My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 450: Chapter 161: Fierce Battle with Chiba Eijiro! Copy Talent [Gathering Spirit][7600]_3

The first sword started from the lower right position, swinging upwards, slashing heavily on Aoto’s back, and then immediately followed by the second sword, which chopped back along the original path, from the upper left to the lower right, again slashing heavily on Aoto’s back.

In just a few seconds, Aoto was struck three more times... a slash to the side abdomen and two more slashes to the back.

Aoto hurriedly turned around to face Chiba Eijiro, cautiously guarding against the possibility of Chiba Eijiro’s ongoing onslaught, while simultaneously taking continuous steps back to open up the distance between himself and Chiba Eijiro in one breath.

Chiba Eijiro did not launch another attack. He stood still, quietly watching Aoto retreat, and softly said:

"You were concentrating all your attention on my sword just now."

"That’s not going to work."

"In a life-or-death duel, fists, soles, knees, shoulders... even teeth, every part of the body can be used as a weapon."

"You can’t just observe the enemy’s sword; you need to observe the enemy’s entire body."

"Focusing all your attention on the sword in the enemy’s hand and neglecting other parts of their body makes it easy, as you just did, to be hit by my shoulder and have your body’s balance destroyed."

Aoto was stunned for a moment, then settled down to recall carefully... Indeed, just as Chiba Eijiro said, in order to block or evade Chiba Eijiro’s "Divine Speed Sword," he had to focus all his attention on Chiba Eijiro’s bamboo sword, subconsciously ignoring the other parts of Chiba Eijiro’s body.

If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have so easily fallen victim to Chiba Eijiro’s "Meat Bomb Impact."

Aoto took a deep breath: "Thank you for the guidance...!"

Seeing Aoto readjust his stance, Chiba Eijiro’s lips slightly curled up: "Very well, then let’s continue."

The battle reopened.

But the situation did not significantly change.

Not just watching the opponent’s sword, but observing their entire body... applying this logic to Chiba Eijiro was too difficult for the current Aoto.

Chiba Eijiro’s speed was simply too fast; he was a complete "Speed Type Swordsman."

With his extraordinarily fast speed, Chiba Eijiro’s feet completely mastered the space around him and Aoto, madly compressing Aoto’s range of movement.

Aoto had to stay completely focused and intently concentrate on Chiba Eijiro’s right hand and the bamboo sword in his right palm; only then could he barely keep up with Chiba Eijiro’s sword speed.

But doing so meant he couldn’t spare the attention to notice other parts of Chiba Eijiro’s body...

In the end, this was a deadlock.

Due to the good relationship between Shiwei Hall, Xuanwu Hall, and Little Chiba Sword Dojo, the Beichen One-Sword Style was, for Aoto, the style he had encountered most, apart from his own studied Natural Reasoning Heart Stream.

Because of this, Aoto could clearly feel the significant difference in Chiba Eijiro compared to other swordsmen using the Beichen One-Sword Style he knew, whether it’s Chiba Shigetarou, Sazanoko, or Yamanaka Keisuke!

Facing Chiba Eijiro, whose individual strength and pressure were clearly far superior to the strongest person Aoto had ever faced: Kondo Shuuzo, Aoto’s "Lone Brave" talent was already fully activated.

But even so, Aoto was still firmly suppressed by Chiba Eijiro.

Aoto could no longer remember how many times he had been struck by Chiba Eijiro.

If it were a real sword duel... he would have already been dead beyond dead.

However—despite being beaten badly by Chiba Eijiro, not a trace of malice or frustration appeared on Aoto’s face.

——Amazing!

Aoto couldn’t remember how many times he had been struck by Chiba Eijiro, nor could he remember how many times he internally exclaimed "Amazing" since the battle began.

Chiba Eijiro’s bamboo sword struck Aoto again—the tip hit Aoto’s chest from an unbelievable angle.

Besides being fast, Chiba Eijiro had another terrifying aspect, which was that his sword had no fixed trajectory.

His sword could attack and defend at super speed from any direction and angle.

Aoto mustered up a counterattack, his sword conjuring a strong gust of wind, yet once again it fruitlessly struck only Chiba Eijiro’s afterimage.

——Failed to keep up with his speed again...

Compared to the swift and fierce Chiba Eijiro, Aoto seemed like a beginner who had just learned how to hold a sword, only managing to sluggishly and chaotically hack and slash... Clearly, Aoto had just recently won the Swordsmanship Competition of the Marquis of Aizu, defeating the young generation of the Edo Swordsmanship World led by the "Three Heroes."

——Is this the strength of the Strongest Swordsman of Edo...

Chiba Eijiro swiftly stepped forward again, using the Beichen One-Sword Style’s classic "Chopper" technique, once more heavily cutting Aoto’s right wrist, which he hadn’t had time to retract.

The waves of pain in his right wrist stimulated Aoto’s nerves... But Aoto was smiling.

He raised his gaze, staring straight at Chiba Eijiro.

The passionate light in his eyes seemed to almost melt the mask on his face.

——Amazing!

——My strength is indeed still miles away!

Chiba Eijiro was about to deliver another strike to Aoto, but his steps suddenly paused.

Through the gaps in his mask, Chiba Eijiro saw the smile on Aoto’s face, and the blazing light in his eyes that had not faded, but instead burned even more brightly.