Souji's physical body had been enhanced, its strength not inferior to the bodies of the Campione Yusei had encountered.
This change piqued Yusei's curiosity, but he didn't have time to study the Rengoku Ken right now, so he decided to set it aside for the moment.
He currently had more important matters.
Because he discovered the feasibility of living Six Paths Puppets, he really wanted to complete the full set of Six Paths Puppets. But things don't always go as one wishes.
Over the next two days, through various methods, he sought out over a dozen young men and women who had suffered setbacks in life.
Without exception, they saw him as a charlatan, a fraud. Those people actually became more spirited and less pessimistic.
This left Yusei somewhat frustrated.
However, it also made him realize how difficult it was to find living vessels for the Six Paths Puppets.
He had previously overlooked human subjective initiative. Unless they were utterly loyal or completely disillusioned with the world, they would not accept another's consciousness entering their own.
Hayasaka was due to loyalty. But those other passersby, strangers, even if their lives were hard, wouldn't believe a 'charlatan'.
With his first attempt thwarted, Yusei originally planned to continue searching, but an incoming call from an unknown number made him pause.
This call was undoubtedly the first time it had contacted him. Strangely, the caller was actually Kirigaya Kazuko.
Kirigaya Residence
Kazuko, who hadn't attended school for several consecutive days, spoke hesitantly.
"Hello... is this... Yusei-kun?"
Yusei's game name was the same as his real name.
Kazuko had also seen the victim list, as this was for internal use. She had some cooperation with the government on certain matters.
Therefore, she knew Yusei's phone number and real name.
"Is that you, Kiriko?" Yusei identified the caller by her voice.
Kiriko laughed awkwardly, "Yes... How have you all been lately?"
"Pretty good."
"Ah, it's like this. I heard before that Yusei-kun was the Kendo Tournament's champion, and that your swordsmanship in the game was extremely impressive. So... I'd like to become your student and learn Kendo."
"Learn Kendo?" Yusei was taken aback, then asked puzzledly, "Didn't you dislike Kendo? And doesn't your own family have a Kendo dojo?"
"Uh, that was in the past. I've suddenly discovered Kendo is quite nice now," Kiriko said somewhat awkwardly.
As for why she wasn't choosing her family's dojo...
Well... she didn't want to have to admit she was wrong later... But a more important reason was that the internet-addicted girl, always immersed in games, was gradually growing up.
University, boyfriends, and other matters were pressing down on her.
If she only played games, Kiriko understood, in the future she'd probably only be able to find fellow gaming otaku.
Kiriko wasn't discriminating against gaming, as she played herself, but having seen better options, she naturally didn't want to settle for worse.
It's like seeing a grand feast versus a bowl of instant noodles, you obviously wouldn't choose the noodles.
Romance played a small part.
But more importantly, Kiriko planned to win this year's Kendo Tournament's championship to secure a recommendation for the Tokyo University.
In the game, she was the Black Swordsman, but in reality, she was still a novice.
As a half-acquaintance and the previous Kendo Tournament's champion, Yusei was undoubtedly her best choice.
Hearing Kiriko's request, Yusei hesitated for a moment, then directly nodded and agreed.
After informing her to come to the Shinomiya Family's Kendo dojo every Saturday, Yusei hung up the phone.
Listening to the dial tone, Kiriko sighed and pinched her own cute cheek.
"Kazuko, you idiot. You really still don't know how to chat with the opposite sex, do you?"
After saying that, she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror.
Mhmm, her feminine characteristics were relatively obvious, no signs of underdevelopment. But her inherent personality often led to awkward conversations.
On the other side, Yusei, having acquired a student, and it being Kiriko from that era...
Kiriko's talent for Kendo was fairly good, evident from her dominating performance in SAO.
However, Yusei wasn't at the stage yet where he needed to pass on his legacy.
So, taking this student was better than nothing.
He couldn't possibly focus his energy on teaching Kiriko Kendo.
His game's voice acting issue still hadn't been resolved. Due to repeated rejections regarding the Six Paths Puppets, he also decided to shelve that for now.
The original purpose of this ability was to outnumber the enemy, but currently, none of his enemies could withstand a single blow from Yusei, so the Six Paths Puppets weren't that urgent.
The illustrations were completed quite quickly, but background music and similar elements still needed careful refinement.
His current left eye abilities didn't include recorded skills like [Violin Performance] or [Music Master]. In this situation, Yusei decided to borrow the Shinomiya Family's influence.
Dialing Kaguya's number, her somewhat energetic voice came through.
"Yusei, good evening."
"Good evening, Kaguya. How are you feeling now?"
"Almost completely better. Also, Grandfather told me you taught those people from the Imperial Family a harsh lesson during the match. Well done!"
"Who told them to keep trying to gamble back the Yata no Kagami?" Yusei said flatly.
Leaving aside that the Yata no Kagami was already his divine artifact, even without the mirror, the mere fact that they had designs on Kaguya meant he couldn't possibly be polite to them.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. You didn't call suddenly in the evening just to ask about my illness, right? There must be another reason, right?" Kaguya on the other end knew Yusei very well. Knowing one's husband best is his wife, and she dared to conclude that under normal circumstances, he would never initiate a call.
Yusei's expression stiffened. He laughed awkwardly, "How could that be? I really did want to ask about your condition. I've been worried all along."
"Come on, just say it. What is it?" Kaguya laughed, seeing through him.
Yusei coughed dryly twice and, without hiding it, directly stated his purpose.
After listening, Kaguya said thoughtfully, "I see. You want the contact information for that violin master from last time? That's not a difficult matter at all. Just instruct Hayasaka to handle it."
"By the way, if you plan to hire that violin master, is your savings enough? If not, I have some here. Don't worry, it's my own money, not the family's."
"It's enough, no need to worry." Hearing Kaguya's words, Yusei felt a warmth in his heart.
Although he didn't care much about the amount of money anymore, hearing Kaguya being so considerate of his feelings still made him feel warm inside.
"Alright then. Remember to tell me anytime you need help."
The call ended.
Yusei quickly dialed the number for the aforementioned master based on the contact information.
That master was the violin master from before and also Miyazono Kaori's teacher.