I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Now... let's escape from here together."

There's a saying: "You can't hit someone who's smiling."

From the moment he began speaking, Shuten-dōji wore a friendly smile and spoke in a soft, gentle tone.

However... Katsura Kogoro didn't buy it.

He did not lower his guard because of Shuten-dōji's overtures.

His eyes remained unchanged—full of wariness and suspicion.

"...What exactly do you want to do?"

"Let me be frank—I don't want to associate with you bunch of rioters who only know how to cause destruction."

Shuten-dōji seemed to have anticipated that Katsura Kogoro would say that.

His expression remained unchanged; he still maintained his "Mr. Nice Guy" demeanor.

"Katsura Kogoro, I understand your fear of us."

"But at least for now, we are not your enemies."

"I genuinely want to help you shake off the pursuit of the Huisa coalition."

"Our bloody battle just now should be enough to show our stance, right?"

Katsura Kogoro: "..."

Despite his numerous suspicions, Katsura Kogoro had to admit that Shuten-dōji and the others did not exude any murderous aura.

Moreover, their timely appearance and assistance were indeed a great help.

After a moment of silence, Katsura Kogoro countered with a question:

"...What do you plan to do?"

"Although you are highly skilled and have excellent combat abilities, in the face of an army of three thousand with guns, cannons and cavalry, you three are nothing more than ants trying to shake a tree."

"Or do you have reinforcements coming?"

He had barely finished speaking when Umibozu interrupted:

"Shuten-dōji, he's hit the nail on the head."

As he spoke, Umibozu strode quickly toward Shuten-dōji:

What should we do next?

"Although we rushed in under your orders, to be honest, I'm completely clueless right now."

"It's utterly absurd for the three of us to think we can stop an army of three thousand."

"I know you must be plotting something."

"Stop hiding it, just show it off."

Faced with the questions from Katsura Kogoro and Umibozu, Shuten-dōji chuckled lightly.

"Katsura Kogoro, Umibozu, when you're thinking about a problem, you need to learn to broaden your thinking."

"Avoid direct confrontation unless absolutely necessary."

"Our goal is to block the Hui-Sa alliance and buy time for the Changzhou army to withdraw."

"In that case, our options are not limited to 'confronting the enemy head-on'."

As Sun Tzu's Art of War states: "Those who first occupy the battlefield and await the enemy are at ease; those who arrive later and rush into battle are weary. Therefore, the skillful strategist brings the enemy to his own ends, rather than being brought to his own ends."

"Therefore, we should defeat the enemy, not be defeated by the enemy."

Have you ever heard the story of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao"?

"If you want to maneuver the enemy and force them to be constantly on the move, you must attack where they must defend."

"It's obvious. There's a place in Kyoto town not far from here that the Hui-Za alliance would never abandon..."

Upon hearing this, Katsura Kogoro seemed to realize something, and his pupils suddenly contracted:

"Shuten-dōji, you wouldn't be going to..."

As for Sukuna and Umibozu, they both showed expressions of sudden realization, "Oh! I see."

A meaningful glint appeared in Shuten-dōji's eyes, then he turned to Sukuna and Umibōzu and said:

“I will go there myself. Sukuna, Umibozu, I'll leave this to you.”

"This forest is very nice."

"If we can make good use of this forest and the darkness of tonight, it should be no problem to hold out for an hour or two."

"Su Nuo, you are a 'child of the forest,' and forest warfare is your forte. You'd better do your best."

Su Nuo chuckled softly:

"I'll do my best, but you'd better hurry. If you can't finish before dawn, we could be in danger."

Shuten-dōji smiled slightly, then turned and jumped onto a warhorse left behind by an Aizu cavalryman not far away.

"Well then... I'll take my leave now. Best of luck in your military endeavors!"

After speaking, Shuten-dōji shouted "Giddy up!" and spurred his horse away.

Watching Shuten-dōji's rapidly receding figure, Katsura Kogoro couldn't help but ask quickly:

"Wait! Are you really going to let him go into battle alone like this? That's too dangerous!"

"Although the main force of the Huisa coalition has come to pursue us, it is impossible for them not to have set up defenses in that place!"

"Trying to storm that place alone would be a near-certain death!"

Katsura Kogoro's anxiety was palpable.

However... on the other hand, Sukuna and Umibozu remained unusually calm, without even raising an eyebrow.

"Guests from Changzhou, you can rest assured."

Umibozu said quietly:

"Shuten-dōji is no ordinary person; he cannot be judged by worldly standards."

“From birth, he was born with a kind of… ‘invincible state’.”

"He is a true genius."

"It's hard for me to describe Shuten-dōji's power in words."

In short—there's no need to worry about his personal safety.

"He's incredibly strong!"

Umibozu's words revealed a strong sense of admiration and respect.

Sukuna chuckled meaningfully, picking up where Umibozu left off:

"Katsura Kogoro, let me put it this way."

"Aside from Ōtakemaru and Ogata Itsuse, whose fate is uncertain, Shuten-dōji is undoubtedly the strongest warrior of our time! Without a doubt!"

"Even the currently powerful 'Niou' Tachibana Aoto is definitely no match for Shuten-dōji!"

……

……

About half an hour later—

Kyoto, Imperial Palace—

After leading a large army to pursue the Choshu people, Matsudaira Katamori and Saigo Kichinosuke left behind more than 200 men to guard the fortress.

At this moment, these 200-plus soldiers were evenly distributed outside the nine gates of the Imperial Palace, idly carrying out their guard duties.

"It's so hot... so stuffy and hot..."

"How long are we going to stand here like idiots?"

"Seriously, is it really necessary for us to guard the Imperial Palace? There's absolutely no way anyone would dare to harm it right now, is there?"

It's no wonder that these soldiers had this "passive resistance" mentality.

The Choshu army has completely retreated, and the pro-shogunate faction has completely taken over this ancient capital. At present, no other force in Kyoto dares to challenge the pro-shogunate faction—everyone would think so, right?

As the Imperial Palace and its surroundings were enveloped in the gentle darkness of night, in this tranquil moment—

Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap, tap tap...

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats approaching the palace echoed from afar, south of the Sakai-machi Imperial Gate.

[Note: Sakai-cho Imperial Gate: The southern gate of the Imperial Palace]

At first, the soldiers guarding the garrison thought it was a messenger and didn't take it seriously.

It wasn't until the sound of hooves was almost upon them that they belatedly realized something was wrong.

The rider on horseback was not a messenger from the Hui or Sa, but a handsome young man.

Before anyone could react, the handsome young man pulled his feet out of the stirrups, jumped onto the saddle, and then leaped into the air!

His body traced a graceful parabola in mid-air before landing precisely on the soldiers outside the gate!

As he fell, he drew the sword from his waist, raised it high above his head, and then, using the force of gravity and the momentum of the fall, slashed the sword down diagonally!

*Crack*—the sound of flesh being chopped up.

The beautiful boy... that is, Shuten-dōji, was like a predatory beast pouncing, and "crushed" a soldier with a single blow!

"Uh, uh, uh ahh ...

"Enemies! Enemies!"

"What are you all standing there for! Kill him now!"

After a brief moment of shock, the soldiers reacted quickly and swiftly deployed into a crescent-shaped formation, tightly surrounding Shuten-dōji.

Shuten-dōji calmly rolled his eyes, surveying his enemies.

"There are quite a few people... Looks like I'm going to have to work up a sweat tonight."