บท 39: That Summer in the Kendo Advisor's Life
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
"Be serious!" Daimon looked angry, probably thinking that Kazuma was fooling around by introducing himself before a fight.
Hence, Kazuma had no choice but to give up on the idea of being ritualistic. He had to rely on his kendo skills alone to fight against Daimon Goro.
Fortunately, he did not have to risk his life this time.
However, it was also because there were no risks involved that Kazuma could not activate his mental power like he did when he was facing Nishikiyama Heita.
He could only hope that he would be hurt later and that the pain would cause him to be angry, which would give him some buffs.
If Daimon were a bad teacher, Kazuma could try to trigger his anger by recalling his evil doings. Unfortunately, based on his observations these last few days, Daimon seemed to be a very nice teacher.
No matter how he thought about it, there was nothing else he could use other than his sword skills.
It was also a good opportunity to understand the difference in strength between level 6 and level 8.
In order to accurately grasp the difference in strength, Kazuma had to fight with all his might.
He assumed the Tsuki posture.
Daimon was also in position, ready for battle.
The next moment, Kazuma attacked.
The moment he dashed forward, Kazuma felt that something was wrong. He had exerted too much force.
Daimon's reaction was fast. He immediately took a step back. However, Kazuma was able to advance a long distance with Tsuki, and the speed at which Daimon retreated was still much slower than Kazuma's Tsuki.
In the blink of an eye, the leather cap on the tip of Kazuma's bamboo sword accurately hit Daimon's chest guard.
Years of kendo practice had given Kazuma's body muscle memory. The moment he hit Daimon, he shouted, "Body!"
One had to shout "face" when they hit the opponent's face and "body" when they hit the opponent's body.
As soon as he shouted, an even louder sound drowned out his voice. Kazuma's bamboo sword had cracked down the middle.
The correct way to use a bamboo sword was to slash. If one was to stab their opponent like this, it was entirely possible to break the rope in the middle of the sword.
This was actually a protective measure for kendo practitioners. When the rope snapped, it would provide some buffer to the impact of the thrust.
That's also why fencing competitions used soft swords.
However, this was the first time Kazuma had seen a bamboo sword break under the force of a thrust.
Daimon even stepped backward. If he had not, he would have experienced a harder blow.
'My goodness. After I beat up Nishikiyama yesterday, Chiyoko had to have done the maintenance work of the bamboo sword.'
'Chiyoko is a meticulous girl. She must have maintained the bamboo sword to its best condition. Why the hell did it break so easily?'
Daimon scolded him angrily. "Are you an idiot? Don't use real combat kendo moves! If you do that in the district qualifiers, you will be disqualified immediately!"
When Kazuma heard the words "real combat," he suddenly had an idea.
He remembered that he was now at Actual Combat 5.
Could it be that his increased actual combat level had enhanced his strength?
That's possible!
Kazuma had practiced kendo for so long before he achieved Shinto Style 6. The original Kazuma was even worse. His year-long practice only got him to Rishin Style 3.
However, he had achieved Actual Combat 5 overnight. Judging from the numbers alone, it was roughly equivalent to all of Kazuma's hard work over the years.
However, when Kazuma practiced sword swings yesterday and today, he did not feel any improvement in the speed and strength of his swings.
Could it be that there was an even greater enhancement to his sword skills?
Kazuma decided to try other sword techniques.
Meanwhile, he said to Daimon, who had just lectured him, "I'm very sorry, Sensei! It won't happen again. Please let me change my bamboo sword."
Daimon nodded. "Sure. There is a spare shared sword in the club room…"
At this moment, Fujii shouted, "Use mine!"
After saying that, she ran over and stuffed her bamboo sword into Kazuma's hands. Then, she stood on tiptoe and whispered in Kazuma's ear, "I've been maintaining this sword with love and care every day. You'll definitely find it easy to use!"
Kazuma looked at the bamboo sword and was surprised to find that the sword seemed… a little different.
He closed his eyes and counted twice before opening them again. Yes, he wasn't imagining things. The color saturation of the sword was different from that of the surroundings. It looked like it had a filter.
Could it be that meticulous maintenance could give a buff to bamboo swords?
But Kazuma could not be sure because the "filter" effect was not obvious. Perhaps it was an illusion caused by Fujii's words.
'Forget it, let me try whether other sword moves have also been enhanced by my Actual Combat level.'
Kazuma raised the bamboo sword above his head and put on a bold offensive posture that aimed to attack from the top.
Upon seeing this, Daimon muttered, "The Rishin Style doesn't usually use such attacks, does it?"
Kazuma did not answer. He stepped forward and executed the Upper Combo Slash!
Two crisp sounds echoed through the kendo dojo.
Kazuma felt the impact of the strikes and confirmed that his Upper Combo Slash was indeed stronger than before.
'This is great. As long as I keep on beating the yakuza, my combat power will increase.'
Kazuma could not help but celebrate. It was no wonder that the founder of the Shinto Style, Tsukahara Bokuden, was so obsessed with finding people to compete with. It was rumored that Tsukahara Bokuden had won 19 sword fights with actual blades while putting his life on the line, and his opponents were all sword masters of that time.
If every fight could give him 5 levels' worth of experience points, grandpa Tsukahara Bokuden would have reached Actual Combat 95. Taking into consideration the battles he had engaged in, he would definitely be above Level 100.
He would probably be able to break his opponent's sword in halves with a simple slash.
At this moment, Kazuma seriously considered the possibility of going around the world with a fake identity to find trouble with mobsters. That way, he could level up his Actual Combat skills faster.
However, in the end, his rationality made him give up the idea.
The current situation was that he had to fight back when the yakuza came to him with trouble, but it's probably not a good idea for him to be a troublemaker himself. It would be fine if he won. If he didn't, he would be faced with dire consequences.
Kazuma felt strange. 'I've been immersing in my own imagination for more than ten seconds. Why has Sensei has not taken any action?'
He turned his attention to Daimon. While he was busy examining the new power brought on by Actual Combat 5, Kazuma had not been paying attention to his surroundings. Although his eyes were open, he was actually not looking at anything. In other words, he was zoning out.
Then, he realized that Daimon was in a state of shock.
Yes, there was the word "Shock" over Daimon Goro's forehead.
Huh?
***
Although Daimon did not belong to any martial arts school, as a kendo enthusiast, he would often go to the large dojos in Tokyo to watch swordsmen from different schools battle against one another.
Although the way Kiryuu Kazuma had exerted his strength in executing the strikes was not that of the Jigen Style, and he did not shout like any other Jigen fighters, the power of his blows reminded Daimon of the Jigen Style.
How could a Rishin Style fighter unleash Jigen-like moves?
'No, to be more precise, he has not used any Rishin Style moves since the beginning.'
Daimon was very certain now that something had happened to Kiryuu Kazuma, causing him to be completely different now.
Although it was said that one could make huge progress within a short period of time and thus should be treated differently, Daimon had never thought that he would encounter someone like that in real life.
Although Kazuma's family owned a dojo, Kazuma's strength was actually quite average in the past. Whether he could be selected for the main team would depend on his performance during the internal selections.
But now…
Daimon Goro looked at Kiryuu Kazuma.
In his eyes, Kazuma undoubtedly exuded a strong aura.
In kendo competitions, one's aura was very important. With it, the strong could exert an influence over their opponents.
When Daimon was in his third year of high school, he won the National Competition.
At that time, his opponent was the son of an established police family, an expert in the Jigen Style.
Back then, even the opponent's simple movement of raising his sword above his head could exert a strong sense of oppression over Daimon.
The more one practiced martial arts, the more they believed in the actual existence of abstract things like aura, mind, and even the state where the mind and skills were united as one.
Despite his years of kendo experience, that was a state that Daimon had not been able to reach even until now.
However, there was no doubt that Kazuma had already crossed the threshold of experts and entered the realm of "the other side."
Kiryuu Kazuma was already different from ordinary kendo practitioners like Daimon Goro.
Daimon looked at Kazuma and felt his aura.
He felt as if he had returned to the last summer of high school.
That year, the Kendo Club chartered a bus from their town. They traveled all the way from the countryside of Yamanashi Prefecture to Tokyo.
Before the start of the journey, the club president had led everyone and shouted, "This is our battlefield!" The scene was so vivid as if it happened just yesterday.
However, that was all in the past.
Daimon could still remember that day when the Jigen Style expert stood in the middle of the dojo like an unconquerable peak.
He'd crushed the dreams of the Yamanashi teenagers effortlessly, mixing their memories of that summer with tears and regrets.
To this day, Daimon could still clearly remember that person's name.
Oniniwa Harunobu.
Back then, Daimon and his Kendo Club comrades swore that they would defeat Oniniwa one day.
However, until now, that day had not come. From then on, he had never faced Oniniwa Harunobu with a bamboo sword again.
As for his Kendo Club friends with whom he had worked up a sweat, it had been years since he last heard from them.
Daimon sighed.
'Ha. It seems this young man has reminded me of those precious memories.'
Daimon gripped his bamboo sword tightly and straightened his face. He looked at Kazuma, who was staring at him.
'After losing to a student, my reputation as the advisor of the school's Kendo Club will probably drop greatly.'
'But does it matter?'
'Let me witness your growth and your newly-gained strength, Kazuma!'
"Northern Katsushika High School's Kendo coach,
"Daimon Goro,
"Here I come!"
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