Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard

Chapter 597 - 383: The Way to Win

What should one do when facing a Vice Master from a prestigious school?Naito Genichiro’s middle-stance looked hard to break; whether defending or counterattacking, he was at ease.

In an instant, the shadow of the bamboo swords clashing several times covered Uesugi Sakura’s vision, with a resounding "pa", their bamboo swords confronted each other, the guards pressing against one another.

’Is it the Katori Shinto Style’s Outer Tachi Skill...?’

Uesugi Sakura tightly gripped the sword handle, recalling the exchanges just now.

Naito Genichiro’s gaze, through the Kendo helmet, also fell on his face.

The young man who had advanced to the semifinals unbeaten, he had not gone unnoticed.

The swordsmanship used just now was...

One-Mind One-Sword Style’s Thoughtless Tachi Skill.

A disciple of Sakihara...

Naito Genichiro was still somewhat uncertain about Uesugi Sakura’s strength. Although he was a Vice Master of the Shindo Style, he wouldn’t lower his guard because his opponent was young.

Uesugi Sakura took the initiative.

Naito Genichiro parried Uesugi Sakura’s attack with a backhand.

In the next second, he quickly stepped forward with his front foot, reversed his grip, and delivered a face strike!

He managed to counterattack within just two moves!

This swift change in stance dazzled the audience present.

They couldn’t understand and were even more baffled!

In their eyes, one moment it was Uesugi Sakura on the offensive, and in the next moment, the roles of offense and defense had switched directly.

Naito’s Kendo technique took them by surprise and left them in awe.

"Men!!"

Naito Genichiro’s move was extremely powerful, even though Uesugi Sakura reacted, his opponent still managed to land a point on his face.

A point was indeed scored.

However, this face strike couldn’t count as an effective score.

One judge raised the flag, indicating a valid score, but the other two judges did not.

Hanamaru Hanabi was somewhat confused and had to ask Hanamaru Hiroki, who was sitting next to him:

"Doesn’t this count as a score?"

"Yes."

Hanamaru Hiroki nodded, replying: "To score, more than two judges need to raise their flags. Naito’s strike was not sufficient; it barely grazed the visor and from our angle, it was clearer, which is why the other two judges didn’t award the point."

A good young man, he recovered quickly indeed.

Naito Genichiro closely watched Uesugi Sakura’s sword-wielding movements.

Just now it was...

Four Crossings Tachi in the Five Elements Tachi Skill.

Uesugi Sakura recognized it.

The key to Four Crossings Tachi lies in the rapid change of moves.

For example, a strike that begins as an upward slash skill could very possibly switch to a downward chop in the next moment.

The difficulty of the Four Crossings Tachi is in the transition between these moves.

Delivering a good strike is already difficult, let alone transforming it again?

Uesugi Sakura defended against Naito Genichiro’s changing moves continuously, sometimes his moves came from peculiar angles; even if he could see his attack position 100%, his body might not always be able to react in defense.

So troublesome?

Even after a full set of probing and sword skills, he still didn’t make the young man concede the center line.

He began to suspect whether the young man intentionally held back in the first round.

After another face strike by Naito Genichiro was blocked, without stopping, his offensive suddenly burst forth again, launching several successive chops toward Uesugi Sakura; however, surprisingly, Uesugi Sakura’s movement remained exceptionally steady, pressing, retreating, advancing...

This reminded Naito Genichiro of a word: the unrivaled turtle shell.

In his final dodge, Uesugi Sakura swiftly spun his bamboo sword, performing a diagonal slash to sweep Naito’s bamboo sword aside, counterattacking.

At the same time, he shouted:

"Kote!!"

Naito Genichiro was caught off guard, quickly adjusting his position and retreating a step backward to extend his reaction time, allowing his drawn bamboo sword to return in defense in time.

He was somewhat surprised because while he was attacking, he hadn’t noticed that Uesugi Sakura consciously guided his footwork to raise his hand.

Causing him not to use the middle stance but to use the upper stance for defense.

Trying to force me to use the upper stance and then counterattacking the torso?

Naito Genichiro saw through Uesugi Sakura’s intention and didn’t give him the opportunity.

Uesugi Sakura also realized this in time and didn’t press the attack.

Their bamboo swords collided intensely as if with a shared consciousness, forcing each other to halt.

Naito Genichiro and Uesugi Sakura simultaneously lifted their bamboo swords, each stepping back.

In a short amount of time, several exchanges without clear superiority, looked especially magnificent. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn ????????????????????·????????????????·????????????

The audience immediately erupted in intense applause.

Beside reporter Miyata Kazuhiko, Jiang Teng Qi Yan involuntarily opened his mouth: "Wow, impressive."

Miyata Kazuhiko tapped his notebook on his lap with a pen, producing clear, crisp sounds: "I didn’t expect Uesugi-san to be so impressive, but... we should also thank him, since our newspaper’s recent Kendo World news is all covered by him, the national Kyudo champion is about to seize the national Kendo championship... I haven’t seen that before."

Jiang Teng Qi Yan turned and asked: "Is he a newcomer?"

"Not quite, he participated in the Kendo Department during high school."

"What about past competition achievements? Maybe we can dig up more information."

"There isn’t any, he’s only participated in this official Kendo tournament."

Miyata Kazuhiko answered while keeping an eye on the battle unfolding on the field.

With five minutes of match time remaining, there are still three minutes left.

Despite facing an opponent with a style a rank higher than himself, Uesugi Sakura had already found a solution to deal with him.

In the first two rounds, he was learning and improving.

In Naito Genichiro’s eyes, Uesugi Sakura’s original middle stance converted to an upper stance.