My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 395: Chapter 147: Crushing Niitsuma Kan!

Sitting in a faultless posture with hands neatly placed on her lap, Sazanoko’s expression was neither sad nor joyful, seeming indifferent to the ongoing match in the arena.

Noticing Sazanoko’s demeanor, Chiba Shigetarou involuntarily let out a wry smile.

He understood—the plan to ”bring Aoto and Sazanoko together” still had a long way to go...

Sazanoko clearly only regards Aoto as someone she knows, as a normal friend, which is why she appears unconcerned about Aoto’s match.

Unable to concern himself with his sister for the moment, Chiba Shigetarou withdrew his attention from Sazanoko and refocused entirely on the arena, where the fierce sounds of bamboo swords clashing echoed continually.

...

...

In a corner of the spectators’ area for martial artists—

Rakshasa, with his head propped by his right hand, wore a jubilant smile.

”Oh...” Rakshasa murmured in a voice only he could hear, ”It seems that a person’s mental state indeed influences the effect of the Mindless Pill...”

After speaking, Rakshasa’s smile grew even more delighted.

...

...

Niitsuma Kan felt that his current state was excellent indeed.

Moments ago, after swallowing the pill, Niitsuma Kan instantly felt his mind reverberating with a ”boom boom boom” sound.

The overwhelming ”noise” in his mind nearly caused Niitsuma Kan significant distress.

After gritting his teeth and enduring the waves of pain, a peculiar sensation began to radiate from his brain to every part of his body.

His mind was clearer than ever; he had never experienced such clarity.

With attention intensely focused, it was the first time he had experienced such a highly concentrated state.

The clarity of his mind accelerated his thought processes several times, enabling him to react more quickly to Aoto’s various movements—simply put, the pill significantly enhanced Niitsuma Kan’s reaction speed.

The most tangible change brought by increased reaction speed was making Aoto’s attacks difficult to land while allowing Niitsuma Kan to repeatedly find the best opportunities for sharp counterattacks against Aoto.

——I can win!

——I can defeat Tachibana Aoto!

——I have a chance to win the championship!

Niitsuma Kan wielded the bamboo sword with greater momentum, putting all his strength into launching a fiercer attack on Aoto.

His mouth curled with excitement.

But... Niitsuma Kan’s excited smile didn’t last long on his face.

Both he and Aoto wore armor that covered them from head to toe, and under the cover of the mask, Niitsuma Kan couldn’t quite discern Aoto’s current expression.

At this moment, after deflecting another of Aoto’s incoming attacks, Niitsuma Kan glimpsed Aoto’s face beneath the mask.

The first thing he saw was Aoto’s bright eyes.

Below those bright eyes... there was a smile.

A smile happier than his own.

...

...

——Sweat is beginning to form...

Aoto now clearly felt: the heat from the intense battle was causing his body to start sweating.

Before the final began, Aoto also thought that he could easily defeat Niitsuma Kan, so he was surprised when things didn’t go as planned.

As the one actively engaged with Niitsuma Kan, he was the first to notice why Niitsuma Kan suddenly became capable of competing against him.

Niitsuma Kan’s swordsmanship hadn’t become more refined, nor had his strength and speed increased.

It was purely his heightened focus that made his reaction speed exceptionally fast.

Was it the desire to win that has allowed this extraordinary performance? Or was it simply that today’s physical condition was very good? Or was there some other reason?

Forget it.

It doesn’t matter!

These thoughts can come later.

Let’s defeat him first!

Unbeknownst to Aoto himself—as the intense battle with Niitsuma Kan continued—his mouth gradually curled into a smile.

Regarding this tournament... Aoto always held a sense of disappointment.

Thanks to Zhouzhu and the others’ ”good-natured lies,” Aoto had eagerly anticipated this tournament.

He hoped to encounter strong competitors at the tournament, to improve his swordsmanship while simultaneously absorbing the flair of various schools.

However, when the tournament finally began, the opponents’ poor skills caught Aoto off guard...

No matter who he faced, a single strike ended the match, though it eased things, it left Aoto feeling as though something was stuck in his chest.

But now—Niitsuma Kan before him had unexpectedly burst forth with sufficient strength to contend against him.

The strong opponent he eagerly anticipated before the match was here!

Finally, the monotonous matches experienced some changes.

The ”object” lodged in Aoto’s chest slid away and disappeared.

The muscles of his limbs, previously somewhat stiff like stone, seemed to awaken from slumber, becoming flexible and elastic.

——I see... he habitually initiates this combo from this angle... this combo can only exert its strongest power from that angle...

After glancing at Niitsuma Kan’s slashing move, Aoto twisted his bamboo sword, making it elegantly strike Niitsuma Kan’s sword, breaking his blow.