(100 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 77: Uchimura Ryoichi
Uchimura Ryoichi lifted his shinai, glancing at it for a brief moment before turning his gaze toward Chishima Akishin. His expression, partially obscured behind the metal grill of his face guard, was dead serious. He gave the grip of his bamboo sword a slight, rhythmic twist.
The two of them returned to the starting lines, their shinai leveled at one another. Once again, the referee signaled the start of the match.
The hall fell into a heavy, expectant silence. Hikigaya Hachiman and Hiratsuka Shizuka held their breath, their fists tightening instinctively.
Without even realizing it, Shizuka's left hand drifted over to grip Hachiman's arm again. In her nervousness, she was reflexively searching for something—anything—to hold onto.
Hachiman glanced sideways at her, hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately decided to say nothing.
Clack!
The sharp sound of impact echoed through the arena. Akishin lunged forward with another tsuki, a direct thrust aimed straight for Uchimura Ryoichi's throat.
This time, Uchimura managed to parry. The two bamboo blades collided, pressing against each other with such force that the bamboo groaned and creaked under the friction.
Clack!
Akishin exerted a sudden burst of strength, forcing them apart. He unleashed a quick downward slash before immediately retreating three steps in the blink of an eye.
At that exact moment, the tip of Uchimura's shinai swept past Akishin's face guard, missing by a hair's breadth.
Akishin sharpened his focus. As expected, he couldn't afford to underestimate anyone here. Even if his opponent lacked experience in life-or-death combat, his technical refinement was extraordinary. He had almost been caught.
Right after Akishin had delivered that last slash, Uchimura Ryoichi had used a deflection technique to redirect Akishin's shinai to the right, causing it to lose its line of control for a split second.
Uchimura had capitalized on that tiny opening to nearly take Akishin down.
In truth, Uchimura's expression behind his mask was far more shocked than Akishin's. He was stunned by Akishin's physical power; when that slash had landed, the impact nearly sent his shinai flying. It was a vertical strike far more powerful than anything he'd faced from practitioners of the Itto-ryu style.
He was also staggered by Akishin's reaction speed. While his own move had looked simple, it was actually his trump card—a technique specifically designed to counter Itto-ryu, one that had never failed him in daily practice.
He had only mastered it this year, intending to use it to secure the championship. Yet, the first time he revealed it, his opponent had read it and evaded perfectly.
Uchimura's mood soured instantly. It felt as if his greatest source of pride had been trampled on. His stance even wavered for a fraction of a second.
And in that moment, Akishin seized the opportunity. He lunged into Uchimura's personal space and unleashed a flurry of strikes. He couldn't rely on the tsuki anymore; he had to limit himself to a maximum of five more thrusts to save his stamina for the upcoming matches.
Even with the breaks between rounds, he couldn't afford to use that move more than seven times total.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Akishin's shinai rained down on Uchimura's defense like a torrential storm. The rhythmic wood-on-wood cracks filled the hall like a string of exploding firecrackers.
Uchimura poured every ounce of his strength into blocking, forced into a constant retreat. Behind his mask, his face turned a deep, frustrated crimson.
"Men!"
Suddenly, a thunderous shout erupted from Akishin. He raised his shinai high with a majestic posture and swung down with everything he had.
Clack!
Uchimura's shinai was knocked clean out of his hands, clattering away. Akishin's blade landed squarely and decisively on Uchimura's head protector.
The image seemed to freeze in time. Akishin didn't immediately pull away.
Uchimura's arms had gone completely numb, the sensation vanishing momentarily from the sheer shock of the blow.
Thud.
The sound of the fallen shinai hitting the floor echoed with haunting clarity through the silent hall.
After taking two deep breaths, Akishin hopped back to the starting line.
When facing a technical fighter like Uchimura Ryoichi—specifically when your own technique doesn't clearly outmatch theirs—the best strategy isn't to engage in a technical duel. Instead, you seize the momentum and overwhelm them with absolute, lightning-fast power to snatch the point.
Akishin had watched footage of Uchimura's matches. Beyond the two times he'd won the title—yes, Uchimura wasn't just the 57th champion, but also the 54th, a two-time winner—his worst performance in over ten years of Kendo tournaments was reaching the top eight.
Last year, Uchimura had made it to the finals. Just when everyone thought he'd be the second person to successfully defend his title, he lost to the burly Takanabe Susumu, and the trophy slipped through his fingers.
Uchimura practiced the Shinkage-ryu style, while Takanabe utilized Itto-ryu.
Last year, Uchimura had been defeated by Takanabe through sheer, overwhelming pressure. He'd lost a point early on and remained suppressed until the clock ran out.
Uchimura's secret technique had been prepared specifically to counter Takanabe's Itto-ryu, but unfortunately, he ran into Akishin and his "Self-Taught Style" instead.
Akishin, a man forged in real combat, was naturally wary of hidden moves. Forget Uchimura's refined techniques; he had encountered far more secretive and treacherous strikes on actual battlefields.
In fact, he had "died" to such moves many times in the past—a series of very permanent lessons.
Initially, Uchimura hadn't paid Akishin much mind. He hadn't taken him seriously until Akishin took that first point. Only then did he go on high alert.
He had even used his anti-Itto-ryu trump card to try and claw the point back, only for Akishin to dodge it. In that moment, his mental state had quite literally shattered.
That lapse in composure gave Akishin the opening he needed to launch a continuous assault and secure the win.
The three judges raised their red flags in unison, declaring Chishima Akishin the winner.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The entire hall erupted into thunderous applause. Shizuka finally let go of Hachiman's arm and clapped joyfully, her expression looking even happier than if she had won the match herself.
Hachiman pulled up his sleeve to find yet another purple handprint blooming on his skin.
Sensation finally returned to Uchimura's arms. He retrieved his shinai from the floor and noticed a hairline fracture running through the middle of the bamboo. His pupils shrank slightly. When he looked at Akishin again, he felt nothing but a lingering sense of dread.
The two bowed to each other and descended from the arena.
The next match began almost immediately.
Akishin removed his face guard, set down his shinai, and returned to the participants' seating, his face lightly beaded with sweat.
He offered a small nod to Shizuka, who was standing not far away, signaling that he was fine.
"Chishima-san, I lacked confidence before, but now I have a feeling you're definitely going to take the title," Suzuki Tsuyoshi praised him. "Your match with Uchimura-san was incredible. If it were me up there, I probably would have lost to him right from the start."
"Suzuki-san is being too humble," Akishin replied.
Suzuki shook his head with a smile, not saying much else. Whether he was being humble or not, he knew the truth. Reality was a bitter pill; he had to admit when someone else's abilities simply eclipsed his own.
Yunomoto Shinichi smiled and nodded toward Akishin, clearly in agreement with Suzuki.
The tournament resumed, and the chatter died down.
Suzuki Tsuyoshi took to the arena for the 20th match. He defeated a participant from Osaka Prefecture, successfully advancing to the next round.
Before long, the clock struck noon. After two hours, the first elimination round—narrowing 59 participants down to 30—was complete. One person had received a bye and advanced automatically.
The arena entered the midday break. The remaining matches would resume at 2:00 PM. It was time for lunch.
In a private restaurant inside the Budokan...
Akishin sat with Shizuka and Hachiman. On the table were three servings of "nutritional" meals—the kind of food that was almost entirely devoid of flavor.
Beef, fruit, juice, vegetable salad...
But it wasn't bad.
Between bites, Hachiman spoke up. "Sensei, that Uchimura guy you fought earlier... he seemed really formidable."
"He was," Akishin said, popping a piece of beef into his mouth and chasing it with a sip of juice. He looked at Hachiman. "How could you tell?"
"Just a hunch. When you were fighting him, it felt like you were being a bit more... cautious."
Shizuka swallowed a piece of fruit and chimed in, "Exactly. I felt the same way."
"Uchimura-san is a two-time champion..."
While they ate, Akishin filled them in on Uchimura Ryoichi's profile.
As an opponent, Akishin respected his skill.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
50 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Read ahead and support the story on Patreon: patreon.com/FaaanzKun
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —