Inoue and Hijikata were forced to retreat one after another... Facing the repeatedly reversed competition situation, the spectators in the “audience seats” who sided with Shiwei Hall all showed expressions of shock, bewilderment, and solemnity.
In contrast, the spectators who sided with Xuanwu Hall had their morale and fighting spirit significantly boosted.
No matter what the atmosphere in the “audience seats” became, it made no difference to Aoto and others on the battlefield—for they were highly focused, with all their attention devoted to “how to defeat the opponent in front of them,” leaving no extra energy or interest to pay attention to anything other than the battle.
Rumble—a large clump of dirt from the ground was launched into the air again.
Chiba Daisaburo dodged amidst the “torrent” jointly unleashed by Aoto, Toshisuke, and Kondo, stepping on the ground and leaping high, using gravity to bring the tachi raised above his head crashing down! Towards Kondo!
This time, the target Chiba Daisaburo chose was Kondo.
Kondo, with his robust physique perfectly matching his ample physical strength, had been fighting until now with no anomalies other than slightly flushed cheeks and a somewhat rapid breath.
Chiba Daisaburo’s one-armed strength could rival Aoto, Kondo, and the others who fully activated all buffs such as “Lone Brave”... Therefore, Kondo dared not be complacent or forcefully receive Chiba Daisaburo’s “Double Vertical Slash.”
Just as Kondo jumped back, Chiba Daisaburo slammed down like a meteor onto the spot where Kondo had just stood.
Chiba Daisaburo did not expect his leap slash to cause any effective damage to Kondo.
Therefore, he concealed a follow-up move within this leap slash.
It appeared once more.
Chiba Daisaburo’s “Big Windmill.”
The tachi traced a circular arc in the air, and the blade, fast enough to leave only a barely discernible afterimage, forced Kondo into a frantic defense by holding the bamboo sword sideways at his side, barely protecting the ceramic bowl in front of his forehead.
Strike followed by strike... This is the terrifying aspect of the “Big Windmill.”
Following the tachi was the wakizashi, equally terrifying in power and momentum.
The wakizashi’s trajectory traced an arc, precisely approaching Kondo’s ceramic bowl.
Because the strikes were continuous, the time allowed for Kondo to react was frighteningly short. Unable to retreat and dodge in time, Kondo could only grit his teeth, grip the sword tightly, and prepare to continue to withstand Chiba Daisaburo’s chained slashes.
While the “Big Windmill” made Kondo a miserable mess, it also prevented Aoto and Toshisuke from getting close.
In an instant, the “Big Windmill” had already spun three circles... Kondo endured Chiba Daisaburo’s six consecutive slashes.
Continuous strikes... this is not actually the scariest part of Chiba Daisaburo’s “Big Windmill.”
The most frightening part is that every strike’s rhythm is chaotic!
If the force, speed, and interval time of each slash were the same, defense would not be difficult; it would just be a matter of grasping the rhythm.
However, Chiba Daisaburo’s “Big Windmill” was not like this... His next strike might be heavier, or it might be lighter; it might come faster, or it might come slower...
This attack with a completely chaotic rhythm greatly tests the user’s personal skill.
If one does not have a mastery of the required skills, not only will the user fail to harm the opponent, but they might also face the backlash of “side effects,” causing their body’s rhythm to falter.
But Chiba Daisaburo had no such problem at all.
Only extremely powerful physical coordination could support Chiba Daisaburo in executing such a move that ordinary people could not possibly use.
Conversely, if one could perfectly utilize such a chaotic move... it would be a nightmare for the opponent.
In order to defend against such erratic, continuous fierce attacks, one’s body’s rhythm must inevitably be influenced uncontrollably.
If not carefully observed or lacking a certain level of physical management ability, upon realizing it, one’s body rhythm would already be in chaos.
For instance, at this moment... Kondo encountered such a situation.
After continuously enduring Chiba Daisaburo’s six slashes, his limb coordination showed extremely obvious disorder.
Predictably—Chiba Daisaburo, with an acute “combat sense,” immediately pounced.
The same tactic: the wakizashi in his left hand pushed back Aoto and Toshisuke, keeping them from “interfering.” The tachi in his right hand thrust out, sweeping across! Attacking Kondo!
Although Kondo quickly reacted by turning his body sideways and bringing the bamboo sword up in front of his chest, unexpectedly, his poorly coordinated hands and feet sabotaged him—his defensive angle was less than ideal, failing to position the sword properly.
The sound of a loud “crack” was heard as Kondo’s flawed defense was directly broken, the bamboo sword wrenching itself upwards from Kondo’s grasp toward the sky... leaving Kondo’s body wide open.
Chiba Daisaburo took advantage of the situation to retract the tachi to the best attack position.
As the tachi was swung again, a fresh set of ceramic shards was already on the ground...
Kondo Isami... was also defeated.
The previously favorable situation of five against one turned into two against one in just a few minutes... Chiba Daisaburo pressed his advantage, intending to quickly take down both Aoto and Toshisuke in one go!
The two, seeing through Chiba Daisaburo’s intent, steeled their expressions, spread their legs, steadied their swords, ready to face the impending “storm.”
The scene that had unfolded before reappeared on the battlefield—one sword for each person, Chiba Daisaburo’s wakizashi against Toshisuke, while the tachi targeted Aoto.

Comments

Loading...