I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Upon hearing this, Hijikata Toshizo subconsciously looked again at the mountain of corpses beneath Kondo Isami's buttocks.

"You wielded your sword with complete abandon, carving out a mountain of corpses... I really hope you can be in this 'selfless state' a few more times."

If Qingdeng were here, he would surely sigh inwardly: His talent for "lone courage" has been brought to its fullest potential!

"If I have to face such dangerous situations to perform so well, I would rather have fewer of these kinds of situations."

After saying this half-jokingly, Kondo Isami gestured towards the mountaintop with his lip:

"Ah Sui, you all go ahead, I need to rest for a while."

Hijikata Toshizo nodded:

"Okay, you should get some rest."

He shrugged as he spoke.

"However, don't rest for too long. If I get the credit for being the first to reach the summit because of too much rest, I won't listen to your complaints."

Kondo Isami grinned:

"Don't worry, I'm not so generous as to give up the credit for being the first to climb the mountain to anyone else, not even you."

……

……

Autumn Mountain, Summit—

To demonstrate his determination to "defend Mount Aki to the death," Saigo Kinosuke not only planted a banner on the summit of Mount Aki, but also moved his entire main army camp there.

He sat imposingly on his stool, constantly receiving the latest battle reports.

"Nagakura Shinpachi is still alive! He is leading the Second Division to continue the conquest of the North Slope!"

"The musketeers who were besieging Saito Hajime have all been wiped out!"

"The troops sent to ambush Kondo Isami were annihilated!"

The more Katsura Kogoro, Goto Shojiro, and the others listened to the battle reports, the more their brows furrowed and their expressions grew increasingly grim.

That's not surprising—since the start of the battle today, they haven't received a single piece of good news!

Despite the fierce fighting, the Shinsengumi steadily advanced towards the summit.

Even their meticulously crafted battle plan to "hunt down the captain and isolate Nioh" repeatedly ran into obstacles!

Faced with the targeted attacks of the "Southern Army," the captains of the Shinsengumi all broke through the stalemate with their outstanding abilities!

As of now, all the captains of the Shinsengumi are alive and well, and none of them have been killed in action.

With the battle progressing to this point, even the usually composed Saigo Kinosuke couldn't help but show a grave expression on his face.

Ryūemon Ijichi (the Satsuma Army strategist), who was standing nearby, noticed that Saigō Kichinosuke looked unwell and quickly said:

“Mr. Saigo, Mr. Nakamura has already set out. He will surely bring us good news.”

Nakamura-kun – also known as Nakamura Hanjiro.

Upon hearing this, Saigo Kinosuke's expression softened slightly.

Nakamura Hanjiro was his right-hand man and the strongest swordsman under his command.

Whether or not Niou could be isolated from the outcome of today's battle was crucial, so Saigo Kinosuke deliberately played his "trump card."

Nakamura Hanjiro's mission was quite simple: to act as a "guerrilla" and hunt down the Shinsengumi captains whenever he had the chance.

At that moment, a messenger scrambled and rolled to Saigo Kinosuke's feet, panting heavily as he quickly announced:

“Nishi, Saigo-sama! Nakamura-san…”

It's news from Nakamura Hanjiro!

Everyone present, including Kinosuke Saigo, immediately perked up, sat up straight, and listened attentively.

Unfortunately... their expectations quickly turned into fear and disbelief.

"Mr. Nakamura is dead! 'Heavenly Sword' Okita Souji suddenly appeared, killed Mr. Nakamura, and then joined forces with Tachibana Aoto to attack the mountain! Their attack speed was incredibly fast! There was no way to defend against them!"

In an instant, Saigo Kinosuke's face changed color, his facial features became extremely distorted, and he suddenly stood up, sending the stool under his buttocks flying.

*******

*******

Today is the last day of the month, so don't miss out! Readers with monthly passes, please vote for this book! (Crying leopard head.jpg)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

P.S.: Thanks to a fellow reader's reminder, I realized that Qing Deng and Souji reunited on Tanabata Festival. Wow, it really is fate! (Leopard.jpg)

Chapter 1161 Okita Souji, Super Evolution!

Kichinosuke Saigo's reaction was relatively calm.

Goto Shojiro's face was filled with disbelief, and his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

The expressions of the others were much the same, all dominated by overwhelming fear.

Katsura Kogoro gritted his teeth and then shouted out what everyone was thinking:

“‘Heavenly Sword’ Okita Souji? Wasn’t she seriously ill?!”

As the "second strongest member of the Shinsengumi" after Aoto, Souji has always been feared by Saigo Kinosuke and others, who consider her one of the most dangerous targets.

By examining the Shinsengumi's past records, it is not difficult to find that "Tenken" and "Nioh" are both capable of "single-handedly turning the tide of battle"!

No matter how vigilant we are, this level of top-tier combat power is still not enough.

Therefore, when the news of "Okita Souji's illness" spread, Saigo Kinosuke and others were both happy and worried.

The joy goes without saying.

The worry is that this is fake news.

The official statement from the Northern Dynasty was that she was ill and recuperating, but they remained completely silent about what illness she had or when she would recover.

Saigo Kinosuke and others had no choice but to send out a large number of spies to investigate the movements and current situation of the Souji, and eventually they received a lot of reports of all kinds.

Some say she wasn't sick at all, but was simply sent by Qingdeng on a secret mission.

Some say she has a terminal illness that is incurable and doesn't have much time left.

Others say she died long ago, and the "Northern Dynasty" officials concealed her death for fear of undermining morale.

Regardless of the report, one thing is clear—the "disappearance of the chief commander" is a foregone conclusion.

If she could remain missing, it would undoubtedly greatly reduce the pressure on the Southern Army to suppress the Shinsengumi.

What followed unfolded exactly as they had hoped.

Whether it was the day before yesterday or yesterday, the commander did not show up, which made Saigo Kinosuke and the others overjoyed. They all thought to themselves: It seems that "Heavenly Sword" is either seriously ill or really dead!

Unexpectedly... on this crucial and critical third day, she suddenly appeared on Autumn Mountain as if she were a divine being descending from the heavens!

That would be one thing, she showed up, but the location where she appeared was far too clever.

Although Mount Qiu is not a very big mountain, it's not so easy to find someone there.

But of all places, she had to appear right next to Qingdeng!

If this is just a coincidence, then Saigo Kinosuke and the others can't help but lament: Is Heaven going to destroy us?

The merging of "Nioh" and "Tenken" could not have been worse news for Saigo Kinosuke and the others!

Their inability to eliminate the Shinsengumi captains made it impossible to carry out the "Isolating Nioh" operation plan, which was already a major headache for them.

At this critical juncture, such terrible news has emerged... At this moment, Saigo Kinosuke, who usually presents a calm and composed image, has lost his composure in an extremely rare manner.

He yelled, his eyes bloodshot, and questioned in an exasperated tone:

Where have 'Nioh' and 'Tenken' advanced to?

The messenger swallowed hard, opened his trembling lips, and was about to reply—

Bang!

The sudden, loud noise drew everyone's attention.

Looking up, not far from the mountaintop, several mangled bodies flew high into the air like flowers scattered by celestial maidens.

Upon seeing this, the color in Saigo Kinosuke and the others' cheeks faded rapidly, like melting snow.

The messengers no longer needed to speak—the scene before their eyes had already provided the answer.

……

……

boom!boom!boom!boom!

Several bullets flew out from the bushes on both sides.

Qingdeng swayed his body a few times, causing all the bullets to miss.

The same thing happened to Souji.

Before the bullets even arrived, she sensed the approaching danger, and her body moved before her mind could react.

By the time she came to her senses, the bullets had already flown past her.

Not only was the person who fired the shot shocked, but she herself was also so surprised that her mouth dropped open.

She used to be able to dodge bullets, but she had to be able to see the direction the gun was pointing and when to fire.

Now, she can render the enemy marksman's efforts futile simply by relying on her "intuition"...

Qingdeng gave her a meaningful look and said, half-jokingly:

"Xiao Si, it's been more than half a year since I last saw you, and you've become an incredible 'monster'."

"I...I don't know what's going on either..."

She looked down and touched her chest, feeling the strong heartbeat.

"A continuous stream of power is surging from within me...!"