Chapter 32: Sparring
"Damn, this kid looks so soft, but the kendo style he learned is so vicious."
Having finished testing Suoh with that strike, Saitou Yuuichi unconsciously rubbed his chin with his left hand.
A flash of surprise crossed his eyes as he silently cursed.
He'd really almost misjudged. He hadn't expected that beneath Suoh's seemingly gentle exterior lurked aggression as fierce as fire.
However, this was actually a good thing. This huge gap between appearance and interior often served as an excellent means of deception in actual combat.
Unfortunately, Suoh clearly already had his own school and style. He himself had no particular thoughts of taking disciples either.
Teaching was teaching, transmission of legacy was transmission of legacy.
Like a piece of beautiful jade already carefully carved into preliminary form, possessing clear patterns and direction—it no longer particularly needed, nor would it likely accept, another craftsman's inscription.
"Did you all see that?"
"Stance is the foundation, changes when facing enemies are the soul. Don't just stand there holding a sword like a damn wooden stake."
Turning back to look after the other students, Saitou Yuuichi withdrew the smile from his face.
With Suoh as an obvious reference point, his eye became more discerning, his error-picking more frequent, and his tone several degrees more severe.
His gaze fell on the slant-banged male student who'd just readjusted his stance after being distracted, carrying undisguised dissatisfaction.
"Especially you. Was my exchange with Suoh-kun so fascinating to watch?"
"So engrossed you became mesmerized—loose footwork, unstable sword grip. If you really met an enemy, you'd be cut down with one strike."
The slant-banged student didn't dare raise his head after being called out. His hands gripped the wooden sword tightly, knuckles white.
He could feel the gazes of surrounding students concentrated on him—some sympathetic, some mocking.
The teacher's praise for Suoh moments ago was still vivid, yet now he himself was being publicly reprimanded. This stark contrast made him feel both ashamed and angry.
"Think carefully about how your stance should properly be set."
Saitou Yuuichi took in all his embarrassment and discomfort, showing no consideration for his feelings, but also not continuing to apply pressure.
Leaving behind this somewhat ambiguous remark, he turned to walk toward other students.
Sometimes, directly pointing things out only made people more embarrassed.
He'd taught for so many years. He'd seen too many students like this who fell into dead ends due to complicated emotions.
"Alright, that's enough stance practice for now."
"Next, free sparring."
"Hey, Shikano, bring the basic group over to observe and learn."
Glancing up at the time, Saitou Yuuichi clapped his hands and called a halt to everyone's practice.
He simultaneously instructed the upperclassman on the other side to bring people over.
"Yes, sir."
The upperclassman named Shikano immediately responded. Soon the basic group students were led over at a light jog, holding their swords.
They then sat cross-legged in an orderly row along the edge, their gazes curious and carrying some excitement as they looked toward the advanced group students about to begin sparring.
The atmosphere inside the area instantly became somewhat different. Advanced group students sized each other up, searching for suitable opponents.
A subtle sense of stalemate permeated the air.
Just then, a figure suddenly stepped forward forcefully, coming straight before Suoh and speaking to break the deadlock.
"Suoh-kun, I'd like to spar with you. Please accept my challenge!"
This invitation rang particularly loud in the quiet dojo.
It not only made students in the area turn their heads, but also attracted the attention of everyone in the basic group.
Almost everyone sensed this wasn't an ordinary sparring invitation, but carried obvious personal emotion.
"Ooh, they're going to fight!"
"This'll be good to watch!"
The obvious provocative tone in his voice excited the observing basic group students.
Though they didn't know what had happened in the advanced group earlier, that didn't prevent them from watching the spectacle.
"Alright. Please teach me well."
Suoh accepted crisply, nodding with a calm expression.
With the two successfully paired, the remaining people also quickly found sparring partners.
Saitou Yuuichi stood at the field's edge with crossed arms, eyebrows slightly raised, but didn't speak to stop it.
The open space in the dojo's center was partitioned off, left for the impending match.
The first pair—Slant-bangs and Suoh—stood facing each other, bowed, then each stepped back several paces and assumed middle-level guard stances with their swords.
"Begin!"
Shikano's voice fell like a trumpet sounding the charge.
"Ohhhhhhh!"
Slant-bangs moved almost the instant the voice rang out. Roaring to seize the initiative, his feet stamped forward forcefully, thrusting straight at Suoh's face.
Striking out in anger, both speed and power were quite astonishing, also displaying his considerable family-taught foundation.
Facing this swift attack, Suoh didn't choose to counterattack.
His footwork lightly slid half a step to the side-rear. Simultaneously, the wooden sword in his hands lifted slightly upward, deftly deflecting the blade's trajectory.
The strike missing its target, Slant-bangs didn't hesitate. His wrist turned, the wooden sword slashing diagonally, sweeping toward Suoh's abdomen.
Suoh's expression remained composed. His form leaned slightly back as his wooden sword pressed down to block.
Clack—
The two swords met, releasing a sharp sound.
Suoh felt the force transmitted from his opponent, his heart forming a clearer assessment of his opponent's strength.
Strength was acceptable, speed also not bad, but the connection between techniques was rather stiff.
"Hah!"
Slant-bangs thought his surprise attack had successfully suppressed Suoh. His hands didn't stop as he continued changing techniques to attack.
As the wooden sword in his hands continuously fell, the more Slant-bangs fought, the more excited his expression became.
Using every ounce of strength to display everything he'd learned in his life, his offensive was torrential like a violent storm.
Facing the assault, Suoh deliberately controlled his own force. Each block or evasion was exactly appropriate.
His black-haired figure dancing through the attacks was like a night owl threading through a rainstorm, wings never dampened in the slightest.
He was accumulating combat experience against opponents of different styles, even if the opponent's strength was far inferior to his own.
Saitou Yuuichi watched silently from the sidelines. He'd long since seen through Suoh's ease and that examining gaze hidden behind his parrying.
The moment Slant-bangs' fierce assault ended, old strength already spent and new strength not yet generated, as he prepared to withdraw his steps and adjust his breathing and stance—
Sensing his opponent's techniques were exhausted, Suoh, who'd been on the defensive all along, moved.
Suoh's footwork instantly shifted from defense to offense. His figure crouched slightly forward in a sudden burst, like a leopard that had lain in ambush exploding forth.
Swift and precise, cutting into the opening exposed by his opponent's recovery.
The wooden sword in his hands became a concise, sharp black line, trailing a black afterimage through the air.
No superfluous flourishes—just the most basic forward thrust.
Slant-bangs had no time to react at all. The excitement in his eyes hadn't yet faded. Instinctively wanting to return his sword to defend, his arm had barely lifted when he felt an irresistible force against his chest.
Thud!
The wooden sword's tip struck precisely at the center of his chest.
"Whoa!"
"So fast!"
"What just happened?!"
The instantaneous reversal of offense and defense drew exclamations from students at the field's edge.
Accompanied by the audience's shouts, Slant-bangs who'd been full of momentum moments ago was immediately struck flying and fell to the ground, his wooden sword slipping from his hands and rolling aside.
"Thank you for the match."
Suoh withdrew and stepped back, sword tip lightly lowered toward the ground.
Lying on the ground with his chest heaving rapidly, Slant-bangs' face had lost all color, his expression full of disbelief.
***
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