Zhou Zhu, who had a strict control over his wife, rarely showed strength at this time.

"The disciple's skills have improved... How can I, the master, not take a look at it immediately?"

"..." A Bi seemed to be speechless by Zhou Zhu's words.

She glanced at Zhouzhu angrily, then closed her mouth without saying a word and said no more.

"Ah, speaking of..." Inoue, recalling something, suddenly tilted his head and looked at Okita, "Soji, when you opened the door for me just now, I saw that you and Tachibana-kun were both wearing protective gear.

Are you practicing swordsmanship in the dojo just now?"

"Ah, yes." Okita nodded, "Tachibana-kun and I were planning to have a little discussion. But we had just put on protective gear, and you came, Uncle Gen."

"So that's it... Hahaha, then I have to say 'sorry'. I'm sorry for disturbing the practice of you two."

After saying that, Inoue pursed his lips thoughtfully and pondered.

"...Tachibana-kun."

Inoue only pondered for less than two breaths before raising his head and looking at Qingden with a smile.

"Ji Jun, I wonder if you can compete with me now?"

When Qingdeng heard this, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Before the look of surprise on Qingden's face could completely condense, Inoue continued:

"I really want to experience for myself how strong you are, who is so highly praised by the master and the little master."

"My new footwork can only be fully demonstrated when fighting with others."

“So let’s kill two birds with one stone!”

"Have a direct spar with you. Not only can I demonstrate my new footwork to the masters, but it can also give me the opportunity to take a good look at your strength."

"I wonder...what do you think?"

As Inoue finished speaking, everyone present focused their attention on Qingto.

Qingden's eyes flickered, wandering between "reality" and "thinking".

Qingdeng didn’t keep everyone waiting too long.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng let out a long breath.

"Then, I would like to ask Inoue first...Uncle Yuan, please give me some advice!"

…

…

Everyone moved from the hall to the dojo.

Qingden, who was standing on the left side of the dojo, was the first to put on his protective gear.

After carefully checking the bamboo sword in his hand to make sure there was no damage, Qingden raised his gaze and looked at Inoue, who was still wearing gauntlets, through the gap in his mask.

Qingden's eyes clearly reflected Inoue's figure... Dots of curiosity and high-spirited fighting spirit slowly emerged from the depths of the dark pupils!

Inoue took the initiative to invite him to have a fierce battle... Qingden couldn't ask for more!

Inoue wanted to test the depth of Aoto's strength for himself, and why didn't Aoto not want to experience for himself how strong Inoue, one of the top masters in the trial defense hall, was?

Inoue's appearance is quite deceiving.

People who are not familiar with Inoue may only subconsciously think that this uncle is an old farmer who can be seen everywhere when they first see Inoue's appearance.

They would never have imagined that... this uncle, who looked like a harmless old farmer, was the holder of the Immortal Pass!

When he first joined the Shiwei Hall, a very enthusiastic senior told Aintome: Excluding the owner Shusuke Kondo, their Shiwei Hall has the following four top players - Isamu Kondo and Mr. Okita.

Tsukasa, Toshizo Hijikata and Genzaburo Inoue.

In terms of swordsmanship, Gensaburo Inoue, who possesses the Natural Rishin-ryu and is one of the most powerful swordsmen in Japan, is undoubtedly one of the top masters in the Shoeikan.

"No permission is passed" is the highest level of permission certificate in the swordsmanship world of the Edo period.

Only by thoroughly mastering all the techniques of this style and gaining the approval of the master can you obtain the rating of "Teaching All Tricks".

Different sword halls have different standards for awarding free passes.

Some sword halls have very strict standards.

Some sword halls... As long as you give the hall owner a little money, the hall owner can issue you a certificate of their school that can be passed on without permission.

The Trial Guard Hall happens to be the former.

Zhou Zhu controls the criteria for awarding exemptions very strictly.

So far, excluding Shusuke himself, there are only three people in the entire imperial examination hall who have successfully been awarded the exemption: Kondo, Okita and Inoue.

Even Hijikata was not allowed to pass it on.

However, the reason why Hijikata was not granted the exemption from Shusuke was not because of his lack of strength.

When Hijikata was a boy, he was a medicine seller who made a living by selling their family's secret medicine "Ishida Powder".

While traveling around as a merchant and selling medicine, he also went to various sword halls to practice and compete.

Unknowingly, I secretly learned a lot of sword skills from various sword halls.

And Hijikata himself is a super troublemaker, with a bad personality and bad mouth, and he gets into fights with people outside every once in a while.

In these fights one after another, Hijikata unknowingly learned many street fighting skills and various strange moves from the people he was fighting with.

After entering the Kaiwei Hall and starting to practice the Natural Rishin-ryu, Hijikata incorporated all the sword skills of various schools and those messy street fighting skills that he had secretly learned into his Natural Rishin-ryu.

Therefore, Hijikata's Natural Rishin-ryu is an "alternative version of Natural Rishin-ryu" that has been modified by himself.

Shusuke believed that Hijikata was not a pure Natural Rishin-ryu swordsman, so he delayed granting Hijikata the Natural Rishin-ryu license.

In short - to be able to obtain a free pass under Shusuke who strictly controls the criteria for granting a free pass... Inoue's strength is evident.

Inoue, whose movements were slower than Aoto's, finally put on protective gear.

The two men, who had already put on protective gear, carried bamboo swords in their hands and walked towards the center of the dojo from the left and right directions.

Zhou Zhu, who acted as the referee, stood between the two of them, raising his right hand high.

"salute!"

Aoto and Inoue attached their bamboo swords to their left waists, performed a squatting salute to each other, then imitated the action of drawing a sword, pulled out the bamboo swords attached to their left waists, and stood up slowly.

"start!"

With Zhousuke's order, the atmosphere of the dojo changed instantly!

A tense atmosphere spreads between Yu Qingdeng and Inoue!

An expert will know if it is there as soon as he takes action.

Inoue stood in a mid-section stance holding a sword...like a roly-poly, rising slightly and sinking.

There is a sense of agility in the arms and waist, the feet are firmly planted on the ground as if they were taking root, and the body seems to be integrated with the floor, stable yet flexible.

A perfect posture... not a single flaw can be found.

Qingden realized that the old man in front of him seemed to be much stronger than he had expected. His eyelids lowered slightly, he held his breath and focused his eyes closely on all Inoue's actions.

The talent "Gathering God" is activated!

The contest between Aonto and Inoue started in the silence that made the sound of a pin drop.

No one was in a hurry to attack.

They were each holding bamboo swords, motionless, staring at each other from a distance.

The first person to break up the tense confrontation was Inoue.

Inoue moved closer to Qingden little by little with steps that felt like the soles of his feet were sticking to the ground.

Qingden also moved at the same time, also using the soles of his feet to stick to the ground, closing the distance between him and Inoue at a crawling speed.

The two people "running in both directions" were getting closer to each other inch by inch.

Just when the two were separated by a room, it was like a slow-motion movie suddenly started to fast forward. Inoue, who had been moving at a snail's pace just now, suddenly rushed towards Qingteng at a sprint speed of 100 meters!

Taking advantage of the forward momentum, Inoue swung his sword down and struck Qingden's head hard.

Inoue's speed is very fast...but Aomori's movements are not slow at all!

At the moment when Inoue suddenly swooped over, Qingden quickly stopped his steps, spread his legs, and the sword in his hand suddenly bounced up from bottom to top like a flexible whip.

Snapped!

The crisp sound of bamboo swords clashing against each other... Aoden's bamboo sword and Inoue's bamboo sword were entangled in the air.

Qingden's sudden upward blow contained quite astonishing force, as if it was going to sweep away the bamboo sword in Inoue's hand.

Inoue, who was shocked by the force of Qingto's blow, opened his eyes slightly with a look of surprise on his face.

Not only Inoue was surprised, but Qingto himself was also surprised by the power of his attack.

——As expected... Once the explosive power of the waist becomes stronger, the explosive power of other parts such as the limbs will also become stronger.
To be continued...