The Sword Deity in Tokyo-Chapter 174: The Taishou Of Sakura Kyu Versus The Taishou Of Aoe

The atmosphere in the dojo was getting even warmer as the competition was reaching its end at noon. 

The audience never forgets about the Chunibyo speech given by Ikioi Ito that morning. 

Many of them were supporting Ikioi Ito to challenge Kimura Kazuki. 

Of course, many of them disliked Ikioi Ito, and they saw him as a fool. They felt awkward from spectating the competition and were excited to see Ikioi Ito getting a lesson from Kimura Kazuki. 

Some people were not pleased with Kimura Kazuki and were keen to see Kimura Kazuki to be defeated by Ikioi Ito. Even if Kimura Kazuki was not really successful, he was already on his path to becoming an idol of many high school students. Thus, with fans came haters. 

Under the enthusiastic expectations, it was finally 3pm. 

The result of the semi-finals was out. It was unexpected that Sakura Kyu and Aoe did not get to compete with each other in the semi-final, it was like a movie plot. The two strongest teams would still have to compete against each other for the championship. 

For the semi-finals, it was arranged to be Sakura Kyu versus Moto Yo, and Aoe versus Kazuki. 

The team from Moto Yo and Kadzuki stared at each other competitively because they knew that it would be impossible for them to defeat either Sakura Kyu or Aoe. 

They had to be at least the second runner-up in the semi-finals if they want to get a ticket to the National Competition. 

This means that there would be a match between Moto Yo and Kazuki. 

The results were not surprising. Sakura Kyu defeated Moto Yo while Aoe defeated Kazuki. 

After that, Moto Yo and Kazuki started to fight for the third place, and Moto Yo took the second runner up's place in the end. Even Kimura Kazuki paid some attention to the match. 

The comprehensive strength of both schools was not that different. In comparison, both Sakura Kyu and Aoe had Taishous who were strong enough to fight for the team, which was why they managed to reach this point in the competition. To be honest, the students from the other schools envied Iwai Hokuto and the others, who totally reached this stage from being carried by the legends. 

Iwai Hokuto and the others were embarrassed at first, but they accepted their fate eventually. 

Since the strength of Moto Yo and Kadzuki were almost the same, their match was a fair one. Both of them had given their best effort to get the entry ticket for the National Competition. After the match, Moto Yo's team was as happy as a lark. They were jumping and leaping on the arena for their victory and even shedding tears of joy. On the other hand, Kadzuki's team kept their silence, their Club President was also bursting into tears for their loss... 

It would not be as heart-wrenching if they were eliminated at an early stage. It was really regretful to lose this match since they had gone through so many matches to get to this point. 

The audience did not speak but gave a big applause to all the contestants. Their applause this time was given to both Moto Yo and Kazuki. 

They hoped that Moto Yo High School would not disappoint the audience in the National Competition, and Kazuki would work harder for the competition in the future. 

Iwai and Ito, the commentators, also lamented on Kadzuki's loss in the match. Earth-quaking cheers and applause erupted from the audience when the judge announced the next match between Sakura Kyu and Aoe. 

The cheers finally ceased after a few seconds. 

"It seems like the popularity of both Sakura Kyu and Aoe are really high." 

"Exactly... Somebody already exposed Ikioi Ito's background during the break time in the afternoon. He is now named 'Childe' on the internet." 

"Ikioi Ito is good-looking. But I wish that Sakura Kyu can settle down and not get affected by the comments from the outside." Iwai saw the comments regarding Ikioi Ito on the internet when he had his lunch, and he already made a guess. However, he could only give his piece of advice without being too straightforward... He was not sure of anything, after all. 

While both the commentators continued with talking, both Sakura Kyu and Aoe's teams were already in the arena. 

Senpai versus Senpai. 

However, it was apparent that the strength of Sakura Kyu's team was a bit lower... After all, Sakura Kyu was already eliminated in the zoning match last year. Even though there were new members in society after a year, their combat strength was still not high. Those with higher abilities in Kendo would not have come to Sakura Kyu High School either. 

Most of the members of the Kendo Association in Sakura Kyu High School saw Kendo as an exercise to workout and cultivate some wisdom and virtues. 

Even though it was similar for Aoe, their ability was still higher than Sakura Kyu High School. 

Therefore, the competition between Senpou, Jihou, Chuuken, and Fukushou of the two teams was lower in standard before it was the Taishous' turn. Their performance was even weaker than the other high schools' groups, which were defeated by them. 

However, the audience did not boo. After all, they were clear of the specialty of Sakura Kyu and Aoe: both of them were strong. 

Iwai Hokuto, the Fukushou of Sakura Kyu, was soon defeated by the Chuuken of Aoe in the arena. 

Kimura Kazuki remained silent as he knew the ability of Sakura Kyu like the back of his hands. There was no disappointment as there was no expectation. 

After Iwai Hokuto got eliminated, he left the arena with his Kendo uniform. 

He heard the cheers from the audience as he walked. While listening to it carefully, the cheers were all for him. 

"Gambateh, Kazuko!" 

However, there were some strange names called out the crowd amid the cheering, which was confusing to Kimura Kazuki. 

Aoe's Chuuken was excited yet nervous at that moment. He had some unrealistic fantasies in his mind. If he could defeat Kimura Kazuki, would he replace him and be an idol? 

With that thought in mind, the referee announced the start of the match. 

The bowing ceremony was completed... 

"Men." A second later, the referee raised the red flag, announcing that Kimura Kazuki's hit had scored.

??? 

Aoe's Chuuken could not even react when he left the arena in a daze. Subsequently, the Fukushou received the same treatment. Kimura Kazuki did not really annoy them. It would have been a disgrace to the standard of his Yagyu Flying Sword Style if he did. 

According to Yagyu Kenichiro's idea, he should package his Yagyu Flying Sword Style into a sophisticated sword style so that he could spike up the registration fees in the future. 

Kimura Kazuki agreed with his point of view since he was already taking himself as a tool. Once he wins the Jade Dragon Flag National Championship, he would complete Harunaka's short-term goal and help in the recruitment of Yagyu Kendo Gym. 

When Aoe's Fukushou was eliminated, Ikioi Ito was already fully prepared for his round. He took in a deep breath. 

He was quite nervous at that moment. Kotone already helped him drum up on the internet that afternoon, and she told him that he could be the new idol for the younger generation once he wins the competition. 

Ikioi Ito had been intending to tell Mikami that the reason he wanted to become an idol was to get closer to her... However, he never talked to her about it. He planned to approach her slowly when he really becomes an idol. He thought that if he could form an idol group with Kimura Kazuki, he might be able to let Mikami take a firm stand in the entertainment industry. 

With this mindset, Ikioi Ito's unruly expression became serious... As the first runner-up in the junior category of the Asahi Kendo Competition, he had a solid sense of self-confidence. 

Although he was just the runner-up, he almost defeated Mizuki Sugawara, who was at the second stage of sword power even though he was only at the first stage at the time! 

He nearly won the competition last time despite the difference in their level. It would be impossible that he could not defeat Kimura Kazuki this time!