Osaka.
The Shinsengumi received the order and the operation's headquarters was moved from Kyoto to Osaka.
And all external activities have been stopped.
Isamu Kondo was ordered to...recuperate.
Saito sat alone on the steps, looking into the distance with confused eyes.
The wound left by the battle with Samura last year did not bring any sequelae to Saito. It just left a scar on his face, which made Saito look less kind than before and instead looked fierce.
Saito didn't feel anything.
Compared with the physical pain, Saito suffered more from the mental frustration.
There was no hope for him.
Following Kondo and Hijikata, I decided to join the Shinsengumi because it was interesting.
But the road ahead...seems to be the end.
In the Tenmaya incident two days ago, Saito numbly killed two enemies and watched his team members being injured, but remained indifferent.
...What on earth are we doing?
Okita Souji was recuperating in a corner of Osaka, and Nagakura Shinpachi and Kondo were separated.
Is this still... the Shinsengumi?
"Hey Saito."
The familiar voice of the Ghost Vice Commander came from behind.
Hijikata Toshizo threw a spear to Saito.
Saito caught it in a panic and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Hijikata Toshizo's expression was lost and serious: "Integrate your squad and take action."
"My action?"
"The actions of the Shinsengumi." Toshizo Hijikata sighed, "The order from Tokugawa Yoshiki has come. We are setting off now. We will reach Fushimi within half a month and station the soldiers there."
Saito was stunned: "...There's going to be a war?"
Hijikata nodded and turned around.
"Twenty minutes, organize your squad and pack your personal belongings."
"Let's go... before dark."
...
The New Year's Day passed quietly in tension and silence.
This year’s New Year’s Eve, even Sensoji Temple’s bells are not ringing.
Kondo Isamu has led the Shinsengumi to Fushimi, but the process is not smooth.
On the way, they met the remnants of the Royal Guards, and the Shinsengumi exchanged fire with them. During the firefight, Kondo Isamu was hit by a stray bullet and injured his shoulder.
Kondo Yumasa sat alone in his temporary office, with a map of the Fushimi area in front of him.
He knew in his heart that Tokugawa was celebrating and did not want to give up his position.
Therefore, war is coming.
Sighing, Isamu Kondo rubbed his eyebrows.
"You have to work even if you are injured... You are a good director, Kondo."
A voice sounded behind Kondo.
"Why, the person who assassinated General Tokugawa Iemo will also come to assassinate a little guy like me?"
The voice was very familiar, so familiar that Isamu Kondo could recognize it immediately.
"...I'm not here to kill you." The visitor sighed slightly, pulled a stool from Kondo's room, and sat down.
"I know...but you shouldn't have come to see me." Kondo slowly turned around and looked at the man sitting majestically in his room, with inexplicable emotions in his eyes, "Left village."
Samura and Kondo looked at each other.
"Inoue is dead."
"...I know, I went to see him."
"Because you died."
"..."
Zuocun had nothing to say.
"But he doesn't blame you." Kondo shook his head.
"Although this explanation sounds weak, but... I must kill Tokugawa Iemo. This is the current situation and the choice I made." Zuomura held his forehead.
"So why did you come here? Aren't you supposed to be busy preparing for war in your hometown, Choshu Domain and Satsuma Domain?" Kondo Isamu asked with a smile.
"...There is no one you can trust in that place anymore." Zuo Cun's eyes were filled with despair, "Although Ryoma, I, Takasugi, and Katsura established that place together, but... .”
"I can't go back."
He sighed.
With the loss of military power, Samura has no actual subordinates in Satsuma.
When they were together with Ryoma, both of them felt that with each other's talents, they could do anything.
But...
But...
I can't go back.
Zuocun could only tell Saigo Moritaka that he had colluded with Meiji.
Even if I can't go back, I still want to fulfill your dream, Ryoma.
Both men fell silent.
"What, why are you living a more pitiful life than me?" Isamu Kondo laughed twice.
"Stop laughing Kondo, you sound so ugly when you laugh." Zuomura helplessly interrupted Kondo's laughter, "I'm here this time..."
"I want to persuade you to leave the shogunate and celebrate your departure from Tokugawa."
"The war is about to break out. Inoue is dead. I don't want you to..."
"Samura!" Isamu Kondo interrupted Zuocun's words sharply.
"...Thank you, I know you are for me, for Hijikata, for us."
"But..."
"I still have to continue on this path." He clenched his fists, "This is the path I chose, and it is also the Shinsengumi's sincerity."
"My path, if you don't even have the confidence to go on it."
"Then my Makoto...maybe he no longer exists."
Zuo Cun looked at Kondo Isamu's side face and was silent for a long time.
"I will fight."
he said softly.
"I will fight in this war."
Zuocun stood up.
"On the battlefield, I will not show mercy this time."
"As you said, Kondo, the path I have chosen... I must continue on."
The two men stood up and looked at each other.
"Ah, I won't be merciful either." There was a trace of fighting intent on Kondo Isamu's lips.
"See you on the battlefield." Zuo Cun walked towards the window.
"Ah, by the way Zuocun, there is something I want to tell you." Suddenly, Kondo remembered something.
"What?"
"Go to the southwest of Osaka and look for a place called Ryojunya." Kondo Isamu's eyes showed a hint of determination, "Okita...is there now."
Zuo Cun was stunned: "Kondo, no, I...are not qualified..."
Kondo Isamu walked over, grabbed Zuo Cun's shoulders, and looked directly into Zuo Cun's eyes.
Zuocun dodges a little.
"She is sick." Kondo's tone contained a hint of pleading, "She is very sick and can no longer hold a knife."
Samura looked at Kondo in disbelief.
"Is it... a cough?"
He thought of Takasugi and the time of the great fire in Kyoto a few years ago.
The symptoms of the two people seemed to be... exactly the same.
Zuocun panicked.
Kondo nodded.
"So, promise me you will go, okay?"
"Okita is like me, Hijikata and Inoue, the younger sister to the three of us."
"At least, at least let Okita..."
"You can leave without regrets."
Zuocun nodded.
"I see."
"I'll be there."
As he spoke, Zuocun jumped out of the window.
Kondo looked at Zuomura disappearing into the night and sighed.
He returned to his desk and continued to look at Fushimi's map.
