My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 363: Chapter 141: The Swordsmanship Competition Begins!

As for the north side... to put it simply, it’s the "VIP section".

The northern seats are surrounded by white curtains, leaving only the side facing the field uncovered. Countless solemn-faced samurai are guarding this "VIP section" from all directions, preventing any unrelated persons from approaching.

This competition attracted many daimyo who were staying in Edo due to the "visit and handover" policy.

Visit and handover - a national policy that compulsorily requires most of the daimyo to live in Edo for at least half a year annually, causing nearly half of the nation’s daimyo to reside in Edo at any time.

Some daimyo came purely to pass the time watching the matches.

Others came for socializing.

Yet some daimyo have more straightforward and pragmatic goals—they are here for the Marquis of Aizu, wishing to seize this rare opportunity to curry favor with this political figure who is currently deeply trusted by the Shogunate, Tokugawa Iemochi.

The Marquis of Aizu, who organized this competition, along with the other daimyo attending for various reasons, will all be seated in this northern "VIP section".

However, the "VIP section" is currently empty, and the Marquis of Aizu and the other daimyo are expected to arrive after some time.

To demonstrate that "all sword dojos, all contestants are equal", there are no fixed seats in the south spectators’ area, and no requirement for any specific sword dojo to sit in a particular place. Since the group from Shiwei Hall came early, they managed to grab a rather decent spot.

"Ho ho ho, the Hall Master of Qingxue Academy: Kawaguchi Kikutarou is also here. Hm? That guy Shimura is still alive..."

Zhouzhu stroked his smooth chin, observing the surroundings of the spectators’ area with interest. The names he murmured, Aoto had more or less heard of – all swordsmen with certain reputations in Edo.

The grand scale and remarkable matches of this competition have strong appeal not only to ordinary citizens but also to swordsmen.

Almost every sword dojo in Edo has sent their strongest newcomers to participate in this tournament.

In other words, whoever clinches the first victory in this swordsmanship competition will earn the crown of "the strongest of the younger generation in the Edo swordsmanship world"!

How could one miss such a grand event which directly determines who is the "strongest of the younger generation"?

Many swordsmen with high prestige in the Edo swordsmanship world have come—they all want to see with their own eyes who will claim the title of "strongest". freewebnovel.cσ๓

Aoto, unlike Zhouzhu, does not recognize as many swordsmen, having little deep understanding of the Edo swordsmanship world, he is only familiar with a few names such as Chiba Dingji, and the "Edo’s Three Great Swordsmen" led by "Skill of Chiba".

The competition officially starts... in nearly half an hour.

Having nothing to do, Aoto simply closed his eyes and began to rest.

But just as Aoto closed his eyes—

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

A sudden commotion erupted from the west side of the venue.

This sudden noise approached continuously, finally forming clear shouts.

"It’s the Training Hall! The people from the Training Hall are here!"

"Ah! Look, it’s Saito Yajiro! It’s Saito Yajiro!"

"Tsk tsk... Look, Saito Yajiro’s physique is as robust as an ox... How did he train to such a strong build..."

...

Drawn by the attention from these calls, Aoto opened his eyes and looked towards the west side of the field.

In the west side of the field, a sword dojo team made its way orderly into the audience area.

Almost every swordsman in this team had an extremely robust body, exuding an aura of toughness.

Leading this sword dojo team at the forefront was an elderly man around 60 years old, with hair already half white.

At a glance at this elderly man’s face, one might think he appears to be just an ordinary old fellow.

But if you lower your gaze to look below his neck, you would notice this old man’s extraordinary nature.

This elderly man possessed an exceptionally robust physique; his firm muscles stretched his clothes tightly, making it hard to believe such physical form could be maintained by someone past sixty.

Looking at this very robust old man, Zhouzhu smacked his lips a few times: "Ho ho... ’Powerful Saito’ is here too..." freёwebnoѵel.com

– Powerful Saito...

Aoto raised his gaze, staring intently at that old man for a while.

– That person is the famous Saito Yajiro...

– This physique... no wonder he’s famed as ’Powerful Saito’.

– Since that elderly man is the current Hall Master of the Training Hall, known as ’Powerful Saito’, then the people following him should be the swordsmen from the Training Hall.

One of Edo’s Three Great Dojos, the Training Hall has arrived... numerous eyes filled with various emotions, followed by exclamations, converged upon Saito Yajiro and the swordsmen from the Training Hall behind him.

Saito Yajiro and the swordsmen behind him seemed accustomed to the attention and admiration from others, calmly taking their seats at an empty area not far from Aoto and the others.

"No wonder it’s ’Edo’s Three Great Dojos’..." Chokata clicked their tongue, "Their presence and reputation are on a completely different level from us..."

Although their Shiwei Hall’s fame had risen sharply after defeating the Little Chiba Sword Dojo at the "Plum Blossom Festival" Red and White Battle two months ago, their current status in Edo remains low, still considered at the "lightweight" level.