"Arimura-kun." Kurosawa Chuzaburo let out a breath of white mist, "Are you nervous...?"
"It's a bit embarrassing to say." Arimura Jizaemon smiled bitterly and showed his right hand to Kurosawa Chuzaburo, "I'm so nervous... Look, my hand keeps shaking."
Arimura Jizaemon's right hand was trembling violently as if in convulsion.
He raised his left hand and grasped his right hand hard, trying to stop his right hand from shaking.
But because his left hand was also shaking, after his left hand grasped his right wrist, the two palms pulled each other, and both palms shook even more.
"I see... I'm very nervous too." Kurosawa Chuzaburo also showed his two palms to Arimura Jizaemon - his hands were also trembling.
Although their hands and feet were shaking violently due to nervousness and fear, the firmness and determination in their eyes did not fade at all.
call!
The wind and snow were blowing harder.
The Ii family's queue has already moved quickly to their scheduled combat location.
Kurosawa Chuzaburo, who was in charge of serving as their left wing vanguard, let out a breath of white mist again, reached his right hand into his arms, and pulled out a revolver with a shiny barrel...
…
…
"Sanjuro Okabe is responsible for staying behind. He must witness the successful execution of Naomi Ii, so he will not participate in the assassination."
"After the assassination was successful, Superintendent Saito submitted the "Book of Killing the Traitor" to Mr. Laonaka, so he stayed behind with Sanjuro Okabe and did not participate in the assassination."
After saying that, Seki Tetsunosuke opened a brocade box next to him.
Inside the brocade box, five brand-new revolvers lay quietly.
"These five short muskets were given to me by Lord Jinzi."
"I'm responsible for holding one, and the other four——"
Seki Tetsunosuke took out a pistol from the brocade box.
"Saito Supervisor."
"Yes!" Supervisor Saito respectfully took the pistol from Seki Tetsunosuke's hand with both hands.
"Inada Juzo." Seki Tetsunosuke took out another pistol from the brocade box.
"Yes!" Inada Juzo imitated Saito's actions just now and took the gun from Seki Tetsunosuke's hand with both hands.
"Gorokuro Mori."
"yes!"
"Kurosawa Chuzaburo."
"yes!"
After distributing the four pistols one by one to the four people headed by Saito Kanmono, Seki Tetsunosuke returned to his serious sitting posture.
"After Mori-kun killed the leading members of Jingyi's formation, he took advantage of the weak defense around the sedan..."
Seki Tetsunosuke turned his attention to Kurosawa Chuzaburo.
"Kurosawa-kun, you are responsible for shooting at the sedan with a short gun."
"Are you shooting at Naomi Ii's sedan?"
"Yes." Seki Tetsunosuke nodded solemnly, "It would be best if we could just shoot him to death on the spot with a pistol."
"If we can't kill him directly, we must at least injure him."
"Naomi Ii is an Iaido master who created the 'Shinshin Shinryu'."
"In terms of personal strength, he might be stronger than most of his guards."
"If we can injure him before the battle officially begins, it will undoubtedly greatly increase our chances of winning."
"...I understand!" Kurosawa Chuzaburo nodded his head vigorously and tightened his grip on the short gun he was holding in his hand, "Leave it to me!"
Seki Tetsunosuke moved his eyes and scanned the comrades around him.
"Everyone, the day we have been waiting for has finally arrived!"
"The numerous crimes committed by Naoki Ii are too numerous to describe."
"He disrespected His Majesty the Emperor. Without waiting for His Majesty's consent, he arbitrarily signed unequal treaties with the United States, France and other five countries that were humiliating and humiliating."
"He brought disaster to the country and the people. He knelt down to the outside world in an attempt to completely open up the country, abandoned the 'lockdown order' that had been implemented for two hundred years, and signed one unequal treaty after another with the Western barbarians; he brutally persecuted the country at home and had the ambition to resist the barbarians. Patriots, countless people with lofty ideals were killed by him."
"He insulted our lord. My lord devoted himself to serving the country and the people, and devoted himself to the great cause of fighting the barbarians, but he was treated unfairly by Ii Naomi."
"If we let such national thieves continue to do evil, the country will not be a country!"
Seki Tetsunosuke stood up with a "hoo", and while standing up, he grabbed the saber placed on his right side.
"The day after tomorrow, using the sound of gunfire as a signal, after hearing Kurosawa-kun's gunshot, the two wings rushed out together and took off Ii Naoki's head!"
Seki Tetsunosuke held his sword horizontally in front of him.
"Use our swords to kill the rebellious officials and traitors!"
"Just use our swords to create a new era!"
"Heaven punishes the national thief!"
Everyone who was affected by Seki Tetsunosuke's words grabbed their sabers and stood up with excitement on their faces.
"The thief of Heaven is punished—! The thief of Heaven is punished—! The thief of Heaven is punished—!"
They held their knives high and kept shouting in unison.
…
…
"Tenchu... national thief... Tenchu... national thief...!" Arimura Jizaemon kept repeating this sentence, trying to draw strength from these simple words.
Gorokuro Mori, who was responsible for killing the vanguard of Ii's formation, stood on the street.
Dressed as a ronin, he kept tapping the "complaint of grievance" he was putting in his arms, which he was going to use later to pretend to be a grievance.
Inada Juzo and others, who were responsible for launching the attack on the right wing, were sitting around a tea stall.
They pretended to be a group of country samurai who came to Edo for sightseeing. While drinking hot tea bought from the tea shop, they pretended to discuss in a low voice the Ii queue that had appeared outside the Sakurada Gate.
"The sedan is engraved with orange patterns... This should be the queue of the Ii family, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. The orange pattern is the crest of the Ii family."
"As for family patterns, I still think platycodon patterns and gentian leaf patterns are the most beautiful."
When these big men came to the city, it was very common for the country warriors to come over to see the world and see what the queues of these famous families were like. No one would be suspicious if they saw them.
In order to act more naturally and less suspiciously, someone even used humorous language to chat up a young girl working in this tea stall, which made the girl laugh frequently.
Seki Tetsunosuke, who was in charge of serving as the commander-in-chief, Okabe Sanjuro, who was responsible for witnessing the death of Ii Naomi, and Saito, who was responsible for delivering the "Book of Beheading the Traitor" to Lord Lao Naka after the war, held oil-paper umbrellas high and wore cloaks, pretending to be Passers-by followed Jing Yi at a distance at the back of the queue.
The wind blew harder.
More and more cold silver millet rolled down.
…
…
In the sedan chair, Ii Naobi breathed hot air into his cold hands.
At this time, a wisp of wind followed the sedan window and brought a crystal snowflake into the sedan.
Looking at the snowflake flying in front of his eyes like a firefly, Ii Naobi suddenly recalled what he had promised Ajiu just now - that he would draw inspiration from today's rare heavy snow and write the song based on snow as soon as possible. The theme of the song.
"The unseasonable heavy snow..." Naobi Ii tilted his head and looked at the cloud-filled sky outside the window, "Ah... it's quite artistic..."
Naoki Ii looked at the snowy scene outside the window attentively.
Thinking about the content of the song.
From time to time, he hummed a satisfying song in a low voice.
…
…
"Arimura-kun, haven't you adjusted your condition yet?" Kurosawa Chuzaburo glanced at Arimura Jizaemon's hands that were still trembling.
Arimura Jizaemon smiled awkwardly: "Sorry..."
"...Don't think too much." Kurosawa Chuzaburo comforted softly, "When the war starts, all you have to do is move forward."
"Aim in the direction of Ii Naoki's sedan and stride forward."
"There is no need to think about anything and everything except 'forward'."
After saying that, Kurosawa Chuzaburo turned his gaze back to the street outside the dark alley.
His eyes suddenly condensed: "Here we come...!"
Jing Yi's queue...finally marched to their scheduled combat location!
Seeing this, Gorokuro Mori, who had been standing on the inconspicuous roadside and shouldered the important responsibility of attacking first, raised his hands to his lips, breathed heavily into his palms, kicked the snow on the ground, and ran towards Ii The front of the queue.
"I'm asking you to play! I'm asking you to play!" Gorokuro Mori took out the "Complaint of Injustice" in his arms and said, "Please, sir, please plead grievances for the villain! Sir, please plead grievances for the villain!" "
Ii's queue was forced to a halt by Gorokuro Mori who suddenly stood in front of them.
"Huh?" Jingyi Naobi frowned and asked outside the sedan, "What happened?"
"My lord." Chuzaemon Kawanishi, the deputy captain of the guard guarding the sedan door, responded solemnly, "There is a ronin blocking the front of the team, saying that he has a grievance to report."
"Injustice?" Jing Yi Naobi's brows furrowed even more.
It was not uncommon for samurai or civilians to suddenly stop in front of a high-ranking official's car or procession and ask for justice.
In Ii's queue, Kusakabe Saburoemon, the "donor" who was specially responsible for handling such matters, quickly stepped out of the queue and rushed to Gorokuro Mori, who was kneeling in front of the queue.
"What's wrong with you..."
Before Saburoemon Kusakabe finished speaking, Mori Gorokuro threw the "Complaint of Grievance" in his hand into the sky.
What was thrown into the sky at the same time was the bamboo hat on his head and the feather fabric on his body.
Under the haori, the sleeves on both sides have been tied with sleeve tape!
In this flash of lightning that no one in Ii's queue could react to, the red and fierce light in Mori Gorokuro's eyes popped up together with the cold light of the blade!
Gorokuro Mori, who was proficient in the art of drawing swords, drew his sword suddenly, and the light of the sword cut a slender gap in the snow curtain, cutting Kusakabe Saburoemon's throat, and Kusakabe Saburoemon's body shook a few times. Down, he fell heavily to the ground.
Hot blood splashed out along the tip of Mori Gorokuro's knife, splashed on the ground, and turned into beautiful red plums on the snow.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Protect your lord quickly!"
…
The originally orderly queue suddenly became chaotic.
Mori Gorokuro worked hard, dodged to the guard closest to him, and chopped his chest with a cassock slash.
Inside the sedan chair, Naomi Ii, who until just now was still admiring the snowy scenery outside the sedan chair and thinking about the lyrics of Shinwa's lyrics, was startled when he heard the shouts of "enemy attack" that rushed one after another.
Immediately afterwards, a color that was difficult to describe in words slowly appeared on his eyebrows...
Looking at Goroku Mori who had successfully completed the task of "attracting attention", Kurosawa Chuzaburo felt that all the blood in his body was rushing to his head.
He gritted his teeth, raised the revolver in his hand, pointed it at the sedan not far away, and fired the trigger crazily.
boom! boom! boom! boom……
All the bullets in the gun's chamber were emptied by Kurosawa Chuzaburo.
Of the projectiles whizzing by, only two successfully hit Ii Naoki inside the sedan.
The only two bullets that hit Ii Naobi...one hit Ii Naobi's thigh, and the other hit Ii Naobi's waist.
"Hmm!" Ii Naobi felt a sweetness in his throat as he felt severe pain in his waist and thighs.
His mouth opened, and drops of blood flowed out from the corners of his mouth.
He tried to move, but his lower body was completely unconscious...
The wind is strong!
The goose feathers and heavy snow are flying, and the sky and the earth merge into one color.
His vision was blocked by snow, and everything around him disappeared into a vast white curtain of snow.
Kurosawa Chuzaburo threw away the empty revolver in his hand and pulled out the Peikawa Nishi Chuemon sword from his waist.
"Tenchu——!" Kurosawa Chuzaburo shouted, then led the troops and rushed to the battlefield!
"Ahhhhhhhhh——!" Arimurajizaemon seemed to be pouring out all the fear and tension accumulated in his chest in one breath. He shouted while pulling out His own sword followed Kurosawa Chuzaburo.
All the patriots on the left and right wings started to move.
The members of the right wing who had been sitting around the tea stall pretending to be country samurai threw down their teacups, pulled out the knives on their waists, and joined the battle.
"God's punishment! God's punishment!"
"Kill the traitors!"
"Kill ahhhhhhhh-!"
…
The tea stall owner and the girl who worked at the tea stall were so frightened by the changes in front of them that all the blood drained from their faces. They did not bother to clean up the stall and hurriedly fled the battlefield that had turned into a flesh and blood mill.
Because of the heavy snowfall, all the guards of the Ii family tied handle covers on the handles of their swords, and the scabbards were wrapped in scabbard bags made of oiled paper. They did extremely strict snow-proofing work. If the rope on the handle cover was not untied, If it is open, the knife cannot be pulled out.
Many people were hacked to death by the patriots in a daze while they were hurriedly unhooking the handles.
Some of the guards were anxious and simply took out the sword from their waist without removing the sheath and used it as a stick.
The deputy captain, Chu'emon Kawanishi, who was guarding the sedan chair, hurriedly unhooked the handles of the swords at his waist and shouted to the bearers responsible for carrying the sedan chair: "Bring your lord back to the mansion quickly!"
The cry of killing shook the sky, and blood and broken limbs were scattered everywhere.
The patriots launched a frantic attack, killing all the Jingyi guards who blocked them.
The important person in charge of the response, Li Yuan, Hasuda City Goro, and others witnessed this increasingly fierce fight to the death, and their blood boiled with excitement.
Li Yuan asked people to throw away the oil-paper umbrella in their hands, tear off the feather fabric on their bodies, pull out their swords, and join the battle.
"Heavenly Punishment!" Li Yuan's leader slashed the back of the head of a guard who was fighting with his companions from behind.
However, just after he beheaded a Jingyi guard, his forehead was accidentally hit by a sneak attack from the person beside him, causing a large gash.
(When the battle begins, all you have to do is move forward. Aim in the direction of Ii Naoki's sedan and stride forward.)
The words Kurosawa Chuzaburo said to him just now suddenly flashed through Arimura Jizaemon's mind.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Arimura Jizaemon, who is proficient in Gegen-ryu, let out the classic Gegen-ryu roar "Saru" while slashing the sword in his palm from the top and smashing it into pieces. He hit the head of a guard standing in front of him.
--forward……
After breaking through the two blocks, Arimurajizaemon felt as if someone had cut his left shoulder.
It was obvious that he had been stabbed, but strangely, he didn't feel any pain at all.
The tension and fear that had been bothering him just now, for some reason, he could not feel at all after the battle started.
At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind.
Aiming in the direction of Ii Naoki's sedan, he strode forward.
forward!
Arimurajizaemon returned the sword and chopped down another guard who was blocking him.
--forward……!
He galloped forward in a galloping manner, his sword flashing and killing! Dodge again and kill again! The blood instantly dyed his knife and clothes red.
A splash of hot blood splashed onto Arimurajizaemon's left eye, but he couldn't spare his hand to wipe it, so he continued to kill the enemy with his only remaining right eye.
--forward!
A guard cut Arimura Jizaemon's right cheek.
Arimurajizaemon, who felt no pain at all, allowed the blood to gush out from the wound on his right cheek, and killed the guard who had disfigured him with a backhand slash.
--forward! ! !
Arimura Jizaemon, who mustered up all his strength and charged forward, realized at this moment that he had rushed very deep into Ii's queue.
Ii Naoki's sedan... was just 3 meters away from him!
The deputy leader Chuzaemon Kawanishi, who was a master of the Nitō-ryu, was like a door god at this time, holding two swords in his hands and guarding the sedan chair behind him.
The bearers responsible for carrying the sedan were either killed or fled, and the sedan fell to the snow.
The first one to break through the numerous defense lines and attack near the sedan was Inada Juzo on the right wing.
Inada Juzo slashed at Chuzaemon Kawanishi with his sword, but his attack was blocked by Chuzaemon Kawanishi with his left wakizashi. After controlling Inada Juzo's sword, Chuzaemon Kawanishi swung The katana in his right hand hit the vital point of Inada Juzo.
After Inada Juzo's body shook a few times, he leaned back and lay on the ground, lifeless.
Kawanishi Chuzaemon, who can serve as the deputy captain of Ii's bodyguards, is naturally very skilled in swordsmanship.
However... there is no shortage of masters with outstanding swordsmanship among the patriots.
The second person to break through the defense line and attack the sedan was Hirokako Nojiro.
His knife drew a sharp arc and approached Chuanishi Chuzaemon's neck. Chuanishi Chuzaemon raised his knife to intercept it.
At this time, Arimurajizaemon came!
He seized the opportunity and took advantage of Chuanishi Chuzaemon's struggle with Hirokako Jiro to bully him and advance in, slashing at Chuanishi Chuzaemon's vitals.
Kawanishi Chuzaemon narrowly avoided this fatal attack, but his left shoulder was accidentally slashed by Arimurajizaemon.
The fourth patriot who arrived beside the sedan - Kurosawa Chuzaburo - arrived at this moment.
Arimura Jizaemon, Kurosawa Chuzaburo, and Hirokako Konojiro attacked Kawanishi Chuzaemon from three different directions.
Chuzaemon Kawanishi, who was unable to defeat the six-handed opponent with two fists, finally received a fatal blow.
But before he died, he used the remaining strength in his body to carry out the last counterattack before death. He slashed vertically, from Hirokazu Nojiro's forehead to the corner of his mouth, which made his teeth feel sore. The sound of cracking bones was heard.
Hirokako Nojiro let out a shrill scream and fell to the ground, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
Arimurajizaemon no longer bothered to check on his companions.
After finally killing Kawanishi Chuzaemon, Arimura Jizaemon gritted his teeth, kicked the ground with both feet, and rushed towards the sedan like an arrow from a string!
"Tenchu——!"
Arimurajizaemon put all his strength on the knife in his hand and stabbed the knife into the sedan.
The sharp sword tip pierced the body of Ii Naoki, who was now covered in cold sweat and unable to move due to damage to his waist.
"Cough, cough!" The blood flowing from Ii Naobi's mouth and nose has dyed most of Ii Naobi's body red, "Is this... the end...?"
"Get out! National traitor!"
Arimurajizaemon reached into the sedan with a big move, grabbed Ii Naoki by the lapel, and pulled Ii Naoki out of the sedan.
Naoki Ii, who was dragged to the snow, squeezed out the last bit of strength left in his body and pulled out the wakizashi from his waist.
Arimura Jizaemon swung his sword from above and slashed at Ii Naomi's neck, but Ii Naomi used the wakizashi in his hand to deflect it away.
If he is in his prime, Ii Naomi, who is proficient in Iaido and has good attainments in jujitsu and other fighting arts, is not afraid of fighting all the way so far, Arimurajizaemon is already quite tired.
However... his waist and spine have been broken by bullets, his lower body has completely lost consciousness, and he can exert less than 10% of his strength.
Parrying Arimurajizaemon's slashing blow - this is the limit of what Ii Naoki can do at the moment.
He was unable to defend himself from Arimura Jizaemon's second attack.
"Cough, cough..." Ii Naobi coughed up some more sticky blood mixed with saliva.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Ii Naoki...he suddenly laughed.
On this bloody battlefield, when his life was about to be in danger, he showed a magnanimous smile.
"As expected... I fell into the hands of... you guys... who think that you can usher in a new era just by relying on swords and killing..."
"Stupid rats...! Superstition about swords and killing... will only lead this country to evil ways...!"
Naoki Ii's words, which he spoke with the last of his strength, were ultimately misleading.
Arimura Jizaemon, who was currently in high spirits and extremely excited, could no longer hear any sounds.
He raised the knife in his palm high again.
The shadow cast by the blade blocked Ii Naoki's vision.
Ii Naobi laughed a few more times, tilted his head back, and rested the back of his head on the thick snow.
His eyes, which were gradually losing their luster, looked at the sky where "black clouds were overwhelming the city."
"What should be done about the future of the shogunate...?"
he asked the sky.
Arimurajizaemon's sharp blade swung down.
Ii Naobi's neck instantly spurted blood.
The head fell to the ground.
Ii Naobi's magnanimous smile, mixed with a bit of regret and...apology, bloomed in a pool of blood.
The blood spurted out from Ii Naoki's severed head splashed all over Arimura Jizaemon's face.
Arimura Jizaemon wiped the blood spattered on his face, reached out to fish it out, grabbed Ii Naomi's head and raised it high: "Take off the head of the national thief——!!"
Looking at the head held high by Arimura Jizaemon, the cheeks of Sekitetsunosuke, who was responsible for staying behind and conducting on-site command, were rosy with excitement: "Good job, Arimura. !Well done!”
This bloody fight to the death lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and they finally achieved a brilliant victory!
Due to the surprise attack in the heavy snow and the lack of time to remove the sheath on the handle of the knife, a large number of Jingyi guards were killed without even being able to put up a decent resistance.
Those who were still alive either fainted, or their morale collapsed after seeing Ii Naomi's head being taken away, and they fled.
The battlefield that screamed to kill Zhentian suddenly returned to silence.
The patriots retreated in all directions as planned.
Arimura Jizaemon, who personally took off Ii Naoki's head, shoulders the important task of taking away the head.
He and Hirokako Nojiro, who had a sword in his forehead and was seriously injured, fled toward the Hibiya Gate.
The warm blood that originally filled every part of his body slowly faded away... Arimura Jizaemon felt that the pain was returning to his body little by little.
Limbs, trunk, head... there is no place in the whole body that does not hurt.
Looking down, he saw that the number of wounds on his body was shocking.
My body hurts, but my mood feels so good.
Neither he nor Hirokako Nojiro beside him noticed at this time - behind them, there was a seriously injured man holding a knife, limping through the snow, chasing them both.
The name of the seriously injured person is Ogawara Hidenoshima.
He had just fought desperately on the battlefield, fighting until he suffered several wounds and fell into a coma.
When he woke up, he happened to see the scene where Naoki Ii's head was chopped off and taken away.
His lord was killed, and his head was taken away... Such humiliation, Hidenoshima Ogawara could not bear it no matter what!
Driven by this feeling of grief and indignation, Hidenohi Ogawara felt new power constantly pouring out of his body.
With this new surge of power, Ogawara Hidenoshima stubbornly pursued Arimura Jizaemon and Hirokako Jiro regardless of his own injuries.
His footsteps were muffled by the wind and snow.
In addition, Arimura Jizaemon and the others were all seriously injured and in extremely poor condition, so they did not notice the pursuers behind them at all...
Ogawara Hidenoshima successfully approached behind Arimura Jirozaemon and struck with his sword without any hesitation!
The blade hit the back of Murajizaemon's head in the middle, making a huge and terrifying gash.
Blood trickled out from this large wound, and in just a blink of an eye, all the fabric on the back half of Arimurajizaemon's body was dyed red.
Seeing that there were pursuers, Hirokako Nojiro quickly turned around and slashed Ogawara Hidenoshima to the ground.
Ogawara Hidenoshima, who was lying on his back, struggled a few times and then... stopped moving.
"Uh...!" The extremely strong dizziness and severe pain made Arimurajizaemon feel as if his body was being twisted and torn apart.
After taking a few staggering steps forward, Arimurajizaemon could no longer hold on and fell to the ground.
"Hirooka-kun...I seem to...can't do it anymore..."
"Haha..." Hirokako Nojiro laughed a few times, "I can't do it either... I can't stand anymore..."
Arimura Jizaemon raised his head and found that he had fallen right in front of the gate of Wakato: Endo Tajimamomo's mansion.
"I'm right here... I'll kill myself...!"
Arimurajizaemon braced himself physically and mentally, and got into a sitting position.
He placed Ii Naoki's head next to him, pulled open the lapel of his kimono, and exposed his belly.
Hirokako Konojiro looked at Arimura Jirozaemon's posture, grinned a few times, then swayed a few more steps forward, and came to the gate of the Sakai family's mansion: " Then I...just become a benevolent person here..."
After saying that, Hirokako Nojiro knelt down on the ground, pulled open the lapel of his kimono, and exposed his belly.
Arimurajizaemon took out his wakizashi from his left waist and pointed the tip of the knife at his left abdomen.
He was about to die - but Arimura Jizaemon felt no fear or regret.
His face was full of pride, and the corners of his mouth curved into a proud and optimistic arc.
We successfully defeated Naoki Ii, a great national thief who brought disaster to the country and the people!
As long as this national traitor is gone, this country will surely be on the right track and prosper!
Our sword - successfully created a new era!
With this supreme sense of pride and honor, Arimurajizaemon thrust Wakizashi into his left side of the abdomen, and then pulled it to the right side of his abdomen in one breath...
…
…
The Ii family's residence——
After sending Ii Naobi away from home, Ajiu returned to her and Ii Naobi's bedroom.
Suddenly, she found a lonely piece of paper floating in the corner of Ii Naobi's desk.
I picked up this piece of paper and looked at it - it was exactly the waka that Naoki Ii said last night.
"The scattered cherry blossoms are crushed into dust...the fragrance still fills the universe..."
call……
A wisp of breeze suddenly poured in from the window at this moment, ruffling Ajiu's hair at the temples.
As if sensing something, Ajiu put down the poem in his hand and stared blankly at the sky outside the window...
"Lord Ii..."
…
…
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——
The sudden heavy snowfall made Okita no longer interested in viewing the peach blossoms.
Because it was still early and the weather was bad today, no apprentices had come to practice sword practice at the Trial Guard Hall until now, so Qingto and Okita were able to share the spacious dojo.
While Aoto was concentrating on sparring with Okita in the dojo, Kondo-kun suddenly entered the dojo.
"Tachibana-kun, there is a man who claims to be a servant of Beifan looking for you. He is waiting for you at the gate now."
"Servant of Beifan Institute?" Qing Deng raised his eyebrows.
——Servant from Beifansuo? Find me?
Qingdeng put down the bamboo sword in his hand with confusion on his face and hurried to the gate of the trial defense hall.
After arriving at the gate, Qingdeng saw a hurried young man outside the gate.
"Ah, Tachibana-sama!" Seeing that Aoto had finally arrived, the young man hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. "Master Susui issued an emergency summons, asking everyone from the Sadachi Hui and the Temporary Hui to rush to the Sakurada Gate immediately. !”
"Sakurada Gate?" Qingto was stunned, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"I don't even know the specific details..."
"I understand." Qingdeng nodded, "Thank you for coming to report the news."
An emergency call was issued suddenly during the holidays... The only reason Aonto could think of was that something happened at the Sakurada Gate.
And this matter should not be trivial...
Requesting a return to the town, a temporary return of all the strength, and an immediate trip to a certain place... In Qingto's memory, there has never been a summons of this level...
After entering the trial defense hall, Aomori quickly changed his clothes, put on his hat and cloak for snow protection, put on his juju, inrō, and the sword that Naoki Ii had given him before Kusaka to slay ghosts and gods, and then fought with Kondo and Okita. After saying hello, he and Saito rushed to Sakurada Gate.
After running to an intersection a short distance away from Sakurada Gate, Qingto saw a large number of citizens gathering in front of him.
They gathered outside the cordon formed by the bodies of the soldiers from the execution station and their own divisions, stretched their necks, and kept looking into the interior of the cordon.
"Hey! What happened over there at Sakurada Gate?" asked a citizen.
"I don't know!" a soldier who formed the cordon shouted impatiently, "I don't know what happened! It's all gone! It's gone! There's nothing good to see!"
When Qingdeng saw this, he immediately frowned.
The cordon...is stretched that far? It's quite a distance from Sakurada Gate...
Bad premonitions began to emerge from Qingdeng's heart...
"I am a sympathizer of the Hokkaido Town Council! Make way, everyone!" Aonto drove the citizens who were blocking him, and after checking the identities of the officers who formed the cordon, he and Saito entered the cordon. Inside.
After running for some distance in the direction of Sakurada Gate, the expression on Qingden's face began to become solemn uncontrollably.
He slowly smelled... the smell of blood floating in the air.
The closer we get to Sakurada Gate, the more nauseating the smell of blood becomes...
Finally - Qingden finally arrived outside Sakurada's door.
The scene outside Sakurada's door made Qingto couldn't help but be stunned for a moment due to extreme shock.
The snow was dyed dark red and black with blood, the broken limbs scattered everywhere, the dead who were still dying, the broken blades...
Many familiar faces to Qingdeng were walking back and forth on this bloody battlefield with extremely ugly expressions.
"Arima-sama! Inoya-san! Ushiyama-san!" Aoto quickly ran towards the three seniors who were standing not far away from him.
"Tachibana-kun, you're here..." Arima, who was wearing a grand dress that he had not yet changed into, had a gloomy face as if he was about to drip black water.
Qingdeng asked anxiously: "What happened?"
"...The Ii family's team was assassinated when heading to Edo Castle." Arima said while taking deep breaths to keep himself calm, "Elder Ii...has been killed..."
"What...?!" Qingden's eyes suddenly opened.
He quickly raised his head and glanced around.
After a while, he found a headless body next to a sedan with the Ii family's "orange pattern" on its roof not far from him.
Although this corpse had no head, Qingto could still recognize it at a glance just by looking at its torso - it was Naoki Ii who had been chatting and laughing with him the day before...
The trance that had just disappeared came back again.
Looking at Ii Naobi's body, Qingden felt a little dizzy and had a sense of unreality...
The day before yesterday, Ii Naobi was still chatting and laughing with him.
On his waist, there is still the sword that Ii Naobi personally handed to him...
died?
That elder Jing Yi... just died like that?
(Elder Jing Yi is like a demon arrow, suppressing countless demons and monsters)
For some reason, the words Shannan casually said to him yesterday appeared in Qingdeng's mind.
Qingteng, who couldn't stop the shock in his eyes, looked at his colleagues who were walking back and forth outside Sakurada Gate with a slightly numb expression, looked at the corpses on the ground, looked at the sky still covered with dense clouds, looked at Like the heavy snow that never stops...
Qingdeng couldn't help but murmur at a volume that only he could hear clearly:
"The monsters are coming out..."
…
…
Edo Castle, Ooku——
"What did you say?!"
Tianzhangyuan, who usually spoke softly, rarely let out a sharp shout.
The female officer, who knelt in front of her with a trembling body, repeated what she had just said.
After repeated confirmation with the female officer, Tianzhangyuan's body seemed to have lost the support of his bones. He staggered back several steps and almost fell to the ground.
…
…
Tokugawa Iemo learned the news of "the murder of Ii Naomi" at almost the same time as Tenjoin.
"Ii... is dead...?" Tokugawa Iemo's face was so pale that even Feixue outside the hall dwarfed him.
…
…
Edo, in a dilapidated house on the outskirts——
"Everyone! You should all know this already, right?!"
The leader of the anti-barbarian group: Kamye, spoke loudly to the dozen or so cadres of the anti-barbarian group who were kneeling in front of him in high spirits.
"More than ten feudal lords of Mito Domain successfully killed the traitor Naoki Ii!"
"This is the result of bowing down to the barbarians and forcing the founding of the country!"
Kamino took off the sword from his waist and raised the sword in front of him.
"We also have knives in our hands!"
"Our swords will not be duller than those of the Mito clan's warriors!"
"What the Mito feudal lords can do, our anti-barbarian group can do too!"
"Our swords can protect this country just like the swords of the Mito feudal lords!"
As soon as Kamino finished speaking, the members of the anti-insurgency group whose morale was unprecedentedly high due to the "Sakuda Gate Incident" shouted loudly in unison——
"Oh oh oh oh--!"
…
…
Mito Domain, somewhere——
"Ii Naoki is dead..."
Rakshasa, who was shirtless and exposed the "Rakshasa Ghost" tattoo that covered his entire back, stood by the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the scenery outside the window.
"Yes." A young man kneeling behind Rakshasa said loudly, "It's confirmed. The feudal lords of Mito Domain asked for Ii Naoki's head outside the Sakurada Gate."
"...You did a great job! The feudal lords of the Mito clan." Rakshasa grinned, "Is that Ii Naobi dead... ha... ha ha ha... hum ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Rakshasa looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, stroking each other with his two palms.
"Okay...this annoying guy is finally dead..."
“The world is about to get interesting!”
"Hahaha... I really want to know what Orochi-sama's reaction was when he learned about this..."
"The time has come for us to punish the Party under the law!"
Rakshasa's eyes glowed with a vicious red light.
…
…
Edo, Chishiya——
Kiryu silently threw the piece of paper he had been looking at into the stove next to him.
The piece of paper that Kiryu had been looking at for a long time actually only had a simple sentence written on it - Naoki Ii was killed.
Looking at the pieces of paper gradually turning into ashes in the stove, Kiryu sighed heavily.
"The real troubled times are coming..."
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Today is a rare 10,000-word chapter!
The author is quite satisfied with this chapter. Whether it’s rhythm, content, or conception.
For this chapter, the author has checked a lot of historical information. For the sake of your conscience, please give me a monthly vote! (Leopard head crying.jpg)
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