Right now, Kazuma felt like he'd just been utterly screwed.
Come on! You said you wouldn't reveal your own background—remember?!
And just now, Kazuma had clearly seen the text above Daimon Gorō's head shift from "Shocked" to "That Summer Long Ago."
His gut reaction: Did I just trigger a phase two boss fight with one Gatotsu?!
What really pissed him off was the tooltip that appeared when he focused on the phrase: "Summers come and go, the bamboo sword remains in hand, yet the world has changed."
It was an absolutely poetic description—full of flair and zero actual substance.
But looking at it gave Kazuma a new realization: Could it be that these buffs are tied to life experiences?
Up until now, Kazuma had only known that heightened emotions and ritualistic actions could provide buffs. Now he'd discovered another possible source.
Thinking back, even Nishiyama Heita's demon mask aura probably had something to do with his past experiences too.
Damn it... In this world, you can't just shut yourself in and grind kendo—you actually need life experience too?!
What a pain!
While Kazuma was grumbling internally, Daimon Gorō was already closing in.
Kazuma's mind filled with a stampede of expletives.
Come on, Sensei! You triggered your own buff—can't you at least give me a chance to recite a poem and power up too?!
Their bamboo swords clashed with a sharp, snapping sound, like a foreman's whip cracking across the backs of slaves.
Honestly, ever since arriving in this world, this was Kazuma's first time sparring one-on-one directly with the kendo club's advisor, Daimon Gorō.
He had no idea how much stronger Daimon was now compared to usual.
But one thing was clear: he was very strong.
Kazuma also noticed something else: whenever he used Jōdan stance, Daimon handled it effortlessly.
—What is this? Specialized anti-Jōdan defense?
How did Sensei suddenly gain special defense against Jōdan attacks just by reminiscing about some summer?!
Did he lose to someone really good at Jōdan in the past or something?
Left with no choice, Kazuma thought, Gatotsu was off the table, Jōdan wasn't effective, so he'd have to go with Kesa-giri.
Without a sword technique, his combat skill buff didn't seem to give a clear advantage, and against Daimon in phase two, he wasn't sure he could win otherwise.
Sure, losing in sparring wasn't a big deal—it wouldn't risk his life or cost him the dojo—but Kazuma just wanted to win.
So after a double strike exchange, Kazuma immediately shifted stances—Kesa-giri!
Sword techniques required adopting the proper stance and building power first, so they weren't as quick to transition as pure technique.
Kazuma's shift left a momentary opening—and in kendo sparring, even a momentary lapse could be punished.
Daimon Gorō naturally seized that chance.
"Men!" Daimon shouted.
But Kazuma's Kesa-giri landed squarely on Daimon's arm at the same time.
Mikako's bamboo sword bent sharply as it struck the armor—but that degree of flex was normal. Bamboo swords weren't made from a single solid piece but split and bound strips precisely for that flexibility.
After landing the Kesa-giri, Kazuma instinctively prepared to follow up—
But the referee raised a flag and called the point.
That snapped Kazuma back to the present—this wasn't a life-or-death fight; it was a kendo match, called keiko in their terminology.
After landing a strike, he was supposed to break distance and reset his stance.
Kazuma glanced at the raised flag—Wait, they ruled it my point?!
In kendo, it wasn't uncommon for both sides to land hits simultaneously. In such cases, like in Western fencing, the first to land would score.
Kazuma glanced at the assistant referee on the other side and saw that they had also ruled the point in his favor.
And Daimon didn't seem to have any objections.
Which meant Kazuma's Kesa-giri had successfully struck first.
Combat Level 5—super effective!
As Fire Cloud Evil God once said—speed is the ultimate technique!
Daimon reset his stance and watched Kazuma intently. Kazuma quickly composed himself as well.
Both took Chūdan stance, facing off and waiting for the referee to call the second round.
The kendo club captain gave the signal.
Daimon immediately launched an attack.
This time, Daimon himself used Jōdan.
And it was obvious at a glance—this was a Jigen-ryū move. The way he generated power was textbook Jigen-ryū, complete with its trademark kiai shout.
Kazuma took the blow directly—and the impact left his grip stinging.
Daimon maintained a perfect Jigen-ryū attack rhythm—each shout accompanied by a heavy, powerful Jōdan strike.
Back in Kazuma's previous life, there was a nickname for this kind of attack pattern: New Year's Greeting Sword Style.
It looked like Daimon had once been defeated by a Jigen-ryū master—and still regretted it to this day.
Kazuma withstood five consecutive strikes and realized this couldn't continue. He needed to change tactics—
But at that moment, Daimon suddenly pulled a trick.
He raised his rear hand higher, causing the bamboo sword to pivot downward around his lead hand.
This was a textbook bamboo sword technique—real swords had a similar move but required a wrist rotation, since a real blade only cut on one side; otherwise, you'd be hitting with the back of the sword.
Kazuma hadn't expected it. Smack!—he was struck on the hand guard.
The referee raised a flag.
Kazuma and Daimon separated.
At that moment, Kazuma suddenly asked, "Sensei, did you once lose to a Jigen-ryū master one summer?"
It was pure logical deduction on his part.
But Daimon gave him a "I knew it" look and replied, "You can already sense that from my sword technique?"
"No, I was just guessing," Kazuma said quickly. "You… used Jigen-ryū moves just now. Normally, you don't show any specific style, so I wondered if that might be the case."
"But how did you logically deduce the summer part?" Daimon countered.
Kazuma thought: Because I literally saw it above your head.
But what came out of his mouth was: "Simple reasoning. Kendo tournaments are held in summer—both the prefectural preliminaries and the national tournament. So statistically, summer had the highest probability. Pure probability theory."
"Is that so?" Daimon smiled. "Let's go with that, then."
Clearly, he wasn't buying it.
Which only reinforced something for Kazuma: people in this world probably had noticed that life experiences and emotions influenced martial arts.
They just couldn't literally see the data like Kazuma could.
The martial artists of this world might genuinely be able to understand each other through their swords.
A truly great martial artist might even be able to achieve Newtype-level telepathy, like in Gundam.
At that moment, the kendo club captain called out: "One to one—final match!"
Kazuma and Daimon both reset their stances.
"Begin!"
This time, Kazuma took the initiative.
(End of Chapter)