I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 18: The Plump Female Ninja Rumored in Edo

After gathering his focus, Aoto concentrated fully on practicing suburi as instructed by Okita.
As for Okita, he held his bamboo sword and paced among the apprentices, supervising their practice.
Each time his watchful gaze passed over Aoto, a flicker of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
—This guy... is incredible...!
Beginners often make various small mistakes when practicing suburi, like swinging the sword downward instead of forward; flipping or pressing the wrist during the swing...
Normally, it takes several days just to get the suburi right without major errors—that’s perfectly normal.
If someone can standardize their suburi after just one day, that’s considered extraordinary talent.
And this new junior disciple… after watching the demonstration once and practicing once by himself, he could perform suburi so perfectly that no errors could be found...
—This guy’s talent... might even surpass Brother Kondō and Mr. Hijikata...
Okita couldn’t help but focus nearly half of his attention on Aoto.
The training order Okita gave Aoto was to practice until he could no longer swing the sword, to see what his current limit was.
A proper suburi demands swinging each strike with maximum strength, so it consumes a lot of physical energy.
By the 32nd strike, Aoto felt his arm muscles aching unbearably, making it difficult to lift his arms anymore, so he reluctantly gave up and shouted to Okita, “I can’t swing anymore.”
“Hmm... not bad.” Okita slowly walked over to Aoto, dragging his bamboo sword. “I’ve been silently observing you, checking if your movements are standard.”
“You did much better than I expected.”
“Except for the last few swings, where your posture got a bit messy due to fatigue, every other strike was quite standard.”
“Feels a bit embarrassing...” Aoto smiled wryly. “I only swung 32 times before I couldn’t anymore...”
—This body really is so weak!
Aoto had lost count of how many times he complained about this new body.
“Beginners don’t need to worry too much about the number of suburi.” Okita smiled slightly. “What matters most is whether your form is standard.”
“Doing a thousand imperfect practices is worse than not practicing at all.”
“I originally planned to spend the whole day teaching you suburi.”
At this moment, a helpless expression slowly appeared on Okita’s face.
“But your progress... far exceeded my expectations. There’s nothing else to correct in your suburi, so let’s move on to the next step.”
“Next, I’ll teach you how to draw and sheath the sword.”
“Drawing and sheathing are the most basic basics of swordsmanship. If you can’t even do that properly, forget about sword technique.”
“Rest for a bit now. When you’re ready, call me. I’ll get the tools for practicing drawing and sheathing.”
“Yes.”
...
...
Aoto rested for a full half hour before he finally felt the soreness in his arms had mostly subsided.
After informing Okita that he was ready, Okita happily ran outside the dojo and returned with two sheathed wooden swords.
“They’re so heavy...” Aoto let out a low exclamation when he took the wooden sword from Okita, surprised by the unexpected weight.
“These are wooden swords specially made for practicing drawing and sheathing.” Okita explained, “They’re deliberately weighted to perfectly simulate the weight of real swords.”
Aoto hefted the sheathed wooden sword in his hand — in terms of weight, it truly was no different from a real sword.
“Alright, watch me demonstrate once.” Okita strapped the wooden sword to his left waist. “There is only one key point in drawing and sheathing the sword — let your hand follow the shortest path to touch the sword. Don’t make any unnecessary movements.”
“Watch carefully.”
Then Okita suddenly raised his right hand, pressed on the wooden sword at his left waist, and drew it from the sheath.
Whoosh—!
The sword leaving the sheath sliced through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.
After swiftly drawing the sword, Okita smoothly sheathed it with the same finesse.
Okita’s movements were as clean and concise as his earlier demonstration of suburi, so polished that even those who didn’t know swordsmanship would want to shout, “Awesome!”
“When drawing the sword, remember to grip it with your right wrist like this...”
Okita briefly introduced the details of each movement to Aoto.
After finishing, he placed both hands and the bamboo sword behind his back.
“Alright. Now you try once.”
“Yes.”
Aoto spread his feet, lowered his center of gravity, and slowly moved his right hand toward the wooden sword at his left waist, imitating Okita’s movements.
Watching Aoto prepare to draw the sword, Okita silently thought with a mix of anticipation and pride:
—Drawing and sheathing... surely it won’t take just one or two tries to get it right?
After witnessing Aoto’s astonishing talent, Okita developed a strange curiosity—a desire to explore the depth of Aoto’s abilities.
With expectant eyes, Okita eagerly watched Aoto, whose right hand had already grasped the sword’s hilt.
Aoto’s mental “high-speed camera” turned on again at this moment—
Whoosh!
The wooden sword’s blade was swiftly drawn out inch by inch, and Okita’s eyes gradually widened.
After drawing the wooden sword, Aoto imitated Okita’s earlier motion and sheathed the sword.
—This guy... really never had formal sword training before?!
Whether it was the previous suburi or the drawing and sheathing just now, Okita felt these were not moves a beginner could perform.
Even seasoned swordsmanship experts wouldn’t necessarily make such beautiful movements.
Yet, in the earlier spar with Suzuki, Aoto’s extremely clumsy sword swings clearly showed that this junior disciple was indeed a newcomer who hadn’t had much contact with swordsmanship before...
—If... he really never had any formal sword training before... then his talent...
Okita’s gaze gradually grew serious... no, it became strange and “terrifying.”
Feeling uncomfortable under Okita’s intense stare, Aoto couldn’t help but say:
“Um... Okita-kun?”
“Ah.” Okita snapped out of his trance and chuckled. “Sorry, I was a bit distracted.”
“Your movements just now were good. It’s quite rare for a beginner to perform at that level.”
“But there were still some points you missed.”
Okita stepped forward and carefully explained to Aoto the details he hadn’t done well.
After Okita’s corrections, and a few more practices by Aoto, Okita nodded in approval.
“For the remaining time, focus on practicing drawing and sheathing.” Okita instructed, “Try to do about 40 repetitions. Remember to keep the movements standard during practice. Don’t sacrifice form just to finish quickly.”
After assigning the new practice task to Aoto, Okita picked up his bamboo sword and went to supervise and check on the others.
After Okita left, Aoto also started focusing on practicing drawing and sheathing as Okita had instructed.
At that moment—the same Uehara who had been practicing suburi under Okita’s orders finally completed the series of exercises Okita assigned. Sweating heavily, he sat down beside Aoto to rest.
While massaging the muscles in his arms, Uehara suddenly started talking to Aoto:
“Brother, you’re amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen Okita-kun be so gentle and kind when teaching swordsmanship.”
Uehara’s appearance and voice both exuded a straightforward and hearty vibe.
“Brother, where are you from? Where do you serve?”
“I’m a local from Edo,” Aoto answered. “Currently serving at the Edo North Magistrate’s Office as a constable of the Teimachi squad.”
After briefly introducing himself to Uehara, Aoto saw Uehara’s eyes suddenly light up.
“So you’re a ‘Three Squads’ samurai!”
Uehara asked eagerly in an impatient tone:
“Brother, since you’re a ‘Three Squads’ samurai, can I ask you something?”
“Hm? Go ahead.”
Uehara, sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaned his upper body toward Aoto, breathing a bit heavily.
“I heard—this cat thief who has caused quite a stir in Edo recently is a female ninja skilled in ninjutsu. Is that true?”
Aoto’s hands practicing drawing and sheathing involuntarily stopped.
“Huh?” Aoto tilted his head. “Cat thief? Female ninja?”
Having inherited all the memories of the original Tachibana Aoto, Aoto naturally knew who this cat thief was.
About three months ago, Edo saw the appearance of a notorious thief who only appeared at night.
Most thieves usually steal from wealthy households.
But this thief was different.
He only stole money from Edo’s yakuza or those notorious villains.
He acted boldly and actively. In just three months, many villains or evil forces had their money stolen by this thief, at least dozens of times. The stolen amount was conservatively estimated at several thousand ryo of gold.
A thief who only targeted villains and didn’t harm commoners was always easy to win the public’s favor.
After all, ordinary people liked stories about someone fighting the villains on their behalf and venting their grievances.
According to Aoto, with the thief’s rising activity, he had gained extremely high popularity among the commoners in Edo. There were even some storytellers who created narrative tales about him.
Though the thief’s acts could be seen as ridding the world of evil, a thief is still a thief, so the authorities could not ignore him.
Therefore, after this thief became famous, the South and North Magistrate’s Offices in Edo quickly launched investigations.
Although the authorities moved swiftly, the investigation results were... dismal to say the least...
Through thorough searches and information networks, the “Three Squads” of Edo had several times successfully found the thief at the scene of his theft.
But every single time, without exception, he escaped.
This thief’s agility was astonishing!
Whether it was a wall top only a foot wide or a steep rooftop, this thief could move as if walking on flat ground.
Every capture attempt ended the same way—finally locating the thief, only for him to suddenly dart onto a nearby rooftop or somewhere else, and vanish into the night in the blink of an eye...
Because this thief could move swiftly like a cat across rooftops and walls, the authorities nicknamed him “Cat Thief.”
It must be said, this nickname was very well chosen.
His movements truly were as nimble as a cat’s.
The Cat Thief came and went without a trace, so even now the authorities knew very little about him.
Because he always wore black clothes, covered his hair and the lower part of his face with black cloth, only his eyes were visible, it was impossible to tell his gender or age.
The authorities didn’t even know if he was male or female, or approximately how old.
Currently, the authorities only had three useful pieces of information about the Cat Thief:
He only appears at night.
He only targets villains and criminal forces in Edo.
He has a small stature, estimated to be no taller than 1.5 meters.
A height of 1.5 meters was very common in Edo-period Japan. Due to diet and genetics, not only women but many men were around that height.
At 1.75 meters, Aoto was considered a “giant” for that era.
“Cat Thief is a female ninja... where did you hear that?” Aoto put down the wooden sword.
Uehara replied excitedly:
“I heard it from friends when I was drinking last night.”
“My friends said: recently, many people in the city have been speculating about the Cat Thief’s identity.”
“The Cat Thief’s small stature makes it very likely she’s female.”
“And she can move effortlessly on rooftops and walls. Wall-walking and roof-running have always been the ninjas’ specialty.”
“So many people are currently spreading rumors that the Cat Thief is a female ninja skilled in ninjutsu.”
“And I also heard—this Cat Thief has a very plump chest.”
An uncontrollable lecherous smile appeared on Uehara’s face as he raised his hands and gestured around his chest.
“I’ve always been interested in this Cat Thief, so I thought I’d ask a ‘Three Squads’ samurai like you to confirm whether it’s true.”
—Are you really interested in the Cat Thief, or only after hearing she’s a plump female ninja...?
Silently scoffing at Uehara in his heart, Aoto chuckled:
“That’s pure nonsense. Such street rumors are just for listening entertainment.”
“I don’t know if female ninjas even exist in this era when foreign powers have opened the country’s doors.”
“But I can assure you: ‘Cat Thief is a female ninja’ is purely baseless imagination by the commoners.”
“Small stature—lots of men are small too.”
Saying this, Aoto couldn’t help but glance at a certain 1.55-meter handsome young man who was quietly teaching someone in the distance.
“As for wall-walking and roof-running... our authorities have caught many agile people running fast on rooftops before; they weren’t ninjas.”
“And that ‘plump chest’ thing... that’s completely unfounded nonsense.”
“Our authorities haven’t even confirmed the Cat Thief’s gender; how could civilians know about that? Most likely some bored people made it up to attract attention.”
“In short—just take these street rumors with a grain of salt.”
After speaking, Aoto raised the wooden sword and resumed focusing on sword practice.
“B-but...” Uehara stammered, seeming to want to say more.
But just then—
“Uehara, what are you doing?” Okita’s voice pierced Uehara’s eardrums, instantly freezing the expression on his face.
Okita crossed his arms, wearing a displeased expression as he slowly approached Uehara.
“Have you forgotten the rules of the Shieikan? When others are practicing swordsmanship, don’t casually chat and disturb them.”
“Yes, sorry...” Uehara lowered his head and shrank his body like a child who had done wrong.
After Okita’s reminder, Uehara no longer dared to speak to Aoto and devoted himself to massaging and relaxing his arm muscles.