My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 394: Chapter 147: Crushing Niitsuma Kan!

Aoto’s attack, though it missed the target, successfully disrupted Niitsuma Kan’s continuous assault, breaking Kan’s attack rhythm.

Seizing the momentum, Aoto angled his left shoulder towards Niitsuma Kan, adopting a lower right stance, and pushed off with his rear foot, charging at Kan as if trying to topple him.

As their figures were about to merge, Aoto’s sword angled and grazed Niitsuma Kan’s right side.

According to the rules of this competition, the whole torso is a vulnerable area where any hit results in defeat.

Unfortunately, Aoto’s sword tip only brushed the air — Niitsuma Kan swiftly sidestepped half a step as Aoto charged, causing Aoto’s sword tip to miss, slicing only through air.

Aoto sprinted two steps forward with the momentum of the exchange, then stopped, turning to look at Niitsuma Kan — not seeing Kan’s face, but instead the rapidly enlarging dark yellow bamboo sword in his field of vision.

This time Niitsuma Kan didn’t emit a Qi Union shout before attacking, instead he silently swung his sword, a sweeping slash crossing Aoto’s line of sight, already sweeping towards Aoto’s head.

At this moment, Aoto’s body responded before his mind.

Aoto pointed the sword tip downward, stepped forward. Tilting his body, the sword swung up with a loud ”crack,” deflecting Niitsuma Kan’s heavy slash.

Niitsuma Kan’s bamboo sword seemed to want to fly from his hand into the sky, lifting high upwards.

Feeling the powerful force transmitted from the sword to his arms, Niitsuma Kan’s expression changed slightly.

”Guh...” Niitsuma Kan gritted his teeth, forcibly stopping the reactionary force coming from the sword.

”Hah—!”

Niitsuma Kan’s bamboo sword once again drew an arc in the air.

His bamboo sword, along with his body, leapt vigorously forward, pouncing at Aoto!

Yet Aoto fearlessly faced him with his sword, charging at Niitsuma Kan without a running start!

The figures of Aoto and Niitsuma Kan merged once again under the bright sunlight.

Crack! Crack!

As they crossed paths once more, two urgent sounds of bamboo swords clashing erupted.

No sensation of hitting the opponent’s armor in his palms.

Scratch! Scratch!

As they passed each other, both stomped the ground, halting their bodies from rushing forward, and once again crushed and sent flying white fine gravel scattered in a pleasing fan shape.

Both stabilized their stance simultaneously, then quickly turned back.

Confirming each other’s current position, they once again clashed.

...

...

Since Aoto and Niitsuma Kan began the fight, the exclamations from the audience haven’t stopped.

Quite a few people... led by Zhouzhu from Shiwei Hall, the group from the Little Chiba Sword Dojo led by Chiba Dingji and Chiba Eijiro, including Niitsuma Kan’s mentor Saito Mijuro, are now furrowing their brows, casting puzzled looks at the arena.

Chiba Eijiro, Zhouzhu, and others with profound expertise in swordsmanship are most perplexed, because based on Kan’s various performances in yesterday’s match... Kan should not possess the strength to counter Aoto.

Niitsuma Kan should at most withstand three or four attacks from Aoto—this was the unanimous understanding of the swordsmen with high swordsmanship skills like Chiba Eijiro and Zhouzhu before the finals began.

Therefore, the sight of the current fierce battle between Aoto and Niitsuma Kan in the arena is indeed baffling to Chiba Eijiro and others.

Chiba Dingji and Chiba Eijiro, the uncle and nephew pair, were the first to discover why Niitsuma Kan had suddenly become so strong.

”This person’s concentration is now incredibly strong...” Chiba Eijiro, closely watching Kan’s figure on the field, squinted his eyes slightly.

Compared to Chiba Eijiro and others who were puzzled by why Kan’s strength had increased so much, most of the spectators in the audience had fewer thoughts.

Aside from a part of the audience feeling disappointed for not seeing Aoto quickly defeat his opponent again, the rest of the spectators were now extremely excited.

The swordsmen were fighting intensely—this is the scene they truly want to see in the Swordsmanship Competition!

The vast majority of spectators are now watching the duel between Aoto and Niitsuma Kan with enthusiasm and excitement, successfully heightening the atmosphere filled with excitement and anticipation among the audience.

Even most of the Daimyos of the Vassal States on the VIP Platform are now watching with great interest.

This kind of exceptionally thrilling swordsmanship duel is rare even for them.

Today, the Marquis of Aizu who continues to attend the tournament, is still seated at the central position of the VIP platform.

Although he remains expressionless as usual, not showing his emotions, his gaze is now fixed on the arena, his unwavering stare indicating his serious engagement in watching the match.

A portion of spectators revealed emotions other than puzzlement and excitement—that included Kondo, Hijikata, Chokata, Yamanaka, and Chiba Shigetarou.

They assumed Aoto would easily defeat Niitsuma Kan, but seeing these expectations fall apart, they worried whether Aoto might lose.

Chiba Shigetarou showed the most agitation.

He stretched his neck long, staring unblinkingly at every slightest movement on the field, his crossed legs on the ground trembling constantly, this agitated demeanor forming a stark contrast with his sister Sazanoko beside him.