My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 372 - 143: Another Instant Kill! [Talent Fusion]! [Bonus Release: 10,000 Words]

After nearly half an hour of quiet passing, following Aoto’s match, another eye-catching duel finally appeared on the field again.

The "Three Heroes" finally took the stage!

The first to be called out and step onto the stage of the "Three Heroes" was Morioka Tadao from Shixue Hall.

For this competition, many spectators regarded the recently rising star Aoto and the "Three Heroes" as the favorites most likely to win the championship.

Aoto’s stunning one-strike defeat of his opponent undoubtedly heightened the audience’s expectations.

Many spectators now have high expectations for the "Three Heroes" as well—they look forward to seeing the "Three Heroes," listed as favorites alongside Aoto, deliver brilliant performances.

Upon hearing Morioka’s name called, the spectators in the stands eagerly turned their curious gazes to the field.

Morioka’s appearance... lives up to its reputation—a beast-like face resembling a "pig in human form," almost making one want to look away.

Many spectators who hadn’t seen Morioka before, upon his appearance, cast peculiar glances his way.

Morioka seemed accustomed to the peculiar stares and with a composed expression, carried his bamboo sword onto the field, donned his protective gear, stood respectfully opposite his opponent, saluted, and then began the duel.

As a member of Shixue Hall, Morioka naturally practiced the Mirror Heart Mingzhi School of Swordsmanship, which emphasizes movement and "position."

A person with such an appearance, yet using the "most elegant swordsmanship," Mirror Heart Mingzhi School... is indeed somewhat peculiar.

Morioka steadily and without haste switched his sword stance to the lower rank and was first to launch an attack on his opponent ahead.

Morioka surely deserves the title of "Three Heroes" as a swordsman.

In terms of swordsmanship and skill, Morioka far surpassed his opponent before him.

As soon as the bout began, Morioka commenced a unilateral domination.

With just three strikes, he disrupted his opponent’s rhythm; the fourth strike destroyed his opponent’s balance, and finally, with the fifth strike, he knocked his opponent down.

As a rule of thumb, being able to knock down an opponent with just five strikes in a match is considered quite an achievement—however, after experiencing Aoto’s previous stunning performance, the audience’s appetite had been set quite high.

The "Morioka’s Five Strikes to Defeat Opponent" feat couldn’t ignite much passion in the spectators, so when Morioka knocked his opponent down, he didn’t receive much applause or praise.

Following Morioka, the other two seats of the "Three Heroes"—Tsuzaki Heiyo from Xuanwu Hall and Niitsuma Kan from Training Hall were also called to the stage one after the other.

Together labeled as the "Three Heroes" alongside Morioka, these two indeed possess exceptional skills compared to their peers. However... neither Tsuzaki Heiyo nor Niitsuma Kan succeeded in replicating the "Aoto’s one-strike defeat" feat.

Niitsuma, who came closest to Aoto’s feat, still needed a full three strikes to knock his opponent down.

Although the match pace was fast, due to a large number of competitors in this tournament—112 participants, it took quite a long while, until close to noon, to finally complete the first round of elimination matches.

After fierce competition, half of the contestants were successfully eliminated, leaving the remaining half to advance to the second round of elimination matches.

The second round of elimination matches will be held at 2 PM, giving all spectators about an hour for a lunch break,

when the veteran samurai who served as the emcee announced a temporary break and that the match would resume in an hour, many spectators in the stands left their seats, either planning to go home after having enough excitement or wanting to grab some lunch before returning to continue watching the matches.

Those merchants who seized the rare business opportunity to set up food stalls in Asakusa suddenly welcomed a flood of customers, making them grin from ear to ear.

"Ah, this tournament is much more exciting than I imagined."

"I feel a bit disappointed though, aside from the first match by Tachibana Aoto, no other competitors impressed me much."

"I wonder who will have the chance to take the victory?"

"The winner is certainly going to be either Tachibana Aoto or the ’Three Heroes,’ I guess?"

"Hahaha, I think Tachibana Aoto has the biggest chance of winning! He was the only one to defeat his opponent with just one strike."

"You can’t say that for sure, perhaps the ’Three Heroes’ just happened to face stronger opponents, while Tachibana Aoto’s opponent was relatively weaker."

...

After the temporary break, spectators energetically discussed the matches that had just finished.

As the saying goes, "Laymen watch the fun, experts watch the intricacies."

The vast majority of the audience were either ordinary civilians with no knowledge of swordsmanship or swordsmen with mediocre skills.

In their eyes, Aoto ending the match with one strike and the "Three Heroes" using three to five strikes were somewhat similar in strength—one strike or three to five strikes... it’s just a matter of a few strikes in quantity.

The "Three Heroes," who used a few more strikes than Aoto to defeat their opponents, probably had slightly less strength than Aoto—this was the common thought among many people.

As for those with some expertise in swordsmanship... their thoughts were entirely different from those of these laymen.

Anyone with a certain understanding of swordsmanship, after witnessing Aoto’s one-strike defeat of Adachi, would never say something like, "The ’Three Heroes’ should be similar in strength to Aoto."