"Huh?" Qingden cast a surprised look at Kiryu, "Shall I compete with Nagakura-kun?"

"In the past, when I met such customers who were looking for jobs related to swordsmanship and wanted to test their actual swordsmanship level, I always asked a samurai who lived next door to our store who was very good at swordsmanship to help me."

"But now that you are here, I can save the time of looking for someone."

"How about it? Can I ask you for a favor?"

Qingto looked at Kiryu, then at Nagakura: "Then... I'll make a fool of myself."

Discussing with others... Qingdeng would not refuse anyone who comes.

Especially for such talented people at such a young age, Qingdeng would be even more willing to compete with them. Maybe he could copy some talent from them.

Seeing Aoto nod in agreement, Kiryu said "Thank you very much" to Aoto with a grateful face, and then stood up from behind the counter in a leisurely manner.

"Then, please come with me. Behind our store, there happens to be a suitable place for people to practice swordsmanship. Young Master, can you please go to the warehouse and get two bamboo swords?"

…

…

Behind the Thousand Houses, there is a small backyard.

Although this backyard is not big, it is more than enough for two adults to have a sword fight here.

Aoto and Nagakura were holding the bamboo swords that Mai Kinoshita had just taken, and stood at the east and west ends of the small courtyard, facing each other. Kiryu, Mai Kinoshita, Okita, and Saito stood at the edge of the courtyard to watch the battle.

Nagakura swung the bamboo sword in his hand vigorously several times, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with his sword, he turned to Boss Kiryu and asked:

"Boss Kiryu, don't you have protective gear?"

"Sorry." Boss Kiryu smiled apologetically, "Our store does not provide its own protective gear."

"I don't have any protective gear... that's fine, it doesn't matter." Nagakura grinned and said, "Anyway, he used a bamboo sword, so he can't kill anyone."

After saying that, Nagakura swung the bamboo sword in his palm towards the air beside him, and after bringing up a strong wind, he spread his legs and took a mid-section stance towards Qingden: "Are you ready?"

Qingdeng, who had just inspected the bamboo sword, nodded and held the bamboo sword in front of him: "Teach me at any time."

Qingdeng, who has made rapid progress in swordsmanship thanks to his "Excellent Sword Skills", has also developed some discernment now.

As soon as Nagakura raised his bamboo sword and took a stance, Qingden immediately saw that this man was indeed no ordinary person.

The stance, center of gravity, and angle of holding the sword... are all impeccable.

Even Ayoto could see that Nagakura was very strong, not to mention Okita and Saito who were standing at the edge of the courtyard with Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita to watch the battle.

"Oh..." Okita made a sound of praise that only he could hear clearly, "It seems that this person really has the strength to avoid Kaden..."

Qingto and Nagakura, who were both in the middle position, faced each other in a tense atmosphere, staring at each other closely.

The confrontation between the two lasted only 2 seconds before it was broken by a series of rapid footsteps.

Nagakura took the lead and stepped forward, approaching Qingnobo!

Nagakura is tall, with long arms and legs, so his attack range is naturally very wide. With just one step forward, he can get close to where his bamboo sword can hit Qingdon.

I saw Nagakura swinging his bamboo sword horizontally from left to right, slashing across Qingdeng's chest.

Qingdeng's pupils shrank slightly and he quickly retreated.

The tip of the Nagakura Bamboo Sword brushed against Qingdeng's chest, and Qingden felt a burning sensation coming from his chest.

After narrowly escaping Nagakura's slashing blow, Qingden quickly stood on his feet and then swung his sword to launch a counterattack.

Qingden's bamboo sword drew an arc-shaped line toward Nagakura's right shoulder.

After Nagakura glanced at Qingdeng's sword in return, he lowered his body's center of gravity slightly. The bamboo sword in his right hand also drew an arc, crossed the air, and hit Qingdeng's bamboo sword, dissolving it.

Qingdeng's slashing attack.

"Drink!" Nagakura roared like a beast, and quickly retracted the bamboo sword that blocked Qingteng's attack. He then switched to the upper stance and struck Qingteng's sword-holding right arm. "

Split Huashan with force."

With just one glance, Qingden immediately judged that he couldn't take Nagakura's blow.

Therefore, Qingteng had no choice but to jump back, jump out of Nagakura's attack range, and widen the distance between him and Nagakura.

Qingdeng jumped back and then landed firmly on the ground. While adjusting his posture, he said quickly in his heart:

——He is worthy of being the holder of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu Fusu Kyden. Every attack is full of the style of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu...

Shinto Muken-ryu is a swordsmanship that takes the "strong" route.

Crush the enemy with a violent attack like a torrential rain - this is the swordsmanship style of the Shinto Muken-ryu swordsmen.

As soon as Qingteng opened the distance between him and Nagakura, Nagakura immediately rushed towards Qingteng like a strong wind.

This Nagakura Shinpachi is very strong. In terms of strength, Aoto feels that this Nagakura Shinpachi is much stronger than the Suehiro Moriyuyo he dealt with before - but Aoto is not surprised or panicked by this.

.

At the beginning of the sparring session, after seeing Nagakura Shinpachi's posture of being unable to find any mistakes or flaws, Aomori had already predicted that this young man would not be an easy person to deal with.

Qingdeng, who had been mentally prepared for a long time, let out a breath.

The beating rate of the heart and the flow rate of blood began to soar.

Feeling these changes in his body, Qingdeng knew: his "loneliness" was beginning to take effect!

Qingdeng raised his bamboo sword and faced Nagakura, who was charging towards him again!

Shinto Wu Nian-ryu takes the "strong" route...that's a coincidence.

Ayoto's Natural Rishin-ryu is also a school that takes the "strong" route.

Woo——!

Qingden straightened his sword and stabbed Nagacang, making a sound that shook the air.

Nagakura hurriedly turned his body to the side, looking at Qingden's sword that passed close to his body, Nagakura's eyelids jumped uncontrollably.

He clearly felt that Qingdeng's strength... suddenly became much stronger than before.

Nagakura's eyes narrowed slightly, and he clenched the bamboo sword in his hand...

The two men, who both used "violent" swordsmanship, exchanged offense and defense at high speed in this small courtyard.

Even with the blessing of "Gu Gu"... Qingdeng's strength is still far inferior to Nagacang.

The difference in strength between the two... is probably "two to eight". Aoto 2, Nagakura 8. Nagakura completely suppressed Aoto.

Thanks to Qingteng's "Eagle Eyes", thanks to these eyes with extremely amazing dynamic vision, Qingteng was able to keenly see through Nagakura's attacks, and then dodge them in time.

Without "Eagle Eye", Qingden might have been knocked to the ground by Nagakura long ago.

Qingdeng knew that if he and Nagakura started a "head-on fight", he would definitely not be Nagakura's opponent.

So, relying on his "Eagle Eye", he fought Nagakura with the tactics that were most suitable for him who was currently at a disadvantage: "guerrilla tactics."

Continuously dodge Nagakura's attacks, and then wait for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Nagakura, and deliver a blow to Nagakura.

Even though he was completely at a disadvantage now, even if he was fighting guerrillas, the chance of defeating Nagakura was very slim. Qingden did not show any negative emotions and calmly fought guerrillas with Nagakura, calmly looking for opportunities to turn the tide of the battle.

Nagakura's mentality is also very good.

Qingdeng has always refused to confront him and used "guerrilla tactics" to deal with him. If it were the others, they would probably feel anxious and rush to bring down Qingdeng, this "cowardly" opponent.

.

But there was no hint of impatience on Nagakura's face.

I saw him keeping a straight face and steadily fighting Qingdeng.

Kiryu, who had been standing expressionlessly on the edge of the yard watching the battle, looked at Ao, who was clearly at a complete disadvantage, but showed no signs of frustration or dejection, and used the strategy with the best chance of winning without flinching to fight Nagakura.

Deng, a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

"...Okay, let's stop here first!"

Hearing Kiryu's shout, Ayoto and Nagakura both stopped holding their bamboo swords.

The discussion between Ayoto and Nagakura... lasted less than 3 minutes from beginning to end.

Although the fight only lasted for less than 3 minutes, because it was a fierce battle with a strong enemy like Nagakura, and he did not even dare to breathe, Qingto's body was already sweating lightly.

, breathing also became slightly messy.

Just looking at the state of the two after the battle, we can also see the difference in strength between Ayoto and Nagakura - Nagakura barely sweated, and his breathing was still steady and not messy.

Qingdeng didn't have the time to adjust his breathing or wipe the sweat off his body.

Because after he and Nagakura both put down the bamboo swords in their hands, the cold system sound suddenly sounded in Qingden's mind:

[Ding! Talent scanned]

[Successfully copied talent: "Steel Skeleton"]

[Talent introduction: Bones are extraordinarily tough]

As soon as the system sound fell, waves of warm currents suddenly surged out from everywhere in Qingdeng's body and enveloped Qingdeng's whole body. After a while, these warm currents slowly receded.

——Bones become tough?
To be continued...