The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 528 Ibaraki-doji
"Trash...tactics?"

Kaguteda Yasunori suddenly gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

But he was powerless to refute it.

The move "Haka-go Muku" has no fixed pattern after the sword is thrown from its sheath. Whether to follow up with a slash or a thrust depends entirely on the opponent's reaction, so Nanako's revelation of the move's name doesn't have much impact.

What was truly fatal was that Li Miao realized he was planning to follow up with a thrust.

Faced with a formidable enemy who appeared out of nowhere, he knew he couldn't hold back. So he planned to start with "Eight Directions Collapse," followed by his strongest strike, hoping to take advantage of Li Miao's arrogance and win in two quick moves. But before he could even make his first move, Li Miao saw through his intentions.

This means that Li Miao can predict at least two of his moves in advance... perhaps more. But he knows nothing about Li Miao.

"asshole……"

With a gloomy look in his eyes, Tada Ankei moved his feet slightly, gradually closing the distance between himself and Li Miao. His eyes swept over Li Miao with murderous intent, trying to force Li Miao to make a move and to see some of Li Miao's secrets.

"Tsk."

Li Miao clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

“It’s really annoying.”

After saying that, he strode towards Kaguteda Yasunori, waving his wooden sword around like a loafer strolling around with a tree branch in his hand.

"You're dawdling around looking at things, and when I ask you to make a move, you're just dragging your feet. Do you think I'm here to spar with you? Do you think I'm interested in entertaining you?"

"Looks like if I don't give you a good slap, you'll keep coming up with ideas."

As he spoke, Li Miao walked up to Kaguteda Ankei, raising his wooden sword high as if to cleave it down... or rather, he looked at the falling wooden sword with a puzzled expression.

"Isn't it a bit...too slow?"

It wasn't to the point where it could be "easily dodged," but it was to the point where it could be "clearly seen and countered"... It wasn't nearly as swift as Li Miao's initial strike.

Suddenly, Kagune-da Ankei drew his sword, the blade slashing towards Li Miao's waist!
Regardless, we must defend the enemy's position!
With a whooshing sound, the wooden sword fell, but the blade of Tadasuji's gauntlet reached Li Miao first, touching his cloak.

The next instant—clang!

Sparks flew, and the blade bounced back.

Kagoshi Tadasuki's eyes were bloodshot.

"How is that possible!" Nanako exclaimed, while Lu Wushuang crossed his arms and sneered.

The blade struck the soft, wind-swept cloak with remarkable accuracy, bouncing high as if it had struck a piece of fine steel, even shattering the stance of the gauntlet-wielding Yasunori!
Kaguteda Yasunori's pupils contracted sharply, but he had no time to be shocked, because the wooden sword was already above his head.

Using the momentum of the rebound, he forcefully adjusted his stance, raised the katana, braced his left hand against the back of the blade, and held it horizontally above his head.

The wooden knife fell.

clang!
"puff!"

Kagune-da Ankei suddenly ducked, his stance instantly crumbling, and his left hand was embedded in the back of a blade, bleeding profusely. He stumbled back several steps, but before he could even cry out, Li Miao had already caught up, his wooden sword once again slashing towards his head.

He could only raise the knife above his head again.

clang!
"you,"

clang!
"Japanese people"

clang!
Why all of them?

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

"You have to get a beating first before you can understand human language."

A resounding voice and a single sentence.

With nine strikes, Kaguneda Ankei's left hand was completely disshaped, and his right hand was covered in blood. He was forced to the edge of the dojo, his back against the wall, panting heavily.

Li Miao stood in front of him, looking down at him as she spoke.

"Ten moves." Kaguneda Ansei's shoulders suddenly relaxed, and his head drooped.

“御意に添う (Accept your wishes)”.

He uttered those words slowly.

Nanako, who was watching from the back, was already sobbing uncontrollably, covering her mouth tightly with both hands.

She never imagined that the first swordsman she met after running away from home would end up in such a tragic way... and the reason was a casual remark she made to hide the Buddhist temple!

In other words, the responsibility for all of this rests on her shoulders.

She led the Heavenly Demon to the front of Kaguteda Yasunori.

"grown ups!"

Nanako finally couldn't help herself and called out the name that Lu Wushuang used to address Li Miao.

"やめて(Don't)!"

She would rather be killed by Li Miao than watch a swordsman die because of her!
But the next moment, Nanako suddenly froze.

The pupils trembled violently inside the eyeballs.

From her perspective, she glanced at Kaguteda Yasunori as he blocked the blood dripping from Li Miao's wound, then past the somewhat amused look on Li Miao's face as he looked at her. Further ahead, she saw Kaguteda Yasunori leaning against the wall.

However, Nanako no longer knew whether she could call that person... or that "thing" Yasutada.

His originally short body seemed to be stretched out by suddenly growing bones, and a large patch of hair on his forehead had inexplicably become tangled, extending upwards to form a strange single horn. His skin was blood red, and his already extremely developed muscles swelled up again. His naked upper body no longer looked like a human, but more like a monster that had stepped out of legend.

Gauntleted Tian Anjing... let's call him that for now. He raised his right hand in front of him, bit the back of the knife, and then grabbed his left forearm, which had been cleaved in two by Li Miao and was now a bloody mess, and pulled it off suddenly!
scoff!

He actually ripped off his left forearm and threw it on the ground!
Nanako's mouth was agape.

Looking at Yasutsune Kagome's drastically changed appearance, she couldn't help but recall a legend.

"One arm, one horn, red skin, bare upper body..."

"Ibaraki-dōji!"

Nanako found it hard to believe.

Although the appearance of Gauntetada Yasunori does not completely match the legendary monster, the core characteristics are exactly the same... This cannot be a coincidence!

Considering that Kaguteda Yasunori tore off his left hand, it was as if he was deliberately trying to make his image resemble that of a monster from Japanese legend!
But legends are just legends!
Kaguteda Yasunori is the successor of the Akechi Kyoshin-ryu school, a famous general in Kyushu, a senior retainer of the daimyo of Hirado Castle, and a renowned swordsman! Nanako knows almost everything about him from childhood to the present; he must be, and undoubtedly must be, a remarkable person!

But what was happening before her left her no room for argument.

"what--"

Kaguteda Yasunori opened his mouth and exhaled a steaming puff of hot air.

"Sir, is this what you wanted?"

Li Miao took a step back without anyone noticing, looking him up and down, one glance after another, until she had carefully examined everything about him before suddenly revealing a smile.

"Yep."

"That's right."

Woohoo! Woohoo!
He swung the wooden sword in his hand twice, making an excited whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

"Finally, something new."

He raised his hand and hooked it.

"Come on, ten moves."

Kaguneda Ankei had already appeared in front of him, his long sword leaping and howling as it rushed toward Li Miao's neck!
(End of this chapter)