Victory Foreseen Beforehand, Flame Armor Acquired! Local Rankings Ended, Proficiency Soared Over Several Days

"Duel, begin!"

As the fox-masked woman's voice fell, Uesugi Tetsu and the Onmyoji, seated across from each other before fifty neatly arranged, face-down karuta cards, became fully focused at the same time.

"Truly, the people of this world are to be pitied..."

Before the fox-masked woman could finish the first half of the verse, Uesugi Tetsu and the Onmyoji simultaneously locked onto the same karuta card.

[The people of this world are truly to be pitied; the people of this world are also to be hated.]

The second half of this waka was—

[The human world is filled with sorrow; my heart is full of grief.]

Rather than reaching out to snatch it, Uesugi Tetsu flicked his fingertips. Lightning invisible to the naked eye burst forth in an instant and tightly wrapped around the karuta card before his opponent.

Then it yanked the card straight before him!

Uesugi Tetsu won the first round without the slightest suspense!

The Onmyoji, whose hand had only just begun to rise, froze for a moment. Then he happily slapped his thigh and laughed.

"What superb Onmyōjutsu! Truly superb Onmyōjutsu! I've never seen anyone manipulate lightning with such precision!"

Uesugi Tetsu acted as if he had not heard him, remaining completely vigilant.

The Five Thunder Technique was indeed extremely fast, making it the perfect substitute for one's hand in karuta.

But getting the card without any obstruction the first time had merely been a matter of striking the opponent's blind spot.

Next, this profoundly skilled Onmyoji would definitely produce an appropriate countermeasure...

Fifteen minutes of karuta competition passed in the blink of an eye.

Uesugi Tetsu lost without the slightest suspense.

The score was 7–43.

After using the Five Thunder Technique's lightning-fast opening move to take five points, Uesugi Tetsu had stolen only two more