"Hey! What are you still doing here? Come with me!"
"What's the rush? I'm still watching this match."
"Stop talking, there's a monster over at the southwest corner! It's already the fifth round, and all of his previous opponents have been defeated in one move!"
"Huh? One move! Are you serious?!"
"Anyway, he's insanely strong! Just follow me, hurry up, or we'll never make it!"
…
Similar conversations kept happening all around the plaza.
Like iron filings being drawn to a magnet, the crowd of spectators began flocking toward the southwest corner, and before long, most of the arenas had cleared out.
In the center of this crowd, a black-haired youth leaned against the side of the wooden arena, waiting somewhat boredly, casually picking at his ear.
"Has the next opponent not arrived yet?" He glanced at the referee.
"Soon! Mr. Shano, please bear with us for a moment longer!" The referee, a young woman with a high ponytail, hurriedly answered.
As the crowd pressed in around her, she was drenched in sweat, but her smile couldn't be suppressed, clearly in a great mood.
She was so lucky! Her first time as a referee, and she got to supervise such an incredible swordsman. After seeing four of his matches up close, she was completely awestruck by his swordsmanship.
Moreover, this Mr. Shano was so young, and yet his skill was already at this level. What would he be like in the future?
"Here he is!"
Her eyes lit up as she looked toward a scarred face swordsman approaching. She stood on tiptoe, waving frantically, "Mr. Qilin, over here!"
The scarred swordsman had a cold expression, a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth, his entire presence shrouded in an aura of gloom. Without saying a word, he stepped onto the arena.
"Hey, it's Mr. Qilin, the vice director of the Falling Leaf Dojo!"
Some of the audience recognized him and exclaimed in surprise.
"It really is him!"
"He was the runner-up in the swordsmanship competition five years ago, right?"
"To think someone so famous would come back to compete! Seems like he's still holding a grudge over not winning the championship last time."
On the arena, Shano, who overheard the conversation, looked at the scarred swordsman, his gaze finally becoming slightly serious.
This guy… he's different from the previous weaklings. Just his presence alone is already intimidating.
If nothing else, he should be the most formidable opponent in the entire swordsmanship competition.
"I concede."
A hoarse voice, mixed with the smoke from the cigar, floated through the air.
"Wait, what?" The referee, wide-eyed, turned to the scarred swordsman, "Mr. Qilin, what did you say?"
The surrounding noise immediately stopped, and all eyes were fixed on Qilin.
There was a soft thud as the bamboo sword was thrown aside, Qilin puffed out another smoke ring, and waved his hand nonchalantly, "Don't look at me like that, I saw the kid's third-round match."
"Such terrifying swordsmanship, I admit I'm no match for him. At my age, it's better to save face than get knocked off the stage and humiliated."
"Is… is that so…?"
The referee tried to respond but Qilin had already walked off the arena, his cigar-holding back disappearing into the crowd.
Shano watched him go, then glanced at the bamboo sword that had fallen to his feet. He frowned slightly before bending down to pick it up.
"Well, I guess this is my trophy. I'll take it. No problem, right?"
"Huh?" The referee blinked, then nodded quickly, "Of course, it's no problem. After all, it was Mr. Qilin's choice to throw it away. You can do as you wish."
"Thanks."
Shano placed the bamboo sword alongside his own and put them both back in his belt.
The referee took a deep breath, suppressing her excitement, then stood up on the platform and loudly announced:
"Fifth round of the preliminaries: Shano vs Qilin. Final result: Shano wins!"
The audience had been whispering for a while, waiting for her to announce this. So after a brief silence, a thunderous cheer erupted, shaking the plaza.
"Shano! Shano! Shano!"
———
Bang!
In a lavish office, a middle-aged man in expensive clothing slammed his fist onto the desk, furious as he shouted:
"This is the so-called nobody? You gave him the toughest opponent in the draw, and he still wins all five rounds? This kind of strength, he must be some kind of strong ally brought in by that damn Sakurabashi kid!"
"You were the one who said 'nobody,' boss."
The tall, thin swordsman with the white fox mask spoke calmly.
"Huh? Is that so?... No! That's not the point!" The middle-aged man froze for a moment, then became even more enraged, grabbing the ashtray on his desk and throwing it at him.
"That was based on your information! You said this kid was weak, but now he's so strong, what do we do about him?!"
"And Qilin! He's always been bitter about not winning the championship that year. I thought he was here to settle the score, but it turns out he's just a complete coward! He didn't even have the guts to fight one round!"
"..." The tall, thin swordsman fell silent, his expression hidden behind the mask.
The middle-aged man's fury hadn't cooled, and he suddenly remembered something:
"By the way, how about that Sakurabashi kid? Has he finished his matches yet? How's his record?"
"Four wins and one loss. He lost to another top contender, but he has a chance to revive and should advance to the top eight soon."
The middle-aged man became even more agitated. He stood up and started pacing back and forth in the office.
"No! The championship cannot fall into Sakurabashi's hands! If the Sakurabashi Dojo's reputation rises again, we'll have to spend more time and effort dealing with it..."
"Hey, White Fox!"
He suddenly turned and fixed his gaze on the tall swordsman, his voice cold:
"Since the preliminaries aren't over yet, go participate yourself. You must secure a spot in the top eight, and right now, you're the only one with the strength to take the championship for ourselves!"
The thin swordsman frowned slightly.
"We agreed that I would stay behind the scenes, not show myself, and avoid such tasks."
"This is a matter of necessity! You're the only one who can handle those two kids—especially that Shano. I'm not so sure about Sakurabashi's kid, but the others in the top eight are still uncertain."
The middle-aged man sneered, "Besides, we're not asking you to reveal yourself. You can use your current fake identity or even change your mask—no one will recognize you."
"..." The tall swordsman hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
"Alright, I'll go."
"Go, hurry up!"
The middle-aged man waved his hand, and as the swordsman's figure disappeared, he suddenly called out:
"White Fox, you won't go back on your promise, will you? You won't betray me after all this time?"
The footsteps outside paused for a moment.
"... There's no need to ask that."
The emotionless voice drifted back in.
"Haha, just making sure you know."
The middle-aged man laughed heartily, "Don't forget! The kind of power I possess is terrifying, not something ordinary people can resist!"
———
Southeast area of the plaza.
"What's wrong, Shano?"
Pureichi, just walking off the arena with the cheers still ringing in his ears, was puzzled as Shano dragged him aside.
"It's nothing."
Shano smiled, "First of all, congratulations on making it past the revival round and advancing to the top eight. But the top eight competition won't start until one in the afternoon. We still have time, so how about we go grab something to eat?"
"Just eat?"
Pureichi scratched his head, still caught off guard as Shano forcefully dragged him by the arm toward the edge of the plaza.
After entering a quiet alley, Shano finally stopped and threw a bamboo sword into Pureichi's hands.
"This is…?"
Pureichi lifted the bamboo sword and, after a moment of inspection, noticed some small characters carved into it: "11:00 AM, Wisteria Restaurant, second floor?"
"This was given to me by my fifth-round opponent, Qilin, from Falling Leaf Dojo." Shano frowned, "Looks like he wants to talk to us privately. Do you know him?"
"Vice-director? Qilin?"
Pureichi racked his brain and thought for a long time.
Then, his eyes brightened, and he slapped his palm.
"I remember now! You mentioned the vice-director, but I didn't recognize him by that title. But I saw this name five years ago!"
"That year, when my father was still around, he was in charge of organizing that year's swordsmanship competition. He'd bring a list home for us to review, and it had the names of the swordfighters who had signed up but couldn't afford to attend. My father would personally allocate funds to support their travel and accommodation. And Qilin's name was on that list!"
"A list? You were only ten years old back then. Are you sure you're not misremembering?"
"I'm sure!" Pureichi nodded firmly, "I only saw that list twice, but this name was so unique that I couldn't forget it, so I'm certain it's the same one."
"Looks like we might have some complicated matters to deal with."
Shano pursed his lips. "Let's go check it out."