At this moment, Old Man Koken below the stage appeared calm and unruffled, as if not disappointed by his granddaughter's earlier elimination.
Tomei, sitting beside him, looked at Yusei on stage and suddenly said to Koken,
"No wonder you aren't disappointed about your granddaughter being eliminated, and Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu losing to Tennen Rishin-ryu. So you had a backup plan all along."
Hearing this, Koken showed a light, faint smile, "I don't have any so-called backup plan. However... I've never worried about Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu lacking a successor."
Upon hearing Koken's words, Tomei sneered and curled his lip.
'Keep pretending, just keep pretending. Without a promising seedling, let's see if you, old undying fossil, really won't worry about Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu having no successor!'
But even as he thought this, Tomei was actually envious of Koken.
Regarding the earlier ultimate technique clash between Yusei and his own granddaughter:
Ordinary people saw it as blades clashing. Kendo experts saw it as their ultimate techniques canceling each other out, evenly matched. But the truly top-tier swordsmen could see that Yusei had completely overwhelmed Soji.
The reason lay in the foundations of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu and Tennen Rishin-ryu.
The two swordsmanship schools had a long history. Since some unknown time, they had always been rivals. The disciples of both schools always wanted to best the other, and there was actually a reason for this.
It wasn't hard to see from their techniques that the two schools' moves were somewhat similar, and even their ultimate techniques were alike.
Thus, a problem arose: the sword techniques of both schools relied on one ability - Speed, specifically Shinsoku!
Whether it was Kuzuryusen or Mumyo Sandan-zuki, they were ultimate techniques that could only be mastered after reaching a certain level of proficiency in Shinsoku.
And just now, when Yusei used Kuzuryusen, his complete sequence of actions was as follows:
First, he used Shinsoku to move from below the stage to the center, snatched Kaguya's sword, kicked her away, and finally used Kuzuryusen.
This entire sequence had to be completed before Soji's Mumyo Sandan-zuki could strike Kaguya.
The two of them were fighting face-to-face, and how much time does the Mumyo Sandan-zuki, famous for its speed and being undodgeable, need? One second?
Probably just the startup motion takes about a second, right? But if it truly took a full second, Kaguya's body would have already been pierced by Soji's sword.
So the actual time Yusei took to complete all these actions was less than a second.
This required not just Shinsoku, but also perfect control over his body, impeccable timing, and ample combat experience.
How old was he? A youth of high school age...
This was what Tomei felt envious and jealous about. He knew Yusei was still so young, with so much room for growth!
Even if he and Koken were to perform those actions, they could at most achieve the same level.
A swordsmanship prodigy, a once-in-a-millennium talent… that was Tomei's sole impression of Yusei!
…
On stage, the duel had already begun. Yusei wasn't in a hurry to attack. Instead, he was observing his opponent with his Sharingan.
For some reason, he felt that Soji's state seemed somewhat off.
When she was fighting Kaguya, her expression had always been placid. It wasn't that everything was under control, like dominating a weak opponent, but that calmness was indeed present.
But now, Yusei felt that her heart was becoming unsettled, somewhat restless, as if... she desired blood?
That's right. The feeling Soji gave Yusei now was that she wanted to kill, desperately wanting to slash her sword across his neck.
Just as Yusei was thinking this, Soji opposite him suddenly vanished from her spot. Her long sword, without any apparent reason, swept out a massive wave of flying slash.
Rengoku Ken!
The flying slash was dark crimson, like a bloody crescent moon. This was the first time Yusei had seen flying slash in the real world, aside from himself and Koken.
He didn't choose to dodge. Instead, he swept his own long sword, sending a similar wave of flying slash to meet it.
Doryusen!
The elegant, moonlight-like flying slash clashed with Soji's. Without waiting for the result of this collision, Yusei immediately stepped forward, his entire body rapidly displacing to appear in front of Soji.
Ryumeisen + Soryusen. This was a combinable technique within Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu. Yusei didn't know if others used it, but he did. He named this combined move [Ryumei Raisen]. (T/N: Dragon Thunder Flash.)
During the Iaido strike, the sonic boom generated by the blade and scabbard causes temporary tinnitus and dizziness in the opponent.
By the time the blade is fully drawn, its edge has already reached the opponent's throat.
It could be said that in a one-on-one situation, aside from ultimate techniques like Kuzuryusen and Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, this was the best move for a guaranteed instant kill!