I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Also joining in the fun today were the Chiba siblings and the young and old duo from the Senjiya.

Although the three groups were not in the same location, they were all moving in the same direction.

In such a crowded environment, let alone running, even walking is extremely difficult.

The crowd doesn't move by walking, but by squeezing—whenever there's even a small opening in front, they immediately push through.

January was originally a holiday month for the southern Edo residents.

However, due to a severe shortage of manpower, the staff of the Nanfan Institute who had returned three times were temporarily pulled in to work overtime.

The government mobilized a large number of police officers, including the "Sanhui" of the Magistrate's Office and the local police force, to finally maintain order in Asakusa.

Thanks to this, although Asakusa was extremely noisy, it was generally stable and no serious incidents such as stampedes occurred.

And so, after a series of pushing and shoving, Souji and the others finally arrived at their destination—the open space in front of Senso-ji Temple.

In the center of the spacious open space stood a makeshift platform.

This is the recruitment venue for the Jingji Zhenfu Army.

As they approached the venue, the crowd split into two groups.

Those who wish to enlist should go to the east side of the high platform.

Those who came to watch the spectacle moved to the west and south sides of the platform.

The north side of the platform is left open, and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to approach—Qingdeng will come from this direction in a little while.

To prevent outsiders from getting close, dozens of fully armed fire-fighting thieves formed a tight human wall by standing shoulder to shoulder, isolating the crowd and creating a "vacuum zone" between the platform and the crowd where strangers could not approach.

The samurai in charge of leading this group was none other than Aoto's old friend, the Tiger of Fire, Mizushima Ninzaburo.

After experiencing the previous series of changes, the Fire Thief was severely weakened.

First Division Captain Tadaro Abiko and Second Division Captain Tadatsugu Kanazawa are dead.

Third Division Captain Tachibana Aoto was promoted to the right.

Fifth Division Captain Kazuma Kimura and Sixth Division Captain Motozo Himaka were executed.

Five of the eight team leaders were eliminated, and these were all highly capable individuals.

Mizushima Ninzaburo thus became the strongest of the Fire Thief Modified form without even realizing it.

Although new recruits have been selected to fill the captain's vacancy, as the saying goes, "It is easy to find a thousand soldiers, but difficult to find a general." The abilities of these new recruits are simply no match for those of Qing Deng, Abiko, and others.

In the short term, Fire Thieves can forget about regaining its former glory—although it wasn't exactly "glorious" back then.

Throughout history, all departments and armies of the shogunate, including the arsonist and thief reformers, have been repeating the process of "decline, decline, and further decline."

……

……

time flies.

Just as the distant clock struck five (5 a.m., or 8 a.m.), the man who had created this grand occasion finally appeared amidst the anticipation of the crowd.

"Moo moo moo~~"

Qing Deng, dressed in a kendo uniform, rode a radish without any attendants. He slowly approached the platform from the north and then, under the watchful eyes of countless people, stepped onto the platform.

Even though he did nothing, merely appearing in everyone's sight, the scene had already erupted in excitement.

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!"

"Tachibana-sama!"

"Lord Niou!"

……

The cheers erupted.

Shouts and cheers filled the air.

Even the Shieikan group, Chiba siblings, and the old and young duo from the Senjiya, who were familiar with Aoto, were startled by the overwhelming heat that permeated the surroundings.

"Is this the influence of Niou...?"

Kondo Isami muttered to himself.

Hijikata Toshizo shrugged and laughed:

“What do you think? Don’t underestimate the weight a capable and honest official carries in the hearts of the people. Ah Sheng, I bet you—at least half of the people here came because they admire Ju.”

……

……

Qingdeng stood in the very center of the platform, surveyed the area below, and then reached out and made a few gestures in mid-air.

Upon seeing this, the crowd fell silent.

In no time, the noisy meeting room quieted down, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"I'm sure you all know why I'm here today."

With the reinforcement of "Piercing Clouds and Splitting Rocks +1" and "Oriole's Song", Qingdeng's loud and clear voice clearly spread to every corner of the venue.

"Time is precious, so I won't waste any more words."

"This selection is to choose the bravest warriors."

"Therefore, the assessment method is very simple—spar with me! Show me your strength! As long as your strength can gain my approval, you can join the team!"

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, the venue... especially the east side venue where the applicants were waiting, erupted in an uproar.

Those who are confident in their skills either remain calm or show delight.

As for those with mediocre skills, or even those who have never learned martial arts, they looked anxious and distressed.

Besides feeling a mix of emotions about the simplistic and brutal selection process, the public was also amazed by the "dedication" of the youth team.

There must be at least a thousand people gathered here to register!

Is Qingdeng going to fight each of these thousands of people one by one?

Even if he doesn't mind the trouble, he'd still be exhausted, right?

Qingdeng had anticipated this reaction, so he remained calm and added slowly:

"Martial arts skills are not the only criterion for the assessment. If someone has outstanding physical abilities, I will make an exception and admit them. Even if someone has never learned martial arts, they don't need to worry about not having a chance to pass the selection."

Upon hearing this, those who had previously looked worried immediately looked much better.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Qing Deng just wanted to start exploiting his talent... ah, no, to start the selection process as soon as possible. He lowered his head and glanced at a young official below the platform.

The clerk nodded knowingly, then turned around, facing the east side of the meeting hall, picked up the thick book in his hands, which was as thick as a brick, and opened to the first page.

"Inutaro! Inutaro from Ino Village!"

This constable was chosen by Qingdeng specifically because of his loud voice to announce his name.

As soon as he finished speaking, a man with a simple and honest appearance raised his arm.

"I...I'm Inutaro!"

"Choose your weapons! Come on stage!"

As he spoke, the bailiff gestured toward the weapons rack placed below the high platform.

The weapon rack is filled with bamboo swords, bamboo kodachi, bamboo dadachi, wooden spears, wooden naginata, kusarigama... all the close-combat weapons commonly used by Japanese samurai.

"Yes Yes!"

Inutaro hurriedly pushed through the crowd to the weapon rack. After scanning the rack several times with a flustered look, he casually pulled out a bamboo sword.

When he ascended the high platform and faced Qingdeng from afar, it immediately sparked a great deal of discussion.

He wore a coarse cloth shirt that had faded from being soaked in sweat, had no knife at his waist, and his skin was as dark as coal; he was clearly a farmer.

The first person to sign up was a farmer... This was truly unexpected.

Perhaps due to nervousness, Inutaro's limbs were trembling, and even the bamboo sword in his hand was shaking incessantly, just like the swordsmanship of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school.

Qingdeng picked up the bamboo sword that someone had just given him and assumed a mid-level stance.

"Inutaro, attack!"

"Lord Renwang, I... I've never practiced martial arts..."

"It's alright, just keep attacking. If you haven't practiced martial arts, then show me your strength and courage. To put it bluntly, fighting is nothing more than 'courage, strength, and skill'."

Hearing Qing Deng say that, Inutaro's tension eased considerably.

After taking several deep breaths, he raised the bamboo sword above his head.

"Haa ...

Accompanied by a strange, unintelligible sound, Inutaro rushed to Aoto's side and swung his sword fiercely.

Qing Deng raised his sword to defend.

The bamboo swords clashed in mid-air, immediately producing a series of resounding "crackling" sounds.

Inutaro was not lying or being modest; he truly had never learned martial arts.

His footwork was a complete mess.

There are basically no techniques involved.

He only knew how to use the "New Year's greeting sword technique," which involved repeatedly raising and lowering the bamboo sword.

However, he is quite strong.

The whooshing sound of the wind breaking through the air was astonishing.

As Qingdeng parried his moves, he mentally counted the time.

——8……9……10……11……12……13……

Just to be on the safe side, he added an extra 3 seconds.

After 13 seconds had passed, Qing Deng nimbly flipped his wrists—one block and one parry—and with just these two moves, he sent Inutaro's bamboo sword flying.

Immediately afterwards, Qing Deng listened intently... but the system voice did not sound in his mind.