Tokyo Sword Saint Online Dealing

While he was aimlessly wandering around after school, trying to make a final effort, he found a somewhat secluded kendo dojo near Shiba Park in Hamamatsucho. In the Minato Ward, where land is extremely valuable, this kendo dojo actually has a separate, old-fashioned dojo, which is out of place with the surrounding high-rise buildings.

Uesugi Kiyoshi immediately backed out, as he generally couldn't afford the tuition fees for a kendo dojo with that kind of financial resources.

Although he was already somewhat disheartened, he still knocked on the door with the intention of trying his luck, since it wouldn't cost him anything to try.

Then, he met his mentor.

At that time, there was only one person sitting cross-legged in the huge kendo dojo; there were no disciples practicing or teachers instructing anyone.

The man sitting cross-legged has a refined appearance, a short beard, and a solemn expression. He must have been an exceptionally handsome young man in his youth, and even now that he is middle-aged, he still deserves the title of a handsome old man.

That was Uesugi Kiyoshi's mentor.

Go to Izumi Hidekawa!

Chapter 13 My Mentor

At the time, it seemed that no one expected to come to visit him. Nowadays, dojos of ancient-style kendo are not popular. The training is tiring, the threshold is high, and the skills learned are useless. Even if you learn ancient-style kendo, you may not be able to pass the kendo ranking test. That is the ranking of competitive kendo, which has nothing to do with your ancient-style kendo.

This dojo is the family business of Kamiizumi Hidekawa, a renowned swordsman in the kendo world who is not short of money. He runs this kendo dojo more for the sake of passing on the kendo style than for taking on students and making money.

Therefore, he gave Uesugi Kiyoshi, who had made a rash visit, an opportunity.

He had Uesugi Kiyoshi demonstrate the nine basic forms of Koryu Kendo.

These are: Tang Bamboo, Kasaya Slash, Reverse Kasaya, Left Pheasant, Right Pheasant, Left Cut Up, Right Cut Up, Against the Wind, Spike.

The names are all pretty cringeworthy, but it's basically just cutting rice characters, plus basic moves like straight slashes, forward thrusts, and backward thrusts.

This is not unique to Japanese Kendo; swordsmanship in every country has these movements, just with different names.

However, these basic movements are the foundation of Kendo. In different schools, the way each technique uses force is different. Some emphasize wrist strength, while others emphasize speed. Some are wide and sweeping, while others are agile. The effects they achieve are also different.

Uesugi Kiyoshi naturally wouldn't refuse such a reasonable request. Before junior high school, his father forced him to practice the "Uesugi family's traditional swordsmanship" every day, and he had developed muscle memory for swordsmanship. He wouldn't forget his basic skills just because of a short period of neglect in training.

After reviewing Uesugi Kiyoshi's sword techniques, Uesugi Hidekawa's expression changed slightly. After pondering for a while, he actually agreed to take Uesugi Kiyoshi as his apprentice, but he put forward rather harsh conditions.

He doesn't charge tuition, but he requires Uesugi Kiyoshi to work as his assistant at the dojo for three months. During these three months, he can observe Izumi Hidekawa's kendo training and learn swordsmanship on his own. After three months, he will see what level Uesugi Kiyoshi has reached before deciding whether to accept him as a disciple.

To be honest, after hearing the words "no tuition fees," Uesugi Kiyoshi was more than willing.

As for doing odd jobs for others, isn't that just what I should do?

In his previous life, when he was working part-time in college, he worked as a kitchen helper in a restaurant. He was alright; he was just doing short-term jobs to earn money.

Those apprentices who went there to learn a skill had to do odd jobs for half a year before they could even touch the cutting board, and then chop vegetables for another half a year before they could even start arranging cold dishes. Want to learn real skills in hot dishes? You'll have to slowly work your way up!

If you go to learn a skill, you have to put in effort without paying money. There are no free lunches in this world, and you can't expect anything in return without putting in the work. He firmly believed in this.

There was a reason why Kamiizumi Hidekawa had the idea of ​​taking on an apprentice.

He is the rightful successor of the Shinkage-ryu school—his surname is the best proof. In the Japanese kendo world, when the name Kamiizumi is mentioned, one cannot help but mention Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, the founder of the Shinkage-ryu school and the sword saint of the Sengoku period, Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami.

That was the swordsman who was bestowed the title of "Number One Under Heaven" by the then-general, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

Looking at the ancient Japanese kendo styles, they are mainly divided into three schools: Itto-ryu, Shinto-ryu, and Kage-ryu, with Shin-Kage-ryu being the most prominent among them.

When he was young, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna served the Uesugi family during the Sengoku period, where he taught spear techniques.

As luck would have it, Uesugi Kiyoshi's ancestors were samurai. And it's not untrue; if you traced his family tree back to the Sengoku period, he could actually be related to that famous general known as the "Dragon of Echigo."

The "Uesugi family's traditional swordsmanship" that he learned in his childhood was actually the swordsmanship insights of the sword saint Uesugi Nobutsuna when he was young, and it was similar to the later Shinkage-ryu style.

Kamiizumi Hidekawa could tell at a glance that the boy was learning the orthodox Shinkage-ryu sword technique.

There are thousands of kendo schools in Japan. For example, the sword saint Kamiizumi Nobutsuna had a disciple named Hikita Bungoro, who was his nephew. After gaining his master's approval and completing his apprenticeship, Hikita Bungoro incorporated his own understanding into the Shinkage-ryu school, creating a completely new school that was derived from Shinkage-ryu but with different details. At this point, he could establish his own school and name his new school Hikita Kage-ryu.

Similarly, the famous Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school originated in this way.

You can say that Hikita-in-ryu and Yagyu Shinkage-ryu both originated from Shinkage-ryu, but it's inaccurate to say that these three kendo styles are exactly the same.

Uesugi Kiyoshi studied the military strategy book passed down from the early days of the sword saint Uesugi Nobutsuna, which is the most orthodox Shinkage-ryu style. No wonder Uesugi Hidekawa was so eager to learn. These days, it's really not easy to find a young man with such solid basic skills who has also practiced his own school of swordsmanship.

Making Uesugi Kiyoshi do odd jobs for three months was just a test of his character and morals. As long as he wasn't too bad, Uesugi Hidekawa wouldn't mind taking him on as a disciple.

He felt that meeting Uesugi Kiyoshi, who had studied the orthodox Shinkage-ryu school, was a great destiny, an arrangement of heaven. The Japanese believe in this.

As a result, after only one week of doing odd jobs, Uesugi Kiyoshi couldn't hold back anymore—this kid just became more and more pleasing to the eye!

Uesugi Kiyoshi has a foundation and talent in kendo, which is beyond doubt. His natural talent in kendo is stronger than that of ordinary people. He also received systematic training from his father. It is no exaggeration to call him a kendo genius.

In addition, he has the cheat code of the Mirage Tower. Every move he learns can be studied and thoroughly understood in the Mirage Tower for several hours. Therefore, his learning speed is much faster than that of ordinary geniuses.

The combination of these two traits creates a hard-working genius, the kind of character that could be the protagonist in a comic book.

In addition, he was a second-generation human being with a mature personality, very respectful of his teachers, and enjoyed doing odd jobs. He also had great respect for Kamiizumi Hidekawa, and was completely free of the impetuousness and arrogance of a young man of that age. This made Kamiizumi Hidekawa have a very good impression of Uesugi Kiyoshi.

Could this be a genius disciple bestowed upon me by heaven, allowing the Shinkage-ryu style to flourish in his hands?

Immediately, Uezumi Hidekawa decided to accept Uesugi Kiyoshi as his disciple and treated him as his last disciple, carefully training him for a year.

It's no exaggeration to say that Kamiizumi Hidekawa is a top-tier swordsman in the Japanese kendo world, with an incredibly strong network of connections, bridging both the legal and illegal worlds. The Metropolitan Police Department and the Yakuza frequently invite him to be their swordsmanship instructor—in today's society, the only professions that can utilize killing techniques are the police and the Yakuza.

His teaching skills and ability to impart knowledge are naturally excellent.

Therefore, Uesugi Kiyoshi was able to master this powerful swordsmanship capable of slaying demons and gods in just one year.

Talent, hard work, good fortune, a good mentor, and a cheat system—all are indispensable.

P.S. The chapters with the slightly off-key premise might be a bit boring, but I feel bad writing them without explaining things clearly, so please bear with me.

Chapter 14 Kamiizumi Rin

As he crossed Shiba Park, Kiyoshi Uesugi stopped in his tracks.

Shiba Park is located near the dojo in Kamiizumi Hidekawa. It is one of the oldest parks in Tokyo and offers a clear view of Tokyo Tower. It is a popular place for many residents of Minato Ward to visit.

It's around 4 p.m. now—Haicheng Middle School lets out at 3:30 p.m., and the rest of the time is for club activities.

At this time of day, there were already quite a few elderly people and children playing and strolling in Zhi Park, as well as groups of high school students in their uniforms gathering in small groups.

Uesugi Kiyoshi stopped because he saw someone he knew.

On a large lawn not far away, there were many children who looked to be junior high school or elementary school students, each holding a wooden knife or bamboo sword, practicing sword techniques in a very professional manner.

Uesugi Kiyoshi could tell at a glance that they were practicing the Shinkage-ryu sword technique—although it was based on the nine basic forms of the common Koryu Kendo, the Shinkage-ryu sword technique was distinctly different from other schools, and an expert could tell at a glance.

A beautiful figure stood before the group of Boy Scouts.

She was dressed in a very formal black and white kendo uniform, wearing wooden clogs and holding a wooden sword. Like an ancient swordsmanship instructor, she led the group of kids in their movements, occasionally calling out in unison. Her moves were precise and extremely standardized.

"cold!"

Uesugi Kiyoshi raised his voice slightly and greeted them.

When the girl in the kendo uniform heard someone call her name, she twitched her ears alertly, turned around and looked around. She immediately spotted Uesugi Kiyoshi, cheered, and forgot about her group of Boy Scouts. She ran and skipped all the way to Uesugi Kiyoshi's side, revealing an innocent smile full of youthful vitality, which made her already beautiful face even more radiant.

To be honest, Uesugi Kiyoshi didn't find any charming girlishness in her. Perhaps it was because they were too familiar with each other and he understood the personality of the person in front of him. He just thought the girl in front of him was like a large husky doing something silly.

"Qing, you're here~"

"I'm hungry, do you have any food?!"

Uesugi Kiyoshi smiled helplessly, took out a few pieces of milk candy and chocolate from his pocket and handed them over—he kept these to replenish his sugar after practicing swordsmanship, so as not to run out of energy, but every time he came here, the girl in front of him would take most of them, and after a year, he had gotten used to it.

The girl in the kendo uniform is named Kamiizumi Rin. She's a beautiful girl with a face and figure that would score over 90 points. She's also Uesugi Kiyoshi's teacher and the only daughter of Kamiizumi Hidekawa. It's just that Uesugi Kiyoshi joined the school a bit late. If he had joined the Kamiizumi swordsman's school from a young age, she might have become his childhood sweetheart. The following plot would have been about them falling in love over time, and then she would marry into the Kamiizumi family, inherit the family business, and save herself decades of struggle in life.

However, after Uesugi Kiyoshi's mind matured, it was really difficult for him to have romantic feelings for the girl in front of him, even though they were already very familiar with each other.

His feelings for Kamiizumi Rin were more of a case of loving someone because of their love for them. Kamiizumi Hidekawa had taught him and enlightened him, for which he was deeply indebted. Naturally, he also took good care of his master's daughter and was extremely tolerant of her. If anyone dared to lay a hand on Kamiizumi Rin, he would be the first to rush forward with his sword. It was more like a sense of responsibility.

Although Uesugi Kiyoshi has never been in a relationship, he has clear criteria for choosing a partner.

He wants a gentle and considerate Yamato Nadeshiko-type girl who is just as excellent as him as he is as his life partner.

When I'm striving, she'll silently support me from behind; when I'm down, her embrace will be a peaceful haven where I can lick my wounds.

Hmm. It would be best if she were even prettier and had a better figure.

That’s about it.

The requirements may be a bit high, but Uesugi Kiyoshi doesn't think it's excessive—he works hard and strives to become an excellent person, so naturally he should make the most important vow in his life with someone who is equally excellent, otherwise what is the meaning of his efforts?

Rin Kamiizumi and his ideal wife might only have one thing in common: she's good-looking and has a good figure.

To put it nicely, she's naive; to put it bluntly, she's carefree. In life, only eating, playing, and practicing swordsmanship interest her. Her greatest pleasure now is teaching a group of local children swordsmanship at Shiba Park after school every day. Those children, having witnessed Izumi Rin's swordsmanship, are utterly amazed and have gained her immense popularity. They all obediently attend Izumi Rin's kendo training sessions. Every day at this time, rain or shine, the strange sight of a girl leading a group of boy scouts in swordsmanship practice appears in Shiba Park, a sight that many have become accustomed to.

This is definitely not a good wife.

Kamiizumi Rin excitedly accepted the candy and chocolate, eagerly peeled one open and popped it into her mouth, her eyes crinkling into a sweet smile as she chewed, mumbling indistinctly to Uesugi Kiyoshi.

"Ah, it's milk candy. This is my favorite brand of milk candy."

"Thank you, Qing!"

"Are you going to the dojo? My dad wants me to mop the floor, but I also want to teach Ichitaro, Nitaro, and Santaro swordsmanship. Could you help me mop the floor?"

"Dad is really something! The dojo isn't dirty, why does he have to drag it around every day? I haven't even checked their homework yet!"

Kamiizumi Rin suddenly remembered the training her father had arranged for her, and frowned in distress. But then she looked at Uesugi Kiyoshi with an expectant look, her eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.

Uesugi Kiyoshi naturally wouldn't refuse such a small favor. He readily nodded, as he had done many odd jobs before and was extremely skilled at it; mopping the floor was no big deal for him.

"Okay, you can play, but remember to be back at the dojo before six o'clock. I have to go home at six, and if Master can't see you then, watch out for your bottom!"

Having received Uesugi Kiyoshi's promise, Kazumi Rin beamed with joy and waved dismissively.

"I understand, I understand. It's so good to have Qing here."

She excitedly patted Uesugi Kiyoshi on the shoulder, expressing her joy and gratitude. Then, she cleverly snatched the remaining candy and chocolate from Uesugi Kiyoshi's hand and ran away like the wind.

Before long, the sound of the young female teacher calling out in a proper and professional manner rang out again on the lawn.

Uesugi Kiyoshi grimaced and rubbed his shoulder, looking helpless. Uesugi Rin was a freak, possessing immense strength since childhood. In terms of sheer power, even he, a transmigrator with the Mirage Tower cheat, was no match for this girl with superhuman strength. If anyone else had taken those blows, they might have been slammed to the ground.

After seeing Izumi Rin excitedly go off to attend to her own business, Uesugi Kiyoshi withdrew his gaze and slowly continued walking towards the kendo dojo.

About five minutes later, he turned out of a somewhat secluded alley and arrived at a detached, old-fashioned Japanese-style kendo dojo.

Upon entering, he found the place to be completely empty; at this hour, his master should still be meditating and practicing.

He first went to the changing room to change into his kendo uniform and tabi socks, and then went to the storage room to find a bucket and a rag. He spent about fifteen minutes skillfully mopping the kendo dojo. He was in good physical condition and had done this kind of work a lot, so he was very good at it. He mopped the floor quickly and well, making it sparkle.

Afterwards, he looked at the results of his work and nodded in satisfaction. He tidied up the clutter, held the ebony sword in one hand, and stood quietly in the center of the kendo dojo, falling into a meditative state.