Female Swordsman Training Dojo

Despite her turbulent thoughts, Tsuchimikado Haru skillfully and precisely completed the inspection, confirming that the magic circle was functioning correctly. This was to be expected; her last mistake—the one that turned Fujiwara Kaguya into a little green man—had been six years ago.

Her progress over the past six years has not stagnated. If she had even a little bit of magical talent, she would have become an excellent Onmyoji by now, or at the very least a competent shrine maiden or barrier master.

But unfortunately, reality doesn't offer "what ifs".

The inspection didn't take long. Fujiwara Kaguya was talking about the place where Saten Yoko failed to finish off the enemy and where the Nine-Tailed Cat escaped by coming back from the dead when she was interrupted by the bright light rising from the magic circle. Still shaken, she hid behind Minamoto Yuki Sakura.

The room was filled with a dark green light, and the cat's head placed in the center of the magic circle was completely dyed green.

Her wide, defiant eyes gradually melted into green turbid liquid under the power of the magic, falling from her eye sockets and leaving two deep marks on her face.

Once the turbid liquid had drained away, two pale flames, neither bright nor weak, lit up in the empty eye sockets, swaying with the subtle air currents in the room.

"Uh... ah..."

A low, sinister groan came from the cat's tightly closed mouth, and her thick fur began to fall out, starting around her eyes and lips.

After most of the hair had fallen out, leaving only a small patch at the back of her head, her still soft and tender skin began to loosen, like some ingredients that had been soaked and swollen, easily and without any residue separating from the bones.

Then, a skull cat head appeared in the center of the magic circle. The faint green light highlighted its pale nature, making it appear even more terrifying and eerie.

Fujiwara Kaguya had completely shrunk behind Minamoto Yuki, while Saten Yoko, though unafraid, seized the opportunity to openly bury her head in Harunobu's chest.

Harunobu patted Saten Yoko on the back and looked at Shiranui Ran, whose glow had stopped.

"Success?"

Shiranui Ran didn't answer, but instead formed a hand seal, and the surrounding green light rapidly contracted and rushed into the skull cat's head.

In the blink of an eye, the skull changed from a white skull that had been illuminated in green to a completely real green.

After completing this step, Shiranui Ran and Tsuchimikado Haru breathed a sigh of relief: "It's done. You can ask us any questions now. However, her head was damaged quite badly. Hopefully, she won't lose too many memories."

Harunobu nodded, and without standing on ceremony with Shiranui Ran, directly addressed the skull cat head, "Who told you to ambush Saten Yoko?"

The skull cat's jaw joint moved up and down, producing a dry, hollow sound: "Lord Yakumo Kurenai."

Harunobu and Shiranui Ran paused, genuinely surprised by the intense action right off the bat. Yakumo Kurenai… Harunobu had a deep impression of this alluring red-haired fox, not only because of her outstanding appearance and figure, but also because of the strength and status she displayed—and the extremely poor relationship between the two.

The high-ranking member of the Tongxin Society is also a barrier master skilled in ambushes and positional warfare. If he were to be targeted, he really wouldn't know how to defend himself.

"That stinky woman is there"

Chapter 264

"?" Shiranui Ran asked in an unfriendly tone. Just hearing Yakumo Kurenai's name made her react like this, so it seems that her relationship with Yakumo Kurenai is indeed very bad.

"Tokyo," the skull cat replied, which was essentially meaningless. While Tokyo in this era wasn't the behemoth it would become in later times, it was still a large metropolis. Furthermore, the information dissemination methods of this era were not as convenient as they would be in later times, making it extremely difficult to find a specific person who was definitely deliberately hiding.

Unless Yakumo Kurenai is foolish enough to expose herself and leave clues.

Shiranui Ran took a deep breath, suppressing her impulse: "What is your purpose in coming to Tokyo?"

"Assassinate the Emperor." The Skull Cat head still confessed without hesitation, and this answer startled not only Minamoto Yuki Sakura and Fujiwara Kaguya, but even Tsuchimikado Haru, the Pava who was now obsessed with "power".

They didn't have a particularly strong sense of awe for the Emperor, but they never thought of harming him either. This was a mindset accumulated over thousands of years of Japanese history. Even during the shogunate era when samurai held power, the Emperor still maintained his nominal rule.

Harunobu and Shiranui Ai, on the other hand, were much calmer. The former had memories of his past life and was not interested in the Emperor at all. The latter, however, already knew this and was shocked.

So they quickly raised the most important question: "How do you plan to assassinate the Emperor?"

Unfortunately, this time the cat-headed creature failed to give them the answer they wanted: "I will obey Lord Yakumo Kurenai's orders."

"Tsk..." Shiranui Ran clicked her tongue, but she wasn't too disappointed. If Yakumo Kurenai had told her subordinates about this plan, then she would have thought there was a problem.

However, we can't jump to conclusions just yet; we need to test the waters further.

So, Harunobu and Shiranui Ran kept asking all sorts of questions, and the Skull Cat head answered them one by one, no matter how outrageous the questions were.

Soon, all information about her, including what she did after arriving in Tokyo, was completely uncovered.

Nine Lives Cat, 131 years old, senior member of the Tongxin Association, originally from Osaka.

Thirty years ago, she became an elite-level youkai. After fully mastering her innate magic, Nine Lives, she diligently studied other spells, making her quite skilled within the Doshinkai. This time, she was ordered by the guild master to assist Yakumo Kurenai in assassinating the Emperor. After entering Tokyo, she initially lay low for a while, only hunting a few times. Then, Yakumo Kurenai ordered her to ambush Saten Yoko and her group, and then…

After hearing this, Shiranui Ran was somewhat surprised. She had thought that this cat demon was at most a newly ascended elite-level demon, otherwise how could it not even be able to escape? But now it seemed that this was actually a veteran?

However, with Gen Yuki-sakura and Taira no Harunobu's personal disciples present, it's not too surprising.

Previously focused on casting spells, Shiranui Ran hadn't paid attention to Fujiwara Kaguya's description of the battle, assuming that Saten Yoko and Minamoto Yuki had swarmed in and beaten the cat demon to death with a flurry of punches. But after listening to Fujiwara Kaguya recount most of the events, Harunobu became a little confused.

However, since the parties involved were all present, they could simply ask any questions they had: "If you have nine lives, how were you killed?"

"Sacrificing his physical body cost him four lives, instantly casting the Flying Head Technique and Shadow Mist Technique cost him one life, and the remaining two were cut off by the girl who used firearms."

It was Fujiwara Kaguya who got the kill?

Harunobu and Shiranui Ran looked at Fujiwara Kaguya with surprise, her pride overflowing. The latter couldn't suppress the upward curve of her lips and even raised her eyebrows at Harunobu with a smug look, almost as if she was about to say "small fry~ small fry~".

But Shiranui Lan astutely noticed something was wrong: "She used Shadow Mist Technique, how could you see where she is?"

Fujiwara Kaguya raised her chin with increasing smugness and explained confidently, "I can't see her there, but I know that if she wants to run, the only way out is through the right window, so I just need to aim and attack near the window."

"And this guy was making such a racket when he flew, I heard it all."

"We know the enemy's movement speed and target location. All that's left to do is pull the trigger, right?"

"So! Firearms are still more convenient, aren't they!"

Chapter 243: Assassination Method

Harunobu looked at Fujiwara Kaguya, that brat, with her smug smile that made him itch to punch her. But this time, she really had done a good job, so there was no excuse to punish her; instead, she deserved to be rewarded.

Unexpectedly, it was the psychopathic female gunslinger who got the kill in the end. Guns definitely have an advantage—Harunobu's pupils suddenly dilated as he stared at Fujiwara Kaguya. The overly direct and intense gaze made Fujiwara Kaguya stiffen. She cautiously moved back, until she was next to Minamoto Yuki, before becoming arrogant again: "Harunobu, what do you want? Are you jealous of me and want to…"

She was speaking when Harunobu suddenly interrupted, firing off a barrage of questions: "Fujiwara, if you were given the best rifle you have right now, plus the added benefit of magic, how far could your effective firing range be?"

Fujiwara Kaguya was startled by Harunobu's abrupt question and subconsciously replied, "You mean you want me to use the Mauser Gewher 98 rifle? That should be a piece of cake up to 1,000 meters, maybe I can even try 2,000 meters... that's a bit too difficult, how about 1,500 meters?"

As Fujiwara Kaguya spoke, she became more and more confident. When it came to shooting with firearms, it wasn't that she was arrogant, but neither Ran nor Sakura could match her skill level!

This is backed by actual combat results!

However, since Hiraharunobu was able to see her talent and strengths, he seems to have some discernment. So, she reluctantly accepted him...

As Fujiwara Kaguya began to expand at the speed of light, Harunobu had already looked at Shiranui Ran. The white fox mask was unusually plain, but the burning gaze emanating from behind the mask indicated that she had already realized what was happening.

Clearly, both Miss Fox and Harunobu made a mistake based on past experience, assuming that current firearms could only fire a few hundred meters at most, with questionable accuracy. However, one was judging with outdated perspectives, while the other felt that since they hadn't reached their previous life, Taisho-era guns were all inferior.

But Harunobu actually knew about the Gewher98 gun, because it was the father of the famous 98K.

Although it probably can't compare to that famous gun that everyone knows, its performance should be pretty good. At least judging from Fujiwara Kaguya's confident look, 1,000 meters is a piece of cake for her.

The Emperor's security personnel, including Shiranui Ran, envision various magical spells or powerful yokai as their enemies, and the various defenses they set up are naturally aimed at these. For example, the most basic Imperial Palace Great Barrier can block almost any magic, but if it is just ordinary matter, then it is no different from having nothing at all.

In other words, the bullet passing through it is the same as passing through the air.

Other methods all suffer from the same problem: they completely fail to consider the possibility of the Emperor being shot in the head from thousands of meters away.

After all, how could there be a gun that could shoot so far and be so accurate?

Shiranui Ran was drenched in sweat.

Harunobu, on the other hand, remained relatively calm: "It's only one thousand meters, or even two thousand meters, it's still within the Imperial Palace grounds, right? Just make sure no one brings a gun into the Imperial Palace."

Shiranui Ran shook her head, her voice changing slightly: "This is just the shooting limit of an ordinary person. Guns can also be made into magical artifacts, not to mention that they can directly imbue gunners with various spells."

"So, the ultimate distance is actually..."

"Ah, let alone two thousand meters, five thousand meters isn't impossible." Shiranui Ran exhaled a breath of stale air, calming down. Although this loophole was dangerous, now that it had been discovered, it could be completely patched up. The simplest solution was to add more bulletproof protection for the Emperor.

Chapter 265

Physical defense.

Thinking of this, Shiranui Ran calmed down completely and nodded slightly to Harunobu: "Thank you, Harunobu. But it's really thanks to you for thinking of this, even though you acted like the most traditional samurai."

"Would traditional samurai be considered scumbags?" Harunobu pursed his lips, feigning helplessness.

Shiranui Ran chuckled lightly: "Isn't the Shogun of the Bakufu also a samurai? His Ooku... uh, it seems you do have more wives than some shoguns."

Haruno stared at Shiranui Ran with deadpan eyes: "Are you here on purpose to cause trouble?"

"You two—" Fujiwara Kaguya, finally understanding the situation, loudly interrupted between the two, "Shouldn't this be my credit?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

Harunobu and Shiranui Ran simultaneously gave Fujiwara Kaguya a perfunctory response, which made the latter stomp her feet in exasperation, making the two bullies laugh again.

After laughing, Harunobu said, "Speaking of which, if Yakumo Kurenai is going to use firearms for sniping, could she investigate them by looking into the distribution channels of firearms? In addition to passive defense, she could also directly block off the high ground around the Emperor, so that even the best snipers would be useless."

"I know, I'll take care of it right away." Shiranui Aoi nodded to Harunobu and the others, then turned to Tsuchimikado Haru, "Haru, take good care of the guests, and tell Hoshino to come back to the village to find me when she returns."

"Yes~"

Shiranui Ran hurriedly left, and the magic circle completely dimmed, leaving only the skull cat's head emitting faint green light, but the eerie atmosphere was gone. After all, after asking so many questions, its image had long since become that of a helpful accessory that always answered questions.

The group went to another room and gathered around a table. Tsuchimikado Haru busied himself serving the guests snacks and tea, then squeezed in with Fujiwara Kaguya and started playfully teasing Minamoto Yuki.

Ah~ the youthful energy of a young girl~

Although Harunobu has many at home, he has one in his arms right now.

Harunobu ruffled Little Leaf's hair, popped a segment of mandarin orange into her mouth, and his gaze couldn't help but drift to Tsuchimikado Haru's head again. What to do? He still really wanted to get this SR card.

Although the list is already full and it's impossible to kick out Yoko, Saten Yoko, whose learning efficiency bonus has suddenly dropped by half, is probably feeling lost again.

Harunobu, still unaware of Saten Yoko's thoughts, thought this, but he wasn't bothered. He could always kick Fujiwara Kaguya out of the picture; after all, she was hopelessly addicted to American-style iaido, and once she learned the technique of quick draw, she didn't focus much on swordsmanship practice, always giving him the fewest daily study points.

Besides, how should I put it? Trying it won't kill me, right?

Swallowing the tangerine in his mouth, Harunobu made up his mind: "Um, Ms. Tsuchimikado, are you interested in learning swordsmanship?"

"Huh?" Tsuchimikado Haru froze, completely unaware that Fujiwara Kaguya had taken her favorite strawberry daifuku from in front of her. Because this was just too strange.

"Why do you ask that?" Tsuchimikado Haru hesitated before asking. Although she really wanted to join the Aozorakan to learn swordsmanship, she knew even better that there were no free lunches in this world. And given Taira no Harunobu's reputation, no, no, that was absolutely out of the question.

Harunobu had no idea that the energetic girl before him was experiencing such inner turmoil; he was actually relieved that he hadn't been directly rejected. Did this mean Tsuchimikado Haru wasn't opposed to learning swordsmanship?

So he once again offered his classic answer: "Because you have talent in swordsmanship, among the people I've met, you're only slightly inferior to my family's Master Shifan and Miss Minamoto Yukisakura."

Completely taken aback by this answer, Tsuchimikado Haru froze on the spot.

Chapter 244: Classic Trash

The atmosphere at the table became slightly tense. Qingxin spoke very sincerely, after all, with the system-certified SR as a guarantee, it was impossible for him to be weak.

Moreover, even if someone doesn't have much talent, once they enter his Azure Sky Hall and benefit from the dojo's facilities, they can still become a minor genius in the eyes of ordinary people.

But others don't know this, so it gives them a different impression.

Among them, Saten Yoko trusted her teacher the most, not only because of emotional reasons, but also because of the correct results of Harunobu's "teaching according to aptitude" for his students.

But apart from Miss Ye Zi, who had already internalized the truth, the reactions of the others were somewhat strange.

Minamoto no Yukisakura and Fujiwara no Kaguya were the first to think of Harunobu's well-known reputation. Justice, kindness, strength, and... lechery.

After meeting him in person, they were convinced that Harunobu was indeed a righteous, kind, and strong person. In other words, this reputation was not a rumor or hype, but a genuine assessment. Therefore, his sudden invitation to Tsuchimikado Haru made it hard not to think of the more sinister motives behind it.

After all, Tsuchimikado Haru was indeed beautiful, and she exuded a youthful and lively aura that made people feel affection for her. It would be perfectly normal for Taira no Shin to be moved, and if it weren't for his lame excuse, Minamoto Yukisakura might have believed it.

Haru Tsuchimikado did not have any talent for swordsmanship.

After obtaining the full license to teach the Tennen Rishin-ryu, Minamoto no Yukiyo taught it to Tsuchimikado Haru at her request, but her progress was mediocre, not to mention compared to her, even less than the average apprentice in the Shieikan.

Therefore, Minamoto Yukisakura concluded that Taira no Harunobu was driven by lust, and felt somewhat regretful. Putting aside his lustful nature, Taira no Harunobu was truly an excellent and very "samurai-like" person.

But she still couldn't let her best friend fall into the fire, especially since that fool Fujiwara Kaguya already had one foot in the fire—

"Great! I was just hesitating about how to bring it up with you~"

Amidst Tsuchimikado Haru's cheerful agreement, Minamoto Yuki Sakura's words of persuasion caught in her throat, and she stared at Tsuchimikado Haru in surprise. She knew little about Tsuchimikado Haru's life, so she was puzzled by his choice. Fujiwara Kaguya felt the same way.

In their eyes, Tsuchimikado Haru was a lively, adorable, and always energetic young girl. But Tsuchimikado Haru knew that she craved power, so she decided to take a gamble—at worst, she could call Ran for help.

Confident in maintaining his principles, Tsuchimikado Haru smiled brightly and casually probed, "However, you wouldn't ask for any strange tuition fees, would you? People outside are saying..."

Harunobu wasn't surprised by the question, nor did he find it offensive—Saten Yoko was still in his arms—and even said with a touch of pride, "Don't worry, I'm so busy every day right now, I can't even keep up with everything, so I don't have time to look for you. And to be honest, I still prefer big breasts—cough cough."

Feeling a slight, gritty pain in his chest, Harunobu interrupted XP's self-justification and fast-forwarded to the next step: "So, the tuition is fifteen yen per month, is that alright?"

"no problem!"