Gathering the nation's finest talents for child's play? No matter how arrogant Toshiro Hijikata was, he felt that something was off... So, he was dumbfounded. No, rather, his worldview had been challenged—he was utterly shocked!
Of course, Hijikata still questioned what needed questioning. "Wouldn't a kendo match be better the more exciting it was? If the contestants could all split mountains with a single strike and acted decisively, the audience should go even crazier, shouldn't they?"
"Tut, tut..." Sogo Doma shook his head. "Hijikata, you really don't get it. If the contestants all gave one hundred percent, would the cameras even be able to capture them? To the audience, a match would just be a flash of sword light, then the winner was decided. You said yourself that audiences liked exciting matches, so how were they supposed to watch if the match ended the instant the sword light flashed?"
"Uh..." Hijikata was left speechless.
"And let's talk about acting decisively..." Sogo Doma continued. "If all the contestants acted decisively, how were the commentators supposed to explain that their opponents had exposed an opening? The instant an opening appeared, someone would seize it. Even the best commentator could only say, 'Look, Contestant XX moved,' and then it would be over..."
"..." That made so much sense that Hijikata could not refute it. "So those contestants were all concealing their true strength?"
"You're teachable..." Sogo Doma nodded. "Hijikata, being one step ahead of everyone else makes you a genius; being two steps ahead makes you a madman. Think about the gap between kendo geniuses and ordinary people—no, just think about the gap between you and ordinary people. Even someone like you gets called a monster, let alone those geniuses. If they didn't hide their abilities..." Toshiro Hijikata deeply agreed. Before Isao Kondo