Please play Fate/Go with me.

At this moment, the stands were almost full, and everyone was looking expectantly at the entrance.

Then it was the turn of the next group of contestants to take the stage. The contestants, dressed in archery uniforms, entered the arena one by one. When it was one of the contestants' turn to walk onto the stage, the audience showed excitement. The aura he exuded at that moment was so special that it overshadowed all the other contestants.

At this moment, Shirou, dressed in a white-on-top, black-on-bottom kyudo uniform, entered the arena with a bamboo bow he had made himself. He walked to his position, calmly nocking an arrow on the bowstring, as naturally as walking or eating.

Everyone held their breath, watching the extraordinary young man's every move. The room became extremely quiet at that moment.

A clear twang of the bowstring rang out, and the arrow flew straight out, then made a crisp sound as it hit its mark.

The young man calmly retracted the bowstring around the outside of his elbow, placed his hands on his waist and hips, and stood in place waiting for the second round of the competition.

As a product of the fusion of archery skills and Confucian ritual and music, Kyudo's core values ​​are "truth, goodness, and beauty." Achieving these values ​​involves mastering archery techniques, etiquette, and physical coordination. It strives for the most accurate shooting method, ensuring a perfect hit. This process requires consideration not only of aiming but also of muscle exertion and body coordination.

The correct way of archery will surely hit the target; this will not deceive you, and that is the truth. The correct way of archery will surely make your mind and body conform to the norms of etiquette, and that is goodness. The correct way of archery will inevitably result in graceful posture and movements.

During the preparation time, the contestants sit in the training ground. After shooting the arrow, regardless of success or failure, they never show joy or sorrow, but maintain their usual composure. Throughout the process, they are neither arrogant nor humble, but solemn and dignified, like an elegant nobleman. This is the process of seeking truth.

Every launch is a brand new beginning.

Only by being sincere in one's heart and sincere with the bow, achieving a state of unity between man and bow, can one shoot the best and most beautiful arrow.

In these aspects, Shirou did an impeccable job.

Maintaining this momentum, they made it all the way to the final in the afternoon, where the boy won the match without any suspense.

If he weren't so young, without any affiliation or sect, and hadn't actively pursued anything, he would have already reached a considerable level by now.

Shirou, who had won the competition, walked off the shooting range. The awards ceremony was held on the third day of the tournament, so after a brief speech, the individual competition came to an end.

At that moment, an elderly man with white hair and wearing a kimono slowly walked over from the audience, surrounded by a crowd.

Shirou knew that the other party was a highly respected elder of Japanese archery, the inheritor of ancient archery, and a living national treasure, Kato Judan. He might not be among the most accurate or fastest archers in the world, but he was definitely among those with the deepest understanding of traditional archery.

"Seeing your graceful movements, especially your controlled and fluid hand movements, is truly beautiful. Even the legendary Kato Touya, who shot down the rebel leader with a single arrow amidst a vast army, couldn't compare. Shirou-kun, would you be willing to come and learn archery from me?" The white-haired elder, Kato Judan, looked at the young man with great approval.

"Thank you for your kindness, but archery is just a hobby for me to cultivate my character, and I don't intend to pursue it professionally." Shirou politely declined the old man's offer.

"Is that so? That's fine too. Whether it's swordsmanship or archery, they are ultimately ways to cultivate oneself. Before that, there's life and career, which sometimes have to be put aside. But it's a real pity, your hands clearly had the potential to become the Kato style's golden finger." The old man sighed, turned around and left.

Those around him looked at the young man with incomprehension; that was an invitation from a top figure in Japanese archery.

They assumed he was just young and ignorant, shook their heads, and turned to chase after the old man.

"Master, if you wanted to take that student as your disciple, why did you give up so easily?" a disciple asked, puzzled.

"Because I saw into the boy's eyes," the old man said calmly.

"Eyes?" The disciples were even more puzzled.

“Those aren’t eyes that’s content with the status quo. It’s too pitiful to lock him up in a room to practice archery. Those are the eyes of an eagle. He should be able to soar freely in the sky like an eagle and pursue his lofty ideals,” the old man said.

"A genius boy with the eyes of an eagle?" the disciple muttered, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"If he can truly complete the world's trials for his pursuit of ideals, what heights will his tempered mind and spirit reach? How much will his archery become? It's truly fascinating." The old man murmured to himself as he slowly walked out the door.

"Master, where are you going? Are there other competitions?" the disciple asked, catching up with him.

"Go home! There's nothing left to see. Kyudo isn't about physical strength, but about mental strength. If souls exist in this world, with continuous training, perhaps one could reach the level of a Kyudo god." The old man said as he walked out of the venue. Seeing this young man in this Kyudo competition was enough for him.

He only hoped that, in his lifetime, he could glimpse the legendary arrow of the god of archery through this boy.

"Hey, what a waste! If you don't want to become a disciple of Kato Judan, then I'll go instead." A curly-haired boy from Kyoto's top school, Fubuki High School, who was watching everything from the sidelines, said with great regret. For students who practice archery, Kato Judan is at least one of the top five in the country, if not the best.

"Probably because he doesn't need it," the black-haired man who ranked second in the competition said thoughtfully.

"What? I really don't understand what you geniuses are thinking." The curly-haired man looked at his ace and pouted in dissatisfaction.

"No, compared to him, I can hardly be called a genius. As for archery, even among adults, there are probably very few people in the whole country who can beat him. In fact, when I saw his archery posture just now, I seemed to see the shadow of the legendary ancient archer who could shoot down enemy generals from a hundred meters away without missing a shot." The black-haired boy who was the ace of Fengwu High School said.

"Commander! Are you just going to admit defeat like this?" the curly-haired man asked.

"No, while the individual competition is out of the question, I have no intention of giving up the team competition!" Ace said.

"That's how it has to be! Even if the opponent is inhumanly strong, our hard work day and night isn't for nothing!" the curly-haired man said, his fighting spirit ignited.

As Shirou stepped out of the dressing room after changing out of his archery uniform, he was approached by Shizuka Hiratsuka.

"Well done! Shirou, I'm so touched! How's your condition? Can you keep winning tomorrow?" Hiratsuka Shizuka laughed and patted the boy's back, feeling that she should be able to save her money for next month's gaming expenses.

"It's alright, tomorrow's team competition will depend on everyone's performance," Shirou said.

Chapter 61 The Sharpshooter Girl

The next morning, during the archery team competition, the athletes marched into the arena in neat formation. The three athletes took their positions, with the 28-meter target range in front of them.

Because it was a team competition, the participants were all schools from different regions, so there were fewer participants than yesterday.

The rules for the team competition are that teams of three will compete in three rounds of 10 shots each, and the winner will be determined by the number of shots that hit the target.

The contestants entered with their feet apart, bows drawn and arrows nocked.

Next up is the Kyoto powerhouse, Kazemai High School. The black-haired man exudes an extraordinary presence, while the curly-haired man's physique is clearly the result of years of rigorous training.

In the end, the International High School ranked third with 17 shots made, while Fengwu High School took first place with 19 shots made.

After the competition, we waited for the champion team to give their speeches.

Shirou then left the arena to change out of his archery uniform, and several girls also came down from the stands at that moment.

"Congratulations! That's really amazing. You almost got second place!" Asuna said gently and considerately.

"Thank you, it's already very good for the team competition." Shirou said with a smile. At least the captain and vice-captain were just in the locker room, full of joy about receiving the prize money from the school when they got back.

"I think that for Glory, individual performance is enough. Team competitions are just a compromise to allow more people to participate," Yukinoshita chimed in from the side.

"Shirou! You looked so cool shooting arrows just now! So archery isn't so boring after all. Next time, I'll come to the archery club with Mash to watch you practice." Yuihama praised with a hearty laugh.

"No, it's better if you don't come. It will cause trouble for the other members," Shirou said. He often brought a group of pampered girls to archery practice, but they didn't practice properly, which would make the people who really wanted to practice complain.

"What?!" Yuihama puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“Yuihama-senpai, I also practice archery,” Mashu corrected, dissatisfied. If she hadn’t only been learning for a few months, her teacher might have let her participate in the competition.

"Okay, Mash, practice hard. If you have any problems, I'll guide you. Let's participate in the next competition together," Shirou said with a smile.

“Okay! Shirou-senpai!” Mashu nodded in agreement, wanting to do her best in everything, whether it was work, studies, or club activities.

"Damn it! Why? Why? I won, but I can't feel happy at all!" The curly-haired boy from Kazemai High School, a strong archery school in Kyoto, had just stepped out the door when he saw Shirou and started grabbing his hair.

In the team competition, although they were startled by Shirou's rapid-fire shots, they escaped unscathed. The guys who came up later were not very good, and they still won first place smoothly.

He had come out in high spirits, wanting to call his family and friends to brag a little, after all, he had beaten the "eagle-eyed genius" who was known to everyone yesterday, even though the opponent hit the target 10 out of 10 times, it was just that his teammates were too bad.

But a win is a win.

He had just seen the other party step down calmly, and he thought it was all an act.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped out, he was chatting intimately with a group of girls.

The curly-haired boy realized he had indeed lost; although he had won a game, he had lost his entire life.

"Don't be like that. For those of us who have dedicated our entire lives to archery, let's just take victory as our dowry and marry the bow and arrow!" The black-haired ace didn't mind, his eyes filled with faith and deep affection for archery.

"No way!" the curly-haired man roared. His dream was to practice archery well, become a professional archer, and one day marry a virtuous wife who also loved archery.

He spends all his time practicing now, so he doesn't have much time to grind in FGO, but he'll still pull for any Archer! He's already maxed out his second sister's NP! Tomoe Gozen won't be far behind!

"Why do I feel that your current thoughts aren't much better than mine?" the black-haired man asked his friend, puzzled.

"Don't worry about it. Even your in-game waifu might pop up and come looking for you someday. Why don't you try playing FGO? We archers and archers have great synergy," the curly-haired man said.

"I actually did play, and I got Arjuna in a single 10-pull!" the black-haired man said with a smile.

Now that the archery competition is over, they have plenty of free time. They packed up their bows and equipment, did some sightseeing around Tokyo, and then waited for the awards ceremony tomorrow before returning to their school in Kyoto.

After chatting with the girls for a while, Shirou had to put down his bamboo bow, pick up his recurve bow for competition, and hurry to the recurve bow competition venue, where three or four more matches awaited him.

In the individual recurve bow competition, the contestants stand in a row and compete in 6 rounds of 36 arrows, with the one who scores the most rings winning.

The archery target at 30 meters is twice the size of the small target in archery, the target at 50 meters is even larger, and the target at 70 meters has a diameter of 122 centimeters.

The target is divided into ten rings, with five colors: white, black, blue, red, and yellow. Hitting the yellow ring at the very center of the target results in the highest score, the ten-ring.

Each competitor has their own mark engraved on their arrow, which is then confirmed by the referees at the shooting range, and the score is recorded at the end.

This is a competition where the score determines the winner, so the result is self-evident.

After just a few matches, the people around him started looking at him like he was a monster.

"Go Shirou~!" A girl behind him kept shouting his name.

As soon as Shirou finished his match, he rushed outside. He had to get to the green shooting range on the other side when the compound bow competition started.

"Here you go, senpai." Mashu, the assistant who had run up behind him, handed the bow case that she had previously entrusted to him to keep safe to the boy.

"Thanks." Shirou took the box and went to the preparation area of ​​the compound bow arena to begin adjusting his compound bow.

Unlike previous competitions, this was a friendly match, more like a promotional event or performance than a competition. Anyone with a compound bow could participate, and there were small shops outside with large tents for renting compound bows, offering mass-produced competitive compound bows.

Of course, if an enthusiast brings their own high-poundage composite hunting bow, as long as they follow the basic rules and are willing to take responsibility for any damage to the arrows, then please feel free to do so.

At this moment, the other contestants also entered the arena. Then, a boy wearing a hat walked up to them, carrying a purple compound bow, and entered the track next to Shirou.

The other person seemed to have noticed Shirou's gaze as well, and glared at Shirou fiercely, as if he had seen a mortal enemy.

"?" Shirou felt that he shouldn't have offended him.

"Erina-chan! Do your best~! Oh, and good luck to you too, brother!" Komachi's voice came from this direction.

Shirou turned around and saw his sister waving and calling out in their direction.

Looking at the young man next to her, her eyes and brows were full of the arrogance of a young lady. Upon closer inspection, long golden hair was visible behind her hat, indicating that she had tied her hair up before putting on the hat.

"Hmm?" Shirou felt a strange magical aura emanating from the girl, as if he were being possessed or summoned.

"You must be Komachi's brother! Let's have a duel!" The girl wearing a hat looked at him sharply.

Chapter 62 The Arrogant Girl's Challenge

The compound bow friendly competition, an event designed to promote archery among enthusiasts, is currently in full swing.

Because the rules here are not restrictive, various types of compound bows and various types of participants have emerged.

There were students who were just learning archery, as well as adult men who were just enthusiasts.

A soldier in military uniform, carrying a compound bow, looked at the target as if he had spotted prey, as if he were holding a weapon.

There was also someone dressed in hunter's clothes, seemingly a professional, holding a compound hunting bow, the arrowheads of which seemed to have a red glow stained with the blood of wild boars and black bears.

Holding such a somewhat chaotic event is not entirely incomprehensible. After all, for sports that want to attract more attention, standardized, mass-produced recurve bows and compound bows are indeed better options in terms of promotion and sponsorship.

After all, traditional bows are difficult to learn, and in this fast-paced era, few people have the opportunity to calm down and learn them.

Moreover, there are many types, including Japanese bows, Qing bows, Han bows, and Mongolian bows in the Chinese cultural sphere, each with different manufacturing techniques.

The bows made by master craftsmen, who are considered 'national treasures', are completely different from those made by ordinary bow makers.

These handcrafted bows, just like people, are unique. Each bow is different, from the feel of holding it to the sound of the string when drawn. Using them in competitions would make it difficult to guarantee fairness.

In fact, in modern times, even with a compound bow, without the aid of sights or other instruments, being able to consistently hit within 9 rings at a range of 70 meters is already considered the level of a contemporary sharpshooter.

If Shirou wants to show his true strength, even shooting frisbees won't be enough; he'll need at least one sharpshooter skilled in open-field combat as his opponent.

At this moment, the girl who suddenly challenged Shirou also displayed extraordinary strength.

Swish swish!

The girl fired six shots swiftly and decisively.

All hits on the bullseye!

The immense power caused a sound completely different from the surroundings the instant it hit the target; if the previous shots were bullets, this one was artillery fire.

Judging from the girl's archery posture, although it conforms to the rules of compound bow archery, it is more like a battle-hardened shooting technique than the standard posture of modern competitive archery. Perhaps even on horseback, she could still draw the bow and hit the bullseye cleanly.

Shirou had been glancing at her more often before because he recognized the 85-pound purple paint job on the girl's hand - Monster Safari. Without the aid of aiming or image stabilization, it was clean and crisp, possessing a beauty that combined a modern steel beast with the streamlined shape of a bow that had been continuously improved over thousands of years.

Compound bows have a pulley axle for the bowstring, which requires less effort compared to other types of bows. However, the effort saved is in maintaining the strength after drawing the bow. The wrist and arm strength required to draw the bow is actually similar to that of a straight-draw bow.

An 85-pound bow requires a draw weight of approximately 40 kilograms, making it a weapon that even a strong adult would find difficult to fully draw.