"That's Bow Heart," Reisen Riou said. "The pinnacle of archery. Mortals can learn it in theory, but it takes insane talent."
"Honestly, it's hard to counter, but for us, its power's lacking."
"Take me—Bow Heart works on regular folks, but against anyone decent, it's useless."
"If you're into archery, I can coach you a bit these next few weeks. But if I'm right, your intent isn't a narrow Sword Heart or Bow Heart, is it?"
"Right. I've touched Martial Intent," Kombumaru said.
"Jealous," Reisen said, scanning Kombumaru's stats.
Kombumaru
Vitality: LV35+
Ideology: Skylight
Theory: Swordsmanship LV7, Archery LV7…
Practice: Swordsmanship LV6, Archery LV6…
Abilities: HeartforceLV4, Martial HeartLV5…
Looking at the young samurai's panel, Reisen sighed. "Kids these days are terrifying."
Kagei Tengu and Kombumaru turned to bean-eyed stares. Terrifying? The guy who dropped someone with a glance calls them terrifying?
Reisen coughed awkwardly, sensing the irony.
"Don't worry, Mother. I'm fine," Kombumaru said.
"Yeah, Takayoshi-san, you've got referee work. Unlike me, you don't have clones," Reisen teased.
Kagei Tengu, like a feather-plucked bird, zipped back to work. The preliminaries were a grind.
…
The Shogunate Tournament's lively preliminaries raged for three days.
Inazuma City's crowds ate it up, but the Tenryou Commission felt the heat. So many elite samurai—if they rioted, the headquarters couldn't handle it.
A riot would spook Narukami's lord. Thankfully, no chaos erupted.
With the preliminaries done, the pressure eased.
From nearly ten thousand elite samurai, 128 top warriors were chosen.
The elimination rounds followed, still at the prelims venue, but the small arenas were swapped for four large ones.
The Tenryou Commission's samurai built elevated seating for spectators.
Among the 128, most had LV6+ swordsmanship. A few with LV5 made up for it with high vitality, overpowering foes with raw strength.
Some LV7 masters hid their skills. Without checking their data, even Reisen couldn't spot them.
"Hey, Big Sis, you sure it's fine to skip state affairs?" Reisen, refereeing one of the four arenas, asked Raiden Makoto during a break, spotting her with Ei in the stands.
"No worries. The tournament's calmed things down across Inazuma," Makoto said.
"True," Reisen admitted, then griped, "What's with those ronin and pirates joining the prelims? Think their shoddy disguises fooled the Tenryou Commission?"
Makoto chuckled awkwardly. "There's an unwritten rule: pass the prelims, and even pirates can be knighted as samurai."
"Really? Bet they didn't expect the prelims to be a god-tier brawl," Reisen smirked. Narukami's lord was sneaky.
Past Shogunate Tournaments, like the one that made Chiyo a general, had LV3 fighters in the prelims. Now? LV4 couldn't even qualify, LV5 was the baseline. Inazuma was too stacked with talent.
Per Reisen's data, the 128 finalists were all top-tier.
Unlike the prelims, the main matches had formal introductions.
"Genryuu Second Transmission, Yanagi Style, Yanagi Dojo Fully Licensed, Yanagi Ikki, at your service!"
"My Style, Entaru House, Entaru Sei, at your service!"
Reisen watched, bored.
These two were snapshots of Inazuma's martial elite.
Yanagi Ikki, from a storied lineage, reached full licensure through refined ancestral swordsmanship. Entaru Sei, a wild card, forged his own style with family military techniques and the One System, Ten Thousand Minds Machine.
Both were LV6 swordsmen. Entaru Sei had higher raw talent, but Yanagi Ikki's Yanagi Style was more polished.
Reisen found it dull—he knew both styles and could outdo them. No thrill in watching.
But data wasn't everything.
As they clashed, Yanagi Ikki held steady, but Entaru Sei fought like a man possessed, soaking up Yanagi Style's essence like a sponge.
The duel shifted from even to Yanagi Ikki's disadvantage.
"My Style Secret: Green Leaf Slash!"
Reisen blinked. A leaf-shaped blade aura burst from Entaru Sei's katana.
Reisen flicked a finger, activating Yanagi Ikki's barrier to block the aura.
"Entaru Sei wins," Reisen declared.
He gave Entaru Sei a nod. "Nice secret move. Keep at it—you might touch swordmaster (LV7) status."
"Thank you, my lord! I'll double my efforts," Entaru Sei said.
"Since you're so eager, I'll hook you up. You train with the One System, Ten Thousand Minds Machine, right? I'll grant higher access—swordmaster techniques and secrets. Should help your path."
"Thank you, my lord!" Entaru Sei left, thrilled.
"Kids these days are terrifying," Reisen mused again.
He turned to see Makoto and Ei with bean-eyed glares.
Ahem.