260 He Was Stunned!

Furuhashi Sakurakyu had lied to Kimura Kazuki before.

When Kimura Kazuki asked her what her obsession was, she lied because she had to take care of her four daughters. She hoped that Kimura Kazuki could take good care of her daughters, and fulfill their life goals. Of course, according to Furuhashi Sakurakyu's thoughts, she had hoped that Kimura Kazuki could take care of them for their entire lives.

This was a very selfish thought, but Furuhashi Sakurakyu turned out to not be so impertinent in the end. Of course, if she really was that impertinent, Kimura Kazuki would have let her die through euthanasia. 

As dawn approached, Kimura Kazuki remained silent when Furuhashi Sakurakyu stated the problem with a worried look. He had not expected Furuhashi Sakurakyu to lie about her obsession. He should have noticed it earlier, because Furuhashi Sakurakyu seemed to always be in a state of anxiety, and he was confused by that. 

Judging from her obsession, she should not be so worried, because he had to fulfill the short-term life goals of Akino, Fuyuno and Natsui, and there was plenty of time to do so. However, Furuhashi Sakurakyu ended up sleeping through the day, and disturbing her daughters' dreams at night. This indicated a strong sense of urgency.

"Then what exactly is your true obsession?" Kimura Kazuki asked this slowly after being silent for a while. If this had happened in the past, he would probably be angry, but after spending so much time with Furuhashi Sakurakyu, he knew that she loved her daughters very much. Moreover, he had been treating Harunaka and the others as friends after being together for so long. Hence, he could not be angry as he faced their mother.

Furuhashi Sakurakyu did not dare to look into Kimura Kazuki's eyes. She felt very apologetic at that moment, and she said with her head drooped, "My obsession is for Harunaka to be famous in the Kendo Community."

Upon hearing this, Kimura Kazuki was stupefied… In that case, has it not been fulfilled already?

"But after Harunaka won the national competition, I did not experience any changes or ascend into heaven." Furuhashi Sakurakyu seemed to be quite puzzled as well. Since Harunaka had become the champion of the women's category in the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition, the obsession should have been fulfilled already. She was very puzzled as to why it was not fulfilled. "Was there anything that went wrong?"

"Is this really your obsession?" Kimura Kazuki frowned, and looked at her suspiciously. Furuhashi Sakurakyu had lied to him before. He was a little doubtful to trust her again.

He had finally understood that the prettier the woman, the better she would be at lying.

"Yes." Noticing that Kimura Kazuki did not believe her, Furuhashi Sakurakyu began to press on. "This is really my obsession. I wouldn't have told you if it's not."

Harunaka was the Taishou of the women's category in the national competition. The fact that she had led the team to victory was something that could not be denied. Was it because he had taught her the Yagyu Flying Sword Style and Youbi Sword Drawing Skill, so the obsession remained unfulfilled? But this was not right either. After Harunaka emerged as champion, her contented smile did not seem fake to him. This meant that she was happy for real, and the Jade Dragon Flag Competition had more than twenty thousand spectators. It was covered by the news, and was also the topic of online discussion these past few days.

Harunaka was already famous enough! She had plenty of admirers in Sakura Kyu High School. It was the first time that Kimura Kazuki had encountered a problem about obsession, and he was a little clueless. In the previous era of recuperation of reiki, no one would spend effort in fulfilling the obsession of apparition to increase power. There was abundant reiki in the world, so there was no need to fulfill wishes to absorb reiki. Hence, he could only follow the steps one by one to solve the problem of obsession.

Find a spirit. Fulfill obsession. Absorb reiki. These three steps were the core of his plan. Thinking of this, he looked at Furuhashi Sakurakyu suspiciously again, and saw that she was looking at him expectantly. The two looked at each other, and were speechless.

However, he might as well ask someone else since he could not think of the answer. He could always look for Chiba Shiori whenever he had a problem. Kimura Kazuki took out his mobile phone, and sent a message to Chiba Shiori.

"I have a question." Kimura Kazuki drafted out the email, and sent the problem of Furuhashi Sakurakyu's obsession over to Chiba Shiori.

When it came to solving problems, Kimura Kazuki was well aware that Chiba Shiori would be better than him. Her way of thinking was more dynamic and adaptable, while his was rather stagnant and traditional.

At this hour, Chiba Shiori had just uploaded the draft online after she finished typing, and checked for spelling errors. Just as she was getting ready to wash up and sleep, she received Kimura Kazuki's message. After reading it, she gave it some thought, and called straight away. 

"Aunt Furuhashi's obsession was for Harunaka-san to be able to become famous in the Kendo Community, then the key of the problem should have something to do with the three words, 'the Kendo Community.'"

Kimura Kazuki nodded. "I agree too, but with her knowledge 10 years ago, Miss Furuhashi was probably not aware of the Ancient Kendo Community. Then, her obsession after death should be hoping that Harunaka can become famous in the Competitive Kendo Community."

In Japan, the Kendo Community was divided into the Competitive Kendo Community and the Ancient Kendo Community. These were two different communities. The former was the Kendo known by the majority, and it was a form of competitive Kendo, unassociated to any form of extraordinary power. On the contrary, the swordsmen of the Ancient Kendo Community were generally cultivators, and differed greatly from competitive Kendo.

Hence, from Kimura Kazuki's perspective, Furuhashi Harunaka had hoped for Harunaka to become famous in the Kendo Community, and this Kendo Community was probably referring to the Competitive Kendo Community, instead of the Ancient Kendo Community.

"That's right." Chiba Shiori smiled as she noticed that Kimura Kazuki was still unable to react. "Even if Harunaka-san was able to gain the title of champion at the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition, it is still not equivalent to becoming famous in the Competitive Kendo Community."

Kimura Kazuki did not say a word, but listened intently.

Chiba Shiori continued, "The Jade Dragon Flag is only a high school Kendo competition. Hence, even if there was an audience of 20,000 people, media coverage, and discussions online, it'll still be very unlikely for Harunaka-san to be known in the Competitive Athletic Community. Kazuki, your problem is of the survivorship bias."

In a split second, Kimura Kazuki understood. Jade Dragon Flag Competition was just a high school Kendo competition. Even if Harunaka won, she could only leave an impression on the audience as the majority of the Competitive Kendo Community's contestants would not pay attention to such a competition.

This was because they had their own competition. Furuhashi Sakurakyu's definition of being famous in the Kendo Community was clearly hoping that Harunaka could obtain recognition in the Competitive Kendo Community. This recognition was not the audience's recognition, but the recognition of the fellow Kendo contestants.

The most important thing was that the participants' rank in the Jade Dragon Flag Competition were not that high, with the highest at about fourth dan. Of course, the fourth dan here was not the fourth stage of sword power, but was acknowledged by the ranking of competitive Kendo.

If Harunaka were to want to be noticed by the experienced Kendo masters, she should at least be at the fifth dan. In the Competitive Kendo Community, the competition with the highest standard was the All Japan Kendo Championship. This tournament was held by the National Kendo Association of Japan. The participants were all over 20 years old, and would generally be above a certain rank...

What was Harunaka's rank in competitive Kendo? He had heard it before, and he faintly recalled it to be the second stage. At the thought of this, Kimura Kazuki fell silent. In order for Harunaka to become famous in the Competitive Kendo Community, she would need to join the All Japan Kendo Championship. To join the tournament, the participants should have at least the age of 20. This was a rather low requirement, because back in 1995, there was a rank requirement for the participant.

Harunaka was 16 years old now. This meant that she could only participate in four years time. As all the pieces fell into place, Kimura Kazuki was stunned.