I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Speaking of Chiba Michizaburo, he was a man with a very legendary background.

Chiba Shusaku, the founder of Hokushin Itto-ryu and the first master of Genbukan, had four sons: Chiba Kisotaro, Chiba Eijiro, Chiba Michizaburo, and Chiba Tamon Shiro.

The eldest son, Chiba Kisutaro, died young, leaving only the other three sons alive.

After Chiba Shusaku passed away five years ago, Chiba Eijiro should rightfully inherit the position of head of the Hokushin Itto-ryu main family and the head of the Genbukan, both by seniority and by ability.

However, before Chiba Shusaku's death, Chiba Eijiro had already taken up a post in the Mito Domain to improve his knowledge and swordsmanship, so he had no energy left to inherit the family business.

Therefore, the position of the second head of the Hokushin Itto-ryu main family and the position of the second head of the Genbukan... this huge family business fell on the shoulders of the third son: Chiba Michizaburo.

Many people who are not familiar with the Edo swordsmanship world often have this misconception—that Chiba Dosaburo only got his current prominent position by taking advantage of others.

Admittedly, if Chiba Eijiro had not served in the Mito Domain, this vast family fortune would never have fallen to Chiba Michizaburo.

In terms of overall strength, Chiba Michizaburo is indeed far inferior to his second brother, Eijiro... but only compared to his second brother, his swordsmanship is still lacking.

Chiba Michizaburo is, after all, a member of the "sword-wielding family" Chiba.

Because Eijiro's brilliance is so dazzling, people often subconsciously overlook... Chiba Michizaburo is also a top-tier genius swordsman!

In a conversation, Chiba Jutaro once said to Aoto that if the younger generation of the Chiba family were ranked according to their swordsmanship talent, his second cousin Chiba Eijiro would be in the first tier, his third cousin Chiba Michizaburo would be in the second tier, and he, Sanako, and his fourth cousin Chiba Tamon Shiro would be in the lowest tier.

At present, among all the members of the two brother sword schools, Genbukan and Chibakenkan, only Chiba Sadakichi, Chiba Eijiro, and Chiba Dozaburo have reached the level of being able to freely control their "momentum"!

Compared to Eijiro, Michizaburo was much more low-key and unassuming.

But in the Edo swordsmanship world, Dozaburo's anecdotes were no less numerous than Eijiro's.

Among the various anecdotes related to Dozaburo, the most famous is undoubtedly the one about "developing the Hokushin Two-Sword Style to defeat Eijiro".

Rumor has it that Dozaburo has always aimed to surpass his second brother, who is superior to him in both talent and strength.

In order to defeat his elder brother, Dozaburo diligently practiced swordsmanship and pondered tactics.

After being defeated by Eijiro time and time again, Dozaburo suddenly had a thought: Since I can't defeat my second brother with one sword... what if I use two swords?

Dozaburo has a famous special skill: he can multitask.

He can do two things at the same time with his left and right hands without them interfering with each other, and both hands are quite efficient.

Feeling he could make full use of his special skill, Dozaburo trained diligently and finally brought about a breakthrough innovation to the Hokushin Ittō-ryū, developing the Hokushin Ittō-ryū dual-sword style, namely the "Hokushin Dual-Sword Style"!

Dozaburo's strength increased dramatically after mastering the Hokushin Two-Sword Style. The two-sword style was a perfect match for his ability to multitask.

The two swords in his hands can attack the target simultaneously from different directions and angles, with different sword speeds and forces.

He single-handedly achieved the effect of a "double attack".

Those who fight against Dozaburo often suffer a miserable defeat because they cannot cope with the strange feeling that "it is like fighting against two highly coordinated masters even though it is fighting against one person".

Unfortunately... even after painstakingly developing the "Hokushin Two-Sword Style," Dozaburo still couldn't defeat his older brother, Eijiro...

The Red and White Battle with Genbukan is imminent, but Kondo, the second-in-command of Shieikan, has been busy with something else that has nothing to do with the Red and White Battle, but is crucial to his own future.

Their instructor and the next headmaster of the Shieikan school, Kondo Isami, is finally getting married!

Kondo's marriage partner was the matchmaker that Shusuke had previously recommended to him: Matsui Tsune, the daughter of Matsui Hachijōrō, a close aide to the Shimizu family, one of the three noble families of Tokugawa.

A few months ago, when Aoto had just finished the "Battle of the Foreign Documents Investigation Office" and was recuperating at home, Shusuke and Abi found a girl who was highly praised by the matchmakers for Kondo, who was 26 years old this year but still single. This girl was Matsui Tsune.

On the matter of "Kondo's marriage," Shusuke and Abi, a couple who often bicker due to disagreements, surprisingly reached a consensus.

The elderly couple agreed that Kondo's marriage absolutely could not be delayed any longer!

After giving Kondo a firm order that he "must get married this year," Shusuke and Abi forced him to go on his first blind date with Matsui Tsune in early April.

Kondo, who wanted to focus more on developing the Shieikan and didn't want to get married so early, was very resistant to the arranged marriage that Shusuke and Abi forced on him... but he couldn't disobey his parents' wishes.

Originally, because Kondo kept emphasizing that "I don't want to get married so early," Aoto thought that Kondo's first blind date might not go very well.

But to everyone's surprise, Kondo and Matsui's first blind date went surprisingly smoothly!

Aoto felt he would probably never forget the change in Kondo's attitude before and after the blind date...

Before attending a blind date—

"Father, Mother, I don't want to get married yet. I want to focus all my energy on running the health center. I'm afraid that getting married would distract me!"

The above are the exact words Kondo uttered in a righteous and indignant tone before attending the matchmaking event.

After attending the blind date...

"Father! Mother! I've thought it through! Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring! I'm already this old, it's time for me to get married and have children! I want to get married! I'm going to get married!"

After returning from the matchmaking event, Kondo knelt before Shusuke and Abi in the most standard dogeza posture, expressing his sincere desire to continue the Kondo family line and to get married... or more precisely, to marry Matsui Tsune.

Aoto conducted a simple investigation into why Kondo's attitude had changed so drastically, and the reason was quite simple.

Matsui Tsune is indeed a very nice girl.

Although Aoto had never met Matsui Tsune in person, both young people like Kondo and older people like Shusuke and Abi praised Matsui Tsune's appearance and temperament.

According to Kondo, Matsui Tsune was a great beauty with fair skin, a petite figure, delicate features, and excellent temperament and upbringing.

Kondo only mentioned Matsui Tsune's temperament briefly before quickly moving on.

The rest of the conversation focused on detailing just how incredibly beautiful Matsui Tsuneo was…

Incidentally, when introducing Matsui Tsune's good looks to Aoto, Kondo casually mentioned that he had accidentally touched Matsui Tsune's small hand.

"Tachibana-kun, do you know? When I was seeing Ms. Matsui off from the teahouse, she accidentally missed a step on the stairs and almost fell. Luckily, I caught her in time."

"Just as I reached out to steady Ms. Matsui, my right hand touched Ms. Matsui's left hand."

"The girl's hands are smaller than I imagined."

"Ms. Matsui's hands are so small, delicate, and tender. It feels like if I used a little more force, I could break her hands."

"Oh dear... I feel so embarrassed... I actually touched someone's hand..."

At this point, Kondo raised his hands. His right hand encircled his throat, gripping the back of his neck tightly, while his left hand encircled his chest, hugging his back. His cheeks flushed, and he curled up in embarrassment, wriggling slightly like a maggot. He looked as if he wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground...

A burly man, almost thirty years old and as strong as a gorilla, blushed and hugged himself after accidentally touching a girl's hand... This truly opened Qing Deng's eyes.

While broadening his horizons, Aoto also gained a deeper understanding of Kondo.

I never imagined that someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you would have such an innocent side!

Qing Deng couldn't help but sigh: Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, these two sworn brothers, are really interesting.

The former accidentally touched a girl's hand and became so shy and excited that he seemed to want to give himself an over-the-shoulder throw and throw himself away.

The latter has so many girlfriends that it feels like they could form two football teams and have them play against each other.

In short—after going on his first blind date with Matsui Tsune and seeing what he looked like, Kondo never objected to blind dates or marriage again.

Kondo fell in love with Matsui at first sight, and Matsui and her family were also quite satisfied with Kondo, who was tall and strong, with a handsome and masculine appearance and a very samurai-like demeanor.

Since both families were quite satisfied with each other, the rest was a natural progression.

In mid-June, the parents of both sides finalized their decision to form a marriage alliance.

On July 5th, Kondo and Matsui Tsune officially got engaged.

The couple's wedding is scheduled for September 1st.

Recently, under Abi's request and supervision, Kondo has been making time to practice wedding etiquette for at least two hours every day.

After all, it's practice on how to get married. This kind of practice can be considered painful yet joyful... I guess.

The Red and White Battle against Genbukan will be held on August 20th.

Kondo and Matsui's wedding ceremony will be held on September 1st.

The Shiwei Hall is bound to be quite lively and busy in the coming month.

……

……

That night--

Shieikan, Dojo—

Qingdeng stood alone in the center of the empty dojo.

Qingdeng, standing casually, wielded a bamboo sword with one hand.

While confirming the length and weight of the bamboo sword, which felt slightly unfamiliar due to not having wielded it for so long, I also stretched my arms and waist.

Once he felt that the muscles and bones in his arms had been loosened up, Qingdeng took a deep breath, gripped the bamboo sword with both hands, and assumed a standard mid-level stance in front of him.

Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—!

The empty dojo echoed with the crisp sound of wind breaking.

Qing Deng swung his sword rapidly, practicing his backslash.

Cut and Return: One of the basic movements in swordsmanship practice. First, make a slash from the front, then from the left and right, and repeat this cycle.

Qingdeng continued practicing until he felt his breathing become slightly rapid before slowly stopping his sword.

"My body is so stiff..."

Qingdeng grinned and rubbed his arms.

The day before yesterday, Qingdeng returned to Renyitang Hospital in accordance with the doctor's advice to "come back for a check-up every 7 days".

Beifang Ren is a really good doctor. He always does his best and is never careless when he examines Qingdeng's body.

After thoroughly examining Qing Deng's body from head to toe, Bei Fangren let out a relieved and satisfied smile.

"Mr. Ju, your recovery ability is truly amazing. Your body has fully recovered, and you no longer need to come to Renyitang for follow-up examinations."

"Can I train my physique and practice swordsmanship as usual?"

"Of course you can. You've fully recovered, so feel free to train and hone your swordsmanship!"

Once he had recovered, Qingdeng began his rehabilitation.

After two months of leisurely days when he hadn't even touched a sword much, Qingdeng's body was terribly stiff.

It will take some time for my hands to regain the feel of holding a sword and for my muscles to regain their former vitality.

At this very moment, Qingdeng is undergoing rehabilitation.

After massaging the muscles in his shoulders a few times and resting briefly, Qingdeng once again held the bamboo sword steadily in front of him with both hands.