Chapter 564: Chapter 371 National Sword Dao Competition_2
"Whatever." Kusunoki Kubomaru said, spreading his hands.
"Let me go."
Uesugi Sakura volunteered, which was quite rare.
"Junior, the opponent isn’t weak, you know."
"Don’t worry."
Coincidentally, the opponent also sent out their General.
The first match being a battle of Generals naturally heightened the audience’s anticipation.
In the stands, there were friends and family of participants from various teams.
Most of them were fellow disciples, brothers, teachers, or students.
It’s not uncommon for someone in their forties to compete in a national Sword Dao tournament; in fact, many champions have been from this age group.
A participant like Uesugi Sakura, who recently became an adult, was truly worth noting.
After all, in Sword Dao, a sturdy man aged forty to fifty seems much more reliable than a handsome young boy.
Just by experience, young people can’t compete with older men.
Uesugi Sakura and his opponent stood on the same field, and Hongo Taikou’s height made the audience feel as if an adult was bullying a child.
"Please guide me."
"Mm, please guide me." Uesugi Sakura said, calmly returning the gesture while wearing the Sword Dao helmet.
His opponent was also a police officer, a ten-year veteran criminal police officer from the Matsuyama City Ehime Prefecture Police Department, Hongo Taikou.
To catch criminals and deal with various situations, Hongo Taikou had trained his physique to be quite burly.
After they bowed, at the referee’s signal, they gripped their bamboo swords and took their positions.
Both began with a middle stance.
Uesugi Sakura observed his movements, unable to discern his style... probably Police Style, but it could be something else.
Although the possibility was small.
Hongo Taikou did not relax his guard at all, advancing immediately, trying to subdue Uesugi Sakura’s momentum with his physical advantage.
His body movement had a clear purpose—rapidly closing in on his opponent, slightly tilting his face, and leaning his left shoulder forward, gaining strength and using his physical advantage to forcefully clash with the enemy.
Of course, this was a competition, and real combat sword skills couldn’t be used.
So Hongo Taikou made some modifications.
— making his steps more aggressive, channeling the force of "collision" into the bamboo sword attack.
In a Sword Dao match, as long as one had momentum and suppressive power, victory was assured.
Hongo Taikou launched an attack, directly targeting Uesugi Sakura’s face.
At the moment the bamboo swords clashed, the momentum, combined with his height, pressed down forcefully.
Even though the audience wasn’t Uesugi Sakura, they could still feel that overwhelming aura.
In response to this strike, Uesugi Sakura chose to fight head-on.
He exerted force in his arms, gripping the bamboo sword tightly; as the bamboo sword swung upward with destructive power, it seemed to unleash a strength beyond what Uesugi Sakura’s physique could achieve.
Strong... feeling the feedback from the bamboo sword on his palm, Hongo Taikou evaluated in his mind.
In the next moment,
Hongo Taikou deflected Uesugi Sakura’s counter, tightened his wrist, and continued to attack face with his physical advantage.
Uesugi Sakura refused to show weakness, repeatedly counterattacking.
The sound of the bamboo swords whistled incessantly.
This was a rare exchange in a Sword Dao match, so intense that even those not interested in the competition were putting down their phones and raising their eyes.
Hongo Taikou’s bamboo sword strikes were quite satisfying, and he held an absolute advantage, forcing Uesugi Sakura to retreat and defend.
At that moment,
anyone could see he was at a disadvantage.
However, this was expected, as Hongo Taikou was bigger and more robust.
If he had taken the advantage from the start, the smaller one had almost no chance to counterattack on the spot.
The bamboo sword’s attack and defense were entangled for nearly two minutes.
Bang—!
Bang—!
Not right, not right!
As time went on, Hongo Taikou increasingly felt that Uesugi Sakura didn’t seem to be completely suppressed.
Even though every strike of his bamboo sword solidly suppressed the opponent,
when defending against Uesugi Sakura’s counter, he always felt there was a sticky feeling in his sword.
It couldn’t be shaken off, nor broken free.
"Sticky Blade Skill?"
In the audience seats.
Miyata Kazuhiko, who had interviewed Uesugi Sakura, also came to the Tokyo Martial Arts Hall to watch the match as promised.
He recognized the technique Uesugi Sakura was using.
His friend, Gotou Seihan, holding a camera, took a shot towards the center of the match and heard the name Miyata Kazuhiko had used.
Gotou didn’t know what it was but knew Miyata had years of experience covering Sword Dao events and was knowledgeable about Sword Dao.
So he asked, "What does it mean?"
Miyata Kazuhiko put down the pen in his hand and looked toward the match venue at the flying knot on the back of Uesugi Sakura’s helmet, explaining:
"The so-called Sticky Blade Skill refers to when two sides are engaging fiercely, if the enemy blocks our sword, we should be mindful of sticking our sword to the enemy’s."
"’Sticking’ means the swords can’t easily separate, the body stays close, restraining the opponent’s advancing steps, without using too much force, keeping the body balanced, and controlling breath—the overall idea is it’s one of the classic swordsmanship techniques applied to Sword Dao."
"So... Uesugi is trying to entangle the opponent, wearing down his momentum?"
"Entangle?"
Miyata Kazuhiko glanced at Uesugi Sakura in the center of the field and smiled faintly, "It’s ’sticking,’ not ’entangling.’ ’Sticking’ is strong and powerful, ’entangling’ is weak and feeble. ’Sticking’ is active, ’entangling’ is passive. They cannot be equated."
As he spoke, Miyata Kazuhiko’s eyes suddenly lit up.