Now that it was decided—they were going to Japan, and what’s more, setting off the very next day—time was of the essence. When it came to Liu Yunduo’s situation, the sooner they got there, the better. If they delayed too long, who knew what might happen to her.
So Jiang Fei naturally had to make proper arrangements for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. After all, his teaching course wasn’t finished yet—there were still about ten or so extra days left. He needed to have Cui Xiuping inform all the doctors who had come for the advanced training to wait a while, and that he’d continue after he returned from Japan.
Anyway, he figured this trip to Japan wouldn’t take too long—a week at most. In the meantime, these distinguished doctors could use the time to review and solidify everything Jiang Fei had taught them over the past month.
If it were anyone else asking these renowned doctors to put their work on hold for a whole week just to wait for one person, they definitely wouldn’t agree. But since it was Jiang Fei, not a single one of them objected—not even a word of complaint. They all said that if Jiang Fei had urgent matters to attend to, he should go ahead—and not just for a week, but for a month, even a year, they’d be happy to wait!
The reason wasn’t just because Jiang Fei was the president of the TCM Association and therefore their superior, but more importantly, because of everything he had taught them during this time!
Jiang Fei’s medical skills had absolutely astounded them. Being chosen to inherit his knowledge was a lifetime’s blessing—if they missed out, they’d never get another chance. These doctors were nothing short of deeply grateful to Jiang Fei. A small week of waiting was nothing to them.
With everything taken care of, Jiang Fei and Su Mengnan—that Beijing young master—boarded a plane the next day and flew east across the sea to Japan.
“According to the intel I’ve gathered, the first place our alliance leader went was to the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu of the Ruri-Oka family, which is on par with the Miyamoto family’s Niten Ichi-ryu. Daito-ryu is also a two-sword style, but unlike the Miyamoto family’s style—where they wield a long sword in the right hand and a short sword in the left—Daito-ryu uses two long swords.”
“In terms of power, Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is no less formidable than the Miyamoto family. It includes extremely vicious moves like eye-gouging, groin-strikes, and carotid-artery slashes. Historically, their family’s status was never lower than the Miyamoto family. Currently, the top master of Daito-ryu is Kamiizumi Ise—a well-known and formidable figure in Japanese two-sword swordsmanship. Although he was defeated by Miyamoto Isshin in his youth, he didn’t wallow in despair. Instead, he trained even harder and has now perfected Daito-ryu’s techniques to a level that rivals the founders of their school. In recent years, while Miyamoto Isshin is still publicly regarded as Japan’s number one two-sword master, most people believe that Kamiizumi Ise’s skill is already on par with Miyamoto Isshin’s and that he can now challenge him!”
“This time, when our alliance leader steps into Daito-ryu, the first person she’ll challenge is this very Kamiizumi Ise—the one who’s said to be a match for Miyamoto Isshin!”
On a private jet heading to Japan, inside a spacious, luxurious cabin that looked like a five-star hotel, Su Mengnan was holding a dossier and discussing things with Jiang Fei.
Liu Yunduo had gone to Japan alone this time without telling anyone. Su Mengnan had no idea either. The only reason he even knew she had gone was because he had been looking for her to discuss something and couldn’t find her. Then, through a stroke of luck, he discovered she had gone to Japan.
So as for Liu Yunduo’s actual plan—how she intended to go one by one and take down Japan’s many masters to avenge the humiliation her father had suffered all those years ago—no outsider knew.
But Su Mengnan was a wealthy, powerful Beijing playboy with more money than sense and extensive connections.
In this day and age, money could make the world go round. After spending a considerable sum, he had managed to track Liu Yunduo’s movements ever since she set foot on Japanese soil a few days ago. Now all they had to do was head straight to the location.
Otherwise, even though Japan was a tiny country compared to China, trying to find one person there would still be like looking for a needle in a haystack—practically impossible.
“Based on what I’ve gathered, the match between our alliance leader and Kamiizumi Ise should happen within the next day or two. I’m not sure if we can make it in time,” Su Mengnan said, his eyes filled with worry for Liu Yunduo.
Jiang Fei, however, remained calm and unconcerned upon hearing this.
“Since this Kamiizumi Ise of Daito-ryu once lost to Miyamoto Isshin, he shouldn’t be a problem for Liu Yunduo. She can handle him. Do you know who she plans to challenge next?”
“I only managed to track her whereabouts—I don’t know her full plan. No one knows who she’ll challenge next until she actually makes her move,” Su Mengnan said, shaking his head.
Even though Jiang Fei had said that, the worry in Su Mengnan’s eyes didn’t fade. He added, “Even though Kamiizumi Ise lost to Miyamoto Isshin before, the general consensus in Japan’s kendo world now is that he’s no weaker than Miyamoto Isshin. Are you sure our leader won’t be in danger against him?”
Seeing this rich playboy so anxious made Jiang Fei want to laugh.
He set down his wine glass, glanced out at the sea of clouds outside the window, and said, “The idea that Kamiizumi Ise can match Miyamoto Isshin is just hearsay. Think about it yourself—if his strength really had reached Miyamoto Isshin’s level, or even surpassed it, would he have kept his mouth shut all these years without challenging Miyamoto Isshin for a rematch? Rivals are rivals. If he had beaten Miyamoto Isshin, it would have done wonders for Daito-ryu’s reputation in Japan’s kendo world, wouldn’t it?”
“But he never did. That means he knows his own abilities well enough to realize he still can’t beat Miyamoto Isshin. So all he can do is boast to the outside world that he’s no worse than Miyamoto Isshin.”
“And even if—just for the sake of argument—Kamiizumi Ise’s strength really has reached Miyamoto Isshin’s level, your alliance leader defeating him wouldn’t be particularly difficult. She probably wouldn’t even have to go all out! Your leader might be stubborn, but she’s not stupid. If she didn’t have complete confidence in her first target, would she have set foot on Japanese soil so recklessly?”
After hearing Jiang Fei’s thorough explanation, Su Mengnan finally had a moment of clarity. Most of his worry faded away.
It was true.
Rumors couldn’t be trusted, since outsiders had no idea what Kamiizumi Ise’s real strength was.
Only through reasoning based on evidence could one guess who was truly stronger between him and Miyamoto Isshin. If Kamiizumi Ise really could match Miyamoto Isshin and was confident about it, there’s no way he wouldn’t have challenged him for a rematch to determine the true number one of the two-sword style.
Now that Liu Yunduo had learned the left-handed sword technique and had both hands healed by Jiang Fei, her dual-wielding skills were definitely far superior to Japan’s so-called two-sword styles—and likely even a hard counter to them.
So there wasn’t too much to worry about in this match.
“Even so, I hope that by the time we get there, the match between our leader and Kamiizumi Ise hasn’t already started, and we can still catch the fight,” Su Mengnan said.
——–
While Su Mengnan and Jiang Fei were cruising at thirty thousand feet—only halfway through the flight, with an hour still to go before landing—Liu Yunduo had already officially stepped into the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu dojo.
Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu and the Miyamoto family’s Niten Ichi-ryu were almost sworn enemies.
This wasn’t just because both styles belonged to the two-sword tradition and were highly flourishing, viewing each other as rivals. There was also the fact that the headquarters of both schools were in the same city—and not far apart!
The Miyamoto family’s base was at the foot of Mount Fuji, southwest of Tokyo, while Daito-ryu was located in a slightly suburban area northeast of Tokyo.
This time, Liu Yunduo’s solo journey to Japan—challenging Daito-ryu’s top master, Kamiizumi Ise, as her first stop—caused a stir that wasn’t too big, but wasn’t too small either.
Ordinary people outside the martial arts world wouldn’t know about it. But anyone in the martial arts circles—especially around Tokyo—was well aware of what was happening.
That’s just how the martial arts world worked. Back in China, when Miyamoto Isshin had arrived in Yangcheng to issue a challenge, hadn’t most of the martial arts community found out?
Japan’s martial arts community was even smaller, so news traveled even faster.
That was also why Su Mengnan, by asking around, was able to track down Liu Yunduo’s movements.
It was now the end of April—the most brilliant season for cherry blossoms in Tokyo, and tourists from all over the world loved coming here at this time to see the flowers and go shopping.
However, in this northeastern suburb of Tokyo, there was a large area of cherry blossom trees with scenery rivaling that of Mount Fuji—but no tourists ever came here.
Because this area was off-limits to visitors.
This was the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu main training hall!
Nestled beneath a vast expanse of pure white cherry blossoms was a cluster of classical, undulating buildings—ancient in style, with not a trace of modernity, like something straight out of an old period film.
In the heart of this complex was an open space—bigger than a basketball court but smaller than a football field.
Cherry trees were planted all around the grounds. When a gentle breeze blew, countless petals—like snowflakes—drifted down gracefully.
The scenery was beautiful, but the atmosphere was one of deadly tension.
There were quite a few people gathered around the grounds.
Most of them were young disciples of Daito-ryu, there to watch their school’s top master effortlessly crush this… this Chinese woman.
The rest were established masters from Japan’s two-sword swordsmanship circles.
After catching wind of the news, they had come specifically to watch the match.
After all, no matter where you go in the world, there are always people who love a good spectacle—especially when there’s a show worth watching.
Standing at the center of the grounds were two people.
One man, one woman.
The man was at least fifty years old, dressed in a classic Japanese samurai outfit, with his long hair tied up in a topknot and a thin black mustache just above his upper lip. Not only did he look like the typical Japanese stereotype, but he also bore a striking resemblance to the Japanese soldiers portrayed in Chinese WWII dramas.
The woman was, of course, Liu Yunduo.
Her attire hadn’t changed much from before: waist-length black hair—straight and smooth—not tied up, cascading loosely down her back, gently swaying in the breeze. Her silhouette alone was enough to disarm most men’s defenses.
Her face was just as stunning as ever—pure and striking, with a simple, understated beauty. A simple black-and-white outfit paired with embroidered slippers, not the least bit flashy, yet so beautiful it made your heart skip a beat.
“You were once defeated by Miyamoto Isshin?” Kamiizumi Ise spoke.
Unlike Miyamoto Isshin or Munenori Yagyu, this man didn’t know much about Chinese culture and couldn’t speak Mandarin. He spoke in Japanese, and after he finished, a young woman standing nearby—dressed in a kimono, apparently a swordsman herself—translated in a stern voice, loud and clear.
“Yes.”
“Hai!” Liu Yunduo said, and the young woman translated loudly again.
“Tell me, how did your fight with Miyamoto Isshin go? How many exchanges did you have? And who won in the end?” Kamiizumi Ise asked with a cold sneer.
“Why do you ask?” Liu Yunduo replied, puzzled.
Kamiizumi Ise curled his lips into a sinister smile and waited a long moment before speaking: “Because Miyamoto Isshin was too incompetent to kill you. Since you’ve come to Japan of your own accord today and have the audacity to challenge my Daito-ryu, then I will make sure you lose your life here! I want everyone to know—between Miyamoto Isshin and me, who is truly stronger!”
If Miyamoto Isshin couldn’t kill someone, but Kamiizumi Ise could—wouldn’t that prove that Kamiizumi Ise’s strength had surpassed Miyamoto Isshin’s? That was exactly the effect Kamiizumi Ise wanted.
After all, Miyamoto Isshin had already died on Chinese soil and would never return. No one could confront him about it.
Perfect. And now, this woman named Liu Yunduo had come knocking—just the opportunity he needed to firmly secure his position as the number one master of the two-sword style!
“Then let’s see you try,” Liu Yunduo said calmly.
She didn’t care about any of this. She wasn’t interested in the internal politics of Japan’s kendo world. She had come here for one reason only—to defeat everyone!
So as soon as she finished speaking, Liu Yunduo’s body suddenly moved.
This time, she was wielding a sword in both hands!
