I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Its territory basically encompassed the entire Nobi Plain (one of Japan's three major plains), making it exceptionally wealthy, possessing a staggering 61 koku of rice.

In terms of overall strength, it is the strongest among the "Big Three".

The current ruler of the Owari Domain is the 16th lord, Tokugawa Yoshiyoshi, who is just over 6 years old this year. The Kyoto court has granted him the official rank of Junior Third Rank Left Imperial Guard Vice-General.

According to the political convention that "the rank of an official in the imperial court is higher than that of an official in the shogunate", the most formal honorific title for Tokugawa Yoshiyoshi is Left Vice-General of the Imperial Guard.

This is for the same reason why the vast majority of people respectfully address Matsudaira Katamori as "Lord Higo." (Matsudaira Katamori's official rank in the Imperial Court was Fifth Rank, Upper Grade, Governor of Higo.)

As soon as Hosoya Saemon finished speaking, Aoto and the others underwent subtle and interesting changes in their expressions.

Sanako blinked and murmured:

"Is this the territory of the Owari Domain...?"

From Iga to Owari... the straight-line distance alone is a full 80 kilometers!

Including the extra distances traveled due to the rugged terrain and impassable roads, the pursuit distance of Qingdeng and his men was at least a hundred kilometers!

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To increase the momentum, I decided to make some changes to the part where people announce their names during the decisive battle. Instead of just announcing their "surname + common name", I changed it to "surname + common name + real name".

Chapter 664 "Demon King" Shuten-dōji Appears! Aoto's Senior Brother! [5700]

It's getting late.

It was a little past five o'clock. Although the sky and the earth were still relatively bright, the sun had already set behind the hills on the other side of the plain.

From the moment Qing Deng and his group began their pursuit, at most half a day had passed.

In half a day, they pursued them for over a hundred miles...

Even during World War II... no, even in modern warfare, such numbers are staggering.

Therefore, it's no wonder that Qing Deng and the others were so surprised.

They were so engrossed in their pursuit that they were completely unaware that they had already chased the enemy for over a hundred miles and had even broken into the territory of the Owari Domain.

At this moment, Hosoya Saemon spoke again:

"Who are you? State your names immediately!"

Perhaps it was from Qing Deng's speech that he vaguely sensed that the person in front of him was no ordinary person.

Hosoya Saemon's tone softened considerably.

As the authority of the shogunate gradually declined, the daimyo of the shogunate, led by the "Gosanke," became increasingly unruly.

As long as their interests are not violated, they will do their utmost to outwardly comply with but inwardly defy all orders issued by the shogunate.

However, regardless of the circumstances, on the surface, the "Gosanke" (three major families) remain allies of the shogunate.

Since we are allies, we should still pay our due respects.

Qingdeng stood up straight, raised his head, and said loudly:

"I am Ju Qingdeng, the Garrison Commander of the Capital Region!"

"We advanced here in pursuit of the bandits."

"We were unaware that this place was Owari Domain territory. We had no intention of offending you, please forgive us!"

The moment he finished speaking, the Owari samurai, led by Hosoya Saemon, widened their eyes, their faces changed, and their expressions were dominated by intense shock.

"The Garrison Commander of the Capital Region?"

"Then isn't he the Benevolent King?"

"Is it really him?"

"That's not right! Lord Niou should be setting up defenses in the Iga region right now, blocking the invading enemy forces!"

"Yes, Lord Niou couldn't possibly be here."

……

They looked at each other, chattering excitedly.

The Owari Domain was adjacent to the capital region.

Therefore, no matter what happened in or around the capital region, the Owari Domain was always able to receive relevant intelligence in the first instance.

This domain was, after all, a long-established powerful state with 62 shi of territory, so it still possessed the most basic information gathering capabilities.

Therefore, they received news of the "Ise uprising" immediately.

Upon learning of the changes in Ise, the Owari Domain government quickly mobilized its army—but not to fulfill its obligation to "establish a domain and use it as a screen."

Instead of sending troops to reinforce Qingdeng, they sent them to the border area to guard their own small plot of land.

The Owari Domain is situated precisely between eastern and western Japan.

In other words, if the rebel army wanted to attack Kanto, Owari Domain was a necessary passage.

To ensure its own peace and interests, the Owari Domain has put in an extremely high level of effort.

While guarding against the invasion of the rebel army, they kept a close eye on the progress of the pacification efforts in Zhenfu Prefecture.

They knew that Aoto had led the "Shinai Allied Army," composed of Shinsengumi and a portion of Aizu soldiers, eastward to Iga to block the rebel army's westward advance.

As for further intelligence, due to limited information transmission capabilities, they had no way of knowing.

Today is February 4.

Qingdeng's deployment date was 9 days ago, on April 2nd.

Including the time for reorganizing the troops and advancing, Qingdeng only took 9 days to completely defeat the bandit army and advance all the way to Owari!

The Owari samurai found this utterly unbelievable.

After a brief period of shock and confusion, Hosoya Saemon regained his composure... or rather, he feigned calmness.

He cleared his throat forcefully, adopted a softer tone, and asked in return:

"You claim to be the Garrison Commander of the Capital Region, what evidence do you have?"

Qingdeng raised an eyebrow.

"What? Haven't you seen my portrait?"

"I personally think that the artist who was responsible for painting my portrait was very skilled. He perfectly reproduced my spirit on the paper."

Hosoya Saemon looked troubled.

After a short while, he answered haltingly:

"I'm sorry, your face... is so dirty! We really can't see your features!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face—a slippery and disgusting sensation covered his fingertips.

If he had a mirror nearby, he could see just how dirty his etched face was.

Simply put, it's just like a color palette, where you can find all sorts of colors.

Mud, sand, dust, grass clippings, and other unidentifiable filth... all sorts of messy dirt covered every corner of his face.

This layer of "dirt" is disgusting in itself.

As a result, the blood and sweat were "harmonized" again... like a melted oil painting.

So filthy it was unsightly; his facial features seemed to be stuck together.

Let alone their appearance, it's even difficult to tell their gender.

Qingdeng rubbed the grime off his fingertips, and said with a wry smile, half-jokingly:

"They were so busy chasing the fleeing enemy that they forgot to take care of their appearance."

After saying that, he took out a clean tissue from his pocket and wiped his face haphazardly.

The white paper instantly turned into a pitch-black "charcoal stick".

After wiping it, although my face was still very dirty, at least my features were visible.

"How about it? Does anyone recognize me now?"

An eerie silence fell over the Owari samurai.

This silence did not last long.

About five seconds later, the shock turned into sound:

"It really is Niou! It really is Tachibana Aoto!"

"Is it really him?"

"That's right! It really is him!"

"You all have no eyes! I recognized him a long time ago. A samurai who rides an ox—there is no one else in the world but Niou!"

……

Hosoya Saemon reacted extremely quickly.

People like him, who work in officialdom, are always very sensitive to the various rules and etiquette of officialdom.

With incredibly nimble movements, he tumbled off the horse in a flash, knelt on one knee, and looked respectful.

Compared to just now, he's like a completely different person.

"Lord Ju, I was rude just now! Please forgive me for my offense!"

Immediately afterwards, the other knights behind him dismounted and bowed respectfully to Qingdeng.

Qingdeng waved his hand:

"I understand, please get up."

At that moment, Hosoya Saemon seemed to have thought of something and asked anxiously in a quick voice:

"Lord Tachibana, since you are currently pursuing bandits, will our sudden appearance hinder you?"