He was certainly arrogant when he was in his first year of junior high school. In elementary school, he was invincible in Hiroshima and was a regular at the top of the rankings at national level, so he could easily manipulate high school students from his neighborhood.

However, Myoho Gakuen attracts kendo geniuses from all over Japan. It's not just athletes with outstanding achievements, but also children who are unknown nationwide but are incredibly strong in kendo. Kunihama, who came from Gifu, is one of those unknown athletes.

The Myoho Gakuen dormitory is set up so that everyone can share a room. I shared a room with Kunihama for six years, from middle school to high school. When I saw Kunihama, who always had a smile on his face and looked like he was in a good mood, at first I just thought, "What a creepy guy."

However, when we clashed in practice, I was amazed at how quickly he reacted. If I tried to hit his men, he would immediately hit me with a dekote. If I tried to hit his kote, he would return my men. So when I tried to respond, he would take advantage of any opening I had and hit me repeatedly. It was a mystery to me why such a strong player hadn't made it to the national tournament until now.

The thing that disappointed me most after coming to Osaka was that Mr. Ogata only coached the junior high school students once a week. Another coach coached the junior high school students the other six days of the week. Mr. Ogata's main focus as a coach was always on high school.

Around summer, I could no longer contain my frustration and went directly to my teacher.

"Please teach me more."

At Myoho Gakuen, the first-person pronoun used when speaking with superiors is always "I."

"You're not the only student here."

Professor Ogata tried to push him away, but he continued to press on.

"Then let me join your high school practice."

This time he simply said, "Yeah, sure."

The next day, I eagerly and excitedly joined the high school's practice, but I was blown away by body slams, repeatedly thrust, and my bamboo sword was knocked away before I could even raise my sword. No matter how many times I stepped forward, I was unable to hit my opponent. I felt ashamed of myself for having overpowered the high school students in my neighborhood when I was in Hiroshima. The kendo club members at Myoho Gakuen High School were far stronger than average high school students.

"Come back when you're strong enough to stop being a burden."

After practice, Ogata sensei said this in a light-hearted tone.

During his time at Myoho Gakuen, his arrogance faded and his sense of self-discipline grew stronger. The biggest reason for this was when, after practice, Ogata sensei said, "The only thing strong athletes have in common is that they are hard at work." His roommate Kunihama lived a disciplined life, and he was trained harder than he had ever experienced before, which also contributed to his developing a spirit of self-discipline. However, during his time in junior high school, Ogata sensei's words had the greatest influence on him.

At the time, he believed that if he just listened to what his teacher said, he would become stronger. Kunihama said that "Sho was too opinionated," but at the time, it was his first time living in a dormitory and he had no one to rely on, so it wasn't uncommon for a word from Ogata-sensei to have an impact on his life.

By the time he was in his second year of junior high school, he was getting up at 5am every morning to run and practice his swift swing. After morning classes were over, he would be the first to enter the dojo and review basic movements such as sliding steps and stances. When practice began, he would be the first to put on his protective gear. If he wasn't early, other students in his class would take away his strong seniors.

After practice, he would swing the wooden sword 1,000 times, train or run, and then go to bed by 10 p.m. Kunihama was usually snoring by 8 p.m., so even with this lifestyle, he considered himself a late-night owl.

After a senior a year above him retired, he was appointed captain of his junior high school team. The captain is chosen by a vote of the team members, and this year everyone voted. Kunihama was appointed vice-captain.

That year, he won consecutive titles: Osaka Prefecture Team Championship, Osaka Prefecture Individual Championship, National Team Runner-up, and National Individual Third Place. Around this time, he occasionally gave interviews, and accepted all of them as instructed by Ogata Sensei. However, he always ranked second in his generation. This was because Kota Fujinami was in the same year as him.

Fujinami was always one step ahead of him. He had faced Fujinami more than ten times in elementary, middle, and high school, but only won twice. Because of his poor performance in direct matches, he was often considered to be ranked lower than Fujinami.

However, the other team was not blessed with victory. Fujinami was the national individual runner-up for two consecutive years, in his fifth and sixth years of elementary school. In his third year of junior high school, he lost in the finals and finished second again. Before long, Fujinami was given the nickname "The Uncrowned Emperor." However, even though he was uncrowned, everyone acknowledged that he was at the top of his generation. That was how incredible Fujinami's star quality was.

Fujinami is the only rider I can call my rival. I have always believed that. I cannot deny that this is merely an assumption, but precisely because I have no basis for it, this belief has taken deep root within me.

Tokyo gymnasium.

Fujinami Kota, now a third-year high school student, leaped gracefully before my eyes. His bamboo sword drew a beautiful arc and struck the opponent's face. The opponent simply stood there like a stick, wondering what had happened.

In the men's individual competition on the first day, he made it smoothly to the quarterfinals. In the third round, he faced a strong player named Kikuchi and was expected to have a tough match, but in the end he won in straight sets. He also seemed quite nervous.

Fujinami has also qualified for the quarterfinals, and I don't want him to lose before facing me in the final.

Fujinami's strikes were full of mystery. It was impossible to predict when, what kind of strike would come, or from what direction. When facing an ordinary athlete, it was possible to read to some extent the source and opportunity of the strike. However, this was not possible with Fujinami's kendo. When facing Fujinami, you had no choice but to react with your body. The saying "don't think, feel" really fits.

One night, Kunihama rented a DVD from a rental shop. I casually asked him, "What's that?" and he replied, "Enter the Dragon." The two of them watched the movie side by side. Kunihama was engrossed in the story of Bruce Lee mowing down his enemies, but what stuck with him more was the line, "Don't think, feel." It's said that top kendo players unconsciously strike their opponent's men with their kote, or take advantage of an opening to block their opponent's shinai. They don't do kendo with their heads, but rather their bodies react automatically based on their previous experiences.

After the fourth round, Fujinami was taking his men in the corner of the gym. I happened to be watching him when my eyes met his.

If this were a manga or a drama, I'm sure one of them would be smiling.

With that thought in mind, I looked at Fujinami with a serious expression. Fujinami quickly looked away, so I returned my gaze to the court.

After entering high school, the amount of practice increased even more. One reason was that I was happy to have Mr. Ogata watch my practice every day, but more than anything, I felt anxious if I wasn't practicing kendo. When I was lying on my futon in my room, thinking nothing of anything, or going out to town with my classmates, I felt like I was getting weaker and weaker. I wanted to fill all my free time with kendo-related things.

In the summer of my first year, I appealed directly to Professor Ogata.

"I'd like to practice more. Can I go to the dojo after practice on the weekends?"

At Myoho Gakuen, practice is held seven days a week. Members only have free time after practice on weekdays and on weekend afternoons.

"In that case, should we go to practice at Naniwa University?"

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Ogata sensei holds practice sessions at his alma mater, Naniwa University of Physical Education. Even after graduating, Ogata sensei still frequently visits the school, so I was immediately taken to a practice session. Since my first visit, I have been participating in Naniwa University of Physical Education practice sessions every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

On weekends, after morning practice and lunch in the dormitory, while the other club members retreat to their rooms, I would carry my protective gear and head out to Namba University, an hour's train ride away. The members of the Namba University Kendo Club welcomed me.

"I'd rather practice with Sho than go to a crappy university for training."

There were many students who said the same thing. In fact, even when playing practice matches against regular players, they don't lose easily.

I had heard that training at Naniwa University was the toughest in the Kansai region, but it was better than training at Myoho Gakuen. Rather than the physical demands, I learned a lot from the skillful attacking techniques of the university students. University students generally do fewer moves than high school students. I learned that this is not because they lack stamina, but because they place importance on attacking before striking. I learned the principles of attacking while being hit by the Naniwa University team members, and sometimes beating them down.

In the spring of my second year of high school, the captain of Naniwa University told me this.

"There are people like you at Myohō occasionally. People who ask to practice on weekend afternoons too. But you're the first one to come for more than a month."

At that time, it had been almost six months since I started attending Naniwa University.

"If they're this strong, they'll probably be able to win the Inter-High by the time they're in their third year."

A few months later, before the captain said those words, I never expected that I would win the individual Inter-High School Championships as a second-year student.