As the final showdown finally arrived, the already lively spectator seats became even more crowded and bustling.

His old friend from the Little Chiba Sword Dojo, Yamanaka Keisuke, was now sitting in a corner on the west side of the spectator seats.

Being unaccustomed to such a noisy environment, he constantly cast helpless glances at the surrounding crowd.

Yamanaka had always been very interested in watching such a rare, grand-scale Swordsmanship Competition.

However, due to being occupied with personal matters yesterday, he only managed to squeeze in time today, the last day of the competition, to finally catch a glimpse of the contestants’ prowess.

Before the competition began, Yamanaka originally wanted to greet his master Chiba Dingji, Aoto, and others.

But due to underestimating the popularity of this competition, by the time he arrived at the venue, it was already slightly late, and the spectator seats were packed with people.

If he spent time looking for Aoto and the others to greet them, there might not be a single seat left in the spectator area, so Yamanaka had no choice but to abandon the idea of greeting Aoto and the others and quietly took a seat alone in a small empty corner on the west side of the spectator seats.

Due to being unable to watch the competition yesterday, Yamanaka just recently heard from the surrounding spectators about Aoto’s stunning performances yesterday.

Unknowingly, Aoto had grown to such an extent... Yamanaka blinked forcefully in surprise, as a look of admiration slowly emerged on his scholarly face.

Thinking back to a little over three months ago, when Aoto came to ask him "whether Shiwei Hall often exchanges swordsmanship with Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo", it still felt like yesterday to Yamanaka.

In less than four months, Aoto had repeatedly accomplished feats that frequently made Yamanaka feel the illusion of "Is this the Aoto I know?".

In terms of achievements, he is now hailed as the "Little Tengu of the North Guard Station."

In swordsmanship, he first led Shiwei Hall to defeat their Little Chiba Sword Dojo at the Red and White Battle of the Plum Blossom Festival, and has been shining brilliantly in the current Swordsmanship Competition.

Seeing Aoto suddenly become a different person and excel in various fields, Yamanaka, while feeling admiration, also felt a bit of...envy towards his old friend.

Although Aoto and Yamanaka were good friends, there was quite an age difference between them. Due to his fair complexion, Yamanaka looked like he was just over 20, but he was actually already 27 years old.

—So admirable... At only 18 years old, he has already achieved so much...

Yamanaka took a deep breath, then focused his mind and looked intently towards the front, where the atmosphere seemed to have raised the temperature on the tournament grounds by a few degrees.

...

...

In the spectator seats, at the Training Hall’s seating area—

Niitsuma Kan had been hanging his head down for a while, lips tightly pressed, pale-faced, and expressionless.

A junior sitting beside him thought that Niitsuma Kan was feeling nervous because the final was about to start, so he leaned towards Niitsuma Kan and quietly encouraged him:

"Mr. Niitsuma, there’s no need to be nervous, just do your best."

Niitsuma Kan ignored his junior’s encouragement, continuing to maintain a stern face, looking as if he was deeply contemplating something.

At this moment, amid the anticipation of everyone and under the gaze of the crowd, the old samurai serving as the emcee slowly stepped onto the tournament grounds.

He no longer had the lottery box with him—there was no longer a need for drawing lots for the final match.

The old emcee, as always, adhered to his style of not speaking too many formal words.

After reaching the center of the grounds, he first glanced around, then raised his hand to gesture for the audience to quiet down.

Once the noise from the spectator seats slightly subsided, the old emcee cleared his throat, and then, with a tone more enthusiastic than any before, announced:

"The final trial match—"

"Shindo Mononoke Stream, Training Hall, Niitsuma Kan!"

"Natural Reasoning Heart Stream, Shiwei Hall, Tachibana Aoto!"

Upon hearing these two names...to be precise, upon hearing Aoto’s name, the spectator seats, which had just quieted down, erupted once again.

Upon hearing his name called, Niitsuma Kan’s expression instantly froze.

As if by instinct, he reached into his bosom and touched a medicine box hidden inside.

The cold touch of the medicine box was transmitted to Niitsuma Kan’s fingertips.

Experiencing the chill at his fingertips, Niitsuma Kan’s expression, which he had barely managed to keep calm, suddenly lost control, with a complex array of emotions like worry, hesitation, and panic flooding his cheeks.

This pill given to him by Rakshasa last night, what should he do with it...he must decide now!

If he waits until he is on the field, with his helmet and armor on, there will no longer be a chance to take this pill.

While Niitsuma Kan felt that every passing second seemed as long as a year, suddenly—he heard this conversation coming from behind him:

"Finally, it’s the final match... I don’t think there’s much to see."

"Yeah, that Niitsuma Kan doesn’t look like he’s a match for Tachibana Aoto. He’ll probably be defeated by Tachibana Aoto as easily as Morioka and Tsuzaki were."