novelraw Chapter 17: Extraordinary Talent Means You Can Do Whatever You Want (2)
Chapter 17: Extraordinary Talent Means You Can Do Whatever You Want (2)
Okita gradually corrected Suzuki's movements, "tormenting" him for nearly ten minutes before finally nodding lightly.
It was obvious—Okita was already very accustomed to being a swordsmanship instructor.
Both his words and actions were full of momentum and quite professional.
Suzuki and the others also acted as if they were long used to Okita’s guidance; whatever Okita said, they did without daring to utter a word of disagreement.
“Hm... not bad. Your posture finally has a bit of form. Hold this stance for the duration of two incense sticks so your body can firmly memorize the movement.”
“Two incense sticks?” Suzuki’s eyes widened. “Okita-kun, isn’t that a bit too long? Didn’t we usually only hold it for one incense stick before?”
“Before was before. Your level wasn’t as high as it is now, so naturally, the requirements weren’t so strict. Don’t let your sword droop; the sword’s position is too low again!”
“Y-Yes!”
Suzuki hastily raised the sword in his palm a little higher.
“Good, keep it like that. Two incense sticks’ time will pass quickly.” After saying this, Okita turned and walked toward another apprentice.“Uehara!”
“Yes!”
“Go get your bamboo sword. Let me see if your suburi has improved.”
“Yes!”
The apprentice named Uehara quickly fetched the bamboo sword, then demonstrated the suburi in front of Okita.
“No, no, no! The correct way to practice suburi is to put in your most serious focus and use your full strength. If you swing out a thousand weak strikes, it won’t compare to one serious, full-powered strike. Again, this time use all your strength!”
“Yes!”
Uehara swung the sword.
“No power! Don’t look elsewhere! Is this the posture of suburi?”
“Yes!”
Uehara swung again.
“Still no good. Your right hand just compressed the wrist.” Okita waved the bamboo sword in his hand and lightly but firmly tapped the fleshy part of Uehara’s right forearm. “Try again!”
...
...
Scenes very similar to those when instructing Suzuki happened again with Uehara.
Okita harshly trained Uehara for nearly ten minutes before finally nodding in satisfaction.
“Hmm, it finally looks somewhat right. Remember the movement and feeling when you just swung the sword. Now start doing fifty suburi swings on the spot.”
“Fifty?” Uehara’s eyes seemed about to pop out of his sockets. “Ok-Okita-kun, fifty suburi swings... won’t my hands break?”
“Don’t worry.”
Okita, who had been stern-faced until now, smiled brightly:
“Fifty suburi swings won’t break anyone’s hands.”
After saying that, Okita immediately returned to a serious demeanor and strode toward another apprentice.
That apprentice, seeing Okita’s face getting closer, trembled uncontrollably...
...
...
Okita continued instructing Suzuki and the others one by one.
Without exception, each was harshly trained by Okita for over ten minutes, then required to complete exercises just hearing about which made their scalp tingle.
After such ruthless guidance, everyone looked as if they had swallowed a bitter pill.
Finally—after finishing the group led by Suzuki, Okita strode over to Aoto.
“Tachibana-kun, before Kondo-brother left, he specifically told me that you had only learned a bit of swordsmanship from your honorable father and never received formal swordsmanship training in a sword school. And when I just watched your match with Suzuki-kun, I also noticed that your foundation is indeed somewhat shaky.”
“So today, I won’t teach you anything else. First, I’ll teach you some of the most basic training movements in swordsmanship.”
“First—suburi.”
“Suburi is exactly the training Uehara-kun is doing right now.”
Okita nodded toward Uehara, who was frowning hard a short distance away, struggling to complete the “fifty suburi swings on the spot” exercise assigned by Okita.
“Suburi looks simple, just swinging the sword at the air in front of you. But there are many key points you must pay attention to. Otherwise, your swordsmanship won’t improve, and you might injure your wrists.”
“Let me demonstrate it for you.”
Saying this, Okita took two steps back and raised his bamboo sword.
Hearing that Okita would demonstrate in person, Aoto immediately opened his eyes wide and watched attentively.
The moment Okita settled into position, he took a deep breath and let out a loud kiai while delivering a crisp cut to the air in front of him.
Whoosh—!
The sharp sound of air being sliced made Aoto feel as if his eardrums were about to be cut.
Clean and precise, with not a trace of excess movement, full of momentum and power.
Due to his limited swordsmanship level, Aoto couldn’t gauge how high Okita’s suburi skill was, but he could tell it was many times higher than Uehara’s nearby.
The difference between the two was roughly like a child’s doodle versus the Mona Lisa.
“The sword isn’t chopped downward, but forward. When you swing the sword out, use your greatest strength. That’s how the exercise is effective...”
Okita explained the key points of suburi to Aoto one by one.
After finishing, he held the sword in his right hand and placed his left hand on his waist.
“I’m just explaining, so you probably won’t remember all of it. Tachibana-kun, try doing a suburi yourself now. I’ll help you correct your movements little by little.”
“Yes!”
Aoto took a deep breath, then imitated Okita’s movement, stepping out with his legs and raising the bamboo sword.
Just as Aoto lifted the bamboo sword, he suddenly noticed—Suzuki and the others nearby were now all watching him with a sort of schadenfreude expression.
After carefully scanning Suzuki and the others’ “watching the show” looks from the corner of his eye, a trace of helplessness appeared on Aoto’s face.
He was all too familiar with this scene.
When people are unlucky, they often look forward to seeing others suffer the same fate.
For example, when you perform terribly on a test, you secretly hope others—especially your friends—also do badly. That way, you get a strange sense of satisfaction.
In his previous life, when learning free fighting and other hand-to-hand combat outside school, after being severely beaten by the coach, Aoto also eagerly hoped the other teammates would be beaten badly too.
—So realistic...
After silently grumbling inside, Aoto withdrew his glance and concentrated.
—Swing the sword with full strength straight ahead...
In the talent list, “Sword Prodigy” glowed with golden light!
That “high-speed camera” appeared again in Aoto’s mind.
This time, the footage playing inside the camera was the scenes of Okita demonstrating suburi just now.
Aoto slowly raised his sword.
Then imitating the scenes played in the “high-speed camera,” he swung the sword down with force!
Whoosh!
The bamboo sword cut downward.
Okita, who had been carefully watching Aoto’s movements, now showed a flicker of surprise in his eyes and a slightly startled expression on his face.
Suzuki and the others, who had been secretly watching Aoto’s practice with a “watching the show” attitude, all widened their eyes in disbelief.
“...Tachibana-kun.” Okita asked cautiously, “You really only learned a bit of swordsmanship from your honorable father and never received formal swordsmanship training?”
“No.” Aoto shook his head. “That was my first time formally practicing suburi. My late father never taught me how to correctly perform suburi.”
“...Your left wrist just twisted a bit, and your right wrist compressed slightly.” After examining Aoto up and down with a shocked gaze several times, Okita stepped forward and adjusted the positions of both of Aoto’s wrists slightly. “Only like this will you avoid injuring your wrists during practice.”
“I’ll tell you a little secret to avoid twisting and compressing your wrists during suburi.”
“Imagine your two hands are wringing a towel. From raising the sword to swinging it, both hands maintain a twisting motion as if wringing a towel.”
“I don’t know if you can understand this secret. It’s hard to explain in precise language.”
“Try doing suburi again now, and remember not to twist or compress your wrists this time.”
“Okay.” Aoto nodded and reset his stance.
—Wring a towel... like this...?
Whoosh!
Aoto swung his sword at the air in front of him again.
Looking at Aoto’s second swing, an even stronger look of surprise appeared on Okita’s cheeks.
“Hm...” Okita inspected Aoto carefully and pondered.
His mouth opened and closed several times, hesitating to speak.
Finally—he let out a silent gasp.
“Not bad... that last strike was good. The movement was very standard. Keep that up.”
“Now we enter the next stage of practice—from now on, stand here and focus on practicing suburi until your arms have no strength left. I want to see what your current limit is.”
“Yes.”
After loudly agreeing, Aoto reset his stance.
At that moment—Aoto suddenly noticed Suzuki and the others were all looking at him with a strange mixture of envy and jealousy.
Because their attention was on Aoto, their own practice slowed down.
Okita noticed Suzuki and the others weren’t focusing on their practice.
“What are you all looking at!” Okita said displeased, “Focus on your training! If not, I’ll double your practice quota today!”
As soon as Okita finished speaking, Suzuki and the others quickly refocused and continued their exercises.
However, a few still secretly kept looking at Aoto with odd expressions.
Seeing this scene, Aoto couldn’t help but chuckle silently in his heart.
He could understand why Suzuki and the others looked at him like that.
The same teacher had harshly trained them for over ten minutes, while he was praised after just a few words—this “someone else’s kid” feeling was truly emotionally complex.
—Sorry about that.
Aoto silently thought.
—Having an extraordinary talent means being able to do as you please.