In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

"Kanna doesn't want to lose you."

“Last night, after I read my father’s letter, for a moment, I hated you, I really hated you.”

She slowly spoke to the unconscious Zuo Cun.

"But now Kanna has figured it out."

"The premise of Kanna hating you is that she loves Mr. Samura very much."

"If Kanna hadn't loved Mr. Samura, she wouldn't have hated him so much."

pat.

Tears streamed down Kanna's cheeks and dripped onto the leaves on the ground.

Zuocun exhaled a breath of alcohol, but he was still not fully conscious.

"I cannot judge what happened between you and your father."

"But just like you said—"

"You also love me as a daughter, as a father."

"Kanna is very happy to have a father like you."

Kanna lowered her head, clutching the hem of her clothes with both hands, her hair falling down and obscuring her eyes.

"Kanna is no longer sure what kind of feelings she has for Mr. Samura... but Kanna knows one thing."

Kanna slowly took Samura's hand and placed it in her own palm.

"Kana cannot lose Mr. Samura."

Her voice trembled slightly.

"So... I'm sorry, Mr. Samura."

Suddenly, Kanna felt a hand gently touching her head.

Startled, he looked up and saw Zuo Cun's eyes.

This was the first time that Zuocun had looked directly into Kanna's eyes, even though he had adopted her for so many years.

"You did nothing wrong, so why should I apologize?"

Zuo Cun's throat was slightly hoarse, probably because he had drunk too much alcohol yesterday.

He smiled and gently stroked Kanna's head.

Kanna looked at the gentle Samura and instantly burst into laughter through her tears.

She embraced Zuocun.

Zuo Cun coughed twice, gently pushed Kanna aside, and stood up.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I'll go make you some."

As he spoke, he staggered into the house.

Kanna looked at Samura's back and smiled.

Mr. Samura, there's something Kanna didn't say.

Kanna doesn't seem like Mr. Samura's daughter.

However, Kanna should remain Mr. Samura's daughter.

Kanna walked into the room and looked at the suicide note lying quietly on the table.

He sighed, carefully wrapped the suicide note again, and continued to carry it close to his body.

In fact, what Kazumasa Koike wrote in his suicide note was mostly gratitude towards Samura.

------------

Chapter 380 The Troublesome Current Situation

Samura served the food to Kanna and then sat down to the side.

Kanna was a little afraid to look at Samura, and just ate her meal quietly.

Zuocun rested his chin on his hand, half asleep.

"Mr. Samura, aren't you going to eat?" Kanna asked cautiously when she noticed that Samura hadn't picked up any chopsticks.

"My stomach hurts a little, Kanna, you eat by yourself." Sakura smiled wearily.

Before Kanna could say anything more, she felt something suddenly smash into the doorway of her little house.

Zuo Cun, who had been drowsy, suddenly woke up.

"I'll go check on it. You stay here and don't move." Zuo Cun picked up the pheasant feathers and crane wings and walked towards the door.

“Mr. Samura…” Kanna said with some concern.

Before Zuo Cun even reached the door, he saw a man dressed in black Wu clothing barge in.

"Zuocun, something terrible has happened!"

That sound...

"Sakamoto?"

The man who appeared in front of the gate of Zuocun was none other than Sakamoto Ryoma.

"What happened? Come in and tell me." Zuo Cun didn't say much.

For Ryoma to go to such lengths, traveling all the way from Satsuma to Kyoto specifically to inform Samura, something significant must have happened.

Longma took a sip of tea, panting heavily.

"The Choshu Domain's fleet... at Shimonoseki, bombarded the foreign fleet with cannons."

Zuo Cun's brows furrowed instantly.

"Chōshū Domain? Are you sure that's a Chōshū Domain fleet?"

“I know for sure.” Ryoma spread out the map and pointed to the sea not far from Shimonoseki. “It was right here that the Choshu Domain laid cannon fire on a group of merchant ships from four countries, including Britain, France, the United States, and the Netherlands. The foreigners suffered heavy casualties.”

"...This is troublesome." Zuo Cun felt his heart beating a little fast.

“The people of the Choshu Domain are known throughout the country for their radical anti-foreign sentiments, but... this time they were far too reckless.” Ryoma covered his head.

“If this isn’t handled properly… it might eventually escalate into a four-nation encirclement of Japan… Choshu Domain…” Samura gritted his teeth.

“Once a full-scale war breaks out, Japan’s strength will be insufficient to even withstand a single country, let alone all four of them attacking together.” Ryoma shook his head and sighed deeply.

Zuocun pondered for a moment, then stood up.

What are you going to do?

“I’ll go find that young crown prince… After all, as the crown prince, he still has a certain amount of influence in front of His Majesty the Emperor.” Zuocun’s eyes were anxious. “If all else fails… I’ll go see Tokugawa Iemochi.”

“Calm down, Samura.” Ryoma grabbed Samura’s sleeve. “The Crown Prince is just the Crown Prince, and Mutsuhito is currently alienated from the Emperor. It’s no use.”

“Then I’ll go directly to Tokugawa Iemochi.” A bead of cold sweat trickled down Samura’s temple.

Sakamoto did not stop them immediately, but said to Samura, "Tokugawa Iemochi couldn't possibly be unaware of this; they must be discussing countermeasures as well."

"Right now, we don't need to worry about them; instead, we need to figure out...our position."

Ryoma looked into Samura's eyes.

"That's why I came to find you."

Zuo Cun scratched his head in annoyance and put the two knives aside.

“You’re not usually this anxious.” Ryoma breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Samura had finally calmed down.

If Samura really does break into Kyoto to find Tokugawa Iemochi, then we'll probably see a nationwide wanted poster for Samura tomorrow.

Zuo Cun lowered his head nonchalantly and did not respond.

"The Kaien Team hasn't even been truly established yet, and this kind of thing has already happened..." Ryoma didn't pay much attention and changed the subject.

"What is Satsuma's attitude towards this matter?" Samura inquired.

"Because the British warships that bombarded Kagoshima recently show no signs of withdrawing, the Satsuma navy is still in a standoff with the British at sea..."

"Didn't they say they'd withdraw?" Zuo Cun asked, somewhat surprised. "Didn't those British people keep their word?"

Ryoma shook his head: "No, it's just that there are some radical guys in the Satsuma Navy, so..."

"I understand." Zuo Cun covered his forehead and closed his eyes. "Why do things like this keep happening at such crucial moments?"

"What's your opinion?" Ryoma asked, looking at Samura, who had his head down.

Zuo Cun blinked and stroked his chin.

"There's a tense atmosphere in Kyoto right now. The higher-ups are probably about to make some big moves. The British sending warships to Edo has had a huge impact on those people. To prevent this from happening again, they will definitely take action against the anti-foreign faction. That's the situation in Kyoto, and that's one of the reasons."

"The attitude of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate will definitely affect the various powerful domains. The anti-foreign faction in Tosa is mostly concentrated around Kyoto. Tosa, where the anti-foreign faction is scarce, will definitely be affected. Yamanouchi Yodo will probably target Takechi and his group. This is the situation in Tosa, and it is also the second point."

Ryoma picked up where Samura left off and continued his analysis: "And Satsuma and Choshu, two powerful domains with rather radical anti-foreign sentiments, especially Choshu, may even become enemies of the court after this shelling incident."

"What we need to do now is to hide our tails well," Village Chief Zuo sighed.

"Although we are very unwilling, this is the best thing we can do right now."

"So... you mean... to bide your time and conceal your abilities, right...?" Ryoma crossed his arms and pondered quietly.

"We also need to consider various subsequent matters." Zuocun held up one finger. "There are several scenarios."

"The first scenario is that Shikoku and Japan go to war."

"The second option is for the four countries to follow the British example and demand compensation from the Imperial Court and the Shogunate."

"The third possibility is that the four countries launch targeted retaliatory actions against Choshu."

“There might be more than just these three possibilities, and it’s also possible that all three could happen at the same time.” Zuo Cun pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m fine here. I can hide anywhere with Kanna. The main thing is you.”

"Not to mention Choshu, if Satsuma and the British go to war, you might also be in trouble."

"Don't worry, Zuocun. Although Ryoma is a weakling, Miss A-Long will protect him well!" Miss A-Long poked her head out from the doorway and said confidently to Zuocun.

“Don’t worry, Zuocun. Since we’ve decided to scale back our operations, I won’t be making any major moves for the next two years.” Ryoma smiled. “I met someone in Satsuma who’s quite capable.”