I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The retainer cursed as he prepared his sword, assuming a mid-stance, the tip of the blade pointing directly at the man in black.

"This is the residence of the Akabane family! We will not tolerate thieves like you running rampant here!"

Before he could finish speaking, he swiftly drew his sword and slashed down at the head of the man in black.

clang!

The man in black raised his sword to defend, intercepting the retainer's attack perfectly in mid-air.

In the next instant, a dark figure flashed out from behind the man in black—it turned out that there was an accomplice of the man in black, who was hiding behind him. Taking advantage of the moment when the servant's knife was blocked by the man in black and his body was wide open, he quickly flashed out, took a step forward, and swung his knife to slash the servant's waist.

puff!

Blood splattered.

The blade of the katana swept horizontally across the retainer's waist—the retainer was cut in half at the waist. A true cut in half at the waist.

His upper body, having lost its support, fell down along the smooth cut.

Being cut in half at the waist is an extremely painful way to die.

Most of the human body's vital organs are concentrated in the upper body, so if a person is cut in half along the waist, they will not die so quickly.

They would groan and scream in agony for a long time before dying from excessive blood loss.

That's the current situation for my retainers.

He stared blankly at his body, which no longer had a lower body, as the intense pain arrived a beat late.

"Aa ...

The screams echoed throughout the heavens and the earth.

Similar scenes were observed throughout the Akabane family mansion.

"What happened?! How could this happen?!"

Akabane Sōtarō's face turned ashen, and his lips trembled.

"Who...who are these thieves?!"

"Master Zong! Let's go!"

Ryoumura pulled Akabane Soutarō towards the Unclean Gate (a small door located at the back of the house, used by those who transport urine and feces).

They hadn't gone far when a burly man in black blocked their path.

This man was extremely burly, and he was carrying a katana with a large, curved blade, the hilt and scabbard both being red and black...

"Who...who are you people?!"

Akabane Sotaro said sharply.

"Why did you break into my home and kill my people?!"

"..."

The burly man in black remained silent, completely ignoring Akabane Sōtarō.

He approached Akabane Soutarō and Suzumura with firm, powerful steps.

"Master Zong, please step back..."

Suzumura solemnly raised the sword in his hand, assuming a mid-section stance.

Swordsmanship was not Suzumura's forte, but he was not someone who knew nothing about swords either; he held the qualification of the Katori Shinto school.

Facing Suzumura, who had already assumed an attack stance... the burly man in black maintained his steady pace and unchanging speed, as if he regarded Suzumura as nothing.

"Drink!"

With a burst of breath, Suzumura took a step forward, closing the distance between himself and the man in black in one breath, while raising his sword to prepare to slash at the top of the man's head.

In that instant, it was as if the burly man in black had been subjected to an "acceleration spell," or perhaps time, which had been slowed down, had returned to its normal flow.

Just a moment ago he was leisurely walking forward, but suddenly he transformed into an indistinguishable afterimage!

He rushed towards Suzumura like a whirlwind.

Immediately afterwards, two flashes of sword light appeared in the air.

His first strike, taking advantage of Suzumura's preparatory downward slash as he raised the sword high, severed Suzumura's right hand holding the sword.

The second cut, slicing through a chilling arc, severed Suzumura's throat.

With his vital organs wounded, this loyal retainer didn't even have a chance to scream before slowly collapsing to the ground, dying instantly.

After killing Suzumura, the burly man in black swung his sword downwards, splattering the blood on the blade, and charged towards Akabane Sōtarō without changing his whirlwind momentum.

"you……"

puff!

In the darkness, a flash of white blade.

Akabane Soutarō had barely managed to utter the word "you" when the rest of the sentence was permanently stuck in his throat due to excruciating pain and the inability to breathe...

With a simple and unadorned "deep thrust," the burly man in black pierced Akabane Soutarō's chest and heart, giving him a chilling blow.

"Ho...! Ho...!"

Like a fish blowing bubbles, Akabane Sōtarō, who was constantly spitting out blood foam from his mouth, used his last bit of strength to reach out and grab the black-clad burly man's face mask.

On his deathbed, he wanted to see with his own eyes who had killed him, so that he could die knowing the truth.

Unfortunately... Akabane Sōtarō's vision was ultimately just a pipe dream.

A pierced heart... With such an injury, his remaining life will only be counted down in seconds.

The moment Akabane Soutaro's hand touched the black-clad burly man's mask, the strength in his hand vanished as quickly as the light in his eyes, like snow falling in spring...

The burly man in black twisted the knife in his hand half a turn inside Akabane Soutaro's body, breaking the muscles that were clenching tightly around the blade due to the intense pain, and slowly withdrew the knife.

Still lifeless and now without support, Akabane Sōtarō's body swayed twice before collapsing heavily to the ground.

"grown ups."

Just then, a short, thin man emerged from the shadows.

“It’s all been cleaned up. Of the 31 members of the Akabane family, not a single one survived.”

The burly man in black nodded slightly.

"very good."

As he spoke, he casually stuck the knife in his hand... The hilt and scabbard were both red and black, and just by looking at its shape, one could tell that it was no ordinary katana.

"Let's go. We've caused quite a commotion. The Tsujiban (guard posts set up by daimyo and hatamoto at various intersections in the Edo samurai residential area to strengthen samurai self-discipline and prevent samurai from killing people randomly in the streets at night) should be here soon."

Having said that, the burly man in black didn't even glance at the knife he had just used to kill someone, which he was now discarding like trash. Empty-handed, he led the skinny man away.

……

……

The entire Akabane family was massacred—an event that shocked the entire Edo region!

An entire family was brutally murdered... Even if such a heinous event happened to ordinary people, the government would find it hard to tolerate, let alone a bannerman with a certain social status and a considerable income.

Cases of this nature have reached the point where fire thieves would be mobilized.

Therefore, the government immediately dispatched firefighters to order the thieves to investigate the case.

The afternoon after the Akabane family was massacred, another senior official from Seido, Inoya Hanjiro, secretly visited the Shieikan.

"What?! Tachibana-kun's Soul-Stabilizing Spirit was found at the murder scene of the Akabane family?!"

Overwhelmed with shock, Souji involuntarily shouted out, his voice cracking terribly.

"Mr. Inoya!" Harada exclaimed, "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake? Don't let this create another 'accidental mistake' misunderstanding!"

Although Kondo, Hijikata, Saito, and the others didn't shout out loud like Souji and Harada, the shock and astonishment on their faces were no less than those two.

Inugaya sighed deeply, his expression complex.

"Early this morning, after the officers from the burglary squad arrived at the scene, they immediately found a knife that appeared to be the recently stolen 'Stabilizing Demon' sword. After careful examination, it has now been confirmed with absolute certainty that this knife is indeed Tachibana's sword: 'Stabilizing Demon'."

"The reason I suddenly came to visit your residence is because I was instructed by Lord Arima to inform you that Tachibana's current position is... quite delicate."

"The authorities have listed Tachibana as a major suspect in the murder of Akabane's entire family of 31 people."

"There is now a theory circulating within the government that after Tachibana successfully escaped the fire at the Kodenma Town prison, he sought revenge against the Akabane family for causing his imprisonment. He first stole back his sword, then gathered a group of accomplices and slaughtered the entire Akabane family. Fearing arrest, he fled Edo overnight after the incident. This is why the 'Sadakijin' was suddenly stolen and why Tachibana has not been found to this day."

"Although no official arrest warrant has been issued yet, the government has already begun sending people throughout the city to hunt down Ju."

No sooner had Inoya finished speaking than Souji immediately said urgently:

"Wait a minute! What's going on here?! Just because Tachibana's knife was found at the murder scene, they suspect Tachibana is the murderer? Putting aside the fact that Tachibana is currently missing, he's not stupid. Why would he leave something that could prove his identity at the crime scene after killing someone?!"

"Mr. Inoya! It's obvious that someone is deliberately framing and slandering Tachibana-kun!"

"They deliberately stole the Demon God from the Northern Barbarians, and after slaughtering the entire Akabane family, they intentionally left the Demon God at the scene!"

Hijikata reached out and pressed down on Souji's shoulder.

"Commander, calm down."

Inugaya closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"Sigh... Okita-kun..."

"We're not brain-damaged idiots."

“We can see that this act of ‘deliberately leaving the spirits at the scene’ is no different from shouting at us: ‘Quick! Go and suspect the orange.’”

"We know all too well that listing Ju as a major suspect solely on this basis is far-fetched."

"Ugh……"

Inugaya sighed again, and after a moment of gathering his emotions, he continued:

"But...the people above...no, it should be said that the entire Edo Shogunate and the three hundred lords who controlled various regions, what they pursued was never fairness, justice, or truth. What they wanted from the beginning to the present has only been one thing: don't cause me trouble, don't threaten my position."

At this point, Inugaya sighed for the third time.

"None of you have ever served as officials in the shogunate, have you?"

"If you, like me, have spent nearly twenty years navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom, then you should be able to understand that some of the seemingly foolish actions of the government actually conceal... rather dark wisdom."