To prepare for the upcoming autumn exam, Katori Sora began to add sparring sessions to the students' swordsmanship classes.
Although the students in the class had learned the basics of swordsmanship for a month, when it came to real fighting, most of them still just swung their swords wildly. Only a few students with strong comprehension would actively integrate what they had learned into their battles.
Time was limited. In each class, Katori would pick a few students to spar with him. With over thirty students, he could go through a full round in just a few days. After each spar, he would point out the most important areas the student needed to pay attention to.
"You can't just think about how to dodge. If your opponent's sword is faster than your reaction speed, you won't be able to dodge all of them. Blocking and attacking are usually more effective," Katori said, blocking a student's wooden sword with his own. "For example, if I block your sword like this, it's hard for you to continue exerting force, and your attack will naturally be neutralized."
"Yes, professor! I understand!"
After his guidance, Katori let the students draw lots to spar with each other, while he corrected their mistakes from the side. After being guided by him, Kana Azashiro and Kensei Muguruma were no match for the other students, so he would usually have the two of them spar with each other. After his Marlin suburi training, Kensei was once again evenly matched with Kana; she was superior in technique, but his Spiritual Pressure was a bit stronger, which compensated for his technical shortcomings.
Shinji Hirako had thought that today would be the same as usual, but Katori suddenly said, "Today, Kana Azasharo will spar with Uemon Tsubakiri, and Kensei Muguruma will spar with Shinji Hirako."
"So I have caught the professor's attention. It seems my previous feeling wasn't a mistake..." Shinji Hirako thought to himself. However, although he didn't like trouble, he wouldn't choose to run away when it was pushed in front of him.
Shinji Hirako stood in front of Kensei Muguruma and drew his wooden sword.
"The professor seems to think highly of you. It looks like you'll be a good opponent," Kensei Muguruma said with a grin. He wanted to do what Kana had done to him before, betting most of his Spiritual Pressure on a single strike to create a one-hit-kill effect.
"Hey, hey, we don't seem to have any grudges, do we? Why do I feel such strong malice?" Shinji Hirako said in a flippant tone, but he was secretly on guard.
"What malice? Don't worry, I'll end the fight quickly!" Kensei gathered most of his Spiritual Pressure into his wooden sword, let out a great shout, stepped forward, and swung his sword down fiercely.
Shinji Hirako's eyes narrowed. He sensed danger and didn't take the blow head-on. Instead, he immediately rolled on the ground to dodge Kensei's strike.
BANG!
Kensei's wooden sword smashed into the floor, directly creating a large hole in it. "You bastard, are you trying to kill me?" Shinji's eyelid twitched. As he finished his roll, he immediately swung his sword back and hit Kensei's back.
"Damn it! The wooden sword is stuck!" Kensei's face was flushed with anger. His sword had gotten stuck in the floor after smashing through it, preventing him from pulling it out in time to block the attack from behind. As a result, he was hit directly.
Shinji scored the first point. The rules of a swordsmanship match in the Soul Society were simple: hitting the opponent's body scored one point, and the first to score two points won.
Kensei hadn't expected such a situation. He didn't dare to look at the professor's eyes now. After pulling the sword out of the floor, he quickly signaled for Shinji to continue. He took a deep breath to calm his chaotic thoughts and decided to play it safe. This time, he didn't infuse most of his Spiritual Pressure but controlled its output in a balanced way, just as he did when practicing Marlin suburi.
When Kensei got serious, Shinji immediately felt a huge increase in pressure.
Clack, clack—
Kensei's sword was powerful and heavy. After taking a few blows, Shinji's hand was numb from the shock.
THUD—
Kensei saw an opportunity and, with a fierce strike, knocked Shinji's sword away. Then, with a quick follow-up strike, he hit Shinji's left shoulder.
"Hiss—how are you so strong? You're going to break my bones!" Shinji said, rubbing his sore shoulder, feeling that it must be swollen inside.
"Hehe, my strength isn't that great. This is the result of many days of hard training!" Kensei laughed heartily. Getting a point back made him very happy. He could tell that Shinji was a strong opponent; if it weren't for the professor's guidance on Spiritual Pressure control, winning would not have been easy.
Shinji was thoughtful after hearing Kensei's words. He realized that Kensei's powerful strikes were probably achieved through some kind of technique. "Let's continue."
The result was no surprise. After Kensei got serious, Shinji was no match for him. Before long, Kensei successfully scored another point and won the match.
"Kensei, you should know where you went wrong," Professor Katori said, his kind smile sending a chill down Kensei's spine.
"I know! I shouldn't swing my sword without holding back. I will practice more!" Kensei said, scratching the back of his head.
"It's good that you know. Unless it's a life-or-death situation, swinging your sword like that is underestimating your opponent. I hope you won't make this mistake again," Katori admonished.
"Shinji, your combat intuition is quite good," he continued, turning to the other student. "You didn't choose to block that strike head-on, and your follow-up response was excellent. You found the opportunity to counter-attack. It's just that your technique is not as refined as Kensei's, so you still lost to him in the end." The academy wouldn't teach Spiritual Pressure control techniques until the third year.
After class, Katori stopped Shinji Hirako.
"Shinji, are you frustrated about losing to Kensei just now?" Katori asked with a smile.
"Not really..." Shinji blurted out, but then he hesitated. "I really couldn't beat him."
Katori said unhurriedly: "Your talent is very good. You could even be called a genius. Your progress will soon surpass the teaching pace of the academy. If you continue like this, you'll just be wasting your time here. I don't want to see a genius like you waste your talent."
"I'm sure you know that Kana and Kensei are both my disciples. You have seen their progress. I believe I'm quite good at teaching students."
"Shinji Hirako, are you willing to join my Katori Style and become my disciple?"
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