Trackless Step

"…Hey Ikki. How is Shizuku doing?" "How, meaning?" "I can tell by looking. It's obvious that her response to her opponent's movements worsened all of a sudden." "It's just as Stella-chan says. Even though the President is moving normally, it looks as if she can't see it." Arisuin also felt that there was a problem with Shizuku's movements. And of course, Ikki did too. But Ikki could already see a few more things than the other two. "…It's exactly like that, probably." "Eh?" "Shizuku really can't see her. I've also seen something like this once before." It was that time before his debut battle, when he met the Yaksha Princess Nene Saikyou at the reception desk. "That time, Saikyou-sensei got right in front of me in an instant. Even though I didn't let her out of my line of sight for even a moment, she got to my chest before I knew it. Right now, Raikiri is probably using the same body technique, I think." "Ahaha. As expected of Kuro-bou. You noticed it after all, huh?" A voice descended from an angle above. Ikki turned his eyes in that direction, where a bewitching petite woman dressed in a kimono and an imposing woman clad in a suit were descending the bowl-shaped stadium's stairway. "Hey there~. It's been a while ♪." "Saikyou-sensei, and Madam Director. The two of you together, I wonder if something's going on?" "What, she just called out because she saw you guys, not because there's a reason." The board chairman, Kurono Shinguuji, answered Arisuin's question. These two only came to see the duel between fellow B-Ranks in an ordinary Selection Battle. They only greeted them because Ikki's group was having an interesting conversation. "…Hey, Nene-sensei. The thing that Ikki noticed, is what he's saying correct?" Saikyou-sensei confirmed Stella's question with a nod. "Yep. That is an ancient Japanese martial arts technique called Trackless Step that merges breath control and footwork. Or something like that―" "…Eh?" In an instant. Saikyou who had to be at least five meters away from Stella reappeared very close, and―raised Stella's plump breasts from below while rubbing them. "Eek!?" "Oh, this kind of feeling? Well, no milk's coming out. Yet it's super soft~♪" "Kyaaaaa! Wh-Wh-What are you doing!?" "I was wondering if rubbing yours would make mine grow." "If you want to grow then go rub your own!" "I don't have anything to rub, IDIOT!" "You're getting angry at the victim!?" Ignoring the two noisy people, Kurono asked something of Ikki. "Kurogane. Someone like you has already seen through how Trackless Step works, right?" To that inquiry, he nodded. "Somewhat. If you tell me to do the same thing, I could probably do it." "Hey Ikki, what is this Trackless Step?" "Let's see, humans are nothing more than animals, and like a machine they can't process all the tiny details that they see and hear, and the brain certainly can't consciously recognize all of those sights and sounds. After all, if they processed and analyzed everything they see and hear, the brain will burn out. Therefore, the human brain will toss low-priority information into the unconscious, and abdicate recognizing them in order to ease the load on itself. This thing called Trackless Step is a martial arts technique that applies peculiar breath control and footwork to slip its user's existence into the opponent's unconsciousness. As a result, even though Shizuku can still see Toudou-san, she has become unable to recognize that fact. Even though the brain and the eye can capture Toudou-san's movements, they can't be processed because the consciousness is classifying them as unnecessary information, to the degree that a life-threatening danger can approach to little more than a blink away. "Spot on. You understood it well." Kurono praised him as if in admiration, because there were no faults in Ikki's answer that divulged the mysterious mechanism that was assaulting Shizuku. Right. There was only unconsciousness within. The opponent was making everything about herself imperceptible by shifting her breath and body a half-step, and by sliding into that interval, she had dodged the awareness locking onto her. That was the mechanism behind the old-style footwork Trackless Step. "Because I've already seen that body technique once." Moreover, Touka's Trackless Step had great flaws compared to Saikyou's. Because of that, Ikki was able to see through the mechanism. "But I didn't think that there was a student who could do the same thing as the Yaksha Princess." "Well, it's natural to be able to do the same thing, since Nene and Toudou both study under the same knight. Trackless Step was originally the technique that was that knight's strong point." "Is that how it is? By the way, who was that teacher?" "Torajirou Nangou." "Nangou, the 'God of War'…!?" To the revealed name, Ikki showed a shocked expression. God of War―Torajirou Nangou. The great hero Ryouma Kurogane's lifelong rival, the elder knight who was on active service while being over ninety years old. He is a living legend who people talked about without end. "It's like you saw him at a senior's lodge one time, and begged him for training thereafter." "Mu. Hold on a second, Kuu-chan! I've never thought of that geezer as master even once!" "What are you being shy about? Those clogs are probably also something copied from that person." "Y-Y-You're wrong! I bought these from mail order to help ease my constipation!" "Sandals for changing how you walk, huh…." While patting Saikyou's long-sleeved kimono noisily, Kurono leaked out her honest opinion that "that person is as unfrank about her feelings as ever" about Saikyou who for some reason was becoming irritated, then once again turned her gaze toward Ikki. "Well even so, if you can see the mechanism so clearly to that extent, it should be understandable to you. Trackless Step can't be broken by your little sister." "Eh―!" The declaration of those words, they were the truth of Shizuku's hopeless defeat. It was Stella and Arisuin who raised surprised voices upon hearing them. But Ikki, though he had a bitter expression, didn't show surprise. Why? Because he had reached that conclusion a long time ago. "…Really, Ikki? There's no way for her to break Trackless Step!?" "No, there's a way to break Trackless Step with your own body. It's enough to just voluntarily shift your attention to the unconscious. However, that's easier said than done." For example, imagine that there was a man thrusting a gun in front of one's eyes. And that man is obviously showing hostility, and pulling the trigger with his finger. In that kind of situation, just about anyone would have his eyes glued to the muzzle. It would be natural, because it was one's life being threatened. Under that kind of situation, would anyone take heed of the man's earring? Would anyone care who the earring's maker was? There was no way anyone would care. No one would consciously recognize inconsequential information, probably. However, in order to break this Trackless Step, one has to take his eyes from the muzzle and focus on the earring beneath that serious situation. That was the task of shifting one's attention onto the unconscious. "Shizuku is right now exactly in an exchange for her life. In this situation where her opponent is intentionally slipping from her consciousness, it's training in its own way, and if she can't gain free control over/of her own body and consciousness, she won't be able to do it."