The first sword of Aoto was barely parried by one person, while the other sword struck another person’s upper left arm — if this were a “Real Sword Duel” with real weapons, that person’s left arm would undoubtedly have been severed from his body by now.
Aoto’s offensive wasn’t over yet.
At the instant he landed, he swung his sword backhand, forcing Kikuchi, who was pursuing him, to retreat.
At this moment, Chiba Domon Shiro and the others watched in shock as Aoto’s strength and speed suddenly escalated to a new level.
The swordsman named Anfu was even more dumbfounded, mumbling to himself, “What’s going on?”
Before they could figure out the situation, Aoto’s figure and sword once again came whirling towards them like a storm!
This time, Aoto’s target was Senda, who was closest to him.
With two quick steps on the ground, he closed in on Senda.
Senda was also someone who preferred offense over defense.
He neither dodged nor defended, directly confronting Aoto head-on!
“Haaah——!” Senda slashed fiercely.
Aoto sidestepped, easily dodging, then gathered his strength, using his feet to propel his body, his body to drive his arm, and with centrifugal force, he accurately slashed towards Senda’s waist.
“Guh...!” Though Senda successfully intercepted Aoto’s attack in mid-air, he groaned as his body struggled to withstand the enormous force transmitted back through the sword, moving backward.
In a stance with no openings, a flaw appeared for just an instant.
The shadow of the sword flashed — Aoto’s bamboo sword drew a straight line, slicing towards Senda’s forehead.
Although Senda tried with all his might to dodge, his unstable stance slowed his speed by half a beat.
Crack!
Senda Sennosuke, defeated!
[Ding! Talent Scanned]
[Successfully Copied Talent: “Bright Eyes”]
[Talent Description: Eyes are not prone to myopia]
Since the initial clash with Senda, more than 10 seconds had passed, allowing Aoto to successfully copy the talent from Senda.
——Eyes not prone to myopia...? Well, it’s not a useless talent.
“Waaahhhhhhhhhh!”
No time to savor the joy of copying a new talent — the school principal of Xuanwu Hall: Kikuchi was attacking!
Approaching Aoto from the left side, Kikuchi raised his bamboo sword high in an upper stance.
With Kikuchi’s tall stature and long limbs, he was still a full three steps away from Aoto when he shouted loudly, using his arms to strike down a sword as if slashing down from a cliff.
The sword edge approaching in a close upper stance was incredibly intimidating... but Aoto did not shy away from its sharpness.
He took a deep breath, and then suddenly sank his body, deflecting the bamboo sword slashing towards his head.
“Waaahhhhhhhhhh!” Kikuchi relentlessly delivered a second strike.
But at this moment, Aoto bent and stretched his waist forcefully, pushed off the ground with his feet, and stood upright.
As he stood upright, so did the sword in his hand, and this move happened to catch up with blocking Kikuchi’s pursuit.
With a dull “pa” sound, the bamboo swords of the two were tightly intertwined in mid-air.
The next moment, Aoto flicked his wrist, making his palm sword slide along Kikuchi’s bamboo sword with a rattling sound.
Aoto’s body seemed to be drawn by his bamboo sword sliding forward, running towards the side of the much taller Kikuchi.
As he was about to brush past Kikuchi’s armpit, Aoto swung his sword twice.
The first strike, starting low, was a Reverse Torso Slash from bottom left to top right aimed fiercely at Kikuchi’s left thigh, disrupting Kikuchi’s balance and stance.
The second strike followed the sword raised above his head due to the Reverse Torso Slash, slashing forward.
With the body moving with the sword — Aoto’s forward-slashing sword went straight ahead, through Kikuchi’s armpit, running about 8 steps before quickly turning around with Residual Heart.
At this time, the sound of fragile items breaking came from his ears — the second strike he had slashed out destroyed Kikuchi’s porcelain bowl.
Kikuchi Takeshiro, defeated!
[Ding! Talent Scanned]
[Successfully Copied Talent: “Cloud-Piercing Stone-Shattering”]
[Talent Description: Capable of producing a much louder sound than ordinary people]
In a way... Aoto felt no surprise copying this talent from Kikuchi.
During their first encounter, Kikuchi’s extremely loud voice had left a deep impression on Aoto.
Aoto thought: This “Cloud-Piercing Stone-Shattering” could pair well with the “Golden Voice” he had previously copied, one capable of producing louder vocalizations and the other with a throat that’s not easily strained.
“Fools! Don’t attack one by one! Surround him! Surround him!”
The angry voice of Chiba Domon Shiro, accompanied by his footsteps, approached Aoto.
Aoto looked around.
This time, three people rushed over — Chiba Domon Shiro, Rikugawa, and Anfu, each approaching from the east, north, and west directions.
Seeing this, Aoto thought:
——Just the time to try out the newly acquired talent.
With that thought, Aoto took a deep breath and then——
“Waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh——!”
The intangible sound waves churned the atmosphere.
Although Aoto rarely shouted when fighting, he had always held a high regard for “Qi Union,” a martial arts skill that seemed foolish but contained profound wisdom.
A loud enough “Qi Union” not only helped with exerting physical strength but also intimidated the enemy.
For example, at this moment — Aoto’s sonic attack, which was unprecedentedly enhanced due to the newly copied “Cloud-Piercing Stone-Shattering,” didn’t affect Chiba Domon Shiro and Rikugawa much, but it successfully stunned Anfu.

Comments

Loading...