I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Oh shit……!"

He leaned on the bamboo stick in his hand and forced himself to stand up.

Because he was used to a life of luxury and lacked exercise, Phoenix House Yataro's running speed was not very fast.

However... Nishino's physical condition was really too bad.

Just standing up contorted his face in pain.

Under such circumstances, carrying my grandson on my back would definitely prevent me from catching up with Phoenix House Yataro.

Left with no other choice, Nishino could only lay my grandson's body flat on the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'll come and take you away later"—after saying this to my grandson in my heart, Nishino ran after Phoenix House Yataro.

"Help! Help!"

Phoenix House Yataro repeatedly cried out for help, breaking the tranquility of the night.

The criteria for dividing temple and shrine land are very crude. Basically, it involves enclosing the land and towns surrounding a temple or shrine—and that's it, this area is temple and shrine land!

Therefore, the temple and shrine grounds not only housed a large number of religious personnel, but also a considerable number of ordinary people. In addition to temples and shrines, common civilian facilities such as teahouses, izakayas (Japanese pubs), and bathhouses were all available.

In short, apart from the different management institutions, there is basically no essential difference between temple and shrine lands and townspeople's lands and samurai lands.

Phoenix House Yataro's repeated howls naturally woke up many townspeople who were already asleep.

From the houses on both sides of the street, came the soft sounds of blankets being pulled back, the creaking of footsteps, and the sounds of doors and windows being pushed open.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Oh no! It looks like samurai are chasing civilians!"

"What? Another samurai is testing his sword on someone?"

"I don't know, it could also be those crazy people who keep spouting 'expelling the barbarians' causing trouble."

"Quick! Close the windows and doors! Don't cause any trouble!"

……

A samurai chases after someone with his sword drawn... Faced with such a situation, only a samurai who is very confident in his own skills would dare to get involved.

Unfortunately, this place is a temple and shrine site, not a samurai settlement.

Not everyone has the courage to meddle in other people's business.

Especially these kinds of trivial matters that could easily lead to trouble or even death.

Wherever Phoenix House Yataro fled, the local people would close their doors and windows, pretending they hadn't heard or known anything, and silently watch from the sidelines.

Upon seeing this, Phoenix House Yataro's face grew even paler.

Da da da da da!

Just then, he heard footsteps getting closer and louder behind him.

He turned his head to look back cautiously.

What came into view was a blade gleaming coldly, clothes soaked in blood, eyes that gleamed menacingly against the night sky, and a face that, though expressionless, exuded a ferocious aura…

"Eee-yaaaaaah!!"

This scene terrified Phoenix House Yataro, who let out a pig-like scream, his fat face gradually turning into one of despair.

If Phoenix House Yataro escapes, then all our efforts tonight, and the death of my grandson, will have been in vain!

With this thought in mind, Nishino gritted his teeth and frantically squeezed out all the remaining strength in his body.

Driven by his survival instinct, Phoenix House Yataro also fought desperately.

“哼哧！哼哧！哼哧！哼哧！”

Exhaling scorching hot breath repeatedly from nostrils flared to their limit.

Despite the excruciating pain in his side, the feeling that his lungs were about to explode, and the numbness in his legs, Phoenix House Yataro dared not slow down.

Tonight may be the fastest and longest run he has ever run in his life.

Nishino's physical abilities far surpassed his opponent's, but his battered body prevented him from exerting his full strength.

Phoenix House Yataro, whose body had been drained by wine and women, was usually a weakling who would get out of breath after running a few steps. But when faced with danger, all of his potential was unleashed.

Thus, a delicate balance was reached between the two sides, neither able to gain a significant advantage nor close the distance.

Given this situation, it remains to be seen who will win this chase.

But who would have thought... that the final victor would appear so quickly.

Because the environment was dark and he couldn't see the road clearly, and because he didn't care about the road, Phoenix House Yataro accidentally kicked a bump on the ground.

"Ughhhhhh!"

He let out a painful scream, then rolled several times on the ground like a ball, finally collapsing heavily to the ground with his back down and face up.

"Ughhhhhh..."

Phoenix House Yataro felt as if countless golden stars were flying before his eyes, and the burning pain from his back almost made him lose consciousness.

At this moment, both good news and bad news suddenly came crashing down on him.

The good news is that his back pain suddenly stopped.

The bad news is: the reason his back pain suddenly stopped was because he saw something even more terrifying than the back pain...

Slap, slap, slap...

Nishino dragged the knife in his hand and walked step by step toward Phoenix House Yataro, who was lying on the ground.

The shadow, elongated by the moonlight, pressed down on the other person like a mountain.

"Hey, you bastard... Didn't I already say? If you dare to move, I'll cut your head off."

"Alas--!"

Phoenix House Yataro backed away, using both his hands and feet, trying to get up.

But his legs, exhausted and trembling with fear, prevented him from doing anything other than crawling on the ground for a short period of time.

"However, I still have so many questions to ask you slowly. So—I might as well just break both of your arms. If you can't swing your arms, it'll be hard for you to run fast, right?"

"Aaaaaaaah! Help, help me!!"

Nishino crouched down, stretched out his left hand, and grabbed Phoenix House Yataro's right arm...

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound cut across the dark shadow in Nishino's field of vision—an arrow pierced straight into the ground at Nishino's feet, its tail feathers trembling.

"Tsk!"

Nishino thought it was the archers under Phoenix House Yataro who had caught up with them, so he quickly drew his sword and got into a fighting stance.

Splash splash splash splash...

As a chaotic chorus of footsteps sounded, a large wave of samurai surged out from the east end of the street.

The group numbered around 40, their movements were synchronized, their clothes were bright and stylish, and each carried fine weapons such as bows and arrows, spiked forks, and short guns.

Nishino noticed that the clothes of these samurai who had suddenly appeared all had butterfly-shaped family crests embroidered on them.

—The family crest of the Shonai Domain…is it someone from Sakai Kingo's household…!

Nishino's face suddenly darkened.

In the blink of an eye, the samurai stopped 10 paces away from Nishino and quickly formed a tight formation with short-spearmen and swordsmen in front, spearmen and fork-wielders in the middle, and archers in the rear.

Immediately afterwards, the battle formation parted sharply to the left and right from the center, making way for two adult men to walk side by side.

A middle-aged man, not particularly tall but with a dignified face and an imposing aura, strode to the front of the formation.

Nishino recognized the man—it was none other than Sakai Kingo, one of the current temple and shrine administrators!

The Temple and Shrine Commissioner was the highest-ranking of the "Three Commissioners," wielding terrifying power.

It was responsible for managing temples and monasteries nationwide, their territories, and formulating religious policies. It also oversaw litigation and criminal investigations within temples and monasteries and their territories.

In addition, the management of the shrines of successive generals, namely the Momijiyama Bozu, Momijiyama Hi no Ban, Yakujinshu, Shintoka, Renkashi, Goshi, Shogishi, and Kobumi, is also handled by the temple and shrine officials.

In terms of status, he was on par with the senior councilors, the Kyoto Shojidai, and the Osaka Shirodai.

Because this position was so important that it could not be delegated to outsiders, the shogunate set a rule that, unless there were special circumstances, temple and shrine officials would be selected from among the hereditary daimyo.

[Note: Hereditary daimyo: Daimyo who had served Tokugawa Ieyasu until the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. They were descendants of important retainers who had rendered meritorious service in supporting Tokugawa.]

Sakai Kingo is the current lord of the Shonai Domain (total koku of rice): 17 koku.

"Thief! How dare you!"

Sakai Kingo snorted coldly and roared at Nishino with a powerful voice:

"How dare you kill someone right under my nose!"

Looking at Sakai Kingo's angry face, Nishino's expression visibly darkened.

Sakai Kingo's residence is nearby... It was probably Phoenix House Yataro's shouts and cries for help that alerted him.

To single-handedly confront the fully armed and well-prepared elite troops of the Shonai Domain... even if Nishino were to return to his prime and have ten more lives, he still wouldn't be able to break through...

"Ah! Lord Sakai! Lord Sakai! Help me! Help me!"

Upon recognizing the unexpected guest, Phoenix House Yataro's panic and fear instantly transformed into relief and ecstasy.

"Hmm? Phoenix House?"

Sakai Kingo raised an eyebrow in surprise.

As a high-ranking official with a special social status and vast wealth, Phoenix House Yataro naturally had connections with the upper class of Edo.

Although he wasn't very close to Sakai Kingo, they had at least had some interaction with each other.

Suddenly feeling a glimmer of hope, Phoenix House Yataro hurriedly scrambled towards where Sakai Kingo was.

However, he had only crawled one step when Nishino pinned him to the ground.

"Don't move!"

"You're the one who's not allowed to move!"