Ch.350End-of-Year Stamp Rally (5)

“URAAAAAAH!!”

I charged forward with my sword in hand.

Clank-! Click-!

The men in suits all formed a formation and took their stance.

“Wait… that stance… You guys! Are you planning to beat Shota to a pulp?!”

Kana was furious.

What is it? What’s that stance?

“Well. Seems it’s my time to explain.”

Gonzaemon, who seemed to know something, stepped forward. Yes, Gonzaemon would know everything.

“However, I will not explain.”

But Gonzaemon kept his mouth shut tight.

“Why not!! I’m curious!!”

I shouted at Gonzaemon.

“If I explain, I’ll look like a worthless sidekick!! Look at Dragon Ball!! No character who explains things ever amounts to anything!!”

Gonzaemon shouted.

“Look at Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Piccolo!! They reluctantly took on the role of explainers and ended up just explaining things all the time!!”

Gonzaemon gave examples.

“Piccolo is still a tier above those two!!”

As the head of the Piccolo Protection Association (unofficial), I immediately corrected Piccolo’s tier.

“They’re all bottom-tier anyway! All the same!!”

Gonzaemon shouted.

“That’s it!! It’s the same principle as how people who post a lot on social media never amount to anything!!”

Gonzaemon said.

Strangely, I understand!! Because stats on social media are inversely proportional to stats in real life!!

“Then I’ll just explain it… since I’m in the Tenshinhan/Krillin position… being bald and all.”

In the end, Thumbs-up Man offered an explanation.

“The Thousand-Year Style isn’t specialized for one-on-one combat. Originally, it was a practical swordsmanship designed for group battles. Techniques for fighting in formation are highly developed.”

Thumbs-up Man said.

“I-I see.”

That guy forming a formation seemed ominous.

“Our master told us. Beat up the man who bewitched his daughter.”

The men in suits said with a smile.

“Shota! Run away! Even for you, this is too much!”

Kana tried to intervene immediately.

“No, Kana. Don’t interfere this time. This is an opportunity.”

I raised my sword.

“This is my chance to prove my worth.”

I said with a smile.

“I’ll show my determination here.”

As it happened, I had a technique I wanted to test. I got a feel for it when fighting Jurota last time.

Whoosh-!!

I feinted like I was about to charge forward, then stepped back and turned toward Thumbs-up Man.

‘That Jurota… he reduced the friction of his sword with something slippery like lube, then immediately used a powerful drawing technique.’

I thought I’d try to imitate that. First, I took a stance with my sword sheathed, then based on the zero-friction state, I forced in one horizontal slash followed by one vertical slash.

I couldn’t achieve Jurota’s speed, but I could roughly imitate it.

The problem was that I needed something slippery to apply to the sword.

What I chose was… Thumbs-up Man’s scalp.

Slick-!

Thumbs-up Man’s scalp was oily. Not only was it naturally oily, but he had a constitution that generated a lot of heat in his head. His head was always coated with a decent amount of oil. Plus, Thumbs-up Man was sweating profusely from the dojo challenge. His forehead was practically glistening with olive-like oil.

An oily scalp that generates heat… Yes, Thumbs-up Man had all the conditions for baldness.

“Thumbs-up Man… be my whetstone for a moment!!”

I shouted as I brought my bamboo sword to his forehead.

Swiiiish-!

I soaked my bamboo sword with the oil from Thumbs-up Man’s forehead. It was definitely slippery. This would do the trick.

Click-!

I made a ring with my hand and inserted the bamboo sword into it like a scabbard.

“That stance… the Yagyu-style Cross-linked Double Strike…!”

“You think you can imitate it so casually?!”

One of the suited men narrowed the distance toward me with his sword drawn.

The friction was sufficiently reduced. Now it was time to show off my skills.

“Hmmmph…!”

After focusing my mind, I immediately enhanced my physical abilities with the Blazing Stance. It would have been best to use the technique without the Blazing Stance, but I wasn’t skilled enough yet. I had to resort to some shortcuts.

After sufficiently strengthening my arms with the Blazing Stance, I immediately drew my sword.

SHING-!!

It was important to unify the motion of drawing the sword and slashing. The sword flew straight through the air, tearing it apart.

“Heh… good imitation… but too slow!!”

The guy somehow managed to block my horizontal slash.

Right after that, Saito school disciples closed in from all directions toward my flanks.

CLANG-!!

Then, I delivered a vertical strike just as Jurota had done.

“Urgh…!!”

No matter what, delivering a two-hit combo at a fast pace was bound to break the opponent’s stance.

“Everyone!! Attack!! Don’t worry about me!!”

The disciple in front shouted loudly.

“No choice then!!”

You can’t expect to succeed on the first try. I immediately grabbed the falling guy’s leg. With the encirclement closing in, I couldn’t overcome the situation with just one sword. I had to use a weapon obtained on-site. Anything big and heavy would do. In other words, a person could be used as a weapon.

“URAAAAH!!!”

I grabbed the guy’s leg and swung him around. It was the pro wrestling technique, Giant Swing.

Thud-thud-thud-thud! WHAM-!

Thanks to spinning a grown man like a windmill, all the surrounding guys were swept away.

“GUHAK!!!”

“KHAAAK!!”

“What… such a brutal guy…!”

The sword-wielding Saito school disciples collapsed to the ground.

“HAHAHA!! Saito school group tactics?!! Can you really use them?”

I held up the suit-wearing man in front like a weapon.

“Even in a fight… you don’t want to swing your sword at your comrade, right?”

I held up the suited man.

That’s right, this guy was both my weapon and hostage!!

“What…?!”

The suited men were bewildered.

“To take a hostage… what a despicable guy…!!”

They all backed away in confusion.

“In a fight, winning is all that matters!!”

I shouted before throwing the guy with great force.

CRASH-!!

The Saito school disciples flew like bowling pins.

“Master!! I’ve cleared a path!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Great!!! Let’s go!!”

Gonzaemon shouted with excitement.

“Really… Shota goes crazy whenever he fights.”

Thumbs-up Man muttered in bewilderment.

“He’s my boyfriend, but he’s so underhanded…”

Kana muttered.

“This is what a samurai is!!”

I shouted loudly.

“That’s not a samurai!! You’re no different from a pirate!!”

Kana shouted.

“A pirate?!”

Pirates are Kirtan!!

Anyway, I grabbed a fallen guy nearby.

“Where is your master?”

I asked the suited man.

“Hehehe. That black building… the top floor. But what good will it do you to know? You won’t even make it there. The former master, Lord Tetsu… is quite looking forward to this dojo challenge. Everyone is fired up.”

The suited man said with a smile.

“I see. So it’s there…”

It was a building that looked obviously expensive.

“Our disciples are lurking throughout this entire district… You won’t have an easy time.”

The guy kindly explained before collapsing.

I roughly knew our destination. Plus, since it was the tallest building, there was no way to get lost. I could just look at the sky to know the direction.

“Alright!! Let’s go!!”

I immediately started walking. My tension was rising rapidly. We all started moving.

———–

The Saito family’s wealth was beyond imagination, and disciples were lurking in every mansion in this district.

“Sheesh… this is going to take some time.”

Gonzaemon clicked his tongue.

“Should we just sneak around? They’re just small fry anyway.”

Kana said. She seemed to think fighting or avoiding would amount to the same thing.

“No. This is an opportunity for Thumbs-up Man.”

I shook my head with a smile.

“Thumbs-up Man. See that luxury mansion? Go ring the doorbell and run away at full speed after pressing it.”

I wanted to give Thumbs-up Man the chance to enjoy some doorbell pranks.

“D-doorbell pranks…!!”

Thumbs-up Man’s eyes shone like his bald head.

Whoosh-!

Thumbs-up Man used an excellent stealth technique, crouching low as he walked toward the luxury mansion.

Ding dong-! Ding dong-! Ding dong-!

And Thumbs-up Man pressed the bell with tremendous vigor. He looked like someone born to press doorbells.

“Who is it!!! Over there!!! It’s Arigiri Shota and his group!!!”

As soon as he pressed the bell, a large number of disciples burst out from inside.

“Hahaha! Let’s run!!”

We could have just knocked them down, but I wanted to give Thumbs-up Man the joy of ringing doorbells and running away.

“Shota!!! I’m happy!! So happy!!”

Thumbs-up Man followed me with a broad smile.

“Really… why do such foolish things…”

Kana sighed as she followed me.

“Kana… I… can’t run anymore…”

Umi, who had the most ordinary physical abilities among us, grabbed Kana’s sleeve.

“Geez!! Really!! You troublemaker!!”

Kana picked up Umi with an annoyed expression. Despite always bickering with Umi, Kana was secretly taking care of her.

And so, we ran toward the building with a flock of pursuers behind us like sheep.

This is like the opening of a wacky family sitcom…

——–

Anyway, we arrived at the entrance of the building.

“Oh, Gonzaemon. You came as expected.”

At the entrance of the building, Toushin Tetsu was sipping alcohol.

“Seems you prepared quite a bit for this dojo challenge.”

Gonzaemon said indifferently. Despite running at full speed, his breathing wasn’t even slightly labored. This person also possessed superhuman abilities.

“Hmph. Well… originally I wanted to fight you until we were both bloody pulps… but this time I’ve prepared a different entertainment.”

Tetsu said as he stood up.

“It’s been a while, Arigiri Shota. Are you getting along well with my daughter?”

Tetsu looked at me and smiled.

“Ah, yes. When we’re adults, we’re planning to make babies right away.”

I hugged Kana.

“You bastard… are you mocking our lady…!!”

The surrounding guys raised their swords with angry expressions.

“Stop it. This guy is not someone you can handle.”

Tetsu waved his hand.

“I approve of you dating Kana… but my son doesn’t. Some proof is needed.”

Tetsu said.

I see. So that’s why he set up this whole situation.

“In front of my son and daughter-in-law… you’ll have to spar with me.”

Tetsu said with a smile.

“The rules are simple. One hour. If you can last against me for one hour, that’s it.”

Tetsu’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

A one-hour match… I had a strong feeling this wouldn’t be easy.