I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

As the three generals leaped to the front lines, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted from the ranks of the punitive expeditionary force. Their already high morale soared to new heights.

As the saying goes: A general must be prepared to die, and a soldier must not have the thought of clinging to life.

Almost everyone present had witnessed firsthand how valiant the three generals standing at the forefront of them had been in the previous battle.

Now, these three generals are standing at the forefront of the entire army, fighting alongside all the soldiers once again—how could this not stir one's heart and make one want to roll up one's sleeves?

"Follow me!"—Kanazawa Tadashi's roar heralded the start of the all-out offensive!

The soldiers formed three roughly identical "spikes" centered around Qing Deng, Jin Zezhongfu, and Mizushima Renzaburo, and charged relentlessly towards the mountain stronghold.

Seeing this, Yokokura Keinosuke, who was crouching and leaning against the railing of the watchtower, hurriedly and frantically shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Shoot! Shoot now! The soldiers have stopped firing their bows and cannons! It's the perfect time to counterattack! Everyone, fire!"

In an instant, the huge mountain village resembled a hornet's nest that had been poked and a chicken coop that had been disturbed, with chaos erupting everywhere.

Before Qing Deng and his men even arrived, the bandit army was already in complete chaos.

Some were so frightened by the recent barrage of fire that they completely lost their will to fight. Some stood there pale-faced and motionless, while others collapsed to the ground, trembling with fear.

Some people, however, were like headless flies, neither obeying orders nor going forward to fight, running around aimlessly, not knowing what they were doing.

Although a few managed to retain their senses and muster the courage to fight, their feeble counterattacks were utterly futile against the overwhelming force of the punitive expeditionary army.

Under the command of the king, tiger, and dog, the punitive expeditionary force easily advanced to the gate of the stronghold, as if crossing a street in the early morning.

The counterattacks encountered during the advance were almost negligible.

What happened next... needs no further description.

What could the already collapsing Soma clan do besides gape, stare wide-eyed, and watch helplessly as the punitive expeditionary force breached their gates?

With swords, spears, and bows providing cover, shields offering protection, and engineers advancing—the gates of the stockade swung open!

Qingdeng leaped forward, taking the lead in killing the enemy!

Before a hundred-times-forged steel blade, flesh and blood are no different from ordinary paper. In just one strike, a person is lifeless, and blood gushes out.

As Qingdeng sheathed his sword, he forcefully shook it to remove the remaining blood from the blade. Then, he looked down at the arm that held the sword and thought to himself:

—Great! The recovery is going well!

With the blessing of the talents "Strengthening Essence" and "Body Health +1", Qingdeng's body has largely recovered and has basically returned to its peak condition.

Unfortunately, swords cannot regenerate naturally like the human body.

The battle to capture the mountain pass five days ago was so fierce that Ding Guishen naturally suffered "several wounds."

After the war, Qing Deng carefully counted the blade of Ding Guishen and found that there were as many as seven nicks on the blade.

Fortunately, most of the nicks were small, and Qingdeng managed to repair them himself with a whetstone. Only two nicks were too large to be fixed by a whetstone alone, and he needed to ask a professional knife maker for help.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng had already plunged deep into the enemy ranks and instantly killed two more bandits, his advance unstoppable.

Kanazawa Tadatsugu and Mizushima Ninzaburo's attack speed and assault speed were in no way slower than Aoto's.

Wherever the three went, the enemy ranks retreated in disarray, like waves breaking apart.

The already dilapidated bandit formation was easily torn open by "Wang Huquan" in no time, allowing the troops to gradually break through the gate and the arriving soldiers to charge into battle.

Countless bandits, unable to escape in time, crashed onto the edges of the three cone-shaped formations each led by "King Tiger Dog," and retreated rapidly like waves crashing on the shore, shattering into pieces.

Amidst the chaos, Qingdeng heard someone shout:

"Ah! It's that guy! That evil spirit is here again!"

"Ugh! Why is he so persistent?!"

"I know him! He's that Niou! 'Niou' Tachibana Aoto!"

"I'm not fighting anymore! I'm not fighting anymore!"

Qingdeng turned around at the sound and saw many bandits screaming in panic while looking at him as if they had seen some kind of demon or monster.

Upon seeing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but show a look of bewilderment—he never imagined that his face would one day become a weapon.

For the bandits who had experienced the previous battles, Qingdeng, who always charged ahead and was the first to break through the barrier twice in a row, was the most impressive figure to them.

Seeing this man, who seemed to be the embodiment of a demon, appear once again and raise his katana high, a weapon that would surely bring new bloodshed with every swing, how could one not be terrified?

In an instant, many bandits who had originally wanted to muster the courage to fight the punitive army lost all their fighting spirit after seeing Qing Deng's face, and turned around and fled in panic.

This was a one-sided battle, a battle without any dramatic twists and turns, a battle not worth mentioning.

The bandits were slaughtered and driven away by the punitive expeditionary force like cutting melons and vegetables. Some died, and some surrendered.

From the moment my grandson waved his hand and gave the order for "general attack" until the entire Xiangma army collapsed, less than 20 minutes had passed.

The shouts of killing and screams gradually subsided.

Instead, a barrage of questions followed:

"Where is Keinosuke Yokokura?!"

"Hey! Tell me! Where did your leader... that Yokokura Keinosuke go?!"

"Found you! Keinosuke Yokokura! I've taken your head!"

"Waaaaaah—! Wait, wait a minute! I'm not Yokokura Keinosuke! Sir! You, you've mistaken me for someone else! I just happen to have a big belly like Yokokura Keinosuke! I surrender! I won't fight anymore! Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

"Go find him quickly! Yokokura Keinosuke is a very large, fat man! His size should be quite noticeable!"

As the leader of the Soma Clan, Keinosuke Yokokura's head was far more valuable than that of an ordinary henchman.

According to the price listed on the wanted poster, Yokokura Keinosuke's head is worth at least 50 gold.

50 gold... For the Fire Thief team members, this is an enormous sum of money.

Even from a political and military perspective, personally killing the leader of the Soma clan is undoubtedly a top-notch achievement that is entirely worth fighting for.

In their eagerness to claim this great achievement, the team members went into a frenzy, craning their necks and searching everywhere for the enormous fat man.

Due to the eastward spread of Western influence, the dietary habits of residents in large cities such as Edo, Osaka, and Nagasaki, which are more receptive to novelties compared to remote rural areas, have gradually changed, and more and more people are willing to try and accept meat.

Even so, the number of people who can afford to consume meat long-term is still very small.

The dietary habits of most people are not much different from those of the past, or even from one or two hundred years ago—the main side dishes on the table are vegetarian dishes such as pickled radishes and tofu, and the only meat dishes are seafood, mainly fish.

Therefore, it's not easy to gain the physique of an obese person in present-day Japan.

Keinosuke Yokokura's enormous size was like cotton in a coal pile—it couldn't be hidden no matter how hard he tried.

A moment later, one of them raised his hand and pointed to the northwest, shouting:

"Found it! It's over there!"

Everyone, including Qing Deng, looked up and saw Yokokura Keinosuke wearing a black, modified haori (traditional Japanese jacket) that he had somehow acquired and which had been altered by a thief. Taking advantage of the current chaos on the battlefield, when no one had the energy to notice him, he led his seven men in a disheveled and haphazard escape into the mountains to the northwest.

Because Yokokura Keinosuke was so fat, and the original owner of the haori he was wearing was obviously thin, Yokokura Keinosuke's two forearms and his high, protruding belly were all exposed outside the haori, making him look particularly comical.

Any member of the Soma gang could be spared, but Yokokura Keinosuke, the leader of the Soma gang, was the ringleader whom they had to eliminate at all costs. He had to be found alive or dead.

However, the mountain stronghold has not been completely pacified yet. If everyone rushes to chase after Yokokura Keinosuke in a disorderly manner, it will be chaos.

At this time, Jin Zezhongfu played the role of "deputy general of the whole army":

He looked up and shouted:

"Tachibana-kun! Mizushima-kun! Kazama-kun! You guys take your troops and chase after Yokokura! The rest of you, follow me and continue to wipe out the stronghold!"

With Kanazawa Tadatsugu's clear instructions, everything became much easier.

In an instant, the direction of the sound changed abruptly—a large number of shouts and footsteps, like torrents pouring down from the mountains, surged toward the northwest, toward the direction Yokokura Keinosuke was fleeing!

"Chase them! Chase them quickly!"

"Keep a close eye on that fat guy! That fat guy is our target! We absolutely cannot let him get away!"

"Don't let that big fat guy get away!"

Aoto, Mizushima Ninzaburo, and Kazama Nobuyoshi led their respective subordinates—the Third Division, the Fourth Division, and the Eighth Division—into the lush, verdant forest.

In an instant, the silence of the mountains and forests was broken.

The forest, usually quiet as the depths of the sea at night, was suddenly rippled with waves.

The ripples connect and expand, rapidly transforming into a powerful wave.

Countless wild birds were startled and flew out of their nests, circling repeatedly in the sky above the mountains and forests, not daring to land for a long time. The flapping of their wings and the noisy footsteps of Qingdeng and his group complemented each other, together forming an inspiring horn.

At first, everyone thought that capturing the easygoing and overweight Yokokura Keinosuke would be a very easy task.

However... everyone soon realized just how wrong their thinking was.

Despite his large size, Keinosuke Yokokura is surprisingly agile, making him a nimble fat man!

He moved like a swallow cutting through the waves, bending his knees and flicking his ankle to hook onto a tree root that protruded high from the ground, resembling a grotesque vein.

With a swift movement, he leaped onto a giant rock; with another swift movement, he jumped into the bushes.

As he leaped and bounded, his enormous belly swayed and trembled under the influence of gravity and inertia—a stark contrast to his nimble and agile physique, which allowed him to climb mountains and wade through rivers with ease.

The bandits who followed closely behind Yokokura Keinosuke and fled with him were just as agile, making the rugged mountain terrain appear as smooth as a flat stone road beneath their feet.

With just a little thought, one can see that this is nothing more than a very normal and natural thing – how could a mountain bandit who makes a living by the mountains not be familiar with the mountains? How could he not be good at walking in the mountains?

On the other hand, Qing Deng and his group were in big trouble.

Kai, a mountainous country with an area and complex mountain formations that are virtually unmatched throughout Japan, has many areas that retain their pristine, untouched natural beauty.

Here a tree root protrudes; there a giant rock flies up.

Here lies a dense, impenetrable thicket; there lies a vast, bottomless canyon.

Nature's magnificent craftsmanship has become a terrifying enemy that brings calamity.

The members of the Fire Thieves were mostly city dwellers who grew up in Edo; they had never seen anything like this before.

Keinosuke Yokokura was clearly very familiar with the terrain of this area—he always took those desolate, godforsaken paths that were completely unsuitable for normal human beings!

Looking up, one sees breathtaking scenery that would make even primitive people shake their heads, filling every corner of the field of vision.

The countless jagged rocks, thick ancient trees, tangled bushes, and scattered pebbles, along with the occasional mud pits and wild beehives, all hindered Qingdeng and his companions' pursuit.

The pursuing troops' battle cries of "howling" gradually turned into screams of agony.

Someone here accidentally stepped into a hole and twisted their ankle; someone over there accidentally kicked a rock or a tree root and fell flat on their face.