My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 565: Chapter 184: Sword in Hand, Bathed in Moonlight, Sword Qi Like a Dragon!

However, in the next instant, Shinno and Mukiwa, who thought Aoto would directly take on this fierce slash, widened their eyes in disbelief at the incredible scene before them.

Mukiwa was so shocked that she couldn’t help but raise her two small hands to cover her slightly opened red lips.

Just as Shinno’s blade was about to strike Aoto, in that critical moment, Aoto slightly opened his mouth, exhaling a breath of stale air, and then leaped lightly.

Not forward.

Nor to the left or right.

But backward!

Aoto leapt lightly backward, easily dodging Shinno’s blade, and then landed firmly on the rounded top of a bridge railing post behind him!

”What?” Shinno, shocked by the scene before his eyes, couldn’t help but exclaim.

This was the first sentence he uttered since the duel with Aoto began.

Shinno didn’t have long to be astonished... because the blade of the Ghost-Slaying was already closing in with the wind!

Standing atop the post, Aoto swung his sword from the middle rank, aiming the descending blade directly at Shinno’s crown!

Driven by the intense sense of crisis pressing down like Mount Tai, Shinno’s soul quickly regained control over his body.

He hurriedly swung his blade to meet the attack. Once again, their swords intertwined in the air.

Damn it!—Shinno cursed silently within, his arms trembling as he deflected the Ghost-Slaying, then adjusted his blade’s momentum to strike at Aoto, still atop the post, with the Kasaya Slash.

Let’s see how you dodge this!—this shout in Shinno’s heart was tinged with schadenfreude.

The post top of this wooden bridge is only just wide enough for two feet... How could one possibly dodge his slash while standing on such a narrow spot?

To the silent shout spoken in his heart by Shinno with a tone of schadenfreude... Aoto quickly gave a powerful response.

Only to see Aoto take a deep breath, and then leap once more! Leaping towards his left side, he precisely landed atop the post of another bridge railing two steps away.

Shinno’s blade struck only air, and the post Aoto had just been standing on, shearing that rounded post top clean off.

”What?” Shinno once again exclaimed in shock.

Shinno quickly turned to see Aoto, who had jumped to another post top, then gritted his teeth, shouting ”Haahh!” as he pursued Aoto to attack.

Blades danced. The moonlight struggled to contain the chaotic dance of blades.

Shinno swung continuously, launching a fierce attack on Aoto like a torrential storm.

The blade slashed at Aoto again and again... but none succeeded in hitting Aoto.

Aoto moved precisely between the rails and each post on the bridge, evading every attack from Shinno.

Woodchips flew. Shinno’s missed slashes could only slice through air, rails, and posts.

One by one, the rails were severed, and the posts were chopped off.

The severed rails and posts fell into the river below the bridge, splashing waves and bringing new sounds to this duel scene.

After dodging yet another attack from Shinno, Aoto suddenly changed his evasion direction.

No longer dodging sideways, but forward, towards the opposite bridge railing!

Aoto leapt up like a great bird, the sleeves of his upper garment and the hakama below flapping loudly in the wind pressure.

His shadow overtook Shinno’s... for Aoto leapt right over Shinno’s head!

As he was about to leap over Shinno’s head, Aoto struck with his blade! The sword shadow, along with the moonlight, slammed towards the top of Shinno’s head!

Startled by Aoto’s sudden leap and strike, Shinno hastily raised his blade horizontally in defense.

Clang!

The two swords clashed... although barely managing to deflect Aoto’s strike, the tip of the Ghost-Slaying still grazed Shinno’s left temple, scraping away some of the skin and flesh at the corner of Shinno’s left brow.

In an instant, blood poured profusely.

Blood gushed from the wound at the temple, staining the left side of Shinno’s face blood-red.

Including the wound Aoto had earlier inflicted on his right cheek... Shinno, with wounds on both sides of his face, had little space left that wasn’t drenched with blood.

Having successfully wounded Shinno’s left temple, Aoto’s body gracefully followed a beautiful arc, finally landing firmly atop the post opposite the bridge railing.

The reason Aoto suddenly adopted the method of ”moving atop the railing and posts” to deal with Shinno was simple – just wanting to try a different tactic.

Fighting Shinno directly on the bridge, his attacks repeatedly missed, so Aoto thought of taking a different approach, trying instead to jump onto the rail, using ”three-dimensional movement and attack” to handle Shinno.

For Aoto, only when ”Gathering Spirit” was fully activated and his mind was in an extremely high state of concentration, could he possibly accomplish such a highly difficult action as ”precisely moving atop the railing.”

Though he had just successfully stricken Shinno... such a minor wound that did not even harm the bone was hardly significant.

If the blood flowing from the left temple could reach Shinno’s left eye, preventing him from opening it, then that would indeed be considered a significant achievement.

In combat... especially in armed combat, having one eye unable to see is no different from being blind, as with only one eye there’s simply no depth perception, making it unclear how far the enemy and their weapon are from you, then how could you fight?

The wound Aoto inflicted barely near Shinno’s temple... causing the blood flowing from it to not reach Shinno’s left eye.