"It seems we have arrived too early..."
Mukiwa stretched her neck and looked around.
"It looks like Aoto and the others haven’t arrived yet... Mr. Kiryu, what time is it now?"
Sitting beside Mukiwa, Mr. Kiryu took a pocket watch from his pocket.
"It’s exactly 9 o’clock. We have indeed come a bit too early; there’s still a full hour before the competition officially starts. Mr. Tachibana and the others should arrive later."
Mr. Kiryu and Mukiwa, an old and young duo with strong ties to Shiwei Hall and close relations with Aoto, naturally wouldn’t miss today’s rare grand competition.
The competition is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. today and is set at a riverside location outside Edo, with quite a nice view and a very flat terrain, making it an ideal venue for the "Red and White Battle."
This competition is no small scale—each side sends 20 disciples for a grand 20vs20 battle.
To ensure enough space for these 40 competitors to fully showcase their skills, the competition field has been marked out quite large—about the size of half a football field.
The western end of the field is the "rest area for Xuanwu Hall’s competitors," and it will also be the "Main Array" for Xuanwu Hall’s competitors once the competition starts.
Since the western end is Xuanwu Hall’s "Main Array," naturally the eastern end is the "rest area for Shiwei Hall’s competitors" and their "Main Array" after the competition begins.
The friends and family of these two sword dojos are seated at the north and south ends of the field on the "spectators’ seats" to watch the competition.
To make it easier to distinguish and to give the "Red and White Battle" more of a "battlefield" feel, each "Main Array" has a flag raised high, bearing the family emblems of the Chiba family and the Kondo family respectively.
The "Commander’s Flags" facing each other from the east and west flutter in the wind... giving off some semblance of a large army confrontation.
Due to Mr. Kiryu and Mukiwa arriving too early, Aoto and the others have not yet arrived.
Considering that some disciples live rather far away, Zhouzhu opted not to gather everyone beforehand and set out together but used the "each departure on their own, and those who arrive early warm up first, just don’t be late" method.
As Aoto, Kondo, and Toshisuke, the core disciples, have not yet arrived, there are only a little less than ten people in Shiwei Hall’s Main Array at the moment.
These disciples from Shiwei Hall who arrived early worked together to raise their "Commander’s Flag" and started warming up ahead of time.
At this moment, Mukiwa suddenly noticed sharply: these people... are all staring across with wide eyes.
More accurately... they’re gazing at the faces in Xuanwu Hall’s Main Array.
In their eyes and on their cheeks, there’s a clear look of fear.freom
Seeing this, Mukiwa couldn’t help but turn to Mr. Kiryu and ask:
"Mr. Kiryu, why do the people from Shiwei Hall have such expressions? Are the competitors from Xuanwu Hall really that strong?"
"Well... how should I put it..." Mr. Kiryu showed a peculiar smile, "Today’s match, Mr. Tachibana and the others will have a tough time."
Mukiwa opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"Even with Aoto, it will be difficult? Are the competitors from Xuanwu Hall really that strong?"
Mukiwa doesn’t know much about the Swordsmanship World of Edo; she only knows that Xuanwu Hall, one of Edo’s Three Great Dojos, is very strong, but she doesn’t know exactly how strong.
"The others are okay, it’s mainly that man that is hard to deal with..."
Mr. Kiryu raised an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at the tall young man standing in the center of Xuanwu Hall’s Main Array, holding a long and a short bamboo sword in his hands.
Rustle... rustle... rustle...
Suddenly, from the southeast of the field came the sound of a flurry of footsteps.
Mukiwa looked towards the sound and soon let out a low exclamation: "Ah... it’s the Little Chiba Sword Dojo..."
Led by Chiba Dingji, a group from the Little Chiba Sword Dojo was marching towards the field mightily.
Among them, there were many faces Aoto was quite familiar with: Chiba Sonako, Chiba Shigetarou, Yamanaka Keisuke...
Regardless of their ties to Shiwei Hall or Xuanwu Hall, the Little Chiba Sword Dojo had deep and complex connections with both.
Therefore, on today’s "spectators’ seats," anyone could be absent, except for people from the Little Chiba Sword Dojo.
Moreover, Chiba Dingji is the referee for this competition.
With the referee being Chiba Dingji, a highly skilled and highly respected individual, known as "the living legend," no one would feel unworthy.
Upon noticing the arrival of the Little Chiba Sword Dojo members, Mukiwa immediately shrank back, tucking her head low like a cat encountering a large dangerous dog, pulling her shoulders and neck inward nervously.
With her head down, her gaze was fixed on the ground in front of her knees...
But a moment later, as if unwilling to just "hide" herself like this, she stubbornly and cautiously raised her gaze slowly, looking towards Chiba Sonako walking next to Chiba Dingji at the forefront of the group...
——Chiba Sonako... is really beautiful... I can’t compare at all...
Mukiwa’s gaze, uncontrollably, fixated straight on Sonako’s charming face... her eyes showing a complex emotion difficult to describe in detail with words...
At this moment, Sonako keenly sensed that a... very "weighty" gaze seemed to be locked onto her.
Looking puzzled, she lifted her elegant swan-like neck and glanced around, and in an instant, she noticed Mukiwa.

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