Then he was filled with questions.

The more he went to watch the game, the more he couldn't help but frown.

Why are the abilities of these players so low?

Even when he vaguely realized something was wrong, Qingdeng still chose to trust his master.

Aren't the three people known as the "Three Heroes" not yet on the stage? The strength of those three people may not be underestimated. After comforting himself a few words in his heart, Qingdeng patiently finished the game.

Keep reading.

After finally waiting for the first "Three Heroes" Morishita to take the field, Qingto immediately picked up his energy and paid close attention to every move of Morishita.

After watching the entire process of Morishita defeating his opponent, Qingto had only one thought in his mind:

Huh? The "Three Heroes"...that's it?

Later, after the other two members of the "Three Heroes", Oizaki and Nitsuma, came on the stage, Qingto also patiently watched the game between these two people.

If Qingden were to put it mildly to evaluate the strength of the "Three Heroes"...it would be that when fighting against them, "Lonely Heroes" would not be able to activate.

To put it bluntly, it can completely suppress them and beat them.

After seeing with his own eyes what the "Three Heroes" were, Qingteng finally understood - he was played by Zhou Zhu!

"Hoo ho ho..." After Qingteng came over to "confront" him, Shusuke rubbed his chin, slowly turned his head, and smiled dryly at Qingtou as if he had been told a lie, "Tachibana-kun...

…We don’t call this ‘cheating’.”

"We call this a 'white lie'."

Zhou Sukeyan briefly and concisely explained to Aoto why he joined forces with Kondo, Hijikata, and Okita to tell this "white lie" to Aoto.

To put it simply, it was to prevent Qingdeng from becoming arrogant.

They live under the same roof as Qingdeng. After Qingdeng experienced the "Battle of Fanshu Diaosuo", they already know that with Qingdeng's current strength, in this competition that is only open to newcomers,

It's just random killing.

They were worried that if they informed Qingden of this fact, Qingdeng would become arrogant and complacent, thus neglecting daily practice and not facing this competition with a serious attitude.

As a result, Shusuke approached Okita and the others, got along well with them, and used the information gap that "Aoto had no idea about the strength of the newcomers at other sword halls in Edo" to deceive Aoto and keep him there.

Thinking that there would be experts who were as capable as him in this competition, Qingdeng worked hard to prepare for the competition.

After listening to Zhousuke's explanation, Qingden couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and then sighed with a strange expression.

"Tachibana-kun." Kondo, who was sitting next to Shusuke, probably thought that Aoto was dissatisfied with Shusuke's "white lie". He showed an apologetic smile to Aoto, "I'm sorry, we

I've been lying to you."

Kondo wanted to say something more to Qingto, but Qingto waved his hand first and interrupted Kondo: "It's okay, I can understand your good intentions, and I don't mean to blame you."

It was not that Qingdeng couldn't understand Zhou's intention of helping them, and he was not angry because of it.

After knowing the truth and knowing that there was no player of equal strength to him in this competition, Qingden only felt a little... regretful.

He was originally looking forward to facing some powerful opponents in this competition and getting a good taste of the elegance of each school...

At this time, Qingden suddenly heard a magnetic young male voice that was slightly unfamiliar to him coming from his side:

"Excuse me - is it convenient for you now?"

Hearing this strange male voice, Qingdeng was startled at first, and then quickly turned his head to look at the sound - he saw a young man with a soft smile on his face, walking towards him at a leisurely pace.

.

"Eijiro?" Kondo on the side raised his eyebrows.

This young man walking towards Qingnobo is none other than Chiba Eijiro.

"What's wrong?" Aonto blinked at Chiba Eijiro in confusion, "Is something wrong?"

While he asked Chiba Eijiro who suddenly appeared and asked him "is it convenient now?", he looked at this man who was known as the "strongest".

When the Chiba family finally showed up at the arena and met up with their trial gym, Aoto didn't even have time to say a word to Chiba Eijiro, and he didn't even take a good look at Chiba Eijiro's appearance.

Because Matsudaira Yōho and the others arrived, I had to sit back in my seat to prepare for the game.

I have to say - the genes of the Chiba family are really strong.

The children of brothers Chiba Shusaku and Chiba Sadakichi not only inherited strong swordsmanship talents, but also inherited a good skin.

Ayoto couldn't help but wonder whether Chiba Shusaku, Chiba Sadakichi and others had the talent to "easily pass on excellent genes to future generations".

Maybe it's because of his fair skin. Chiba Eijiro, who is 27 years old this year, looks like he is only 23 or 4 years old.

She has a figure that is neither fat nor thin, and has delicate facial features. It is rare that she did not shave her hair into a Tsukiyo hairdo, and did not let this extremely ugly Tsukiyo hair ruin this rare good skin.

Probably because he always had a soft smile on his lips, Chiba Eijiro seemed quite friendly and easy to get along with.

Chiba Eijiro's elegant and easy-going appearance... is more like a scholar who is good at knowledge than the unparalleled great swordsman who was crowned "the strongest in Edo".

"Actually, it's nothing." After walking up to Qingto, Chiba Eijiro smiled slightly, "I just want to tell you: your game just now was very exciting."

"The timing, angle, and attack position of the sword are all perfect."

"What a nice shot."

"Thank you..." Unexpectedly, Chiba Eijiro came to praise his Qingto, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Was your sword strike based on precise calculations?" Chiba Eijiro asked at this time, "Or was it just based on feeling?"

"Uh... I didn't think about all the twists and turns at the time." Qingdeng spread his hands, "I just wanted to make a tentative attack first."

"Unexpectedly, my tentative attack ended the game directly..."

"Oh...Does that mean you didn't make any careful calculations with this sword..." Chiba Eijiro lowered his eyelids slightly and imperceptibly.

Suddenly, Chiba Jutaro's voice sounded from behind Qingto: "Huh? Brother Rong?"

Chiba Jutaro and Sanako walked towards Aomori and the others one behind the other.

Sanako has returned to her usual "state of a well-known young lady" who always rejects everyone no matter how far away she is. She no longer looks like she had red lips when she was shocked by Qingto's strength.

Zhang formed a cute "O" shape and his expression became dull.

Chiba Jutaro looked at Qingnobo in confusion, and then looked at Chiba Eijiro: "Brother Ei, what are you and Tachibana-kun talking about?"

"Nothing." Chiba Eijiro chuckled gracefully, "It was just a brief chat."

"Oh, that's it..." Chiba Jutaro glanced at Sanako beside him, then glanced at Chiba Eijiro in front of him, curled his lips thoughtfully, and laughed,

"Brother Rong, it would be great if you and Mr. Ju can get along."

No one noticed that when Chiba Jutaro said this, his eyes flashed with an intriguing light.

——Chiba Eijiro He is much easier to get along with than I thought...

After actually getting in touch with Chiba Eijiro, Aoto discovered that Chiba Eijiro was quite a kind person. He was obviously a powerful being who could make the entire Edo swordsmanship circle tremble with just a few stamps of his feet, but he had no airs.

This can't help but make Aoto's favor towards Chiba Eijiro rise greatly.

…

…

The scenes of the passionate conversation between Aoto and Chiba Eijiro were all seen by the new wife Kan in the distance.

Not only Chiba Jutaro... but also Chiba Eijiro's attitude towards that Tachibana Aoden is so sincere...

Unconsciously, the new wife Kuan clenched her hands tighter.

His fingers dug deeply into the flesh of his palm, and his palm, which was so red from being scratched, seemed to be dripping with blood at any moment...

…

…

An hour's lunch break passed by in a flash.

As the game resumed at 8 a.m. (2 p.m.), the spectator seats around the arena were once again packed.

The old samurai who served as the master of ceremonies stood on the field again, and after briefly saying something that no one would listen to seriously, he began to grab the lottery tickets for the second round of knockout rounds.

Qingdeng felt that he really didn't know whether to call his luck today "good" or "bad".

The master of ceremonies took out the first lot from the lot box, glanced at the name written on the lot, raised his head and said loudly:

"Natural Rishin-ryu, Test Guard Hall, Tachibana Aoden!"

Wow!

As soon as the master of ceremonies finished speaking, there was an uproar in the spectator seats.

Qingdeng actually took the lead again in the second round of the knockout rounds... This really exceeded everyone's expectations.

After the master of ceremonies handed Qingdeng's signature to the assistant beside him, he put his hand into the lottery tube again and took out a signature.

After glancing at the name written on the sign, the usually stern-faced emcee's expression turned strange.

After being stunned for a moment, the emcee raised his eyes from the signature.

"Kashin Akechi-ryu, Shigakukan, Morishita Totaro!"
To be continued...