoulder and got into position.
call--!
Just as An Yun was getting ready, he saw a wooden sword coming towards him with great force.
"?!" An Yun's pupils shrank slightly - Isshikika's sword speed was much faster than he had imagined, which surprised him a little.
Of course, it was just "a little surprised".
He took a half step back calmly, neither more nor less, just enough to reach a position where Isshikika's wooden sword could not hit him.
Ogata watched the competition on the field calmly - this was a competition between Isshikika and Aki. Before the competition even started, Ogata knew the result.
Isshikika has absolutely no chance of winning.
Ogata had some idea of ​​Isshikika's level, after all, they had fought side by side and fought pirates together before.
According to Ogata's estimation, Isshikika was probably only slightly stronger than Uyusei compared to all the strong women he knew.
Judging from the strength that Aki showed in the two battles against Nanjo and Shimura just now, Isshikika would never be Aki's opponent.
Just now, Ogata had thought about whether he should persuade Isshikika not to fight a battle that was bound to be a loss.
But after thinking about it carefully, he gave up the idea of ​​persuading Isshiki Hana to ignore Anyi's provocation.
This is the world view of people who came from samurai families of this era.
Except for a very small number of people with special ideas, most samurai families of this era taught their children to value honor. Losing one's life is a small matter, while losing one's reputation is a big matter.
One of the most prominent features of the samurai education of this era was its contempt for death and its emphasis on honor.
Death is not worth mentioning. As long as you can defend your honor, what does a life matter?
After realizing how different the values ​​of the samurai of this era were from those of modern people like him, Obe decided to let Isshikika defend his honor.
Ogata guessed that Naoshige probably let Isshikika take the stage for this reason.
Ogata was originally watching the contest between Isshikika and Aki with a calm expression.
But the more he looked, the more solemn Ogata's expression became.
The reason is simple - An Yun has been looking like she is "playing" since the competition began.
Based on the difference in strength between the two, Anyi should be able to kill Isshikika in one blow.
But Aki didn't attack, she just dodged and defended. She looked at Isshikika in front of her as if she were a commodity, repeatedly looking at Isshikika from head to toe.
Isshikika also realized that Anyun was not taking the competition with her seriously at all, but she kept a calm mind and did not get impatient. She attacked Anyun steadily.
At first, Anyin looked at Isshikika with interest.
But gradually, the interested light in his eyes faded.
His eyes became dull.
“…As expected.”
After dodging another slash from Isshikika, he revealed an expression of undisguised contempt.
"Women really should stay at home and do housework, helping us to continue our family lineage."
"Women should not hold weapons. If women hold weapons, they will only make the weapons they hold want to cry."
"'Female swordsman' or something... I've seen enough."
Like a magic trick, Anyun's body suddenly accelerated, leaving a trail of afterimage as she rushed straight towards Isshikika.
Seeing An Yun's speed suddenly increase a lot, Isshikika's pupils suddenly shrank.
She subconsciously tried to distance herself from An Yun who was rushing towards her.
But her body's speed could not keep up with the reaction, and she could only watch An Yun flash in front of her.
When she arrived in front of Isshikika, An Yun did not draw her sword immediately.
Instead, he raised his right leg high and stepped hard on Isshikika's left foot.
The left foot was hit hard, and the white instep of the left foot instantly turned red.
With a cry of pain, Isshikika's center of gravity was destroyed as her left foot was attacked.
call……
After destroying Isshikika's center of gravity, Anyin raised the wooden sword in her hand high.
Because the force of the knife was so great, it caused a low sound of breaking wind.
Seeing An Yun raising the knife, Zhi Zhou, Rushui, Kitahara... many people with a little vision on the scene were horrified.
They all saw that An Yun's attack was extremely powerful.
Although it would not be fatal, if Isshikika was hit hard by this knife, she would definitely have to stay in bed for at least half a month.
Whether in the contest with Nanjo or with Shimura, Aki never used such heavy hands.
Naoshige and others now hurriedly stood up and wanted to rush forward to help Isshikika block the knife.
But they...have the will but not the strength...
A sinister smile appeared on An Yun's face.
call--!
An Yun brought the knife down heavily.
Target: The left side of Isshikika's back, as she was forced to bend her body slightly forward due to an injury to her left foot.
——Oh no!
Knowing that she was powerless to dodge the attack, Isshikika closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.
Prepare to take An Yun's blow head-on.
Bang...
Isshikika was mentally prepared for the sharp pain in her back.
But after closing my eyes, I didn't feel the severe pain in my back.
All he heard was a low, muffled sound coming from above his head.
"?!" After slowly opening his eyes, Isshikika saw a man wearing a bamboo hat standing in front of him.
He stood in front of Isshikika and caught the knife that An Yun had just chopped at him with his bare hands. The low, muffled sound just now was the sound made by him catching the wooden sword with his bare hands.
"one……"
Isshikika subconsciously wanted to shout out the famous title of the man in the bamboo hat, but she reacted in time and quickly closed her mouth.
"That strike of yours just now... has completely gone beyond the scope of sparring, right?"
The man in the bamboo hat put down Anyi's wooden sword and said this in a tone that was so calm that it made people feel timid for some reason.
…
…
When Ogata discovered that Aki was not competing seriously with Isshikika at all, he secretly became cautious.
In order to be able to rush forward to help Isshikika in time at any critical moment, Ogata's chest slowly rose and fell with the special rhythm of "Source's Breathing".
His eyes flashed with the unique light that comes after entering the "state of no self".
Just now, Ogata relied on his physical fitness that had skyrocketed after entering the "selfless state" to be able to detect Anyi's malicious intentions at the first moment, and then stood in front of Isshikika in time to help Isshikika block the attack, which would have seriously injured her if she had taken it head-on.
After blocking An Yun's attack, Obi quietly exited the "selfless state" and his breathing returned to a normal rhythm.
An Yun is now looking at Ogata with surprise.
"Your speed just now... is incredible..." An Yun glanced at the seat where Ogata was sitting just now, "Who are you?"
"I was just a passerby who happened to pass by Osaka, and was invited by Mr. Isshiki to watch the 'big test'."
After saying this, Ogata waved to Isshikika beside him.
"Ms. Isshiki, can I borrow your wooden sword for a moment?"
"Eh?" Isshiki Hana blinked her beautiful big eyes at Ogata.
"This guy seems to like competing with strong people." Ogata's tone was still calm, "Your name is Aki Uenosuke, right? Are you interested in competing with me?"
"Oh?" An Yun raised her eyebrows vigorously, then licked the right corner of her mouth, "You want to compete with me?"
"Okay!" An Yun nodded without hesitation, "You're right! I love competing with strong people the most!"
"Sir..." Naoshige had a strange expression on his face. He quickly stood up from his seat and walked in front of Ogata. Then he stood on tiptoe and whispered to Ogata, "What are you doing? Why do you suddenly want to compete with this Anyi?"
"…There's no special reason." Ogata responded in a low voice, "It's just that I don't like what An Yun said just now."
“I know a bunch of really strong women.”
"In the face of natural and man-made disasters, they did not give up on themselves, but lived tenaciously, doing the work of men and women. They are not the kind of people who would make the weapons in their hands cry."
"Ms. Isshiki, please lend me your wooden sword."
Ogata repeated what he had just said.
After hesitating for a moment, Isshikika handed the wooden sword in her hand to Ogata.
Naoshige's expression now...has undergone quite a fascinating change.
After looking at Ogata with a strange expression, he turned his head to look at Anyi - when looking at Anyi, Naoshige's eyes flashed with a hint of teasing.
After taking his eyes off Aki, Naoshu pulled Isshikika back to their seats.
Ogata stood leisurely in a normal posture, waved the wooden sword in the air a few times, turned his head and said to An Yun calmly:
"Tense every nerve. If you don't, this battle between you and me will end soon."
"Hahaha! I'm so lucky today!" An Yun put the knife in place and licked her lips. "Not only did I have a good fight with the so-called 'female swordsman' who I had wanted to test her strength against, but I also met a master who seemed particularly strong!"
"Let the horses go..."
call!
Bang!
The sound of breaking wind and the sound of the wooden sword hitting flesh rang out almost simultaneously.
A wooden sword hit An Yun hard between her right shoulder and right neck.
The sound of bones breaking was heard.
Before An Yun could even scream, she fell heavily to the ground and passed out...
"…I have already warned you."
Ogata slowly put away the wooden sword that had knocked An Yun unconscious.
"If I don't tense every nerve, this battle between you and me will end very quickly."
At this moment, the whole place was silent.