The commotion spread rapidly like ripples on water, spreading faster and wider.
In an instant, this magnificent mansion, which was intimidating to countless people in Kyoto, no longer had the peace it once had.
From top to bottom, it was a mess.
…
…
When the long-lasting commotion reached the top floor, the "radicals" headed by Nozawa Harunai and the "conservatives" headed by Suzuki Nizo finally stopped their quarrel.
This intense meeting, which had been stalemate for a long time as both sides were unwilling to give in, ended abruptly in a way that no one expected.
"what's the situation?"
"What's this movement about?"
"Someone is coming! Someone is coming!"
After a while, urgent and fast footsteps came from the direction of the corridor.
When the footsteps stopped outside the door, anxious shouts immediately rang out:
"Lord Ayase! It's extremely urgent! A large number of thieves have broken into the mansion! They are coming with ferocity! More than twenty people have been killed so far! The situation is urgent!"
In an instant, Taichi Ayase, Harudai Nozawa, Jinzo Suzuki... everyone in the room showed expressions of disbelief.
After a brief moment of daze, Ayase Taichi came to his senses and yelled out of control.
"What did you say?! How is this possible?!"
At the same time, Nozawa Harunai, Suzuki Nizo and other others were also excited and reacted strongly, as if they were suffering from a stress reaction.
No wonder they are like this.
Since the rise of the Nanmu Group, the life they have lived has been a nourishing one!
The Kyoto Executive Office, led by Inaba Masakuni and Nose Ryohiki, has completely lost its grassroots management capabilities and is unable to rectify the Kusunoki group.
Although the Aizu army led by Matsudaira Yoshiho had the powerful combat power to easily annihilate the Kusunoki-gumi, they had no time to pay attention to them because of the important task of "monitoring the Choshu and Satsuma Domains."
The Kusunoki group acted recklessly in this comfortable "unsupervised" environment, and no one or force ever dared to confront them.
They have become accustomed to it. Over time, a solid thought has formed in the minds of Ayase Taichi and others: We are known to everyone in Kyoto Town, the prestigious Kusunoki-gumi! How can there be someone who is not discerning?
Thieves are coming to invade us?!
However, Ayase Taichi is the hero who developed and expanded the Kusunoki Group.
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the saber by his leg, and stood up.
"Forget it! Since there is a thieves with no eyesight coming, let's just attack them! Report the situation to me! The number of attackers, their weapons, all come to me..."
Before he finished speaking, he seemed to realize something and froze in place.
It's a coincidence that at almost the same time, Suzuki Jinzo on the side seemed to have noticed something, and his face changed color.
Immediately afterwards, Nozawa Harunai's expression also changed immediately.
As if it was contagious, the expressions of everyone present suddenly changed one after another.
Suddenly, Ayase Taichi rolled his stiff neck and stared straight at the door.
"Have you... confirmed the identity of the intruder?"
"..."
It was quiet for a moment outside the room.
Then--
"Although it is unbelievable... I have seen it with my own eyes... Ayase-sama, the intruders are... 'Nioh' Tachibana Aoden and his tribe!"
At this moment, it became extremely quiet inside and outside the room, and you could hear a pin drop.
The whites of Ayase Taichi's eyes were instantly covered with red bloodshot threads like flesh worms, and his expression was dominated by intense horror.
"What did you say……?!"
…
…
The sudden invasion, like a bolt from the blue, stunned the patriots of the Nanmu Group and plunged them into unprecedented chaos.
After a brief "downtime", they finally regained their composure one after another, and launched resistance one after another, either sporadic or organized.
At this moment, a dozen patriots hurriedly picked up their swords and rushed towards the gate on the first floor, which had become a bloody battlefield.
"This way! This way! Follow me!"
"How dare you knock on the door...who are the intruders?"
"Who knows!"
"Don't worry about it! Go and stop the invading thieves!"
Just as they crowded into a narrow corridor... they saw two extremely tall figures standing at the end of the corridor in front of them.
"who?!"
The patriots stopped, not daring to break out in sweat, as if facing a powerful enemy, like frightened birds.
"Captain of the Second Division of the Shinsengumi Batto Squadron, Nagakura Shinpachi."
"Captain of the 3rd Division of the Shinsengumi Batto Squadron, Saito Ichi."
The moonlight coming in from the window illuminated the corridor and illuminated the path forward for the two swordsmen.
"Saito, you attack on the left, I'll attack on the right."
After saying that, Nagakura Shinpachi drew his sword in his hand.
“Reasonable layout.”
Saito nodded slightly, raised the thumb of his right hand holding the sheath, pressed against the knife's tangent, and pushed the knife out of the sheath by more than half an inch.
"Let's go!"
They both started at the same time and stepped forward.
They tread lightly at first, and then continue to speed up!
Broken steps, small steps, long strides, quick steps - in the blink of an eye, the two figures turned into blurry phantoms!
Nagakura Shinpachi adjusted his posture while running.
He raised the Banshu-shu handle in his palm, Yamaji Shige, above his head, and with the momentum of forward motion, the tip of the knife reflected the passing moonlight, and a cold light shot into the eyes of the enemies in front.
A silver thread splashed down.
"Puff" - a sound. It was the sound of flesh being torn apart.
Facing Nagakura Shinpachi who rushed towards him like a carnivorous beast, he didn't even have time to scream in agony, and the patriot standing at the front of the queue was torn to pieces.
Blood splattered and bones were exposed.
In the next breath, Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi followed the torn hole and charged straight towards the enemy's formation fearlessly.
There are three sword-wielding enemies in front of Nagakura Shinpachi, and two more flanking him.
The opponent was tied and used his knife to counterattack Nagakura Shinpachi.
Nagakura Shinpachi took a deep breath, his energy settled in his Dantian, and he used a strong force to push the three people in front of him away.
Ever since Nagakura Shinpachi became a member of the Kaieikan, he has been given a widely circulated nickname: "Man Shinpachi".
The reason why he was given this nickname was not only because of his rough temperament, but also because his strength was too great and his attack style was too violent, like a bull.
In terms of physical strength alone, Nagakura Shinpachi is second only to Ayoto and Kondo Isamu.
His seemingly casual push caused the three people in front of him to stagger and were forced to retreat.
Taking advantage of the gap when the three people in front were forced back, Nagakura Shinpachi stood up with a knife, swung it like a wheel, and unleashed violence wantonly!
In an instant, just like a typhoon landing on the earth and sweeping up countless creatures, blood foam was continuously sprayed out.
Blood splattered everywhere, flesh and blood burst open, bones broke, and screams were everywhere.
The patriots fell to the left and right one by one like broken puppets. The bodies of every dead person were extremely incomplete. Either their heads flew out, their arms and legs were severed, or they were cut in half.
On the other hand, Saitoichi, who was advancing at the same pace as Nagakura Shinpachi, unleashed an equally fierce offensive.
Unlike Nagakura Shinpachi who took the "violent route", Saitoichi took the "quick route".
"Whoaaaahhhh!"
"go to hell!"
The two patriots flanked Saito Kazuo on the left and right.
The fierce white blade coming towards him did not cause the slightest trace of panic on Saitoichi's face.
His expression remained the same - expressionless and emotionless - he stood up to face the white blade, and turned around lightly under the two swords, leaving two sword lights behind him.
Then, without looking behind him, he faced forward.
The next breath, the two patriots behind him fell to the ground one after another, no longer alive.
Saito flicked his left wrist to shake off the remaining blood on the blade.
It was said that it was too late, but it was soon, and the knife skills that had no leakage were reproduced.
With a "chirp" sound, Saitoichi's sword swept forward and chopped off the head of the enemy in front of him.
Before the head fell, Saito pulled his left foot back, tilted his body and hands to the left, and the blade that turned back slashed towards the body of another lofty idealist with a "swish".
"Well……!"
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!”
Two groans sounded out in no particular order.
It turned out that there was a shotgun wielder, and the man standing directly in front of Saito also staggered and fell to the ground.
Saito Ichi, who is over 1.8 meters tall with long arms and legs, has an unusually wide attack range.
In such a narrow corridor, his casual slashes can cover two people or even multiple people without any effort.
In the blink of an eye, another person pounced in front of Saito Ichi.
However...he suffers from his lack of height and his attack range is not as good as Saito's.
As soon as he took a step forward, his waist was chopped into two pieces, his head and hands hung down feebly, the knife in his palm fell to the ground with a clang, and his body shook a few times and then collapsed.
Saito Ichi is a rare "left-handed swordsman".
When fighting side by side with a left-handed swordsman, as long as you cooperate properly, you will definitely have a very comfortable experience.
Nagakura Shinpachi's arrangement is the best formation when working with left-handed swordsmen - right-handers stay on the right and attack on the right, and left-handers stay on the left and attack on the left.
Because each has a different dominant hand, even if they fight side by side, each other's attacks will not easily interfere with each other.
With strong personal strength and a favorable formation... Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Kazuo's offensive can be described as "cutting through the mess with a quick knife."
The slashers were running, leaping, and attacking, becoming more and more courageous as they fought.
The slain were wailing, defeated, and dying, helpless to resist.
When the number of patriots...or rather the number of survivors dropped to less than five fingers, they completely lost their will to fight and turned around and fled.
However, Saito Kazuo, who was known for his speed, caught up with them in just two steps.
The sharp blade of Ikeda Kijinmaru Kunishige, who lived in Sheshu, swept through thousands of troops and struck at the backs of the escapees.
Immediately afterwards, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded.
Those pairs of legs and feet that were escaping in a hurry were still running forward, but the parts they carried - the parts above the severed waist, flew out diagonally under the action of inertia.
In the corridor that had been shouting to kill Zhentian just ten seconds ago, only this pair of tiger and wolf generals were still standing peacefully.
Blah blah blah...
At this time, dense footsteps came from behind the two people from far to near.
"Team, Captain! Whoosh...! Whoosh...! I finally caught up with you!"
The members of the 2nd and 3rd divisions of the Shinsengumi Battou Squad appeared sparsely and rushed to Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi.
"You guys are so slow!"
Nagakura Shinpachi curled his lips, showing dissatisfaction.
"The fighting here is over, and you are just late."
"Captain, you rushed too fast!"
"You are too slow!"
At this time, Saitoichi interjected in a tone that was neither sad nor happy:
"Tonight's battle is not over yet, let's talk about it later."
Nagakura Shinpachi was startled for a moment, then nodded:
"Well, Saito, you are right. Soldiers of the second team! Keep attacking! This time, don't fall behind again! Our target is Ayase Taichi's head!"
“Oh oh oh oh—!”
Saito turned his head and said calmly to the soldiers of the third division:
"Team 3, follow me closely."
"yes!"
…
…
The main formation of Kusunoki Group, another place——
"Fourth Squadron, follow me. If anyone retreats from the battle, I will kill him."
Chonk, bang, bang, bang... Serizawa duck slowly pulled out the saber from his waist.
Right in front of him, eight patriots held sharp swords tightly, got into fighting postures, and stood ready.
Someone bravely shouted:
"Who is coming?! Tell me your name!"
"A true loyal and patriotic man, captain of the fourth division of the Shinsengumi Batto Squadron, Kamo Serizawa."
At the same moment as the words fell, it was as if the greatest strength was concentrated. Serizawa Kamo's spring-like body shrank together in an instant, and then leaped into the sky without a run-up!
The sword was raised high above the head, blocking the moonlight, and a cold shadow was cast on the faces of the patriots full of fear.
In the blink of an eye, Serizawa Kamo's huge body fell down and landed firmly among the patriots.
Just before returning to the ground, his knife struck out like lightning, carrying the gravitational potential energy of the knife, and directly shattered someone's Tianling Cap.
Immediately afterwards, he used his right foot as a pivot and slashed the person behind him to the ground with a knife.
When he took the knife back, another person, Tian Ling Gai, took a hit from him.
Then, there was only a "bang" sound, and the muffled sound of punching flesh suddenly sounded in the air - Serizawa's fist hit the other person's chest hard. It turned out that his knife stabbed the person's chest.
Looking over his back, he could only see his fists and the handle of the knife.
In the blink of an eye, four people were knocked to the ground by Serizawa Duck, who was chopping melons and vegetables.
"Ah? Is this all the people from Kyoto are capable of?"
Serizawa twitched the corners of his mouth, showing a disdainful expression, looking around as if he was the enemy of the whole world.
The few patriots who were still alive were all so frightened that their livers and gallbladders were split apart, and they hesitated to move forward, neither daring to advance nor to retreat.
To deal with them, Serizawa Kamo no longer needs to take action.
"Kill ah ah ah!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill! Kill!"
The soldiers of the Fourth Division were like a flood, covering them up like wolves and tigers.
Wails and begging for mercy first flourished and then declined...
…
…
at the same time--
"...Xiao Si, we seem to be alone, where are we?"
Qingdeng swept his eyes and looked around.
"Hmm... I don't know. I just know that we are still on the second floor."
While wiping away the glistening beads of sweat hanging on his chin, the Souji turned his head sideways and looked behind him.
"Oh, Mr. Tachibana, we seem to have worked too hard..."
As she spoke, she showed a strange expression that was half a smile but not a smile.
I saw that the floor behind this old partner, who had a perfect tacit understanding, was covered with a thick layer of dead bodies, with almost no place to stay...
*******
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PS: According to historical facts, there have always been different opinions on "who is the strongest swordsman of the Shinsengumi", but no matter how they are ranked, the top three are always Okita Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Kazuo.
In literary and artistic works, the strongest person is usually the chief. In reality, the most widely circulated order is "Ichinagakura, Nizhong Okita, and Sansaito".
This chapter has been completed!