After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

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Ayakoji Chiyoko's sudden movement caught everyone off guard, and Hosaka Yui instinctively yelled out, quickly retreating to dodge.

Smack!

But someone in the venue had reacted, it was the attacked Kagura Hikaru himself, who intercepted the sword horizontally over his shoulder, tilting the blade to let it slide off to the side with the momentum, easily neutralizing the attack.

Teacher Yamazaki's eyes lit up.

His Sword Dao level wasn't bad either, holding a fourth dan rank, otherwise, he wouldn't be qualified to be the advisor for the Kendo Club.

From just these few movements, Teacher Yamazaki could tell that Kagura Hikaru was no ordinary individual; his posture was crisp and succinct without any superfluous actions, simple and unadorned, seeking speed within stability—this was the embodiment of simplicity and efficiency.

Ayakoji Chiyoko shook her sword's tip, moved a few steps to the side, and with a strange cry, she suddenly dashed forward and swung her sword down in a chop.

This in Sword Dao is called 'Spirit Focus,' exhaling from the diaphragm, expelling old air from the lungs, then taking a deep breath to fill the lungs with oxygen, enabling the next strike to be with full power.

When people toss some heavy object, like athletes in a shot put event, they often also yell out instinctively at the moment of release; this is actually 'Spirit Focus.'

Indeed, Ayakoji Chiyoko's strike was fierce, causing Kagura Hikaru to instinctively lift his Bamboo Sword horizontally across to try and block, to prevent her from hitting the scoring point on his faceguard, as that would be considered a loss in Sword Dao.

But the next instant, Kagura Hikaru realized something was wrong. This move was indeed good for defending against top-to-bottom attacks, but it exposed his right hand to the opponent; it was a trap.

Sure enough, the moment Ayakoji Chiyoko's Bamboo Sword struck Kagura Hikaru's, she immediately withdrew it, taking less than 0.2 seconds to perform a nimble second slash, a Cassock Slash aiming for Kagura Hikaru's right wrist.

This series of feigned actions and feints was dazzling, and the speed was so fast that even the spectators outside the field were slightly delayed in realizing what happened.

But even before that, Kagura Hikaru had made a move, quickly realigning his blade while pushing down with both hands and stepping back, causing Ayakoji Chiyoko's attack to hit the guard of his Bamboo Sword. He skillfully parried her blade and regained his Lingering Spirit.

Ayakoji Chiyoko, following her momentum, passed by him, and both turned around to face each other again.

Teacher Yamazaki couldn't help but shout, "Good!"

This exchange might seem ordinary, but only insiders could see how high Kagura Hikaru's skill was; it was like a master fighting an apprentice, completely foreseeing Ayakoji Chiyoko's movements and strike zones, and responding like flowing water.

If it had been a regular match, by now they would have seen Kagura Hikaru launch a series of fierce attacks after successfully defending, with the thrown-off Ayakoji Chiyoko likely unable to handle it.

By this point, they had realized that Kagura Hikaru's Sword Dao level might not only be on par with Ayakoji Chiyoko's but could even surpass hers.

The members of the Kendo Club widened their eyes, looking towards Miyamoto Shi and the Gorilla Vice President.

It turned out their words were true; Kagura Hikaru's skill was indeed this strong.

But since this was the case, why was he the club manager? Was this some new wave monk sweeping the floor?

Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko were at a standoff for five minutes, and the latter finally scored a point after relentless attacks.

"Switch," Teacher Yamazaki said after determining the winner, "Uchida, it's your turn."

"Yes!"

After watching for so long, everyone was already itching to try.

As soon as Teacher Yamazaki called his name, Minister Uchida from the Kendo Club immediately stood up, passing by Chiyoko Ayakoji as she made her way off the field, and with a distance in between, he bowed to Hikaru Kagura. Then, he carefully approached, picking up his bamboo sword from his waist.

Chiyoko Ayakoji on the sidelines received a towel from Yui Hosaka, wiping sweat while watching the stage. She observed Hikaru Kagura's movements from a third-person perspective, imagining how she would defend if she were in his place, using this observation to learn by comparison.

Throughout the afternoon, Hikaru Kagura was treated like a punching bag by all the contestants, unable to counter and only able to block, continuously enduring a relentless group attack.

However, since this punching bag was overwhelmingly strong, by the end, no one except Chiyoko Ayakoji could break through Hikaru Kagura's defense circle, leaving everyone else feeling frustrated.

These were the people who were going to compete in the national tournament, yet they were frequently defeated by a club manager on their team—what was that all about?

In this way, under Hikaru Kagura's guidance, everyone grew and their skills visibly improved. Coach Yamazaki was very pleased and promised that if anyone reached the top eight in the national competition, he would treat everyone to barbecue.

This promise fired everyone up, and they trained until dusk before stopping and returning to the hotel to rest.

They had a competition early the next morning, and instead of going out, everyone took a bath and went straight to sleep.

At five in the morning the next day, Hikaru Kagura was awoken on time by his phone alarm.

Quickly, he turned off the alarm, glanced around the room—the others were still sleeping.

He quietly got out of bed, washed up, ordered breakfast for everyone at the hotel kitchen, and then went to wake everyone up.

The boys collectively overslept, reluctantly getting up, whereas the girls got up early. When Hikaru Kagura knocked on their door, only Chiyoko Ayakoji, fully dressed, came to open the door. She mentioned that Yui Hosaka had gotten up even earlier, not knowing where she had gone.

By the time Hikaru Kagura returned to the first floor, he saw Yui Hosaka's figure below, talking and laughing with the innkeeper's young daughter.

After everyone had washed up, breakfast was ready.

They gathered around a table with a heater, eating while watching Coach Yamazaki study this year's strong competitors on his phone.

They had a competition today, but everyone felt quite relaxed.

Perhaps it was because they were thoroughly trained by Hikaru Kagura the day before; now they felt a sense of superiority when thinking about their competitors.

Kidding—having sparred with a real Sword Dao expert, why should they fear these high school weaklings?

Hikaru Kagura's presence was like a stabilizing anchor, leaving them free from nervousness and filled only with strong combat desires, eager to test the skills they had learned from him the day before.

Compared to the advisor Coach Yamazaki, Hikaru Kagura was a better teacher because everyone just needed to imitate him. After each match, he would proactively point out the opponent's shortcomings, which greatly enhanced their practical combat awareness.

Of course, it was only awareness and overall perception that had changed. As for sword techniques, it was impossible to make significant progress in such a short time, as if it weren't a martial arts novel where one learns a martial art, defeats their sworn enemy, and instantly becomes powerful.

But even this was a rare and invaluable opportunity.

Brute strength could be trained, techniques could be honed slowly, but practical combat awareness was the hardest to develop.

You could say, as a punching bag, someone was just too strong, and had become a training tool.

At seven in the morning, after breakfast and a short rest, everyone changed into school uniforms and rushed to the national high school Kendo competition held at an indoor sports arena in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture.