One question after another popped up in Ogata's mind.

Kondo, why is he here?

He actually participated in the "Imperial Trial"?

He was actually in Edo too?

While Ogata was still immersed in shock, the referee of "Course B" waved his hand and announced that the trial match had officially begun.

After the referee announced the start, Ogata slowly recovered from the shock.

After regaining his composure and taking a closer look, Ogata discovered that he still knew Kondo's opponent.

It was the same Nagano who had witnessed Ogata in Yoshiwara before, knocking down a guy who was using Hohoin-style spear skills, and then suddenly popped up and invited Ogata to be a guest at his sword hall.

Ogata remembered that Nagano seemed to have some connection with Genichi, so he had a deep impression on Nagano.

Kondo and Nagano both stood in mid-section postures, facing each other.

"Ono Itto-ryu, Nagano Shun." Nagano was the first to announce his name.

"Tenurishin-ryu! Sakamoto Yuji!" Kondo responded with a much louder voice than Nagano.

When he heard Kondo's announcement about his door, the black lines on Ogata's face became more numerous.

Ogata didn't know much about Japanese history in his previous life.

But even Ogata, who knew little about Japanese history, had heard of the name of Natural Rishin-ryu.

Ogata vaguely remembered what Kondo told him before: he created a new school based on Katori Shinto-ryu, but he had never thought of a name for it.

——So Rishin-ryu is a new genre created by Kondo?!

Ogata couldn't help but scream in shock in his heart.

But now, compared to natural Rishin-ryu, Kondo's name is what Ogata cares about more.

——What the hell is this Yuji Sakamoto...Did Kondo change his name...

I want to grab Kondo by the collar and ask him more and more questions...

While Ogata was "tortured" by the questions that popped up one after another, the trial match between Kondo and Nagano began.

It was Nagano who launched the first attack.

Nagano's sword has the word "stable" in it.

Whether attacking or returning to defense, he is very steady, neither hurried nor slow, neither arrogant nor impetuous.

On the other hand, Kondo's sword has an aura that is almost completely opposite to Nagano's.

Although Nagano was the one who launched the first attack, Kondo's subsequent counterattacks were more violent.

With a very high momentum, he launched a fierce attack on Nagano.

However - all the swords he swung out with great momentum were blocked by Nagano one by one.

"...Although I have never heard of the name Natural Rishin Ryu, Natural Rishin Ryu seems to be the type of school that focuses on killing with one strike and ending the battle in the shortest time." Five or six on the side suddenly said coldly,

"This type of sect has a problem, that is, it uses all its strength with every sword, so it is not good at long-term combat."

"The uncle who is his opponent seems to have noticed this weakness..."

Just as Goryoku said, Nagano seemed to have seen the weakness of Kondo's Natural Rishin-ryu and changed his tactics.

Instead of launching an active attack on Kondo, he began to focus on defense, consuming Kondo's physical strength.

Kondo saw Nagano's intention, gritted his teeth, and the wind pressure from the wooden knife in his hand became stronger - but it was of no use, and still could not break Nagano's defense.

After the fierce attack and defense between the two continued for a while, severe breathing began to come out of Kondo's mouth.

"...Young man." Nagano, whose breathing was just a little faster, whispered to Kondo who was beginning to gasp, "Although your swordsmanship is good, your actual combat experience is still insufficient, and you don't even know how to allocate your physical strength.

"

"Stop being so verbose..." After Kondo responded to Nagano in an unhappy tone, he raised the back of his left hand and wiped the sweat dripping down his chin.

"no solution anymore……"

After mumbling like this, Kondo took a deep breath.

Then he straightened up his slightly bowed waist and looked directly at Nagano in front of him with a serious face.

"Let me show you the 'Ogata style'!"

"'Ogata style'?" Nagano slowly frowned, "What is this? The secret technique of your school?"

Kondo didn't lower his volume when he yelled just now.

Even Ogata, who was a little far away from "Biba", could clearly hear Kondo's shout just now.

After hearing the word "Ogata-ryu" from Kondo's mouth, the expression on Ogata's face instantly became weird.

"It's indeed a secret skill, but it's not my natural Rishin-ryu secret skill. Keep your eyes open and see!"

After saying that, Kondo turned his sword upside down, and then directly inserted it into the ground covered with fine gravel under his feet.

Kondo's behavior of sticking the wooden knife upside down on the ground aroused doubts in everyone around him.

Regardless of those who have studied swordsmanship or those who know nothing about swordsmanship, they have never heard of or seen such a sword-holding posture.

While everyone else looked puzzled, only Ogata's expression became more and more strange.

Ogata now only feels that this scene is very familiar, and the sense of déjà vu is extremely strong!

"...Young man." Nagano frowned, "Is this inexplicable posture the 'Ogata style' you just mentioned?"

"No." Kondo shook his head, "It's hard for me to explain to you what's going on with my posture. In short, this is a skill I've developed over this period of time."

Although he couldn't understand Kondo's operation, the confidence and pride on Kondo's face still made Nagano unconsciously wary.

As he became wary, his fighting spirit also rose.

After clenching the wooden sword in his hand tighter, Nagano slowly approached Kondo.

He planned to come and experience for himself what the "Ogata-ryu" was that made this young man show such a confident expression.

No matter how Nagano tried to close the distance between the two, Kondo remained motionless and allowed Nagano to get closer.

Kondo's "motionless" appearance made Nagano frown even more.

Unknowingly, with Nagano approaching, the distance between Nagano and Kondo was less than 3 steps.

This was a relatively safe distance - Kondo couldn't hit him directly with the knife.

Just when Nagano, who was standing in a safe atmosphere, opened his mouth and was about to say something——

"Take the move!"

Kondo's eyes suddenly widened and he suddenly raised the sword that was stuck on the ground.

The raised sword blade stirred up a "drizzle" of broken soil and sand, heading towards Nagano's pavement.

Looking at the "rain of gravel" coming from the pavement, Nagano's pupils suddenly shrank, and he subconsciously raised his left hand to cover his face.

Nagano reacted quickly and blocked the "rain of sand and gravel" in time.

Although he failed to blind Nagano, he successfully exposed Nagano's flaws.

With excitement on his face, Kondo immediately rushed towards Nagano, whose flaw was exposed.

While rushing towards Nagano, he shouted excitedly:
Chapter completed!