Chapter 14: Simple Swordsmanship Contest

A/N: Special shoutout to Myriad, for correcting me on the name! I enjoy editing these, so if anyone sees a mistake, please let me know! I will be posting honorable mentions to those who started reading this! It let's me know that they enjoy my edits! So, thank you guys!!

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[Detecting that the host has completed a skill release beyond the fixed skill quality...]

[Does the host want to update the skill status?]

The skill status of Konoha-style swordsmanship can be updated!

Of course, he will be update it.

After the update, the effect will be stronger, and every time it completes a run, it can greatly increase his speed and reaction time.

'Update!'

Shiyu said silently in his heart.

At the same time, he is also preparing to continue practicing the Konoha-style swordsmanship. Anyway, during the morning, he is expected to be monitored by Gekko Hayate to practice swordsmanship.

Simply try to update the Konoha-style swordsmanship to the most perfect state!

However when Shiyu wanted to start practicing again, Hayate suddenly stopped him.

"Shiyu, wait a moment, the effect of practicing alone is limited!"

"Why don't I practice with you?"

Practice with me? Shiyu glanced at Hayate, did he want to fight with him?

Just watching Shiyu practice swordsmanship it is indeed perfect, which makes Hayate feel ashamed.

But what would it be like that in an actual fight?

You must know that there is still a difference between practice and real combat.

"Brother Hayate, you are a Jōnin, while I haven't even graduated yet. Isn't it bullying if you accompany me to practice swordsmanship?!"

Although Shiyu has changed a lot now, he is not blindly arrogant to think that he can beat Hayate who is a special Jonin.

"Don't worry! It's just practice, we won't use chakra, nor will we use ninjutsu. We will only use swordsmanship!"

Oh! This is interesting!

If only swordsmanship is used to compete, then Shiyu is quite interested.

The skill bar has brought so many improvements, but Shiyu is also a little curious about what his real combat power looks like.

Shiyu nodded, "Then I'll give it a try!"

"Bring it on!"

"Um!"

The two stood facing each other at a distance of ten meters.

At the same time, he raised the wooden sword in the posture of Konoha-style swordsmanship.

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The Third Hokage, who just came to the administration building, (A/N: Hokage building. I'll use this now.) was thinking about the kid called Shiyu that Gekko Hayate talked about yesterday. Now he wants to take a look.(A/N: Peep no jutsu!)

He is described by Gekko Hayate as a genius comparable to the likes of Konoha's White Fang.

I was too busy yesterday and haven't seen what this kid looks like!

Taking out his crystal ball, used for peeping, the Third Hokage put his hands on the crystal ball.

The Crystal Ball Jutsu the Third Hokage uses has already been perfected, and has even reached the point where it can be released at will without the need for hand seals.

As long as he is within Konoha range, he could look wherever he wanted.

When the Third Hokage observed Shiyu with the crystal ball, he happened to see him and Hayate posing for a fight.

"Oh?"

"Is Hayate practicing with this brat?"

The Third Hokage smiled.

Then he looked at Shiyu, but the moment he saw him, the Third Hokage was surprised.

"What a handsome brat!"

"The genes of the Gekko Clan are pretty good!"

Both Gekko Hayate and Gekko Shiyu can be said to be handsome guys, but Shiyu has more potential than Hayate. (A/N: the author is really milking it. Why is he describing a 12 year old as handsome?)

After looking at the appearance, old man Sarutobi noticed something more interesting. Both Shiyu and Hayate are using Konoha-style swordsmanship at the moment. (A/N: I got tired of seeing the word third hokage.)

But Shiyu's posture was a little different.

Compared with Gekko Hayate's holding of the sword with both hands, Shiyu chose to hold the sword with one hand, and put the other hand on the left rear side of his body.

Just one change made old man Sarutobi feel different.

The flaw in Konoha-style's swordmanship is where Shiyu's left hand is placed.

But if he made a slight change like Shiyu's, the flaws would be made up immediately.

'This kid... Did he really only learn Konoha-style swordsmanship yesterday?'

Gekko Hayate also noticed Shiyu's change, but he didn't have the same vision as the Third Hokage. He just thought that since Shiyu held the sword with one hand, he was underestimating him.

He originally wanted to wait for Shiyu to attack, but now Hayate chose to attack directly.

Stepping forward, although he did not use chakra, nor ninjutsu. But a Tokubetsu Jōnin's physique is stronger than that of a Genin's, thus the speed of the attack is very fast.

Jumping directly in front of Shiyu, the wooden sword in his hand slashed towards Shiyu's neck from the bottom left.

This is the third form of Konoha-style swordsmanship.

Shiyu discovered the flaw in his opponent's Konoha-style swordsmanship the moment his opponent made a move.

He took half a step back, tilted his body slightly to the right, and stabbed out with his sword.

Shiyu didn't use Konoha-style swordsmanship, but simply stabbed straight.

At this moment, the pipe that the Third Hokage was holding in his mouth suddenly dropped.

Because in the next second, the Konoha-style swordsmanship performed by Gekko Hayate was forced to stop, and now the only choice left for him was to retreat or change his move.

Hayate directly used the fifth form, and while the wooden sword was blocked, the end of the blade turned and cut towards Shiyu's waist.

At that moment, Shiyu suddenly raised his left hand, pressing down on the blade.

Changing from a stab to a vertical block, the wooden swords collided with each other, and there was a clear sound of impact. It should have been Hayate who had won the fight.

After all, the power of Hayate is definitely stronger than Shiyu's.

But Shiyu held the sword with one hand and pressed on the back of the his sword with the other hand to exert force, is better than Hayate's holding of the sword with both hands.

It directly blocked the wooden sword.

And at the moment of blocking, Shiyu's movement happened to be the movement of performing the seventh form of Konoha-style swordsmanship.

His sword slashed Hayate's wrist.

Hayate's palm became weak due to the pain, and the wooden sword was dropped immediately.

The wooden sword is still in the air. (Slow-Mo.)

Gekko Hayate was taken aback, and quickly prepared to step back to create a distance to avoid being attacked by Shiyu.

But Shiyu seems to have been ready to strike for a long time.

The tenth form of Konoha-style swordsmanship, a sudden acceleration, the moment Shiyu and Hayate intertwined.

Shiyu's wooden sword was already at Gale's throat.

Thud!

The wooden sword fell to the ground.

At the same time in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage's pipe fell onto the desk.

The old man stared blankly at the scene in front of him.

In the swordsmanship battle, Shiyu used three moves. Those and three moves were used to defeat Konoha's present Tokubetsu Jōnin, Gekko Hayate, with his superb swordsmanship.

Not only that, he was only using the Konoha-style sword technique, which is Gekko Hayate's specialty!

This!

This!

Is this really a kid who hasn't even graduated from the academy?

Sarutobi stared at Shiyu from the crystal ball, who was pointing his wooden sword towards Hayate's throat.

Shiyu pressed the end of the hilt with his left hand, and he could use his right hand as a fulcrum to lift Hayate upwards at any time. At the same time, if this was a real sword, Hayate might end up being pierced through his throat by a Shiyu's sword.

Taking a deep breath, the Third Hokage slowly picked up his pipe and put it in his mouth again.

And he looked at Shiyu from the crystal ball. "This brat...is indeed a genius in swordsmanship!"

"As long as he trains a little bit, becoming the second White Fang is definitely not a problem!"