I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Edo, Little Chiba Sword Hall—

"Father! Father! Look!"

As soon as Chiba Jutaro stepped onto the Tsuchima, he impatiently kicked off his straw sandals and rushed into the house to find his father, Chiba Sadakichi.

"Jutaro, what's wrong?"

Chiba Sadakichi slowly walked out of the room.

"Father, look! Tachibana-kun has become a daimyo!"

Chiba Jutaro shoved the tabloid in his hand into Chiba Sadakichi's arms.

Chiba Sadakichi first raised his eyebrows forcefully, then impatiently unfolded the newspaper in his arms and began to read it carefully, word by word.

A moment later, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, and his cheeks were flushed.

"Good...good! Tachibana-kun, well done!"

With each word he spoke, the wrinkles on his cheeks smoothed out a little more.

"A territory of 30 koku... Good, very good!"

Overjoyed, Chiba Sadakichi's words were filled with a strong sense of pride.

"Now that Tachibana-kun is a daimyo, it's time for him to get married."

"How can a lord of a vassal state be without an heir?"

"I wonder when his wedding with Sanako will take place."

Chiba Sadakichi was talking to himself, completely unaware that Chiba Jutaro beside him was becoming increasingly strange, with cold sweat pouring down his forehead...

Thanks to Chiba Jutaro's secrecy, the members of the Chiba family are still unaware of Seito's grand dream of "marrying three wives"...

……

……

Edo, Shieikan—

"Hmph... Hmph hmph hmph... Hmph hmph hmph hmph!"

"Stop laughing! You've been laughing nonstop since just now, when are you going to stop?"

The bristling-haired Abi roared at Kondo Shusuke.

"Sigh, it's not my fault."

Kondo Shusuke shrugged, feigning innocence.

"With such a joyous occasion, it's hard not to be beaming with happiness, isn't it?"

"Tsk...really..."

Although Abi was scolding her, she wasn't much happier—a smile played on her lips, and her eyes held an uncontrollable joy.

Qing Deng was not the only one who made contributions in the "Tianzhu Group Annihilation Battle".

Therefore, following Aoto, all the generals of the Shinsengumi also received generous rewards!

Take Kondo Isami as an example—he became a hatamoto with 1500 koku of loft!

1500 stones! Hatamoto!

Whenever they thought of these two sets of words, Kondo Shusuke and Abi would burst into laughter.

The Kondo family produced a hatamoto (a high-ranking official) with a stipend of 1500 koku (a unit of rice). This is truly a great honor for the family!

The couple had long regarded Souji, Hijikata Toshizo, and others as their own sons.

Seeing their children achieve great things, how could they not be happy? How could they not be joyful?

……

……

Osaka, somewhere—

An old woman turned her head to look at the door not far away.

“...Katsurokuro”.

A strong, resonant voice immediately rang out from outside the door:

"Yes, my lord. What are your orders?"

"Send a message to Jiulang, telling him to return immediately."

"Jiulang? Why?"

"Stop asking, hurry up and deliver the message."

"Yes!"

……

……

In a remote, ancient forest in Ezo (present-day Hokkaido)—

It's late September... while Edo and Kyoto are just entering autumn, Ezo is already blanketed in snow.

The sky was dotted with countless snowflakes, turning the mountains into a vast expanse of color.

"Huff...! Huff...! Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!"

A young man in his mid-twenties stood directly beneath an unnamed waterfall.

The man had his eyes closed, his upper body bare, revealing his well-built physique, his right hand hanging naturally at his sides, and his left hand holding a simply designed katana.

Splash splash ...

He simply let the waterfall wash over his body repeatedly, without moving an inch.

Standing shirtless in the freezing cold, right under a waterfall... just hearing about it sends chills down your spine and makes your teeth chatter.

However, he remained completely unmoved and calm in the face of the cold outside.

Neither the snowflakes in the sky nor the water flowing overhead could change its expression in the slightest.

If you look closely, you will find something very unusual about this person – a terrifying demon is tattooed on his back.

It has two horns on its head, a ferocious face, and a gaping, blood-red mouth.

It is the evil spirit formed from intense jealousy and resentment—Prajna!

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he abruptly opened his eyes and turned to look behind him:

"...Kappa, it's been a long time."

On the riverbank, a short, unremarkable creature—a kappa—slowly emerged from the bushes, then knelt on one knee and said, neither servile nor arrogant:

"Lord Hannya, Lord Shuten-dōji summons you back."

Prajna responded without hesitation:

"I'm practicing my martial arts right now. Don't bother me unless it's something urgent."

The kappa seemed to have anticipated that the other party would say that.

He raised his gaze and gave Prajna a deep look:

"Lord Prajna, do you know 'Niou' Tachibana Aoto?"

Prajna said calmly:

"I've heard of it."

"Lord Prajna, Lord Shuten-dōji asked me to tell you: 'Niō' Tachibana Aoto has obtained Vairocana."

In an instant, Prajna suddenly opened her eyes wide.

He stared intently at the kappa, and asked, word by word:

Is this really true?

The kappa replied without fear of pressure:

"Lord Shuten-dōji saw it with his own eyes, there is absolutely no falsehood."

“‘Renwang’…Vairocana…I see…Master…have you passed on Vairocana to someone else…”

Prajna seemed to have lost her soul, murmuring repeatedly without sorrow or joy.

"Master...Master...why did you abandon me...?!"

"The master of Vairocana... should rightfully be me!!"

In the instant he roared, he spread his right arm and reached for the katana he held in his left hand—

boom!

A beam of light shot into the sky!

The silver blade of light shooting straight into the sky not only split the waterfall apart, but also caused it to flow backward!

The surging spring water gushed backward to its highest point, then transformed into thousands of droplets, which fell down in a shower, causing "rain" to fall all around before finally stopping.

Looking at Hannya, who was still in a sword-drawing stance, the kappa smiled:

"As expected of a monster second only to Lord Ōtakemaru and Lord Shuten-dōji...!"

……

……

Volume 3, "The Rise of the Dragon in the Clouds"—The End!

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Volume 3 is over! *slaps slaps slaps slaps slaps slaps slaps* (slaps leopard belly.jpg)

The next volume—"Heading Towards the Ikedaya"—is coming soon!