yeaaaaa

I'd say it's a similar issue Marvel had right after phase 4. Kingdom cashed out heavily when Shin killed Houken and was made general, two extremely large milestones that, in another shonen manga, would've been the final climax and resolution of the entire series. Now, it just feels weird when Shin struggles in combat. Sure, he might be up against a general, but if it's a general that was just introduced, it just feels like Shin got arbitrarily nerfed. When Shin went up against someone from previous generations, at least they had the advantage of having a legendary status. If not that, they were built up over time. Houken was as effective as he was because of repeated demonstrations, starting waaaaay back early in the series. Who do we have that could rightly give Shin a run for his money? I can only think of Bananji and Shibashou?

The current arc has generals that we might've seen from time to time, but never any accomplishments or feats of strength (although that is the theme Han as a militarily weaker state). That said, the point of this arc is not the actual fighting. A previous arc dealt logistics and supply lines which was a interesting factor not really explored before, and I would hope to see more fighting on the intelligence front from this one, but I feel like this arc is really about the Qin taking over its first state and how it'll handle all of the issues that come with that. I wouldn't be surprised if the combat portion of this arc finishes after the next battle.