Swordsmanship Training

As his words fell, a mysterious energy overflowed from his mind. Most of it flowed into Ryōken's eyes, while a smaller portion merged into his body.

The next moment.

A needle-pricking sensation suddenly surged through him, unbearably painful. Ryōken hurriedly shut his eyes, feeling as though they were on fire, burning with searing pain.

He gritted his teeth and endured it in silence. If he could not even bear this much hardship, how could he speak of the path to becoming strong?

After a long while.

Ryōken opened his eyes. It was as though lightning flashed through them. They were still black pupils, but now they contained a sharpness that seized the soul.

True to its name, the Duelist Eye possessed peerless sharpness. It could analyze an enemy's movements and strike at their weaknesses.

Nothing in the world possessed true absolute defense. If such a thing existed, it only meant one's strength was insufficient, or the method was wrong.

Ryōken's eyes now held that very ability.

Perhaps they were still somewhat weak for now, but one day, they would grow powerful enough to see through space itself and find the flaws in the world.

When that day came, destroying the world would take no more than a single sword strike.

The next morning, Training Ground Seven.

Ryōken stood beneath a large tree, a longsword in hand as he repeatedly swung it down.

No matter how powerful the inheritance he had gained, the foundations of swordsmanship remained the same.

Only through endless practice, until these movements became ingrained in the body and turned into instinct, could one truly step onto the path of swordsmanship.

Otherwise, no matter how flashy or powerful it seemed, it would be nothing more than an illusion.

Following the inheritance of the Grand Duelist Way, Ryōken continuously swung his sword while constantly adjusting his posture, striving to make every movement as flawless as those in the inherited memories.

For the same swing, the more refined the technique of exerting force, the greater its power.

The inheritance memories contained not only the Sword Princess's battle footage, but also methods for training in swordsmanship, including the training methods for every basic sword technique.

Three hundred and thirty-one, three hundred and thirty-two.

Four hundred and thirty-one, four hundred and thirty-two.

As his posture became increasingly precise, Ryōken felt every muscle in his body joining in with each swing, exerting force together.

At the same time, his arms grew increasingly stiff and heavy. With every swing, waves of soreness radiated from his muscles.

He counted silently in his heart, but later on, he had forgotten the exact number.

Sweat poured down like rain.

At that moment, only a single will remained in his heart, constantly lashing at him and driving him forward.

Whenever even the slightest thought of giving up arose in Ryōken's mind, he seemed to see himself dying in a cruel war in the future.

His arms gradually lost all feeling, swinging mechanically and numbly.

Yet his eyes grew brighter and brighter, as though something was brewing within them.

Just then, a gust of wind swept past, knocking down several leaves that drifted toward Ryōken.

As though something had been triggered and a critical threshold reached, what had been brewing in Ryōken's eyes finally overflowed and erupted.

His aura burst forth. Like a droplet falling onto a lake, ripples spread outward.

A brilliant flash streaked through the air. Dozens of leaves in midair were almost simultaneously cut in half, drifting gently to the ground.

"Training Sword Qi really is difficult. After half a month of nonstop sword practice, I've only grasped the barest basics. I still need Sword Intent to guide it."

Ryōken lay on the ground, staring at the cloudless sky and curling his lips as he thought distractedly.

It had already been half a month since he obtained the inheritance that day.

Through the infusion of the inheritance's energy, Ryōken had gained not only the knowledge and memories of the Grand Duelist Way and the Duelist Eye, but also breakthroughs in his physical strength and chakra reserves.

The half month of training had further consolidated that power.

After receiving the inheritance, it was as though he had been born with it. Ryōken directly mastered the methods of using Sword Ray, Sword Qi, Sword Intent, and Sword Pressure.

Of course, he had only mastered the most basic usage. The actual training still had to be done by Ryōken himself, and only constant practice would allow him to use them better.

Still, with complete training methods, Ryōken's cultivation progress was extremely fast compared to his previous crude training, especially when he had first begun.

Even so, his swordsmanship training had only reached the beginning of the beginner stage.

Sword Ray could only cover the blade, while Sword Intent had reached the level of preliminary use.

As for Sword Qi and Sword Pressure, he was still far from being able to use them normally. The chakra reserves of a Genin were simply too inadequate.

However, because basic swordsmanship training was so effective, coupled with his reckless practice, Ryōken's physical strength was already no weaker than that of an ordinary Chunin, perhaps even stronger.

"Training alone is too slow!"

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, he raised his right hand and covered his eyes. Through the gaps between his fingers, he looked at the large tree not far ahead. His gaze seemed to possess penetrating power, easily seeing the tree's grain and its weak points.

"These eyes are unexpectedly useful!"

His gaze shifted, and he clearly saw a Hyuga Ninja crouching halfway down in the grass. He smiled faintly.

When the Hyuga jōnin in the grass saw Ryōken looking in his direction with a faintly amused expression, his heart skipped a beat. This brat couldn't have discovered me, could he?

"Impossible. I'm a jōnin. How could I be discovered by a little brat who hasn't even graduated from the academy?"

Shaking his head, he dismissed the absurd thought. Hyuga Ninja possessed extremely powerful sensory abilities, and accordingly, their concealment abilities were also formidable. They were not something a little brat like Ryōken could detect.

"Is he here to protect Hiwa Hyuga?"

With that thought, Ryōken turned his head and looked toward a girl seated not far away. It was none other than Hiwa Hyuga, the girl Ryōken had saved that day.

When she saw Ryōken looking at her, Hiwa Hyuga hurriedly withdrew her gaze and turned her head away, pretending to admire the scenery. Yet the blush on her cheeks still exposed her thoughts.

Ryōken did not know whether to laugh or cry. More than ten days ago, this girl had suddenly found him at the training ground and, for no apparent reason, stuffed some secret healing medicine into his hands before running away with a red face.

After that, whenever Ryōken appeared, she appeared as well, always right on time.

Ryōken could hardly chase her away, so in the end, he simply let her be.

Besides, chatting with her to pass the time during breaks was not bad either.

"Hey, young miss, come chat for a while."

Ryōken patted the grass beside him and called out to Hiwa Hyuga.

Hearing that, Hiwa Hyuga turned her head and shouted, "Who wants to chat with you!"

Though she said that, she still walked straight over, muttering something softly under her breath.

Unfortunately, Ryōken's eyes were powerful, but he had never learned lip-reading. He truly could not understand her.

Ryōken was already used to it. This tsundere young miss was quite interesting.

The two sat together and began chatting, though Ryōken was the one rambling most of the time.

Having lived two lives, it was easy for him to coax a little girl. He often made her burst into laughter.

Suddenly, Hiwa Hyuga stared fixedly at him, her face full of anticipation. "Ryōken, just how strong are you? That day, you even killed an Elite Genin."

"My strength? Right now, I should count as fairly strong among Genin. As for that day, it was just an accident."

After answering casually, Ryōken changed the subject. "The academy is holding its practical ranking assessment tomorrow, right?"

Though Hiwa Hyuga was unhappy that Ryōken had changed the subject, she had no choice but to respond, "That's right. Are you participating this time too? The top three in this class are all very strong, especially Minato Namikaze. His strength is on a completely different level from ours."

Ryōken did not answer. He rested both hands behind his head, a mysterious curve lifting at the corner of his lips as he stared absentmindedly at the sky and murmured, "A practical ranking assessment, huh."

Konoha's streets were bustling with people and merchants, flourishing with prosperity.

The strongest bloodline clans in the ninja world, along with the geniuses continuously emerging from commoners, had together built the prosperous and powerful Konoha ninja village.

Ryōken and Hiwa Hyuga strolled along the streets. Naturally, all manner of discussion was unavoidable along the way.

At last, Hiwa Hyuga could no longer endure it. Puffing up her cheeks, she said, "Why? What right do they have to say that about you? You're already so strong."

She had witnessed all of Ryōken's training these past days.

Perhaps there had been an element of luck in his killing the Rain Ninja, but Ryōken's strength was still not to be underestimated.

In her view, among the students of this class, other than Minato Namikaze, almost no one was a match for Ryōken.

That was why she found the villagers' comments utterly unacceptable.

Ryōken smiled faintly. "You'll get used to such talk. People can't live according to the opinions of others."

"Besides, after tomorrow's practical assessment, these people will naturally shut up."

Seeing that Ryōken did not care, Hiwa Hyuga could not say much more. She huffed, "That's true. After tomorrow's assessment, I'll make sure to watch their ridiculous expressions. Then I'll definitely mock them properly."

As she spoke, she waved her little fist. As though she had imagined some amusing scene, she began grinning mischievously.

Then, in the middle of laughing, she suddenly realized something and hurriedly covered her mouth before turning to look at him.

Ryōken was staring at her in stunned silence. Her little face instantly turned bright red, and she lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Ryōken scratched his head speechlessly. This little girl had the potential to be quite devious. She was already like this at such a young age—what would she be like when she grew up?

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