Chapter 179: Kimura-san Is Awesome!
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
As Tetsuto Hirata finished speaking, Kimura Kazuki emerged from the backstage.
This time, he was not wearing any Kendo uniform but was instead dressed casually in a set of clothes with shinai in hand.
Tetsuto Hirata was serving as a temporary reporter, so he spoke with a big smile when Kimura Kazuki reached his side, “Kimura-san, do you know the reason why you are here?”
“Of course.” Kimura Kazuki sounded composed. “You guys need an explanation for the magical moment that happened during the last match. Ikioi Ito’s swordsmanship near the end of the competition had gone beyond our cognition.”
The audience agreed, but they made no noise as they were focusing carefully on what Kimura Kazuki had to say.
“It seems like there is something else that had slipped everyone’s eyes.” Kimura Kazuki was offering his smile, “I’m not holding a microphone, but my voice is heard clearly by you all. Do you guys know why?”
Everyone was startled by this revelation.
“That’s right!”
“Oh God, if Kimura-san didn’t mention it, I wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Now that I recall it, Ikioi Ito wasn’t speaking into a microphone too when he made his second speech in the morning. The strange thing is, I could still hear him clearly anyhow.”
The audience was astonished at the exact moment.
However, those with Kageyama Kuro were the exception. This was because he was using the special feature called the Kageyama Kiai Style! Hmph!
Kimura Kazuki gestured to the crowd, signaling them to lower down their voices. Three seconds later, everyone was quiet again, so he continued, “Because right now I’m employing the Kageyama Kiai Style... I think we are all familiar with the name, Kageyama. That’s right, the five contestants from Yuki Gyo High School had made use of the Kageyama Kiai Style. This feature is derived from the flow of gas and serves as a deterrent to the opponents. Those who watched in District A during the competition might find that it was always an easy win for Yuki Gyo High School... This is because Kageyama Kuro and his brothers had begun utilizing the ki before the competition had even started, which made their opponents lose their combat abilities within a short time. For example... like this...” As he was saying, Kimura Kazuki allowed a few seconds for the audience to prepare themselves before opening his mouth and released a puff of air, “Ha!”
The simple shout sounded like terrifying thunder. It deafened the audiences’ ears, stunning them completely.
Some meticulous audiences were instead looking at Tetsuto Hirata, who was standing beside Kimura Kazuki. They realized he was unharmed even though he was standing right there all the time. This might be the reason why the Kageyama Kiai Style was so superior.
When the audience no longer felt off-color, they started to marvel greatly about the flow of air.
“It was unbelievable!”
“The flow of ki is so powerful.”
“When the coach asked us to make use of the ki during the competition to deter our opponents, I used to think the action would be useless, but now, it turns out to be the secret weapon of Kendo!”
“With just one shout, it takes away the opponents’ abilities to fight back.”
“No wonder the five Kageyamas from Yuki Gyo High School were able to win this easily, the Kageyama Kiai Style is so impressive!”
“This is why their ki stood out, among others.” Kimura Kazuki was smiling, no matter
how loud the crowd was when he started to speak, the crowd would instantly turn silent. This phenomenon had successfully amazed Tetsuto Hirata. “As for why I’m trying to explain the Kageyama Kiai Style, it’s because the sound made when Ikioi Ito was performing ‘The Return of the Swallow·Sword Drawing Skill’ had integrated the use of the Kageyama Kiai Style. Ikioi Ito was able to utilize the Kageyama Kiai Style because he is one of the members of the Ito family, and the Ito family is known for their Ito Replication Style.”
Kimura Kazuki made a brief explanation of how the Ito Replication Style from Ito family worked.
“Replication Style?”
“Kakashi?” “The Ito family has Sharingan too?”
“There is nothing special about the Ito family... On the contrary, the Ito family’s swordsmanship isn’t very great, because it requires a high level of endowment towards Kendo to master the replication pass.” Kimura Kazuki was outlining slowly, “As you all might’ve not realized, Ikioi Ito is actually dubbed as the second genius of the Ito family, and only comes after the first who is the head of the family.”
“During the competition, when Ikioi Ito was performing ‘The Return of the Swallow·Sword Drawing Skill,’ five people had spoken simultaneously at the same time. This was actually the utilization of the Kageyama Kiai Style by Ikioi Ito. Those five shadows weren’t his partitions, but the afterimage from moving too fast.” When he was still speaking, a second Kimura Kazuki had appeared beside him out of nowhere.
There were two Kimura Kazuki at the same spot, which came as an utter shock to everyone.
“When the speed hits a certain level, afterimages will appear. Just like this...” As he paused, the audience saw a blurry afterimage popped up in between the two ‘Kimura Kazuki.’ He then continued, “However, as the speed increases, the afterimages will vanish... You all may record this down on your cell phone because this intense speed is overloading for the body, I can’t maintain it for long.”
The audience did as they were told and started to film it... 10 seconds later, someone had already begun slow-motioning the video and was staring in shock at the phone. “He was right! I’ve slowed the video down by five times, and you can see clearly about the speed of Kimura-san. This is insane!”
The others joined in to view the video and were similarly shocked.
Although they were dumbfounded, they were starting to be convinced by Kimura Kazuki.
Yagyu Kenichiro, who was standing near the corner, was surprised, “The audience was convinced so easily?”
“It’s not that simple.” Deputy President Reizan Takamatsu was relieved to hear what Yagyu Kenichiro, he laughed lightly, “Kimura had kept a level of consideration when he explained to the crowd. This consideration was deemed acceptable by the audience, that’s why they believe his explanation. Besides, Kimura did not talk evasively, he chose the route of experimentation, by showing it in front of the audience, which made it easier for them to believe.”
In today’s society, it was all about the internet, and also a world full of powerful and dangerous information.
Netizens could find all kinds of bizarre things on the internet, for example, folding one’s body into half, swallowing a living venomous snake... They would exclaim, “Oh, this is absurd” at these outrageous things, but the next second, move on to do what they should be doing. The reason why Kendo competitions were able to cause a sensation was due to the audience being able to witness the absurdity with their naked eyes. They needed an explanation for these phenomena, and as long as they were satisfied with the answer, they would take it in and pursue no further.
This situation was just similar to, say, if the trick of fishing out coins from the oil pan was exposed, no one would be surprised any longer.
Kimura Kazuki had made a clear explanation. Ikioi Ito had marveled at the skill by creating five afterimages as he had started to practice it since he was a kid. To improve Ikioi Ito’s swordsmanship, he had been trained privately until the Ito family had nothing left to teach him. Ikioi Ito was then enrolled in high school.
This level of intense training had been more than 10 years, with the addition of being crowned the second genius of the family, it had made Ikioi Ito extraordinary.
“I know some of you still don’t believe what I’ve said, so you guys may check out the video clip on the official website when it is up.”
historical
Kimura Kazuki smiled.
He had made a deal with Reizan Takamatsu, once the audience left the building, Tachibana Budo Gym would be closed entirely so Ikioi Ito, and he could fair up in another fight. He would dress up in Kendo uniform to look like ‘Ikioi Ito’ and perform ‘The Return of the Swallow·Sword Drawing Skill’ once again. This time, he would not fill his entire body with reiki but would leave afterimages by creating intense speed to be recorded on video.
When the audience sees the video clip, they would not doubt the authenticity anymore.
When the audience was done listening to his speech, one of them rose from his seat and yelled excitedly.
“Kimura-san is awesome!”