48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng’s presence alone had placed him under tremendous pressure.

Kirino Toshiaki could not remember the last time he felt this tense. Even the slightest distraction amid the ensuing fight might cost his life.

On top of that, he was also a little nonplussed that he met two of “his own kind” on the same night.

Never mind the Shinsengumi; vassals of the Bafuku, who had been chasing down and killing anti-bafuku samurai—even Kido Takayoshi nearly lost his life in the Ikedaya Incident. Sure, Okita Soji was still young, but he was the Shinsengumi’s best swordsmanhe couldn’t have spilled less blood than Kirino Toshiaki. The other person, on the other hand... The name Yuta Abe was unknown to Kirino Toshiaki.

He had never heard of this person before, and they had met for the first time tonight. This Yuta guy came to the tea house as the French merchant’s translator, and Kirino Toshiaki made a rare mistake of failing to recognize him as a threat.

But as they were leaving the tea house, Kirino Toshiaki spotted the fight in the courtyard. He could tell that the man had fought many battles and looked like he must’ve lost count of the people he killed. In fact, this Yuta Abe could very well be the most experienced soldier among the three of them.

How was it that no one knew about the existence of this man?

Nevertheless, this wasn’t the time to be getting to the bottom of such matters because Zhang Heng had just jumped off the roof.

When two skilled individuals engaged in battle, attacking the enemy from a high vantage point was a rare course of action, not unless it was an ambush-doing so may grant them an advantage of extra gravitational potential energy. As a result of not moving mid-air, the person would suffer the disadvantage of being passive.

Kirino Toshiaki waited until Zhang Heng landed on the ground before drawing out the Juzumaru on his waist.

Under the moonlight, the body of the Juzumaru let out an icy glimmer, a drastic juxtaposition to the Buddhist rosary wrapped around its hilt. Yet, they perfectly fused to achieve a remarkable balance-much akin to the cycle of life and death.

Kirino Toshiaki spoke first, and his words were neither swift nor slow. “I began training when I was fifteen, did 8,000 strikes with the bokuto every day. After ten years, my skills on the sword improved drastically, and in another five years, I obtained this sword from Master Inoue and killed forty-four enemies.

“...Koyama dojo, Yuta Abe, borrowed this sword from the Take-no-gādian Dojo,” responded Zhang Heng with a simple introduction.

Kirino Toshiaki did not comment and said nothing more, raising his sword as in response.

Kirino Toshiaki’s style originated from Jigen-ryu, a traditional school of swordsmanship unique to the Satsuma Domain emphasizing charging headlong, using momentum to defeat the enemy-a style both bold and fierce. If the Tennen Rishin-ryū was the Shinsengumi’s choice of kenjutsu, then the Jigen-ryu had to be the sword technique most favored by the venerable samurai.

Kirino Toshiaki lifted the Juzhumaru over his right shoulder and swung it at Zhang Heng. With the increasing momentum of his body, he locked onto the target. Back then, this move would overwhelm his enemy, who would turn retreat and evade, thus falling into Kirino Toshiaki’s trap.

Once the enemy took a step backward, they would find their positions becoming even more passive, and Kirino Toshiaki’s attacks would continue like a tide, one wave after another until the enemy descended into a confused frenzy. It was at this moment that death was determined.

Zhang Heng did not fall into the snare, not even backing down once against Kirino Toshiaki’s unyielding strikes. Instead, he met his enemy’s sword with his own.

“Good!” Kirino Toshiaki shouted, unsurprised, and delighted

Jigen-ryu was no jest to frighten people. In fact, Hanjiro Nakamura spent ten years training day and night to improve his strength and speed. Ordinary swordsmen would never be able to parry his blows. Unless one was an expert at determining the severity of strikes, chances were that the weapon in hand would be knocked off.

Hence, this move was no ruse, but an honest and upfront open-plan.

However, this dual swordfight turned out to be way beyond Kirino Toshiaki’s expectations. The guy he was fighting actually received his full-blown assault, and although a little strained, Zhang Heng managed to pull out his wakizashi to block the attack at the last minute.

Stopping the back of the assailing sword at the last moment as it was bouncing towards his shoulder?

Zhang Heng, too was a little surprised at himself.

His persistence in maintaining fitness and the long hours he spent training did not go to waste. With the advancement of science and research, the modern-day diet became more nutritionally balanced, and the human physique was far more robust than people of a decade ago. In this quest, Zhang Heng’s foundation was superior compared to the people of this period, and it was rare to encounter an opponent that could subdue him with strength alone.

Of course, he had not fought any battles as fierce as this one, and his physique had weakened a little. But undeniably, Kirino Toshiaki’s training for the past ten years had not been for nothing. In fact, he overpowered every opponent Zhang Heng had encountered before.

Despite the discouraging odds, Zhang Heng did not panic—the stronger the enemy, the more valuable the lesson. Most importantly, it would greatly help in improving skills. In gaming terms, fighting bosses and elite monsters meant earning more experience than fighting small, insignificant enemies. Zhang Heng had challenged so many dojos, yet, what he gained could never compare to tonight’s battle. After this, he would need to take this experience back with him and slowly digest it.

Upon realizing that he was at a strength disadvantage, Zhang Heng decided to change his approach, moving more actively while his footsteps grew more rapid. In Kirino Toshiaki’s eyes, it was not a smart move. Kirino Toshiaki could see the effect all the continuous high-intensity fighting had on Zhang Heng. Moreover, the latter had sustained multiple injuries. It would not end well for him if they were to embark on attrition warfare.

In fact, the pair dueled for a while but came to a draw. Zhang Heng took a step back and then raised his sword to his eyes, using the moonlight to size up the chips on the blade. The uchigatana he held might not be as valuable as the Tenka-Goken, but it was not too bad either. During the battle at the tea house, there were not so many chips on the blade. But after only ten strikes against Kirino Toshiaki, the chips had more than doubled. The Juzumaru in Kirino Toshiaki’s hands were just too sharp.