Book 5: Chapter 126: Lily’s Preliminary Round (part 1)

“I’ll go!” From the crowd, a samurai wearing a blue-gray kimono came on stage and somewhat proudly handed over five kan in exchange for a bronze plate.”

The junior supervisor said, “The rules of the compet.i.tion are as follows. If you fall out of the ring, surrender, get killed, or judged as unable to continue the fight, you are defeated. Only weapons that are clearly carried on your body can be used. The use of hidden weapons, arcane arts, arcane tools, and other means outside real sword fighting is prohibited!”

The two men stood on either side of the ring. Lily noticed that the bearded man had a red flag hanging under the taiko drum behind the railing on his side, while the blue-clad samurai had a white flag on his side.

“Both of you, state your names and origins.” The junior supervisor said.

“Kawachi Province, Kazafune Kunou1!” The big man chuckled a little as he spoke in a loud voice.

“The thirteenth generation successor of Sumo-ryū from Kyōtango, Kikujiro!” The blue-clad samurai said, looking very serious.

The onmyojis under the stage recorded the information one after another.

A middle-aged samurai next to the junior supervisor stood up. He seemed to be the judge of the match and announced, “Kazafune Kunou versus Kikujiro, match— begin!”

The surrounding spectators suddenly quieted down.

The courtly-clad samurai in blue and the scruffy bearded vagrant stood on either side of the ring, swords drawn and facing each other. For a while, no one moved.

Suddenly, the blue-clad samurai shouted, raised his long sword, and charged at the big man. The big man, on the other hand, was more nimble than he seemed and moved forward with quick steps, sword in hand.

The two approached within one body length of each other and swung their swords almost simultaneously!

Clang! The two men clashed against each other with their swords. The big man obviously had the advantage in strength and pressed towards the blue-clad samurai. The big man suddenly smiled fiercely and his st.u.r.dy arms pushed sideways with force. The blue-clad samurai’s sword was pushed to the side and his body swayed slightly off balance. Taking this opportunity, the big man quickly slashed his sword at the shoulder of the blue-clad samurai.

Pffft—!!! The slash was both fast and powerful!

A deep gash was left on the blue-clad samurai’s body, causing blood to spurt half-a-meter into the air before he fell down.

The spectators held their breath and the originally cheerful atmosphere was gone. The two people struck at the same time, but the winner was decided in just a few seconds.

The two samurai apprentices in black clothes from the dojo ran into the ring and examined the blue-clad samurai, after which, they turned to the judge and shook their heads.

The blue-clad samurai was dead.

The judge stood up, raised the red flag representing the big man’s side and announced, “Kazafune Kunou wins!”

The blue-clad samurai was dragged down by the two dojo attendants. He was unmoving, and left a trail of distinct bloodstains on the stage.

Several handymen whose clothes were tied with hemp ropes came up and squatted down to quickly wipe away the blood.

The successor of a certain dojo traveled thousands of miles to partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion, only to die all of a sudden when facing this cheerful and boorish vagrant. Lily also felt the cruelty and ruthlessness of this Yos.h.i.tsune Memorial Compet.i.tion. Fighting with real sword techniques was extremely dangerous and it was very easy to die or get injured. The samurai who all came here to partic.i.p.ate were well-aware of this fact.

The people present seemed a bit stunned. After all, no one had thought that such a wild man could easily defeat the prestigious dojo successor. They were also not accustomed to killing people in the compet.i.tion.

The big man revealed a playful smile and waved his hands, signaling for everyone to give some applause. A few people gradually applauded and the spectators below also started to shout.

“Is there anyone else who wants to come up and play?” The big man looked cheeky, but there was a fierce glint in his eyes.

The few people below were also stunned for a moment. After all, the scene of the dojo successor being dragged away was still fresh in their minds. Those with a join-in-the-fun mentality wouldn’t dare to go forward.

“I’ll compete with you!”

With a thunderous roar, a tall and stout bald-headed man with a height of 2.5 meters emerged from the crowd. He was bare chested and wore a dark red leather vest and fat trousers, with arms as thick as tree stumps. On his shoulder, he carried a thick stone pillar reinforced with bra.s.s, and the areas around his fierce-looking eyes were painted with red tattoos, which looked terrifying.

The bald-headed man with a big belly squeezed through the crowd and stepped heavily into the ring, causing it to shake three times.

“I am Oyama Shin2! From Harima!” The bald giant man shouted, his voice extremely deep. In this compet.i.tion, it was customary to use a pseudonym, which was usually a representation of oneself, but it couldn’t be changed later once it was used.

Seeing Oyama Shin, the black-bearded man revealed a sneer, “Fatty, are you here to compete or are you here to act like a rock?”

Compared to Oyama Shin, the so-called big man Kazafune looked thin.

Oyama Shin glared at the black-bearded man with his wide eyes and roared, “Boy, in my eyes, you are just a pile of meat!”

The judge stood up, waved the flag as a warning, and shouted, “Kazafune… Kazafune what was it?”

“Kazafune Kunou, My Lord.” The onmyoji who was in charge of keeping records reminded in a low voice.

“Ah, yes, Kazafune Kunou versus Oyama Shin. Match— begin!”

In this match, Oyama Shin walked to the middle of the ring with big strides while Kazafune seemed elusive, but in fact, he was carefully approaching Oyama Shin while circling.

Suddenly, Oyama Shin saw an opportunity and shouted loudly, raising his thick stone pillar and smashing it towards Kazafune.

Boom!!! The ring trembled and a big hole was smashed into the floor, causing large pieces of broken wood to fly about!

Kazafune, however, dodged the blow. He was waiting for this opportunity for a long time and immediately rushed towards Oyama Shin, aiming the sword at his fat belly.

Clang! Unexpectedly, Oyama Shin’s body was very flexible and he managed to block the sword with his thick hands which were covered by copper wrist guards.

“What?!” Kazafune was shocked.

Oyama Shin’s other hand let go of the stone pillar and directly grabbed Kazafune’s head. Kazafune’s head was squeezed by the big and powerful hand amid crackling sounds, causing him to reveal a look of horror. The severe pain made him unable to swing his sword and his futile attempts to break Oyama Shin’s hand with his own were unsuccessful.

Oyama Shin grabbed Kazafune’s head, lifted him up, and slammed him towards the stone pillar that was stuck into the ring.

Pffft! A loud sound was heard that prompted most people to close their eyes and dare not look. There were splatters of blood on the thick gray stone pillar!

Kazafune’s head was smashed onto the stone and shattered.

“…” The spectators were dumbstruck. This compet.i.tion was too brutal!

Kazafune’s b.l.o.o.d.y head and body was thrown to the side by Oyama Shin, falling on the edge of the ring.

“Oyama… Oyama Shin wins!” The judge saw how flexible and fierce the giant man was and looked somewhat stunned. He announced the result after a while and raised the white flag.

After that, the attendants came up again to clean the ring and dragged away the loser before giving Oyama Shin the two bronze plates belonging to Kazafune.

Then someone took some time to briefly repair the ring, which delayed the next match for a while.

After the repair, Oyama Shin stood in the center of the ring like a mountain and shouted to everyone, “Who else? Dare to come up here and die? Hahahaha, hahahahaha!”

Lily stood below the stage and was a bit saddened by the danger of this compet.i.tion, but in the current world, if one didn’t advocate practicing martial arts and spilling blood, how could they fight against demons?

After a period of silence, a dojo samurai in white clothes and blue trousers came forward to compete. This samurai’s swordsmanship was obviously more skilled and agile than that of Kazafune. However, after exchanging a few rounds with Oyama Shin, he made a careless move and got sc.r.a.ped by the stone pillar, causing him to immediately fall to the ground with a broken arm. He hurriedly begged for mercy and admitted defeat, but in response, the stone pillar smashed his legs heavily, which was extremely cruel.

The samurai wailed miserably and was kicked down by Oyama Shin, sending him flying towards the crowd where he fell to the ground like a wilted flower. Everyone scattered, except for Lily who stood there motionless.

After that, Oyama Shin was invincible and won four or five matches in a row, seriously injuring two people and killing the rest. According to the rules, he could already get off the ring for today, but he refused to rest.

Oyama Shin stood on the stage and roared at the crowd, “You trash samurai. Samurai swords are the world’s most garbage weapon. It’s just a toy for mice like you. In front of my 3000-pound stone pillar, all swords are a joke! Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!”

Lily’s gaze chilled and she put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Just as she was about to act, suddenly, on the other side, someone shouted, “You reckless man dare to insult the life of a samurai? Let me teach you what a real samurai sword is!”

A young man wearing a clean and white dojo uniform with a white face stepped into the ring.

“I come from the Sinless Domain in Nara, Kazama Dojo— Ikusei Kokichi! A battle of martial arts is determined by destiny and one’s skill. If you win, you win, how dare you mock the sword? Take back your words, otherwise, if I defeat you, I won’t let you off lighty!” The young man pointed at the giant man without fear and righteously said.

Everyone also whispered, “Yes, it’s someone from the Nara Sinless Domain! The people from the Sinless Domain finally revealed themselves! Sinless Domain! How amazing! It is said that the Sinless Domain has three entry spots for the semi-finals!”

“Brother from the Sinless Domain, teach that idiot who looks down on samurai a lesson!” A female ninja among the spectators cheered with a blushing face.

However, Oyama Shin snorted and looked at this person with contempt, “Kid, are you in a hurry to die before all your hair can grow?”

“To think you would underestimate and threaten me, the blue sheath-level disciple of the Kazama Dojo, with such ignorant words. Oyama Shin, you are dead!”

Ikusei Kokichi was full of confidence

“d.a.m.n you!” Before the match even started, Oyama Shin suddenly rushed over and smashed his huge stone pillar towards Ikusei.

“Hey, wait—” The judge was surprised.

Ikusei was also caught by surprise and it was too late to draw his sword, so he could only run sideways to dodge.

Who knew that Oyama Shin would suddenly swing his stone pillar horizontally across the ground and chase after him.

Bang! The rough and heavy stone pillar hit Ikusei’s leg.

Although Ikusei possessed the exquisite swordsmanship of the Kazama Dojo, he was unprepared and got hit on his leg. The strength of the stone pillar was extraordinary, and upon collision, his femur was broken. Thanks to his spirited and quick movements, he jumped with one leg and rolled on the ground to avoid another blow from Oyama Shin.

However, Oyama Shin was unexpectedly skilled in martial arts and kicked out while holding the stone pillar.

Bang—! The kick hit Ikusei’s chest and sent him flying to a corner of the ring where he crashed into the taiko drums before falling together with the railings and other debris.

Oyama Shin strode towards Ikusei, “Trash, go to h.e.l.l!”

The stone pillar was directly thrown at Ikusei, who was buried by the taiko drums and other broken objects!

Facing the flying stone pillar, Ikusei, who was unable to move, revealed a desperate and panicked look.

Suddenly— a crimson figure appeared out of nowhere and leaped in front of Ikusei.

Bang! The beautiful slender legs of the figure kicked the huge stone pillar and surprisingly sent the incomparable heavy object that was bigger than her body back towards Oyama Shin3.

“What?!” Oyama Shin’s eyes were wide open, looking shocked!

1. TLN: Name literally means Sailboat Nine-fold or Nine Weights. These are most likely nicknames.
2. TLN: Literally means Big Mountain Earthquake…
3. Robinxen: Art potential?