CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 263: BUSHIN HALL (2)_2

"Since you all have some knowledge, why do you still want me to teach?" Sakihara Yishin waved his hand repeatedly. "Just go, go, you know I go wherever I want. Even if I teach, I can’t teach it all."

"But... Vice Master Sensei has a broken right hand... he’s been in the hospital for two weeks now."

"Is that true?" Sakihara Yishin had an expression of complete shock.

"... Didn’t Miss Shion tell you?" The person also had a completely shocked expression.

Uesugi Sakura, seeing this, estimated that this laid-back master absolutely didn’t pay attention to this matter, and Sakihara Shion definitely, definitely reminded him several times, but the uncle forgot it in a blink.

"Ahem... No!" Sakihara Yishin pressed his fist to his mouth as if hiding something, "It’s all Shion’s fault, such a big thing and she didn’t tell me a word... Uh... so what have you been doing the past two weeks?"

The person glanced sideways at Uesugi Shio.

"Since Senior Sister and you, Master Sensei, weren’t here, we just practiced Kanji exercises on our own."

"Fujimaki, Tatemaru, and Kagami, where are they?"

"The senior brothers are all participating in their respective competitions, saying they don’t have time to guide us."

Letting go for so long, could it really be that there was no one at his dojo?

Sakihara Yishin pondered for a second, then looked at Uesugi Sakura: "My beloved student, go."

Bin Yuehui followed Sakihara Yishin’s gaze and also looked at Uesugi Sakura.

He seriously thought back over everyone he had seen at the dojo... Who was he? Why does he not recognize him?

"Not going." Uesugi Sakura said calmly.

Sakihara Yishin heard his reply, his heart skipped a beat, feeling disrespected, "I’ll pay you a salary."

Bin Yuehui was shocked to hear that, Sensei was actually going to pay him a salary.

Is he still a disciple learning swordsmanship at the dojo?

They paid a huge fee to learn Sword Dao here.

Uesugi Sakura, hearing about a salary, raised an eyebrow, "How much?"

Hmph, trying for the lion’s share?

Sakihara Yishin knew his thoughts, one of the reasons this kid agreed to be his disciple was probably thinking he was rich.

"Well, I’m usually not at the dojo, and I don’t even know the teaching price for the Vice Master. You can follow Bin Yuehui to ask Shion."

This middle-aged man, though not usually playful, turned into an old fox.

Uesugi Sakura understood what the uncle meant.

To him.

Sakihara Shion’s face was more useful than the uncle’s face.

One reason is she is the senior sister, treats people kindly, and the other is she has a good relationship with Hanabi, often inviting her for meals.

Asking Uesugi Sakura to ask the senior sister for a large sum of money?

He’s simply not going to do it.

So... might as well be direct now.

Uesugi Sakura held out five fingers:

"5 million."

Absurd!!!

The uncle’s heart skipped a beat at the 5 million, eyebrows twitching, what kind of lesson is worth 5 million yen!?

This is how much money?

It’s a year’s salary for a person.

And do you even have the capability to teach at that level?

Sakihara Yishin reluctantly extended five fingers: "50,000."

Bin Yuehui, hearing Uesugi Sakura call 5 million, thought he was daydreaming. Even at Bushin Hall, the monthly tuition is only 47,000 yen, including a set of equipment.

Uesugi Shio also looked at him speechlessly, their own master still extorting so much.

"5 million." Uesugi Sakura remained unwavering, not altering his stance.

"Ahem... My beloved student, you’re putting me in a tough spot here, even the Vice Master’s salary isn’t as high as yours."

Sakihara uncle was indeed wealthy.

No one knows why a Sword Dao dojo could be so affluent, able to own such a large estate in the Chiyoda District.

Normal dojos can barely maintain themselves without supplementing funds, let alone hope to make money.

Uesugi Sakura put his hand down: "I have my worth, of course."

Sakihara Yishin was skeptical, even though 5 million was not a lot to him, it was still not insignificant.

"What’s your worth then, if you say so?"

"I can improve your One-Mind One-Sword Style."

"Come on! Do I not know my own situation?" Sakihara Yishin said grumpily.

"Really don’t want it?" Uesugi Sakura asked back.

"No! Take a national champion title and then come back to me, and I’ll give you 5 million, heck 50 million!"

Hearing 50 million, Bin Yuehui thought the Sensei was just speaking in anger.

Who is he...?

Again, Bin Yuehui glanced at Uesugi Sakura.

Sensei seemed very concerned about him.

million...

Uesugi Sakura didn’t expect Sakihara uncle to casually offer so much money, that casual attitude, didn’t feel like bluffing.

If combined with the prize money for winning a Sword Dao championship.

Then wouldn’t he and Hanabi have the money to buy a big house?

Nowadays, making that much money was really not easy.

One way is to become an entertainer, taking advertisements, top popular celebrities can earn a few billion a year.

Like Aragaki Yui, with an annual income of 270 million yen, ranked sixth.

First, Ayase Haruka, 558 million yen.

The second is a writer, manga artist, with their works adapted into films or anime, earning billions.

But that’s at the top, most manga artists struggle at the beginning.

Doing part-time work to support themselves, eating Nissin cup noodles daily while constantly practicing is normal.

The upward mobility in Japanese society is practically sealed off.

Doctors, airline pilots, university professors, bank employees, whichever of those top ten professions doesn’t require a prestigious university background?

Advocating happy education, reducing problem difficulty, not disclosing exam results, not putting pressure on students, reducing lecture content for students...

Want to attend university?

Without money, it’s hard to afford college, where do schools not teach, where do you learn from?

Most graduate high school and enter the workforce.

Only careers like baseball, writer, manga artist have a slight chance to break class.

Hence, it’s often said: hitting home runs at Koshien reflects one’s future life.

He was well-known in the Kyudo World, but even in Japan, Kyudo was niche.

He couldn’t leverage the championship for substantial earnings.

Uesugi Sakura turned his head, said to Bin Yuehui: "Let’s go first."

Sakihara Yishin looked at him: "You agreed?"

"50,000 is 50,000 then," Uesugi Sakura stood up, "not being able to give me 5 million is your loss, uncle."

Sakihara Yishin shook his head repeatedly, laughing, picked up the teacup from the table:

"I just love my beloved student’s normal arrogance of confidence."

————————————————

Uesugi Sakura led Bin Yuehui out of Sakihara uncle’s room, it was afternoon now, the heat haze glaring.

Stepping across several stepping stones in the courtyard, they walked along the corridor to avoid the sun.

"What is Senior Brother’s name?" Bin Yuehui looked much older than him, but still called him senior brother.

"Uesugi Sakura." Uesugi Sakura walked in front, finding the senior brother address a bit strange, "Do you usually call each other senior brother here?"

"At Bushin Hall, we learn ancient sword techniques, so everyone here calls each other that way."

Uesugi? He should know Senior Sister, possibly a younger brother, Bin Yuehui thought to himself.

"Hmm..." Uesugi Sakura responded, continuing along the corridor, "How’s everyone’s skill level here?"

"Most are third rank."

Third rank?

Seems like the apprentices at Bushin Hall are quite skilled as well.

The third-year students at neighboring Tsukuba University, like Takano Yuya, are Fourth Rank and have won national championship titles.

Before him, they were all Police Chief rank five, six, seven police officers.

Uesugi Sakura had seen many contemporaries of the fifth rank, like Hanabi’s cousin Hanamaru Shinetsu was Fifth Rank, and the Waseda High School club president was also Fifth Rank.

Their strength is indeed commendable, but not yet championship level.

So, Sword Dao rank really reflects the lower limit, as for the upper limit...

That only unfolds when competing.

"Excuse me for being abrupt, may I ask which rank you are, Senior Brother?" Bin Yuehui observed Uesugi Sakura, curious about the strength of this senior brother who didn’t seem to even be 20 yet.

The attitude of Sensei towards him was unprecedented.

He was very curious about his background.

"Me? I’ve never taken the rank test." Uesugi Sakura said.

There are many experts who haven’t taken the rank test, Bin Yuehui mused, looking up to continue asking:

"Then have you participated in any competitions, Senior Brother?"

Competitions best show value, Sensei willing to let him guide us means he must have achieved something.

He must have won several first places in competitions too.

"No."

Uesugi Sakura could tell this person seemed unbelieving of him, but it didn’t matter, later he would teach his own way, whether he listened or not was not his concern, "To be fair, I did participate once in a sports festival event in high school."