Female Swordsman Training Dojo

"Hmm, take care on your journey." The shrine maiden said calmly. When Harunobu turned around to close the door after leaving, she suddenly spoke again, "By the way, some of the special services offered by the shrines might be in line with what Director Taira thinks. For example, our branch shrines in some rural areas, since some of our training methods are quite unique."

Harunobu looked down at the shrine maiden, only to see that she had already lowered her head and started drinking tea, clearly not intending to say anything more.

After leaving the shrine, Harunobu took the train back to Aozorakan Street. Although he wanted to go back to Aozorakan to rest immediately, he first went to the koban (travel office) and told Tanaka Yu the story he had made up.

"So that guy really is near Yoshiwara?"

"Fortunately, it was only Eta who got into trouble this time, otherwise we police officers would have been scolded again."

"By the way, did you tell the police near Yoshiwara about this?"

Tanaka Yu finished speaking and looked at Harunobu with a hint of annoyance: "I'm just a small koban (official post), and my jurisdiction only covers a few streets around here. What business does Yoshiwara have of mine?"

Harunobu shrugged: "Anyway, even if you go to the police in Yoshiwara, it will eventually be reported to the National Police Agency. I'm just giving you credit for this."

Tanaka Yu rolled his eyes: "Alright, go to sleep—I'll write the report for you."

"Thanks, Uncle Tanaka." Harunobu stretched and then immediately ran off, heading back to his sweet old home.

It was already afternoon, but it wasn't time for the female college students to come and play sword practice games yet, so when Harunobu entered the main dojo, he only saw Hirako, who was training.

Just as Qingxin pushed open the door, she put down her wooden sword and looked over: "Master, are you alright?"

As she spoke, Hirako had already jogged over to Harunobu, hugged him without any hesitation, and then began to examine Harunobu's body.

However, Harunobu had already received treatment from the shrine maiden, which repaired the damage caused by using his divine speed, so Hirayukiko naturally didn't notice anything.

This relieved her greatly, and her attention returned to her, noticing a faint fragrance in the air: "Shifan, did you go to Yoshiwara last night?"

"Huh?" Harunobu was a little surprised. "Didn't I tell you last night when we set off? We were going to find the sword hunters near Yoshiwara."

“But she always came back at night before…” Hirako said somewhat awkwardly, her unusual behavior alerting Harunobu.

After all, the fact that he specifically asked about Yoshiwara, didn't come home all night, and spoke in such a strange tone makes it easy to draw conclusions.

"Oh..." Harunobu's tone became cheerful, "Could it be that you're worried I'll go to a prostitute, Sachiko?"

"Uh……"

"Did you smell something? I didn't expect you to be able to find out..."

"Well……"

"But it definitely smells like a woman's scent..."

Hirako puffed out her cheeks; the mature older sister's expression was surprisingly powerful, completely overwhelming Harunobu.

"Okay, actually I am..."

"He went to find the kitten, didn't he? I can smell that child's scent." Hirayuki blurted out the answer first, lightly tapping her chest with her right hand. "Honestly, you're so mean!"

"Actually, besides the kitten..."

"And that twin child, or the shrine maiden, right?" Without the brain-dead effect of being overly concerned, Hirako quickly gave the correct answer, leaving Harunobu speechless.

"Okay, you guessed right. So what are you going to do?" Harunobu hugged Hirako tightly. "Are you going to cover it up with your scent?"

As the paper sliding door closed, a hissing sound came from inside the room.

Chapter 44: Murderer?

"Ugh...it's so noisy."

Awakened by the noise outside, Qingxin opened his eyes irritably, but the two large fruits that came into view immediately improved his mood. He sat up with renewed energy, completely shaking off the afternoon drowsiness.

Hirako picked up the wooden sword beside her: "It seems to be those disciples from the Hosho Dojo again. Haven't they been absent for several days?"

"Maybe they've hired some powerful outside help again? Or maybe it's because of the kitten?" Qingxin stood up. "We'll find out when we go out and take a look. Anyway, they can't cause any trouble."

The two slowly and methodically tidied their clothes and weapons, while the little cat, who was practicing Su Zhen nearby, cast a dead fish-like glance and followed.

Four days have passed since the "repelling" of the sword hunter. The second disciple, Koneko, has successfully mastered the Breath of Thunder, and is using the first form quite well—but her physical fitness is still not up to par, and the power she unleashes is not as great as that of Hirako.

In addition, the search for the sword hunter is still ongoing, and Harunobu goes out on patrol every night as usual, but unfortunately, he still finds nothing. The little guys at the cat house and the police also have no clues. Moreover, the number of victims has dropped significantly, and some police officers have begun to speculate that it is because the sword hunter was defeated by Harunobu, so he is preparing to find a new hunting ground.

Aside from their exceptionally strong aggression, ordinary monsters are otherwise similar to ferocious beasts; they will retreat and flee when faced with a powerful enemy. Therefore, this statement is quickly becoming accepted by the police. As for the truth...

I hope there really is a monster carrying a Bizen Osafune.

Recalling the events of the past few days, Harunobu opened the door of the Aozorakan, with Hirako and Koneko following closely behind him as they walked out, facing a much larger group of Hosho Dojo disciples than ever before.

"There are so many people. What, are you planning to wear me down with a series of attacks?" Harunobu gripped the hilt of his sword, sensing that something was amiss. These disciples of the Hosho Dojo were being far too serious.

However, it is precisely when things are not going well that one must remain calm. So Harunobu continued to pretend that he was dealing with the Hosho Dojo who came to challenge him, and even took the cat's wooden sword.

Sure enough, his act immediately paid off, and a fierce roar erupted from the crowd of Baosheng Dojo disciples: "Don't joke around! You murderer!"

"Stop pretending! Where did you take Senior Brother Arima?!"

"Pay back Arima-senpai's life!"

"..."

What started as chaotic shouts quickly turned into a unified cry of "A life for a life!" as the crowd grew increasingly agitated. Faced with this surging outcry, the expressions of Harunobu and his two companions changed. They were simply surprised, surprised that news of Arima Ichiro's death, whose body had become part of the septic tank, had spread, and how these guys had come looking for them.

But it doesn't matter. Even if these disciples have no evidence—otherwise it would be the police or the army—Qingxin doesn't think there's anything wrong with killing that scumbag.

Possessing an illegal demon sword and attacking Edo, who has human rights under the law, if a lawsuit were to actually break out, Hosho Dojo would be doomed to lose if they didn't rely on connections to distort the truth.

Moreover, even if Hosho Dojo really intends to distort the truth, Harunobu has his own ways to deal with it, he just doesn't want to go through that trouble... As for now, he can only go through a little trouble.

"Although I really want to say let's calm down and talk it over, I don't think you'll listen."

Amidst the unified and imposing roar, Qingxin muttered to himself, striking a lightning-fast pose, "So, I can only ask you to quiet down for now."

Before he could finish speaking, his words were swallowed by the thunder in the clear sky. Qingxin was like lightning cutting through a school of fish, weaving freely through the crowd. The disciples of Baosheng Dojo fell down wherever he went. It wasn't until Qingxin had cut down the twelfth person that they reacted and drew their wooden swords from their waists.

"You've shown your true colors! You murderer—wooo!"

Someone shouted angrily, but before he could finish speaking, Qingxin stabbed him in the stomach with a wooden sword. The heavy blow caused him to kneel down and vomit on the spot.

"Are there thirteen people left..." Qingxin glanced at the system panel and found that the challenge mission was unfortunately not activated. He didn't know if it was because they had a legitimate reason to challenge, or if these trash were no longer worthy of challenging the current Qingkong Hall.

There wasn't a single person in the group who could compare to Arima Ichiro; they were all useless.

“Come on, it’s better to beat you all down before we can talk.” Harunobu said, taking the initiative to attack. The Hosho Dojo disciples, whom he had chosen as his targets, seemed to have completely given up on dealing with it, and directly opened their arms wide to counterattack Harunobu, trying to lock him down.

The others shouted and charged at Harunobu, trying to seize the opportunity—unfortunately, the opportunity never existed.

With his breathing becoming slightly heavier, Qingxin's speed increased even further. The wooden sword in his hand struck the disciple's side of the neck, who was about to grab him, knocking him to the ground. Then, with a flick of his wrist, five sword lights flashed almost simultaneously, deflecting all the incoming wooden swords.

The disciples of the Hosho Dojo, with their doors wide open, frantically tried to regain their footing, but Harunobu had already charged forward with his sword. The wooden sword either struck their stomachs or cut into their necks. In an instant, besides him, only the two lucky ones who were furthest away remained standing.

However, their luck ended there.

Having easily finished off the broken heart, Harunobu leaned on his battered wooden sword and looked at those idiots: "Now can you explain why you all think I killed Arima Ichiro?"

Amidst the wails, a defiant voice rang out: "Besides you, who else could kill Senior Brother Arima, and who would even attempt to kill Senior Brother Arima!"

With this one taking the lead, new voices soon followed: "That's right! And Senior Brother Yu Ma told us long ago that he only surrendered because you threatened to kill him!"

"If you hadn't complained to Senior Sister Baosheng, how could Senior Brother Youma have been punished by being banned from learning the profound techniques for a year!"

"You're just worried that Arima-senpai will become stronger and come back to defeat you!"

Amidst the cacophony of voices, Harunobu roughly grasped the situation. These fools were most likely being used as pawns, and their conversations even contained contradictions... However, this didn't affect his bad mood.

"Quiet down," Qingxin said calmly, but the noisy sounds in the room stopped abruptly, like a duck being choked.

"You guys should coordinate your statements first. One minute you say that only I had both the reason and the ability to kill him, and the next minute you say that I was afraid he would become stronger and defeat me. Isn't that a bit contradictory?"

"But most of you idiots probably don't understand either, so let's be direct—you dare to come looking for trouble with me simply because you think I'm easy to talk to, and probably not strong enough, right?"

"It's alright. I have indeed been too lenient with you guys lately, which is why you idiots have taken advantage of my kindness. It seems it's time for me to visit the Hosho Dojo."

"Get out of here, you bunch of trash! Let Baosheng take down the signboard, or I can't guarantee it won't be damaged when it falls!"

Chapter 45: Counterattack

"Father! Why didn't you stop them!"

Inside the Hosho Dojo, Hosho Amu stormed into the main dojo. Her voice carried even before she arrived, but the disciples who were training didn't react much; they were used to it. Only Hosho Ichijo himself, who was sitting on a cushion sipping tea, looked like he had a headache.

"Amu, do you even know whose side you're on? Why are you always taking that kid from Aozorakan's side?"

Amu Hosho closed the door and took a deep breath: "Don't change the subject, Father. Don't tell me you don't know what those people were doing at the Aozora House. What evidence or qualifications do they have to go to the Aozora House?"

Baosheng looked at his daughter's serious face, sighed, and put down his teacup: "Otherwise what? What do you want me to do? Stop them and not allow them to avenge their senior brother?"

"But they've picked the wrong person! Senior Brother Arima is no match for Taira no Harunobu!" Amu Hosho slammed her fist on the floor in frustration. "They're just venting their anger on innocent people, because they can't even beat his female disciple!"

“Since you know that, you should be even more aware that they can’t do anything.” Baosheng patiently explained to his daughter, “It’s precisely because they are weak and cannot cause trouble for Qingkongguan that I don’t stop them. This way, they can vent their emotions without causing any major problems. Isn’t that better?”

Hosho Amu looked at her father and said disappointedly, "What about the reputation of the Blue Sky Pavilion? Is it because of this that we have to let our disciples slander them? Besides, Taira no Harunobu is not a weak person. What if he takes action?"

Bao Sheng calmly took a sip of tea: "Then let him do it. Anyway, he's already defeated those guys, so it won't have much of an impact."

Hosho Amu pursed her lips, not wanting to answer. Judging from the previous situation, Hosho Ichijo's approach was indeed correct and beyond reproach, but she always felt that things were not that simple... Was that Taira Harunobu really so easy to control?

Silence fell between the father and daughter, but a commotion arose outside the door, causing Baosheng to frown impatiently: "What...?"

"Teacher's College! Hiraharu Nobu... Hiraharu Nobu has come to challenge us!"

The man, who practically crashed into the dojo and still had obvious marks from a wooden sword on his face, spoke in a panic, causing the teacup in Baosheng's hand to tremble.

He took a breath, put down his teacup, and picked up a towel to wipe his hands: "What happened?"

The man who was thrown back by Qingxin immediately began to recount the situation. He had initially embellished the story, but after only a few words, he was frightened by Baosheng's stern gaze and began to state the truth.

Naturally, he conveyed the message, "Baosheng, take down the signboard immediately, or I can't guarantee it will be intact when it falls!"

These words ignited the already tense atmosphere in the dojo, making it feel like it had been set ablaze. Even Hosho Ichijo himself, and even Hosho Amu, who had always been biased towards Harunobu, were getting angry.

"Since that's the case, then let him come. I want to see what kind of good son Ping Qingkong has raised!"

Hosho Ichijo stood up, not to take down the signboard, but to change into clothes more suitable for a duel.

However, just as he stood up, two muffled thuds came from the doorway, and then two bodies crashed through the paper sliding door of the dojo and slid all the way to his feet.

Seeing his disciple lying unconscious on the ground, Baosheng slowly turned towards the door.

Harunobu, having completed his task of training dogs, gripped the wooden sword and exhaled a puff of white breath: "Your skill in training dogs is indeed much better than that old man's, but it's a pity you can't raise a son, you old geezer."

The sarcasm was instantly escalated, and Harunobu effectively ended the conversation.

"Your opponent is me!" A burly man jumped out first. This was a real burly man. Qingxin had to look up to see the top of this guy's head. He was at least 1.9 meters tall, and his whole body was covered with obviously bulging muscles.

In Japan of this era, this would definitely be considered a genetic mutation...

Harunobu raised his wooden sword: "Fine, let's have a gauntlet then. It's not like this is the first time your Hosho Dojo has done this—state your name, kid."

The burly man shouted, "No outsider! The ultimate legend! Ito Ranzo!"

"Natural Harushin-ryu, Third Generation Teacher, Taira Harunobu."

After a brief introduction, Ito Ranzo launched the first attack. He charged forward with a wooden sword that was longer than the average person's, holding it high in an upper-body position, yelling strangely. It looked somewhat comical.

However, if you ignore the strange cry and observe carefully, you will find that his movements are very refined, and his footwork is not chaotic at all. He can switch to several profound techniques without external flow at any time, achieving both offense and defense, and also has the effect of attacking first.

It can be said that he was an extremely skilled swordsman, difficult to deal with in sword duels—for anyone other than Harunobu.

As for Harunobu, he simply took a deep breath.

The muffled thunder-like sound made Baosheng Ichijo open his eyes slightly. He then looked at the other disciples, but before he could speak, Ito Ranzo had already rushed in front of Harunobu... or rather, he rushed to a position two meters away from Harunobu and then swung the wooden sword in his hand.

Tall people always have an advantage in melee combat, the biggest advantage being their attack range. In kendo terms, this is called "interlocking." If you can keep your sword within range of the enemy while the enemy cannot hit you, then victory is only a matter of time.

—The premise is that there are no major differences in other aspects.

A thunderous roar erupted, and Harunobu, who had been gathering his strength since entering, launched his attack.

His figure shot out like a bolt of lightning, flashing around Ito Ranzo who had just swung his wooden sword. The dull thuds of wood striking flesh rang out one after another, each sound like a blow to the hearts of the disciples of the Hosho Dojo.

There are twelve tones in total.

Hojo Amu clenched her fists, watching her strongest senior brother in the dojo fall to the ground, while Taira Harunobu stood up unharmed: "Um, could you exchange my sword?"

No one responded; the absurd situation left everyone at Baosheng Dojo stunned.

Harunobu could only drop his tattered wooden sword and use Hirako's instead: "I should have brought two more. This guy is too tough."

The silence was finally broken with the sound of the wooden sword hitting the ground, and Baosheng Yitiao spoke: "Ping..."