I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

To pass the time while waiting, Okita stood outside the confectionery shop and pulled out a small stack of papers from his pocket.

Let's study arithmetic!

The small stack of papers that Okita pulled out of his pocket was covered with densely written characters—all arithmetic problems that he had previously asked Hijikata Toshizo, who was fairly good at arithmetic, to help him formulate.

Hijikata Toshizo had told him before that it was essential to practice a lot in order to learn arithmetic well.

Therefore, in order to practice arithmetic extensively, Okita pestered Hijikata Toshizo for quite a while before he finally agreed to help him devise suitable problems for Okita to practice with.

When Okita first asked Hijikata Toshizo to help him come up with the questions, the man was very reluctant, saying things like "This is such a hassle."

But after Okita's persistent nagging, he finally agreed to Okita's request. Then he became exceptionally serious and wrote down several large sheets of arithmetic problems for Okita.

Okita flipped through the small stack of papers in his hand and turned to the questions he hadn't done yet.

The moment his eyes fell on the new question, Okita's delicate eyebrows furrowed, and his expression changed to this: (ω｀)

[Souji, you have 39 konpeito, and I have 27. If I give you all my konpeito, how many konpeito do you have now?]

Both the tone and the content of the title are full of Mr. Hijikata's style.

39颗金平糖……嗯……一双手掌有10根手指，39就是3双手掌加9根手指！

27 konpeito (Japanese candy) are equivalent to 2 pairs of hands and 7 fingers!

Perhaps it was because he was standing right next to a confectionery shop and could smell the wonderfully sweet aroma, but Okita felt his mind was incredibly sharp! His thoughts were flowing smoothly!

You're in great shape!

Hmm! Great! I feel fantastic right now! I think I can get it right this time!

A smug smile played on his lips as he continued his brainstorming session.

39加上27……就是3双手掌又9根手指加上2双手掌又7根手指……

Feeling that his thoughts were flowing exceptionally smoothly today, Okita shouted joyfully in his heart:

(≧≦) A total of 103!

Okita smugly turned his gaze to the next question...

But at this moment—

"Have you heard? The other day, a murder case in Muyan Town was solved by the Hokuban Police Station in less than an hour."

"Yeah, I heard about it. It was a guy from Sadamachi named Tongxin, nicknamed 'Dumbhead,' who broke through it in less than an hour, right? What was Tongxin's name again?"

“Ju Qing Deng”.

"Oh, right, it's Tachibana Aoto."

A series of conversations suddenly came from beside him, making Okita pause in surprise; it was impossible for him not to notice...

The conversation was between two middle-aged men who were standing not far from the pastry shop, each holding a sticky rice ball and munching on it. They looked like idle people in society.

One of the men stuffed all the glutinous rice balls in his hand into his mouth, then lowered his voice and, in a tone as if telling a secret, said to his companion opposite him:

"Hey, have you heard? That Tachibana Seiden is said to have mastered Zhuge Liang's unique skill of divination by counting fingers!"

...Zhuge Liang?!

After hearing what the two older men said, Okita's expression changed to this: Σ(°Д°;)……

*******

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Chapter 47: Acquired the talent: [Eagle Eye]!

"Father, do you want to go on stage yourself?"

Whether it was Kondo or the other apprentices sitting around the edge of the dojo, they all looked astonished when they saw Shusuke raise his bamboo sword to Aoto.

"Hehehe... I haven't had a proper workout in ages." Zhou Zhu twisted his shoulders. "The other day I accompanied your mother back to her parents' home, and it was exhausting. My shoulders and back are still incredibly stiff."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Zhu seemed to realize something and hurriedly looked around.

Only after confirming that he hadn't seen his wife did he seem to breathe a sigh of relief, and then he continued:

"There happens to be a new apprentice in the sword school whose swordsmanship I haven't yet personally witnessed."

"Since that's the case, this is a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone—test the newcomers' abilities while also stretching my stiff arms and back."

After saying that, Zhou Zhu raised an eyebrow at Qing Deng.

"Tachibana-kun, you just finished a match with Kondo. Do you want to rest for a bit, or do you want to start now?"

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then answered quickly without hesitation, "I can start right now!"

To compete with Kondo Shusuke?

This is exactly what Qingdeng wanted!

Qing Deng, whose chest was still filled with the intense joy of having just acquired a new and powerful talent, was eager to see if the third head of the Natural Rishin-ryu sect also possessed some extraordinary talent.

Since Shusuke had already declared that he would personally test Aoto's abilities, Kondo and the others, as his sons and apprentices, naturally had no ability or room to refute or argue.

Kondo obediently retreated to the edge of the dojo, making enough space for Aoto and Shusuke.

"Huh?" Qing Deng then realized that neither he nor Zhou Zhu seemed to be wearing protective gear. "Master, aren't we going to wear armor?"

"Hehehe, wearing protective gear is too much trouble, I'm too lazy to put it on, this is fine! Don't worry, I'm very tough, attack me all you want, you don't need to be afraid of hurting me, and you don't need to be afraid of being hurt by me. As an old man who came from the 'no protective gear era', I'm best at how not to hurt people."

Since Zhou Zhu had said so, Qing Deng said no more.

After bowing to each other, Qing Deng and Zhou Zhu squatted on the left and right sides of the dojo. Then, Qing Deng and Zhou Zhu simulated drawing a sword, pulling out the bamboo sword from their left waists, and then slowly stood up.

The very next moment Qingdeng stood up—

call!

A slender afterimage arced toward Qingdeng's legs!

Snapped!

Qingdeng felt a sharp pain in his left thigh.

After slashing Qing Deng's left thigh with a horizontal slash, Zhou Zhu quickly retreated three steps to increase the distance between himself and Qing Deng.

Seeing Zhou Zhu, who had retreated three steps away from him, Qing Deng's pupils contracted sharply.

—I've been stabbed...?

Qing Deng didn't see the timing or trajectory of Zhou Zhu's strike!

"Hehehe, Tachibana-kun, concentrate." Shusuke slowly lowered the blade, switching to a lower stance. "If you don't concentrate, you won't be able to wield the sword well."

Having said that, Zhou Zhu took a step forward and approached Qing Deng again.

Upon seeing this, Qing Deng quickly took a deep breath and focused all his mind and attention.

Although Qing Deng was already on edge, his eyes wide open, he was staring intently at Zhou Zhu's movements and the trajectory of his sword.

Even so, he still couldn't see Zhou Zhu's sword at all.

Shusuke's bamboo sword rained down on Qing Deng's body.

Often, it was only after Shusuke's bamboo sword had already landed on Qing Deng that he belatedly realized: Ah, his sword was originally aimed at me there?

As Zhou Zhu had just said, he was indeed very good at how not to hurt people.

Although Qing Deng has now been stabbed dozens of times, all the stab wounds only hurt for a short while and then the pain quickly subsided.

Completely suppressed, they couldn't even mount a decent defense, let alone launch a counterattack.

Despite the overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, Qingdeng's face showed no sign of dejection or defeat.

Rather, it's more like the opposite.

As expected, one cannot judge a book by its cover... Someone who can become the head of a sword-fighting school cannot possibly be a weakling.

The opponent before him was so powerful that he was completely overwhelmed, yet Qing Deng did not feel the slightest fear or retreat.

Qingdeng felt his heart beating faster and faster.

As his heart rate gradually increased, Qingdeng felt that his condition was constantly improving! He felt increasingly motivated!

Feeling the changes in his body, Qing Deng was initially taken aback, but he quickly realized that this must be the effect of "Lone Wolf" activating!

And indeed, that is the case.

In the talent list, the newly acquired talent, "Lone Wolf," has been shining with dazzling golden light ever since!

And at this moment, the "Sword Master" also shone brightly, following the "Lone Warrior"!

—Kondo Shusuke's main focus... is my two legs...

—In that case… let’s lower the blade a little…

—Holding the knife a little lighter...it seems like it would be easier to defend myself...

Taking advantage of the gap in Zhou Zhu's attack, Qing Deng quickly lowered the blade.

Swordsmanship talent is amplified 50 times that of ordinary people... The effect of "Sword Prodigy" is not just that Qing Deng's swordsmanship training speed is much faster than that of ordinary people.

It also has the effect of giving one an extremely high sensitivity to the "changes and forms of the sword" when fighting with others!

Qingdeng, who felt his physical condition improving, slowly realized that he... seemed to be able to vaguely see Shusuke's swordsmanship!

Snapped!

Qing Deng swung the knife in his hand to his right side, deflecting Zhou Zhu's bamboo sword that was slashing at his left waist! He had parried Zhou Zhu's attack for the first time!

"Ho ho..." Seeing Qing Deng suddenly able to deflect his sword, Zhou Zhu's extremely narrow, squinty eyes slowly widened a little.

After Qing Deng successfully defended against Zhou Zhu's attack for the first time, the situation of the battle slowly changed.

Zhou Zhu continued to relentlessly suppress Qing Deng.

But Qing Deng is no longer someone who can't even withstand a single blow from Shusuke.

"Sword Mastery" led Qingdeng to adopt the most suitable defensive strategy.