I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Shusuke, Kondo, Okita, Aoto, Saito, Nagakura, Harada... Apart from Kyubei, who was helping to clean the yard outside, all the current guests of Shieikan are here now.

The group sat neatly on the west side of the hall, facing Chiba Eijiro, who was sitting alone on the east side of the hall.

“He is ‘Chiba of Techniques’…” Nagakura, sitting behind Aoto, murmured softly in a voice only he could hear, his arms clenched tighter against his chest, his eyes fixed intently on Chiba Eijiro.

Harada, who usually looks silly and goofy, was unusually serious at this moment, looking at Chiba Eijiro with great interest.

Nagakura and Harada were seeing the famous "Chiba of Techniques" in person for the first time. This superstar of the Japanese swordsmanship world was sitting right in front of them, and they naturally found it difficult to remain calm.

Aoto and Saito had already met Chiba Eijiro once before in the previous swordsmanship competition, so Aoto and Saito were much calmer than Nagakura and Harada.

Chiba Eijiro picked up the tea that Abi had just handed him, took a sip, and then raised an eyebrow.

"Good tea... Madam, your tea-brewing skills seem to have improved quite a bit."

"You flatter me." Abi held the tea tray in front of him and smiled politely.

"Haha, I don't think I'm exaggerating." Chiba Eijiro took a few more sips of tea, then put down his teacup, raised his gaze, and looked at Nagakura and the others.

"Mr. Shusuke, it's been a while since I've visited your establishment, and there are quite a few unfamiliar faces here... Who are these gentlemen?"

Chiba Eijiro had met Saito once at the recently concluded Aizu-go Sword Tournament, so he knew Saito, but he had never met Nagakura and Harada.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot to introduce it."

Zhou Zhu turned his upper body around and pointed at Yongcang and the others.

"Eijiro, let me introduce you."

"This is Nagakura Shinpachi, and this is Harada Sanosuke. Both of them are currently patrons of my Shieikan restaurant, and they are also both under Tachibana-kun's command."

"Nice to meet you! I am Nagakura Shinpachi!" As soon as Shusuke finished speaking, Nagakura placed his clenched fists on the tatami mat, bent his upper body, and bowed respectfully to Chiba Eijiro.

"Nice to meet you, I am Harada Sanosuke." Harada bowed deeply to Chiba Eijiro, following closely behind Nagakura.

"Hello, everyone." Chiba Eijiro nodded to Nagakura and Harada, then gave them a friendly smile. "You don't need to be so formal. Please lift your heads. Your overly polite manners are making me a little uncomfortable."

Urged half-jokingly by Chiba Eijiro, Nagakura and Harada slowly straightened up from their bows to Chiba Eijiro.

After introducing Chiba Eijiro to Nagakura and Harada, Shusuke chuckled and raised his hand, stroking his smooth chin.

“Eijiro, thinking about it carefully... it really has been a long time since you’ve been here.”

Are you the only one who came today?

“Yes, that’s right.” Chiba Eijiro smiled slightly. “Because this visit was a spur-of-the-moment decision to ‘avoid guests,’ I didn’t bring any relatives or attendants.”

"'Avoiding guests'?" Zhou Zhu raised a slight brow.

Chiba Eijiro's smile turned bitter: "Since I returned to Edo, the number of guests who want to visit me and the number of martial artists who want to challenge me have almost worn down the gates of the Genbukan."

"If it were any other time, then it wouldn't matter."

"But today is the annual Dragon Boat Festival, and I don't want to be bothered by those visitors while celebrating the festival."

"So this morning, after saying goodbye to my family, I went out alone, planning to return to Xuanwu Hall after dark."

"My original intention was to find a place where no one would bother me and I could have some peace and quiet."

"Then it suddenly occurred to me: it has been quite a while since I last visited your esteemed establishment."

Chiba Eijiro smiled and spread his hands.

So—I came here.

"I apologize for this intrusion."

Chiba Eijiro maintained a very relaxed demeanor throughout.

Without being stiff or reserved, and without using flowery language, he simply and directly stated the reason for his sudden visit to the Shieikan.

"Hehehe, I see." As soon as Chiba Eijiro finished speaking, Shusuke nodded with a smile.

—Avoiding those who come knocking...?

Qing Deng thought to himself, while showing an expression that said, "Ah, I can understand it."

Chiba Eijiro comes from the Chiba family, known as the "Number One Family in the Martial Arts World." He is a renowned martial artist with honorary titles such as "Chiba of Techniques" and "Edo's Strongest Swordsman."

He has a privileged family background and considerable power, so naturally, countless people want to curry favor with him or challenge him.

Qing Deng could totally relate to the feeling of being "bothered by visitors"—because he had recently been frequently approached by people wanting to visit him.

After winning the swordsmanship competition against the Lord of Aizu, Aoto's already great reputation in Edo rose even higher.

Many people went to the Shie-e-kan and even the Hokuban-sho to see for themselves what this young man, who had been appearing in the public eye almost every now and then in recent months, looked like.

Some people were indeed just there to see what Qingdeng looked like.

But most people actually wanted to curry favor with Qingdeng.

Although the number of people visiting Qingdeng is not particularly large, it has already caused Qingdeng considerable annoyance, as these people have begun to affect his daily life.

Just as Aoto was feeling a deep sense of empathy for Chiba Eijiro's words, Shusuke continued with a smile:

“Eijiro, you’ve come at just the right time. Every Dragon Boat Festival, we at Shieikan make rice dumplings, and my wife’s dumplings are absolutely amazing. You must try them later.”

Chiba Eijiro laughed heartily a few times: "In that case, I'll have to savor it properly later!"

At this point, Chiba Eijiro suddenly paused.

After a moment of silence, he said softly:

"Besides escaping those annoying guys and taking the opportunity to visit your esteemed establishment which I haven't visited in a long time, there is another reason why I suddenly came here today."

"I came for Tachibana-kun."

After saying that, Chiba Eijiro glanced sideways and looked at Aoto with a meaningful look.

Chapter 161 Aoto vs. Chiba Eijiro, facing off against "Edo's Strongest"! [5100]

As soon as Chiba Eijiro finished speaking, everyone's eyes in the hall instantly focused on Aoto.

Aoto's eyes widened in surprise, and he stared at Chiba Eijiro with a questioning look, softly repeating what Chiba Eijiro had just said: "For me...?"

So far, Aoto and Chiba Eijiro's only interaction has been a brief meeting and a few words exchanged during the previous swordsmanship tournament.

Judging from their relationship... Aoto and Chiba Eijiro can barely be considered "acquaintances," not even friends.

What could possibly be so important that Chiba Eijiro would make a special trip to Shieikan to visit me? Aoto was completely baffled.

Chiba Eijiro, as if wanting to observe Aoto's surprised and puzzled expression a little longer, smiled and looked at Aoto for a moment before slowly saying, as if savoring each word:

"Ever since the Aizu Marquis's swordsmanship tournament ended, I've wanted to have a proper talk with you."

"Mr. Orange, I'll get straight to the point and keep it short."

"In the final of the sword competition not long ago, there was a moment when you released your 'momentum'."

"Although the 'momentum' you suddenly unleashed was fleeting, I still vaguely sensed that your 'momentum' was somewhat different from the 'momentum' of others."

"...Different?" A shadow of doubt immediately appeared between Qing Deng's upright brows, and his face showed an expression that was a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

The gazes of everyone in the hall suddenly shifted 180 degrees. Everyone... including Shusuke, turned their puzzled eyes from Aoto to Chiba Eijiro.

It seems that even Shusuke didn't understand what Chiba Eijiro meant by what he just said.

Even under the pressure of everyone's gaze, Chiba Eijiro remained calm and composed.

He squinted and pondered for a moment:

"Hmm... how should I explain this..."

As Chiba Eijiro mentally crafted and considered his words, he smiled and said:

"'Pressure'... to put it bluntly, it's just an aura that martial artists cultivate little by little over many years of training, which can intimidate their opponents."

"Although everyone's 'momentum' will vary slightly depending on their personality, past experiences, and martial arts style, they are basically similar."

"The difference between them is like the difference between spring water from Mount Fuji and spring water from Mount Hakone—the impurities in the water may be slightly different, but overall there is no difference between the two; they are both spring water."

“However—your ‘momentum’ is different, Tachibana-kun.”

Chiba Eijiro's already half-closed eyes narrowed even more, and as he stared at Aoto, a deep light shone from beneath his eyelids.

"Because the 'momentum' you released in the sword competition only appeared for a moment, I didn't have time to fully appreciate it. Therefore, I don't know how to describe the difference between your 'momentum' and that of ordinary people."

“But I can say with certainty that your ‘momentum’ is indeed different from others.”

"The reason I came to find you is to ask you: Are you able to freely control your 'power' now? I want to feel your 'power' more carefully and see what abnormalities there are in your 'power'."

After speaking, Chiba Eijiro fell silent, staring intently at Aoto, waiting for his response.

From the moment Chiba Eijiro began explaining why he felt that Aoto's "momentum" was different from others', the look of astonishment on Aoto's face never faded.

His own "power" was different from others... This was the first time Qing Deng had ever heard of such a thing.

Not only Qing Deng looked astonished.

Shusuke, Kondo, Okita... In short, everyone in the hall except Chiba Eijiro showed varying degrees of surprise on their faces.

“Master.” Okita turned his head in confusion, looking at Shusuke sitting to his side. “Is everything Eijiro said true? Is Tachibana-kun’s ‘power’ really different from ordinary people?”

"Uh, well..." Zhou Zhu chuckled awkwardly a few times, "I really don't know... Like you guys, I haven't noticed anything special about Qing Deng's 'momentum'..."

As Chiba Eijiro stared intently at Aoto, awaiting his response, Aoto once again became the focus of everyone's attention in the hall.

Qingdeng, slowly regaining his senses, pursed his lips, then shook his head with a wry smile:

"I am far from being able to freely control my 'power'."

"The 'momentum' I displayed in the swordsmanship competition was purely coincidental."

"Let alone freely controlling my 'momentum', I still don't understand how I released my 'momentum' back then."

Zhou Zhu has recently shared a lot of knowledge about "momentum" with Qing Deng.

In cultivating "momentum", all martial artists will go through the following three stages.

The first stage is the stage in which most martial artists are: they cannot even touch the threshold of cultivating 'momentum', and they cannot release even the slightest bit of 'momentum'.

In the second stage, they are able to release "momentum" from time to time, but they are completely unable to control it freely.

The third stage, which is the level that Zhou Zhu and his group have reached, is the ability to control their "power" at will.

Regarding how to freely control and release "momentum," Zhou Zhu once explained it this way: it is a skill that can be mastered naturally.