I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

There was absolutely no way to defend against it... no, it was that I couldn't even conceive of the idea of ​​defending myself.

Is it possible to stop a mountain from falling straight down or a tsunami from crashing in with just human power?

Qingdeng, who had completely forgotten to breathe and blink, stared blankly at the wooden knife in front of his nose.

At that moment, the aura that had "attacked with the force of all things in the universe" vanished.

The "container" is also gone.

The wooden sword reverted to a regular slash.

The man in black also reverted to being the strange person who, apart from his odd clothing, had nothing else unusual about him.

Despite facing such a terrifying attack, Qing Deng surprisingly felt no fear whatsoever.

At this moment, in this space, Qing Deng felt a strange sense of peace, and... an even stronger sense of familiarity.

It felt as if I was born to belong to this space.

I wish time could just stand still.

I want to stop my brain from thinking.

Just like that, silently and quietly enjoying this peace and familiarity.

Unfortunately... at that moment, the man in black's words pulled Qing Deng back to reality.

"How was it? Did you all see the slash I just made?"

The man in black's voice revealed a deep weariness.

As he spoke, he backed away... his once steady steps began to falter.

"Haha... It's been a long time since I used this trick..."

"If I'm not senile... then this should be the first time I've used this move on someone since Tianwang Mountain."

"My body... is starting to feel a little weak..."

After saying that, the man in black, whose back had been straight all along, bent over and his broad shoulders slumped slightly—it was clear from his eyes that he was very tired.

"Consider that stab I just delivered... as a gift to you..."

"Cherish this gift of mine... In this world... besides me... there is probably no one else who could give such a gift..."

"As I just said... whether you can learn anything from my last strike... whether you can gain any insight... depends entirely on your own fate..."

Before he finished speaking, the man in black suddenly raised his head and looked at the intersection behind him.

"It looks like someone's coming."

The man in black seemed to have recovered from his exhaustion, and his voice regained its strength.

"You've come at the worst possible time... I wanted to chat with you a little longer."

"Never mind. Anyway, I've already had a successful sparring session with you and successfully delivered the 'gift' to you."

"I'll be leaving now, Tachibana Aoto."

"Good luck."

"I hope that when we meet again, you will bring me a brand new surprise."

"I believe you have the ability to do this."

After saying that, the man in black raised his hand to lower the straw hat on his head, flicked his sleeves with a flourish, and turned his back.

"Wait……"

Seeing that the man in black was about to leave, Qingdeng quickly called out to stop him.

But he only managed to utter a single syllable before the rest of his words caught in Qingdeng's throat, leaving him unable to speak.

"Well……!"

A strong wave of dizziness surged through Qing Deng's brain.

Affected by the sudden dizziness, Qingdeng felt a terrible headache and involuntarily cried out in pain, as if his head was about to explode.

His limbs were weak and he could not stand steadily.

Despite Qing Deng's efforts to resist, willpower ultimately cannot overcome human physiological responses.

His body swayed violently in all directions like a roly-poly toy a few times before collapsing heavily to the ground face down.

"There is no need to panic."

The man in black stopped and turned to Qing Deng.

"You're just 'brain tired'."

"If your eyes see too many things at once, your brain won't be able to handle it."

"It will recover after just a short rest."

"Just lie there quietly for a while."

The man in black turned his gaze back to the front and began to move his feet again.

"Wait a moment……"

Qingdeng gritted his teeth, struggling to lift his face while channeling all the remaining strength in his body into his lips and tongue.

Taking advantage of the moment when the man in black paused because of his "wait a moment," Qingdeng quickly asked:

"Excuse me, are you... the Eternal Sword Saint... Ogata Itase?"

Upon seeing the man in black raise his wooden sword and unleash a strike that seemed to unite him with heaven and earth, a bold conjecture leaped into Qing Deng's mind.

An aged voice...

Abnormally strong power...

In addition, there's the anecdote that the once-renowned Eternal Sword Saint is still alive...

These wisps of information transformed Qingdeng's conjecture into a solid deduction.

Aside from this legendary swordsman, Qing Deng couldn't think of anyone else who could possess such an incredible level of martial arts skill!

"..."

Qing Deng and the man in black who turned back again locked eyes.

"Haven't I already said it? Who I am is completely unimportant."

The man in black's voice carried a faint smile.

"You can consider me as a challenger who has heard of Niou's great name and deeds and wants to test his skills against you."

After saying that, the man in black ignored Qing Deng.

He left Qingdeng with a not-so-solid, carefree silhouette as he slowly walked down a nearby path.

The setting sun cast its rays upon him, pulling out a long, long shadow...

Qing Deng, his face filled with shock and deep thought, stared straight in the direction the man in black had left.

Even after the dark figure had disappeared from his sight, he did not look away for a long time.

……

……

Edo, the Thousand Things Shop—

Click, click, click-click...

The crisp sound of calculating on an abacus and the gliding of a calligraphy brush tip across the pages of a book were the only two sounds in the Senjiya's waiting room.

Kiryu was hunched over the front desk, the Thousand Jobs Shop's ledgers spread out in front of him. He used an abacus in his left hand and a calligraphy brush in his right, carefully checking the Thousand Jobs Shop's recent income and expenses.

Suddenly, a cool breeze swept from behind Kiryu.

Kiryu's brush stopped abruptly. It resumed moving a moment later.

“Ogata-kun,” Kiryu said with a wry smile, “it’s not like my job agency doesn’t have a front door. Can’t you just walk in through the front door properly?”

"If you come in through the main gate, you have to go around in a circle, so I just wanted to save myself the trouble."

At that moment, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of the open window to Kiryu's left rear.

This person was dressed in all black and wore a straw hat.

If Qingdeng were here right now, he would be very surprised to see this guy—it's the black-clad man who just displayed overwhelming strength and gave him a good beating!

However, unlike before, the black-clad man's voice was no longer the hoarse, elderly voice that sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other, but a deep, magnetic middle-aged man's voice.

Kiryu closed the ledger in front of him and placed the brush back on the brush holder. Adjusting his glasses, he turned and smiled at the man in black:

"Ogata-kun, how was it? Did you have a proper match with Tachibana-kun?"

"Lord Mamiya..."

The man in black raised his hand, lifted his straw hat, and pulled down his face mask, revealing the face of a middle-aged man who had chatted with Aoto at Kondo Isami and Matsui Tsuneo's wedding banquet the day before.

Komaki Goro…or rather, Ogata Itsuki, smiled and said:

"You've really taken on a good apprentice."

"Now I understand why you took that Ju Qingdeng as your apprentice."

"Hehehe, after waiting for so long at the place that Juqing Deng must pass on to the Examination Hall, it was not in vain."

Upon hearing Ogata's words, Kiryu remained calm and expressionless... as if he was not at all surprised by Ogata's words.

"Ogata-kun, could you tell me all about your contest with Tachibana-kun?" Kiryu asked with a smile.

“Of course.” Ogata shrugged, then casually sat down cross-legged next to Kiryu.

The process of sparring with Qingdeng—there's really nothing to go into detail about.

It was nothing more than Ogata beating Aoto mercilessly the whole time.

In the final round, Qing Deng barely managed to dodge Ogata's branch and launch a counterattack, but before he could even show off for three seconds, he was kicked away by Ogata.

Hearing that his apprentice had been beaten so badly, Kiryu, as the master, was not angry at all, and instead cast a resentful look at Ogata.

Instead, he let out a happy laugh.