Inoue took the initiative to invite him for an intense battle... Aoto couldn’t ask for more!
Inoue wanted to personally test the depth of Aoto’s strength, just as Aoto was eager to experience firsthand how strong Inoue, one of the top experts of Shiwei Hall, truly was.
Inoue’s appearance was quite deceptive.
Those unfamiliar with Inoue might subconsciously think this man was just an ordinary old farmer upon first seeing him.
They would never suspect... this seemingly harmless old farmer was a Master of All Techniques!
When Aoto first joined Shiwei Hall, an enthusiastic senior had explained to him: Excluding Hall Master Kondo Shuuzo, Shiwei Hall had the following four top experts—Kondo Isami, Chokata Toshisuke, Hijikata Toshizo, and Inoue Genzaburō.
In terms of swordsmanship skills, Inoue Genzaburō, a holder of the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream’s Master of All Techniques, was undoubtedly one of the most skilled experts in Shiwei Hall.
"Master of All Techniques" was the highest level of certification in the swordsmanship world of the Edo Era.
Only by completely mastering all the techniques of a school and obtaining the teacher’s approval can one receive the rating of "Master of All Techniques."
Different sword dojos had different standards for awarding the Master of All Techniques.
Some sword dojos had stricter standards.
In some sword dojos... simply give the hall master some money, and he would issue a Master of All Techniques certificate for their style to you.
Shiwei Hall happened to be the former.
Zhouzhu maintained extremely strict standards for awarding the Master of All Techniques.
Up to this point, excluding Zhouzhu himself, only three people in Shiwei Hall had successfully been awarded the Master of All Techniques: Kondo, Chokata, and Inoue.
Even Hijikata hadn’t received the Master of All Techniques.
However, the reason Hijikata had not been awarded the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream Master of All Techniques by Zhouzhu was not due to lack of skill.
As a young man, Hijikata made a living by traveling and selling his family’s secret medicine "Ishida Powder Medicine" as a medicine seller.
While traveling and selling medicine, he also studied and competed in sword dojos across the regions.
Unknowingly, he had stolen many sword techniques from various sword dojos.
Moreover, Hijikata himself was a notorious troublemaker, with a sharp tongue and bad temper, often getting into fights out in the open.
In these numerous fights, Hijikata unconsciously picked up many street-fighting techniques and various strange moves from his opponents.
After entering Shiwei Hall and beginning his studies in the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream, Hijikata integrated the various sword techniques he had stolen from different schools and those chaotic street-fighting techniques into his Natural Reasoning Heart Stream.
Therefore, Hijikata’s Natural Reasoning Heart Stream was his personally altered "Alternative Natural Reasoning Heart Stream."
Zhouzhu believed Hijikata was not a pure Natural Reasoning Heart Stream swordsman, so he was slow to award Hijikata the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream Master of All Techniques.
In short — being awarded the Master of All Techniques under Zhouzhu, who maintained extremely strict standards, speaks volumes of Inoue’s skill.
Inoue, who was slower to get ready than Aoto, finally donned his protective gear.
Both now ready, holding bamboo swords, they approached the center of the dojo from opposite directions.
Zhouzhu, serving as the referee, stood between the two, raising his right hand high.
"Salute!"
Aoto and Inoue placed their bamboo swords at their left waists, performed a squat bow to each other, then mimicked the motion of drawing a sword, pulling out their bamboo swords and slowly rising.
"Begin!"
With Zhouzhu’s command, the atmosphere of the dojo instantly transformed!
A tense, confrontational air spread between Aoto and Inoue!
It’s easy for an expert to recognize another at a glance.
Inoue stood in a middle stance... like a steadfast figure, light above and grounded below.
His arms and waist moved with a sense of fluidity, while his feet were firmly rooted as if they were growing into the ground, his body seamlessly integrated with the floor, stable yet flexible.
A perfect stance... without any visible flaws.
Realizing that this man before him might be much stronger than he originally thought, Aoto’s eyelids lowered slightly, holding his breath, focusing intently on Inoue’s every movement.
The talent "Gathering Spirit" activated!
The duel between Aoto and Inoue began in a silence so intense, one could hear a pin drop.
Neither was in a hurry to attack.
They stood there holding their bamboo swords, motionless, glaring at each other from a distance.
The one to first break this tense standoff was Inoue.
Inoue used a step that seemed to adhere to the ground, slowly advancing towards Aoto.
Aoto moved simultaneously, using a similar ground-sticking step, inching closer to Inoue with a creeping speed.
The two, advancing towards each other inch by inch.
Just as they were a sword’s length apart, like a film suddenly fast-forwarding, Inoue, who had been moving at a snail’s pace, suddenly sprinted towards Aoto at the speed of a hundred-meter dash!
Using the momentum from the dash, Inoue swung his sword downwards, aiming fiercely at Aoto’s head.
Inoue’s speed was swift... but Aoto’s movements were not slow either!
At the moment Inoue lunged forward, Aoto came to a rapid halt, spreading his feet apart, and his sword, like a flexible whip, lashed upwards from below.
Smack!
The crisp sound of the bamboo swords clashing... Aoto’s bamboo sword and Inoue’s bamboo sword tangled in the air.
Aoto’s sudden upward strike carried a rather astonishing force, seeming likely to sweep away the bamboo sword from Inoue’s grip.

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