CHAPTER 361: CHAPTER 270 UESUGI VICE MASTER

Being pointed at with a wooden sword brings a feeling of... humiliation.

This sense of humiliation burst forth from the depths of the heart and mixed with defiance, gradually turned into anger.

"Fujino trainee," Uesugi Sakura’s expression remained unchanged as she extended the tip of her sword forward, causing Fujino Shozaburo, this tall man of 1.9 meters, to feel his heart tighten and then stagger back a step, the anger within him vanishing, "I wonder if you still have any fighting spirit? If you want to continue the challenge, I’m ready anytime."

What can be done? During the time Fujino Shozaburo spent swallowing, many thoughts flashed through his mind, and his hands still felt numb, with his agitated emotions still trapped in the scene where he had been overwhelmed.

Hard to calm down.

Fujino’s eyes were red, and he wanted to clench the wooden hilt of his broken wooden sword, but ultimately, feeling powerless, he reluctantly spoke out:

"I surrender."

The moment he uttered the word surrender, his tense body seemed to relax, but the sudden advance of Uesugi Sakura’s sword tip made him shiver all over again.

Uesugi Sakura said coldly, "Surrender? Anything is not resolved by just saying you surrender, where is your sincerity?"

Sincerity...?

Fujino Shozaburo looked around the dojo and found that everyone was staring at him, silent.

They all seemed to be expecting him to make a promise.

At this moment, even the air seemed to solidify, solidifying to the point of the sword tip pointing at his nose, exuding a sense of oppression.

Fujino brewed his words in his throat for a long time and finally had to muster the courage to say:

"Vice... Master—"

"Don’t misunderstand!" Uesugi Sakura looked at him intently and interrupted his words in a calm voice, "I don’t care about your dissatisfaction with me, or that you walked away last class, that’s your own business."

Fujino couldn’t comprehend, it seemed the other party didn’t want him to apologize or to give in.

If he didn’t need those... then why say those things before.

Now, he only felt embarrassed being pointed at with a sword tip and watched by everyone like this.

Uesugi Sakura said again, "I just think you’re very impolite. Sakihara Miss told me you deliberately knocked over someone else’s things in the corridor, said nothing, and just walked away. I want to ask you, where was your apology at that time?"

Besides Fujino, the circle-seated trainees did not understand what Uesugi Sakura was talking about.

But someone did come to realize, as they were present with Fujino at the time.

"Vice... Master, what do you want me to do...?" Fujino still found it quite difficult to address Uesugi as ’Vice Master’.

"What to do? Huh."

Uesugi Sakura knew that he was still a bit unconvinced of her, that after being overwhelmed in a fight, there still existed a tinge of defiance in his heart. However, faced with the situation, he didn’t want to stay here any longer, wanting to quickly compromise, and then leave.

"Do I need to teach you what to do? Even elementary school students know the five words to say."

’Five words?’

Fujino counted on his fingers for a moment, then, facing the sword tip, spoke with unease:

"I’m—"

"Wrong!"

Suddenly, Uesugi Sakura’s loud rebuke caused Fujino to retreat a step once again, one entire foot stepping out of the competition area, "You’re not to say it to me, you’re over twenty years old already, don’t you know who you should apologize to?"

"Takazawa!"

"Yes!" The trainee named Takazawa stood up immediately upon hearing the Vice Master’s call.

Uesugi Sakura eyed him and said, "You were present at the time too, I trust you understand who Fujino trainee should apologize to, take him to the courtyard to find the person and apologize!"

Upon hearing the order, Takazawa quickly stepped out from among the trainees, grabbing Fujino’s arm firmly, and under everyone’s gaze, left the dojo.

With Fujino gone, the atmosphere instantly calmed down.

Everyone remaining in the dojo, all looked towards the central Uesugi Sakura.

The oak sword in her hand had already cracked, while her opponent’s was broken in two, lying in the corner.

This type of resilient wood is the least prone to breaking, which speaks of the immense striking force.

Even now, they still felt as if their ears were ringing with echoes of ’bang bang bang’.

The trainees who had experienced the Vice Master’s sword skills knew her strength, but none could comprehend how she achieved such a degree.

It was certain that the Vice Master indeed had the ability to teach everyone a lesson.

...

Afterward, Uesugi Sakura further explained to them some nuances of the sword skills.

After sitting silently in the rest area for several hours and confirming there wasn’t much more she could assist with, she changed back into her regular clothes, preparing to leave the Bushin Hall dojo.

"Uesugi Vice Master!" On the corridor outside the dojo, Tachibana Youko called out to him.

"What’s up, is there still a problem?" Uesugi Sakura turned around.

"With the current strength the Vice Master possesses, there’s surely a chance to win the championship at the national tournament."

She meant that with his current ability, he could attempt to participate.

"Champion?"

Uesugi Sakura saw Tachibana Youko seemed to care a lot about this, "What’s the point of winning a championship?"

"To prove oneself," Tachibana Youko immediately replied.

"Winning a championship is more about vanity, isn’t it? Standing on the peak, looking down at all those defeated, hearing everyone acknowledge you as the number one in Sword Dao, bringing deep admiration to oneself."

"I don’t deny what the Vice Master is saying, vanity is something everyone has."

"Do you think I’m lacking this?"

Tachibana Youko said, "More like it’s not necessary for you."

Uesugi Sakura said, "Compared to such prestige and achievements, I prefer small joys, like drinking a glass of iced water after exercising, a sudden price drop on a frequently-bought bento at the supermarket, finding an extra few hundred yen in my wallet, or encountering a flurry of cherry blossom petals as I step out..."

Tachibana Youko suddenly smiled, "Vice Master has that kind of charm girls like."

"Is that so?"

"From my experience, no young girl can resist a guy like the Vice Master."

Uesugi Sakura thought it was largely due to his face, embodying the kind of qualities a girl’s shoujo manga male lead has, even Hanabi often gazed at him dreamily.

"Has Uesugi Vice Master ever been in love?"

Tachibana Youko said with a sisterly tone.

She was, after all, a bit older than 18-year-old Uesugi Sakura.

"Already engaged," Uesugi Sakura raised his hand, ending the topic, "So what did you need from me, Tachibana trainee?"

"I just wanted to ask, why hasn’t a person with the Vice Master’s ability attempted to participate in the national competition."

"I never said I wouldn’t participate," Uesugi Sakura said, "I’ll be taking my leave now."

Tachibana Youko watched as he walked away on the wooden boards, thinking such a skilled person shouldn’t be unheard of in the Sword Dao World.

With doubts in her heart, she headed to the dojo’s lounge, took out her phone, and searched for the name "Uesugi Sakura" online.

Results appeared swiftly.

Tachibana Youko scrolled through the tabs in her mobile browser with curiosity.

A slew of information appeared before her eyes, all bearing titles like "The Newest Generation’s Kyudo Number One," "Unparalleled Meteor," and "National Kyudo Champion."

Some even came with videos titled:

"Highlights from the 73rd All Japan Men’s Kyudo Championship, First Archer in Action."

Clicking in, it was all edited clips of the Vice Master wearing white robes and black hakama drawing his bow.

The high-rated comments below analyzed his shooting form, elaborating exhaustively, saying it was worth learning from for beginners, sparking heated discussions.

Another high-rated comment listed each opponent he faced in the video, stating he never missed a target.

Someone asked about his school of archery, some said Ogasawara Style, some said it wasn’t.

The video was quite popular, with over 5.3 million views.

Kyudo?

Tachibana Youko was even more amazed, continually scrolling through her phone, trying to find information about his participation in Sword Dao competitions among the web results.

Unfortunately, every result was about Kyudo, with no record of any Sword Dao involvement.

She stepped out of the lounge in Sword Dao gear and handed her phone to Bin Yuehui, who was maintaining a bamboo sword:

"Take a look."

Bin Yuehui put down the dismantled bamboo sword, swiftly scanned the phone, and upon grasping the key information, looked up and asked:

"Is this Uesugi Vice Master?"

"Judging by the face appearing in the video, it must be him."

Bin Yuehui continued looking at the phone, "Uesugi Vice Master is also the national Kyudo champion?"

"Based on all the information currently online, yes, it’s him."

"..."

"How is that possible?"

"I don’t know."

—————————————

Uesugi Sakura had also watched that video.

Since it got pushed to many people unrelated to Kyudo, besides praises, there were also a lot of different voices in the comment section.

"The Japanese bow is far inferior to so-and-so," "If he participated in the Olympic shooting events, he wouldn’t even rank in the top ten"...

Comments like these, full of bias and self-satisfaction.

Some people argued with them, expressing their viewpoints, only to bring more trouble upon themselves.

These people were a minority, but Uesugi Sakura disliked reading such comments, which were filled with prejudice and conceit.

As such, he rarely opened videos related to himself online.

He always suggested that Hanabi watch less news, as those things grabbed big event features and scandals to talk about at length, misleading people to think they were correct, then believe in them.

Does reading such things bring the daily happiness like having a cup of coffee?

Thinking along these lines, Uesugi Sakura walked into the courtyard, where Hanamaru Hanabi and Miss Sakihara were feeding goldfish in the pond.

Around them, dwarf pine stood robust, rocks tall and erect, the sound of flowing water mingled with the tapping of bamboo tubes, here was a scene of tranquil harmony.

One by one, the fish tails broke the water’s surface, briefly yet swiftly falling back, casting ripples in the leaf-strewn pond.

Occasionally, turtles could be seen stepping on the backs of goldfish.

"Ever thought of raising a swan here?" Uesugi Sakura asked as he walked closer.

Miss Sakihara saw him coming and smiled, "This pond is fine for goldfish and turtles, but too small for a swan."

Swans are inherently sensitive, and encountering those with a fiery temper, they could chase children across the whole courtyard.

Indeed, they were not suitable for keeping at home.

"Sakura-kun, are you done?" Hanamaru Hanabi called out.

"Yes," Uesugi Sakura nodded at her, noticing her cold had improved a lot, "The unfortunate thing is there’s no salary today, so I can’t treat you to food."

Hanamaru Hanabi knew he was joking, he was indeed well-off, "It’s okay, Hanabi can treat you."

"Hmm, did that person come?"

"Yes..." Hanamaru Hanabi said softly.

"How did he behave?"

"He apologized to Hanabi and then left."

A simple matter, Uesugi Sakura didn’t expect a guy like Fujino with such a personality to offer a sincere apology after being admonished, he just wanted Hanabi to be informed.

"Didn’t he say anything else?"

"No..." Hanamaru Hanabi shook her head, "Did Sakura-kun make him apologize to Hanabi...?"

"No, it was him himself, I just ’slightly’ reminded him."

"Mm."

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t catch his slight tone, her small hands holding the fish food, she looked sweetly at his face and said:

"Thank you, Sakura-kun."

The breeze swung gently, her strands of hair as soft as her face.

"No need to thank me."

What is happiness?

Uesugi Sakura thought, having her say ’Thank you, Sakura-kun’ with such sweetness was happiness.

The desire to protect her and the reason he got so angry just now stemmed from this tiny happiness.

His gaze shifted to the goldfish in the pond, "Let me feed them too."

"Sure." Hanamaru Hanabi handed him the packet in her hand.

He grabbed a handful of pellet food from the bag and, with a swing into the pond, a school of goldfish swam up immediately, a blazing red scene, rippling water.

Hanamaru Hanabi and Miss Sakihara stood to the side, enjoying the fleeting moments of leisure in the gentle afternoon breeze.