My dear wife, I still love you more.

Chapter Twelve: Saeko Busujima's Request

He gripped the wooden sword in his hand and swung it once; the feel was still familiar. Although he hadn't practiced for a few days, he didn't feel any regression at all. Of course, it had only been a few days since he'd stopped practicing, so it wasn't so easy for him to regress. Most importantly, he had the system with him.

Because the system's numbers are fixed, Hasegawa's kendo level is also fixed at these numbers. Even if Hasegawa doesn't practice kendo for a year, as long as the numbers on the system don't decrease, his kendo level won't decline.

As usual, he didn't wear the somewhat bulky protective gear typical of kendo; he simply took a wooden sword and began practicing.

The familiar feel, the familiar weight—Hasegawa's swordsmanship had improved along with his kendo skills, and even a simple swing of his wooden sword produced a faint whistling sound.

"Hasegawa-kun?"

Hasegawa, who was practicing, suddenly heard someone call his name. He was startled and turned around to find Saeko Busujima, the captain of the kendo club, with long purple hair tied in a ponytail, a slender and graceful figure, and a ladylike demeanor. She was smiling at Hasegawa.

"Captain? Is there anything I can help you with?" Hasegawa looked at Saeko Busujima with a bit of confusion. Hasegawa had been a member of the kendo club for some time, but he had never had any contact with Saeko Busujima. They hadn't even had the simplest conversation before.

Saeko Busujima is very popular in the kendo club, and it's unknown how many people in the club have a crush on her.

After all, Saeko Busujima is not only beautiful, but her personality also seems very much like that of a Yamato Nadeshiko (ideal Japanese woman). Coupled with her exceptionally high level of kendo skills, it would be strange if she wasn't popular with the boys in the kendo club.

Although Saeko Busujima was very beautiful and had a great presence, especially her enormous breasts that were practically like a human nuclear bomb, Hasegawa had no romantic feelings for her and naturally never considered making a move on her.

"Hasegawa-kun, it seems you usually practice alone and never spar with anyone, right?" Saeko Busujima said with a seemingly gentle smile, taking two steps closer to Hasegawa.

"Well, I just enjoy practicing kendo by myself. I'm not really interested in sparring with others. Actually, the only reason I joined the kendo club is because the place is big and a good place to practice," Hasegawa explained with a faint smile.

“Oh? Is that so? However, while it’s true that kendo is good for physical health, it also gradually evolved from the art of killing. So sparring is still very necessary. Only in this way can you improve and become a better kendo practitioner,” Saeko Busujima said.

"I understand. Thank you for your concern, Minister, but actually, I just treat it as a hobby, practicing casually. I never thought about becoming very good at it." Hasegawa remained the same, shaking his head with a smile.

"Is that what Hasegawa-kun thinks? However, Hasegawa-kun's kendo skills are not just as you say." Saeko Busujima said, her eyes narrowing slightly, her gaze towards Hasegawa showing a hint of interest.

"Perhaps I have a pretty good talent in this area."

“Indeed, Hasegawa-kun’s talent is truly remarkable.” Saeko Busujima nodded, agreeing with Hasegawa’s words. Saeko Busujima had rushed over after receiving the news of Hasegawa’s appearance in the kendo club, and stood quietly to the side watching Hasegawa practice kendo.

Although Hasegawa's kendo may seem ordinary, lacking any particularly impressive styles or techniques, and might not appear particularly remarkable to the untrained eye, Saeko Busujima, an expert, recognized Hasegawa's exceptionally solid foundation—a foundation that most people simply cannot possess.

So even though they haven't fought yet, Saeko Busujima is already certain that Hasegawa's kendo skills are already very impressive.

"How about we have a spar?" Saeko Busujima suddenly said to Hasegawa.

"Huh? Sparring? You want to spar with me, Captain?" Hasegawa was taken aback, somewhat surprised.

“That’s right, Hasegawa-kun’s kendo skills are amazing. Hasegawa-kun, you’re not interested in sparring with the other members of the kendo club because their kendo skills are too far inferior to yours, right? In that case, I’ll spar with Hasegawa-kun. I’m quite confident in my kendo skills.” Saeko Busujima said, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes.

"Um, Minister, it seems you've misunderstood?"

"Misunderstanding? Words can lie, but solid swordsmanship doesn't lie at all. Simply practicing alone won't get you to Hasegawa-kun's level. Only through constant training, sparring, and combat can your swordsmanship improve step by step. Hasegawa-kun, come on, don't hold back. Now you can show your swordsmanship completely without any pretense." Saeko Busujima's voice grew increasingly excited. Even her usually dignified and virtuous face, resembling that of a Yamato Nadeshiko, now looked somewhat strange due to her excitement.

"minister--"

"Hasegawa-kun, don't you want to have a proper match using your still-practiced kendo? Practicing kendo must be very hard, perhaps because you've been receiving this kind of training since you were a child, swinging your sword again and again, gritting your teeth and not giving up even when your arms are sore."

"Not at all," Hasegawa thought to himself.

"Having gone through so much hardship in your cultivation, don't you really want to show it off?"

Hasegawa felt that if it were someone else—someone without a system, someone who could only bury themselves in hard training—hearing Saeko Busujima's words would definitely get excited. But it seemed that these words had no effect on him whatsoever.

"Moreover, I can understand Hasegawa's feelings. He keeps practicing kendo and his skill level has improved a lot. But he can't find an evenly matched opponent and ends up practicing alone. That must be very lonely," Saeko Busujima said to Hasegawa in a tone of empathy.

"No, not at all," Hasegawa said silently to himself again.

"So, Hasegawa-kun, come on, let's have a good fight and show off your swordsmanship." Saeko Busujima's eyes gleamed as she stared intently at Hasegawa.

"This—" Hasegawa scratched his head. He understood somewhat what Saeko Busujima was saying; she was probably feeling lonely as a skilled fighter. However, he couldn't empathize at all with her situation.

Chapter Thirteen: Saeko Busujima's Madness

Seeing Saeko Busujima like this, Hasegawa nodded: "Since the captain wants to fight, then let's go." Hasegawa gripped his sword with both hands, signaling to Saeko Busujima that she could attack.

"Since Hasegawa-kun is unwilling to take the initiative, then I'll make the first move. Watch out, Hasegawa-kun." Saeko Busujima, wielding a sword in both hands, rushed towards Hasegawa in a single stride, her wooden sword falling towards him.

Hasegawa frowned slightly, raised his wooden sword and held it horizontally to block Saeko Busujima's wooden sword.

Snapped!

The two wooden swords clashed, producing a clear, resounding clang.

Hasegawa raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem to have the strength he'd expected. He wondered if Saeko Busujima was inherently weak or if she'd been holding back during her attack. Hasegawa leaned towards the latter; after all, Saeko Busujima was the Japanese high school kendo champion. If she only possessed that kind of strength, she couldn't possibly have won the championship.

"Hasegawa-kun's reaction is indeed very quick." Saeko Busujima had a pleased expression on her face, and with a flick of her wrist, the wooden sword struck out again.

Snapped!

Hasegawa once again blocked Saeko Busujima's attack.

Even though Saeko Busujima didn't use her true strength, she was already excited because in the entire kendo club, there were very few who could withstand her attacks, even without her full strength, and none of them could do it as easily as Hasegawa.

As her attacks were blocked time and time again, Saeko Busujima became increasingly excited: "Hasegawa-kun, I'm going to get serious now."

Next, Saeko Busujima's attacks suddenly became much faster. Compared to before, it was completely different, like a fundamental difference between a Master Yi using basic attacks and a Master Yi using his ultimate.

Saeko Busujima's wooden sword strikes were as fierce as a storm, and most importantly, her swordplay was very different from before. If her previous swordplay was just ordinary, now it was as if she was using some kind of unique secret technique.

The moves suddenly became ruthless and cunning.

Fortunately, Hasegawa has already raised his kendo to level 4. In essence, his current kendo level is on par with Saeko Busujima.

However, although Hasegawa's kendo level is 4, he has never practiced any secret techniques or learned any styles of kendo. Therefore, his kendo is completely the most basic kendo.

It can be said that when Hasegawa used the wooden sword, he only used the most basic techniques such as chopping, slashing, parrying, and thrusting. Of course, in Japanese Kendo, these techniques also have names, such as Karatake, Kesazhan, Reverse Kesazhan, Saji, Uji, Sagiri-agaru, Ugiri-agaru, etc. In reality, these names sound impressive, but they are just the names of techniques such as chopping and slashing.

Saeko Busujima's attacks were like a whirlwind, relentless and penetrating. Hasegawa's swordsmanship, however, was like a rock, unmoved by wind and rain.

Of course, from the perspective of the situation, Hasegawa is still at a disadvantage. After all, not having specifically learned any style of martial arts techniques will always put him at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Hasegawa was on the defensive. If he had chosen to attack, he would have definitely revealed a weakness and been defeated by Saeko Busujima.

The sounds of the two fighting carried outside, attracting quite a few people even though the place was rather remote.

When they saw that one of the two fighters was none other than Saeko Busujima, they were immediately taken aback, especially since Saeko looked completely different from usual. Many people had fought Saeko Busujima before, but she had never been nearly as formidable as she appeared now. Clearly, Saeko Busujima hadn't used her true abilities back then.

Hasegawa, who was able to get Saeko Busujima to show her true abilities, is clearly also a very formidable person.

When these people looked at Hasegawa, most of them had blank expressions in their eyes, because it seemed that they did not recognize Hasegawa at all.

The reason they found Hasegawa so unfamiliar was that he usually practiced alone in a corner of the kendo club and didn't have much contact with others.

After all, it's surprising that someone with such a high level of kendo skills seems to have never been seen before and has no recollection of them. Some people even wonder if an outsider has come to challenge the kendo club.

Hasegawa gripped the wooden sword with both hands, and the wooden sword acted like a shield, blocking all of Saeko Busujima's attacks. However, even Hasegawa felt a little sore and numb in his arms.

He even felt that his strength might be slightly inferior to that of Saeko Busujima, or perhaps it was because of the nature of his kendo style that he couldn't exert as much power as Saeko Busujima could.

Most importantly, Hasegawa suddenly noticed that Saeko Busujima's eyes were faintly red during the battle. Hasegawa could clearly see the excitement, the euphoria, and even the almost undisguised madness in Saeko Busujima's eyes.

Hasegawa felt that something was off about Saeko Busujima's demeanor, especially since he noticed that her strength and speed seemed to have increased, and even showed signs of further improvement.

Snapped!

As Hasegawa blocked another of Saeko Busujima's attacks, he used the impact from Busujima's wooden sword to propel himself backward, retreating nearly ten meters. Hasegawa thought that this would stop Busujima and end the fight.

But Saeko Busujima continued her pursuit relentlessly, seemingly even more excited than before.

"Minister, wake up!" Hasegawa shouted at Saeko Busujima as he parried the wooden sword again.

Saeko Busujima was taken aback, then the red in her eyes gradually faded, and the madness in her eyes gradually disappeared. Afterward, her face turned slightly pale, and Hasegawa even saw a hint of lingering fear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hasegawa-kun. It's been so long since I've encountered an opponent like you, so I couldn't help but get a little excited. Please forgive me, Hasegawa-kun." Saeko Busujima bowed in apology, her slightly loose kendo uniform almost knocked away by the weapon that seemed unwilling to be restrained.

"It's alright. After all, it's normal for you to lose control of your emotions because you haven't met your match in a long time, Captain." Hasegawa waved his hand, but even though he said that, thinking about Saeko Busujima's eyes earlier, Hasegawa still felt that the truth might not be like that, or rather, it might not be that simple.

Chapter Fourteen: A Date?

"Hasegawa-kun, let's practice more when we have time," Saeko Busujima said with a smile, extending an invitation to Hasegawa.

"Yes, if there's time later." Hasegawa nodded with a smile. Although Saeko Busujima gave Hasegawa a slightly strange feeling, to be honest, even though he only sparred with her for a few minutes, it was incredibly exhilarating. It was truly exhilarating; being able to perfectly execute the skills he had learned in battle felt wonderful.

It was precisely for this reason that Hasegawa did not refuse Saeko Busujima's invitation.

When Saeko Busujima saw Hasegawa nod, a smile inevitably appeared on her face.

After the fight stopped, the people around came forward one after another. Many of them looked at Hasegawa with new eyes, after all, the strength that Hasegawa had shown was too great.

Although Hasegawa responded to these people with a smile and seemingly composure, he didn't actually enjoy this kind of socializing. After barely managing to deal with them, Hasegawa turned and went to the kendo club's bathroom.

Although this training session was short, even including the time spent sparring with Saeko Busujima, it only lasted half an hour. However, those few minutes with Saeko were more tiring than two hours of solo practice he had previously done alone; Hasegawa was already sweating profusely. After a quick check and changing his clothes, Hasegawa left the kendo club.

"Hasegawa, why are you out so early today? Is the kendo club activity over?" Yui Yuigahama asked, a little surprised and concerned to see Hasegawa come out so soon.

“I sparred with someone today, and it was quite a lot of activity, so I don’t need to stay any longer. Also, I’m planning to buy a new laptop, which will take some time. Would you like to come with me?” Hasegawa said to Yui Yuigahama with a smile.

"Let's go buy a laptop together? Is that okay?" Yui Yuigahama's eyes lit up slightly. Going shopping together? The first thing that came to Yui Yuigahama's mind was a date!

"Of course, since we're going home together. Of course, if you have something to do, you can go back first." Hasegawa said casually without giving it much thought.

“Of course we’ll go together.” Yui Yuigahama blurted out, then her cheeks flushed slightly. “Well, I, I mean, I know a little about computers and stuff, so maybe I can give you some advice.”

"Is that so? Thank you so much then." Hasegawa smiled casually. While he wasn't exactly a computer expert, he generally knew a thing or two about computer configurations and performance. He didn't need Yui's help unless she was an expert in that area. But since Yui had said so, Hasegawa couldn't really say anything more.

Hasegawa and Yui Yuigahama headed towards the computer store.

In fact, the computer store is not too far from their school; it's only five subway stops away.

This computer store sells Sony products. In Japan, this brand is actually quite popular, and its quality is guaranteed, especially given Hasegawa's ample financial resources.

"Hasegawa, what do you think of this? It looks beautiful, it must be amazing." Yui Yuigahama was very enthusiastic in promoting it to Hasegawa after they came here again.

Hasegawa glanced at the laptop Yui Yuigahama was promoting. It did look very nice, but its performance was actually quite average, and its price was a bit high. Clearly, its performance didn't match its features.

Hasegawa wasn't really surprised by this situation. After all, unless girls really like this kind of thing, their first consideration is appearance.

"Hmm, although it looks nice, its performance is a bit lacking." Hasegawa shook his head.

"Oh, I see. How about this one? This one looks pretty too." Yui Yuigahama recommended another one with a nice appearance.

"The configuration is a bit low."

"What about this one? It's not as pretty as the previous two, but it looks alright too."

"The price-performance ratio isn't that high."

Yui Yuigahama scratched her head, realizing that she had failed to recommend any of the three laptops she had recommended. She clearly understood that she couldn't offer Hasegawa any help or advice.