Kurenai Awakens a New Skill

"Damn it, they clearly teamed up! This is so unfair!" Seeing Genma being surrounded and attacked, Namiashi Raidō was the first to start shouting.

"Raidō, don't you know how strong Genma is?" The situation was indeed unfavorable for Genma, but after his opponents made their move, Kurenai had already gauged their general level of skill. She was far calmer than Raidō.

"Oh, right. Genma's swordsmanship is insanely strong. If the teacher hadn't stopped him, he might've even won the championship."

Just as Namiashi Raidō came to his senses, the situation suddenly changed.

Genma flashed aside to evade a wooden sword slashing at him, then swiftly spun and held his own wooden sword horizontally, blocking another blade.

Amazingly, the wooden sword in the hands of the person who had been facing off against him earlier was gone, having been flung far away.

The three who had joined forces were stunned. Three against one, yet not only was their opponent completely unharmed, their side had lost a weapon first.

A swordsmanship match was not a fistfight. Losing one's sword was practically the same as losing one's qualification, leaving no further chance to attack.

Of course, that was assuming he could pick up his wooden sword again. But how could Genma possibly give him that opportunity?

As one person went to retrieve his sword and another was distracted for a moment, Genma, who had been holding his sword in a horizontal guard with both hands, suddenly turned, stepped forward, and delivered a swift rightward slash at the opponent in front of him, who had raised his weapon for a vertical chop.

His wooden sword stopped near his opponent's neck. Under normal circumstances, that already decided the match, so the opponent struck by Genma's rightward slash immediately conceded.

He conceded cleanly. The instant the wind from Genma's slash brushed against his neck, he knew he had lost. It was not as though he had not hoped the other two would save him, but Genma had acted too quickly and seized the opportunity too perfectly.

By then, the opponent whose wooden sword had been sent flying had already reached for it, while the other opponent, who had been distracted for a moment, had personally witnessed Genma eliminate a "teammate" in an instant.

Thus, the match briefly became one-on-one. Although Genma happened to have his back to him, he had already taken down one opponent.

A mere positional advantage did not make him feel that he had much chance of eliminating the opponent before him, who looked a full head shorter than him. After all, there was no way he could replicate a slash as fast as that one.

Still, with his opponent's back turned, this was his only real chance. Even if he could not defeat him, he had to stall for some time.

Having made up his mind, the contestant who appeared to hold a slight advantage made his move.

He stepped forward and charged rapidly, bringing his sword down in a diagonal slash toward Genma's back.

But no matter how fast he was, he still made some noise. After the brutal training under Str, Genma had long since learned the basics of locating enemies by sound. Thus, just as his opponent's sword was about to reach him, he turned and blocked it.

However, because his ability to pinpoint positions by sound was not yet precise enough, there was still a slight error. His opponent's diagonally slashing blade kept sliding downward, almost grinding against Genma's hand gripping the sword.

A wooden sword was unlike a wooden practice blade; there was no guard protecting the hand. And if this continued, it would be difficult to push the opponent's sword away, since the lever arm at the point of exertion would become much shorter, making it hard to apply force.

In an instant, Genma, whose blade had been held perfectly level, adjusted its angle and stopped his opponent's sword from sliding down further.

But his opponent had already anticipated that move. He shifted the point of contact again, trying to slide his blade down toward Genma's grip once more.

How could Genma let him succeed twice? Before his opponent could pull it off, Genma immediately shoved him away and took a step back.

He then swiftly adjusted his grip, intending to attack. But the other opponent had already recovered his sword, and the situation returned to two against one.

Genma had already gone through several exchanges while outnumbered two to one, so he was not intimidated. It was merely more troublesome.

Before the two could fully coordinate with each other, Genma immediately targeted the opponent who had previously been locked in a stalemate with him and launched an attack.

He delivered a diagonal slash. Knowing that he was not fast enough, his opponent turned his blade sideways to block.

From their previous exchange, their strength had not differed much. The main difference was speed.

But how could he have known that Genma was using Chakra as well? When the strike failed to land, Genma instead tugged, pulling his opponent's wooden sword outward along with the motion. Seizing that opportunity, Genma swiftly slipped into the opening and slashed directly at the inside of his opponent's sword-holding arm.

This sword technique made use of the principles of Taiji. That tug employed the same method he had once used to pull people over—taking advantage of the fact that his opponent's blade was continually held in an outward-blocking position, then adding another outward force. That quickly opened up a gap.

During that process, Genma only needed to enter that opening and swing his sword to achieve a result.

The facts proved that Genma had succeeded. Moreover, this sword technique was not limited to ordinary sword-wielding samurai; it could also be used against most ninjas.

Of course, this was still only a prototype. If he encountered a genuine swordsmanship master, it would amount to nothing more than a minor trick. After all, swordsmanship experts could coat their blades in Chakra, and there might even be people better than him at using Chakra's attractive and repulsive properties.

In the past, Genma had used this little trick against Namiashi Raidō as well. Aside from catching him off guard at first, though, it had not produced much effect afterward.

When he had asked Yushi, an expert in swordsmanship, Yushi had merely said it had limitless potential but was currently extremely immature, offering no further comment.

It did indeed seem rather immature, much like how Genma had often thought about using the same methods he used to drag people down. Thinking about it, if his opponent gripped the sword firmly enough and had sufficient control over the blade, then they would not be affected by him at all.

Of course, once this sword technique developed to a certain point, perhaps it could be used against more ninjas of middling strength, if not against true experts.

Since his hand had been struck, he was considered eliminated according to the rules for real swords. Thus, only one opponent remained on the field.

A three-against-one situation that would have been perilous for anyone else had been mostly resolved by Genma's seemingly opportunistic use of Chakra.

The remaining opponent was also the first person to face Genma. His expression was incomparably ugly, as though he were constipated.

However, since they were using wooden swords and there was no threat of life or death, the last opponent still appeared fairly composed. He simply did not dare take a step forward, as if stepping forward would mean defeat.

He had witnessed some of Genma's fighting earlier. That extreme speed, strength no weaker than an adult's, and bizarre sword technique had left him without the slightest desire to win.

The only thing supporting him as he stood on the field now was his adherence to the conviction of a swordsman.

Seeing that his opponent did not move at all, Genma took several quick steps forward and slashed. Since his opponent had lost his fighting spirit, Genma knocked him back half a step, then spun and swept his blade across, striking the arm holding his sword.

"The match is over! The winner is Shiranui Genma!"

As the referee announced Shiranui Genma's victory, those who had watched his one-against-three battle erupted in excitement.

Overwhelming victories were not unheard of, but Genma had been particularly unlucky to face three people who happened to know each other.

And Genma looked so young, yet he defeated his opponents with incredible speed. His sword swings were crisp and decisive, and combined with his handsome, refined appearance, it was enough to make the female spectators swoon.

But before Genma could enjoy the cheers from his female admirers for long, a graceful figure darted onto the stage, lowered her head, and hurriedly dragged him off.

Ahem, ahem. That was probably a declaration of sovereignty, right? Truly domineering—and truly wonderful.

But once she stepped down from the platform, Kurenai Yuhi's face was completely flushed. She did not even dare look at the others on the team, though her gaze burned with anger whenever she looked at Genma.

Raiton was up next. Unlike Genma, he did not look so grim. He first fought someone one-on-one. Although he could have ended the fight quickly, he held back slightly to avoid being ganged up on by the other two opponents who were still dueling nearby.

Once the two people beside him had determined their winner, he defeated his opponent with just two slashes.

That left only two people in the arena, turning it into another one-on-one situation. He did not need much effort to claim the final victory.

After Raiton stepped down, the referee's voice rang out.

"Next match: Daido, Kurenai Yuhi... take your positions!"

The moment he heard Daido's name, Genma's heart tightened.

Who was Daido? He was a true swordsman whose blade techniques had once kept countless shinobi from daring to approach him, someone who could remain completely fearless even when facing the puppet prodigy Scorpion.

Just as Kurenai was about to step onto the platform, Genma grabbed her hand. "Kurenai, this group isn't simple. Be very careful."

By then, the members of Kurenai's group had already come onto the platform. They all looked young, but one of them gave off a sharp, unsheathed air.

His eyes in particular resembled indestructible blades, striking fear into the heart.

Though Kurenai did not quite understand why Genma said that, she nodded before stepping onto the platform.

At the sight of such a cute girl taking the stage, the sharp-eyed man simply closed his eyes to rest, while the other two became frivolous.

"Hey, hey, little miss, this isn't a place for you. Hurry up and surrender, or don't blame your big brothers for getting rough~"

A handsome young man grinned. His words were rather vicious, but his tone carried a teasing lilt that made Kurenai deeply uncomfortable.

"Little miss, don't listen to his nonsense. Come stand by your big brother instead. I guarantee I'll protect you alone, and only deal with you after that. How about it?"

Another rather handsome man expressed his interest even more directly, making Kurenai's grip on her wooden sword tighten until it creaked.

But Genma had said this group was not simple. Looking at things now, the troublesome one was clearly the silent man who had restrained his presence. The other two were probably nothing but useless fools, all talk and no substance.

Having figured it out, Kurenai adjusted her mindset and put on a sweet smile. Yet on closer inspection, perhaps because the smile was somewhat forced, it instead carried a trace of tragic beauty that made her seem pitiable.

"Big brothers, could you help me defeat that bad guy? I only came up here to watch and experience a swordsmanship match up close. If you beat him, I'll surrender."

Though she had only managed to say those words by suppressing the disgust in her heart, Kurenai's sweet voice and pitiful appearance made that easy to overlook.

The two not-so-bright contestants were instantly dazzled by Kurenai's cuteness and began targeting the silent opponent.

It was Kurenai's first time pretending to be pitiful, yet it had made two men turn stupid. She blinked in disbelief as she watched the two idiots face off against the dangerous man, as though she had discovered something extraordinary.