I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 943 Why don't you thank Brother Chiba? ! [Leopard Update 7K1]

He didn't die at the hands of the French and Qi coalition forces, but fell at the hands of the peasants he was protecting...

Sadness, grievance, anger... these emotions were like rising waves, filling Elodie's heart and making her feel blocked in her chest.

Of course, these negative emotions quickly dissipated because the tense battle situation left her no time to think too much.

Elodie proved to these people with practical actions that she was not an easy sheep to be bullied.

She can wield the blade with ease.

She can kill enemies without blinking an eye.

At this point, no one says anything like "catch her alive" or "spare her life" or anything like that.

They all showed their true abilities and launched a fierce offensive with the simple goal of "turning her into a hornet's nest"!
In an instant, another bamboo spear stabbed from the side.

Elodie twisted her body with great effort and managed to escape without any danger.

laugh!laugh!laugh!
This time, it was no longer a single bamboo spear, but three bamboo spears stabbed at the same time!
The three bamboo spears stabbed from different directions, blocking all of Elodie's space to dodge.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Elodi could only grit his teeth, step on his heels, and sweep his sword horizontally, deflecting all three bamboo spears.

Although he managed to escape danger, the reaction force transmitted back along the blade caused his right arm to feel unbearable swelling and pain, and he almost couldn't hold on to Yamato-kami Yasutani in his palm.

Faced with the farmers' attacks, she was at the limit and was struggling to make ends meet.

At this time, Elodie glanced sideways and quickly checked the current situation of Shimada Kai not far away.

It wouldn't matter if she didn't look at it, but once she did her heart sank to the bottom.

Fighting while carrying a living person like Hijikata Toshizo on his back... It is not easy for Shimada Kai to hold on until now without hurting himself and Hijikata Toshizo.

He clumsily dodged left and right, avoiding the bamboo spears stabbed by the farmers. He wanted to fight back but was unable to do so due to his own slowness. It seemed that he could only defend himself but had no strength to fight back.

There will come a time when your physical strength is exhausted.

If they continue like this, they will surely die!

——We must find a way...!
Elodie was anxious, her mind racing, trying to find a way out.

In a flash, she heard hurried footsteps approaching from far in front of her - a farmer tucked a bamboo spear under his right armpit and rushed towards Elodie like a cavalry charge!
The sharp tip of the gun was aimed directly at her chest.

Seeing this, Elodie prepared to move sideways to avoid this fierce straight thrust.

Her right arm was still swollen and painful, and she was no longer able to swing her knife to deflect the opponent's gun tip as she had just done.

However, as luck would have it, the same thing happened suddenly at this moment - her left foot suddenly became weak due to extreme fatigue, making her unstable.

It was this moment of unexpectedness that caused her to miss the best time to dodge.

Looking at the bamboo spear in front of her that was about to pierce her chest... at this moment, a hint of fierceness flashed across her eyes.

She turned her body slightly, hiding her chest and exposing her left shoulder - she was ready to use her thicker shoulder to take the blow!
This was the trick Qing Deng taught her.

If you encounter an attack directed at your chest that you cannot dodge or defend against, turn your body slightly to let your shoulder bear the damage.

The chest is one of the most important parts of the human body, if not the only one. You must always protect your chest.

If the chest is injured, even the most powerful man will lose most of his fighting power, or even die on the spot, but the same is not true for the shoulder.

First of all, the shoulder is not a vital part of the human body, so even if the shoulder is injured, it will not lead to death.

Secondly, the shoulder muscles are easy to exert force. As long as you bend your arms, you can easily tighten the flesh and blood of your shoulders, greatly improving your defense and withstanding the enemy's attacks.

Trading injuries for lives... a radical and thrilling style of play!
Elodi clenched Yamato-kami Yasudasa in his right hand, ready to strike back and kill the opponent after the opponent's bamboo spear pierced his left shoulder!

In the blink of an eye, the slender shadow of the bamboo spear almost overlapped with Elodie's petite figure.

Such a scene leaves no doubt: in the next second, the tip of the bamboo spear will pierce deeply into Elodie's left shoulder, splashing countless blood drops.

But at this moment, a strong man with a sturdy physique flew into Elodi's sight from the side!

Also entering his field of vision were two shining sword lights!
The sharp blade flashed twice in the air.

The first time, he cut away the bamboo spear that was about to pierce Elodi's shoulder.

The second time, the gunman's head was chopped off.

His movements are sharp and his swordsmanship is superb... You can tell at first glance that he is a master of swordsmanship with profound skills!
Then, before Elodie could recover from this sudden change, she heard a familiar voice:

"I remember you. You are Ju Jun's apprentice, right? It's been a while."

Elodie stared in amazement at the sturdy man who suddenly appeared, blocked the attack for her and killed her opponent.

Soon, she remembered the other person's identity and whispered his name.

"Chiba... Juutarou...?"

The sturdy man who showed up in time was none other than Chiba Shigetaro, the teacher of Xiao Chiba Sword Hall and Qing Deng's brother-in-law.

Chiba Shigetaro smiled slightly:
"I'm glad you still know me."

Almost at the same time, Shimada Kai, who was not far away, also received timely rescue from an unexpected person.

Two farmers approached Shimada Kai with guns in hand and attacked him from both sides.

At this time, Shimada Kai was already exhausted and in critical condition. He could barely stand and had no strength to dodge again.

Just as he was about to be stabbed by the bamboo spear, two figures rushed in front of him from both sides and blocked the attack for him!
They each shot out a flash of sword light, one person in charge of one, and chopped the two attacking bamboo spears into pieces.

Both of them are young men in their prime. One is older and holds a pair of long and short swords; the other is younger and holds a katana.

Looking at the two young men and their swordsmanship, Shimada Kai opened his eyes wide with an expression of disbelief on his face.

As a swordsman who had practiced swordplay since childhood, he could tell at a glance that the swordsmanship of these two young men was much better than his! They were the skills of sword masters!

Seeing the two young swordsmen suddenly appear, the peasants hurriedly retreated and kept some distance between them.

"W-Who are you?!"

Someone screamed.

The young man holding two swords answered:

"The teacher of the Xuanwu Pavilion, the second generation head of the Hokushin Ittoryu clan, Chiba Michizaburo."

The younger youth answered:

"Genbukan teacher, Chiba Tamon Shiro."

Chiba of Genbukan... This name enjoys a great reputation in Kanto!

As expected, upon hearing that these two men were from a famous swordsman family, the farmers at the scene all changed their expressions and retreated in panic, as if their lives would be in danger if they got close to these two men!

At this time, Elodie and Chiba Shigetaro both came forward and joined Shimada Kai and others.

With the sudden appearance of the three Chiba, the fierce battle came to an abrupt end.

The peasants retreated one after another, gathered together, and stared at Elodie and others opposite them with fear.

The two sides confronted each other at a distance of 6 or 7 meters.

The farmers' shock was not over yet.

Suddenly, a clear male voice sounded from deep in the woods behind Elodie and the others:
"Finally caught up."

The farmers raised their eyes.

Elodie and Shimada Kai turned their heads.

A bunch of gazes shot over there - and saw a young man walking out of the shadows of the woods at a leisurely pace, revealing his face and figure.

Delicate facial features, tall stature, a blue-scabbarded sword on his waist... At first glance, he exudes an oppressive aura!
Shimada Kai didn't know this person.

Elodie vaguely felt that the man looked familiar, as if she had seen him before, but she couldn't remember who he was.

In comparison, the reactions of the farmers opposite them after seeing the man's appearance were much more intense.

Some lost all color from their faces.

Some people were dumbfounded, their jaws seemed to drop to the ground.

Some people are timid, their legs are trembling and they cannot stand steadily.

In this moment of astonishment, someone tremblingly recited this person's name:
"'Edo's Strongest' Chiba Eijiro...!"

Chiba Eijiro smiled:
"'The Strongest in Edo'... This title no longer belongs to me."

As he spoke, he moved forward and stood next to Chiba Shigetaro.

The four Chiba stood in a straight line... Even though they did nothing but just stood there, they still brought great pressure to the farmers!

If the farmers were so panicked and frightened at that moment, then Elodie and Shimada Kai were so happy and excited at this moment!
Only then did Elodie come to her senses and recover.

She had been in a state of intense confusion, as if she was half asleep and half awake.

Elodie was not familiar with Chiba Shigetaro and others, and had only met them a few times, but she knew the meaning of the name "Swordsman Family"!
Her tense nerves relaxed instantly and she almost fell to the ground.

"Everyone, I sympathize with your situation."

Suddenly, Chiba Eijiro spoke in a calm tone.

"The hard life forces you to transform into demons."

"only--"

As he changed the subject, the atmosphere on the scene changed.

"Since you chose to draw your swords against me and nearly hurt our companions, no matter what pain you have or what secrets you have, it is not enough to justify me letting you go."

Having said that, Chiba Eijiro slowly pulled out the famous sword Zhenyue Changguang from his waist with a "clang clang".

The enchanting blue blade light shot into the farmers' eyes.

"If you have a farewell poem, please recite it as soon as possible, otherwise you will not have the chance to do so in a while."

The next moment, the four Chiba raised the swords in their hands, and the astonishing sword energy spread out in all directions with them as the center!
The death sentence was pronounced without any doubt... This immediately angered the farmers.

"S-Stop being so arrogant!"

"Don't be afraid, everyone! Don't be scared by their names!"

"That's right! What happened to Qianye? If the bamboo spear is poked into their body, there will still be a bloody hole!"

"We have more people than them! Our weapons are longer than theirs!"

"That woman and that big guy can no longer fight!"

"Let's go together! Stab them to death!"

"Don't fight alone! Form a formation! Form a formation quickly! Form the formation as you practiced before!"

The farmers encouraged and cheered each other on, gradually dispelling the atmosphere of panic and fear.

Click, click, click, click, click…

They laid down the bamboo spears in their hands and formed a tight hedgehog formation.

Then, they took fairly coordinated steps and charged straight towards the four Chiba!

They even know how to set up a battle formation... It seems like they have really put in a lot of hard work for the "Falling Warrior Hunt".

The Hedgehog Formation... In the era of cold weapons, this was an excellent and powerful formation that belonged to the king level!

It is an integrated attack and defense device. The cavalry dare not charge and the infantry dare not approach.

However, facing this rapidly approaching giant "hedgehog", the four Chiba's expressions and behaviors did not show any panic.

They quietly positioned themselves, half amused, half playful, watching this group of foolish people who came forward on their own initiative...

……

……

The French Alliance——

Shuten-doji and Katsura Kogoro rode together on horseback.

They sped along the road, raising a trail of dust.

In order to make up for the extra time spent on defeating the united forces of thousands of people, they had to speed up their journey.

Hachioji and Edo have a very close relationship.

After passing Hachioji, Edo is right in front of you.

According to their estimation, if nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to reach Edo Castle the day after tomorrow!
Just as Katsura Kogoro and the others were concentrating on their journey, a member of the Special Forces suddenly ran over from the front of the queue and approached them:

"Mr. Gui! There's something unusual ahead! Please come and take a look!"

Katsura Kogoro raised his eyebrow: "Strange situation?"

He turned his horse and left the queue.

A hint of curiosity appeared on Shuten-doji's cheeks, and he followed closely.

Led by the soldier, the two men plunged into the dense forest beside the road.

After a while, Katsura Kogoro twitched his nose subconsciously - he suddenly smelled a strong smell of blood.

"Mr. Gui, we're here! This is it!"

Katsura Kogoro tightened the reins in his hands, stopped the horse, and looked at the scene in front of him in surprise.

"This is……?"

In front of him, somewhere in the woods, dozens of corpses were lying on the ground!

Katsura Kogoro and Shuten-doji dismounted from their horses at the same time and strolled among the corpses.

The bodies were not yet stiff, and one could tell at a glance that they had died not long ago.

Katsura Kogoro glanced around and said:

"Judging from the way these people are dressed, they should be farmers from this area."

Shuten-doji's attention was focused on the wounds on the corpses.

Looking at the clean cuts, he nodded slightly, his eyes shining:

"The blade is very sharp and hits the vital point. What a great swordsmanship! The one who killed them is definitely a rare swordsman."

At this moment, Katsura Kogoro suddenly noticed that many corpses had their arms chopped off, mainly on the right hands, and there were many broken arms with smooth cuts on the ground.

Seeing this, Katsura Kogoro lowered his eyelids and muttered:
"It's Beichen Ittoryu...!"

Chopping hands - the classic feature of Beichen Ittoryu.

In addition to the "repeated twitching of the blade tip", the biggest feature of Beichen Ittoryu is its core strategy of "injuring the enemy".

Most of its moves revolve around "cutting the enemy's arms".

Most schools such as Shigen-ryu, Shinto-no-nen-ryu, and Tennen-ri-shin-ryu all aim to kill the person with one blow, just chopping him to death and that's it.

On the other hand, Beichen Ittoryu's combat concept is not like this.

Beichen Ittoryu emphasizes "cutting hands" and does not seek to kill with one blow.

Compared with other parts of the body such as thighs, waist and abdomen, arms are much easier to chop because they must be stretched out at all times when holding weapons.

First cut the person's arm, and after establishing your absolute advantage, calmly kill the person.

This extremely distinctive fighting style earned Beichen Ittoryu the nickname "Hand-Cutting Ittoryu".

Because of this, the method to restrain Beichen Ittoryu is very simple - just wear hard hand and arm armor, and you can invalidate most of Beichen Ittoryu's moves.

Shuten-doji put his hands behind his back, walked around the corpses twice, and then said slowly:

"Probably 'Falling Warrior Hunting'."

"A farmer living nearby was lurking here, trying to hunt a lone warrior passing by, but he was killed instead."

Having said that, he moved to a certain part of the corpse group - the corpses here were lying very neatly and closely, forming a row, just like leeks that had fallen down by the roots.

"The peasants first formed a battle formation and charged forward, hoping to end the battle quickly."

"As a result, in the blink of an eye, everyone in the first row was killed."

"The gun array immediately went into chaos and collapsed without any attack."

"The other side is very ruthless and has no intention of giving these guys a chance to survive."

"Even if they have lost their will to fight and try to escape, we will continue to hunt them down until they are all killed."

"Look, there are quite a few people who were stabbed in the back while trying to escape, but were caught up and chopped down."

While listening attentively, Katsura Kogoro turned his head involuntarily and cast a surprised look at Shuten-doji.

He was able to deduce so much based on just a few clues at the scene... Katsura Kogoro increasingly felt that Shuten-doji's talents were more comprehensive and outstanding than he had expected.

After Shuten-doji finished speaking, Katsura Kogoro muttered softly:
"I wonder which swordsman from Beichen Ittoryu killed them..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately received a reply from Shuten-doji:
"They should be the sword masters of the Chiba family."

As soon as these words came out, Katsura Kogoro immediately became very interested:
"Oh? How did you know that?"

The Hokushin Ittoryu is undoubtedly the world's number one sect. How many students and former officials does it have? How many outstanding disciples does it have?

How can you say the name of "Chiba Family" with such confidence?
Before devoting himself to the Sonnōjō cause, Katsura Kogoro was obsessed with kendo every day, honing his sword skills wholeheartedly.

Even though he has no time to practice sword now, he is still passionate about kendo.

As long as it was something related to kendo, he was happy to discuss it with others - even if the other party was Shuten-doji, whom he was very opposed to.

Facing Katsura Kogoro's question, Shuten-doji smiled slightly:
"Gui-jun, I don't know if you've ever experienced this feeling: just by looking at the knife marks or wounds, you can roughly guess what kind of person did the chopping."

"I can feel it - the people who killed these guys are definitely the swordsmen of the Qianye family. There is no doubt about it."

"Besides them, no one in Beichen Yidao Liu has the ability to inflict such a wound."

After saying this, Shuten-doji did not linger here any longer and turned around and walked back to the horse.

As he mounted his horse, he said in a deep voice:

"Kui-kun, get ready, the Chiba family has joined the war!"

……

……

The next day—

Edo——

Under the escort of Chiba Shigetaro and others, Elodie, Shimada Kai and the still unconscious Hijikata Toshizo arrived safely in Edo.

On the way to Edo, Chiba Shigetaro explained in detail the specific reasons why the four brothers appeared in the dense forest in time.

It turned out that they were preparing to go to Hachioji to help.

When the news of "Edo emergency" reached Mito, Chiba Eijiro immediately put aside all his affairs and rushed back to Edo from Mito to reunite with his brothers.
As soon as the four brothers got together, they enthusiastically discussed how to fight the enemy.

After learning that Thousands of Hearts was preparing to organize a defense line in Hachioji, they unanimously decided: Go to Hachioji! Support Thousands of Hearts!

Although Eijiro and Michisaburo usually give people a quiet and calm feeling, they always have a radical and passionate heart lurking inside.

As for the noisy Shigetarou and Tamon Shiro, there is no need to mention them, they are both people who can't sit still.

They set off quickly and headed west.

Halfway through the journey, Chiba Eijiro, who had keen senses, suddenly heard the sound of fierce fighting, so he decided to go and check it out.

There is no need to elaborate on what happened afterwards.

Elodie and others learned from the Chiba brothers the reason for their sudden appearance and the current situation in Edo.

The latter also learned the sad news of the fall of Hachioji from the former.

Their hearts were filled with regret and distress over the loss of Hachioji and the defeat of Thousands of Men - if only they could have reached Hachioji earlier, then perhaps they could have been of some help and delayed the process of defeat.

In this case, there was no point in going to Hachioji, and we could only return to Edo.

After arriving in Edo, the first thing they did was to find a doctor who could treat Hijikata Toshizo's injuries.

Regarding finding a doctor for Hijikata Toshizo... To be honest, Elodie was not optimistic - and the same was true for Shimada Kai.

First, with the war approaching, many doctors left Edo in a hurry for fear of war.

Secondly, most of the doctors in Edo were Kampo doctors, or traditional Chinese medicine.

Letting them treat bruises and internal injuries may have outstanding therapeutic effects.

But if you ask them to treat serious external injuries... especially gunshot wounds that hit the abdomen directly, few doctors would dare to guarantee that they can cure it!

Compared to the discouragement of Elodie and Shimada Kai, Eijiro and others were much more optimistic.

When searching for a doctor, they all gave the same recommendation – Northern Ren from Ren Medical Clinic!

It was fortunate that he did not leave Edo.

Talking about this man, he is not only one of the most famous doctors in Edo, but also an old acquaintance of Qing Deng.

Looking back, whenever Qing Deng was seriously injured - such as after the decisive battle with the anti-barbarian group or the decisive battle with Luosha - he would be sent to Ren Medical Clinic and let Beifang Renlai personally preside over the treatment.

Qing Deng was taken care of by him a lot, and they became familiar with each other after a few interactions.

Back then, when Qing Deng was forming the Shinsengumi's medical department... the medical department, he extended an olive branch to Kitagawa Jin and promised him a generous income.

What a pity, Bei Fangren politely declined the offer, and the matter ended there.

Since the Chiba brothers unanimously recommended this person, Elodie and Shimada Kai had no choice but to agree.

To be honest, when Hijikata Toshizo was sent to Jinyi Clinic, neither Elodie nor Shimada Kai believed that Hijikata Toshizo still had hope of survival...

He was shot in the abdomen and was delayed for such a long time... It is no exaggeration to say that it is a miracle that Hijikata Toshizo can hold on until now.

When Kitagata Jin checked Hijikata Toshizo's wound with an expressionless face, Elodie and Shimada Kai were both disheartened, waiting for him to say indifferently, "He can't be saved."

But unexpectedly, Beifang Ren actually said:
"It can be cured."

"It's just a gunshot wound, nothing to worry about."

"However, the most troublesome thing about this kind of injury is infection and inflammation."

"I got the bullet and sewed up the wound, but I couldn't stop the wound from getting infected."

"I will do my best to treat the patient."

"As for whether he can survive in the end, it all depends on his physique, willpower, and fate."

After saying that, he turned around and told his personal assistant, the beautiful girl named "Tachibana Saki", to prepare the equipment and medicines.
While waiting for the equipment and medicines to arrive, Beifangren briefly introduced his treatment plan to Elodie and others.

Elodie didn't know much about medicine, and there were many professional terms that she didn't understand.

However, she roughly understood what Kitagata Jin meant: he was going to perform a major surgical operation on Hijikata Toshizo!
Nowadays, there are doctors in Japan who know how to perform surgery... This is really beyond Elodie's expectations.

When Tachibana Saki brought a variety of instruments and medicines, Elodie took a rough look.

A sharp knife, slender pliers, clean cotton, strong liquor... and so on. It looked very professional and completely consistent with the various instruments she knew needed for surgery.

Since he was a doctor who knew how to perform surgery, Elodie didn't have to worry about Bei Fangren's medical skills.

The doctor's medical skills were fine, so whether Hijikata Toshizo lived or died depended entirely on his luck...

……

……

As soon as Elodie and his companions returned to Edo, they immediately received commendation from the shogunate.

After the Battle of Hachioji, the remnants of the Thousand-Man Army retreated eastward, many of whom retreated to Edo.

Under the personal instructions of Tokugawa Iemochi, the shogunate gave them all generous rewards and provided them with proper resettlement.

As the main commanders, Elodie and Shimada Kai were both summoned personally by Tokugawa Iemochi.

In this way, the two entered Edo Castle, and after passing through the long "の"-shaped road, they met Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshoin in the Ohiroma.

This was the first time that Elodi had seen the Shogun and the Omi-dai-sho.

Elodie didn't have any special feelings about Tokugawa Iemochi. She just thought he was very young and had a very elegant temperament, and didn't look like the head of the shogunate or the leader of a samurai family.

As for Tianzhangyuan...the "shock" she brought to Elodie was huge.

Although Elodie had long known that Tianzhangyuan was a beauty of extraordinary beauty, she was still stunned when she saw her appearance with her own eyes.

Then, as if by reflex, she subconsciously thought:

——Luckily, she is the Omi-no-Odai, so it is impossible for her to be with her master...

She silently felt happy for her good friends (Sanako, Mai, and Souji).

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PS: As the title of this chapter suggests, why don’t you say thank you to Brother Chiba? !