My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 350 - 138: Aoto vs. Kondo Shuuzo! Passing Down the Secret Technique of the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream!

Why is everyone’s malice so strong, I find that many readers think I was deliberately making excuses to slack off yesterday... (Crying Leopard Head.jpg)

The author is an ordinary human who eats grains... My body isn’t made of iron, and I’m not exactly the healthiest or strongest person. It’s perfectly normal for me to feel unwell occasionally.

So please don’t always assume the worst about the author... It’s really disheartening to see comments like "Hahaha, the author is making excuses to slack off again."

Seeing so many readers say I was making excuses yesterday, to be honest, made me a bit sad QAQ (Truly Crying Leopard Head.jpg)

*******

*******

After a brief greeting with Aoto, Zhouzhu walked leisurely into the dojo.

As he walked, he continued to chatter on:

"I ate way too much at dinner tonight."

"The lady of the house really... made so many greasy dishes this evening."

"Even though they were greasy, they were so delicious that I couldn’t resist having an extra bowl of rice."

"Even now, at 8 p.m., I still feel quite full."

"So, I thought of finding something to do to help digest."

"It’s been quite a while since I last stretched these old bones of mine."

"You know, if you don’t move your body regularly, it’ll age much faster."

"That’s why I decided to come to the dojo. While watching you practice, I might as well swing my sword a bit to stretch my bones and help with digestion."

"Mr. Tachibana, your suburi moves just now were really great, couldn’t find a single flaw."

...

Seeing Zhouzhu talk non-stop, incessantly chattering, Aoto couldn’t help but twitch the corners of his mouth slightly, a trace of helplessness surfacing in his eyes.

Even though he has been temporarily staying at Shiwei Hall for almost 3 months now, Aoto still hasn’t fully adapted to Zhouzhu’s nagging personality.

As impolite as it might sound... since joining Shiwei Hall, Aoto often can’t help but see Zhouzhu as the hall’s comedian...

Zhouzhu is the current hall master of Shiwei Hall, and the third generation leader of the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream. Yet, he doesn’t exude any aura of a great figure or authority.

He always maintains a gentle smile.

Zhouzhu, with his constant cheerful demeanor and squinty eyes, looks particularly approachable.

So far, Aoto has never seen Zhouzhu lose his temper with anyone; he speaks kindly to everyone.

The main reason Aoto tends to see Zhouzhu as a comedian is due to his comically "dominated" status at home.

Zhouzhu demonstrated to Aoto what it means to be "afraid of one’s wife" and "completely under his wife’s control."

Zhouzhu almost always listens to Abi in everything. If he inadvertently angers Abi, he swiftly submits and apologizes, showing no trace of being a dojo master or sect leader.

Whenever Zhouzhu looks aggrieved after being scolded by Abi, Aoto can’t help but find it amusing.

However, although he inwardly sees Zhouzhu as a comedian, overall, Aoto quite likes this gentle and kind-hearted old man—if only he could stop being so chatty, it’d be even better.

After incessantly talking about a lot of nothing, this amiable old man finally said something meaningful to Aoto:

"Mr. Tachibana, aren’t you going to rest a bit today?"

Zhouzhu squinted his eyes, which were so narrow one could hardly tell if they were even open, and glanced at Aoto’s sweat-drenched lapel.

"Tomorrow is the swordsmanship competition by the Marquis of Aizu, you know."

"If you accidentally injure yourself while training, that would be troublesome."

"Yong once made such a foolish mistake."

"On the day before a swordsmanship competition, he practiced so hard that he sprained his arm, and unfortunately, had to withdraw from the competition."

Aoto wiped the sweat that was about to drip off his chin and smiled, "Master, don’t worry. I know my limits and won’t overdo it."

"Besides..." Aoto paused, "I’m kind of preparing for tomorrow’s competition right now."

"A little bit of exercise helps calm my currently excited mood."

"Oh?" Zhouzhu raised an eyebrow, then smiled as if hearing something interesting, his eyes slightly opening a fraction, "Mr. Tachibana, are you feeling very excited right now?"

"To be honest—" Aoto smiled broadly and admitted frankly, "Ever since I learned the Marquis of Aizu was hosting a swordsmanship competition in Asakusa, I’ve been looking forward to it."

"It’s a rare opportunity to compete against experts from different sword dojos in Edo."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aoto silently added in his heart:

—Wonder how much talent I can harvest from this tournament.

The chance to copy talents from other dojo experts—this was the main reason Aoto was eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s competition.

The swordsmanship competition organized by the Marquis of Aizu, a great daimyo, leader of one of the few powerful domains... Faced with such a prestigious event, most sword dojos will undoubtedly send their best and most talented newcomers to participate.

That is to say: in the upcoming 2-day swordsmanship competition, brilliant newcomers from various sword dojos in Edo are bound to show their fierce competition!