After concentrating his mind, Aoto focused on practicing Suburi according to Okita’s instructions.
As for Okita, he walked around among the apprentices with his bamboo sword, supervising everyone’s practice.
Every time his watchful gaze swept over Aoto, the astonishment in his eyes flickered.
— This person… is amazing…!
Beginners often make various small mistakes when practicing Suburi, such as swinging the sword downwards instead of forwards, or twisting or pressing the wrist when swinging the sword…
Generally speaking, it is very normal to take several days to practice Suburi without making any more mistakes.
If one can master Suburi in one day, that is already considered exceptional talent.
And this new junior apprentice… he only watched him demonstrate it once, and then practiced it himself once, and he was able to perform a perfect Suburi with no discernible flaws…
— This person’s talent… might even surpass Kondo-kyo and Hijikata-sensei…
Okita uncontrollably directed nearly half of his gaze and attention towards Aoto.
The handsome young man’s practice requirement for Aoto was to practice until he could no longer swing the sword, to see what Aoto’s current limit was.
In standard Suburi, each strike must be swung with your maximum strength, so it consumes a lot of physical energy.
By the 32nd strike, Aoto felt extreme soreness in his arm muscles, and his arms could no longer be lifted, so he could only reluctantly give up practicing and loudly inform Okita, “I can’t swing anymore.”
“Hmm… not bad.” Okita slowly walked to Aoto’s side, dragging his bamboo sword.
“I’ve been quietly observing you just now, to see if your movements were standard.”
“You did much better than I expected.”
“Except for the last few strikes, where your posture became a bit messy due to lack of stamina, every other strike was quite standard.”
“I feel a bit ashamed…” Aoto said with a bitter smile, “I can’t swing anymore after only 32 strikes…”
— This body is truly weak!
Aoto complained about his new body for the umpteenth time.
“Beginners don’t need to worry too much about the quantity of Suburi.” Okita smiled slightly.
“Whether the Suburi movements are standard is the most important thing.”
“Rather than performing a thousand non-standard practices, it’s better not to practice at all.”
“I originally planned to spend all of today teaching you how to do Suburi.”
A helpless expression slowly appeared on Okita’s face at this moment.
“But your progress… far exceeds my imagination.
There are no other areas to correct in your Suburi, so let’s move on to the next step of practice.”
“Next, I’ll teach you how to draw and sheath your sword.”
“Drawing and sheathing the sword are the basics of swordplay.
If you can’t even draw or sheath your sword properly, then don’t talk about swordplay.”
“You can rest for a while now, and call me when you’re rested.
I’ll go get the tools for practicing drawing and sheathing the sword.”
“Yes.”
…
…
Aoto rested for a full half hour before finally feeling the soreness in his arms dissipate significantly.
After informing Okita that he had finished resting, Okita scurried out of the dojo and returned with two sheathed wooden swords.
“So heavy…” After taking the wooden sword handed to him by Okita, the unexpected weight of the wooden sword made Aoto let out a low gasp.
“These are wooden swords specifically for practicing drawing and sheathing the sword,” Okita explained.
“They’ve been specially weighted to perfectly simulate the weight of a real sword.”
Aoto weighed the sheathed wooden sword in his hand—in terms of weight, it was indeed no different from a real sword.
“Alright, now watch me demonstrate.” Okita fastened the wooden sword to his left waist.
“There’s only one key point to drawing and sheathing the sword—let your hand move along the shortest path to touch the sword, without any unnecessary movements.”
“Watch carefully.”
With that, Okita suddenly raised his right hand, pressed down on the wooden sword at his left waist, and drew it from its sheath.
Whoosh—!
The sword leaving its sheath brought with it the piercing sound of air being cut.
After deftly drawing the sword, Okita sheathed the wooden sword with equally deft movements.
Okita’s series of movements just now, like his previous Suburi demonstration, were clean and concise, making even those who didn’t understand swordsmanship want to exclaim, “Awesome!”
“When drawing the sword, remember to grip the sword with your right wrist in this manner…”
Okita concisely explained to Aoto the various movement details to pay attention to when drawing and sheathing the sword.
After speaking, he put his hands and the bamboo sword he held behind his back.
“Alright.
Now try it yourself.”
“Yes.”
Aoto spread his feet apart, lowered his center of gravity, and imitating Okita’s movements from earlier, slowly moved his right hand to the wooden sword at his left waist.
Watching Aoto, who was about to draw his sword, Okita secretly thought with a tone of expectation mixed with a hint of pride:
— Drawing and sheathing the sword… surely this won’t be mastered in just one or two tries, right?
After witnessing Aoto’s astonishing talent, a peculiar curiosity arose in Okita’s heart—a curiosity to explore the depth of Aoto’s talent. Get faster updates on g.com.
Okita, with anticipation in his eyes, eagerly watched Aoto, who had already pressed his right hand on the hilt of the sword.
The “high-speed camera” in Aoto’s mind opened again at this moment—
Whoosh!
The blade of the wooden sword was rapidly drawn from its sheath inch by inch, and Okita’s eyes widened little by little in response.
After drawing the wooden sword, Aoto imitated Okita’s previous movements and sheathed the sword.
— Did this person… really never receive formal sword training before?!
Whether it was Aoto’s previous Suburi or his recent drawing and sheathing of the sword, Okita felt that they did not seem like movements a beginner could make.
Even experienced swordsmen might not be able to perform such beautiful movements.
However, in the match between Aoto and Suzuki that he had just watched, Aoto’s extremely clumsy sword swings clearly told him—this junior apprentice was indeed a newcomer who had not had much contact with swordsmanship before…
— If… he truly never received any formal sword training before… then his talent…
Okita’s gaze gradually became serious… no, it should be said that it became strange, even “frightening.”
Aoto, feeling uncomfortable under Okita’s gaze, couldn’t help but say:
“Um… Okita-kun?”
“Ah.” Okita, as if waking from a dream, chuckled, “Sorry, I got a bit distracted just now.”
“Your movements just now were good.
It’s quite rare for a beginner to be able to perform movements of such a standard.”
“However, there were still some areas where you didn’t quite get it right.”
Okita stepped forward and carefully explained to Aoto what details he had not done well just now.
After Okita’s correction, and Aoto practiced a few more times himself, Okita finally nodded.
“For the rest of the time, just focus on practicing drawing and sheathing the sword,” Okita instructed.
“Let’s practice it 40 times for now.
Remember to make sure your movements are standard when practicing, and don’t neglect the standard of your movements just to finish the required number of practices quickly.”
After giving Aoto his new practice assignment, Okita carried his bamboo sword and went to supervise and check on the practice of others.
And after Okita left, Aoto also began to follow Okita’s instructions, focusing on practicing drawing and sheathing the sword.
And just then—Uehara, who had been practicing Suburi under Okita’s command, finally completed the series of practice tasks given by Okita, and sat down next to Aoto, covered in sweat, to rest.
While massaging the muscles in his arms, he suddenly spoke to Aoto:
“Brother, you’re amazing.
It’s my first time seeing Okita-kun so gentle and kind when teaching swordsmanship.”
Uehara, both in appearance and voice, exuded a hearty demeanor.
“Brother, where are you from?
Where do you work?”
“I’m from Edo,” Aoto replied.
“Currently, I work at the Edo North Magistrate’s Office, as a Doshin of the Kita-banshō sadame machi-ka.”
After briefly introducing himself to Uehara, Aoto saw Uehara’s eyes suddenly light up.
“You’re a ‘San Kai’ samurai!”
Uehara then eagerly pressed Aoto:
“Brother, since you’re a ‘San Kai’ samurai, can I ask you something?”
“Hmm?
Please speak.”
Uehara, sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaned his upper body towards Aoto, his breathing becoming slightly heavier.
“I heard—that Neko Kozō who’s been causing a lot of commotion in Edo recently is a female ninja skilled in ninjutsu.
Is that true?”
Aoto’s hands, which were practicing drawing and sheathing the sword, involuntarily stopped.
“Huh?” Aoto tilted his head at Uehara.
“Neko Kozō?
Female ninja?”
Having inherited all of the memories of Kitsutachibana Aoto, Aoto naturally knew who Neko Kozō was.
About three months ago, a very skilled thief appeared in Edo, who only operated at night.
Most thieves would steal from the wealthy.
But this great thief was different.
This great thief only stole money from Edo’s Yakuzas, or from notorious villains in Edo.
He acted boldly and actively.
In just three months, the number of villains or evil forces from whom this great thief had stolen money was more than ten.
The total amount stolen was conservatively estimated to be several thousand ryo in gold.
Such a thief, who only targeted villains and did not harm ordinary people, was always very popular with the common folk.
After all, ordinary people liked stories and people who dealt with villains on their behalf and helped them vent their anger.
As far as Aoto knew—with the activity of this great thief, he had already gained extremely high popularity among the common people of Edo, and there were even storytellers who specifically compiled storytelling sessions related to this great thief.
Although what this great thief did could be considered eliminating harm for the people, a thief is still a thief, and the authorities could not stand idly by.
Therefore, after this great thief became famous, the South and North Precinct of Edo quickly opened a case and launched an investigation.
Although the authorities’ investigation was very swift, the results… could be described as disastrous…
Through careful investigation and intelligence provided by the intelligence network, Edo’s “San Kai” had successfully found him at the scene of the great thief’s thefts several times. You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
But each time, without exception—he managed to escape.
This great thief’s movements were astonishingly agile!
Whether it was the top of a wall only a foot wide, or the steeply sloped roof of a house, this great thief could move across them as if on flat ground.
Every capture operation had a similar outcome—they would finally find this great thief, but then he would “whoosh” up onto a nearby roof or some other place, and in the blink of an eye, he would disappear into the night…
Because this great thief could move quickly like a cat on rooftops, wall tops, and various other complex terrains, the authorities gave him the nickname—Neko Kozō.
It must be said, this nickname was indeed brilliantly chosen.
The movements of this great thief were indeed as agile as a cat’s.
Neko Kozō came and went without a trace, so even now, the authorities still know very little about Neko Kozō.
Because Neko Kozō always wore black clothes, and his hair and the parts below his nose were also wrapped in black cloth, with only a pair of eyes exposed, it was impossible to tell his gender or age, so the authorities didn’t even know if he was male or female, or approximately how old he was.
Currently, regarding Neko Kozō, the authorities only knew 3 relatively useful pieces of information:
1.
He only appears at night.
2.
He only targets villains and evil forces in Edo.
3.
His build is relatively small, with an estimated height of at most 1.5 meters.
A height of 1.5 meters—this was extremely common in Edo Period Japan, because due to diet, genetics, etc., in this era, let alone women, many men were 1.5 meters tall.
Aoto’s height of 1.75 meters was considered a quite rare “giant” in this era.
“Neko Kozō is a female ninja… Where did you hear that?” Aoto put down the wooden sword in his hand.
Uehara replied with a hint of excitement in his voice:
“I heard it from my friends last night when we were drinking.”
“My friends said: Recently, there are many people in the market guessing Neko Kozō’s identity.”
“Neko Kozō’s build is very small, so it’s highly possible she’s female.”
“And she can move as if on flat ground on rooftops, walls, and other places.
Flying over eaves and running on walls—this has always been a ninja’s specialty.”
“So currently, many people are spreading the rumor that Neko Kozō is a female ninja skilled in ninjutsu.”
“And I also heard—that Neko Kozō is very well-endowed here.”
Uehara, with an uncontrollable lewd smile on his face, raised his hands and gestured a few times on his chest.
“I’ve always been very interested in this Neko Kozō, so I thought I’d come and confirm with you, as a ‘San Kai,’ if this is true.”
— Have you always been interested in Neko Kozō, or did you only become interested after hearing that Neko Kozō is a well-endowed female ninja…
After silently complaining about Uehara in his mind, Aoto chuckled wryly:
“That’s complete nonsense.
These street rumors, just listen to them and don’t take them seriously.”
“I don’t know if female ninjas still exist in this era where foreign powers have already knocked on our country’s doors.”
“But I can tell you with absolute certainty: ‘Neko Kozō is a female ninja’ and such, are completely baseless fantasies of the common people.”
“Neko Kozō has a small build, so she’s female.
Because she can run on roofs and walls, she’s a ninja?
How can you determine Neko Kozō is a female ninja based solely on these two points…?”
Aoto said helplessly.
“Small build—plenty of men also have small builds.”
As he said this, Aoto involuntarily glanced at a certain 1.55-meter-tall handsome young man who was diligently teaching someone in the distance.
“As for running on roofs and walls… our government has also caught many agile people who could run very fast on rooftops, and they weren’t ninjas either.”
“And about being well-endowed… that’s just baseless nonsense.”
“Our government hasn’t even determined Neko Kozō’s gender, so how would ordinary people know that Neko Kozō is well-endowed?
This is most likely just a rumor made up by some bored individual to attract attention.”
“In short—just listen to these street rumors and don’t take them seriously.”
With that, Aoto raised the wooden sword in his hand and continued to focus on practicing his sword.
“B-but…” Uehara stammered, seemingly wanting to say something more.
But just then—
“Uehara, what are you doing?” Okita’s voice pierced Uehara’s eardrums, making the expression on Uehara’s face instantly freeze.
Okita walked slowly towards Uehara, arms crossed and a displeased look on his face.
“Have you forgotten the rules of our Shieikan—when others are practicing swordsmanship, do not casually chat with them and disturb them.”
“Yes, I’m sorry…” Uehara, like a child who had done something wrong, quickly lowered his head and hunched his body.
After being reminded by Okita, Uehara no longer dared to speak to Aoto and focused on massaging and relaxing the muscles in his arms.
*********
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