Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 150 - 144: One Arrow, Controlling the Situation

Chapter 150: Chapter 144: One Arrow, Controlling the Situation

The resonant sound of the bowstring pierced the sky, capturing the attention of all the spectators as the spinning arrow flew towards the target.

Bang...!

In the eyes of everyone, the first arrow with such a majestic aura unsurprisingly hit the target.

The scene zoomed back to the shooting position in the dojo, where Uesugi Sakura’s right hand stretched backward, and the bamboo bow in her left hand trembled and swayed with immense recoil.

After the arrow left the bowstring, the final step of shooting technique was to maintain a graceful posture of "Residual Heart."

Her handsome face and fluid, adept shooting technique.

The sound of hitting the target echoed powerfully, its tone causing hearts to clench and thrill with excitement.

It etched deeply into the minds of the audience, leaving an extremely strong impression.

"Bravo!"

They almost instinctively cheered.

Soon after, more heartfelt appreciation flooded in like a tide.

"This guy..."

Standing alongside him on the other end of the field, Shimokawa Binro retracted his shooting posture, frowning with dissatisfaction.

Earlier, his "kai" was not yet perfect when the arrow left the string too soon.

Though it hit the target, the arrow was soft and lacking the overwhelming sound of hitting the target that the opponent had.

Compared to the opponent, anyone could see the problem.

This mistake, reminiscent of early release, should not have appeared in such an important first archer position.

Earlier, during the simultaneous drawing, even if he wasn’t as good as the opponent, the gap shouldn’t have been so wide.

But during the "kai," his rhythm was disrupted by the opponent.

After the "yugamae" in the Shooting Technique Eight Steps, comes "kai."

The "yugamae" of the Ritual Shooting System and the "kai" of the Martial Archery, belonging to different systems and different schools, were perfectly merged in his hands.

Is that possible?

How many techniques must be considered and how many vastly different actions must be twisted during this process?

Amidst these vine-like chaotic thoughts, Shimokawa Binro’s drawing motion began to hesitate, releasing a soft and weak arrow.

Fortunately, Yagi Ruijin, the second position in Mizuki, quickly drew his bow, taking over his motion, skillfully pulling the disrupted rhythm back on track.

Thump, thump.

The sound of two successive powerful echoes.

Kamigoe and Mizuki, both in the second position, maintained Residual Heart while simultaneously hitting the outer area of the 28-meter target.

Cheers of "Bravo!" echoed in the venue.

The two high schools were neck and neck, with the intensity of the first two arrows instantly tightening the already heated atmosphere indoors.

Everyone, even those unfamiliar with Kyudo, understood that the two high schools in the finals possessed exquisite skills.

The middle, front, and rear positions successively drew their bows.

The Kamigoe Kyudo Club and the Mizuki Kyudo Club.

The four-foot long bamboo bows stretched and bent in succession, the pleasant sound of the bowstring reverberating in their eardrums.

From left to right, a continuous series of thumping sounds akin to fireworks launching into the sky, suddenly blooming, hitting directly in their hearts.

Arrow after arrow, so brilliant that the applause never ceased.

The boys on the dojo, never missing a shot, perfectly embodied the four words of graceful demeanor.

"The momentum has been fully established."

Taking a glance at the continuously appearing circles on the judge’s panel, Fuya Nanori marveled in his heart, gracefully lifting his bow, his drawing motions calm and steady.

Before the draw, a perfect kai already sublimally formed in his mind.

His actions seemed to follow a trajectory, steadily proceeding along a clear and correct path.

His arrow, along with Sugita Shuhei’s arrow from the opposing field, both landed in the target’s bullseye.

The beautiful sound of his bowstring, propelled the hearts of the girls in the Mizuki cheerleading team to heights, evoking a cheer akin to a scream.

Nineteen arrows to nineteen arrows, in the first round, both Mizuki’s third position and Kamigoe’s fourth position each landed an arrow.

The fierce situation left no quarter even as the arrows fell — this was the audience’s evaluation of their first round matchup.

In the resting room, Hanamaru Hanabi came in from the outside in small steps, holding several bottles of mineral water along with a few white towels.

Her short skirt swayed with the wind, a few fragrant drops of sweat trickling down her white neck.

She extended her hand, smiling with care as she said, "Great job, Sakura-kun."

Uesugi Sakura set down the bamboo bow, looking at the girl’s vibrant purple eyes that illuminated everything, he took the bottled water and smiled:

"It must be hot in the stands with such glaring sun."

"Not at all, you were incredible, Sakura-kun!" Hanamaru Hanabi responded, subsequently distributing the remaining water and towels to everyone.

"Thank you."

The warm smile let everyone appreciate the girl’s cuteness.

Ogata Asaka, whose temperament was especially refreshing in the hot summer, came over: "That last arrow of yours?"

She asked Uesugi Sakura.

"It was a spur of the moment," Uesugi Sakura replied as he unscrewed the bottle cap, taking a sip of water, "I thought Sagami High’s Hidesato style shooting posture looked quite impressive, so I tried to imitate it."

"On the spur?" Sugita Shuhei turned his head to look at him, holding a transparent bottle, "You mean you didn’t practice it?"

"No," he said, and everyone immediately looked at him in surprise.

"..."

Did I misspeak again?

For a brief moment of silence, Hanamaru Hanabi’s gaze shifted among everyone.

"Uesugi, did you perform that shooting technique without any practice?" Hirata Masanobu understood the difficulty in that, "Weren’t you afraid of missing?"

The first arrow of the front position strongly influences the team’s morale.

Mizuki had just experienced this, but they managed to correct it forcefully due to their extremely high caliber skills.

Uesugi Sakura handed the towel he used to wipe his forehead sweat to Hanamaru Hanabi, contemplating: "In my expectation, the shooting style might’ve appeared awkward, but the accuracy wouldn’t be lost."

Ogata Asaka inquired further: "Why? The connection between the sideways raising, frontal raising during drawing and kai are completely different, forcibly changing it would certainly disrupt the shooting technique."

The transition of styles over time naturally catered to the most suitable actions for each own.

The Ogasawara style taking on the Hidesato style wasn’t too fitting.

Though the posture change seemed highly intimidating at an instance.

The broad and seemingly all-embracing "kai" of the Hidesato style could also amplify this momentum.

"It was... based on feeling..." Uesugi Sakura, whose theoretical knowledge was half-baked, couldn’t explain clearly, "I think that kai looked cool, so I tried it."

"..."

Just with the word ’feeling,’ he shut down everyone’s curiosity.

On the other side.

The mood was dour among the Mizuki High School Kyudo Club members.

--- Even though they achieved a score equal to their opponents.

"Fuchigami, why did you miss? This shouldn’t have happened given our recent training," the second position, Yagi Ruijin, said to him.

Fuchigami Atsushi didn’t have his habitual pen-twirling, his square glasses briefly stagnated, losing their highlight: "The rhythm didn’t match, couldn’t complete the kai during the broad three drawing."

Shimokawa Binro, with an unhappy expression, brooded, everyone knew why the rhythm had issues.

Analyzing it further only led to attributing the cause to Uesugi Sakura’s unexpectedly powerful arrow.

His draw was interrupted, causing his sideways raise and stretching of his left and right hands to be incomplete, with the arrow leaving the string too soon.

"I will strive to fulfill my responsibility as the first position archer," he said, "If I lose even the regional competition, what would I take to participate in the national tournament?"

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