Kazuma glanced at the kendo club captain—and noticed the guy had lost his nerve.
Just a moment ago, he'd been ready to argue. But after Daimon Gorō's sharp comment, all that bluster vanished in an instant.
Kazuma took another look at the captain's stats: Style-less 5. Not bad, really. He could easily thrash the old Kiryu Kazuma, and even Fujii Mikako as she was now wouldn't pose much of a challenge.
But from Kazuma's experience since transmigrating here, he'd come to realize that a person's combat strength in this world wasn't determined by technique and experience alone.
Take Daimon Gorō just now—he'd used a newly triggered "life memory buff" to nearly defeat Kazuma. That final evasive move Kazuma pulled off must've been thanks to Real Combat 5. Without it, there was no way he'd have dodged in time. He'd have lost for sure.
Just thinking about that dodge made Kazuma's shoulder throb with fresh pain.
He'd experienced this kind of thing often back when practicing HEMA. After an injury, once your attention shifted elsewhere, the pain would fade. But the moment you remembered the injury, the pain would come roaring back, making you want to roll on the floor.
Now, the pain sharpened his expression.
And he noticed the captain flinch even more.
Kazuma sighed inwardly. Come on, Captain, I'm not making this scary face because of you. Don't chicken out now—your little fangirls are still watching, you know.
He seriously debated whether to go easy, let the captain hang in there a bit longer, and help him save face in front of Manager Watatani Shōko.
But in the end, he decided to go all out and crush him.
That's what you get for picking the wrong fight with me!
Kazuma was determined. With everything going on at the dojo and the constant pressure from the yakuza, he'd built up a lot of stress. Time to vent a little.
He cleared his throat dramatically. "Captain, are you... ready?"
The captain swallowed hard. "Ready. Come at me!"
"You sure?" Kazuma teased. "I don't want you claiming later that you weren't prepared when I landed a hit."
"I'm sure. Let's go."
Kazuma nodded. Just as he was about to attack, a mischievous thought struck him.
"Rishin-ryū, Kiryu Kazuma—entering the fray!"
Gotta stack the buffs. Make this hit even nastier.
"Uh..." The captain hesitated, responding uncertainly, "Kitakatsushi High... Kendo Club... Captain... Sakamoto Shinta?"
The questioning tone made Kazuma want to laugh. You're not even sure of your own name?
With that kind of hesitation, what kind of buff could you possibly stack? Unless it was a buff to make your crossdressing version cuter and more delicate...
So your name's Shinta, huh?
In Japan, it was perfectly normal to know only a classmate's surname and forget their given name. You usually only used given names with very close friends—otherwise, it was all surnames.
Tch. "Shinta"—such a soft-sounding name. Not exactly a swordsman's name.
By this world's rules, your weakness is your name. If you'd been named "Kenshin," you'd probably already have a three-time national high school kendo championship under your belt.
With introductions done, Kazuma launched his attack.
"Men!"
This time, the captain did better than before. At least he raised his bamboo sword and managed to block Kazuma's strike.
But with a simple, fluid sword flourish, Kazuma bypassed the guard and landed a solid hit on the men of the captain's helmet.
Sakamoto froze in place. Even through the grill of his own helmet, Kazuma could sense the confusion on his face.
When fighting Daimon Gorō earlier, Kazuma hadn't felt the buff's effect quite so clearly—probably because Daimon's sudden second-phase power-up had been too overwhelming.
But now, steamrolling a weaker opponent, Kazuma could definitely feel it: Real Combat 5 gave a serious boost.
What puzzled him, though, was why he hadn't gained this buff during that fight in front of the dagashi shop. He'd fought yakuza then, too.
Maybe it's like an online game—fighting enemies too low-level doesn't grant experience?
Or maybe you only gain true combat experience when your life is actually on the line?
Both explanations made sense. He wasn't sure which was correct.
Lost in thought, Kazuma stepped back to his starting position. In kendo practice and matches, after landing a hit, both sides returned to their original positions.
Just then, Sakamoto spoke up. "Could you... demonstrate that move again?"
"Huh? Sure." Kazuma nodded. "I'll attack again, slower this time, so you can see clearly."
No sooner had he said this than Mikako popped out. "Why?! That's not fair! I've been begging you to teach me your thrust, and you refuse to slow it down for me!"
Her sudden outburst startled Kazuma. She really had a loud voice.
"Well... uh..." Kazuma couldn't explain. After all, he couldn't tell her that was a skill—and once he struck the pose, it activated automatically beyond his control.
The worst part was, whether or not the skill activated wasn't up to him. Once he took the stance and applied force, it would definitely trigger.
If he tried to perform it manually, some of his movements would inevitably differ from the skill-generated version—otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stop midway.
Given the situation, he'd have no choice but to teach Mikako a deliberately altered version.
God... what if that ends up hurting her later?
But for now, he had to calm her down and figure it out later.
"Alright, I'll break it down for you later. But right now, I'm sparring with Sakamoto. Let me finish showing him first. If you've got complaints, take them to Daimon-sensei."
Mikako pouted. Daimon Gorō was strict—everyone knew he was a good teacher, but they avoided him when they could.
Of course Mikako wasn't about to go confront Daimon Gorō herself.
She backed off a couple of steps, arms crossed, pouting in defeat for now.
Kazuma turned back to Sakamoto. "Here I come again. Watch closely."
He then demonstrated the sequence at a much slower pace.
"Oh! So that's it!" Sakamoto exclaimed. "You used the force of my attack to deflect my sword, then counterattacked."
Kazuma blinked. Huh? What are you talking about?
But on the surface, he simply smiled. "Exactly. Now you try."
Sakamoto nodded, taking a deep breath.
"I'm going!" he declared.
He then attempted an attack nearly identical to Kazuma's earlier move.
Kazuma blocked in the same way.
But the next step—Sakamoto completely failed to replicate the intended effect.
"What happened?" Sakamoto frowned at his bamboo sword.
Don't ask me, Kazuma thought. I've got no clue either.
Truthfully, he didn't really want to teach Sakamoto anything. There was no pay involved. He just wanted to beat up this clueless guy who'd challenged him—great way to relieve stress.
So before Sakamoto could speak again, Kazuma cut in. "Just practice it more and it'll come. Now, you attack—I'll defend."
"Oh, okay." Sakamoto nodded and immediately advanced.
But his speed was nowhere near Daimon Gorō's.
Kazuma easily sidestepped the attack and struck with a clean Kesa-giri, landing the bamboo sword squarely on Sakamoto's dō armor.
He'd originally aimed for the shoulder, but decided last minute to hit the torso instead.
Even in kendo, hitting the armor still hurt.
Sure enough, Sakamoto yelped, "Ahhh!"
(End of Chapter)