The match started suddenly and ended quickly.
It felt a bit anticlimactic—and although the development wasn't clear, everyone saw Miyazaki Ikki kneeling before Sakurai, as if kowtowing and begging for mercy.
'What a huge embarrassment.' That was the thought of the onlookers.
Most of them didn't understand the match, so they didn't find it impressive.
But those in the Kendo Club who understood a bit knew that the two had engaged in many tactical exchanges within a mere few seconds.
"Hey! You guys—take him to rest!"
Ohmonto Saburo called a few boys to help Miyazaki Ikki away.
Miyazaki-kun's technique wasn't bad, but his temper was arrogant. This time, being struck down by a new club member was actually a good thing.
As for whether animosity would arise between the two—Ohmonto Saburo, as the instructor, wasn't concerned with such personal disputes.
On the contrary, a bit of animosity might even be better. It would be conducive to progress.
Better to find an enemy and constantly strive for revenge than to be a headless fly without a target.
After calling for people, Ohmonto Saburo turned to Sakurai, who had taken off his protective gear, and praised him: "That 'attack' just now was very good—you feinted him out."
"In a normal kendo match, the success rate of attacking the throat is extremely low. He probably didn't expect you to attack there, so he relaxed his guard."
The 'attack' he mentioned was a kendo term—namely 'seme'—a technique that creates an opening by pressuring and forcing the opponent to have the illusion of being attacked.
It sounds mysterious, but it's actually just a feint—a fake move.
Kendo isn't metaphysics. It's just a competitive sport. Nothing strange about it.
"He won't have any problems, will he?" Sakurai—this weasel—was actually concerned about the chicken's safety.
Sakurai was afraid that he might accidentally cause problems for Miyazaki, and then another story would be added to the legends about Sakurai General Affairs at school.
To be honest, his confession recently had already elevated his prestige to an unprecedented height. If another legend of 'killing the Kendo Club's regular member with one sword' were to emerge, Sakurai would have a headache.
He had originally set his persona as a sunny, handsome big boy.
He didn't want to turn into a demon king who kills without batting an eye and despises school rules.
That wouldn't be good.
"It's fine. The head protector—that is, the area below the men-gane—has protection. If he hadn't been scared into raising his head by you just now, he wouldn't have fallen." Ohmonto Saburo felt the need to add a throat-stabbing training for the club members.
However, in normal matches, no one attacks such a low-success-rate area—so it felt a bit wasteful.
The competition was in half a month. There really wasn't time.
"That's good." Sakurai breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of remorse.
…He was faking it!
Damn it—how dare he hit my shoulder without holding back? Not sending you to the hospital is me being polite to you.
Sakurai General Affairs was extremely vengeful, and as a Superpower user, he had no burden for such things. Fortunately, he'd recently started dating, which made him rein in his impulses a bit—so his acts of revenge wouldn't be life-threatening.
Otherwise… hmph hmph.
Does this count as a good change? Uh—probably. At least he seemed like a normal person.
"Go fill out the club application." Ohmonto Saburo added: "Morning practice starts at 6 AM every day, and after-school practice continues until 7 PM. Summer vacation will have intensive training. Can you accept that?"
"…" Sakurai was silent for a few seconds, then looked at Kojima beside him: "Kojima—I might not be able to help you with this."
"Are you referring to tutoring the Five Sisters?" Minister Kojima wanted to confirm.
"...Yes."
Actually, that wasn't the main reason.
Sakurai's Superpower changed precisely at 6 AM every day—more accurately than an alarm clock. He was afraid that if his power changed and he couldn't control it, he might cause trouble for the Kendo Club members.
At that time, let alone the competition—a few people might even disappear.
"Actually, our morning practice is just basic swings and posture, and a long run before practice. You don't have to come in the morning if you don't want to." Kojima squinted his eyes in thought. As he thought, the expression on his face gradually turned fierce.
He was similar to Shirogane—always unconsciously showing a terrifying expression.
But both of them had very kind and warm hearts.
"But after school, we have sparring practice—and you also have Student Council and tutoring work." Kojima sighed as he spoke: "It's a bit difficult."
At this moment, Ohmonto Saburo, as the instructor, interjected: "Even if he maintains his current level, being a chūken is more than enough."
Vanguard, Second Vanguard, Middle Guard, Vice-Captain, Captain. That was the order of the regular positions in the Kendo Club.
In typical matches—a five-on-five format—the vanguard fights the vanguard, the second vanguard fights the second vanguard, and so on.
For the Yulong Banner in half a month, though—
Whoever wins could stay on the field, so position wasn't as important. No need to consider the Tian Ji's Horse Racing strategy.
Club members wouldn't be divided into superior horses, inferior horses, middle horses, oxen and horses, no horses… cough, let's forget the last one. You couldn't curse in a kendo match; insulting an opponent was a foul.
"Just come to train every weekend until the end of the term. It's not long—just two weeks." Ohmonto Saburo delivered his verdict.
Amateurs watch the excitement; experts watch the technique.
As an instructor, he himself found it a bit hard to understand the speed of Sakurai Saki's jodan-no-kamae downward slash just now.
That strength simply didn't seem human—and the reaction time to dodge the attack was unbelievably fast, as if he were possessed by a demon.
Sakurai nodded.
If it weren't for the task reward, he wouldn't even bother participating in any kendo matches.
"Also—take a bamboo sword back with you. Don't be idle when you have time; practice some suburi."
After changing out of his kendo uniform, Sakurai Saki gathered his things, ready to tutor the Five Sisters.
But—wasn't the number of onlookers a bit ridiculously high?
All those events just now had only taken about twenty minutes.
Sakurai was surprised by the speed at which humans indulged in gossip and rumors.
What surprised him even more was that the Five Sisters were waiting for him at the entrance of the Kendo Club.
"So cool! Sakurai-kun! You're super amazing!" Nakano Yotsuba said, raising her right hand—her rabbit-ear-like green ribbon on her head shaking twice.
"What's cool about it?"
This question caught Yotsuba off guard.
"Uh—Sakurai-kun's face is very handsome!" Yotsuba knew that when she couldn't praise the other person's inner beauty, she should try to praise their appearance.
This was always better than saying nothing at all.
"Was my Yamarashi move just now not impressive?"
"Of course it was—"
Yotsuba hadn't finished speaking.
Ichika reminded her: "Yamarashi is a judo move."
"Ah—so Sakurai-kun also knows judo." Yotsuba chuckled awkwardly.
Itsuki helped her out of the predicament: "Sakurai-kun, what subjects are we reviewing today?"
"Japanese and English."
"Two subjects?!" Yotsuba covered her head, wailing.
For her—a Fool—this was simply a disaster!
Sakurai rolled his eyes at her.
It was almost time for final exams. Where was the time to take it slowly?