I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Nagakura Shinpachi exhaled all the stale air from his lungs—he suddenly lowered the blade, changing from the middle section to the lower section.

His sudden change in stance immediately made Matsuda Shigesuke on the other side nervous.

He silently gripped the knife in his hand, held his breath, and focused his attention to the maximum, daring not to be careless in the slightest.

Even an observer, sensing the tension between the two, could keenly judge that the time had come to decide the outcome in one move!

Nagakura Shinpachi: "..."

Matsuda Shigesuke: "..."

In the blink of an eye, the two of them simultaneously took a step forward!

In the next instant, their sleeves touched—the outcome was decided.

Matsuda Shigesuke used thrusting techniques.

Despite its fierce momentum, it was easily dodged by Nagakura Shinpachi.

After dodging, he lowered his body slightly, held the knife in his hand diagonally to his left side, and charged straight at his opponent's left armpit like a bull.

In the instant he slipped under his opponent's armpit and they passed each other, he swung his sword upwards, slicing the blade from the hilt to the tip across his opponent's waist—Matsuda Shigesuke was cut in half at the waist!

There are no fancy techniques or tricks, just a pure contest of speed!

At first glance, the two men's knife speeds seemed to be the same.

In reality, any expert could tell at a glance that Matsuda Shigesuke's speed and reaction were far inferior to Nagakura Shinpachi's.

Because we weren't as fast as them, we lost—it's that simple.

"Cough cough! Hoo-ho—! Hoo-ho—!"

Having taken a solid cut in half at the waist, Matsuda Shigesuke's upper and lower body were almost completely separated, with only a small portion of the flesh still connected.

He had to lean on the ground with the knife to support his body.

As he lost blood rapidly, he soon lost even the strength to lean on his knife.

At this moment, there was no longer any hostility towards the Shinsengumi in his eyes, nor any fanatical pursuit of the Zunpu ideology; only a strong will to survive remained.

He used his knife as a staff, staggering as he tried to escape the place.

His swaying figure resembled that of a heavily intoxicated drunkard.

Suddenly, he saw a tall figure appear ahead—a young warrior slowly emerging from the shadows.

As his vision gradually blurred, Matsuda Shigesuke could no longer make out the face of the person who had just arrived.

Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, Matsuda Shigesuke tremblingly reached out his hand to the other person.

"Help me...help me...help me..."

As he continued speaking, his tone grew weaker.

After saying those words, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength. His eyes bulged out, and then he slowly fell forward, onto the person.

Interestingly, the man made no attempt to help the already dead Matsuda Shigesuke up. He didn't even glance at him, simply turning his body away as if avoiding something dirty, leaving Matsuda Shigesuke lying on the ground.

Matsuda Shigesuke's body blended into the shadow on the ground, making it impossible to distinguish between the body and the shadow.

"Brilliant! That slash at the waist just now was truly brilliant!"

The man walked around Matsuda Shigesuke's corpse and stood casually in front of Nagakura Shinpachi.

At this moment, he finally emerged completely from the shadows, and the moonlight and candlelight illuminated his face and figure.

Nagakura Shinpachi stared intently—this person was wearing a kimono, but also a Western-style top hat and a Western-style cloak.

Upon seeing this strange, neither-nor ...

However... despite the strange appearance of this person, Nagakura Shinpachi felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing him!

His battle instincts, honed through countless trials, told him: the person before him was no ordinary person!

Before he could even catch his breath, Nagakura Shinpachi spread his legs wide, assumed a fighting stance, and prepared to battle at any moment, as if facing a formidable enemy.

This person… namely Prajna, asked again:

"May I ask which of the Shinsengumi's heroes you are?"

While maintaining his fighting stance, Nagakura Shinpachi said in a deep voice:

"Shinto Munen-ryu, Captain of the 2nd Division of the Shinsengumi, Nagakura Shinpachi."

Upon hearing this, Prajna's face immediately lit up with delight.

"Nagakura Shinpachi? You're the Nagakura Shinpachi from the saying 'First Tachibana, second Okita, third Nagakura, fourth Saito'?"

"Hahaha! I'm so lucky! I actually ran into the third strongest fighter in the Shinsengumi!"

"I've been wanting to test my skills against your Shinsengumi for a long time!"

"There's no time like the present. Since we've run into each other, let me experience the skills of the Shinsengumi's third-ranked expert!"

Having said that, he wore a strange smile, raised his hand to adjust the top hat on his head, and then drew the sword from his waist, sheath and all, and carried it on his right shoulder.

Upon seeing this, Nagakura Shinpachi immediately frowned:

"What do you mean by this? If you want to fight me, why don't you draw your sword?"

Prajna shrugged and chuckled strangely.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Whether you draw your sword or not, let me test your skills with you first."

He didn't even draw his sword when fighting... Hannya's contempt for Nagakura Shinpachi was palpable.

Seeing that the other party was so contemptuous of him, Nagakura Shinpachi's expression changed drastically. He frowned and exuded a terrifying aura!

Of course, the battle-hardened Nagakura Shinpachi would never make such a basic mistake as being "controlled by emotions".

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and then roared as he charged forward!

Because he didn't know his opponent's strength, Nagakura Shinpachi adopted a conservative strategy of "testing the opponent first," leaving himself enough room for a change of move. He then slashed diagonally at Hannya's chest.

Nagakura Shinpachi expected his opponent to either leap away or draw his sword to block.

But to everyone's surprise, he suddenly swung his hand—he still didn't draw his sword, he just swung the sword and its sheath together!

The scabbarded blade swept diagonally through the air, striking Nagakura Shinpachi's blade squarely.

If he were to use the scabbard to meet the blade head-on, the scabbard would surely be damaged; how could wood withstand a steel blade?

But he pulled this trick—using the scabbard to strike the blade of Nagakura Shinpachi—which not only preserved the scabbard but also deflected Nagakura Shinpachi's slash.

Nagakura Shinpachi was truly caught off guard by this situation.

However, he quickly rallied, swiftly pulling the knife back to his hand, and then, with even greater force, unleashing a faster slash from different directions.

But the result... was the same scene again!

With a swift, sheathed swing, Hannya struck the blade of Nagakura Shinpachi, easily deflecting his attack.

Both of his consecutive strikes were deflected by the opponent's sheath... Nagakura Shinpachi gritted his teeth, no longer daring to hold back! After a brief respite, he unleashed a continuous and fierce offensive!

Forward thrust, horizontal slash, vertical cut, upward sweep, diagonal slash...

One cut after another.

Each strike is faster than the last!

The dense slashes and the flickering sword light covered the entire space.

However... no matter how Nagakura Shinpachi swung his sword or attacked, he could not harm his opponent in the slightest!

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Chapter 823 Prajna vs. "Heavenly Sword" Okita Souji! [4800]

The Eight Generals of Yongcang wielded their swords with fierce and powerful movements.

Judging from the noise, one has no doubt that if one were to be accidentally hit or grazed, even a slight scratch would result in serious injury, if not death!

Its slashing speed was so fast that the entire space was filled with afterimages of the blade and flashes of light that did not have time to dissipate.

At first glance, it looks like a huge "silver net" enveloping Prajna from all directions.

Seeing this display of power, most bystanders would tremble with fear and be terrified, daring not to confront it.

In contrast, Prajna walked as if on flat ground!

He maintained a calm smile throughout, moving his feet nimbly.

One side is slashing horizontally and vertically.

The other side dodged left and right.

Prajna's graceful movements and light steps resembled both flight and dance.

No matter how Nagakura Shinpachi swung his sword, he could always precisely slip through the gaps in the slashes.

If there's really no way to dodge it, then swing your sword and strike the blade of Nagakura Shinpachi with the sheath to parry his attack.

"Using the sheath to deflect the blade" and "using the blade to block the attack"—anyone with a brain knows how big the difference is between the two!

Anyone who has learned a little martial arts can use the blade to block another person's slash.

One can use the scabbard to parry another's blade... This is a skill that ordinary people cannot imitate!

This requires not only superb skills, but also extraordinary courage!

You should know that if you accidentally make a mistake, there is no chance to take it back and start over!

In the blink of an eye, Nagakura Shinpachi, who had exerted all his strength, had already swung over a hundred swords, but he couldn't even touch a single hem of Hannya's clothes.

Without even drawing his sword, Hannya toyed with Nagakura Shinpachi as if he were walking a dog... The difference in strength between the two was self-evident.

However, at this moment, Nagakura Shinpachi displayed the demeanor befitting a first-rate martial artist.

He did not become anxious or give up because of this huge gap in strength.

Although Nagakura Shinpachi is a rough and unruly man, he is also a man who is meticulous despite his rough exterior.