I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Let's bake it together! It'll be delicious!"

Yamanami Keisuke blinked hard, looked at Harada Sanosuke with a surprised expression, and then looked at the big frog in his hand—"Croak! Croak!"—the big frog croaked twice at the right time.

"Harada-kun, is something wrong?"

After hesitating for a while, he cautiously asked in return.

"They suddenly burst into my tent, clutching a large frog, saying they were going to roast it and eat it..."

"To be honest, I'm a little taken aback... I don't know if you're serious or just joking with me."

"So, why did you suddenly send me a frog to eat?"

The sudden intrusion, the unexpected appearance of the frog... this series of inexplicable actions caused Yamanami Keisuke's brain to briefly freeze.

Harada Sanosuke chuckled softly a few times.

"Mr. Shannan, is something on your mind?"

Upon hearing this, Yamanami Keisuke's expression changed slightly, and his pupils contracted.

Harada Sanosuke continued speaking to himself:

“When we were eating dinner just now, I noticed that you weren’t very enthusiastic. You just ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice and said you were full.”

"That won't do!"

"There are only two things that are most important in life."

"One is eating, and the other is sleeping."

"If you can't eat well or sleep well, then you're definitely not healthy."

"If you're not healthy, you can't do anything!"

"Whether it's family matters or national affairs, you need a healthy body to do them!"

"So, I made a special trip outside the camp to catch this big frog, to give you a little treat!"

"Don't let the frog's disgusting appearance fool you, its meat is delicious! Look how thick the flesh on its legs is!"

As Harada Sanosuke spoke, he pried open the frog's two legs.

The poor frog seemed to foresee its fate, repeatedly croaking pitifully.

Keisuke Yamanami was stunned again.

Only then did he belatedly notice that the other person's clothes were covered in mud and that even the sleeves were filthy.

He must have gotten it dirty by accident when he went to catch frogs in the wild.

“…Harada-kun, you can’t do this.”

Keisuke Yamanami's facial features gradually relaxed, revealing a smile that seemed to be both joyful and helpless.

"You should use that tenderness on the girl you like."

"Wouldn't it be a waste to use it on me?"

Upon hearing this, Harada Sanosuke shrugged dismissively.

“Mr. Shannan, what you said is not right.”

"The girl you like is indeed very important."

"But to me, Mr. Yamanami, you are more important!"

"We're brothers who've been through thick and thin together, aren't we?"

At this point, Harada Sanosuke paused briefly.

When he spoke again, his tone became serious and earnest.

"Mr. Shannan, for the sake of our good brotherhood, why don't you be frank with me?"

"What could be so important that you can't even eat and are so distracted?"

"Although I am a dim-witted fool, please do not hesitate to ask if there is anything I can do to help."

"I would stab you in the back!"

Having said that, Harada Sanosuke crossed his legs and sat down calmly.

Judging from his demeanor, Yamanami Keisuke would not leave unless he gave a clear explanation.

Upon seeing this, Yamanami Keisuke couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

"...Harada-kun, it's 'to take a knife to one's side,' not 'to stab one's lungs.'"

He first pointed out the other person's grammatical error, then turned his head to look at the candle on the table.

In the firelight, a look of bewilderment crept onto his face.

"I'm sorry, Harada-kun, I made you worry."

"Actually, it's nothing serious."

"I'm just... a little confused."

Harada Sanosuke tilted his head:

"'confused'?"

Yamanami Keisuke nodded:

"It has been about ten years since the 'Black Ships Incident'."

"For the past eleven years, we have been fighting wars, fighting amongst ourselves, and bleeding constantly."

"I keep asking myself: How long will we have to fight before peace and stability finally come?"

Not long ago, I asked Tachibana-kun very bluntly: 'Having shed so much blood, shouldn't you get something of equal value in return?'

"At that time, this is what Tachibana said to me: 'I dare not pursue 'equivalence,' but I will do my best to pursue 'worth.'"

“I understand what Tachibana-kun means.”

"But...but..."

"What kind of results must be achieved, and what kind of content must be left in the history books, to make all that blood and tears 'worth it'?"

"The people have already suffered enough."

"The continuous fighting will only make their lives more difficult."

"Whenever I think about this, I feel empty inside."

"They even began to question the nature of this 'Changzhou Campaign'."

"Is this battle really worth all the suffering?"

Yamanami Keisuke finished speaking.

He had barely finished speaking when he shook his head with a wry smile.

"Sorry, I seem to have said too many complicated things. Please forget everything I just said..."

"I roughly understand!"

Before Yamanami Keisuke could finish speaking, Harada Sanosuke rudely interrupted him.

"Simply put, you're unsure if your current battle is even meaningful, which leads to a loss of motivation to fight!"

In an instant, Yamanami Keisuke opened his eyes wide and looked at Harada Sanosuke with disbelief.

After a long pause, he stammered:

"Yes, yes, that's right, that's roughly the idea..."

Harada Sanosuke grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Mr. Shannan, I understand your troubles!"

"Your problem is indeed quite tricky."

"If a car loses its steering wheel, it will spin in circles, let alone a person?"

"I'm not afraid to admit it, but ever since I was born, I've never thought about the 'meaning of battle' or the 'value of battle'."

"If you really want to ask me what I'm fighting for, then my answer would probably be 'Fighting for Mr. Tachibana'!"

"As long as we follow Mr. Ju and unite firmly under the banner of honesty, a better world will eventually come—I have always firmly believed this!"

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Chapter 904: Should we retreat? Or continue the attack on Changzhou? [4300]

"'Fight for Mr. Tachibana'...? Harada-kun, please forgive my bluntness, but what makes you so sure that as long as we follow Mr. Tachibana, a better world will eventually come? He's not a god or Buddha."

Yamanami Keisuke frowned slightly and bluntly questioned him without any euphemism.

Harada Sanosuke's reply was equally straightforward:

"Hehe, intuition!"

"Direct, intuitive?"

Under the astonished gaze of Yamanami Keisuke, Harada Sanosuke scratched his head and continued the conversation:

"Although this sounds frivolous, my intuition tells me that trusting Mr. Ju will definitely not be a mistake!"

"My intuition has always been pretty accurate."

"It is precisely because of this accurate intuition that I have been able to escape danger many times."

"So... Mr. Yamanami, you might as well trust Mr. Tachibana more."

"You should know better than I how capable Mr. Ju is."

Yamanami Keisuke gritted his teeth:

"But... great skill doesn't mean he has the ability to command the world like the Tang Dynasty..."