I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Although he tried to conceal his intention to gather strength, Prajna saw through it at a glance.

"Tachibana Aoto, I've always looked forward to a thrilling, all-out duel with you."

"However, I regret to say that I no longer have the strength to fight you."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to wipe the blood from his forehead.

"I had planned to fight you after defeating your men."

"But to my surprise, your subordinates are much stronger than I expected."

At this point, he deliberately glanced sideways at the commander, who was lying on his side at his feet, panting heavily and still recovering from the excruciating pain.

"I almost died just now."

"Let's save our duel for next time."

He paused, then curled the corners of his mouth into a meaningful tone.

"Our duel will come soon—in the near future."

Hearing this, anyone with ears and a brain could tell that Prajna wanted to escape!

Qing Deng and his companions, including Hijikata Toshizo, immediately tensed up.

In that instant when the atmosphere suddenly became tense... Hannya suddenly kicked out! He kicked the commander right next to his feet!

The commander, who had completely lost his ability to act, was unable to resist.

She groaned in pain, and then tumbled down the eaves.

In the blink of an eye, her body flipped over the roof and plummeted straight to the ground!

Given Souji's current state, he simply cannot perform a recovery move.

Falling to the ground without bracing yourself... even if you don't die, you'll be seriously injured!

At that distance, there was simply no time to save Souji—that was certainly true for the average person.

Whether to pursue Hannya or rescue Souji—in Qing Deng's eyes, this wasn't even a choice.

Without hesitation, Qing Deng ran towards the headquarters!

He had only taken five steps when, using the momentum of his forward charge, he pounced on the falling Souji like a whirlwind.

At the critical moment, he precisely caught Souji in mid-air—in that instant, Souji's head was less than 3 inches from the ground.

Qing Deng held Souji tightly, protecting her in his arms. The two rolled several meters due to inertia before finally regaining their balance.

At the same moment that he kicked Souji away, Hannya turned around and flew backward, his feet creating wind and his arms transforming into wings, heading straight into the darkness in the distance.

Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo once again displayed their excellent teamwork.

Even without prior discussion, the two tacitly agreed to carry out their respective actions.

After Aoto leaped to rescue Souji, Hijikata Toshizo seized command and shouted:

"Chase him! Don't let him get away!"

With Prajna's combat strength greatly reduced... no matter which angle you look at it from, now is the best time to deal with this great enemy!

While shouting this, Hijikata Toshizo took action and chased after him with his sword.

Serizawa Kamo and Nakazawa Sadayoshi hurriedly followed.

As a top expert capable of overpowering Souji and others, how fast is Hannya?

Even though his physical strength has declined, his speed is still beyond the reach of ordinary people.

In the blink of an eye, his figure had already vanished into the distance.

Even though Hijikata Toshizo and the others tried their best, they were still unable to close the gap between the two sides.

On the other side, Souji, who had narrowly escaped death, coughed a few times, then hurriedly said to Aoto:

"Tachibana-kun... don't worry about me... go after them..."

The commander-in-chief escaped danger.

At this point, Qingdeng had no more worries.

He nodded slightly and gently laid the commander flat on the ground.

At this moment, Saito Hajime, who was less seriously injured, caught up with them.

"Ah Yi, I'm entrusting Xiao Si to your care."

Saito nodded vigorously.

After entrusting Souji to Saito Hajime, Aoto immediately turned around, facing the direction in which Hannya had fled.

"Taking the lead +4", "Nine bulls and two tigers +3", "Elephant's core +9"... All talents related to muscle strength are activated!

In an instant, Qing Deng vanished from his spot—he reappeared several meters away, with a strong wind pressure hanging behind him!

He held nothing back, pushing his speed to the limit.

Its speed is so fast that people with poor eyesight probably can't even catch a glimpse of it!

If viewed from the air, one can see that the distance between Qingdeng and Banruo is rapidly shrinking.

If it weren't for Prajna using the general to lure Qingdeng away, buying himself some time, how could he have escaped Qingdeng's control?

If nothing unexpected happens, as long as Qingdeng has another 10 seconds... no, 7 seconds! he can catch up with Banruo.

However... Qingdeng no longer has that opportunity.

When Qing Deng gave chase, Hannya had already escaped to a bridge over the Kamo River.

Suddenly, Qingdeng heard Prajna's voice coming from the distant darkness ahead:

"Ju Qingdeng! Please pass on a message to my master!"

"Although he probably doesn't believe me when I say this, I have always kept him in my heart and always regarded him as my mentor."

“I will never forget his great kindness and virtue.”

"I have a sincere heart for him... and I wholeheartedly hope that he will reciprocate with the same sincerity!"

He had barely finished speaking when he leaped over the bridge railing and plunged into the Kamo River.

With a "plop," Prajna fell into the river.

When Hijikata Toshizo and the others arrived at the railing, they only saw ripples.

Nakazawa Sadaki conspicuously extended the lantern in her hand, barely illuminating a small patch of river surface below the railing.

The lanterns are only good enough to illuminate the surface of the river; forget about what's below the surface.

Looking around, all you could see was pitch black.

Prajna is like something that has merged into water; you can't find its form or hear its sound at all.

Hijikata Toshizo gritted his teeth and, unwilling to give up, gave the order:

"Search along the river! If you find anything, remember to shout a warning. Never try to fight him alone!"

Serizawa Kamo and Nakazawa Sadayoshi silently accepted the order and dispersed, searching in different directions.

Although no one said it outright, everyone knew in their hearts that the possibility of finding Prajna was extremely slim.

The Kamo River is the mother river of Kyoto, running through the city from north to south.

It's late at night now, so visibility is already extremely poor.

God knows which direction he fled in, or where he landed.

With their limited manpower, even if they run themselves ragged, they probably still wouldn't be able to find Prajna.

At this moment, Qingdeng arrived a beat late.

He gripped the railing, staring blankly at the river.

He remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

……

……

In order to find Hannya and Katsura Kogoro, who had successfully escaped from Ikedaya, Aoto transferred a large number of people from the Shinsengumi headquarters in Mibu-go to conduct a thorough search.

The search and arrest force mobilized by Qingdeng was undeniably massive.

Unfortunately... everyone worked until dawn but still couldn't find Hannya and Katsura Kogoro.

Not only did they fail to find them, they couldn't even find the slightest trace of them.

This outcome was within Qing Deng's expectations.

Finding two people in the vast city of Kyoto is like finding a needle in a haystack; it's only natural that they can't be found.

To describe tonight as a “long night” is absolutely fitting.

The few hours felt like several days – especially for Qingdeng.

Not only did he travel between warehouses, Kyoto, and Ikedaya, killing dozens of enemies, but he also learned many secrets.

"Kyoto's First Geisha" Shiyo is actually Miss Sumire, the intelligence chief of the Great Salt Party.

Shintaro Tojo, who was recently promoted to the position of Director of the Kyoto Bureau, is actually a member of the Ooshio Party.

Moreover, the burns on his right abdomen were a major concern for Qing Deng.

Of course, the secret that shocked Qingdeng the most was Prajna's identity.

Without any warning, a senior student suddenly appeared...

In this way, Qingdeng seemed to have the illusion of "re-understanding the world".

Of course, as shocked and confused as they may be, the important matters that need to be dealt with cannot be neglected.

The battle is over, and the first thing to do is to clean up the battlefield.

The results achieved by Qingdeng need no further explanation.

He killed Yoshida Toshima, a top-tier psychopath who was among the most insane, and also took down dozens of other people in the process.

The results at Ikedaya were equally impressive.