“The winner is… the Taishou of Sakura Kyu High School, Kimura Kazuki!”

When the referee made this announcement, the silent stadium was suddenly filled with loud clapping and cheering. The entire gym was about to be overturned by the thunderous applause.

Kimura Kazuki, the undisputable champion.

The Tokyo fans nearly broke their hands from clapping. At this moment, the champion of the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition belonged to Sakura Kyu High School’s Kendo Association, and it belonged to Kimura Kazuki.

Although Iwai Hokuto and the other members were criticized for dragging down the team, they were still elated nonetheless. Naturally, they have developed a thick skin after being constantly criticized by others. Since this was a group competition, the Sakura Kyu High School Men’s Team had emerged as the champion. As such, they were also proud of such a moment.

However, the prize-giving ceremony would only be held after the winner for the Women’s Team and individual competition were determined. The prize would include the Jade Dragon Flag, medals and trophies.

Kimura Kazuki was already used to admiration from the spectators… He glanced at Mizuki Sugawara who was still depressed as he exited from the battle arena. Kimura Kasuki then looked at Harunaka, whose face was blushing from excitement in the resting area. He went over to her side and encouraged her. ” All the best!”

“I will.” Harunaka nodded her head solemnly. However, she was curious as to why her senior was still so emotionless when he had won the competition. However, upon remembering how powerful her senior was, she guessed that Kimura Kazuki would think that winning the championship was easy for him.

It would be natural for Kimura Kazuki to win the title of champion. If he did not, it would be something out of the ordinary.

Lost in her thoughts, Harunaka took a deep breath… The next round would be the competition for the Women’s Team. Even though she tried to maintain calm and composed, she was still nervous that this moment had come.

Kimura Kazuki saw Harunaka’s nervous expression, but he did not say anything, neither did he comfort her. 

He knew that every word he said would only worsen Harunaka’s nervousness. The best way for this situation was to let Harunaka manage her own emotions.

When Kimura Kazuki took off his Keikogi and Hakama, he saw Ikioi Ito walking over gleefully, with his facial expression of uncontrollable joy.

“Kimura-kun! We earned it, it’s a big one, a grand one!”

Ikioi Ito did not know whether the competition had ended in 0.5 second. This was because his capability was still at the Second Stage of Sword Power. Furthermore, he still lacked the ability to detect it. However, Kimura Kazuki had predicted his performance with this time limit, it must have something to do with Kimura Kazuki’s own confidence. Moreover, Kimura Kazuki was pretty capable and talented. As such, Ikioi Ito was ecstatic.

Truthfully, betting on the competition was an idea that Ikioi Ito thought of in a spur of the moment. He was eliminated during the preliminary rounds of the competition. Hence, he could only watch the remaining rounds, which bored him. Now that he had gotten the chance to earn some extra money, he was naturally delighted. What’s more, with a system that secretly guaranteed a winning chance, he would earn and not lose anything. Looking at the comments of disbelief from participants of the group chat made him even more ecstatic.

Obviously, except for Katsuki Sugawara, nobody would have believed that Mizuki Sugawara would be defeated. Furthermore this happened when that round had just begun.This was unbelievable! Right at this moment, everybody started to react. Kimura Kazuki’s capability was obviously above the second stage of sword sower. 

Could it be that Kimura Kazuki was already at the third stage of sword power? Or a stage higher than that? Some of the participants inhaled sharply when they were thinking of such possibilities. A seventeen-year-old teenager who mastered the third stage or fourth stage of sword power was extremely rare!

If Kimura Kazuki was checking his cell phone now, he would have seen that mutual friends of other participants had joined the bet. However, the coming competition would be Harunaka’s turn, he also had no interest in checking his cell phone. Upon seeing Ikioi Ito coming over to him, he curiously asked, “I heard… that Katsuki Sugawara had predicted that I would eliminate her brother within 0.5 second?”

“That’s right!” Ikioi Ito’s face turned sour in an instant after hearing his question. His earnings were supposed to be monumental, but it dropped significantly. Even though he still earned a lot, it would be more gratifying if he was to win a monumental amount of money. He counted the money, if he was to divide the money in half between him and Kimura Kazuki, each of them would approximately get 600,000 yen.

Kimura Kazuki’s eyes lit up and he gave a euphoric facial expression upon hearing that he would earn 600,000 yen. He was used to living in poverty, so only money could bring him some form of comfort. As for what Mizuki Sugawara had promised him during the curtsy ceremony, he would not agree to Mizuki’s deal, despite believing Mizuki Sugawara. This was because he had already made a deal with Ikioi Ito. He would be a villain if he went against the former deal.

“How is Harunaka’s abilities? Do you want to put down a bet on her?” The Furuhashi Sisters were quadruplets. Everybody who knew them would call their individual given name for the purpose of identifying the sisters. Ikioi Ito felt that even though Furuhashi Harunaka was competing against Katsuki Sugawara, Furuhashi Harunaka was coached by Kimura Kazuki… She must have some special techniques underneath her sleeves.

Upon hearing his suggestion, Kimura Kazuki pondered for a moment. “It would be hard to say…”

In order for Harunaka to win, Kimura Kazuki taught her a special technique. This technique would allow her to win with a swipe of the sword. But if Katsuki Sugawara manages to block the attack… Harunaka would undoubtedly lose in this round. The competition for the women’s team was deadly and the winner would be decided in just one round. This was different from the normal competition where an individual would just need to win two out of the standard three rounds. When they lose a round, they could still strengthen their defenses in the next round.

Hence, Harunaka would have a great possibility of winning the competition. Furthermore, Katsuki Sugawara did not know that Harunaka had a special technique hidden underneath her sleeves. Katsuki Sugawara has not even reached the first stage of sword power. In terms of strength, both of them were on equal footing.

This was why he exclaimed that Harunaka was a prodigy. Of course, the Dragon Bone Soup still played a great role in Harunaka’s current abilities.

“It’s okay, let’s not bet on this round.” Kimura Kazuki suddenly thought of something, if he were to open a bet in the chat group, Katsuki Sugawara would definitely know about it. If he predicted that Harunaka would win, Katsuki Sugawara would be more vigilant. He was not going to let Harunaka lose just because of money. Even if his prediction had a small chance of winning, he still could not do so.

“Alright then!” Ikioi Ito nodded his head disappointedly. He had to conform to Kimura Kazuki’s wishes. He had no choice because Kimura Kazuki was too powerful. He still did not know which stage of sword power Kimura Kazuki had attained. Ikioi Ito did not dare to ask, so he could only guess.

However, while Ikioi Ito did not put down any bets, Mizuki Sugawara had immediately started a bet in the group… 

“What now? Do we bet?” Ikioi Ito looked at Kimura Kazuki. Actually, he had no desire for money. Ikioi Ito had his own properties. This was proven by the fact that he could give away a room in Weier Road easily. However, Ikioi Ito had done some research on Kimura Kazuki’s background. He knew that Kimura Kazuki was focusing on his practice and was not focusing on money and other material possessions. Hence, Kimura Kazuki was poor.

Ikioi Ito wanted to help Kimura Kazuki to the best of his ability as he admired Kimura Kazuki.

Kimura Kazuki gave a sideways glance at Ikioi Ito and said softly, “In two seconds… we will start the bet when the competition is about to start.”

Ikioi Ito gestured an “OK,” but his heart was feeling a little shocked.

He knew that Katsuki Sugawara’s talents were astounding. Without any financial support from her family, she was able to focus on both her cultivation and Kendo. Her Kendo skills would place her in the top three among her contemporaries.

But what did Kimura Kazuki say just now? Furuhashi Harunaka can defeat Katsuki Sugawara in just two seconds? Wouldn’t that be extremely terrifying?

However, he had complete faith in Kimura Kazuki, so he started to have some interest in the upcoming round.

He wanted to know if Furuhashi Harunaka was as powerful as what Kimura Kazuki had described.