I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 45: Acquired Talent: [Lone Wolf]!

Ansei 7 (1860), January 16th—
The Edo Magistrate's Office's vacation system was "work two days, rest one."
That meant working for 2 days, then taking 1 day off.
While this might seem quite generous on the surface, you could only enjoy such a humane vacation system if you were relatively lucky.
For samurai like Aoto who served in the Three Squads, it was perfectly normal to go without a single day off for over ten days, or even more than a month straight when major cases arose.
Fortunately—Aoto's luck was quite good right now.
His second day on duty had passed without any incidents besides encountering Kinoshita Mai's "meow meow meow meow" event during patrol.
The entire second workday had unfolded in peace and tranquility.
For Aoto, who couldn't wait to quickly enhance his abilities, what he most looked forward to now was undoubtedly his days off.
Because that meant he could go to Shieikan to practice swordsmanship.
With no cases or urgent matters to handle, Aoto—after working 2 days and finally getting his long-awaited day off—grabbed the bento Kyūbei had prepared for him as soon as day broke and hurried straight to Shieikan.
Just as he reached the main gate of Shieikan, Aoto noticed the place seemed unusually lively today; even standing outside the gate, he could hear rising and falling shouts and the clashing sounds of bamboo swords coming from within.
Entering the dojo and scanning the training hall, Aoto quickly spotted a familiar tall figure.
"Kondō-kun." Aoto smiled as he quickly approached this familiar tall figure—Kondō Isami, who was currently instructing a student on proper sword grip.
"Oh ho!" Kondō raised his eyebrows at Aoto and laughed, "Tachibana-kun, you came to practice? Ha, somehow it feels like I haven't seen you in ages. Don't you have official duties at the Magistrate's Office today?"
"No cases needing handling at the moment, so I can properly enjoy my day off today." After speaking, Aoto scanned the dojo again, "There are quite a lot of people here today..."
Roughly ten students were currently practicing swordsmanship in the dojo.
Having so many people coming to practice this early in the morning was somewhat surprising to Aoto.
"Indeed." Kondō sighed with feeling, "Occasionally there are days when more people come to the sword school to practice."
"Ha... if only it could be this lively every day."
"Hmm? Why don't I see Okita-kun?" Aoto only now realized he hadn't spotted that beautiful youth's figure in the dojo.
"Ah yes, Sōji went to buy konpeitō." Kondō smiled helplessly, "Sōji has quite the sweet tooth, especially for konpeitō."
"He eats konpeitō more often than he eats rice."
"Last night he noticed the household's konpeitō reserves were running low, so he went first thing this morning to his usual sweets shop to 'restock'."
"He probably won't be back for a little while yet."
At this point, Kondō placed his hands on his hips and sighed lightly.
"Honestly, how does he eat so much konpeitō every day without ruining his teeth..."
Kondō turned his gaze back to Aoto.
"Well, never mind Sōji."
"Tachibana-kun, your timing today is quite fortunate."
"My timing is fortunate? What do you mean?" Aoto looked puzzled.
"Father... ah, meaning our master, returned yesterday." Kondō smiled, "I've already told him about you."
"Regarding you as his new disciple, Father has been saying since yesterday that he wants to meet you quickly."
"I originally thought it would be several more days before you could free up time to come practice here again."
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
The current dojo master of Shieikan: Kondō Shusuke—Aoto had long heard of his reputation but had yet to meet him in person.
During his first visit to Shieikan three days ago, they had missed each other because Shusuke happened to be away on business.
Aoto was quite curious about this master he hadn't yet had the chance to meet.
"Kondō-kun, since the master has returned, where is he now?"
Just as Aoto asked this question—
"Hohohoho, so you are that Tachibana Aoto?"
A aged male voice that brought to mind "withered branches" suddenly captured Aoto's attention.
Aoto quickly turned toward the direction of this aged voice—coming from behind him.
As his gaze shifted behind him, the figure that entered his view made traces of surprise appear between Aoto's brows.
Standing behind him... was a hunchbacked, rather short old man.
This elderly man currently had his hands clasped behind his back, watching Aoto with a warm smile.
"Father!" Kondō quickly walked over to stand beside the old man.
Meanwhile, the various students practicing in the dojo all stopped their movements, bowing to the old man and calling out one after another, "Master, good morning."
Someone whom Kondō Isami called father, whom the dojo students called master... only one person could be addressed this way.
Realizing who this old man must be, Aoto quickly followed suit by bowing to the elderly man and loudly responding to Shusuke's earlier question:
"I am Tachibana Aoto!"
While bowing and greeting this old man—Kondō Shusuke—Aoto secretly observed his new master with peripheral vision.
—This person... is Kondō Shusuke?
At first glance, the initial impression Kondō Shusuke gave him... was short.
However, this "shortness" was only relative to tall fellows like Aoto and Kondō Isami who approached 180cm in height.
Compared to most men of this era, Kondō Shusuke's height was perfectly average.
The second impression... was his small eyes.
This was the first time Aoto had seen such narrow eyes that made it hard to tell whether they were open or closed.
As for the third impression... he seemed like a very gentle person.
The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, his face bearing a warm smile—he looked like someone who would be easy to get along with.
Shusuke raised a hand, signaling everyone around to be at ease, then smiled as he looked Aoto up and down.
"Hohohohoho... so you're Tachibana Aoto. Quite tall indeed."
Shusuke rose on his tiptoes, measuring the height difference between himself and Aoto with a somewhat comical gesture.
Watching Shusuke's rather humorous movement, Aoto couldn't help but chuckle.
"I already heard about you from Isami yesterday."
"Isami says you not only have remarkable talent with the sword, but are also quite skilled in unarmed combat."
"I wouldn't dare claim to be skilled." Aoto said modestly.
Shusuke chuckled a few times before clasping his hands behind his back again.
"Although Isami already tested your abilities on your first day at Shieikan."
"I haven't yet seen what this new disciple of mine is capable of."
"If it's convenient, could you show me your current skill level?"
Aoto paused for a moment, then quickly said, "Of course, no problem."
Shusuke nodded: "Then... I'd like to start by seeing your unarmed combat skills."
"See my unarmed combat?" Aoto said in surprise.
"In this day and age, samurai skilled in unarmed combat are quite rare." Shusuke smiled, "I'm very interested to see your level of unarmed skill. Is that alright? If you're unwilling, I won't force you."
"Of course it's alright." Aoto quickly nodded, "It would be my pleasure."
To test his abilities naturally meant Aoto would need to spar with someone.
Getting to spar legitimately, and using his current strongest skill—unarmed combat—Aoto couldn't think of any reason to refuse such an excellent opportunity.
"Good, then—Isami." Shusuke glanced toward Kondō standing beside him, "You spar with Tachibana."
"Me?" Kondō said in surprise, pointing a finger at himself.
"You're the only one here who knows any unarmed combat." Kondō Shusuke said calmly, "If I don't send you, who should I send?"
"Well... alright, I understand."
Seeing Shusuke assign Kondō to spar, Aoto felt delighted.
Getting to spar with Kondō—this was exactly what he wanted.
Three days ago, because Kondō had to hurry back to Tama to see that Hijikata Toshizō, Aoto had missed the chance to spar with him then, losing an opportunity to check if Kondō had any talents.
Now being able to make up for that regret made Aoto's heart leap with joy.
The students in the dojo all retreated to the edges, clearing space for Aoto and Kondō.
Meanwhile, Shusuke sat cross-legged in the dojo's head position, watching the two with great interest as they began their formal bows.
After exchanging bows, Kondō took a deep breath and settled into a stance.
—Jujutsu, huh...
Having been passionate about unarmed combat in his previous life, with more or less understanding of various unarmed styles, Aoto recognized what martial art Kondō was using just from his stance.
Not only did Aoto immediately recognize Kondō was using jujutsu, he could also tell Kondō's jujutsu level wasn't particularly high.
Such an awkward stance... Aoto guessed Kondō's jujutsu was probably only at a "dabbler" level.
If they were comparing swordsmanship... Aoto felt certain Kondō, as the acting instructor, would completely dominate him.
But if it was unarmed combat...
Aoto exhaled deeply and raised his hands, adopting a grappling stance.
In his every movement, confidence radiated!
"Hyah—!" Kondō shouted with an impressively powerful kiai as he slid forward toward Aoto.
Although Kondō had a nearly 180cm tall frame and quite robust build, he wasn't so massive that his "weight class" completely surpassed Aoto's.
Therefore, facing Kondō's advance, Aoto didn't evade but boldly shifted sideways before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Kondō.
Kondō reacted extremely quickly—as soon as Aoto grabbed him, despite his jujutsu being only at a "dabbler" level, he immediately began struggling, trying to break free using brute force.
Kondō's strength, like his physique, was indeed far superior to Aoto's.
But the difference in their strength and weight wasn't so great that Aoto couldn't compensate with technique!
Aoto took a deep breath and, like a magician performing an exquisite trick, moved his hands with grappling techniques that locked up Kondō's arms in one smooth motion.
Kondō instinctively struggled, but to his astonishment discovered—he couldn't bring his strength to bear at all.
The more force he used, the more he tried to free his arms from Aoto's control, the heavier the pain traveled from his arms throughout his entire body.
He felt that if he forcibly tore his arms from Aoto's control, his shoulders would definitely dislocate.
Seeing Kondō subdued so quickly by Aoto, Shusuke's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Then, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"Alright, that's enough!"
Hearing Shusuke call a stop, Aoto quickly released Kondō's arms.
And right at that moment—
[Ding! Talent detected]
[Successfully copied talent: "Lone Courage"]
[Talent introduction: The greater the number of enemies and the stronger their abilities, the more it ignites fighting spirit and enables surpassing one's normal performance. (Note: Performance enhancement has limits)]