Chapter 224: Disappointment
Miyamoto Tooru felt a numbness down his spine, then felt a terrifying aura burst from inside him, like an angered panther.
“Huh? He’s going to break through now?” Su Jin was rather surprised. Miyamoto Tooru’s talent in martial arts was really remarkable. He could actually make a breakthrough from kendo master to grandmaster at this point where his life was in grave danger.
“He’s about to make a breakthrough?” Miyamoto Takeshi had an elated look on his face. He didn’t expect his son to be able to make a breakthrough at this juncture. His son was able to go past his limits and reach a higher level because he was faced with a very powerful opponent.
If his son could finish this process, he would become the most astonishing genius in all of Japan in the past millennium. A grandmaster below 30? That was the making of a legend.
But Miyamoto Takeshi knew that this process wasn’t going to be easy. Making a breakthrough while fighting was dangerous because the enemy wouldn’t give you the chance to complete this process. Besides, Su Jin’s hand was already resting on Miyamoto Tooru’s shoulder.
“Ha!” Miyamoto Takeshi gave a low shout and raised his sword as he leaped into the arena and charged at Su Jin.
Everyone around him was shocked. The Miyamoto family was the representative of martial arts in Japan, so the most important thing wasn’t the level of martial arts within the family, but the reputation and image that the family had built over the years. By springing a surprise attack on Su Jin like this, Miyamoto Takeshi was essentially sullying the name of his own family.
And of course, Miyamoto Takeshi knew that. He knew that doing this was a great embarrassment to the family, but pride was worth nothing next to the possibility of having a grandmaster below 30 in the family. As long as Miyamoto Tooru could survive and make this breakthrough successfully, the family would only grow in glory after this.
Miyamoto Takeshi’s sword was more powerful than Miyamoto Tooru’s. As the current head of the Miyamoto family, he was almost as powerful as a grandmaster. He just didn’t expect his son to become one before he did. At the same time, Miyamoto Takeshi remained more formidable, since his son hadn’t become a grandmaster just yet.
His sword glinted and a ferocious wave of blade qi came hurtling toward Su Jin’s wrist. Miyamoto Takeshi wasn’t so shameless as to actually kill Su Jin. He just wanted Su Jin to back off so that his son would be able to safely make a breakthrough. To him, as long as his son was able to become a grandmaster, he wouldn’t have any trouble defeating Su Jin.
“That blade qi is really powerful. That’s so many levels higher than Miyamoto Tooru’s.”
“The blade qi seems as real as an actual sword. Is that man the current head of the Miyamoto family?”
“He’s a renowned Japanese martial artist, alright! Not even China might have such a formidable one, don’t you think?”
Su Jin kept one hand on Miyamoto Tooru’s arm, while he swung his other hand suddenly. There was a loud cracking sound as the boning knife in that hand gave off an even more powerful wave of blade qi, which shattered Miyamoto Takeshi’s blade qi. After doing that, his blade qi did not become any weaker. It continued moving until it crashed into a wall in the arena and made a giant hole in it.
“What in the world?!” Miyamoto Takeshi couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t believe how formidable Su Jin had turned out to be. Not even a grandmaster would have been capable of conjuring this sort of blade qi!
All the spectators gasped. They were already impressed and filled with praise for Miyamoto Tooru’s blade qi attack, and they were even more in awe of Miyamoto Takeshi’s skill. But after seeing Su Jin’s, their hearts were filled with terror and wonder.
“Springing a surprise attack while others are fighting? You’re pretty shameless huh,” said Su Jin with a scoff. He pressed harder on Miyamoto Tooru’s palm, which made Miyamoto Tooru’s expression change immediately. Su Jin had forcibly suppressed the breakthrough process and he was unable to continue.
Miyamoto Takeshi was furious, but he was worried inside for his son. He could see that his son’s progress had been paused and he wasn’t sure what to do now.
The spectators were also waiting for Miyamoto Takeshi’s response. Reputation was very important to them, after all. It was hard to justify Miyamoto Takeshi’s sneak attack during a duel like this one.
The other martial artists from the Miyamoto family exchanged glances. They didn’t have the exposure that Miyamoto Takeshi did and had no idea that Miyamoto Tooru was having a breakthrough, so they didn’t understand what Miyamoto Takeshi was trying to do either.
Miyamoto Takeshi had no choice but to get up reluctantly and boy slightly at Su Jin. “I know that doing that earlier is against the rules, but… my son is having a breakthrough right now. As a fellow martial artist, I think you should give him a chance!”
“A fight is only meaningful when both sides are at their strongest and their most perfect states. That is the pride of a martial artist. I believe you will be able to understand.
Su Jin had a strange smile on his face as he snorted. “Is that so? Your son is already about to lose, but I have to give him the chance to turn the tables on me because of this pride of a martial artist you talk about? And if I don’t give him a chance, then I’m being unreasonable? I don’t think that makes sense.”
Of course it didn’t make sense. If this was an ordinary friendly match, then it would be fine to give the opponent a chance. But this was a match to the death. A duel that only ended when one side died. Perhaps there would be some martial artists obsessed with martial arts etiquette who would give Miyamoto Tooru the chance to complete his breakthrough, but that didn’t mean it was the rule. Su Jin was not obligated to do exactly as Miyamoto Takeshi said.
Miyamoto Takeshi didn’t know what to say to that. After a few moments, he bowed solemnly to Su Jin and said, “Mr. Su, do you really have no pride of a martial artist at all? Our martial arts originated from China, so we believe in budou, or the combination of martial arts and ethics. Japan continues to respect this concept, but… I’m not so sure about China?”
These words were trying to push Su Jin into a corner. If Su Jin did not give Miyamoto Tooru the chance to make a breakthrough, that would mean that he wasn’t behaving like an ethical martial artist. Worse still, his behavior was representative of his country, so it would mean that all Chinese martial arts no longer held these values.
Miyamoto Takeshi was using Su Jin’s identity as a Chinese to force him to carry this responsibility on his shoulders. If he were elsewhere, the effect might not have been so great. But Miyamoto Takeshi was on home ground and the spectators were all fellow Japanese. None of them wanted to watch a foreigner kill a genius of their own.
Especially after the crowd found out that Miyamoto Tooru was actually making a breakthrough, and they realized that the doomed duel might actually have a chance of making a comeback, all of them started yelling loudly at Su Jin and called him an unethical fellow.
The smile on Su Jin’s face did not disappear throughout this entire conversation. He looked mockingly at the spectators even as they berated him. This sort of smile made Miyamoto Takeshi feel especially uneasy. While his words might result in Su Jin letting his son off, they might also agitate Su Jin and make him kill his son too.
Su jin looked at Kano Mai, who was seated right in front. She had never been worried about Su Jin at all. She had grown up in this country and knew what her fellow countrymen were capable of. Even if the entire Miyamoto family came together to fight Su Jin, he would still win the fight.
“Alright then. Since you’ve put it that way, then I’m sure you’re all going to be indignant if I don’t give him the chance to make a breakthrough and defeat him right now,” said Su Jin as he pointed at the spectators. He knew that some of them had placed bets on this duel, but very few thought that he would win.
Miyamoto Takeshi’s heart leaped for joy. As long as his son was able to become a grandmaster, killing Su Jin was going to be as easy as killing an ant. He couldn’t believe this stupid young man was really going to do something that would end up killing him just because he had said a few grand words. How adorable, thought Miyamoto Takeshi.
Su Jin let go of Miyamoto Tooru and Miyamoto Tooru realized that the thing blocking his breakthrough was gone. His energies began to increase rapidly and a layer of white mist rose from his head in no time.
Ten odd minutes later, there was a quiet popping sound. All the martial artists of the Miyamoto family became extremely excited, because that was a sign that Miyamoto Tooru had made a breakthrough.
And just as they had expected, Miyamoto Tooru’s gaze was different after he opened his eyes again. If his gaze earlier was as sharp as samurai swords, then now, his gaze was like lake water. One could not tell how deep it was and it was freezing cold.
“Thank you for giving me this chance. In order to thank you, I’ll let you become the first person to die at a grandmaster’s hands!” said Miyamoto Tooru with a mighty shout. His voice was thunderous. If an ordinary person stood before him, he would have fallen to the ground and become paralyzed from fear, never mind fight.
“Why are Japanese people always like this?” Su Jin sighed and shook his head. But then again, Miyamoto Tooru was the one who wanted to fight to the death in the first place, so it wasn’t surprising that he had to kill Su Jin. At the same time, Su Jin had given Miyamoto Tooru the chance to make a breakthrough only because he was curious to see the difference between a master and a grandmaster.
Miyamoto Tooru moved his wrist and shot several beams of blade qi out. This speed was much faster than before he had become a grandmaster and actually couldn’t be compared to his capabilities from before. Each beam was very real and was as powerful as the one that Miyamoto Takeshi had sent toward Su Jin earlier.
“The genius of the Miyamoto family! HAHA! This young man is the genius of my family! My son shall slay a Chinese martial artist and he has become a grandmaster! It’s time for a celebration!” said Miyamoto Takeshi merrily.
“Of course, of course. Let me congratulate you on Miyamoto Tooru’s successful journey to becoming a grandmaster!”
“Congratulations! The Miyamoto family has a new grandmaster who will bring glory to our nation in the future!”
Many of the spectators came forward to congratulate Miyamoto Takeshi because they were certain that Miyamoto Tooru was going to win. The young man had become a kendo grandmaster, after all, and was at the pinnacle of martial arts. Every grandmaster, no matter which part of the world they were from, was considered to be a highly esteemed figure. The reason why the Miyamoto family had been able to maintain their current position and have control over the other martial arts families was that they had one grandmaster in the family. And now, the Miyamoto family had a new grandmaster. Moreover, this grandmaster wasn’t even 30 years old yet!
“That’s all? I’m a little disappointed.” Just then, Su Jin shook his head with a displeased look on his face. He touched Miyamoto Tooru with one finger and Miyamoto Tooru’s entire body shook. He had a look of disbelief in his eyes as he opened his mouth and spewed a large mouthful of blood. Some pieces that looked like they belonged to his heart covered the floor before he collapsed with a loud thud.
“What just happened?!” Miyamoto Takeshi looked like someone was strangling him as his eyes bulged out in shock. His son had just become a grandmaster and everyone was certain that he would definitely win this match and become the most highly respected figure in the country. Yet, at this very moment of glory, he lost his life in a duel.
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