47 How did he?

With his hand on his tachi, Tetsu launched his body forward as his figure flickered.

'Too slow.'

Unsheathing her katana, she swiftly blocked.

Clang!

"How?" Tetsu was shocked.

He believed in his speed as it was crucial to his fighting style—he couldn't understand how she was able to block his blade quicker than he could attack. Even so, it didn't stop him from attacking again.

Bang—!

A dazzling spark burst out and Tetsu was sent flying by the impact. Using a large portion of his spiritual energy, he protected his body from the impact as well as stopped himself from flying out of the ring.

'What a monster.'

Using his tachi to support his body, Testu got his feet out of the ring. He had spent nearly 90% of his spiritual energy just to resist her attack. It was now impossible for him to resist her next attack.

With no choice left, he hesitantly uttered, "I... I surrender!"

The spectators were silent as they never expected this. Tetsu's unseeable speed seemed to have been outmatched—this brought shock to them.

At first, they thought it would be a fair fight, but that perspective changed in the second clash. It was as if she was a goddess who had descended from the heavens. Her strength was unimaginable.

"The winner is... Ayla." The judge announced.

They both left the ring, with Ayla returning to the public resting area and Tetsu leaving the Genji Dojo as he felt there was no point in staying here as he had already lost.

Taking her seat inside the public resting area, Ayla went back to resting her eyes. She became bored as her opponents were to weak. They barely lasted a few strikes before they were defeated.

'I hope the target at least gives me a challenge,' She thought. 'After all, he is the patriarch of the Genji Clan, so he should be strong.'

Unknowingly, she slowly drifted off to sleep—she wasn't tired, but she still fell asleep as it was better than sitting around. If someone tried anything, she would sense it prior and easily counter it, and if the next round began, she was sure that either Cynthia or Kiera would notify her.

As she slept, the next few matches continued as time kept flying by. Soon, it was a little after noon with only three battles left. They had just taken a break at noon, when they could go eat before the tournament continued a few minutes later.

It was five minutes after the break had finished with all spectators already seated and the judge ready, he announced, "The 6th match, Yori Nosuri versus Minamoto no Tokiwa!"

Two men stepped out onto the ring. Minamoto no Tokiwa had blonde hair and green eyes and stood around 7 meters tall and donned a blue and white kimono similar to the ones that Genji wore with an Odachi hung around his waist, while Yori Nosuri was more on the lean side with black hair and black eyes—he wore a midnight blue kimono with a Ninjato hung on his back.

As soon as they were standing on opposite sides of the ring, the judge announced, "Match—begin!"

Yori immediately dashed forward—his presence then disappeared as if he was a ghost. Looking around in confusion, Tokiwa kept his guard up with his unsheathed blade. He looked to be an amateur.

"What an amateurish mistake. I wonder how you were even able to reach this far." Yori said, his voice scattered all around to avoid being singled out.

"I suppose I'll end it."

A loud sigh was heard as he swiftly moved to the rear of Tokiwa. His back was wide open, unguarded.

'This is the end.'

He had been expecting to engage in a bitter battle as he was fighting someone from the Genji clan, but it turned out to be a simple fight in the end. If his opponent had been preparing to counter his attack, then it wouldn't have been this easy.

Tori's Ninjato aimed at his lower abdomen just below Tokiwa's midline and powerfully thrusted forward.

However!!

Clang!

Two swords collided in the air and sparks flew off.

With his presence shown, one could now see Yori's wide open eyes. "What? But how?!"

Tokiwa's sword had accurately blocked off his Ninjato. Unable to hide his shock, Yori raised his eyes and looked up at Tokiwa's face.

Tokiwa showed a totally unimpressed face.

"You completely underestimated me after one glance." Yori said, a grin forming. "What an amateurish mistake!"

Yori's face turned red with humiliation. He had just called him out for an amateurish mistake, acting as if he was an expert, but he had also made one. It was entirely humiliating.

"You!" He launched a kick in retaliation.

His kick hit the air as another kick slammed into his chest, sending him flying, spitting up blood. He landed a few meters away, but he slid back to the edge of the ring before he regained his balance.

Tokiwa had long arrived beside Yori and executed an upper slash to his waist, but Yori managed to block.

Clang!

Crack! The floor beneath Yori's feet broke under the weight of Tokiwa's attack. Yori's hand were numb from the impact as he shifted the weight of Tokiwa's sword to his left.

Boom!

The sword slashed into where Yori once stood as he dodged to the right, avoiding the blade entirely. Taking this chance, he slashed his blade aiming to lop off his head.

Tilting his head, Tokiwa dodged the blade by a hair and his presence disappeared similar to how Yori had done before.

'How did he use my skill?'