This is also related to his current life experience. Although Matsudaira Yoshiho is young, he has inherited the position of Lord of the Aizu Domain as early as 16 years old, and was exposed to what power and politics are early.

His face was always tense and expressionless, as if no matter what happened, his expression would not change at all.

No matter who came to him to communicate or flatter him, his response was quite bland, basically just a slight nod, and occasionally simple words such as "um" and "oh".

"I didn't expect that one of the contestants in the first trial of this competition would be the recently famous Tachibana Aoshinobu." At this time, the Lord of the Nin Domain sighed in a low voice while looking at the players who were already standing on the field.

Adachi and Aoto on the east and west sides of the picture, "I have been hearing about various deeds of this Tachibana Aoto recently. I really came to the right time for this competition. I want to see if this Tachibana Aoto has any of the rumors."

So powerful."

The words of the Lord of the Ninja Domain attracted the attention of some daimyo.

"Tachibana Aoden...oh, I think about it, he's the official of the "Three Times" of the Beifan Institute who has repeatedly hit the "radical anti-barbarian faction" recently."

"Which one is Tachibana Aoden?"

"Huh? It turns out that there are such interesting contestants in this competition, so I want to take a good look at this trial match of Ju Qingden."

…

Many feudal lords raised their sights to the playing field - including Matsudaira Yōho.

After hearing that the daimyo around him were discussing Aoto, Matsudaira Yongho raised his eyes and glanced at Aoto who was standing on the east side of the arena.

However, his expression was still indifferent, and the emotion in his eyes was neither sad nor happy, as if he was not that interested in Qingdeng.

…

…

Chiba Eijiro was sitting upright, looking intently at Aomori on the field.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Chiba Tamonshiro, who happened to be sitting next to Chiba Eijiro, said softly:

"Second brother, are you paying close attention to that Tachibana Aoden?"

"After all, he is the person that Jutaro tried his best to introduce to me last night." Chiba Eijiro smiled, "I am very interested in how much the person who is so highly praised by Jutaro weighs."

"...This Tachibana Aoden's ability is indeed quite high." Chiba Tamonshiro said quietly, "His performance in the red-white match against Chiba Kenkan two months ago was a bit...

He doesn’t look like a newcomer who has just learned the sword for a short time.”

"Although I don't know exactly what kind of strength that Adachi is...but I guess he is no match for Tachibana Aoden."

"It only takes a few moves for Tachibana Aoden to defeat this Adachi."

After Chiba Eijiro quietly listened to Chiba Tamonshiro's words, he smiled: "Fourth brother, you can actually praise others... It's really rare."

"...I'm just stating a fact." Chiba Tamonshiro said calmly.

"I didn't expect that even you, fourth brother, would have such a high opinion of this Tachibana Aoden..." Eijiro Chiba turned his attention back to the playing field, "Then I want to see what this person's abilities are.

"

…

…

"'Kitabansho Little Tengu' Tachibana Aoden faced off against the long-famous rising star Adachi Totaro... I never expected that the first trial match would be so interesting!"

"I don't think it's possible. That Tachibana Aoshinobu has so much practical combat experience. He has killed countless lunatics from the 'radical anti-barbarian faction'. As for Adachi... I have never heard of him actually fighting anyone with a real sword.

experience of."

"Lack of experience in actual combat with others does not mean that his strength is necessarily inferior to others."

"I think Tachibana Aoden has a better chance of winning, but it will take some effort for him to defeat Adachi. After all, Adachi was already famous for his excellent swordsmanship two years ago."

"Well, I think so too."

"I think Tachibana Aoto and Adachi may have a fierce battle. After all, isn't Adachi heard to be quite strong?"

…

The constant chatter on the martial arts viewing table inevitably reached the ears of the people in the Trial Guard Hall and the Little Chiba Sword Hall.

After hearing that some of the audience actually said, "Aoto will have a fight with Adachi," Chiba Jutaro couldn't help showing a dumbfounded expression.

Their little Chiba Kenkan had a fierce battle with the Showeikan in the red and white battle held at the "Plum Blossom Festival" two months ago.

Therefore, regarding Aoto's strength...Chiba Jutaro and the others are much clearer than these ignorant onlookers.

Chiba Jutaro crossed his arms on his chest and grinned:

"Enter the Dragon... How could it be Enter the Dragon..."

"There must be no suspense for Tachibana-kun to defeat Adachi."

"Although Adachi is indeed very strong, he can only fight Aoto for a few rounds."

"Sanako, what do you think?" Chiba Jutaro tilted his head and asked Sanako beside him.

Suddenly being spoken to by Chiba Jutaro - Sanako said calmly without hesitation:

"There should be no suspense about Mr. Orange winning."

"But I don't think like my brother that Adachi can only last a few rounds."

"I have seen a fight between Adachi and others before. This Adachi is not an ordinary person."

"His strength may not be as strong as Tachibana-kun, but he is definitely not weak."

"Ju-kun will still have to spend a lot of effort to defeat him."

"If Mr. Tachibana makes a careless move or underestimates the enemy, he might be defeated by Adachi."

There is only one seat between Okita, Sanako, and Jutaro Chiba...that is, Aoto's seat is now vacant.

Because of the close distance, Okita heard the conversation between the brother and sister just now without missing a word.

When he first heard the conversation between Sanako and the others, Okita pursed his lips tightly.

Then... the corners of Okita's mouth slowly raised into a weird smile.

…

…

"'There are quite a few contestants who have the strength to put you in a tough fight'..." Kondo, who was sitting directly to the left of Shusuke, smiled bitterly and repeated in a low voice what Shusuke had just said at a volume that only he and Shusuke could hear.

These are the exact words spoken by Qingdeng.

After opening his lips slightly and letting out a silent sigh, Kondo tilted his head in the direction of Shusuke and continued to speak at a volume that only he and Shusuke could hear clearly:

"In order to prevent Mr. Tachibana from becoming arrogant, we worked together to deceive Mr. Tachibana. The lie is finally exposed today."

As if Zhoushu didn't hear Kondo's words, he scratched the itch on his back with his left hand, rubbed his bare chin with his right hand, and looked at the field ahead with interest.

There was an intriguing smile on his face.

…

…

The referees of the match were two Aizu feudal lords whose hair was mostly gray.

After putting on his protective gear, Ayoto walked to the center of the arena carrying his bamboo sword, which had been inspected by the referees and showed no problems. He and Adachi stood on the east and west sides of the center of the arena.

In a swordsmanship match like this, before the fight officially begins, a set of etiquette must be followed - both players will first put their bamboo swords on their left waists, squat on the ground, bow to each other and then imitate the action of drawing the swords.

He slowly pulled out the bamboo sword from his left waist and stood up.

After completing this set of simple etiquette, the fight can begin.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to exchange salutes with Adachi across from him, Aoto half-closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

——This Adachi is said to be quite strong... his reputation and strength seem to be second only to those "Three Heroes".

——He might be one of the "players who are equal to me" that my master told me many times...

——I didn’t expect that my first battle in this competition would be against such a master.

During this period, Shusuke, Kondo, and Okita would emphasize to Aonto almost every day: This time the Aizu Hou Swordsmanship Competition is a gathering of heroes, there are many masters who are as strong as you. Remember not to be careless and underestimate the enemy during the competition.

.

Qingteng also didn't know much about the level of the apprentices in other sword halls. Every time he heard the warnings from Zhoushu and others about "don't underestimate the enemy", Qingteng would feel a chill in his heart.

There are indeed many masters in this world... I didn't expect that for Edo alone, there would be so many people in the younger generation who were as strong as him!

After experiencing last night's competition with Zhou Su, Qingden became even more convinced: There is indeed no shortage of masters in this world!

Since there are so many masters in this competition...then I can't be arrogant in any way.

Qingdeng decided to test the teaching Zhouzhu gave him last night - whenever facing a battle, he must have a high morale of "I will win no matter what".

I have to say that these psychological hints are quite useful.

After being determined to "win", Qingdeng felt that his strength seemed to have become stronger.

After Aoto bowed to Adachi who was opposite him and stood up with his bamboo sword in hand, louder shouts and sighs arose from the spectator seats around him - the long-awaited first test.

Hey, it’s finally about to begin!
To be continued...