I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After all, they were esteemed disciples of the sages who devoted themselves to studying the classics every day, not brutes who specialized in wielding swords and spears.

Therefore, even if Qingdeng instantly killed them, they still had plenty of reasons to excuse their shameful behavior—

That beast in the straw hat is nothing special! He can only bully people like us who aren't good at martial arts! If he were to encounter a real martial arts master, he would definitely be utterly defeated!

Until now, they were still able to use such rhetoric to achieve a spiritual victory.

But now, no matter how much they try to justify their views or deceive themselves, they can no longer continue their "victory".

The men hired by Itakura Hirahiko, including Saichiro, are all sword masters with unparalleled skill and several lives on their hands! Yet, even when the four of them attacked together, they were no match for the man in the straw hat.

Looking at the man in the straw hat again—the battle just now seemed very intense at first glance, but if you observe the man in the straw hat's physical condition carefully, you can see that he not only didn't suffer any injuries, but he also didn't sweat much, and his breathing didn't seem rapid at all.

It is clear that until their deaths, Zuo Yilang and the others did not pose any significant threat to Qing Deng's attacks... They probably didn't even force Qing Deng to use his full strength!

Such strength... is truly terrifying!

For a moment, many Confucian scholars felt a chill run down their spines.

Amidst everyone's incredulous gazes, Qing Deng slowly turned his head and stared directly into Itakura Hirahiko's eyes—now it was Itakura Hirahiko's turn to shiver.

The fat man subconsciously lowered his narrow eyes, not daring to look at Qing Deng, his face turning pale and then green.

He never expected that his capable subordinates, whom he had hired at great expense and who had dealt with many people who wanted to harm him, offended him, or disliked him over the years, would be so utterly defeated by the sword of this man in the straw hat!

This person's skills are absolutely terrifying!

With such abilities, even in the highly competitive Edo martial arts world, one could easily make a name for oneself and secure a place for oneself!

Qingdeng's strength is indeed astonishing.

But clearly, from Itakura Hirahiko's current perspective, now is not the time to marvel at Aoto's extraordinary skills!

The bodyguards were all defeated by Aoto... which means that now there is no one left to protect Itakura Hirahiko!

In an instant, fear, like a saturated rag, tightly wrapped around Itakura Hirahiko's obese body, making him feel extremely heavy, sluggish, and cold, making it difficult for him to move.

What will this guy in the straw hat do to me? Will he kill me? No! He shouldn't! I'm Ruonianji's son, he wouldn't dare do anything to me! But... but... wait a minute! This guy is a madman! He just punched me! God knows what he'll do to me next!

The more Itakura Hirahiko thought about it, the more panicked he became. His two thick, short, fat legs gradually went weak and swayed uncontrollably, causing his plump body to shake as well.

Just then, a series of rapid, approaching footsteps suddenly rang out from outside the crowd.

Along with the rapid footsteps came a rude and impolite shout:

"Make way! Make way! Let us through!"

The sounds of pushing, screaming, and cursing mingled together, just like a vegetable market at dusk.

"Tsk! Push... Ugh...!" Some of the people who were pushed wanted to turn around and curse, but after seeing who the people were, they all shut their mouths.

This group of uninvited guests, who suddenly appeared, were all armed with harpoons, ladders, and other catching tools—they were none other than their own officials.

From the time Qingdeng started fighting with the Confucian scholars until now, almost 20 minutes have passed.

So much time has passed, and these servants are only arriving now—which is in line with the usual pattern of this series.

Whenever a dispute arose on the street, the local officials would always arrive late, mainly for two reasons.

One reason is that communication methods in this era were not advanced enough, and there were no portable technological devices such as pagers or mobile phones.

From the moment someone reports the crime to the nearest police station, to the time it takes for the police station to gather its best personnel and rush to the scene, it will take some time.

The other reason... is rather dark.

If it were just ordinary people fighting each other, that would be fine.

Ordinary people generally don't have any decent weapons; at most, they might pull out a wakizashi, a katana, a broom, or a carrying pole.

Furthermore, the common people generally lacked martial arts skills, allowing their own officials, who possessed superior equipment and numbers, to manipulate them at will.

But the samurai were different...

Two or more samurai were slashing each other with gleaming katana, and some even brought out heavy weapons such as ancestral spears, naginata, and bows and arrows. One of them might even be a highly skilled martial arts master.

How do you break up a fight like this?

How can a dispute of this magnitude be resolved?

With only ten or so silver coins a month, what's the point of risking your life?

Therefore, when many of the local officials learned that another street fight had occurred, they would often deliberately slow down and proceed to the scene of the incident at a leisurely pace.

For seasoned veterans looking to slack off, the most welcome scenario is that by the time they arrive at the scene, the brawlers are already tired of fighting, or have even dispersed and left.

If we could encounter such a situation, that would be absolutely wonderful!

Whether these officials who have only now appeared before Qingdeng are "forced by circumstances beyond their control" or "have ulterior motives and are deliberately dragging their feet"—only they themselves probably know the truth.

"Get out of the way! I told you all to get out of the way! Do your own business! All irrelevant people, please move aside!"

A fat, middle-aged man with mostly white hair and a short mustache was shouting and brandishing an unsheathed wakizashi in his hand.

He was the leader of this group of officials who had suddenly appeared.

Upon seeing the short, stout middle-aged man, Itakura Hirahiko's eyes immediately lit up.

"Ah, isn't this Xisaburo? It's been a long time!"

"Huh?" The short, stout middle-aged man, whom Itakura Hirahiko called "Kisaburo," was taken aback when he heard Itakura Hirahiko's voice, and then exclaimed in surprise, "Lord Itakura!"

The neighborhood at the foot of Aoto is one of the places that Itakura Hirahiko most often visits.

For Itakura Hirahiko, who is mean-spirited and arrogant because of his family's power, getting into conflicts with others is just a daily occurrence.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked highly skilled individuals like Zuo Yilang to protect him personally.

The reason why Itakura Hirahiko was able to escape unscathed from each dispute was nothing more than money and power.

Many times, itakura Hirahiko did not need to use the power of his family behind him. He only spent some money to bribe the officers and servants of his own household and the magistrate's office to smoothly resolve the matter.

Therefore, over time, Itakura Hirahiko unknowingly became familiar with the local officials in the area he frequented.

Especially this Kisaburo.

He had received a considerable amount of bribes from Itakura Hirahiko.

Seeing this powerful figure, whom he could never afford to offend, in person, Kisaburo dared not be negligent. He quickly put on a fawning smile and rushed to Itakura Hirahiko's side, saying obsequiously:

"Lord Itakura, what are you doing here? What... what happened?"

Because he was busy greeting Itakura Hirahiko, Kisaburo was a beat slow to realize that the scene around him was simply terrifying!

The blood flowing from the corpses of Zuo Yilang and the others stained the compacted yellow mud road beneath them with a disgusting purplish-black color.

The pungent smell of blood made one's head spin.

"Kisaburo, you've come at the perfect time!"

As Itakura Hirahiko spoke, his face fell, revealing an expression of utter grief.

"Kisaburo, arrest this thug immediately!"

Itakura Hirahiko pointed his halberd at Aoto.

"He first bullied my friends, then beat me without provocation. My bodyguards were afraid that this thug would do something further outrageous, so they stepped in to protect me. But what happened? Look at the result! All the bodyguards who had been with me for many years were killed by this bastard!"

Itakura Hirahiko has quite a talent for performing.

His expressions were vivid, his body language was rich, and the emotions conveyed in his speech were very profound.

If the onlookers hadn't been so familiar with the details of his dispute with Qingdeng, they might have actually been fooled by his story.

Suddenly, a barrage of disdainful gazes fell upon Itakura Hirahiko.

The people staring at them seemed to be saying: How dare you lie through your teeth!

What kind of thugs are you! You were the ones who started the trouble first!

It was those Confucian scholars, who had become pedantic from studying too much, who were overly self-conscious and were the first to pick a fight with Qingdeng, and they were also the first to resort to violence.

As for Itakura Hirahiko, let's not even mention him.

They harassed Tenshōin in full view of everyone, and then made obscene remarks to belittle Tenshōin.

For doing something like that, being punched in the face is already a sign of magnanimity and leniency from the authorities.

As for killing Zuo Yilang and others, this was entirely a reasonable act of self-defense by Qing Deng.

Itakura Hirahiko arrogantly boasted that he would cut off Aoto's two arms to vent his anger, and Saichiro and the others faithfully carried out Itakura Hirahiko's request, each of their strikes at Aoto easily crippling him.

If you intend to harm others, you must be prepared to be harmed yourself. Only those who are prepared to be killed are qualified to wield a sword—this was the mainstream value of the Edo period.

From both a moral and logical standpoint, Aoto has no grounds for criticism regarding the actions of Itakura Hirahiko and his group.

However… although the onlookers all knew the truth of the matter perfectly well, not a single one dared to step forward and speak up for Qingdeng…

"What?" Kisaburo's expression changed drastically after hearing Itakura Hirahiko's explanation.

Immediately afterward, without thinking, he waved his hand forcefully to his subordinates behind him and roared angrily:

"What are you all standing there for? Arrest this thug right now!"

Kisaburo issued the order in a forceful tone, and the officials dared not disobey.

The sounds of footsteps and equipment clashing filled the air.

A dozen or so officials formed a square formation that completely surrounded Qingdeng with practiced movements.

Four officials, each holding a long ladder, stood at the front of the formation. They joined the ends of their wide ladders together to form the four sides of the square formation.

The three main catching tools—a spiked fork that could pin down a prisoner's body and render him immobile; a "T"-shaped stick that could trip a prisoner's feet or block the protrusions of a weapon in the prisoner's hand; and a forked head covered with barbs that could entangle a prisoner's clothes and make it difficult for him to escape—were carried by a group of officers behind the "ladder handlers," who extended the spiked forks and other sticks through the gaps between the steps of the long ladder, aiming directly at Qing Deng, who was surrounded in the center of the formation.

It can be used for both offense and defense, leaving criminals with nowhere to escape... This simple yet extremely lethal square formation was the "capture formation" most often used by law enforcement officers in the Edo period.

Ordinary people would have virtually no chance of escaping if they encountered this situation.

Let alone ordinary people, even a seasoned martial arts master like Qing Deng might not be able to escape unscathed from this formation.

All around were long ladders that hindered their movement, and in front of them were a dozen or so long weapons with extremely complementary functions... Looking across the entire Edo region with its million inhabitants, there were probably fewer than a hundred people who could be completely unafraid of this formation.

Seeing that Aoto was facing a new crisis, Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin's expressions both darkened. As if by telepathy, the mother and son turned to look at Yae at the same time, casting solemn glances at her.

Although they both remained silent, what they wanted to say to Yae was already evident.

Yae nodded silently, then lowered her center of gravity, her fingers slightly curled, and her delicate toes, encased in cute white socks, clenched and unclenched a few times, preparing to rush forward to support Qingdeng if things went wrong.

"..." Tokugawa Iemochi raised his head and gazed in the direction where Saeshige had just left, his expression unreadable.