Female Swordsman Training Dojo

No, no, at least we have to wait... wait, wait—wooo—

Watching Fujiwara Kaguya run away amidst the steam, Hirako shook her head regretfully: "I gave you a chance, but you didn't do it... Fine, I won't be polite then."

She pulled out her key and opened the door, joining the hunt for the dragon.

Chapter 324: The Wu family attacks the Duke

A few days later, the masters of various dojos, having already investigated the internal situation, gathered together and booked an entire restaurant. Of course, everyone tacitly agreed not to bring disciples who were purely involved in monetary transactions, but instead brought their trusted personal disciples.

Besides Harunobu, he also carried a cat with him.

He wasn't here to kill anyone, so he couldn't be bothered to bring Hirako and the others out to show off to others. He'd rather patrol the streets a couple of times and do a couple of guerrilla missions.

As for whether these samurai would be dissatisfied, some were indeed dissatisfied. After all, everyone else had brought their families and were prepared to die for the cause, but you, as the organizer and convener, only came alone.

Harunobu was too lazy to wait for their sarcastic remarks, mainly because he was worried that he might accidentally injure them and ruin his plans. So he said directly, "I plan to go directly to the Fujiwara clan and kill Fujiwara Sanbei. You can help lure away the Fujiwara clan's guards and strongmen. I'll go alone."

After saying that, Harunobu paused, and only continued after seeing that no one else was jumping out: "Of course, the main thing is to lure Fujiwara no Mitsuyori away. I heard that guy has a spell that can cross space and return home instantly, so try to lure him as far away as possible and prevent him from casting the spell. The Genji and Uesugi should be able to do that, right?"

Uesugi Yoshinobu declared, "Leave this matter to us. We'll stake the honor of the Dragon of Echigo on it! He will not return until you, Lord Taira, have safely retreated!"

Harunobu wasn't worried at all about Fujiwara no Mitsuyori returning, since it was all just an act. But on the surface, he still nodded seriously to Uesugi Yoshinobu: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Uesugi-kun."

"Are you deliberately forgetting about me, Taira no Harunobu?" Genkuro interrupted Uesugi Yoshinobu, somewhat annoyed. "I guarantee with the honor of the Genji clan that old scoundrel Fujiwara will absolutely not interfere with you!"

“That depends on how well you can manage, Genkuro.” Harunobu nodded to Genkuro. “If you can hold him off for ten minutes, fifteen minutes at most, that will be enough.”

"Also, I'd like to ask the rest of you to help deal with the others who came with Fujiwara Mitsuyori—Master Kujo, if you're not happy about it..."

Kujo Hidekiri glanced at the menacing gazes around him and rolled his eyes. "My surname is Kujo, not Fujiwara. Besides, I've disliked that old man for a long time!"

The plan was thus easily approved, and no one dared to question Harunobu's solo arrival or his position as the leader. Because he dared to storm the Fujiwara clan's stronghold alone!

Even if he manages to leave no evidence and avoid being caught, in this situation, Fujiwara no Mitsuyori could easily guess who went to his house and wreaked havoc. The allied samurai weren't worried about being targeted or retaliated against by Fujiwara no Mitsuyori, but as for him personally… Taira no Harunobu probably wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully for a single night anymore; Fujiwara no Mitsuyori would definitely cast a thousand curses on him.

“Very well, now let’s talk about the appeal.” Harunobu tapped the table, dispelling the pity in some people’s eyes. “Have you finished writing all those things that Misaku asked you to write?”

Damn it, how could I forget that this guy has also climbed the social ladder by marrying Princess Misuru. Unless he's caught red-handed, even Fujiwara no Michiyori wouldn't dare to lay a hand on Taira no Harunobu. He might even be a prince of the next rank, and a rare one at that—a prince whose wife is a princess with real power. Not to mention, Princess Misuru seems genuinely in love with Taira no Harunobu, knowing he has so many wives yet still choosing to be with him…

Gee tut.

The museum owners clicked their tongues in envy as they produced the appeal documents that Qingxin had requested from them during their last contact and handed them to Qingxin. Qingxin casually flipped through a few, a slight smile playing on her lips before she suppressed it.

These appeals, besides containing various accusations, also included details about the number of disciples at each martial arts school, their strength, and their cursed swords. This should have been a closely guarded secret, but driven by anger towards Fujiwara no Sanbei, trust in the princess, and a strong desire for revenge, they provided everything to be more convincing and to exert greater public pressure.

Without breaking a sweat, Princess Misuru gathered a large amount of classified information.

Harunobu collected the documents and handed them to Kitten. Then, in front of everyone, he instructed Kitten, "Kitten, take these things to the cabin and wait for Misuru to come and collect them."

Why a small house? Why wait for Misuru-hime to come and collect it?

The guild leaders looked at Harunobu with expressions ranging from awe and worship to horror. Even the three hatamoto samurai, Genkuro, Uesugi Yoshinobu, and Kujo Hidekiri, couldn't help but slightly open their mouths.

Wait, dude, you really won over Misuruhime?

The Japanese Imperial Family rarely leaves the Imperial Palace—unless it's done secretly.

Watching the kitten leave with its large bundle on its back, Harunobu looked at everyone again: "Alright, even if my plan fails now, I still have a backup plan to implement. At least Fujiwara no Sanbei is doomed."

"So, shouldn't we get started?"

Most of the dojo leaders were stunned, but Kujo Hideaki was the most surprised: "Now?"

“Yes, to avoid any leaks—don’t misunderstand, I’m not doubting you, just in case.” Harunobu didn’t really doubt Kujo Hideki, but the others who wanted to object to the speed of things fell silent when they saw the swordsman from the Kujo clan.

Yes, what if Kujo Hideki informs them? After all, he's a member of the Kujo family.

The motion passed unanimously. The group abandoned most of their food, grabbed their swords, and went downstairs to gather their disciples. In the chaos, Qingxin vanished without a trace. Only a few noticed his departure; the others didn't realize their leader was missing until after the disciples had been gathered.

"Silence!" With Harunobu gone, Genkuro's temper returned. He slammed his new sword, scabbard and all, onto the ground, silencing the commotion. "Don't forget Harunobu's plan! Let's go!"

The dojo masters restrained their disciples and followed Genkuro and the other two hatamoto to the Fujiwara family residence, which was actually not far from the restaurant.

Kojimachi 3-chome.

The large group of nearly a thousand people, with each leader carrying a sword, immediately put the guards at the Fujiwara residence on high alert. One of them mustered his courage and shouted, "Who are you! No outsiders are allowed to approach here!"

Genkuro took a deep breath and drew his new sword with a clang: "I am Genchi Asomi Uemon Kurō, and I have come to seek justice for my disciple! The Fujiwara clan, whose wickedness is boundless and who have protected the inhuman villains, shall be punished by heaven!"

Chapter 349

The author says:

Author's note: The killing begins tomorrow!

Chapter 325: Time to Slaughter the Novices

Classic Heavenly Punishment.

But the results were indeed remarkable.

Upon hearing those two words, the guards immediately hid. The simple gate was no match for a group of ferocious samurai, and was easily breached. The clamor and noise rushed into the house, causing the Fujiwara clan members, who were gathered there, to frown.

Most people looked displeased, and a few even sneered, all pulling out various magical artifacts. But before they could cast spells and summon shikigami, Fujiwara no Mitsuyori, who was in the head seat, rang a bell with a dark face. A dark horse with a whirlwind-like lower body appeared in front of him and carried him straight out.

No one felt there was anything wrong with it; after all, everyone knew that those annoying samurai had been giving him a hard time lately, and now they dared to come and cause trouble, so it was only natural for him to take action. These people also didn't want to waste their magical power and were all prepared to reap the benefits without lifting a finger.

But sitting there was too boring, and many people looked at their "comrades" who hadn't moved an inch with sarcasm: "I'm telling you, now you understand, right? We haven't even handed over Lord Sanbei yet, and these peasants are already so arrogant; if we really compromise, won't those peasants ride roughshod over us again?"

Frankly speaking, the current status of Onmyoji and Samurai is about the same; both maintain their prestige and authority through extraordinary abilities. However, Samurai can widely teach disciples and also bear the responsibility of dealing with yokai, while Onmyoji cannot. Because without talent for magic, one cannot learn it at all, even after ten thousand years of study.

But what can they do? They're still nobles, and they've been nobles since the Heian period; their ancestors entered the pass with Emperor Tenmu. Some people probably think that samurai are just lowly nobodys who wouldn't even be hired to guard the gates of Heian-kyo.

The rational group, unable to bear the atmosphere of being ridiculed, stormed off.

The traditional, quaint hall, now filled with jubilant laughter, was filled with nothing but the sounds of joy.

But after some time, they also noticed that something seemed amiss. Why hadn't Fujiwara Mitsuyori returned? And was there something wrong with the barrier's movement? This reaction seemed to suggest…

Snapped.

A silent cracking sound echoed in the minds of some people with decent abilities, like a light bulb breaking or an electrical wire exploding. The invisible, large-scale barrier surrounding the Fujiwara family residence, after operating for over a decade, suddenly ceased functioning.

Upon realizing this, the Fujiwara clan's Onmyoji widened his eyes. An ominous feeling made him gape, and he instinctively shouted, "Hey! You guys! Something seems to have happened to the barrier!"

Someone, holding a wine glass, slurred, "Huh? Are you drunk? We designed the barrier together. Even Manlai couldn't have turned it off quietly, could he?"

Clearly, he was a bit arrogant. Not to mention Fujiwara Mitsuyori personally intervened, Miss Fox simply used Fujiwara Mitsuyori's plan to easily temporarily disable part of the Fujiwara family's protective barrier.

There are still quite a few things locked up by the barrier here; closing them all could easily lead to trouble.

But that's enough.

As soon as Miss Fox gave the signal, Haruno, who had been groping around on the street for half a day, instantly activated and rushed into the Fujiwara family mansion. Rolling thunder pressed down across the clear sky, and the silver blade, like lightning striking the ground, rolled forward and smashed open the door of the ancient gathering hall.

Before they could even determine whether the barrier had been breached, the abandoned Fujiwara clan members all turned to look at the gate. Amidst the flying wood chips, the golden sunlight outlined Harunobu's silhouette. His hideous red demon mask, backlit by the sun, etched fear into the hearts of the stunned Fujiwara clan members.

"mediocre……"

Someone raised their hand, trembling, and pointed at Harunobu. Although Harunobu was wearing the Red Oni mask with great ceremony, his signature thunderous voice had completely exposed his identity.

But it doesn’t matter.

Because the dead cannot speak—Harunobu would make sure they did not speak.

A deafening roar of thunder erupted once more. Qingxin didn't even bother to use other sword techniques; he simply used his mind and a flash of lightning to easily sever more than a dozen heads.

The remaining dozen or so heads were saved because the magical artifacts were activated in time or the shikigami were summoned.

Harunobu simply performed a blood shake, flicking the blood from his blade onto the headless corpse in front of him, then turned to the remaining lucky ones: "Did you like this surprise, you fools?"

Someone retorted angrily: "Taihara Harunobu, don't think that just because you did such a thing—waah!"

Harunobu pulled Asada out of the idiot's heart and sneered, "The corpse is talking."

"kill him!"

The Onmyoji who summoned the shikigami roared, and the demon he commanded also roared and charged towards Harunobu. But it was clear to everyone how perfunctory and unhelpful it was. Except for a few exceptions, yokai were not willing to serve as the Onmyoji's shikigami; they simply had no way or ability to get rid of their masters in the past.

But now... for freedom!

Of course, not all shikigami are this smart, or rather, only this demon has the brains.

The remaining shikigami of the Onmyoji were just ordinary yokai, completely lacking the intelligence to think about such matters. Therefore, several yokai still pounced on Seishun.

But on the other hand, the strength of these shikigami...

Harunobu exhaled softly and rushed to the master of the evil spirit, shattering the bright light shield on his body with a single sword strike. The scabbard that followed then smashed his Adam's apple with a single blow.

Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire and Thunder God

Flying Sword Style: Twin Dragon Flash!

The sight of the corpse falling backwards triggered a chorus of screams. Some of the monsters, each serving their own master, were recalled to protect their master as they fled, while others continued to pounce on Harunobu, attempting to eliminate this villain.

But none of this matters.

Harunobu caught his breath briefly, then used Thunder Flash once more. The silvery lightning zigzagged and reflected in all directions, and at each pause and bend, a red wave would splash out, striking the ground or walls and leaving behind a magnificent crimson stain.

A moment later, Harunobu stopped in front of the broken door and kicked back the head that was about to roll out. The demon standing stiffly in the room stared at the heads scattered all over the floor and couldn't help but swallow hard. This was partly due to hunger, and partly due to fear. As a sentient demon, it now strongly suspected that the human before it was some new species of demon, perhaps a male version of the legendary Demon Sword Princess?

But now was not the time to consider that. A fawning smile appeared on his terrifying,狰狞 face as he bowed and scraped before Qingxin, who was walking slowly towards him: "My lord, my lord, thank you for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, and I am willing to offer myself to you—"

He swung his sword and slashed down.

The demon's fawning smile was forever etched on his face. Even in death, he couldn't understand why Qingxin would suddenly attack. Hadn't he reached a tacit agreement with it? He had killed so many high-ranking human officials and dignitaries; did it really think it could continue to live in human society?

Didn't he want to go to the new Mount Oe?

Obviously not.

Harunobu was just fooling him; after all, if an elite-level demon had any strange magic, it could very well escape in the chaos of battle. Although even then, Shiranui Ran could handle it, the fox might use that to laugh at him.

So I can only fool honest people, but I didn't expect this evil spirit to be so easy to fool.

That makes sense; if they're not easily fooled, they won't be captured and turned into shikigami.

Harunobu pulled out a glass ball-shaped magical artifact from his pocket, his face contorted with pain—his artifacts had been severely depleted in order to resist the overt and covert attacks from the Onmyoji.

But it doesn't matter anymore, there's only one goal left.

Harunobu rubbed his hands together.

Chapter 350

The glass ball inside was tossed into the air. A strange suction force immediately appeared, but not even a pair of chopsticks around it moved an inch—because what was being absorbed was a soul.

Sponsored by Ms. Shiranui Ran, this is a precious magical artifact used by ninjas in Shiranui to imprison the souls of enemies. It is said that there are only three of them in the entire Shiranui clan.

While the magical artifact was absorbing souls, Qingxin also destroyed the heads that were rolling on the ground. Although without souls, the soul-searching technique wouldn't be very effective, who knows if some strange spell might actually make the corpses talk.

After crushing the last head, Harunobu turned around and caught the glass ball falling from the sky. The once crystal clear material was now dull and gray, and a strange gray-black mist could be vaguely seen churning and surging within it.

Gee tut.

Harunobu put the glass ball back into his pocket and glanced at the wall clock.

Yes, exactly five minutes.

We need to speed things up.

The author says:

Author's note: Happy Qixi Festival everyone! I wonder if it's a bit much for a single person like me to say this? (；?д｀)ゞ

Chapter 326: The Demon Blade - Killing Fox

Harunobu quickly rushed into Fujiwara Sanbei's workshop and found him silently forging iron. The one-eyed stokers he commanded were nowhere to be seen; the large workshop was empty except for him and the rhythmic clanging of his hammer, making it feel desolate and vast.

Harunobu, carrying a slightly reddish katana, approached Fujiwara Sanbei and glanced curiously at the katana he was hammering: "Steel forged like this probably isn't as good as steel made by those large machines, right?"

“Indeed…” Fujiwara Sanbei was about to speak when Harunobu had already unleashed his Asabu. He had no time to chat with a dead man.

With a deafening roar, the attack stopped at Fujiwara Sanbei's throat. Ripples spread through the clear air, leaving behind crack-like patterns wherever they passed.

"What kind of magic is this?" Qingxin was a little curious. He hadn't noticed it at all, even though he had been maintaining a state of focused concentration since he entered the room.

Fujiwara Sanbei didn't hear Harunobu's soft mutterings. He tried to calm himself down and continued, "It's indeed inferior, but the machine can't cast spells yet. Otherwise, I would like to get some machines to handle this."

He spoke casually, then brought down the final hammer blow, sending the crimson blade into the water tank beside him, where many runes floated. Steam and smoke billowed out, enveloping Harunobu and Fujiwara no Sanbei, but neither of them moved, simply continuing to stare at each other through the cracked space.

Fujiwara Sanbei removed his heavy blacksmith gloves and looked sincerely at Harunobu: "Master Taira, you should know that I did not harm your wife and disciple. Of course, I am sorry that Ame-no-Mikoto mastered that technology, so I am willing to atone for it."