I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qing Deng lowered his eyes, glanced at the ten fingertips dangling in front of his nose, and chuckled softly:

"Then you might not have a chance to appear later, senior."

"Alright, Yae, stop playing around. Let's end this small talk here."

Sae's cold, emotionless voice intervened in Aoto and Yae's conversation.

"Mr. Ju, time is precious. To avoid wasting time, I'll get straight to the point."

"Yunliu's 'unique skills' are all related to 'infiltration and investigation' and 'intelligence gathering.' They are diverse, including many underhanded tricks such as lock picking and pickpocketing."

"The first thing I'll teach you is the most useful and important of all the 'tricks': 'lock picking'."

After saying this, Sae pushed a small wooden box next to her in front of Aoto.

A huge brass lock hung on the opening of the wooden box.

"This brass lock is the most common type of lock on the market, and also the easiest to break. It's perfect as our initial practice tool."

As she spoke, Sae reached inside her clothes and pulled out several iron, toothpick-like objects.

"Alright, let's not delay any longer and begin today's practice."

……

……

Qing Dengben hoped that the training of "extraordinary skills" would also trigger the "Master of Ninja".

Unfortunately, after the lock-picking training officially began, Qingdeng specifically opened the system interface and glanced at his talent list: the "Master of Ninja" entry remained unchanged and did not flash with golden light...

It seems that, according to the system's judgment, skills like lock picking are not considered ninjutsu.

Without the blessing of the "Master of Patience," Qing Deng's current learning speed is, while not drastically different from when he was practicing "Footwork" and "Indoor Combat Techniques," it is certainly far behind.

Fortunately, his versatile and god-like talent, "Heart of the Ghost," is still functioning normally.

Moreover, Qing Deng's other talent also helped a lot.

The lock-picking method taught by Saejiro... or rather, the lock-picking method of the Cloud Stream requires two iron needles, each about 20 centimeters long and 1 millimeter thick.

Two needles were inserted into the keyhole, and the lock was pried open using a special technique.

The movement and application of force of the needle require great precision... which puts a considerable strain on the strength and dexterity of the fingers.

Isn't that a coincidence?

Qingdeng happens to have a talent that enhances the strength and dexterity of his fingers: "skillful hands"!

This talent was a great help to Qingdeng, allowing him to quickly master the control of the iron needles.

"Heart of the Demon" + "Skillful Hands"... While not as efficient as "Heart of the Demon" + "Master of Ninja", it's enough to keep the "Double" sisters speechless once again.

The lock-picking practice was far more interesting than Qingdeng had anticipated.

This feeling of carefully carrying out meticulous work reminded Qingdeng of the time in his previous life when he disassembled a computer and studied how to install a new graphics card and water cooling system.

With a slight smile playing on her lips as she recalled nostalgic memories, Qingdeng became even more focused on her studies.

"Gathering Spirit" activated.

With the blessing of "concentration," Qingdeng became so focused that he almost forgot himself.

Sage and Yae, sitting upright on either side of me, seemed to be far away from everything outside: the tatami mat beneath their bottoms, the ceiling above their heads, the window not far away, and the setting sun shining through the window into the room.

In Qingdeng's world, all that remained were the two iron needles in his hand and the enormous brass lock in front of him...

……

So engrossed in his work that he forgot about time, Qingdeng continued to practice the lock-picking motion over and over again.

Suddenly, Qingdeng realized that the light beside him had dimmed.

As Qingdeng gradually came to his senses, he looked up and saw that it was already dark.

The sun had long since disappeared completely into the horizon, leaving only a small patch of sky close to the horizon still emitting a faint glow.

The afterglow of the setting sun turned the cotton candy-like clouds crimson, the color shifting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The vermilion turned into ochre, and then into dark red.

Gradually, it took on more purple hues.

The purple color gradually expanded, and one after another, the red clouds turned into purple clouds.

Finally, dusk descended, swallowing up all the purple clouds.

The dim, yellowish light weakly filtered through the window and into the room. Only the area near the window was still shrouded in a faint golden light, while the rest was hidden in shadow.

I've spent almost a whole day at this Moon Palace Shrine today...

Thinking of this, Qing Deng's expression uncontrollably turned strange.

"...Truly admirable concentration."

The sudden, indifferent voice, devoid of joy or sorrow, drew Qing Deng's gaze from the window to Sha Shige.

"Because you were so focused, neither Yae nor I could bear to disturb you."

Having said that, Sae raised her eyebrows and looked at the seat where Yae was sitting.

Qing Deng followed Sae's gaze and looked over—Yae had fallen asleep at some point.

Before the lock-picking practice began, this girl, who had fiercely declared, "I'll keep a close eye on you," kept her eyes tightly closed. Although she remained kneeling, her drooping head looked as if it might bump into the tatami mat in front of her knees at any moment...

Whether it was sensing Aoto and Sae's gaze or Sae's voice that woke her up, Yae let out a soft moan and then slowly opened her eyes.

"Hmm...? Is training over...? Huh? Why is it dark?"

Amused by Yae's amusing reaction, Aoto was about to say something—

"Hey, why aren't you turning on the lights?"

Suddenly, a pleasant female voice came from behind.

Someone's presence came from behind... Even without turning around, Qing Deng knew that someone's shadow was looming over him. The light behind him dimmed, and someone's body temperature pressed against him.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Tianzhang..."

Qing Deng put down the lock-picking tools in his hand and turned around with Sha Shige and Yae to look at the woman behind them who was looking at them with a slight smile.

The newcomer was none other than Tenshōin, still dressed in his purple hakama shrine maiden attire.

The two sisters instinctively wanted to bow to Tenshōin, but Tenshōin preemptively raised his hand to indicate that they did not need to bow.

"Lord Yu Du," Yae asked, looking up, "what brings you here?"

"I should probably head back to Edo Castle soon... Before I go back, I wanted to check on how your training is going."

After speaking, Tianzhangyuan turned her pretty face and met Qingdeng's eyes.

"Tachibana-kun, how was it? Did today's training go smoothly?"

"not bad……"

Qing Deng said sincerely.

"Cloud Flow is truly a powerful ninjutsu. I have already benefited greatly from just one day of training."

Tenshoin covered his mouth and chuckled softly.

"Haha, I'm so happy to hear you say that."

"Since Cloud Flow is an excellent ninjutsu beyond your imagination, you should work twice as hard to train it."

"Soldiers must undergo rigorous training to acquire the ability to win battles."

"The same applies to the soldiers of my new Imperial Guard. Only those who have thoroughly mastered the Cloud Flow can be considered as formal combat force and entrusted with important tasks."

Looking at Tianzhangyuan's charming smile, Qingdeng's eyes twitched slightly, and a fleeting complex expression appeared in his eyes.

Upon seeing Tenshōin's face, Aoto couldn't help but recall the feeling of frustration he had experienced this morning after learning that he had been drafted into the new Oniwabanshu.

From this day forward, Qingdeng will also have a dual identity within the government.

On the surface, he is the captain of the third squad of the Fire Thieves and the leader of the seventh squad of the First-Hand Archers, but in reality, he is a member of the new Imperial Guard.

The biggest difference between the two forces is that the latter was essentially Tokugawa Iemochi's private army.

Joining the new Imperial Household meant that Aoto would henceforth be a half-page servant of Tokugawa Iemochi.

Qing Deng had never felt such regret as he did today about not having learned more about Japanese history in his previous life.

Because they know absolutely nothing about this part of Japanese history, they don't know which side to take...

Qing Deng didn't want to get involved in any troublesome political struggles...

For Aoto, with the future situation still unclear, the best course of action would naturally be to not take sides, not join any political forces, and remain aloof from worldly affairs... But clearly, now that Tokugawa Iemochi has forcibly conscripted him into the new Oniwabanshu with a single official document, it is difficult for Aoto to remain uninvolved.

However, after spending most of the day trying to calm himself down, Qing Deng's frustration at being "semi-forced into the camp of Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin" had largely dissipated.

Admittedly, whether becoming a direct subordinate of Tokugawa Iemochi or Tenshōin would be a blessing or a curse is entirely unknown... But that's how things are in this world: misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a misfortune in disguise.

Can Qingdeng live a peaceful life by living in seclusion? Not necessarily.

What is certain at present is that joining the new Oniwabanshu will have many benefits.

The most direct benefit is that one can learn the Cloud Flow technique.

Qing Deng's praise of Yun Liu just now was sincere.

After a long day of arduous training, and after roughly experiencing Yunliu's "footwork," "indoor combat techniques," and "unique skills," Qingdeng had a very high opinion of Yunliu.

Yunliu can greatly make up for Qingdeng's current shortcomings in martial arts, allowing him to learn many skills that are difficult to access outside the martial arts world.

Just for the fact that they can learn the Cloud Flow technique, the new Oniwaban has extremely high value for recruiting.

As for any other benefits of joining the new Oniwaban... well, it would probably be gaining two powerful backers, Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin.

Although Tokugawa Iemochi was a "parachuted leader" with a shallow foundation in the shogunate, he was still the Shogun, the nominal supreme ruler of the Edo shogunate.

In many matters, Tokugawa Iemochi was still able to keep his word.

Based on the actions of Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin from yesterday to the present, these two powerful figures fully deserve the title of "respecting the virtuous and honoring the learned," and have shown Aoto the highest level of courtesy.

It's easy to see that these two people really value Ching-Teng and have placed considerable trust and expectations on him.

If Qing Deng encounters any trouble in the future... these two would probably be happy to help him resolve it.