I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Now... right now..."

After speaking, he slowly lowered his head...

Kondo Shusuke, the third head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school, died in battle.

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P.S.: Historically, Kondo Shusuke died of illness at the end of 1867 at the age of 76. This chapter has been brewing in my mind for a long time. What kind of battle could possibly be worthy of this beloved old man?

Chapter 954 Sword Saint Battles the Demons! [5000]

The shouts of battle behind us stopped...

The enemy soldiers' cries could not be heard.

The sound of Kondo Shusuke's sword could not be heard...

Ootani Seiichiro lowered his eyelids... the shadows of his eyelashes obscured his eyes.

Others could only vaguely see a faint sadness swirling in his eyes.

"He's the only one left!" (Russian)

"I stabbed him!" (Russian)

"Well done!" (Russian)

"His injuries are getting worse! He won't be able to hold on much longer!"

"Keep going! Don't give him a chance to breathe!"

Even someone as strong as Otani Seiichiro could not possibly emerge unscathed from such a bloody battle where the forces were so vastly outnumbered.

He continued to penetrate deeper into enemy territory, encountering increasingly fierce resistance.

More and more enemy soldiers inflicted bloody wounds on him.

For example, in that instant, someone took advantage of the chaos to slash Otani Seiichiro on the forehead. Fortunately, it was only a superficial wound. Although he bled a lot, it was not fatal.

By now, Otani Seiichiro had lost count of how many injuries he had sustained.

Perhaps because of his intense emotions, he didn't feel any pain at all.

He glanced at the vast enemy ranks before him, then slightly raised his gaze to look at Shuten-dōji not far away.

Shuten-dōji stood stiffly in place, staring at him expressionlessly.

The distance between them was about 100 meters... which is quite close.

However, this mere hundred-meter space was filled with a vast number of enemy soldiers.

Ootani Seiichiro withdrew his gaze and looked back at the enemy group in front of him.

"Come on, anyone who wants to die, step forward!"

After roaring, he gripped the knife tightly and brandished it forward.

The next moment, a cold glint and a bloody light flew together.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness Tenshōin... I'm sorry, everyone... I lied to you..."

Just now, when he was saying goodbye to Tenshōin and the others, he put on a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance, as if he were going to mend the crack in the sky with his own hands.

In reality, however, it was all just his "performance".

Just like Kiyone Kubota, he has been living a very tiring life every day since the "Black Ships Incident".

Because he skillfully concealed his true thoughts, few people discovered his inner suffering.

He has been studying swordsmanship since childhood and enjoys sparring with heroes from all walks of life... all in order to become a more powerful swordsman.

However... the advent of warships and giant cannons rendered swordsmanship a useless skill.

With guns and bullets at hand, even a child could easily shoot down a master swordsman with exceptional swordsmanship.

Although many people say that "swordsmanship will never die out" and "practicing swordsmanship can strengthen the body," tirelessly searching for more meaning in the existence of swordsmanship, it is obvious that these are just self-deceiving fallacies.

A sword is a weapon, and swordsmanship is the art of killing.

In essence, swordsmanship is not a skill for physical fitness.

To think that one can use swordsmanship to improve one's physical fitness or gain some philosophical insight into life is utter nonsense.

Swordsmanship is for killing!

Once a more efficient and easier-to-use weapon than a sword appears, swordsmanship completely loses its meaning.

Even the very existence of these swordsmen was denied.

He dedicated his entire life to the sword, only to find, in his old age, that everything he had studied over the past few decades had come to naught... Perhaps some people can recover from such a blow—but Otani Seiichiro certainly doesn't.

Even though he could appear calm and collected on the surface, he couldn't hide the inner turmoil and pain he was going through.

The reason he stayed behind and emulated Sanada Yukimura's charge into enemy lines was not for any grand cause.

He doesn't have such lofty sentiments.

He simply wanted to find a magnificent place to die, so that his swordsmanship could have its final, most dazzling display.

That's it!

—Come on... unknown enemy general... come with me to the underworld...!

His gaze was fixed on Shuten-dōji's figure, cutting down every enemy soldier who stood in his way.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Kubota Kiyone provided continuous remote support from behind.

Thanks to his accurate sniping, Otani Seiichiro's pressure was greatly reduced.

Without his all-out help, he would certainly have suffered several more injuries.

But at that moment, Otani Seiichiro suddenly noticed Kubota Kiyone's unusual behavior.

The arrows that were just shot not only missed the enemy soldiers' vital points, but also went way off course, flying directly into the distance.

Ootani Seiichiro was well aware of Kubota Kiyone's abilities.

With his superb archery skills, at this distance, even if he didn't hit the bullseye, he would never miss.

Therefore, there is only one possibility...

"Clear Sound!!"

The intense battle left Ootani Seiichiro with no time to turn around and check on Kubota Kiyone's condition.

He could only shout the other person's name at the top of his lungs.

He quickly received a response:

"Seiichiro! Forward!!"

With this shout, a new arrow came flying, knocking down the enemy soldier to Otani Seiichiro's left.

It's precise enough, but the force is noticeably less than before...

Upon seeing this, Ootani Seiichiro was slightly taken aback, then pursed his lips, his expression becoming complex and indescribable.

This same appearance happened just now... right when Kondo Shusuke was shot.

Despite the myriad emotions surging within him, he quickly suppressed them, composed himself, gritted his teeth, and continued to wield his sword and advance.

……

……

"Ho...! Ho...! Ho...! Ho...!"

Kubota Kiyone opened her mouth wide, letting out a hoarse gasp.

His face at that moment... to put it bluntly, was no different from that of a dead man, as pale as if it had been bleached with the white powder of a geisha.

His extremely poor physical condition could not suppress his fighting spirit.

He drew new arrows from his nearly empty quiver and nocked them on his bow.

Just as he was about to draw the bowstring, a strong feeling of dizziness hit his brain.

Feeling nauseous, all the strength drained from my body, my vision blurred...

His body swayed back and forth as if he might fall at any moment, and arrows slipped through his fingers.

Immediately afterwards, there was a splashing sound, and his hands fell naturally to his sides into the pool of blood.

The ground beneath him was soaked in blood! The large pool of blood was still spreading outwards!

The stone that robbed him of his mobility not only broke the bone in his thigh but also tore apart the femoral artery in his thigh.

The importance of the major arteries inside the thigh is self-evident.

Although he had tried to stop the bleeding by tearing strips of cloth from his clothes and tightly binding his thighs, the blood loss caused by the rupture of the major artery was not so easy to stop.

His hemostasis was only enough to slow down the rate of blood loss.

Unbeknownst to him, a large pool of blood had spread beneath him, and he was sitting in the blood.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense could see that, having lost so much blood, Kubota Kiyone's life was hanging by a thread...

At this moment, only a faint breath remained under his nose... so faint that it could disappear at any moment.

Logically speaking, he has nothing to do now except sit and wait to die.

However, after only a moment, he raised his eyelids again.

His face was lifeless... but his eyes still burned with fighting spirit!

With a click, he raised his bow again, his trembling fingers picking up the arrow that had fallen to the side, and nocked it.

"Seiichiro... forward..."

The next second, a whooshing sound rang out.