I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Who...who are you?! Why are you so determined to get back at us?!"

Even someone as incompetent as Hisaka could see that Aoto's intentions were very strong; he was only targeting him, Kimura, and a few others, while ignoring Okubo, Kurosawa, Abiko, and the others.

"..."

Aoto had neither the interest nor the time to chat with Hisaka.

He ignored Hisaka's stern questioning and strode towards Hisaka.

The sound of the bamboo sword's leather straps dragging on the floor dominated this space, which was neither too big nor too small.

"I...I am a samurai, after all!"

Hisaka hurriedly got up, his hands shaking so badly that it took him three tries to finally draw the katana from his waist.

"But don't underestimate me!"

With those expressions, those actions, those lines... he practically had the words "bluffing" written all over his face.

There's not much to say—close range, sword swing. Qing Deng unleashed a fluid and graceful attack on Hisaka.

Hisaka is really too fragile.

With just one sword strike, his stance was disrupted.

With another strike, the weapon slipped from his hand.

Another sword strike knocked him unconscious, leaving him collapsed on the ground, unable to get up again.

It couldn't even last the 10 seconds required to copy the talent...

"call……"

Qing Deng let out a long breath, and the lines on his face relaxed a little.

Thus, all four targets of tonight's "kidnapping operation" have finally been "captured".

"gentlemen!"

Just then, Saeshige's voice came from not far away.

Qing Deng looked in the direction of the sound and saw the two sisters and Grandpa Tenkura rushing toward him, carrying the unconscious Kimura, Tsuchida, and Kazama on their backs respectively.

"Did you catch Hisaka?"

Sasa asked.

"Hmm." Qing Deng nodded his chin toward the fire stalk at his feet. "Got it."

"Alright, let's hurry!" Tian Cangxiao chimed in. "The arquebusiers are here! It'll be dangerous if we don't leave soon!"

This wasn't some information that could be easily dismissed. Qing Deng nodded solemnly, then bent down and hoisted Hisaka onto his back: "Let's go!"

The group filed out through the window next to them and went to Qingdeng Hall.

Splash splash splash splash...!

The sound of rapid footsteps and the metallic clang of muskets clashing came from both sides of the corridor.

"Ah! We've found the thief!"

As the shout rang out, soldiers holding matchlock guns with lit fuses appeared before Qingdeng.

"Raise your gun!"

咔嚓、咔嚓、咔嚓、咔嚓、咔嚓……

Dozens of matchlock guns were raised in unison, their dark muzzles pointing directly at Qingdeng, who had not yet escaped.

The two sisters and Amagura Owl have already escaped with Kimura and the others, leaving only Aoto and Hisaka on his back behind.

Seeing that the arquebusiers were about to fire, Qingdeng immediately shouted:

"If you've got the guts, then shoot!"

Aoto shrugged so that the gunners could see Hisaka's face more clearly.

"Your Sixth Division Captain is in my hands. If you want him dead, shoot!"

The commander of the arquebusiers turned pale with anger.

"Stop! Stop! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

He immediately ordered his men to stop firing.

He couldn't bear the heavy responsibility of accidentally killing the squad leader!

"You thief! You're despicable! You've taken a hostage!"

Qing Deng said calmly, "If it's not despicable, then would it still be called a 'thief'?"

Having said that, taking advantage of the moment when the gunners were distracted and hesitant to act because of his "hostage threat," Qing Deng dashed out of the window like the wind.

My feet landed firmly on the eaves outside the house.

Qingdeng unleashed his long-practiced "Cloud Flow" footwork. With a light leap, he landed on an empty street; with another leap, he landed in a dark alley.

When the arquebusiers rushed to the window through which Aoto had escaped, no matter how wide they opened their eyes or how intently they gazed, they could only see the Edo night view as if nothing had happened...

……

……

At this very moment—

Edo, a samurai settlement, the residence of the Niizuma family—

Huff...! Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!

Inside Shinzama Hiroshi's bedroom, the sound of bamboo swords slicing through the air rose and fell.

Shinzae Hiroshi, his upper body bare, stood in the center of the bedroom, holding a bamboo sword in both hands, practicing Sujin with perfect form. With each forward slash, a sharp whistling sound burst out in all directions.

Drip, drip, drip... one after another, beads of sweat the size of soybeans slid down the new wife's muscular body to the ground.

“295……296……297……298……299……300……！”

After counting to 300, Shinzuma Hiroshi stopped holding the bamboo sword.

"Haa...haa...haa...haa..."

He picked up the towel draped around his neck, wiping his face as he murmured:

"Great... I've fully recovered..."

With a "whoosh," he exhaled the remaining stale air from his lungs, put down his bamboo sword and handkerchief, and then raised his gaze to a painting of a beautiful woman hanging on the wall directly in front of him.

The woman in the painting is dressed in a white kendo uniform with blue on the bottom, her long black hair tied into a neat high ponytail, and her two soft hands are crossed in front of her body with a very elegant gesture. This is the portrait of Sanako that Niizuma Hiroshi commissioned at a high price to encourage himself to "join the Chiba family as soon as possible".

In the past, when Niizuma Hiroshi saw this portrait of Sanako, he would feel an inexhaustible surge of energy within him.

But now... things have changed.

The painting hasn't changed, but Niizuma Hiroshi has.

Now, when Hiroshi Niizuma sees Sanako's portrait again, he can only recall the unbearable memories he experienced in the "sword tournament" hosted by the Aizu Domain lord last year...

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The author has grown up again after a long time! Today's chapter has 6300 words!

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Chapter 376 Overthrow the Tokugawa Clan! Establish a New Nation! [5500]

Even among the samurai, there were countless "parasites" who were idle at home and relied on their families for support because they had no official positions or careers to pursue.

This is the current state of affairs in this country.

The explosion in the number of samurai, caused by a comfortable lifestyle, led to a situation where there were far more monks than porridge in the officialdom of the shogunate and various feudal states.

In order to become officials and secure a stable livelihood for the rest of their lives, the warriors used all their skills to make a fortune.

Competing based on family background, wealth, and connections... a social structure that "values ​​birth over ability" means that people with a poor starting point have almost no chance of getting ahead.

Even Katsura Rintaro, who has been the subject of much discussion in recent years and rose from a low-ranking hatamoto to his current high position, owes his current status to the continuous assistance of benefactors.

Although Shinzō Hiroshi's family was fairly well-off, in terms of family stipends alone, they could be considered "middle-ranking bannermen," but such a status was merely neither high nor low.

Unlike lower-ranking bannermen who struggle to even guarantee their daily needs, they also don't have the ability to easily obtain the official positions they desire, like high-ranking bannermen who can simply snap their fingers.

Hiroshi Shinzuma was unwilling to spend his entire life as a commoner with nothing but swordsmanship.

For the ambitious Hiroshi Niizuma, who longed to achieve great things, he had to find a different path to realize his ambitions!

Therefore, his gaze was fixed on the swordsmanship tournament held last year by Matsudaira Katamori, the lord of the Aizu Domain.

He pinned his hopes on this competition.

He planned and longed to win this unprecedented competition, to become famous overnight, and to gain the favor of the Chiba family or the lord of a domain.

As a result... all of this vanished because of the sudden appearance of Tachibana Aoto.

Although I don't want to admit it, the strength that Aoto showed at that time still makes Shinzuma Hiroshi feel lingering fear.

How could I possibly defeat such a monster... Just as he was filled with such sorrow, a mysterious person suddenly appeared.

The man gave him a strange pill.

The effect of this medicine, simply put, is to enable you to concentrate intensely. It puts your mind into a state akin to "no distractions," thereby improving reaction speed and thinking ability... that's what the person said in a seductive tone.

While it has remarkable effects, it also has strong side effects. This state of intense mental concentration can only last for the time it takes to burn an incense stick. After this state ends, the user will develop a high fever. If they can survive the fever, then all will be well. If they can't, then… After saying this, the person reached out and drew a horizontal line across their neck.

The medicine of unknown origin was given to him by an unidentified person... Logically speaking, there is absolutely no way that Hiroshi Niizuma would take such a medicine whose ingredients are unknown.

However... by that time, Shinzawa Hiroshi had already lost his mind.

The desire for fame and fortune, the yearning for victory, the jealousy of Qing Deng... all these complex emotions caused Shinzaki Hiroshi to lose his normal reasoning ability and fall into a state of hysteria.

He hesitated until the very last moment, but finally decided to swallow the strange pill.

The mysterious man hadn't lied to him; the pill's effects were indeed astonishing.