I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"The Shinsengumi, whom you despise, is a military force composed of warriors carefully selected by Tachibana Seito!"

"With your so-called 'capable warriors,' let alone contend with the Shinsengumi, it would be a big question whether they could even handle Tachibana Seito alone!"

After shouting, Suzuki Jinzo turned around again, facing Ayase Taichi.

"Mr. Ayase! Please don't hesitate any longer!"

"Time is precious. The sooner we act and apologize to Tachibana Seiden, the easier it will be to win his favor!"

"We do not yet know Tachibana Seito's character."

"Whether he wants to be a corrupt official who seeks to eliminate ulcers or a good official who is dedicated to his duties, we do not yet know."

"If it's the former, then everything is fine."

"But if it's the latter, then things will be tricky!"

"In any case, being cautious and making an effort to build good relationships with the other party is always the right thing to do!"

"If you hesitate, you will let precious opportunities slip away!"

At this point, Suzuki Jinzo paused, a look of hesitation appearing on his face.

Then, he gritted his teeth and continued:

“Mr. Ayase, if it were you in the past, you would have been able to quickly see the pros and cons.”

"Could it be that... even you have been corrupted by the comfortable and easy life you have now?"

No sooner had Suzuki Jinzo finished speaking than Nozawa Harutai, like a cat smelling fish, hurriedly shouted:

"Mr. Suzuki! Watch your words! How dare you slander the leader?"

Suzuki Jinzo retorted without backing down:

"If everyone were like you, only saying nice things to hear, the Kusunoki Group would forever remain just a Yakuza group that lives by oppressing the people!"

All eyes in the room were on Ayase Taichi.

Ayase Taichi crossed his arms, deep in thought, his furrowed brows forming a deep frown.

"...Suzuki-kun, I can understand your points, but...I have to admit that Nozawa-kun's argument has some merit..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly seemed to sense something and abruptly raised his head to look at the ceiling.

Such actions naturally caused confusion among those around them.

Nozawa Harutai asked:

"Mr. Ayase, what's wrong?"

"...It must be a rat."

Ayase Taichi silently withdrew his gaze from the ceiling.

"I think I just heard a strange noise from the ceiling."

……

……

A certain alley outside the main camp of the Nanmu Group—

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap...

The incredibly familiar, crisp sound of footsteps.

Qingdeng, who was resting with his eyes closed, opened them.

At that moment, Aoto sat imposingly on a wooden box, surrounded by Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Isami, Yamanami Keisuke, Kiyokawa Hachiro, and the captains of the sword-drawing squad, led by Souji, standing in a fan shape behind him.

Wearing casual clothes, Kinoshita Mai rushed towards Aoto like a whirlwind.

Kinoshita Mai's specialty has always been her incredibly fast footwork.

She was originally just a tiny black dot in Qingdeng's field of vision, but she appeared in front of Qingdeng in the blink of an eye.

"Ah Wu, how is it?"

Qing Deng asked directly.

"Everything has been investigated and found out!"

Despite having just sneaked out of the Kusunoki Group's main camp and run all the way back, Kinoshita Mai was neither red-faced nor out of breath, her breathing as steady as if she had just finished a walk.

"This is a diagram of the internal structure of the main camp of the Nanmu Group. I am not very good at drawing, so the picture may be a bit ugly. Please forgive me."

As she spoke, she took out a simple blueprint from her bosom and spread it out in front of everyone.

Qingdeng and the group behind him all craned their necks out.

"This is a weapons warehouse, but I didn't find any firearms such as arquebuses or cannons; this is their rest area, and there are currently many people gathered here... According to my count, there should be about a hundred enemy soldiers entrenched here."

Kinoshita Mai pointed to various places on the map while providing detailed explanations.

“Ayase Taichi is having a meeting in this room on the top floor. Judging from their conversation, the attendees should be high-ranking executives of the Kusunoki Group.”

In just a short while, she had given a detailed overview of all the key locations in the Nanmu Group's main camp that required extra attention.

After her explanation, Qingdeng nodded slightly:

"Ah Wu, you've worked hard. You should go and rest now."

Then, he slowly stood up, holding the sword at his waist, and turned to look at his generals behind him.

"Have you all remembered the information that A-Wu sent back?"

The commander and the others nodded in agreement.

"Then... let's go!"

Having said that, he took the lead and stepped out of the alley.

With a whoosh, the Shinsengumi soldiers, hidden deep in the alleys, followed closely behind.

Under the cover of night, they kept their mouths shut the entire time, not uttering a single word, and surged like a tide toward the still brightly lit, magnificent mansion not far away.

Before long, the once quiet area around the mansion was filled with a dense crowd of people.

Tonight's battle is the Shinsengumi's first battle.

If they can't even win their first battle, then the Shinsengumi can forget about ever staying in Kyoto again.

Therefore, this is a battle where only victory is allowed and defeat is not permitted.

Therefore, in order to achieve a complete victory, Aoto decided to adopt a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" strategy - the entire Shinsengumi was mobilized!

Under Qingdeng's overall planning, tonight's battle plan is as follows:

He himself, along with Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Isami, led the first, second, third, and fourth squads of the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Battōtai (Sword-Drawing Squad) to launch a frontal assault on the Kusunoki Group's main camp.

Yamanami Keisuke led the fifth, seventh, and tenth squads to surround the main camp of the Kusunoki group, forming the first blockade line to prevent any escapees from slipping through the net.

Led by Kiyokawa Hachiro, the sixth, eighth, and ninth teams blocked off the streets surrounding the main camp of the Kusunoki group, forming a second blockade line to prevent unrelated civilians from approaching the battlefield.

In other words, the attack spearhead will be composed of Aoto, Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Isami, Okita Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime, and Serizawa Kamo, to confront the hundreds of members of the Kusunoki Group!

"...Tonight's mission is singular: kill the enemy on sight!"

Standing at the forefront of the ranks, Qing Deng turned his body to the side, his sharp, eagle-like gaze sweeping across the faces of each soldier.

"After tonight, the Kusunoki Group will cease to exist in Kyoto!"

"Those who retreat in the face of battle, those who shrink back in fear, shall be executed on the spot!"

A chilling glint flashed in Qing Deng's eyes.

Those struck by this chill all straightened their faces and felt a chill run down their spines.

"Follow me!"

In the next instant, flashes of blade light appeared everywhere—the towering gatehouse instantly shattered into countless fragments, scattering in all directions!

The tranquility of the night was broken.

The battle cries reached the heavens!

Like stirring up a hornet's nest, the alarmed patriots rushed out in a daze.

Then, like water droplets hitting a reef, they shattered into pieces, leaving them incomplete!

Qingdeng seemed to be the incarnation of a demon.

Talent "Lone Wolf +3" activated!

His eyes flashed like lightning as he sped forward, leaping into the midst of the enemy ranks on the road.

Someone bumped into Qingdeng head-on.

"You are..."

Before he could even begin his questioning, Qing Deng swiftly chopped off his neck, and a severed head, its face still contorted with shock, fell to his feet.

Immediately afterwards, he slashed at someone's neck at an angle, then adjusted the direction of the blade to pierce another person's chest, and as he withdrew the blade, he knocked a third person to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, he had taken down several people.

In such chaotic battle, Qingdeng would usually never look at the corpses he had killed.

The corpse was still tumbling when his knife was already preparing for the next move, to create the next corpse.

"Who are you people?! Do you even know where you are?!"

One of them shouted a question as he pounced on the enemy like a whirlwind.

Qing Deng flipped his right wrist, changing the grip of the Ding Gui Shen sword from upright to inverted, raised the sword upwards, and used the bottom of the hilt to knock the sword out of his opponent's hand.

The opponent's skills were surprisingly good. After the sword was thrown from his hand, he quickly drew out his spare wakizashi and, with the force of splitting a mountain, chopped down the wakizashi that was raised high above his head. The fierceness of the blow was just like a mountain collapsing.

Just as the wakizashi's blade was about to fall on Qing Deng's head, Qing Deng suddenly rushed forward, bent his knees and lunged into the opponent's arms. While dodging the opponent's attack, he knocked the opponent off balance and almost fell to the ground.

Taking advantage of the moment, Qingdeng plunged the knife into the man's throat from below, swiftly taking another life.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: "Minor Proficiency in Swordsmanship"]

[Talent Introduction: Swordsmanship talent is amplified 3 times the average level]