Chapter 661 - 9: Aoto’s Little Fangirls

Chapter 661: Chapter 9: Aoto’s Little Fangirls

Even in a Great Sword Dojo like the Little Chiba Sword Dojo, not everyone is a genius; many apprentices are just ordinary people.

The differences in their efforts and learning methods lead to varying levels among them.

As a result, Aoto is already reaping a bountiful harvest—having fused with 3 "Swordsman with Minor Achievements" in a row, his "Sword Genius" has now been upgraded to "Swordsmanship talent enhancement of 80 times the average person’s level."

In addition, he has gained 2 new talents: Golden Voice and Strong Stomach.

For Aoto, who has no ambition to become a singer and is not accustomed to shouting in battle, the former is as useless as chicken ribs.

But the latter is very useful.

With strong digestion and nutrient absorption, Aoto’s body can acquire better nutrition, leading to a healthier and stronger physique, greatly reducing the chance of digestive diseases.

In this era, where medicine is still very undeveloped, getting sick is a terrifying thing.

Many minor illnesses that cost only a few dozen or a hundred bucks to treat in modern times were incurable terminal illnesses in this era.

Aoto took several deep breaths to calm his slightly elated mood from the ample rewards.

At this moment, Aoto had adjusted his breathing rhythm.

He turned his head and cast a calm, emotionless look toward the "audience."

This look naturally meant, "Does anyone else want to come up?"

Wherever Aoto’s gaze went, members of the "Sazanoko Pursuer Corps" there looked guilty, eyes downward, like ostriches burying their heads deeply.

Suddenly, Aoto noticed a few familiar faces.

A strong man, a short fellow, a tall fellow... these were the people Aoto had inadvertently run into when he was using the bathroom earlier.

Aoto learned from these people that they were planning to give him trouble and embarrass him.

Except for the balding ugly guy, Wada, the others who were loudly bragging about what they would do to Aoto hadn’t come up to challenge him yet.

Aoto focused his gaze on these people, deliberately letting his gaze linger on them.

Feeling Aoto’s gaze, cold sweat dripped from their faces as they glued their chins tightly to their collarbones, not daring to look Aoto in the eye.

"Hey, go on."

The strong man urged the short fellow sitting next to him in a low voice.

"Why don’t you go?"

He was immediately retorted with irritation.

Nine people in a row, including some strong individuals, all ended in defeat... The morale of the "Sazanoko Pursuer Corps" was utterly crushed.

Their fondness for Sazanoko, their resolve to teach Tachibana Aoto a lesson... all forgotten.

Those not yet on stage either lacked confidence in their skills or feared they would be beaten up like a sandbag by Aoto, bringing disgrace.

Among the 28 assembled, only 9 had the guts to bravely issue a challenge to Aoto; the rest shrank back like turtles...

Those who challenged Aoto, like Wada, Taniuchi, and Kumai, now glared angrily with "mourning their misfortune, hating their inaction" expressions at their comrades who shrank back like Ostriches, but no matter how they glared or how furious their expressions, these people didn’t move unwavering from their stance...

But just at this moment... an unexpected event occurred.

"Hahaha! Amazing! The name ’Niō’ is indeed well-deserved!"

"Watching makes my hands itch!"

"Niō! If you don’t mind, could you spar with me?"

A particularly tall man, over 180cm, called out loudly as he slowly got up.

As soon as this man stood up, gasps erupted in succession from the "audience."

"It’s Yamen!"

"Yamen wants to challenge Niō too? Haha, this will be interesting."

"I didn’t expect even Yamen to step up..."

...

Seeing this suddenly standing, challenging tall fellow, Aoto couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow.

Having visited the Little Chiba Sword Dojo so many times, Aoto had unknowingly memorized the faces and names of some renowned figures.

This strong man was Amen Jotaro, currently one of the most famous and skilled apprentices at the Little Chiba Sword Dojo.

Two years ago, he successfully received the Master of All Techniques of the Beichen One-Sword Style from Chiba Dingji but chose to stay in the dojo to further hone his sword skills, feeling his skills were still lacking.

In a word—he’s a master with abilities long beyond novice level.

Seeing Yamen staring at him vividly, Aoto couldn’t help but show a strange expression.

He suddenly realized that his impressive, consecutive victories had seemingly piqued the interest of non-"Sazanoko Pursuer Corps" members...

However... this was precisely to Aoto’s liking!

Aoto welcomed more experts to cross swords with him.

Such an opportunity to legitimately draw out the talents of masters from the Little Chiba Sword Dojo was rare indeed!

Moreover, given his current position, it was difficult for Aoto to refuse Yamen’s challenge.

If he were to refuse Yamen’s challenge now, it would unavoidably lead to whispers that Aoto feared Yamen and avoided battling for fear of losing.