Shinjuro had never imagined it.
The mechanical man Xia Xi had made could actually pull such underhanded tricks.
Fortunately, his physical constitution was tough enough.
He merely cried out in pain before immediately recovering.
He swung his bokken faster and exchanged blows with the Combat Puppet.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Big Owl now felt that the puppet's face...
The more he looked at it, the more it resembled that brat Xia Xi.
Both were rather irritating faces.
[Flame Breathing] [Fourth Form: Flourishing Flame Uzumaki]
The bokken swept out like an unfurling spiral of flame.
Crack!
Their wooden blades clashed hard.
Though the puppet reacted quickly, bracing both swords firmly against Shinjuro's downward slash.
The disparity in physique and skill was simply too great, and the impact still drove it several steps backward.
This swordsmanship... felt a little like Thunder Breathing.
But did Thunder Breathing have a dual-wielding style?
Shinjuro wondered to himself.
Then he pressed toward the puppet again.
Since it resembled Thunder Breathing, he absolutely could not let it create distance and accelerate.
His downward slash abruptly changed direction.
Before the puppet could adjust its center of gravity, Shinjuro's slash had already become a straight horizontal cut.
[Thunder Type] could only just turn its blades sideways, blocking the strike with both its bokken and its body.
Neither its technique nor its response was actually wrong.
But it was a mechanical puppet, after all, and its hollow body was far too light...
Shinjuro's single slash immediately sent it flying sideways.
With a scraping sound.
Its wooden feet scraped across the ground, scattering a great swath of debris.
Big Owl flicked his wrist, spun his sword in a beautiful flourish, and smoothly assumed his next stance.
*This thing had decent strength too, roughly on par with Kazetoriin