148 Trash-Talk

Ten o'clock in the morning, Tachibana Budo Gym, District A of the Competition Venue.

A sign was erected slightly to its left, with 'Akihide Private Co-Ed High School' written on it.

Shino Uemura was sitting at the seats allocated for his school when he saw a teenage girl in the front row. His gazing eyes were filled with love and adoration.

"Head of Department! Never in our wildest dreams would we expect Chiba-senpai to come and watch the competition, you must perform well this time!"

"Ah… I can already feel my blood boiling!"

"Those of us from Akihide will dominate District A!"

Shino Uemura took a deep breath and nodded, "Guys, don't panic. Even though Akihide High School was disqualified last year during the district qualifiers, that was simply because Meiji Fusei from Seien High School was too strong. Since Meiji has already graduated now, Seien High School has nothing on us anymore!"

Despite saying that, Shino Uemura was still nervous. It was not because of the competition but the fact that his crush was there watching, giving him butterflies in his stomach.

He had a crush on Chiba Shiori…

Many boys from Akihide High School had feelings for her. However, most of them were rejected when they confessed, so nobody dared to do it anymore.

However, he was already in his senior year. If he did not confess soon, the opportunity would slip out of his fingers forever. Thus, Shino Uemura had made up his mind. He would make sure that Akihide High School performs well in the competition, at the very least, dominate the District A during the district qualifiers.

Otherwise, he would not have the nerve to confess to Chiba Shiori. Moreover, she even came to watch the competition. Thus, he must make sure not to embarrass himself in front of her.

"Winner, Sakura Kyu Private High School!"

Resounding applause echoed from the audience when the judge's voice sounded.

Shino Uemura was not sure if he was imagining it, but he saw Chiba Shiori's expression change when the judge declared the winner. He looked at the competition venue and found out that the first group match was between No. 1, Sakura Kyu High School, and No. 2, Hosen High School.

Their teacher had collected the data of approximately 20 high schools in District A. Thus, he knew that the Kendo Associations from both of those high schools were quite weak, and their skills were mediocre. However, Sakura Kyu only needed three members to defeat their opponent, proving their capability in this competition.

Of course, Shino Uemura did not view them as a threat. Instead, his attention was all on Bunkei High School.

On the other hand, Bunkei High School dominated District B last year. Even though they were eliminated and did not make it to the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition, that was only because they faced Seien High School at the beginning. He did not expect to meet Bunkei High School in District A this year, and he was petrified at that very thought of it.

Time flew by at lightning speed, even though it was a group competition. After all, Kendo matches never took long.

At eleven o'clock in the morning.

No. 15, Akihide High School versus No. 16, Yuki Gyo High School.

"Yuki Gyo High School," Shino Uemura muttered the name under his breath. This high school had never entered any Kendo competitions before. According to his information, it seems that their Kendo Association barely had five members in the past.

He did not give it much thought. He gave Yamashita, who was the first Senpou, a reassuring look and encouraged him, "Yamashita, it's your time to shine! Good luck!" Everyone in the team also cheered him on.

Yamashita took a deep breath, nodded firmly, and replied, "I will, everyone."

The Senpou was usually the weakest in the team. They could then gauge the strength of the teams from other schools by using him.

Needless to say, some teams would place the strongest member in the Kendo Association as the Senpou to eliminate a few people first. If lady luck was on their side, one member would be sufficient to eliminate five opponents. Even if the Senpou did not take down the whole team, eliminating a few people would put immense pressure on the opponents.

Yamashita's capability in the Kendo Association was middling, being neither the best nor the worst, and his performance usually depended on his condition. On a good day, he could even hold up a fight with Shino Uemura. On a bad day, he would be at the bottom of the pile.

When Yamashita entered the arena, the first thing he saw was his opponent's family name.

Kageyama.

He repeated that again in his heart after the judge started the match. After they greeted one another, Yamashita's gaze became serious.

"I know you, Hiroshi Yamashita. I heard that you wet yourself when facing Meiji Fusei last year…"

The match had just started, and Hiroshi Yamashita was ready when he heard Kageyama Ichiro mumbling quickly to himself.

When he heard Kageyama Ichiro's taunting, he became infuriated and growled with a low voice, "What are you saying?"

He was overly nervous when he faced Meiji Fusei in the competition in the previous year. His entire body sweat profusely from anxiety, dripping everywhere onto the ground. The reporters took pictures of him, posting them online, making him the laughing stock of everyone.

He knew well that the reporters were actually taking photos of Meiji Fusei, and all the focus was on him, but the angle of those pictures was quite misleading. He took a long time to recover from that incident, but he did not expect that someone would bring it up again.

Completely bursting in rage, he roared and mercilessly slashed at his opponent with his shinai.

"Too slow. Yamashita pissed himself," Kageyama Ichiro teased as he blocked an imminent strike. Then, with a quick swoosh using both of his hands, he landed a powerful strike on Hiroshi Yamashita's forearm before he could even defend himself.

"Winner, Yuki Gyo High School, Kageyama Ichiro."

Did they lose?

Hiroshi Yamashita had only just realized what had happened. He threw a spiteful look at his opponent and said, "You bast*rd!" Kageyama was trash-talking during the competition to affect his emotions. Is he not ashamed to do this as someone who practices Kendo? It is so shameless and lowly to win a match with his words and not with his skills.

His face was flushed crimson red from anger, but he held it in. If he made a big deal out of it, Akihide High School might be banned from the competition.

When Hiroshi Yamashita left the arena, he met eyes with Shino Uemura. He held his head low and blurted with regret, "Head of Department… I lost! That bast*rd trash-talked me during the match to mess with me!"

Hiroshi Yamashita told his teammates about the incident, and everyone felt extremely angry. Even Shino Uemura could not bottle his anger, as he understood that people who practiced Kendo were also cultivating their hearts. However, that Kageyama Ichiro was simply outrageously shameless!

After Hiroshi Yamashita's incident, the members of the Kendo Association of Akihide High School made sure to control their emotions.

However, the subsequent Jihou, Chuuken, and Fukushou were all defeated by Kageyama Ichiro in the end. The audience of District A went wild in astonishment upon that sight.

This was the first time a single contestant took out four opponents. If he defeated Shino Uemura from Akihide High School as well, he would be the first student to take down five opponents.

All eyes were on Shino Uemura and Kageyama Ichiro at that moment. Their spirits were high while the teams competing later were worried sick. For every district, only one team could move on to the main arena of Tachibana Budo Gym, where there would be up to 10,000 people watching the competition.

Which student would not desire the glory to compete in front of tens of thousands of spectators?

However, the strength of Yuki Gyo High School's members made everyone's knees weak in intimidation. The Senpou was already so impressive, what about the Jihou and Chuuken after him…?

Shino Uemura put on his Kendo uniform and mask. Then, he glanced at the audience before stepping onto the competition ground. When he saw that Chiba Shiori was still not there, he was slightly disappointed. After she disappeared a while ago, she never came back.

Then, he looked at Kageyama Ichiro and threw all his thoughts aside, putting on a stern expression. This guy was incredibly powerful, defeating all four members by himself.

He simply hoped that Kageyama Ichiro was the strongest contestant of Yuki Gyo High School. If he defeats Kageyama Ichiro, he can trounce the other weaklings. Akihide High School would then be the subject of awe for tens of thousands of people!

He felt that Kageyama Ichiro was the strongest in Yuki Gyo High School. Otherwise, why would he trash-talk to affect his opponents?

As he was mulling it over, the judge declared the start of the match, and they greeted each other.

"You are the Taishou of Akihide High School? You look so unimpressive…" Kageyama Ichiro chuckled, taunting, "Besides, I can see that you keep looking at a girl in the audience. She's from your high school, right? I've asked about her, I think she's called Chiba Shiori… but how could you not know that your crush is actually very close with Kimura of Sakura Kyu? Rumors say that they've been to the love hotel to make love. Otherwise, why did Chiba Shiori leave immediately after Sakura Kyu was done with their matches?"

He knew that all these words were untrue, and Kageyama Ichiro was simply trying to provoke him.

Yet, Shino Uemura's eyes were blood-red as he could not stop himself from overthinking, especially the fact that Chiba Shiori left after Sakura Kyu High School had finished their matches…

Then, he shot a look at Kageyama Ichiro.

This shameless bast*rd!