I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After Inoue returned to his hometown, Shusuke, Kondo, and others continued to correspond with Inoue, and they must have mentioned the recent situation of Shieikan in their letters.

Inoue simply didn't know who these new faces were.

Shusuke noticed Inoue's frequent curious glances directed at Aoto and the others.

"Oh dear, I got so caught up in chatting."

Zhou Zhu smiled and patted his forehead.

"Inoue, come here, let me introduce you to someone!"

Shusuke shifted his body slightly to the side, allowing Inoue to see the faces of Aoto and the others sitting behind him more clearly.

"These are the people that Yu and I frequently mentioned in our previous letters to you: Tachibana Aoto, Saito Hajime, Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke, and Kyubei!"

Following Shusuke's words, Inoue and his group greeted Aoto and Saito with friendly smiles.

"Haha, our Shiwei Hall is really thriving now!"

Inoue straightened his posture even more.

Hello everyone.

"Although you probably already know who I am, let me give you a formal self-introduction again."

Inoue bowed deeply to Qing Deng and the others without any airs, placing three fingers of each hand on the ground.

"My name is Inoue Genzaburo. Nice to meet you."

Facing Inoue, who holds a very high seniority and status in the Shieikan, Aoto and the others should not be disrespectful, either out of courtesy or reason.

Nagakura performed a perfectly standard samurai bow.

"My name is Nagakura Shinpachi. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me."

Harada casually raised his right thumb and pointed it at himself.

"I am Harada Sanosuke!"

Saito bowed slightly, his tone as emotionless as his expression.

"Hajime Saito, nice to meet you."

……

The last person to introduce himself and return the greeting was Qing Deng.

"My name is Ju Qingdeng. I have long admired your great name, and I am overjoyed to finally meet you today."

"Oh?" Inoue's eyebrows twitched violently, and his eyes lit up. "You're Tachibana Aoto."

Inoue carefully examined Aoto's face while giving him a broad, simple smile, like that of a farmer.

"Tachibana-kun, I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

“In the letters that my master craftsmen and junior craftsmen send me, they often mention you.”

Qing Deng thought to himself: The "old master" and "young master" that Inoue mentioned must refer to Shusuke and Kondo.

"Back at the beginning of this year, when you had just become an apprentice at Shiwei Hall, your young master wrote me a long and detailed letter."

"The majority of the letter is praising you."

“The young master told me directly in the letter: ‘Our Shiwei Hall has gained a new disciple who is outstanding in both talent and hard work and is sure to achieve great things in the future.’”

"After reading your letter, I've always wanted to meet you and see for myself what kind of person you are who is so highly praised by your master."

"Tonight, my wish has finally come true."

Inoue shifted his gaze, giving Aoto a cursory once-over from head to toe, before chuckling a few times.

"Tachibana-kun, you're much more handsome than I imagined."

Qingdeng smiled and said modestly:

"Mr. Inoue, you flatter me."

“There’s no need to call me ‘Mr. Inoue.’” Inoue waved his hand forcefully. “We are all part of Shieikan. There’s no need to address me with such an unfamiliar title.”

"Just call me 'Uncle Yuan' like you do with the junior master and the chief."

"It sounds nice and is easy to pronounce."

As Inoue said this, his gaze swept across the faces of Aoto, Saito, Nagakura, and Harada. This gesture naturally meant, "You can all call me 'Uncle Inoue'."

Inoue's amiable nature surprised Aoto somewhat.

Compared to the Grand Sword Hall, Inoue gives the impression of being more like a kind and approachable old man next door.

After Qing Deng and the others introduced themselves to Inoue, Shusuke resumed chatting with Inoue about various trivial matters.

"Yuan, you've been back in your hometown for so long, you shouldn't have neglected your swordsmanship training, right?"

Inoue laughed and answered without hesitation:

“Master, I am a swordsman after all.”

“During the months I’ve been back in my hometown, I haven’t slacked off on my training, and I’ve also gained a whole new understanding of footwork.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhu was overjoyed.

"Oh? A completely new insight? What kind of insight?"

At this time, most of the people in the hall were martial artists, and they naturally had a deeper interest in topics related to martial arts.

Inoue's words immediately drew the attention of most people in the room, including Aoto.

"Hmm..." Inoue raised his hand and touched his throat. "What kind of realization... I find it hard to describe in words."

At this point, Inoue lowered his hand from his throat and grinned.

"Master, it's hard to explain to you with just words what new improvements I've made to my footwork."

"Alright then, master, I'll just show you my new footwork."

"Once you see it for yourself, you'll know exactly how my footwork differs from the past."

"Hehehe!" Zhou Zhu slapped his thigh lightly. "Alright! Come on, let's go to the dojo. Let me see what new insights you've gained about footwork!"

Although Shusuke usually smiles and seems quite unreliable, he is essentially a swordsman, the third head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu main family, and the current head of the Shieikan.

Shusuke always had a great deal of passion and enthusiasm for matters related to "disciple training" and "swordsmanship".

"Hey." Abi frowned, looked at Shusuke, then at Inoue, "It's this late, and you still want to go to the dojo?"

Outside the window, the moon was already high in the night sky... It was just past 22 p.m.

In this day and age, this time is definitely late at night.

"Hehehe, Madam."

For once, Zhou Zhu, who was henpecked, showed some backbone.

"My disciple's skills have improved... How could I, as his master, not check on him immediately?"

"..." Abi seemed speechless after Zhou Zhu's words.

She glanced at Zhou Zhu with annoyance, then shut her mouth without saying another word.

“Ah, speaking of which…” Inoue suddenly turned his head to look at Okita, recalling something. “Souji, when you opened the door for me just now, I saw that you and Tachibana were both wearing protective gear. Were you practicing swordsmanship in the dojo just now?”

“Ah, yes.” Okita nodded. “Tachibana and I were just about to have a little sparring session. We had barely put on our protective gear when you showed up, Gen-san.”

"I see... Haha, then I should say 'sorry,' I'm sorry for interrupting your practice."

After saying that, Inoue pursed his lips thoughtfully and fell into a deep contemplation.

“...Tachibana-kun”.

Inoue pondered for less than two breaths before raising his head and smiling at Aoto.

"Mr. Orange, would you be willing to have a match with me now?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng's face showed surprise.

Before the look of surprise on Qing Deng's face could fully materialize, Inoue continued:

"I really want to experience firsthand just how good you are, given how highly you've been praised by both the master and junior apprentices."

"My new footwork can only be truly demonstrated in combat."

"So let's kill two birds with one stone!"

"Let's have a proper spar. I can demonstrate my new footwork to the master sparring partners, and I can also take this opportunity to see your true strength."

"I wonder... what do you think?"

As Inoue finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Qing Deng.

Qing Deng's eyes flickered slightly as he looked between "reality" and "thought".

Qingdeng didn't keep everyone waiting too long.

In the blink of an eye, Qing Deng let out a long breath.

"Then, please, Inoue, give me your guidance, Uncle Gen!"

……

……

The group moved from the main hall to the meditation hall.

Standing on the left side of the dojo, Qingdeng was the first to put on his protective gear.

After carefully inspecting the bamboo sword in his hand to make sure it was undamaged, Qing Deng raised his gaze and peered through the gap in his mask at Inoue, who was still putting on his gauntlets.

Qing Deng's eyes clearly reflected Inoue's figure... A glimmer of curiosity and a fierce fighting spirit slowly emerged from the depths of his dark pupils!

Inoue took the initiative to invite him to a fierce battle... Aoto couldn't be happier!

Inoue wanted to personally test the depth of Seito's strength, and Seito also wanted to personally experience just how strong Inoue, one of the top masters of the Shieikan, really was.

Inoue's appearance is quite deceptive.

Those unfamiliar with Inoue might instinctively think he's just an ordinary old farmer when they first see him.

They would never have guessed... that this seemingly harmless old farmer was actually the holder of the Mandate of Heaven!