Chapter 245: Chapter 110: On That Night When Aoto Encountered the Strange Black-clothed People

"Don’t worry, nothing will happen." Hijikata stretched lazily and then said lightly, "I’ve learned my lesson from last time, I know what I’m doing."

Letting Aoto and Saito, two people he only met today, witness him juggling multiple relationships—Hijikata seemed neither ashamed nor embarrassed about it.

It was as if he was... used to it. After stretching lazily, he smiled at Aoto:

"Tachibana, how about it? Have you rested enough? Ready to spar with me properly?"

No matter how many ambiguous relationships Hijikata had with women, it was his personal business, and Aoto had no right to interfere.

Moreover, he wasn’t close to Hijikata yet, having met him only this morning, so Aoto had even less reason to meddle in his private affairs.

The only thing Aoto could do for Hijikata, who cast a wide net, was to wish him well...

After watching a spectacular "drama," Aoto felt that his stomach wasn’t as full anymore.

Patting his now less bloated belly, Aoto nodded towards Hijikata.

"Ah, before going to the dojo..." Hijikata reached into his chest, "let’s take these flowers out for the time being..."

Hijikata pulled out a large bunch of peach blossoms from his chest, counting at least twenty...

...

...

Hijikata and Aoto arrived at the Shiwei Hall dojo one after another.

With nothing else to do, Chokata also followed along, wanting to be a spectator to pass the time.

After a simple warm-up, Hijikata took a stance facing Aoto.

"Come on!" Hijikata grinned and gestured to Aoto.

Also having finished warming up, Aoto exhaled deeply and then punched towards Hijikata’s chest, initiating the attack first.

Hijikata pushed away Aoto’s punch with both palms, simultaneously countering Aoto with a strike.

During dinner, Hijikata had asked Aoto if he could "use that move he used to defeat him this morning" once more.

Since Hijikata requested it, Aoto didn’t refuse.

After dodging another right hook from Hijikata, Aoto seized the opportunity to grab Hijikata’s right arm and used the grappling technique he had used that morning, twisting Hijikata’s right arm behind him, rendering Hijikata unable to retaliate.

"So that’s how it is..." Hijikata turned his head, looking at his right arm twisted behind him, muttering in a volume only he could hear, "It needs to be twisted from this direction, at this angle..."

After murmuring, Hijikata asked Aoto to release him and spar again.

"Do you want me to use that move again?" Aoto asked.

"No need." Hijikata grinned, "From now on, just fight freely."

Aoto nodded.

The two entangled again, exchanging punches and kicks.

—Does he want to learn my move?

During dinner, Hijikata suddenly asked Aoto how he performed the move he used to subdue him this morning and requested to spar after dinner to experience the move again... The only reason Aoto could think of for Hijikata to do this was to learn the technique of his move.

Suddenly, as Aoto was pondering this, an unexpected move left Aoto momentarily stunned with surprise.

The punch he threw towards Hijikata was dodged by Hijikata as he sidestepped.

As Aoto was about to retract his punch, Hijikata’s arms, like two agile snakes, wrapped around Aoto’s right arm, twisting it behind him.

Although the technique was still quite rough... this was undoubtedly the move Aoto used to subdue Hijikata this morning!

Facial expression changing slightly in surprise, Aoto quickly used a releasing technique to break free from Hijikata’s grasp, counteracting his still-rough grappling move, retreating backward.

"Ah..." Hijikata lowered his head, looking at his hands gripping firmly, "This move is much harder than I imagined..."

"...Impressive." Aoto glanced at his right arm, which nearly got twisted behind him, genuinely praising Hijikata, "After listening to my explanation once and experiencing the move twice, you managed to replicate it to such an extent..."

"Hahaha." Hijikata chuckled, "I’m fairly smart and learn quickly—it’s one of my few strengths."

Looking at the modest Hijikata, Aoto smiled wryly.

In this world, probably only Aoto knew why Hijikata possessed such frightening learning ability—because he had a divine-level talent named ’Ghost Heart.’

Through the spar with Hijikata just now, Aoto realized the talent effect of ’Ghost Heart’ was much stronger than he imagined.

His grappling move, while not overly sophisticated, wasn’t easy to learn either.

And Hijikata managed to replicate it with decent form in such a short time...

While marveling at the strength of ’Ghost Heart,’ Aoto couldn’t help but feel excited and expectant—now, he possessed the same talent as Hijikata.

Aoto couldn’t help but imagine: Can this ’Ghost Heart’ work in tandem with the effect of ’Sword Genius’?

If these two talents can stack their effects... then Aoto’s speed in training swordsmanship could be further enhanced!

Thinking about this made Aoto couldn’t help but feel elated.

"Tachibana, shall we go another round?" At this moment, Hijikata, with a shrug of his shoulders and taking a stance again, interrupted Aoto’s thoughts, "If I don’t thoroughly understand this move that defeated me today... I might not be able to sleep tonight."