I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

His words were as fierce as thunder.

His attitude was as firm as a rock.

His eyebrows were raised, his eyes bulged, and he seemed to be brimming with energy that could erupt at any moment.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than someone jumped out to refute him:

“Mr. Gui, we understand your concerns.”

The speaker was named Kitazoe Jimo, a master swordsman with radical ideas, and a follower of Kusaka Genzui.

"This plan is risky, but it's a brilliant move that will allow us to turn the tide of the current situation!"

"If we can successfully bring the Emperor to Choshu, the morale of the entire domain will be greatly boosted!"

"At that time, we can use the Emperor's power to overthrow the Shogunate in one fell swoop! Then we can drive the barbarians back to the sea!"

"Indeed, the power of Zhurong should not be underestimated."

"When the city is engulfed in flames, thousands of people will perish in the fire and be left homeless."

"But these are all necessary sacrifices!"

"Mr. Gui, is there any struggle in this world that doesn't involve bloodshed?"

"Being indecisive and hesitant, with such a womanly heart, how can one accomplish anything?"

"What is this small sacrifice if it can help us achieve our great cause of governing the country?!"

"When we bring peace to the world and remove the filth from it in the future, I believe those who suffered will feel gratified in the afterlife."

After Kitazoe Jimo finished speaking, many people immediately echoed his words.

"That's right, that's right!"

"Kimi Kitamoto is right!"

"Mr. Gui, hesitation will only lead to chaos!"

Although Katsura Kogoro had prepared himself mentally, he still felt dizzy and his teeth felt cold after listening to Kitazoe Keima's fallacies!

Whenever he comes into contact with radicals, Katsura Kogoro feels incredibly exhausted—he always feels like he's not communicating with normal people, but rather with people from another world!

I can't reason with them no matter what.

The other side's "reasoning" is nothing short of fallacies and heresies!

Katsura Kogoro had seen through the radicals—their political acumen and military understanding were incredibly naive! Terribly naive! They were still stuck at the level of "as long as the Emperor is on my side, we will have a huge advantage."

They were convinced that as long as they kidnapped the Emperor to Choshu, they could turn the tide, defeat the Qin, Hui, and Satsuma governments, and kick the Shogunate.

Katsura Kogoro took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

After calming down a bit, he gritted his teeth and said, word by word:

"You're dreaming!"

"Do you think that as long as the Emperor's entrapment is brought to Choshu... everything will be fine?"

"I'm telling you, if this comes to pass, it will only give others ammunition and provide them with a handle to use against us!"

"At that time, the shogunate will be eager to declare us traitors who kidnapped the emperor."

"The shogunate, holding an indisputable moral high ground, will gain support from all sides! We, on the other hand, will be isolated and helpless!"

"With a district chief and two kingdoms, how can we possibly defeat the armies of the world?!"

[Note: The two provinces of Choshu refer to the territory of Nagato and Suoh.]

Finally, Kogoro Katsura could no longer contain his excitement.

At this moment, he displayed the style of "Kogoro the Swordsman"!

He straightened his upper body, glared at the entire audience, and displayed a lion-like majesty between his brows.

Even without the blade drawn or the cold glint of light revealed, it still makes the rats tremble with fear!

Everyone present was intimidated by his imposing presence, and they all lowered their heads and dared not meet his gaze.

Of course, the stubbornness of the radicals would not crumble because of a few words from Katsura Kogoro.

They quickly recovered and engaged in a heated verbal battle:

"Mr. Gui, why do you boost the morale of others while diminishing the prestige of our side?"

"What are the armies of the world?! As long as we show the spirit of the men of Changzhou, we will surely make them flee in disarray!"

"That's right! That's right! We're not afraid of the Shogunate! Let the Shogunate's lackeys come at us!"

The room, which had just been quiet for a short while, became chaotic and noisy again.

Just then, Miyabe Teizō suddenly spoke up:

"Gui Jun, everyone, please calm down!"

“I almost thought I was in Nishiki Market just now.”

[Note: Nishiki Market: Kyoto's most famous fish, meat, and poultry market, known as the "Kitchen of Kyoto"]

"The reason we've gathered here tonight is precisely to sit down and have a proper talk, to work together to reach a mutually acceptable solution."

"What's the point of arguing until you're red in the face and your neck is thick? Even if you argue until dawn, you won't get to the bottom of it."

"Everyone, sit down. Don't get so agitated. Let's talk this out."

At this moment, Miyabe Teizō's high prestige once again came into play.

With his mediation, the verbal battle came to an abrupt end.

The radicals are no longer so aggressive.

Katsura Kogoro sat down again—but his expression remained unpleasant.

"Gui Jun, I understand how you feel."

As he spoke, Miyabe Teizō poured Katsura Kogoro a cup of sake.

"Impatient, anxious, and fearful emotions will only exacerbate the conflict."

"The night is still long, let's talk slowly."

Katsura Kogoro gave a soft "hmm," then picked up the sake that Miyabe Teizou had poured for him and drank it all in one gulp.

Because he was focused on the wine glass in his hand, he didn't notice the meaningful look that flashed in Miyabe Teizo's eyes when he said, "Let's talk slowly..."

……

……

Kyoto, Nawate-dori (east of the Kamo River), somewhere—

Looking at Saito Hajime and Nakazawa Satag, who had returned to report, Aoto asked:

"Ah Yi, how are things on your end?"

Saito Hajime silently shook his head.

Then, Aoto saw Serizawa Kamo and Niimi Nishiki, who had also returned to report.

"Serizawa, have you found anything?"

Serizawa Kamo snorted coldly:

"We didn't find any patriots, but we did find a pair of adulterers having an affair."

"Adulterous couple having an affair?!"

Harada Sanosuke, who was standing nearby, made an excited sound.

Normally, he might have asked about the specific details with great interest.

But even he, slow to react, knew that now was not the time to ask such questions, so he suppressed his curiosity and silently withdrew.

Before long, Qingdeng's generals who had been sent out returned in twos and threes—without exception, they all returned empty-handed.

The group stood in the middle of the street, staring at each other.

The search area east of the Kamo River is very large.

To improve search efficiency, Qing Deng had to split up the manpower, dividing them into groups of two or three to act separately.

Although efficiency was improved, the results were not ideal.

They didn't find a single righteous person, but they did find a whole bunch of strange and unusual people.

As Harada Sanosuke squatted on the ground to relax his aching legs, he asked Aoto:

"Mr. Tachibana, could it be that the meeting place for the Zunyao faction isn't here?"

Qing Deng responded without hesitation:

"Zanosuke, don't let your guard down. We must not let our guard down until we have searched the last hotel and izakaya. Heaven knows where those guys have gone to have their meeting."

At this moment, Hijikata Toshizo murmured:

"I wonder how Ah Sheng and the others are doing now..."

Qing Deng nodded slightly in agreement—he was also concerned about the current situation of the other team.

Qing Deng once again felt the inconvenience and pain of lacking means of communication.

After the division of forces, the two teams became two isolated islands.

Aoto and the others had absolutely no idea what was going on with the "Kondo Team".

They might end up like the "Qingdeng Team" with nothing to show for it, or they might... have already found the meeting place of the Zunrang faction and engaged in combat!

Just as Qing Deng was pondering whether to send someone to check on the current situation of the "Kondo Team", he suddenly seemed to sense something, his eyes narrowed slightly, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and he turned around.

Just as he turned around—

"...Mr. Tachibana."

A deep, middle-aged male voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

In an instant! All the generals around Qing Deng were on high alert!

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!