Anime Crossover : Living in the Heart of Tokyo-Chapter 592 — You Really Do Want to Kill Me, Don’t You!?

Chiba Kenichi tightened his grip on the bamboo sword, quietly reviewing the strategy he'd come up with during the break.

Hojou Kyousuke is just a high school student.

His speed and strength are at least equal to, if not greater than, mine.

As for his kendo skill... well, the first match ended so fast I couldn't even assess it properly.

But at minimum, it's on par with mine—maybe around seventh dan.

How do you defeat someone who surpasses you in every single aspect—speed, strength, and technique?

Find an opening... and land a single, decisive strike.

Chiba Kenichi had to admit, Hojou was insanely strong.

His natural talent completely defied the laws of time and experience—a kind of brilliance that could make anyone despair.

But—!

Seiko, and others close behind.

From their angle, all they'd seen was:

Chiba Kenichi taking a perfect seigan stance, one foot forward, sword poised, and then lunging with lightning speed toward Hojou Kyousuke—while Hojou just stood there, frozen.

Then, right when Chiba's bamboo sword was about to hit, he suddenly… slid on his knees?

And not just that—he followed it up with a dogeza?

Sure, it looked smooth and graceful, but—this was a kendo match!

What the hell was he doing!?

"Wha—what the hell!? Hojou-kun, did you just… smash a hole in the floor with your bamboo sword!?" The chief's voice cracked in disbelief as he pointed at the dented boards.

The flooring's elasticity had already made the crater shallower, but the damage was clear.

Before Chiba could even explain, Makki Hojou burst out laughing from the sidelines.

"Hahaha! Come on, Hojou—it's just a friendly match! Were you trying to give the poor guy a heart attack!?"

Oh great.

So everyone already knew Hojou-san could've killed me in one swing!?

Hearing the laughter, Chiba collapsed back to the floor, trembling.

"I'm sorry, Hojou-san… for not being strong enough to make you go all out."

A single tear slid down his cheek.

What shame.

If only he'd just died honorably from that strike… maybe then he wouldn't have to live with this humiliation.

Hojou leaned down, gently lifting the trembling man to his feet.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Chiba-san. Please, raise your head." Then he added softly, "I'm used to this kind of thing."

"…"

Chiba lowered his gaze again, too afraid to look his superior in the eyes.

After a moment of silence, he asked quietly, "Hojou-kun… what rank are you in kendo?"

"Third dan." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

It was the truth.

According to the All Japan Kendo Federation, you had to be at least thirteen to apply for shodan (first dan).

Then train a year before being eligible for nidan, two more years for sandan, and so on.

So naturally, Hojou had only reached third dan so far.

It was a fair but rigid system—one that kept students grounded but also slowed down true prodigies.

That's why most eighth-dan masters were old men.

"Impossible. Your skill's way beyond third dan—sixth, maybe even seventh," Chiba said seriously.

"Haha, but I only got my third dan less than half a year ago. Even if I wanted to test again, I can't yet," Hojou replied casually.

"True, the federation has those limits… but they also allow special applications for exceptional talent!" Chiba insisted.

"That would just trouble everyone."

"For someone like you, Hojou-kun, it's the federation that's being a burden—not you!"

Chiba declared with conviction.

If Hojou could officially rank as an eight- or ninth-dan master early, then losing to him wouldn't be shameful—it would be an honor.

Losing to a high school kid was humiliating.

Losing to the youngest kendo prodigy in history?

That was a good story.