I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

"Hey, that Tachibana Aoto is in trouble now. Whether he 'accepts the challenge' or 'does not accept the challenge,' he'll be in a very difficult situation."

"Yes. If we fight, we will surely die; if we don't fight, we will be seen as cowards."

"If it were me, I would definitely choose the latter—although it would be very embarrassing, at least I could save my life."

“Hey, hey, hey, that’s not right, is it? Besides ‘certain death’ and ‘being regarded as a coward,’ Tachibana Aoto has a third option—to kill everyone in the Shimizu residence and then come out from where he entered.”

"Tch... You think he's Ogata Ittosai?"

……

Various discussions could be heard from all around.

Those who look excited and thrilled at this moment are mostly inexperienced young people.

In short, they were all a bunch of ignorant fools who had never experienced combat.

Throughout history, those who welcome blood and fire, aside from those who actually benefit from it, are mostly young brats who are full of passion and energy but think they are mature.

The older men and women were all worried about the Shimizu clan's big move.

A sneeze from a big shot can be a devastating hurricane for ordinary people like us.

The local residents, in particular, were all looking worried and distressed.

They feared that one day in the future, knives, arrows, flames, or severed human limbs might fly out of the Shimizu residence and fall into their home...

Of course, there are also some people who are just there for fun.

These people probably lived far from the Shimizu residence, and believed that no matter how fierce the battle between "Niou" and the Shimizu clan was, it would not affect them. So they held a stubborn attitude of "whatever happens, it's none of my business" from beginning to end.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, the crowd gathered near the Shimizu residence began to disperse in twos and threes.

Soon, only a small number of people remained in the same place—Qing Deng and others were among them.

Sanako and Souji turned their heads to the side again, carefully observing Aoto's expression.

Deep within their beautiful eyes shimmered a complex mix of emotions that were hard to conceal.

Qingdeng knew what they were thinking.

To put the two women at ease, he smiled slightly:

"let's go."

Qingdeng turned and left without hesitation.

Sanako and Souji quickly followed, taking two steps at a time.

"Um... Tachibana-kun."

Suddenly, the commander stammered in a low voice:

"You absolutely mustn't do anything foolish in a moment of impulse..."

Upon hearing the commander's sincere reminder, Qing Deng couldn't help but chuckle.

Faced with the challenge issued by Shimizu Eiichi, whether to "accept the challenge" or "not accept it" was indeed a difficult problem for Aoto, as choosing either option would lead to serious consequences.

The former goes without saying.

Besides highly skilled high-level combatants like Eiichi Shimizu and "Blood Tiger" Shigetaro Sakurai, a considerable number of mid-to-low-level combatants who are not particularly strong, and a vast amount of equipment such as swords, guns, armor, and bows and arrows, the Shimizu residence likely also contains a considerable number of firearms.

Although the shogunate had not yet issued a strict ban, it had been strictly controlling the circulation of firearms.

While there are certainly people who become delirious from chanting scriptures, such fools are not numerous, at least not among the high-ranking officials of the shogunate.

Most of the high-ranking officials in the shogunate were shrewd and knew very well that swords and spears were utterly useless against firearms that had been upgraded to their current state.

Those radical anti-foreign patriots, who were still ignorant and had not opened their eyes to the world, still foolishly believed in "spiritual theory," thinking that they could cut through bullets coming from the sky and capsize steam warships in the sea just by relying on so-called fighting spirit and morale.

However, given the shogunate's utterly inept grassroots management...

They agree—although they do, but

With the power of the "strongest Yakuza group in Kanto", Shimizu Eiichi could acquire a large number of firearms from overseas with just a word.

Besides, the Shimizu Residence itself is a huge and difficult problem to deal with.

The Shimizu Residence adopts the architectural style of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, which emphasizes luxury and extravagance—in other words, the terrain inside the Shimizu Residence is very complex.

Not only are there numerous houses and complex passageways, but there is also the Shimizu Tower, a superb vantage point with excellent views overlooking the entire Shimizu Residence.

With just a few minor modifications, Shimizu Residence could be transformed into an impregnable fortress.

Attacking a fortress with a large number of combat personnel, including many top-notch experts, and with ample supplies such as weapons and food... even someone as strong as Qingdeng, even with the most optimistic plans, would most likely face dire consequences.

However, if Qingdeng doesn't accept the challenge...

As the saying goes, the Yakuza are creatures who cannot live without losing face.

But aren't samurai the same?

For a long time, the Edo Shogunate had been striving to promote the so-called "Bushido".

Early Bushido had many merits.

It originally had a set of self-contained moral codes, the core of which consisted of eight characters: reputation, loyalty, courage, righteousness, propriety, sincerity, self-discipline, and benevolence.

The importance of these eight characters decreases in that order.

First and foremost is "reputation," followed by seven words representing universally recognized virtues such as self-discipline, courage, and humility.

For a samurai, the most important thing is "honor," and only by fulfilling the last seven words can one gain honor and become a truly respected samurai.

However, as Japan entered the Edo period, the feudal rulers, led by the Tokugawa family, in order to maintain their own rule, arbitrarily misinterpreted Bushido and made drastic changes to it, simplifying the original eight-character core into three characters: fame, loyalty, and courage.

Thus, under the Edo Shogunate's decree, benevolence, self-discipline, and honesty became dispensable. All samurai needed was a strong sense of honor, unwavering loyalty to their lord, and formidable martial prowess to fight for their lord.

Thus, the Edo Shogunate introduced a number of measures and systems to spread this distorted Bushido ideology.

For example, the "Zansha Gomen" rule allows samurai to kill any rude civilians at will, provided certain conditions are met.

Another example is the famous "revenge," where the Edo Shogunate granted samurai the right to legally seek revenge.

If one's honor is seriously damaged, such as by the murder of one's parents or the abduction of one's wife, one can apply to a higher authority for "retribution."

Once the application is approved, you can legitimately go and settle scores with your enemies.

If your enemy is in another region, the government will even issue you a pass. Some kind-hearted officials might even give you some travel expenses.

When you finally kill your enemy after going through countless hardships and successfully avenge yourself, the government will often praise and affirm your actions, and the law will usually give you a more lenient judgment—allowing you to commit seppuku and die with dignity.

Therefore, under the influence of the Edo Shogunate, the distorted concept of honor, "Defend your honor with your sword," dominated the spiritual world of the samurai.

Throughout the Edo period, dueling culture remained prevalent.

Any trivial matter can become a reason for samurai to duel.

You touched my knife, you just cursed at me, you touched my wife's hand, "What are you looking at?", "What's it to you?"...

For a time, along the riverbanks, by the bridges, and on the grass, one could see warriors exchanging names before drawing their swords and hacking at each other.

Because the private duels among samurai were so brutal and intense, the Edo Shogunate had to take remedial measures and issue clear regulations to strictly prohibit private duels among samurai.

The promulgation of this law did have some effect, and the samurai no longer resorted to violence over trivial matters.

However, the dueling culture did not disappear as a result, and samurai still valued honor above all else.

If one's reputation suffers significant damage and no effective and targeted action is taken immediately, one will be criticized behind their back...

Currently, Qingdeng is caught in such a predicament...

Eiichi Shimizu's actions just now were basically... no, not "basically", but "completely"—completely "a dragon riding in his face"!

First, he criticized Qingdeng's surprise attack last night, saying it was nothing special.

Then he specifically asked Qingdeng to come here and settle the score.

Although at first glance, the Shimizu clan's behavior of gathering a large number of troops to try to fight outnumbered and inviting others to a decisive battle on their home turf seems low-class, in reality, not many people will treat the Shimizu clan differently because of this.

Hunting tigers in fine gear is not a shameful thing.

Qingdeng is that fearsome tiger.

In short, if Aoto does not respond to Shimizu Eiichi's provocation, he will be criticized by the world.

If he doesn't accept the challenge, there will surely be a lot of busybodies spreading rumors that "Nioh" is nothing special, only daring to bully the weak, and running away with his tail between his legs when faced with an opponent he can't defeat.

From now on, while Qingdeng may not be considered socially dead, there is a very high probability that he will be burdened with extremely offensive reputations.

With this thought in mind, Qing Deng unconsciously raised his right hand and pressed the hilt of the sword belonging to Echizen Sumitsu Ritsu no Kami Kanetsuge at his waist.

Just then, a small, cool hand unexpectedly reached out from the side and pressed down on Qingdeng's right wrist.

"Miss Sanako?"

Aoto raised his gaze and cast a surprised look at Sanako, who had suddenly grabbed his hand.

********

********

Time flies! In the blink of an eye, it's already been more than 10 months since I started writing Volume 2. I've been writing it since October of last year.

Leopard is guilty! I keep failing every single day! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

Chapter 459 An Incredibly Long Night Begins! [4400]

Perhaps it was because of the cold weather, but Sanako's palms were cool, though not as cold as ice.

The temperature is just right.

The cool sensation traveled from Sanako's palm to Aoto's arm and wrist, and then extended to his heart, calming the faint restlessness within him.

Qing Deng unconsciously loosened his grip on the knife.

"Tachibana-kun, you absolutely must not let Shimizu Eiichi provoke you."

As Sanako spoke softly, she slightly tightened her grip on Aoto's wrist.

"He's obviously trying to provoke you and lure you in."

The commander-in-chief chimed in, agreeing: