I assembled the strongest swordsman group

Having said that, Okita suddenly raised his right hand, pressed down on the wooden sword at his left waist, and drew it from its sheath.

call--!

The knife was drawn, accompanied by a sharp, slicing sound as the air was cut.

After deftly drawing the sword, Okita sheathed the wooden sword with the same deft movement.

Okita's movements just now, like the Suzhen he demonstrated before, were clean and concise, making even those who didn't know anything about swords want to exclaim, "Awesome!"

"When drawing the sword, remember to grip it with your right wrist in this way..."

Okita succinctly explained to Aoto the details of the actions to pay attention to when drawing and sheathing the sword.

After he finished speaking, he put his hands and the bamboo sword behind his back.

"Alright. Now try it yourself."

"Yes."

Qing Deng spread his legs apart, lowered his center of gravity, and imitated Okita's earlier movement, slowly bringing his right hand to the wooden sword at his left waist.

Seeing Aoto preparing to draw his sword, Okita thought to himself with a tone of anticipation tinged with smugness:

—Drawing and sheathing the sword... Surely you can't master that in just a few moves?

After witnessing Aoto's astonishing talent, Okita felt a peculiar curiosity—a curiosity to explore the depths of Aoto's talent.

Okita, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, stared longingly at Aoto, who had already placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

The "high-speed camera" in Qing Deng's mind turned on again at this moment—

call!

The wooden sword was swiftly drawn from its sheath inch by inch, while Okita's eyes widened in that instant.

After drawing the wooden sword, Qing Deng imitated Okita's earlier action and sheathed the sword.

—Has this person really never received any formal swordsmanship training before?!

Whether it was Su Zhen before or the drawing and sheathing of the sword just now, Okita felt that Qing Deng's movements did not seem like those of a beginner.

Even seasoned swordsmen might not be able to execute such a beautiful move.

However, in the sparring match between Qing Deng and Suzuki that he had just witnessed, Qing Deng's extremely clumsy sword-wielding movements clearly told him that this junior brother was indeed a novice who had not had much experience with swordsmanship before...

—If… he really hadn't received any formal swordsmanship training before… then his talent…

Okita's gaze gradually became serious... no, it should be said that it became strange and "terrifying".

Feeling extremely uncomfortable under Okita's gaze, Aoto couldn't help but say:

"Um... Okita-kun?"

"Ah." Okita, as if waking from a dream, chuckled, "Sorry, I was just spacing out."

"Your movements were quite good. It's quite remarkable that a beginner could perform such a high level of movement."

"However, there were still some things you didn't do well."

Okita stepped forward and carefully explained to Aoto what details he had not done well.

After Okita corrected him, and Aoto practiced a few more times on his own, Okita finally nodded.

"For the rest of the time, focus on practicing drawing and sheathing your sword," Okita instructed. "Practice it at least 40 times. Remember to make sure your movements are correct during practice. Don't sacrifice accuracy just to finish the number of repetitions as quickly as possible."

After giving Aoto his new training assignment, Okita took his bamboo sword and went to supervise and check on the others' training.

After Okita left, Aoto began to practice drawing and sheathing his sword diligently, following Okita's instructions.

Just then—Uehara, who had been practicing his shojin under Okita's orders, finally finished the series of practice tasks assigned by Okita and sat down next to Aoto to rest, covered in sweat.

While massaging the muscles in his arms, he suddenly struck up a conversation with Qingdeng:

"Brother, you're really amazing. This is the first time I've ever seen Okita-kun be so gentle and kind when instructing on swordsmanship."

Uehara exudes a bold and forthright spirit, both in appearance and voice.

"Brother, where are you from? Where are you serving in the government?"

“I am a native of Edo,” Qing Deng replied. “I am currently serving in the Hokuban-sho of Edo and am a fellow townsman of the Hokuban-sho’s fixed town.”

After Aoto briefly introduced himself to Uehara, Aoto saw Uehara's eyes suddenly light up.

"So you're a 'three-times' samurai!"

Uehara asked Aoto urgently in an impatient tone:

"Brother, since you're a 'three-times' samurai, may I ask you something?"

"Hmm? Go ahead."

Uehara, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaned his upper body forward in the direction of Aoto, and his breathing became a little heavy.

"I've heard that the cat-monk who's been causing quite a stir in Edo lately is a female ninja who's skilled in ninjutsu. Is that true?"

Qing Deng's hands, which were practicing drawing and sheathing his sword, involuntarily stopped.

"Huh?" Qing Deng tilted his head at Shang Yuan. "Neko-kun? A female ninja?"

Having inherited all of Yuanju Qingdeng's memories, Qingdeng naturally knew who Maoxiaoseng was.

About three months ago, a very skilled thief appeared in Edo who only appeared at night.

Most thieves steal from the homes of the wealthy.

But this master thief was different.

This master thief only stole money from the Yakuza of Edo, or from those notorious villains of Edo.

He acted boldly and aggressively, and in just three months, countless villains and evil forces had been robbed of their money. The total amount stolen is conservatively estimated to be several thousand taels of gold.

Thieves who only target evil people and do not harm ordinary people are always easy to win the favor of the people.

After all, ordinary people like stories and people who can stand up for them and help them fight against bad guys.

As far as Qing Deng knows, with the thief's activities, he has become extremely popular among the people of Edo, and some storytellers have even written stories about him.

Although the thief's actions can be considered as eliminating a scourge for the people, a thief is still a thief, and the government cannot sit idly by.

As this notorious thief gained fame, the Southern and Northern Bureaus of Edo quickly opened a case and launched an investigation.

Although the government's investigation was swift, the results... were utterly appalling...

Through careful investigation and intelligence provided by the intelligence network, the "Sanhui" gang in Edo has successfully located the master thief at the scene of his thefts on several occasions.

But without exception, he always managed to escape.

This master thief's agility was astonishing!

Whether it was a wall only a foot wide or a roof with an extremely steep slope, this master thief could walk on it as if it were flat ground.

Every capture operation ended in the same way—after finally locating the notorious thief, he would dart up to a nearby rooftop or some other spot and vanish into the night in the blink of an eye…

Because this master thief could move quickly across various complex terrains such as rooftops and walls like a cat, the authorities gave him the nickname "Cat Monk."

It must be said that this nickname was indeed brilliantly chosen.

This master thief's movements were indeed as nimble as a cat's.

Cat Monk appears and disappears without a trace, so even now, the government still knows very little about him.

Because Cat Monk always wore all black clothes, and his hair and nose and below were all covered with black cloth, with only his eyes showing, it was impossible to tell his gender and age. Therefore, the government did not even know whether he was male or female or how old he was.

Currently, the government only has three relatively useful pieces of information regarding Cat Monk:

1. He only appears at night.

2. He only targeted villains and criminal gangs in Edo.

3. He is rather petite, and his height is estimated to be no more than 1.5 meters.

A height of 1.5 meters was extremely common in Edo-period Japan. Due to factors such as diet and genetics, there were plenty of men who were 1.5 meters tall, not to mention women.

At 1.75 meters tall, Qing Deng is considered a "giant" that is quite rare in this era.

"Neko-sō is a female ninja... Where did you hear that?" Qingdeng put down the wooden sword in his hand.

Uehara responded with a hint of excitement:

"I heard it from my friends last night when I was drinking with them."

“My friends say that recently, many people in the city have been speculating about the identity of Cat Monk.”

"Cat Monk is very petite and is most likely female."

"Then she can walk on rooftops and walls as if they were flat ground. Floating on rooftops and scaling walls—this has always been a specialty of ninjas."

"So many people are saying that Cat Monk is a female ninja who is proficient in ninjutsu."

"And I've also heard that—that cat monk's...are quite voluptuous."

Uehara, whose face uncontrollably revealed a lewd smile, raised his hands and gestured a few times on his chest.

“I’ve always been very interested in this cat monk, so I thought I’d come and ask you, as a ‘three-time’ monk, to verify if this is really true.”

—Were you always interested in Neko-sō, or did you only become interested in him after hearing that he was a voluptuous female ninja...?

After silently criticizing Uehara in his mind, Aoto chuckled to himself:

"That's complete nonsense. Just listen to these kinds of rumors and don't take them too seriously."

"I don't know if female ninjas still exist in this era when foreign powers have already forced open China's doors."

"But I can tell you with absolute certainty: the idea that 'Neko-sō is a female ninja' is just baseless speculation by ordinary people."

"Neko-san is petite, so she's female. Because she can scale walls, she's a ninja? How can you conclude that Neko-san is a female ninja based solely on these two points..."

Qing Deng said helplessly.

"Petite figure - plenty of men are petite too."

At this point, Qing Deng couldn't help but glance at a certain 1.55-meter-tall handsome boy who was intently teaching someone in the distance.

"As for scaling walls and rooftops... our government has arrested quite a few agile people who can run fast on rooftops before, but they weren't ninjas."

"And the idea that it's very voluptuous... that's complete nonsense without any basis."

"Our government hasn't even determined the gender of Cat Monk yet, so how could ordinary people know that Cat Monk's penis is so big? This is probably just a rumor made up by some bored guys to attract attention."

In short—just listen to these rumors and don't take them too seriously.

Having said that, Qingdeng raised the wooden sword in his hand and continued to concentrate on practicing his swordsmanship.

"But...but..." Uehara stammered, as if he wanted to say something more.

But at this moment——

"Uehara, what are you doing?" Okita's voice pierced Uehara's eardrums, instantly freezing the expression on Uehara's face.

Okita walked slowly toward Uehara with his arms crossed and a displeased expression on his face.

"Have you forgotten the rules of our Sword Training Hall? When others are practicing swordsmanship, don't go around chatting with them and disturb them."

"Yes, I'm sorry..." Uehara lowered his head and shrank back like a child who had done something wrong.

After being reminded by Okita, Uehara no longer dared to talk to Aoto and focused on massaging and relaxing the muscles in his arms.

*******

*******

I updated nearly 8000 words today!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please recommend this book! Please add this book to your favorites!

Chapter 19 "Those bastards will definitely be taught a lesson!"

After teaching Aoto Sujin how to draw and sheathe his sword, Okita did not teach Aoto anything new that day.

As for why, Okita also explained to Aoto that at this stage of laying the foundation, learning too many things at once would be counterproductive and do more harm than good. He told Aoto to focus on practicing his sword strikes, drawing his sword, and sheathing his sword today.

You can't get fat in one bite—Qing Deng naturally understood this principle, so he didn't complain about Okita's arrangement and obediently practiced the alternation of drawing and sheathing his sword.

Despite doing the same tedious, mechanical exercises over and over again, Qingdeng didn't feel bored or impatient.

On the contrary, he found himself increasingly enthusiastic as he practiced.