I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Faki Allied Forces —

Shuten-dōji and Katsura Kogoro rode together on horseback.

They sped along the main road, kicking up a trail of dust.

To make up for the extra time spent defeating the thousand-strong united force, they had to speed up their journey.

The Eighth Prince and Edo were as close as lips and teeth.

After passing Hachioji, Edo was just around the corner.

According to their estimates, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be able to reach Edo Castle the day after tomorrow!

Just as Katsura Kogoro and the others were focused on their journey, a member of the Special Forces suddenly rushed from the front of the column and approached them:

"Mr. Gui! There's something unusual ahead! Please come and take a look!"

Katsura Kogoro raised an eyebrow:

"Something's wrong?"

He turned his horse around and left the ranks.

A hint of curiosity appeared on Shuten-dōji's cheeks, and he followed suit.

Led by the team member, the two plunged into the dense forest beside the road.

A moment later, Katsura Kogoro subconsciously twitched his nose—he suddenly smelled a strong stench of blood.

"Mr. Gui, we've arrived! This is it!"

Katsura Kogoro tightened the reins, stopped the horse, and stared in astonishment at the scene before him.

"This is……?"

Before his eyes, somewhere in the woods, dozens of corpses lay scattered on the ground!

Katsura Kogoro and Shuten-dōji dismounted one after the other and strolled among the corpses.

The bodies were not yet stiff; it was clear they had only recently died.

Katsura Kogoro looked around and said:

"Judging from their clothing, they should be farmers from this area."

Shuten-dōji's attention was focused on the wounds of these corpses.

Looking at the clean, sharp knife wounds, he nodded slightly, his eyes gleaming:

"The blade's tendons are perfectly aligned, striking the vital points precisely—excellent swordsmanship! The one who killed them must be an exceptional swordsman."

At that moment, Katsura Kogoro suddenly noticed something: many of the corpses had their arms severed, mainly the right hands, and many clean-cut severed arms lay on the ground.

Seeing this, Katsura Kogoro lowered his eyelids and muttered:

"It's the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style...!"

Chopping off the hand – a classic characteristic of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style.

Aside from the "repeated twitching of the blade tip," the most distinctive feature of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style is that "injuring the enemy" is its core strategy.

Most of its moves revolve around "slashing the enemy's arm".

Most schools of thought, such as Jigen-ryu, Shinto Munen-ryu, and Tennen Rishin-ryu, aim to kill with a single blow, simply by cutting the person to death.

In contrast, the Hokushin Ittō-ryū's combat philosophy is quite different.

The Hokushin Ittō-ryū school emphasizes "cutting off the hand" and does not aim to kill with a single blow.

Compared to body parts such as the thighs and abdomen, the arms, which must be extended at all times because of holding a weapon, are much easier to chop.

First, injure the person's arm to establish an absolute advantage, then calmly and methodically kill the person.

This incredibly distinctive fighting style earned the Hokushin Itto-ryu the nickname "Hand-Cutting One-Sword Style".

Therefore, the method to counter Hokushin Ittō-ryū is very simple—simply wear hard gauntlets and arm armor, and you can disable most of Hokushin Ittō-ryū's moves.

Shuten-dōji, with his hands behind his back, strolled twice through the horde of corpses and then slowly said:

"It's probably 'Fallen Warrior Hunter'."

"Farmers living nearby lay in wait, hoping to hunt down lone warriors passing by, but they were killed instead."

At this point, he moved to a spot in the horde of corpses—the bodies lay neatly and closely packed together, arranged in a row, much like leeks that had fallen to their roots.

"The farmers first charged in formation, hoping to win a quick victory."

"In the blink of an eye, everyone in the first row was dead."

"The gun formation immediately fell into chaos and collapsed without a fight."

"The other side is extremely ruthless and has no intention of giving these guys a way out."

Even if they had lost their will to fight and were trying to escape, we relentlessly pursued them until we had killed them all.

“Look, quite a few of these people who were stabbed in the back were busy running away, but ended up being caught and cut down.”

As Katsura Kogoro listened attentively, he couldn't help but turn his head and cast a surprised glance at Shuten-dōji.

To deduce so much from just a few clues at the scene... Katsura Kogoro felt more and more that Shuten-dōji's talents were even more comprehensive and outstanding than he had imagined.

After Shuten-dōji finished speaking, Katsura Kogoro muttered softly:

"I wonder which swordsman of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style killed them..."

He had barely finished speaking when he received a reply from Shuten-dōji:

"It must be the swordsmen of the Chiba family."

These words immediately piqued Katsura Kogoro's interest:

"Oh? How did you know?"

The Hokushin Ittō-ryū is undoubtedly the number one school in the world, with countless disciples and former officials, and countless outstanding students.

How can one be so certain that the Chiba family name is mentioned?

Before dedicating himself to the great cause of rebellion, Katsura Kogoro devoted himself to the way of swordsmanship every day, honing his sword skills with one heart and one mind.

Even though he no longer has time to practice swordsmanship, he is still devoted to the way of the sword.

He was happy to discuss anything related to swordsmanship with others—even Shuten-dōji, whom he disliked.

Faced with Katsura Kogoro's questioning, Shuten-dōji smiled slightly:

“Gui Jun, I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this feeling: just by looking at knife marks and wounds, you can roughly guess what kind of person did it.”

“I can tell – the people who killed these guys were definitely the swordsmen of the Chiba family, there’s no mistake.”

"Apart from them, no one in the Hokushin Itto-ryu school has the ability to inflict such a wound."

Having said that, Shuten-dōji did not linger there any longer and turned to walk back to his horse.

As he mounted his horse, he said in a soft, languid tone:

"Katsura-kun, get ready, the Chiba family has joined the war!"

……

……

The next day—

Edo-

Escorted by Chiba Jutaro and others, Elodie, Shimada Kai, and Hijikata Toshizo, who was still unconscious, arrived safely in Edo.

On their way to Edo, Chiba Jutaro explained in detail the specific reasons why the four brothers had appeared in that dense forest in time.

It turns out they were preparing to go to Hachioji to lend their support.

When news of the "Edo crisis" reached Mito, Chiba Eijiro immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed back to Eto to reunite with his brothers.

As soon as the four brothers gathered together, they enthusiastically discussed how to fight off the enemy.

Upon learning that the Thousand Hearts were preparing to defend the Hachioji organization's lines, they unanimously decided: to head to Hachioji and support the Thousand Hearts!

Although Eijiro and Dozaburo usually give people a quiet and calm feeling, they always harbor an aggressive and passionate heart.

As for the boisterous Jutaro and Shiro Tamon, they are both always busy.

They set off quickly, heading west.

Halfway there, Chiba Eijiro, with his keen senses, suddenly heard the sounds of fierce fighting and decided to go and investigate.

What happened after that is self-explanatory.

Elodie and the others learned from the Chiba brothers why they had suddenly appeared and what the current situation in Edo was like.

The latter also learned of the devastating news of the Eighth Prince's downfall from the former.

Their hearts were filled with regret and distress at the fall of the Eighth Prince and the defeat of the united front of a thousand men—if only they could have arrived at the Eighth Prince sooner, they might have been able to help and slow down the process of defeat.

Under these circumstances, going to Hachioji is pointless; the only option is to return to Edo.

Upon arriving in Edo, the first thing they did was to find a doctor who could treat Hijikata Toshizo's injuries.

Regarding finding a doctor for Hijikata Toshizo... to be honest, Elodie didn't have optimistic expectations—Shimada Kai felt the same way.

First, with a major war imminent, many doctors fled Edo in panic out of fear of the war.

Secondly, the vast majority of doctors in Edo were Kampo doctors, that is, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.

Let them treat sprains and internal injuries; they may have outstanding therapeutic effects.

But when it comes to treating serious external injuries... especially gunshot wounds that hit the abdomen directly, very few doctors would dare to guarantee that they could cure them!

Compared to Elodie and Shimada Kai's discouragement, Eijiro and the others were much more optimistic.

When they were looking for a doctor, they all gave the same recommendation—Beifang Ren of Renyi Clinic!

It was truly fortunate that he did not leave Edo.

Speaking of this person, he was not only one of the most famous doctors in Edo, but also an old acquaintance of Seido.

Back then, whenever Qingdeng was seriously injured—for example, after a decisive battle with the Extermination Group or a decisive battle with the Rakshasa—he would be sent to Renyi Clinic, where Northern Ren would personally oversee his treatment.

Qingdeng received a lot of care from him, and they gradually became familiar with each other.