I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

If the mysterious man had used a real knife instead of a tree branch... he probably could have killed both Aoto and Kinoshita Mai in a single exchange.

Who exactly is this guy...? Qing Deng, who was staring intently at the direction where the mysterious figure disappeared, had a slightly more complicated look in his eyes.

The only thing Qing Deng could be sure of now was that this mysterious person didn't harbor any strong hostility towards him and Kinoshita Mai—at least not in the way of killing or capturing them alive.

The mysterious man had just successfully knocked them both to the ground, and if he wanted to... he could kill or capture them both without lifting a finger.

But he didn't do that... He simply threw away the branch in his hand and fled from Qingdeng and the others' sight.

He neither wanted to kill them nor capture them alive... The mysterious man's actions made him even more mysterious, making Qing Deng even more suspicious of his identity.

After hearing Qing Deng's warning, Kinoshita Mai realized that they were no longer able to catch up with the mysterious person. After a moment of hesitation, she finally withdrew her foot that had already been taken forward.

At this moment, Qingdeng heard increasingly loud noises coming from the houses on both sides of the street.

The sounds of their fight with the mysterious man must have disturbed the townspeople on both sides of the street. They all got out of bed to see what was happening outside.

If the townspeople found the two of them, it would cause unnecessary trouble, so Qing Deng quickly said to Kinoshita Mai in a deep voice, "Let's leave here quickly."

Kinoshita Mai nodded vigorously, and then, together with Aoto, dragged her still-recovering right leg and moved away from the street.

The two moved quickly to a dark alleyway far away from where they had just fought the mysterious man before stopping.

Kinoshita Mai looked around the alley, making sure there were no outsiders nearby, and let out a sigh of relief: "Let's rest here for a bit..."

After saying that, Kinoshita Mai sat down on the ground first, raising her hands to gently massage her still somewhat numb right leg.

The numbness in Qing Deng's right leg had subsided considerably, so he no longer needed to massage his leg like Kinoshita Mai did. He wasn't so tired that he needed to sit down and rest, but he still sat cross-legged opposite Kinoshita Mai in a proper manner.

Because this moment presents a good opportunity for Qingdeng.

This is a good opportunity to take a good look at your newly acquired unique talent.

So, Qingdeng pretended to be resting while silently summoning the system in his mind.

The system list, which hadn't been checked for some time, appeared before Qingdeng's eyes upon his summons—

Name: Tachibana Aoto (?)

[Currently possessed talents:]

Night Vision, Sword Prodigy, Sleep God, Lone Wolf, Eagle Eye, Left-Handed, Fitness, Skillful Hands, Eloquent Tongue, Iron Waist, Steel Bones, Strong Muscles, Cat Turn, Photographic Memory, Demon Heart, Milk, Leading the Way, Seeing Through, Beautiful Hair, Conman, Wind Perceiver, Hachiman of No Blindness

"Hachiman of No Bounds"... This entry, whose name alone is far more impressive than the other talents, lies quietly at the very end of the talent list.

Hachiman is a famous deity in Japanese Shintoism. His full name is "Hachiman Daimyojin". Originally, he was the "god of archery". Seven hundred years ago, he established the first shogunate in Japan: the Kamakura Shogunate. After Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura, Hachiman Daimyojin was gradually revered as the "god of war" and became a nationwide belief. Shrines dedicated to Hachiman Daimyojin were built all over the country.

Upon opening the system list, Qingdeng immediately noticed the extraordinary nature of his newly acquired talent.

Every talent that was copied before had an ordinary entry in the talent list.

Only the entry for "Hachiman of No Regrets" has a special effect—it is surrounded by a purple square that is shimmering with a faint light!

As Qing Deng stared in astonishment at the talent attribute with its own special effects, he suddenly realized that if he focused his attention on the purple square, the purple square could expand into a new virtual screen.

On this virtual screen, the description of "Eternal Talent" was clearly displayed!

[Eternal Talent:]

Without considering the host, this is a talent that only one person in the world can possess.

A unique talent! A talent unparalleled in the world!

The introduction is very short.

But this extremely brief introduction left Qing Deng with a lingering sense of shock that was difficult to dispel...

The world is so vast, and the population is so enormous. With such a large population base, there is naturally no shortage of people with extraordinary talents.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for talents to clash.

Take the term "sword prodigy" as an example: there are countless sword geniuses like Okita who possess the "sword prodigy" quality.

However... only the "Eternal Talent" is different.

According to the system's current description of "Eternal Talents," excluding Qing Deng's ability to copy others' talents, talents bestowed with the name "Eternal" are all unique! Only one person in this world can possess such a talent!

The more Qingdeng thought about it, the more shocked he became.

The sheer magnitude of tonight's harvest left Qingdeng speechless.

He was merely accompanying Kinoshita Mai tonight to scout out that suspicious teahouse, yet by sheer coincidence, he managed to replicate this talent—a once-in-a-billion-person ability—…

Such an experience, such luck, left Qingdeng speechless, unable to find the words to describe it.

After taking several deep breaths, Qing Deng gradually recovered from his astonishment and calmed his mind. He slowly raised his eyes and stared intently in the direction where the mysterious person had just left.

—Who exactly is that guy in the brown robe...? Why would someone like that hide near us while Ms. Kinoshita and I were admiring the cherry blossoms at night?

Qing Deng wasn't quite sure how many people there were in the world, but he estimated that there should still be over a billion.

Out of billions of people, only one person possesses this talent... How amazing is that talent?

And how amazing must someone be to possess such a talent...?

Qing Deng had just encountered such a person and even briefly exchanged blows with him.

Qing Deng became even more puzzled about the identity of that mysterious person.

But no matter how confused Qing Deng was, it was no use.

With information so scarce, he could only rack his brains without figuring out the mysterious person's identity.

Therefore, Qing Deng could only shake his head slightly with a wry smile, then turned his gaze back and focused his attention on the talent content of "Muwang no Hachiman".

As early as when he successfully copied the talent from the mysterious person and the system notification popped up in his mind, Qing Deng had already noticed that the conditions for violating the "Wandering Eight Banners" were... somewhat difficult to understand.

With the mindset of "I need to study this carefully," Qing Deng focused his attention on the entry for "Hachiman of No Regrets," and a virtual screen displaying the talent description immediately popped up in front of him—

When the mind and spirit are in perfect harmony and there is no confusion, one can unleash an extremely powerful attack as if possessed by the Great God Hachiman!

With a clear mind, the sword will not falter!

Looking at the series of descriptive words on the virtual screen, Qing Deng frowned slightly—to be considered an "Eternal Talent," this talent must be extraordinary. In fact, based on the system's description of the talent, one could vaguely sense that it seemed very strong, but the description was far too general!

What does it mean to be "in harmony with one's mind and spirit, and free from confusion"?

I am determined to win and have no distracting thoughts. Does that mean I am free from doubt?

What does it mean to be able to unleash an extremely powerful attack, as if possessed by the deity Hachiman Daimyojin? Does it mean that one's strength suddenly increases dramatically by unleashing all of one's physical potential?

The description of the talent was too vague... making it really hard for Qingdeng to grasp the trigger conditions of the talent.

Qingdeng's intuition told it: this "Hachiman of No Blinding" was definitely not so easy to trigger. The so-called "no bewilderment in the mind" was definitely not just a matter of having no distracting thoughts...

While Aoto was still engrossed in studying his new talent, suddenly—Kinoshita Mai, who was sitting opposite him and had been focused on massaging her right leg, suddenly stood up, leaning against the wall of the alley, and then tiptoed.

"Hmm... I've finally recovered." Kinoshita Mai glanced at her right leg, which no longer ached or went numb no matter how much she stood on tiptoe, and said with a wry smile to herself, "Tonight has been full of unexpected events... Just who was that guy in the brown robe...?"

Aoto, whose mind had been pulled back to reality by Kinoshita Mai's soft sigh, smiled helplessly and echoed, "Who knows... Is your leg alright? Are you injured anywhere else?"

"I'm fine." Kinoshita Mai held her arms out to her sides and stood on her tiptoes a few times to show Aoto that she was alright. "How about you? How's the part where that guy's branch hit you?"

At this point, Kinoshita Mai adopted a worried tone.

Is there any bleeding? Is the injury serious?

"There was no bleeding, just minor injuries." Qingdeng raised his hand and touched the spots where the mysterious man's branch had struck him.

“...Let me see your wound,” Kinoshita Mai said.

"Huh?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

"Let me see your wound." Kinoshita Mai, meeting Aoto's gaze with unwavering eyes, repeated her words, emphasizing each one.

"That won't be necessary," Qingdeng quickly waved his hand. "They're just minor injuries that didn't even bleed."

"No way." Kinoshita Mai shook her head firmly. "That guy's branches were whipping you so hard, they were crackling loudly when they hit you. I don't believe it's just minor injuries. Let me see your wounds."

This was the first time Qing Deng had ever seen Kinoshita Mai so assertive... No matter what he said or how he explained, Kinoshita Mai just wouldn't back down.

Unable to resist Kinoshita Mai's insistence, Aoto could only sigh softly and slowly take off his upper garment.

The mysterious man, who had been striking Qingdeng with tree branches until the battle ended, struck Qingdeng a total of seven times, all of which were concentrated on Qingdeng's upper body.

Qing Deng wasn't lying; none of the crisscrossing wounds on his body were bleeding, although the wounds looked quite frightening.

The longest wound was 4 inches long, and the shortest was 2 inches.

Every wound was undeniably a bloody stain, the skin torn open, frighteningly red, and some wounds even had tiny beads of blood oozing out.

The alley where Aoto and Kinoshita Mai are hiding is lined with rather tall houses on both sides. Under the cover of the wide eaves of the houses, the alley is extremely dark, so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

Therefore, in order to see the injuries on Qing Deng's body more clearly, Kinoshita Mai unconsciously took half a step forward, stood in front of Qing Deng, and put her face close to Qing Deng's naked upper body.

Seeing Kinoshita Mai's nose almost bumping into him, Aoto couldn't help but be stunned.

This is the first time such an experience has been reported. He stripped naked in front of a young woman who was neither a relative nor a medical professional, and allowed her to view his wounds up close.

For some reason, Qingdeng felt an itch in his chest.

His gaze involuntarily averted from Kinoshita Mai, and the muscles on his face seemed to malfunction, his expression becoming strange.

Kinoshita Mai seems completely unaware that she and Aoto are currently in a rather ambiguous relationship.

After carefully examining every single wound on Qing Shang's body, she finally showed a relieved expression.

"Fortunately, the wound isn't too serious."

Kinoshita Mai straightened up, put her hands on her hips, and continued solemnly:

"Make sure you apply the medicine promptly when you get back."

"Otherwise, these injuries of yours will very likely leave scars... Hmm? Tachibana-kun, what's wrong? Why do you look so strange?"

It was only then that Kinoshita Mai belatedly realized that Aoto's expression was somewhat strange.

"Ah...it's nothing..." Qing Deng chuckled awkwardly, raised his hand and flicked his nose, "I just think...Ms. Kinoshita, you can be quite bold at times."

Kinoshita Mai, who was still standing with her hands on her hips, was slightly stunned after hearing Aoto's words. Then, as if she realized something, her expression changed.

"N-I'm sorry..." Kinoshita Mai hurriedly lowered her head, tilting the crown of her head towards Aoto while pulling her face mask up and tighter to cover her face completely. "I just... wanted to check how serious your injuries were..."

The girl in front of him had transformed back into the familiar Mai Kinoshita.

An awkward atmosphere hung in the air between the two who had fallen silent...

*******