I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"For many years now, my sister has been trying to persuade me to give up learning swordsmanship."

"Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, and it'll be too late if I don't switch careers and learn some other skills... Anyway, since last year, my sister has been urging me to give up swordsmanship much more often."

"Now, my sister is trying to persuade me whenever she has the chance."

"As soon as she gets a chance, my sister will pounce on me and give me a good lecture... It's getting a bit annoying..."

Aoto, who had been listening quietly to Souji's explanation, finally couldn't help but speak up:

“Okita-kun, why is your sister so opposed to you learning swordsmanship? It doesn’t make sense.”

"Your swordsmanship is so good, why not learn something else instead of swordsmanship... that would be playing to your weaknesses and neglecting your strengths, a complete waste of your talent."

"From what I heard today, your eldest sister stopped you from learning swordsmanship because she felt that very few people could make a living from it... Admittedly, her view is not wrong, and it is indeed rare to find someone who can make a living from swordsmanship. But I always feel that it is too far-fetched to stop someone as talented as you from learning swordsmanship for such a reason."

Anyone who has had even a little contact with Souji knows that he is undoubtedly a swordsmanship prodigy!

Not only does he possess swordsmanship skills far exceeding those of ordinary people, but he also has exceptional physical talents that he was born with.

A naturally gifted swordsman, he seems born for the sword...

Such a genius was forced to change careers, preventing him from fully utilizing his talents—which seemed to be fed by God—in his area of ​​expertise. Qing Deng truly couldn't understand this approach.

"Hahahaha..."

Souji chuckled dryly a few times, and slightly increased the pressure on his fingers as he played with the ponytail.

"Actually... my sister's concern that I won't be able to support myself with swordsmanship in the future is just a secondary reason why she opposes my learning swordsmanship."

"Secondary reason?" Qing Deng was taken aback. "Then what is the main reason?"

"Uh... well..."

The commander's gaze suddenly wandered, and he began to stammer, unable to utter a coherent sentence.

Qingdeng waited for a long time before receiving a vague reply from the commander-in-chief:

"The main reason is... I'm not at liberty to say right now. Tachibana-kun, I'll tell you when there's a chance later..."

After saying that, the commander closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

After exhaling all the air he had inhaled into his lungs with a "whoosh," Souji opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his bright eyes, they were filled with the lively light and cheerful smile that Qingdeng was familiar with.

"Tachibana-kun, don't worry about me."

With a smile on his face, the commander placed his left hand on his hip and patted his flat chest with his right hand with a light but firm touch.

"Shieikan is my second home, and Tennen Rishin-ryu is my second life. No matter what my sister says, I will never leave Shieikan or give up swordsmanship."

"I will handle these trivial matters between my sister and me properly, so please don't worry, Tachibana-kun!"

Seeing the smile on Souji's face, Aoto couldn't help but smile faintly as well.

Since the commander-in-chief didn't want to go into detail about why his sister opposed his learning swordsmanship, it wasn't convenient for Qing Deng to ask any more questions on this matter.

This is, after all, someone else's private matter. Since the commander has made it clear that he will handle it himself, it's best to respect his wishes as much as possible.

"...Alright then. If you don't want to give up learning swordsmanship, then you'll have to have a good talk with your sister."

"of course."

The commander nodded vigorously without hesitation.

At this moment, the commander seemed to recall something, his expression froze for a moment, and then he quickly said:

"Oh right, Tachibana-kun."

"I have never told anyone, including my master, Kondo, and Hijikata, about my sister's request for me to give up learning swordsmanship."

"So please keep this a secret for me, and don't tell anyone about it."

"Why don't you tell them?" Qing Deng asked in confusion.

“I don’t want them to worry.” Souji smiled shyly. “If I told them that my sister forced me to stop learning swordsmanship… they would definitely do what you did and wouldn’t stand idly by.”

"This wasn't really a big deal that warranted such a big fuss."

"I can handle it myself slowly."

"Can you promise me you won't tell anyone about this?"

Souji raised his eyes, blinking like a little puppy, and cast a pleading look at Aoto.

The request made by the commander is reasonable and not a troublesome matter.

Therefore, Qingdeng nodded slightly without hesitation:

"Okay, I will."

……

……

3 days later—

The first year of Wanyan (1860), December 15th——

It was afternoon, the busiest time of day for the Shiwei Hall.

Logically speaking, at this time of day, the dojo should be filled with the shouts of the disciples and the clash of bamboo swords.

But at this time, the dojo of Shieikan was quite quiet.

The shouts of apprentices practicing swordsmanship and the sounds of bamboo swords clashing were present, but not numerous.

The reason for this is that most of the disciples are currently gathered in the northeast corner of the dojo to watch a certain pair of people sparring.

"Haaah!"

The commander nimbly took a step forward, and with a deep shout, swung his sword down towards Qing Deng's chest.

However, the moment Souji swung his sword, Qing Deng had already vanished from the path of his blade—Qing Deng took a step to his left front and dodged to Souji's side.

With such an excellent opportunity to counterattack, there is no reason not to launch a counterattack.

Using the lower right stance, Qing Deng swung the sword at Souji's side with a reverse kasaya-like motion. The power of the sword was so strong that it seemed poised to cleave Souji's body in two.

The commander, who had just been on the offensive, switched to a defensive stance in the blink of an eye.

The commander slightly retracted his front foot, steadied his feet, lowered the bamboo sword in his hand and his center of gravity, and steadily blocked the path that Qing Deng's bamboo sword was about to slash. With a "snap", he accurately deflected the powerful slash in mid-air, which seemed to be about to split him in two.

The lightning-fast exchanges of offense and defense between Aoto and Souji, brimming with subtle techniques, captivated the surrounding spectators, who watched the intense battle between Aoto and Okita with even greater concentration.

You can learn a lot from watching skilled players fight.

Therefore, whenever top masters of the Shieikan such as Seito and Souji were sparring, Shusuke and Kondo would encourage the less skilled disciples in the academy to observe and learn from them.

Currently, the only people in the entire Shieikan who can serve as Aoto's sparring partners are Souji, Kondo, Hijikata, and a handful of others like Nagakura and Saito who are staying there.

The person who most often sparred with Aoto was Souji.

"Aoto vs. Souji"—this scene plays out almost every day at the Shieikan.

As his swordsmanship improved, Qing Deng felt more and more how formidable Souji was.

Souji's swordsmanship is not just 50 times better than that of an ordinary person.

Qing Deng was certain that the Souji possessed multiple top-tier talents! Besides being a "sword prodigy," he also had other powerful talents!

If Aoto had to describe Souji's body in one sentence... it would be that every part of his body, every muscle, is like a spring, bursting with explosive power!

Those unfamiliar with Souji would never guess, upon seeing his small and slender frame, that he is a swordsman whose strength and agility are both maxed out.

The extraordinary explosive power that Okita Souji possesses gives him slashes that are both fast and powerful; lightning-fast movement speed; and the ability to easily leap over the head of the 1.75-meter-tall Aoto without a running start...

In addition to his talent for "explosive power", Souji also has a talent related to "reaction speed".

The commander's reflexes were extremely developed, to an unbelievable degree, just like his explosive power.

One day, Souji jokingly demonstrated his reaction speed to Aoto: he threw seven plates he had taken from the kitchen into the air at the same time, and he easily caught them all before they hit the ground.

He possesses both formidable explosive power and incredibly fast reaction speed... In short: Souji is the kind of swordsman who can make opponents feel hopeless, possessing both offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as strength and agility.

As for attacks? Souji can unleash devastating slashes with a casual wave of his hand.

As for defense? In the face of the commander's reaction speed, all your actions will be exposed.

With Souji's explosive power and reaction speed... just imagine how strong someone must be to be able to hit Souji?

With top-notch swordsmanship talent and a body that seems to be a "divine gift"... Souji must be the kind of person who is called a "martial arts prodigy".

In terms of combat strength alone... Souji is undoubtedly the number one expert in the Shieikan.

Now that he's getting on in years, and his shoulders start to ache after even a little strenuous exercise, Shusuke has long admitted that he's no longer a match for Souji.

Souji, who started practicing swordsmanship at the age of 9, has a full 7-year history of swordsmanship training. Aoto, who has been practicing swordsmanship for less than a year, still has a considerable gap to close compared to Souji.

The most compelling evidence that Aoto's current strength is far inferior to Souji's is that Aoto's "Lone Wolf" skill still automatically activates when he fights Souji.

Only when Qing Deng unleashed his full "lone courage" could he barely manage to fight Souji, who had trained in swordsmanship for more than six years longer and whose physical abilities were as strong as a cyborg's, to a standstill.

However, even such a strong commander has two obvious weaknesses: insufficient physical strength and poor ability to fight multiple opponents.

Souji's fighting style is "single-point burst".

In a very short time, launch a fierce and overwhelming attack on the opponent, and defeat them in one fell swoop.

If he can't eliminate his opponent in a very short time... then Souji will be in trouble.

Physical strength is not Souji's forte. Once the battle becomes a protracted war of attrition, Souji will run out of energy.

As for Souji's second flaw... for some reason, Souji excels in one-on-one battles, but struggles in group battles where he has to fight multiple opponents.

When multiple enemies attack Souji, he often becomes flustered and unable to exert his full strength.

Qing Deng guessed that this might be related to Souji's slow thinking...

This doesn't mean that Souji's IQ is insufficient, but rather that his brain's "information processing ability" is insufficient.

Judging from Souji's abysmal arithmetic skills, which he could never seem to master no matter how hard he tried, he was not good at precise calculations.

If he's only facing one opponent, Souji's brain can still function with ease.

But if multiple enemies attack... an enemy is closing in from the right front, an enemy is about to unleash a powerful attack from the left front, and an enemy is lurking behind... such a complex situation might overwhelm the commander's brain.

Of course, these are all speculations by Qingdeng, and whether they are true remains to be studied.