I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Uehara swung his sword.

"You're so weak! Don't look away! Is this how Su Zhen acts?"

"Yes!"

Uehara swung his sword.

"Still no good, you pressed your wrist too hard with your right hand just now." Okita swung his bamboo sword and lightly tapped Uehara's fleshy right arm. "Try again!"

……

……

Scenes strikingly similar to those that occurred when he was instructing Suzuki were happening to Uehara.

Okita gave Uehara a stern lecture for nearly 10 minutes before finally nodding in satisfaction.

"Hmm, that's finally getting the hang of it. Remember the movements and feeling you had when you swung the sword just now, and now start doing 50 simple sword swings in place."

"50 strokes?" Uehara's eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. "Okita-kun, 50 strokes for Sujin... won't my hand break?"

"Do not worry."

Okita, who had been wearing a stern face, now smiled and said:

"Fifty strikes of the 'Suzhen' technique won't break a person's hand."

After saying that, Okita resumed his serious demeanor and strode towards another apprentice.

The apprentice who was being approached by Okita trembled slightly as Okita's face drew ever closer...

……

……

Okita then guided Suzuki and the others one by one.

Without exception, everyone was severely reprimanded by Okita for more than 10 minutes, and then Okita demanded that they complete exercises that made their scalps tingle just by hearing the content.

After being relentlessly instructed by Okita, everyone looked like they had swallowed a bitter pill.

Finally—after instructing Suzuki and the others, Okita strode up to Aoto.

“Tachibana-kun, before Kondo left, he specifically told me that you only learned a little swordsmanship from your father and did not receive formal swordsmanship training at a sword school. And when I watched your match with Suzuki-kun just now, I also found that your foundation is indeed somewhat weak.”

"Therefore, I will not teach you anything else today. I will first teach you some of the most basic training movements in swordsmanship."

"First—is Suzhen."

"The so-called 'Suzhen' is the training that Uehara-kun is currently undergoing."

Okita gestured towards Uehara, who was not far away, looking miserable and struggling to complete his "50 repetitions of standing still" practice task.

“Su Zhen looks simple, as if he is just swinging his sword at the air in front of him. But there are many points that must be paid attention to, otherwise your swordsmanship will not only fail to improve, but you will also ruin your wrist.”

"Let me demonstrate it for you first."

After saying that, Okita took two steps back and then raised the bamboo sword in his hand.

Upon hearing that Okita would give a personal demonstration, Aoto immediately opened his eyes wide and watched intently.

The instant he got into position, Okita took a deep breath, let out a loud breathing sound, and slashed a clean slash at the air in front of him.

call--!

The sharp sound of wind cutting through the air made Qingdeng feel as if his eardrums were about to be ripped apart.

Clean and efficient, without any unnecessary movements, full of momentum and power.

Due to his limited swordsmanship, Qing Deng couldn't discern the approximate level of Okita's Sujin just now, but he could tell that it was many times better than Uehara's Sujin, who was practicing not far away.

The difference between the two is roughly like the difference between a primary school student's doodle and the Mona Lisa.

"The sword isn't slashing downwards, but forwards. When you swing the sword, you must use all your strength; only then will the practice be effective..."

Okita explained Sujin's key points to Aoto one by one.

At the end of his narration, he held the knife in his right hand and put his left hand on his hip.

“I don’t think you can remember it just by saying it. Tachibana-kun, try to do a simple movement now. I’ll help you correct your movements little by little.”

"Yes!"

Qing Deng took a deep breath, then imitated Okita's earlier action, spreading his legs and raising the bamboo sword.

Just as Qing Deng raised his bamboo sword, he suddenly saw Suzuki and the others not far away looking at him with gloating expressions.

After carefully observing Suzuki and the others' "watching the show" expressions out of the corner of his eye, Qing Deng couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness on his face.

He was all too familiar with this scene.

After experiencing bad luck, people often hope to see others suffer the same misfortune.

For example, if you do terribly on a test, you might look forward to seeing others... especially your friends, also do terribly. This gives you a strange sense of satisfaction.

In his past life, when he was learning free fighting and other unarmed combat techniques outside of school, after being beaten up by his coach, Qing Deng would also look forward to seeing his other companions being beaten up as well.

—That's so realistic...

After silently complaining in his mind, Qingdeng withdrew his peripheral vision and focused his attention.

—Facing forward…unleash the full force of your slash…

In the talent list, "Sword Prodigy" shines with golden light!

The image of that "high-speed camera" resurfaced in Qing Deng's mind.

This time, the camera was showing scenes from Okita's demonstration of the sub-vibration.

Qing Deng slowly raised the knife.

Then, mimicking the scene projected in the "high-speed camera," he forcefully swung the knife in his hand!

call!

The bamboo sword slashed down.

Okita, who had been carefully observing Aoto's movements, suddenly showed surprise in his eyes, and his expression involuntarily froze slightly.

Meanwhile, Suzuki and the others, who had been secretly watching Aoto's practice with the intention of enjoying the show, stared wide-eyed at Aoto with disbelief.

"...Tachibana-kun," Okita asked tentatively, "did you really only learn a little swordsmanship from your father before, and never received any formal swordsmanship training?"

“No.” Qingdeng shook his head. “That was my first time formally practicing Suzhen. My late father never taught me how to use Suzhen correctly.”

“…Your left wrist was a bit too flipped, and your right wrist was a bit too pressed.” After looking Qing Deng up and down several times with a surprised gaze, Okita came forward and slightly adjusted the position of Qing Deng’s two wrists. “Only in this way can you avoid injuring your wrists.”

"Let me tell you a little secret to make it less likely to flip or press your wrist when performing a simple wrist movement."

"Imagine your two hands are wringing a towel. From raising the knife to swinging it, both hands must maintain a motion like wringing a towel."

"I don't know if you can understand the little secret I just mentioned. It's hard to explain to you in specific words."

"Try the simple wrist vibration again now, but this time remember not to flip or press your wrist."

"Okay." Qingdeng nodded, then straightened his stance.

—Wringing out a towel...is that...like that...?

call!

Qing Deng slashed at the air in front of him again.

As Okita watched Qing Deng unleash his second strike, a look of astonishment, even more intense than before, welled up on his cheeks.

“Hmm…” Okita looked Aoto up and down and murmured.

His mouth closed several times, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Finally—he let out a silent gasp.

"Not bad... That last strike was excellent. The movement was very precise. Keep it up."

"Now let's move on to the next stage of practice—from now on, you will stand here and concentrate on practicing the basic vibration until your arms are exhausted. I want to see roughly where your current limit is."

"Yes."

After responding loudly, Qingdeng regrouped.

At that moment—Qing Deng suddenly saw Suzuki and the others looking at him with a strange gaze that was mixed with envy and jealousy.

Because everyone's attention was focused on Qingdeng, their practice slowed down.

Okita also noticed that Suzuki and the others were not practicing attentively.

"What are you all looking at!" Okita said unhappily. "Why aren't you concentrating on your practice? Or I'll double your practice load today!"

As soon as Okita finished speaking, Suzuki and the others quickly refocused their attention and continued to concentrate on their respective practice.

However, a very few individuals continued to secretly look at Qingdeng with strange eyes.

Seeing this scene, Qingdeng couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

He could understand why Suzuki and the others were looking at him like that.

The same teacher can lead to two people being harshly reprimanded for over ten minutes, while another person is only nagged twice before receiving praise from the teacher—this "other people's child" certainly evokes extremely complex feelings.

—I'm sorry.

Qingdeng thought to himself.

—Being exceptionally gifted means being able to do whatever you want.

*******

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[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

If someone tells you that they easily swung the bamboo sword hundreds of times on their first try, don't doubt it: they're either bragging or their practice is completely off-target; they're just randomly swinging a bamboo sword around.

The most standard Suzhen requires both body and mind to be tense, focusing all attention on wielding the sword.