My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 378 - 144: Yet Another Instant Kill! Swordsmanship Talent Amplification by 62 Times! [8600]

Upon hearing the name Tsuzaki Heiyo, Aoto couldn’t help but reveal a peculiar expression.

He realized that his opponents today were no nameless figures.

In the first round, his opponent was Adachi, whose strength and fame were second only to the "Three Heroes".

In the second round, and now the third, he faced Morioka Tadao and Tsuzaki Heiyo, both among the "Three Heroes".

Battling continuously with these young luminaries of the Edo Swordsmanship World... this was exactly what Aoto wanted!

The more he fought against those hailed as "geniuses" and "masters," the more opportunities he had to replicate their talents.

Like Morioka, Tsuzaki was also one of the "Three Heroes"... Aoto would never believe he lacked any swordsmanship-related talents.

Aoto was still in an exciting and thrilled state after discovering the powerful hidden function of the Talent Fusion system.

This hidden function was incredibly strong.

If there were no limits to talent fusion... then Aoto could frequently battle those celebrated as "Swordsmanship Geniuses" and "Swordsmanship-Talented" swordsmen, continually replicating the talent of "Swordsmanship Talent Amplification" from them, bit by bit, accumulating until Aoto’s "Sword Genius" evolved hundreds or thousands of times beyond the normal person’s "Swordsmanship Talent Amplification" — this might truly be possible.

Just the amplification of swordsmanship talent by 50 times that of a normal person was already so terrifying; if this number became hundreds or thousands... what kind of concept would that be, Aoto couldn’t even imagine.

Of course— for the number to gradually grow to hundreds or thousands... who knows how long it would take.

"Mr. Tachibana, it’s your turn." Chokata, sitting to Aoto’s left, softly reminded him.

Aoto gently nodded, then picked up his bamboo sword and stepped onto the field with his head held high.

He couldn’t wait to see if he could replicate the talent of "Swordsmanship Talent Amplification" from Tsuzaki, allowing his "Sword Genius" to further upgrade.

Even though Aoto had already realized he was being played by the "benign lies" of Zhouzhu and others at the end of the first round this morning, he still continued to diligently watch each contestant’s match in the second-round eliminations this afternoon, observing and studying their strengths and favorite moves.

Aoto was the type who always aimed to prepare more thoroughly and better when doing anything.

Therefore, even though he already knew the strength of the other contestants in this tournament was far inferior to his, Aoto decided to approach each match in this tournament with the determination of a lion hunting a rabbit.

As one of the "Three Heroes", Aoto had closely watched all of Tsuzaki’s matches today.

According to Aoto’s own assessment... it shouldn’t take too much effort for him to defeat Tsuzaki.

Though Tsuzaki was from Xuanwu Hall, which was on friendly terms with their Shiwei Hall, Aoto felt no need to hold back or make Tsuzaki and the Xuanwu Hall lose more gracefully.

In this era’s values, being given an easy match in such a martial arts competition was seen as a significant insult, and only giving your all was considered genuine respect for your opponent.

Aoto and Tsuzaki entered the field one after the other.

If it were this morning, upon hearing that Aoto was facing one of the "Three Heroes", Tsuzaki, the spectators would presumably be in an uproar, eagerly anticipating a fierce contest between two championship favorites.

However, after seeing how Aoto instantly defeated Morioka in the second-round eliminations just now, almost no spectator still persisted in believing a dragon-and-tiger fight would happen between Aoto and Tsuzaki.

Now, most spectators were simply there for entertainment — wanting to see if Tsuzaki would end up just like Adachi and Morioka, defeated by Aoto in a single strike.

Aoto and Tsuzaki donned their gear, standing on opposite sides of the arena center. Following the referee’s instructions, they placed their bamboo swords at their left waists and knelt on the ground, bowing to each other.

Tsuzaki appeared to be someone whose poor family background was evident from his appearance alone.

His clothes were covered in patches, one on top of another.

Swordsmen like Tsuzaki, whose life was extremely challenging, possibly had a living standard worse than that of farmers, were not uncommon.

Due to extremely rigid class structures and practically zero social mobility, samurai found it challenging to get promoted, with stipends remaining unchanged for centuries, compounded by the continual decline of smallholder economies; thus, a large number of middle to lower-grade samurai nationwide lived impoverished lives, barely scraping by on porridge.

After finishing their bow, the referees loudly announced "begin", and Tsuzaki positioned his bamboo sword in a middle stance at his front.

"Mr. Tachibana," Tsuzaki spoke in a muffled voice, "please don’t hold back. Fight me with all your might!"

Tsuzaki was likely worried that Aoto might not go all out against him, considering the relationship between Shiwei Hall and Xuanwu Hall, so he specially reminded Aoto, requesting him to use his full strength in their match.

Tsuzaki’s eyes were exceptionally bright.

Even with protective headgear worn, Aoto could still distinctly see through the gaps in the helmet meant for vision, the brightness in Tsuzaki’s eyes.

In contrast to the shadows within the helmet, Tsuzaki’s eyes seemed like stars in the night.

His eyes, carrying the light within, formed a stark contrast with his heavily patched clothing.