My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 459: Chapter 163: The Talent That Even Among a Million, Aoto Alone May Possess

Chiba Eijiro half-closed his eyes, reminiscing about the past.

”If I remember correctly... it was about seven and a half years ago that my swordsmanship training hit a bottleneck.”

”No matter how hard I practiced, I couldn’t feel any new progress.”

”At that time, I was quite anxious.”

”Afraid that my skills would stagnate at this point. So I racked my brains thinking: Just how could I further refine my skills?”

”But the more I pondered, the deeper I seemed to sink into the bottleneck.”

”Back then, my father was still alive.”

”Seeing me troubled by the bottleneck, he proposed: Try looking at ’landscapes’ you’ve never seen before.”

”Go see ’landscapes’ you’ve never seen before; experience wonders in life you’ve never felt; maybe a change of mood will unwittingly break through the bottleneck.”

”At the time, I didn’t really understand what he meant...”

”I couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind my father’s words. Just by doing so, could I break through the bottleneck? What was this logic?”

”But since my father was a world-renowned Great Sword Hero who founded the Beichen One-Sword Style, trusting in his skills and knowledge, I decided to try his suggestion and temporarily set aside my obstinacy with the sword.”

”Coincidentally, the Mito Domain invited me to join them as an official at that time.”

”So I accepted the invitation, went to see the ’landscape of the officialdom’ I’d never seen before, and experience what it was like to be an official.”

”Being an official wasn’t easy.”

”When I first arrived at Mito Domain, I was busy handling various affairs every day, leaving no time to think about swordsmanship matters.”

”Yet the changes unfolded mysteriously—amidst my daily busyness, unable to practice the sword, I finally accomplished what all my previous efforts couldn’t.”

”It was one day, about six months after joining the Mito Domain, when I was sprawled over my desk drafting a document, an idea suddenly flashed in my mind, and I comprehended several longstanding swordsmanship puzzles.”

”I had no sword with me at the time, so I directly used my brush as a substitute, clasped the brush in my hand, and wielded it according to the ’way of the sword’ that suddenly dawned upon me.”

”At that moment, I knew: I had broken through the bottleneck that had constrained me for so long.”

”It was also at that moment that I understood what my father’s advice to change my mood truly meant.”

Chiba Eijiro flattened his palm and made a grasping motion.

”Whether it’s studying academics or practicing martial arts, it’s like trying to catch water in a river.”

”The harder you try, the less water you catch.”

”If you slow down and gently cup your hand, you can hold a small stream in your palm instead.”

”So practice your skills with a more relaxed, free mindset.”

After Chiba Eijiro finished speaking, the dojo fell into a brief silence.

Everyone showed a thoughtful expression as they quietly digested the heartfelt words Chiba Eijiro had just shared.

After a moment, Nagakura, who sought Chiba Eijiro’s teachings, exhaled deeply, bowing sincerely to Chiba Eijiro once more: ”Mr. Chiba, thank you for your guidance!”

The others followed Nagakura’s lead to bow to Chiba Eijiro, who selflessly imparted his knowledge.

...

...

As Chiba Eijiro and Aoto finished their match, it coincidentally was close to lunchtime, so Zhouzhu naturally invited Chiba Eijiro to stay for lunch, to which Chiba Eijiro gladly accepted.

After lunch had passed, and everyone was full and satisfied, Chiba Eijiro expressed that he seemed to have lingered at Shiwei Hall too long and should probably return home. Aoto and others tried to persuade him to stay, but Chiba Eijiro’s mind was already made up.

In the end, the group stood outside the gates of Shiwei Hall to bid Chiba Eijiro farewell.

”Mr. Zhouzhu, thank you for the zongzi.” Chiba Eijiro swung the large bundle he was carrying and laughed heartily several times, ”Your zongzi was truly delicious; this trip today wasn’t wasted simply for these zongzi!”

”Ho ho ho.” Zhouzhu nodded with a smile, ”As long as you enjoyed them.”

”Ha-ha, today brought quite a few unexpected joys.” Chiba swung the cloth bag a few more times, ”Not only did I eat delicious zongzi, but I also met several promising young folks.”

With these words, Chiba Eijiro lifted his gaze towards Nagakura, Saito, and others: ”You all keep working hard.”

”Although your current skills are still far from those real masters.”

”But you are all quite talented; it’s rare to see people at your age with such a level of skill.”

”Keep working hard.”

”As long as you diligently hone your martial arts, and don’t follow any crooked or wrong path, over time, you all have a great opportunity to stand alongside me... or even surpass me.”

Chiba Eijiro’s unexpected encouragement took Nagakura, Saito, and the others by surprise, but they felt deeply grateful, each voicing their thanks to Chiba Eijiro.

Whether it was Aoto or Nagakura and others... anyway, all those who weren’t very familiar with Chiba Eijiro before greatly increased their liking of him through today’s brief interaction.

The Chiba family’s upbringing is indeed excellent.

Except for not being familiar with Chiba Daisaburo, whom they only saw a few times at the previous swordsmanship competition, and having a slightly unfavorable impression of Chiba Domon Shiro due to an unpleasant incident three months ago at the Plum Blossom Festival, everyone Aoto had contact with from the Chiba family showed excellent personal qualities and impressions, each better than the last.

Chiba Eijiro, although renowned as a Great Sword Hero, showed no arrogance.

He was humble and approachable.

Not only did he humbly accept Nagakura and their request for sparring, but he also shared his martial arts insights with everyone afterwards.

The fact that he’s willing to selflessly share his martial arts insights alone is enough to earn deep respect for him.

Aoto wasn’t particularly shocked or touched by the theory Chiba Eijiro mentioned, ”Don’t get stuck on one thought, learn to change your mood.”

After all, Aoto had heard similar stories and principles many times in his past life, such as the famous story of ”Archimedes discovering how to calculate the volume of objects.”

However, this doesn’t hinder Aoto from feeling respect for such a man who is willing to impart his knowledge to someone he only met today.

At this moment, after giving simple encouragement to Nagakura and others, Chiba Eijiro slowly turned his gaze... towards Aoto.

As soon as Chiba Eijiro looked over, Aoto helplessly smiled bitterly, starting with a tone mixed with regret:

”What a pity... until the end, I couldn’t release ’Shi’ like I did during the finals of the swordsmanship competition.”

Not being able to release ’Shi’ during the sparring with Chiba Eijiro certainly left Aoto feeling quite regretful... unable to have Chiba Eijiro help him assess what makes his ’Shi’ different from others.

”Hahaha.” Chiba Eijiro laughed heartily, ”It’s alright. There’s always a long future.”

”Though I’ve already joined the Mito Domain and don’t return to Edo very often, we’ll surely meet again someday.”

”I’m heading back to Mito Domain in a few days.”

”Next time I come back to Edo, I can’t say when it’ll be.”

Chiba Eijiro adopted a semi-playful tone.

”I hope that next time I return to Edo and come to see you, you’ve reached the realm where you can freely release and gather ’Shi’.”

”Ha...” Aoto laughed wryly, ”That difficulty is quite high.”

”I’m not joking,” Chiba Eijiro gently shook his head, ”Mr. Tachibana, I don’t know if you’re aware... you possess not only extraordinary swordsmanship talent and a flexible mind to adapt and correct your fighting strategies but also a special talent that not even one in a million might possess.”

”With this talent, you are destined to go farther and faster than anyone else.”

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Can any reader guess what Chiba Eijiro meant by the ”special talent” Aoto possesses that not even one in a million might have~?

Volume 1’s story is nearing its end, after a long setup, finally advancing to the final climax at the end of the volume, ready to confront the boss of Volume 1. It’s quite exciting.