Marineford Military Academy, Swordsmanship Dojo.
Sephiroth tightly grasped the bamboo sword with his right hand. An excited look appeared on his face as he looked at Tsuruoka.
"Come on! Who's afraid of who!"
"Giggle...! Let's do it!"
The long - legged bombshell covered her lips and laughed softly. She walked towards the distance first, completely ignoring Kake beside her. The latter could only sigh gloomily.
After the two took their starting stances, Sephiroth was the first to swing his bamboo sword and launched an attack. He made a regular probe of Tsuruoka's speed and reaction, but all his attacks were easily blocked or dodged by her.
"I'm coming!"
The long - legged bombshell gave a soft laugh and reminded him.
The next moment.
Swoosh!
The bamboo sword in her hand immediately swung out a perfect arc. It attacked the silver - haired teenager from an extremely tricky angle.
If he used his bamboo sword to block, with that angle, it wouldn't be conducive to his force exertion. He couldn't fully defend.
So, he could only choose to step back while quickly adjusting his stance and swing his sword to block.
Seeing this, Tsuruoka's lips curled up slightly, and the smile on her face became more obvious.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She seized the moment when the silver - haired teenager was at a disadvantage. Then she continuously swung her bamboo sword, launching a rapid and intensive attack that made the bamboo sword leave a series of afterimages.
Sephiroth had clearly predicted her attack trajectory with his Observation Haki, but she seemed to have anticipated it. Sword after sword, she pressured him so much that he didn't have a chance to counterattack...
No! She anticipated my prediction!
Is this the Observation Haki that can foresee the future?
No, that's not right either... She's using her pure swordsmanship experience to pull me into her attack rhythm and design a series of offensive and defensive processes for me!
From the very beginning, I've fallen into her attack routine, and her ultimate goal is... to defeat me!
Thinking of this, Sephiroth's expression suddenly became a bit dazed, and his blocking action slowed down a bit.
Smack!
The bamboo sword heavily hit his forehead.
Seeing this, Tsuruoka smiled and said in a somewhat teasing tone:
"Wow! I didn't expect little brother Sephiroth to be out of the game so soon?"
Hearing this, the silver - haired teenager's face immediately darkened. He seriously suspected that she was making a racy joke, but he had no evidence!
Moreover... How dare she say he was no good?
"Alas! Well, you kept swaying around and made my eyes go all blurry."
As he spoke, Sephiroth's eyes were still fixed straight on her chest.
The long - legged bombshell followed his gaze and almost couldn't see her own toes...
"Pervert!"
Tsuruoka blushed slightly and spat softly. Annoyed in her heart, she swung the bamboo sword in her hand again and attacked the silver - haired teenager.
However...
With distractions in her heart, her sword - swings lacked careful thought.
In a fit of impatience, she actually showed a flaw during her attack. Sephiroth seized the opportunity and "smacked" her on the neck, leaving a red mark.
After receiving this blow, Tsuruoka immediately sobered up and realized her mistake just now.
"Geez! Is this the strength of a swordmaster?
You're kidding! You're kidding!"
After landing a successful strike, Sephiroth quickly seized the opportunity to taunt. This made Tsuruoka grit her teeth in anger.
"Come at me if you've got the guts!"
"Bring it on!"
After the morning's rigorous training, Tsuruoka's physical condition had severely declined, while Sephiroth remained in his peak state. As a result, the strength gap between them at this moment was not so large that skills couldn't bridge it.
After more than a month of guidance from Borgart, he had decent aptitude. As a result, he had already learned all the necessary skills.
Now, all that was lacking for him to become a true swordsmanship expert was combat experience.
Every move of Tsuruoka contained multiple variations, making it impossible for Sephiroth to fully predict her attack trajectory with [Observation Haki]. As a result, he was constantly on the defensive during the fight.
But...
He was also quickly absorbing Tsuruoka's skills and experience from her attacks and integrating them into his own swordsmanship.
"Geez! Young Master Sephiroth, are you failing again?"
"Ah! Well, there's nothing I can do. Who knew you were such an insatiable woman?"
...
Every time Tsuruoka hit Sephiroth with the bamboo sword, she would subconsciously taunt him, and he wouldn't back down either, hitting back with his own remarks.
As time passed, Tsuruoka, who had exhausted too much energy, started to slow down. Sephiroth then seized the opportunity to counterattack.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Big Sister Tsuruoka, it seems you're only good at talking and not so good physically!"
"Who asked Young Master Sephiroth's skills to be so uninteresting to me!"
On the other side, Kaji, who was sparring with Maynard, as an experienced one, the more he listened, the weirder he felt.
What's up with these two...?
Why are they saying weirder and weirder things?
Is this flirting or a sword - sparring session?
Distracted, Kaji was hit several times on the face by Maynard with the bamboo sword, adding a touch of comicality to his lecherous face.
Dinglingling...!
Hearing the bell ring for the end of class, everyone's swordsmanship class was over. The next class was unarmed combat, which would be held on the school playground.
So, everyone had to return their bamboo swords and then prepared to leave the dojo and head outside.
"Sephiroth, let's have a fair one - on - one duel!"
Kaji shouted to the silver - haired boy who was about to turn away.
Sephiroth: "(??_??)? What did you say?
Why would I want to duel with you?"
The conversation between the two instantly caught everyone's attention. Even Zephyr, who had already reached the dojo entrance, stopped and looked at them with an interested expression.
"Of course, it's because of Tsuruoka!" Kaji said with a smile.
"Ha!?"
Sephiroth looked at him blankly, not quite understanding what was going on in this guy's head.
"A man as handsome and rich as I am, there's no reason for Shion not to fall for me..."
Hearing this, Sephiroth waved his hands again and again and directly retorted:
"No no no! I think you must have a wrong understanding of what it means to be handsome."
"Right! Right!"
Several military cadets watching the show on the sidelines also nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"How is that possible?
The ladies on the Pleasure Street all said that I'm not only funny and humorous, but also handsome and rich."
"No! I think you've really got it all wrong. The only thing they really meant was that you're rich."
The silver - haired boy rubbed his forehead. He was almost losing the desire to retort to the self - confident man in front of him.
"I don't care. Beautiful women should only be with the powerful!
Let's have a fair duel. The winner can continue to pursue Shion, and the loser leaves the scene!"
"..."
Sephiroth was silent for a few seconds before he said:
"How about you go and fight that woman Shion?
If you win, lock her in the basement and mark 'win' all over her body.
If you lose, stop pursuing her."
Shion was proficient in all kinds of amorous geisha arts and was good at gauging men's minds. She almost instantly understood what Sephiroth meant.
Having been mocked by the silver - haired boy for so long, she was already full of anger!
So, with a mind of watching the fun and not caring about the consequences, the tall and elegant woman slightly narrowed her eyes, with a half - smiling expression, fanning the flames on the side:
"Oh dear! You're so heartless! You said all those things to me before."
Sephiroth: "..."
A dirty - talking woman can be too much for a man!
Zefa gently pushed the surrounding military cadets aside and came to Sephiroth and Kake. He said seriously:
"Hey! You two brats, private duels are not permitted on campus!"
"Right! Right! Then I'll leave first!"
The silver - haired boy nodded repeatedly and turned to leave.
However...
Zefa suddenly grinned, showing a row of big white teeth:
"However... the next class is unarmed combat. In order to hone your combat skills and your ability to take hits.
Therefore, in the next class, you'll be in groups of two. The fight will only end when one of you knocks out.
If both of you are still standing at the end of the class, you'll have to run two hundred laps.
If you two brats want to fight, you can be in a group in the next class."
Sephiroth: "..."