I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Then, I'll take my leave first. Please excuse me."

Qingdeng turned to look at his subordinates behind him.

"Gentlemen, let's go."

With that, he led the Shinsengumi soldiers away.

He had barely left the Kyoto Magistrate's Office when he gestured with his eyes to Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Isami, Yamanami Keisuke, and Kiyokawa Hachiro behind him.

Upon seeing this, the four immediately understood and quickened their pace, gathering around Qingdeng.

Qingdeng looked up at the setting sun that was about to be swallowed by the horizon.

"Issue the order to the entire army: Organize equipment and prepare for battle."

Concise and clear commands.

Upon receiving this order, the expressions of Hijikata Toshizo and the others immediately underwent significant and varied changes.

Kiyohachiro seemed to be deep in thought.

Keisuke Yamanami had a serious expression.

Kondo Isami was eager to try.

Hijikata Toshizo burst into laughter:

"Tachibana, today is only the second day since we entered Kyoto. Are we already about to start our first battle as Shinsengumi?"

Qing Deng smiled slightly, a meaningful expression appearing on his face.

"Don't the people of Kyoto always refer to us as 'Eastern Barbarians'? If that's the case, then let the people of Kyoto open their eyes and let them witness firsthand the fierceness and brutality of the Eastern Barbarians!"

……

……

That night--

Kyoto, the main camp of the Kusunoki Group—

The main camp of the Kusunoki Group is a luxurious four-story mansion.

This house was originally the property of a landlord in Kyoto.

After the Nanmu Group prospered by riding the wave of the "Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians" movement, the landlord sold the house to the Nanmu Group at a bargain price in order to curry favor with them.

From then on, this mansion was set up as the main camp of the Kusunoki Clan, and it remains so to this day.

At this very moment, in a room on the top floor of the mansion, a fierce argument was raging and refusing to subside.

"Taiichi! We can't hesitate any longer! We must apologize to Tachibana Seito as soon as possible! We must show a subservient attitude that 'Tachibana is the one who will lead!' We absolutely cannot offend Tachibana Seito!"

A thin young man spoke these words to the burly man sitting high on the head seat in a pleading tone.

Sitting in the head seat at the summit meeting where the core members of the Nanmu Group gathered... the identity of the burly man was already obvious.

It was none other than the current leader of the Kusunoki Group—Ayase Taichi.

This extraordinary man, who transformed the Nanmu Group from a lowly Yakuza organization into the infamous Zunrang Group through his exceptional vision and methods, is now standing with his arms crossed, his face filled with hesitation and uncertainty.

Before Ayase Taichi could speak, a fat man sitting opposite the thin young man curled his lip and retorted with a look of disdain:

"Hmph! Suzuki-kun, stop boosting the enemy's morale and belittling ours! What's so great about that Tachibana Aoto? We have absolutely nothing to fear from him!"

The thin young man blushed:

"You guys are absolutely insane! You've been running rampant in Kyoto, do you really think you're invincible?"

……

……

At the same time—

A certain alleyway very close to the main camp of the Kusunoki Group—

Qingdeng leaned against the earthen wall behind him, staring blankly at the empty space in front of him while stuffing rice balls into his mouth.

At that moment, Hijikata Toshizo walked over.

"Ju, are all the teams ready? When do we attack?"

Qingdeng smiled, ignoring the rice grains in his mouth, and said indistinctly:

"No rush, let's wait until our female ninja returns."

*******

*******

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

Some readers asked Leopard: Where is the Angoulême family?

Don't worry, Leopard hasn't forgotten them. How could a lecherous leopard forget Elodie, who is also one of the heroines? It's not their turn to appear yet, so we'll keep them out of the spotlight for now.

Chapter 574 Kill the Enemy Without Hesitation! After tonight, the Kusunoki Group will cease to exist in Kyoto! [4200]

When the news that "Yamazaki Heijiro offended Tachibana Aoto, and he and his underlings were all arrested by Tachibana Aoto" reached the headquarters of the Kusunoki Group, the core members of the Kusunoki Group, led by Ayase Taichi, all looked up to the sky and hurled every swear word in Japanese.

How should we respond to this sudden crisis?

The Nanmu Group is broadly divided into two factions: the "moderates" and the "radicals".

The former believes that a visit to the Shinsengumi headquarters is necessary immediately to offer a humble apology and seek Qing Deng's understanding.

The most representative figure is this slender young man named Suzuki Jinzo.

As for the latter, they argued: "To show such a respectful and subservient attitude to Qingdeng? Where would that leave the face of our Nanmu Group!"

The most prominent example is this fat man who is currently clashing with Suzuki Jinzo: Nozawa Harutai.

"You guys are really crazy!"

The thin young man... namely Suzuki Jinzo, roared hoarsely.

"I really don't understand, what's there to argue about or hesitate about?"

"The other party is none other than the Garrison Commander of the Capital Region! The benevolent Prince, whose power resounds throughout the land!"

"Besides humbly begging for forgiveness, do we have any other options?"

The fat man... Nozawa Harutai snorted coldly:

"Suzuki-kun, you don't need to yell like that. Reason doesn't lie in raising your voice!"

“I do not object to apologizing to Tachibana Aoto.”

"However, I still stand by my point of view: we should not grovel before Tachibana Seido!"

Who are we?

"We are the Kusunoki Group, which currently has over two hundred members!"

"We uphold the noble cause of 'respecting the king and repelling the barbarians'!"

"We have even more men capable of fighting than Tachibana Seito's Shinsengumi!"

"We are now a formidable force in Kyoto!"

"Suzuki-kun, your argument completely places us in a inferior position, 'far inferior to the Shinsengumi'!"

"Go to their door with a fawning smile and an apology like a lackey? Where is the face and dignity of the Nanmu Group?"

"Suzuki-kun! Wake up!"

"We are no longer the lowly Yakuza!"

"We should treat Tachibana Aoto as an equal!"

Suzuki Jinzo opened his eyes wide, then frowned and his face turned red.

"Face? Dignity? You guys are really crazy!"

"It seems that your smooth development in recent years has really made you forget your own limitations!"

"I'll return your 'Wake up!' to you exactly as you said it!"

"You... no! You're the ones who really need to wake up!"

Suzuki Jinzo turned his gaze and scanned the group of "radical" members, represented by Nozawa Harutai.

"Put away your arrogant, conceited, and self-righteous ideas!"

"Righteousness? Warriors who can fight? That's laughable!"

"Have you been shouting slogans so much that you've come to believe them yourself?!"

"Do you really consider yourselves chivalrous and righteous heroes?"

"You really consider us, the Kusunoki Group, to be a powerful and influential organization in Kyoto?"

"Come on!"

"I'm starting to lose track of what you're thinking. Are you just being unreasonable, or are you genuinely sincere?"

"In that case, let me make things clear!"

"What utter nonsense about the righteous cause of 'respecting the king and expelling barbarians'!"

"Why don't you investigate how many of our subordinates truly take this so-called righteous cause seriously?"

"I'm afraid there are quite a few people who can't even write the Chinese characters for 'Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians'!"

"We've simply changed into a more convenient skin to make money! At heart, we're still the same Yakuza!"

"As for your statement that 'there are more soldiers than Tachibana Seito's Shinsengumi'... that's a huge joke!"

"The 'warriors' you're referring to, are you referring to those good-for-nothings who flock here just to reap benefits?"

"How many of them are just vulnerable, mindless zombies?"

"How many of them are just useless cowards who can only show their power when they bully unarmed civilians?"

"You expect them to fight, to fight tough battles?"