I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Yamanami Keisuke smiled and said:

“Harada-kun, thank you for your praise. However, if you can remember that the main characters of the ‘Honnoji Incident’ were Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide, not Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Ishida Mitsunari, I will be even more grateful to you.”

Seeing that Kondo Isami's determination was even stronger than he had imagined, Hijikata Toshizo said no more—though he still looked unconvinced.

Just then, suddenly, slow footsteps came from the direction of the corridor.

"Huh? Yong, what are you all doing gathered here?"

Kondo Shusuke, who had just returned from his outing, strode in.

"Father, you're back! We're receiving the treasure that Tachibana-kun gave us!"

"Oh? A Noble Phantasm?"

Kondo Shusuke slightly opened his narrow eyes.

After Qing Deng and the others gave a brief explanation, the old man laughed heartily.

"Yo, could you show me the Nagasone Kotetsu that your brother gave you?"

"of course can!"

Kotetsu is in Aoto's hands.

He immediately sheathed his sword—it would be very impolite to hand a drawn sword to someone else like that—Kondo Shusuke took the sword and carefully examined it from head to toe.

In terms of experience, Kondo Shusuke, who is over sixty years old, is far superior to Aoto and others whose average age is only in their early twenties.

Everyone waited quietly.

A moment later, a look of surprise appeared on Kondo Shusuke's old face.

"Oh dear, this is Minamoto Kiyomaro! This sword must be a fake made by Minamoto Kiyomaro."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces showed expressions of sudden realization.

Souji murmured softly:

"So it was a knife sharpened by Gen Kiyoshi... no wonder it's of such high quality."

Minamoto Kiyomaro is a swordsman from Shinano.

In 1834, Minamoto Kiyomaro, determined to make the finest Japanese swords, left his hometown and went to Edo to become a student of Kubota Seine, expressing his desire to learn swordsmanship and improve his forging skills.

After witnessing Kiyomaro's forging skills, Kubota Kiyone was greatly impressed and immediately lent Kiyomaro a room in her residence to use as a forging workshop.

Because his works have a very typical Sōshū style, the blade surface often shows itamehae, the texture is dense and delicate, the base is thick, the tempering style is very domineering, and with the long golden vein sand flow, the air hole is clear and bright, which reflects Kiyomaro's excellent control over heat treatment.

Because he lived in Yotsuya in Edo, he soon earned the reputation of "Yotsuya Masamune" and was known as one of the "Three Masters of Edo" along with his contemporaries, Mizushinko Masahide and Ōkei Naotane.

Kiyomaro Minamoto is a person with extremely high standards for himself, to the point that one could even say he is neurotic.

His dedication... to put it nicely, is that of a true craftsman; to put it more bluntly, it's that he has that awkward Japanese style of "always wanting to die for someone."

All the works made by him, regardless of the period, are excellent swords of superior quality.

However, this obsession with constantly improving himself also tormented his spirit, and coupled with long-term alcoholism, his mental state was in a very bad state.

Finally, in 1854, he committed suicide at the age of 42, and a renowned craftsman thus perished.

Gen Kiyomaro once copied the Kotetsu sword, and the quality was so high that it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

This also explains why a counterfeit product can have such excellent quality.

Kondo Isami rubbed the back of his head and said helplessly:

"So it was a counterfeit of Minamoto Kiyomaro's... In that case, there's nothing we can do about my brother being fooled."

Kondo Shusuke sheathed his sword and handed it back to Kondo Isami with both hands.

"Although it can't compare to the real Kotetsu, since it's a sword made by Minamoto no Kiyomaro, its quality is still quite considerable. Your brother didn't get cheated by buying this sword for 50 taels of gold."

Kondo Isami nodded vigorously, and said in a spirited voice:

"Father, just watch! I will surely make a name for myself and this Tiger Cleaver together!"

Thus, Qingdeng's "sitting in rows, holding knives" finally came to an end.

Everyone received their desired weapon.

Everyone is happy, congratulations!

Kinoshita Mai gripped Echizen Yasutsugu tightly in her hand, giving Aoto a disgruntled look while pouting and muttering:

"So the gift you were going to give me was a knife... You should have said so earlier."

"You made me so excited..." she silently added in her mind.

"..."

Sanako didn't speak—but her eyes alone revealed that she shared the same thoughts as Kinoshita Mai.

Qingdeng smiled bitterly:

"I just wanted to surprise you all..."

Compared to before, the two women's expressions softened considerably.

They seemed quite satisfied with the gifts Qingdeng had given them and had calmed down.

虽然青登还是不知道自己刚才为什么会挨揍……但是管它的！这种小事，就当作是情侣间的打情骂俏好了！

Just as the atmosphere inside and outside the temple was still filled with joy—

"Ah! I almost forgot!"

Kinoshita Mai suddenly let out a strange cry.

Qingdeng looked in the direction of the sound.

"A-Wu, what's wrong?"

"Aoto, Mr. Kiryu asked me to pass on a message to you!"

"Mr. Kiryu?"

"Yes, that's right! He said, 'Come to the Thousand Things Shop tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., I have something very important to entrust to you personally!'"

……

……

The next day, at 5:00 AM —

Edo, the Thousand Things Shop—

Kiryu's suggested meeting time was 4:00 AM, but Aoto arrived 2 hours early, at 5:00 AM.

This is not because Qingdeng is the kind of good kid who would rather arrive 2 hours early than be late.

It was because... last night, Kinoshita Mai secretly informed him: "Aoto... um... this... Mr. Kiryu will be going out early tomorrow morning and won't be back until 4 a.m.... so... so..."

As she said this, Kinoshita Mai blushed, fiddled with her fingers, and shyly scratched her clogs with her toes—it would be too impolite of Aoto not to give a positive and enthusiastic response!

*******

*******

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Leopard has released a new chapter in the "Related Works" section of Qidian: "[The Organizational Structure of the Shinsengumi] and [The Weapons of the Shinsengumi Heroes]". Readers who have forgotten the Shinsengumi's organizational structure, personnel composition, or even the names of Aoto and others' weapons can revisit this chapter from time to time.

Chapter 549 imparts the ultimate secret of the Flowing Light Sword Drawing Technique: [Moment]! [4500]

Two hours later—

Kinoshita Mai was absolutely right; Kiryu-sensei returned precisely when the hour hand of the clock had just crossed "10".

Edo, Senjiya, Garden—

The master and disciple sat side by side on the veranda, facing the courtyard in front.

"Mr. Kiryu, Mr. Seito, please have some tea."

Kinoshita Mai, carrying a tea tray containing two cups of hot tea and a plate of wagashi (Japanese sweets), walked up behind the two with small, quick steps.

At first glance, the girl in red appeared to be acting as usual, with nothing unusual about her.

However, upon closer observation, one can notice that when she walks, her two small feet tremble slightly, the muscles in her legs seem to be filled with fatigue, and her voice is also a bit strange.

Although this was only a trivial matter, the old man possessed extraordinary senses.

"Young Master, what's wrong with your legs and voice? Why are they trembling? Why are they hoarse?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man sitting next to him suddenly stiffened, and his hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

Kinoshita Mai paused, then her gaze darted around, panicked, and she stammered incoherently:

"Ah, ahh...! Th-this, it's nothing! It's just that my mouth is sore and my legs are tired... Waaaaaah!"

She snapped out of her daze and yelled, trying to cover up her embarrassment and mistake with a loud voice.

Unfortunately... it's too late. The most crucial information has already been overheard by Kiryu.

This is one of her old problems.

Because of her introverted nature and poor communication skills, once she gets flustered, she will blurt out everything she should and shouldn't say.

"..."

The Kiryu boss lowered his eyelids and cast a straight, deep gaze at Kinoshita Mai.

Kinoshita Mai, who dared not meet his gaze, lowered her head, her pretty face flushed red, and clutched the tea tray tightly to her chest, as if trying to hide behind it for a sense of security.

Suddenly, the old man pointed to the girl's lips.

“…Oh dear, young master, there seems to be some strange stain on the corner of your mouth.”

"Huh? How is that possible? I've definitely washed myself clean!"

As she spoke, Kinoshita Mai raised her hand to wipe her mouth, then looked closely—there was nothing on her hand.

Beep, beep, tick-tock...

Suddenly, a strange sound came out.