Uchidachi assumes chūdan no kamae.
[!NOTE] “Chūdan” here actually refers to hassō no kamae. What is today known as chūdan is consistently referred to as seigan (here written as 星眼) throughout the text, while the name chūdan has been assigned to hassō. Indeed, “chūdan” simply means “middle level”, and hassō is neither as high as jōdan nor as low as gedan.
Staying in seigan no kamae, shidachi advances three large steps. Both sides bring their feet together and raise their swords in furikaburi with the kiai “yah!”, then cut together into uchiawase with kiai “toh!” while stepping forwards with the right foot.
[!NOTE] This type of uchiawase (kirimusubi) also appears in Shintō Munen-ryū, where uchidachi steps forwards with the right foot to bring it next to the left, while shidachi steps back with the right foot to maintain the same distance. Once the swords have locked together, shidachi steps back to restore ma-ai, unlike in kendō kata where uchidachi steps back.
Uchidachi tries to judge the strength of shidachi’s kamae and composure, and presses the opponent’s blade down and aside with their own to step in and aim a thrust to shidachi’s chest.
[!NOTE] Since uchidachi will need to press with the palm of the right hand to push shidachi’s blade aside with the shinogi, it is reasonable to assume that the edge will be angled to the right in a similar way to the fourth kendō kata to enter between the ribs.
In response, shidachi steps to the forward left diagonal with their left foot while bringing their sword around in front, letting the kensen be pushed down by the tsuki and allowing uchidachi’s body to incline forwards by the sudden loss of resistance, and makes a diagonal (ōgesa) cut to uchidachi’s neck with the kiai “yeh!” as the right foot steps back behind the left at a right angle to or somewhat behind uchidachi.
Both sides return to the original eight-step distance in preparation for the next kata.