'It seems... it's just this much?'
Within the empty courtyard, two figures crossed and collided with each other. In just a dozen breaths, the number of full-force swings had exceeded a hundred.
Ordinary wooden swords had long reached their limit of endurance, snapping almost simultaneously.
No matter how much force was redirected, it couldn't change the fact that they had collided at full power nearly a hundred times. A wooden sword was not a nichirin blade, after all; it was nowhere near as hard as the latter.
"Catch!"
A cold voice came from not far away, and two wooden swords were tossed through the air in front of him. Iguro Obanai hadn't acted just now, but it wasn't because he was influenced by the Sound Hashira and decided to slack off.
His wooden sword had been the first to give out.
Though it hadn't snapped, it was severely worn.
Iguro Obanai was unwilling to bully Kiyokawa Izumi with a new wooden sword, so he chose to wait on the side and toss the wooden swords out at the appropriate time.
Although his words were cold and sharp-tongued, he also had a delicate and warm-hearted side.
"Whew—how can you accurately block attacks coming from blind spots? It's like you have a pair of eyes on your back."
After the high-intensity clash, Uzui Tengen only panted slightly before finishing his adjustment. Looking at Kiyokawa Izumi in front of him, he couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Because I can not only see, but also hear and feel.
Extended five senses construct my Cognitive Domain!
Plus, my attention isn't attracted by your weapon; even the smallest detail will be noticed by me.
By observing the whole situation, one can see everything."
Although he felt the pressure the Sound Hashira brought him was only so-so, Kiyokawa Izumi didn't mean to look down on him at all. On the contrary, he was very respectful toward this veteran Hashira.
He openly stated the core concept of the Fourth Form.
"No wonder, it's a very flashy Move!"
Uzui Tengen, who understood instantly, showed a thoughtful expression—no wonder the other Hashira always liked to come to the Butterfly Mansion, even that unsociable Water Hashira.
Under high-intensity combat, the gains were also immense.
"Nonsense can wait until later. Now, let's start the second round!"
Iguro Obanai interrupted somewhat impatiently.
"Bring it!"
Kiyokawa Izumi, who was in his Peak state, didn't have the word 'cower' in his dictionary. Never mind two Hashira or three Hashira, he could handle them all!
Let the battle begin!
...The sun gradually set. The Serpent Hashira and the Sound Hashira very enthusiastically welcomed Kiyokawa Izumi back to the team.
In one afternoon, they only broke a dozen or so wooden swords, and that was all.
Kiyokawa Izumi was a bit disheveled at this moment. Compared to his high-spirited self from not long ago, he was like a completely different person.
It couldn't be helped.
The Peak state couldn't be maintained for too long. He first suppressed the Serpent Hashira, then fought the Sound Hashira who had completed his Score, and finally even fought one against two without falling behind in the slightest.
But that was all.
As his state declined, his physical strength also gradually failed him.
Instead, he was beaten into a sorry state by these two—by the second half of the fight, the Serpent Hashira's energy consumption was actually quite serious, but the most abnormal one was still the Sound Hashira. Truly an adult, truly a 1.98-meter tall giant.
With his Ninja background, his basic stats were far stronger than Kiyokawa Izumi's.
Plus, having conserved a lot of stamina earlier, the second half was practically his highlight moment.
Kiyokawa Izumi had the habit of reviewing his battles.
To be honest, despite having the second-ranked strength and the fastest speed, the Sound Hashira's strength wasn't as prominent as imagined; he was far from being one of the top-tier strong Hashira.
The Score skill he mastered was actually quite mediocre.
For those he could beat, he didn't need the Score.
For those he couldn't beat, he didn't have the time to use the Score.
Moreover, the upper limit of this skill was far inferior to the Transparent World.
After activating the Score, there was no qualitative improvement in strength.
Those he couldn't beat, he still couldn't beat.
If he were the one replacing the Flame Hashira to fight Upper Three, he probably wouldn't even have time to activate the Score—so where was the problem?
Clearly his basic stats were among the best, and his endurance and poison resistance were far above Kiyokawa Izumi's, yet the strength he displayed was somewhat unsatisfactory.
It might still be due to the Breathing Technique being inferior.
Although Sound Breathing was a derivative of Thunder Breathing, the latter's high burst and one-hit-kill characteristics were not preserved at all.
In his shallow view, it wasn't an outstanding Breathing Technique.
From this, it could also be seen that Uzui Tengen's talent was only average among the Hashira.
"Head to Wisteria Mountain and be responsible for the early-opened Selection!"
A sharp voice rang in his ear. Kiyokawa Izumi was slightly stunned. He had just recovered and was already being sent on a mission?
For a moment, he didn't know whether to praise or curse.
If you said it was inconsiderate, he was only responsible for the Selection of prospective swordsmen, which wasn't dangerous, just a waste of time.
If you said it was considerate, that person really knew how to order people around. He had just finished nursing his injuries and was already being sent on a mission without being given time to warm up or recover his state.
"It's just so-so, though he does have some boldness."
This was Kiyokawa Izumi's evaluation of that person—being willing to make changes to the existing Selection system, an evaluation of'some boldness' was actually not low.
As for the first half, it wasn't considered a belittlement either.
After all, looking at human history, there were far too many noteworthy figures; by comparison, he was just so-so.