Chapter 822: Hannya enters the battle! Hannya vs. Shinsengumi! 4500
Time is tight and information is scarce...
Under such circumstances, if you hope to extract information from those die-hard prisoners, you will most likely be doomed.
As a result, Aoshinobu had to go back to his old profession - before he became known as the "nioh", he was a member of the Edo Hokuban sect of the town!
Right now, we can only rely on reasoning and intuition to determine where Yoshida Minoru and others set the fire!
Although the last time Qingdeng investigated and solved the case, it had to be traced back to the "outlawing of Huanfu Lake" 4 years ago, and his skills are probably a lot rusty, but... he can't care about so much now!
It’s better to give it a try than sit back and wait for death!
After secretly making up his mind, Qingdeng lowered his eyelids and concentrated on thinking.
First of all, it needs to be made clear that setting fire is a technical job.
Kyoto is no ordinary town, its area is quite large.
If it could be destroyed by setting a fire casually, then this thousand-year-old capital would have been reduced to ashes countless times.
——Those lunatics will definitely choose to set fire upwind!
There is a saying that "the wind borrows the power of the fire, and the fire assists the power of the wind."
If you want to burn the city, you can only light a fire upwind to maximize the intensity of the fire.
When Qingdeng rushed to the warehouse at full speed, he carefully observed the wind direction tonight - it was southeasterly.
In this case, Yoshida Minoru would probably set fire to the southeast.
In addition to the wind direction, the specific location of the fire is also important.
In order for the fire to burn quickly and burn vigorously, it cannot be achieved without suitable "materials".
Just like Edo, samurai lands and temple lands occupy nearly 70% of Kyoto's area.
The smallest number of warriors and clergy owned the most land. For this reason, the land of warriors and temples was generally vast and sparsely populated, with wide roads and well-proportioned houses.
On the other hand, the town's narrow roads and staggering building density make the firefighters' scalp numb!
Throughout all major fires in Japanese history, the townspeople suffered the most.
Aomori combined all the above ideas and came up with the answer - the place where Yoshida Minoru and others set the fire was most likely a town in the southeast of Kyoto!
If a handful of fire and gunpowder were thrown into this place, Kyoto would be in danger!
However... despite this, the range is still very large.
Even if the search area is narrowed from "all of Kyoto" to "the town area southeast of Kyoto", it is just changing "looking for a needle in a haystack" to "looking for a needle in a big lake."
——Are there any other clues...!
Qingden frowned even more tightly.
While he looked around, hoping that what he saw could bring him some inspiration, he delved into every detail in his memory, looking for clues and information that he had overlooked.
The Zunbo Sect, the Great Fire of Kyoto, the kidnapping of the Emperor, the Gion Festival...words emerged from Aonto's mind one by one.
At this moment, he suddenly realized something.
He realized belatedly that there seemed to be something wrong with his thinking!
Why did the lunatics of the Zunhuang sect burn down Kyoto?
What they did was not just violence, but an attempt to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the emperor and regain control of the imperial court!
"Burning Kyoto" and so on are just means to realize this plan.
In this case, their real purpose is not to "burn down the entire Kyoto", but to "make Kyoto as chaotic as possible"!
After realizing this, Qingdeng immediately changed his mind.
Instead of thinking about "the best place to set fire", we started thinking about "how to make Kyoto the most chaotic."
Within a moment, a flash of inspiration appeared in Qingdeng's mind.
"Wait...I may know where Yoshida Minoru went."
As soon as these words came out, a bunch of surprised and suspicious eyes immediately fell on Qingdeng.
Miss Sumire blinked her beautiful eyes hard, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Aki, do you know the location of Yoshida Minoru?"
Qingdeng didn't hesitate and immediately told everything about his thoughts.
After hearing this, Miss Sumire and others looked at each other... without exception, they all looked shocked and thoughtful at the same time.
Ebina Ye Zong opened his eyes wide and murmured:
"This, this...this is really...will Yoshida Minoru really be there?"
Qingdeng said calmly:
"This is just my personal conjecture and cannot be guaranteed to be correct. However, I think it is very likely that my conjecture will come true."
Before he finished speaking, Toucho Shintaro beside him chuckled a few times with "hehe".
"Mr. Orange, although your conjecture is very bold, it is not boundless nonsense."
"I think...Mr. Tachibana's conjecture is worth adopting!"
Shintaro Tojo bluntly expressed his support for Aoto.
Miss Sumire expressed a different opinion at this time.
"An Yi, although your conjecture is very reasonable, but... the conjecture is just a conjecture after all."
She sighed as she spoke, her face full of sorrow and her expression struggling.
"Taking action without waiting to confirm whether the 'guess' is correct... This is really too imprudent and too risky!"
"If your guess is wrong, it means that we have failed again, and the consequences will be disastrous!"
Ebina Ye Zong showed hesitation on his face.
For a moment, he followed Miss Sumire and cast worried glances at Qingden.
It seems that he is on Miss Sumire's side.
Faced with the question raised by Miss Sumire, Qingto smiled.
"Miss Sumire, you are very cautious."
Miss Sumire raised her head slightly and answered loudly:
"This is a character I'm proud of!"
"It is precisely thanks to this prudence of 'taking one step, thinking three steps' that I have repeatedly saved myself from danger."
Qingden chuckled a few more times.
"Miss Sumire, your concerns are not unreasonable."
"As you said, my conjecture is just a conjecture after all. No one can guarantee that it is correct."
"Unfortunately, time is tight right now and we don't have the opportunity to slowly try and make mistakes."
"Whether you want to keep scratching your head here or just take a gamble - it's a difficult choice."
"In my opinion, we have no other options now anyway, so why not just take a gamble!"
"Maybe we really got the bet right?"
"As for the final result, let's leave it to 'fate'."
"We just have to do our best."
Having said this, Qingdeng paused.
Then, he changed into a firm tone:
"Sometimes, you have to have the determination to jump off a cliff!"
Qingdeng turned his head and glanced at the sky outside:
"Time is running out."
"I've made up my mind - I'll take the gamble!"
He said, steadying the sword at his waist.
"Whoever wants to go with me, please follow me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shintaro Tojo grasped the spear on his shoulder and silently moved to his side.
The hesitation on Ebina Ye Zong's face became even more intense.
He carefully squinted his eyes and looked at Miss Sumire.
After listening to Qingden's words just now, Miss Sumire was stunned and speechless.
But...she didn't make any move.
He just stood upright, neither speaking nor moving, looking at Aoto and Tojo Shintaro who were running outside without blinking, until the two figures disappeared from his sight...
…
…
Kyoto, Sanjo Bridge (west of Kamogawa River), Ikedaya——
"Ahhhhhhhhh-!"
Matsuda Shigesuke shouted, raised his sword upwards, and with the soles of his feet sticking to the ground, he rushed towards Nagakura Shinpachi as if gliding.
Before the shouting ends, the blade has arrived!
In an instant, the knife raised above his head slashed downwards diagonally! Drawing a neat arc in mid-air!
The speed of the knife is so fast that it is frightening!
Nagakura Shinpachi looked at this sharp slash with cold eyes and did not take a step back.
He turned slightly sideways, adjusted his posture, and swung the knife upwards with a clang sound, deflecting the opponent's slash in just one blow.
When Nagakura Shinpachi took the sword back, there was only a flash of light, and the sword was like thunder, slashing towards Matsuda Shigesuke's face!
If Matsuda Shigesuke hadn't reacted quickly enough and held the knife diagonally in front of his face in time, barely blocking Nagakura Shinpachi's blow, otherwise his meal would have definitely fallen to the ground.
Matsuda Shigesuke was a famous swordsman of the Zunbo sect, and he was very skilled - now it seems that he really lived up to his reputation.
Fighting against Nagakura Shinpachi, he managed to avoid falling behind!
Based on this record, even among the powerful Shinsengumi, there are probably not many people who can defeat him.
Of course, he is tough, but in terms of overall strength, Nagakura Shinpachi is still better.
"call……"
Nagakura Shinpachi exhaled all the turbid air in his lungs - he lowered the blade abruptly and changed the middle section to the lower section.
The sudden change in his posture immediately made Matsuda Shigesuke on the other side nervous.
He silently clenched the knife in his palm, held his breath and concentrated, raising his concentration to its peak, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
Even if you are just a bystander, after smelling the tense atmosphere between these two people, you can keenly judge: it is time to decide the outcome with one move!
Nagakura Shinpachi: "..."
Matsuda Shigesuke: "..."
In the blink of an eye, the two of them stepped forward in unison!
In the next moment, the two men's sleeves met - the winner was decided.
Matsuda Shigesuke used stabbing.
Although the attack was fierce, Nagakura Shinpachi easily dodged it.
After dodging, he lowered his body slightly, held the knife in his palm diagonally to his left side, and rushed towards the opponent's left armpit like a wild bull.
The moment he got under the opponent's armpit and the two of them were in contact with each other, he swung the knife upward and let the blade completely cut across the opponent's waist and abdomen from the blade to the tip - Matsuda Shigesuke was cut in half!
There are no fancy tricks or tricks, just pure speed!
At first glance, there seems to be no difference in the knife speed between the two.
But in fact, any expert can see at a glance: Matsuda Shigesuke's speed and reaction are far inferior to Nagakura Shinpachi.
Because no one was faster, we lost - it's that simple.
"Ahem! Ho-ho! Ho-ho-!"
After receiving a solid cut in the waist, Matsuda Shigesuke's upper and lower bodies were almost separated, with only a small part of the flesh and blood still connected.
He had to put the knife on the ground and barely support his body.
With the rapid loss of blood, he soon lost the strength to even hold a knife.
At this moment, there was no hostility towards the Shinsengumi in his eyes, nor was there any fanatical pursuit of the idea of respect and hostility, only a strong desire to survive was left in his eyes.
He used his knife as a staff and staggered around, trying to escape from this place.
His shaky figure looked like a drunken man.
Suddenly, he saw a tall figure appear in front of him - a young warrior walked out of the lightless shadows unhurriedly.
Because his vision gradually blurred, Matsuda Shigesuke could no longer clearly see the face of the visitor.
Like a drowning man finding a life-saving straw, Matsuda Shigesuke tremblingly stretched out his hand to the other party.
"Help me...save me...save me..."
The further he spoke, the weaker his tone became.
After saying these words, as if he had exhausted all his strength, his eyes bulged, and then he slowly moved forward and fell onto the man.
What’s interesting is that when facing the exhausted Matsuda Jusuke, the man had no intention of helping him. He didn’t even look at the other person. He turned sideways and avoided Matsuda Jusuke’s body like a dirty thing, leaving it alone.
fell to the ground.
Matsuda Shigesuke's body blended with the shadows on the ground, and it was impossible to tell which was the body and which was the shadow.
"Wonderful! That cut in half with just one step is really wonderful!"
After the man walked around Matsuda Shigesuke's body, he stood directly in front of Nagakura Shinpachi with a carefree look.
At this time, he finally stepped out of the shadows, and the moonlight and candlelight illuminated his face and figure.
Nagakura Shinpachi took a closer look - although this man was wearing a kimono, he was wearing a Western-style bowler hat and a Western-style cloak.
Nagakura Shinpachi couldn't help but frown after seeing this strange and unfriendly appearance.
However... even though this man looked like a strange admirer, after seeing this man, Nagakura Shinpachi suddenly had a chill on his back!
His battle intuition, which has been tempered for many times, told him: the person in front of him is by no means an ordinary person!
Then, before he could take a breath, Nagakura Shinpachi spread his legs as if facing a formidable enemy, getting into a posture, ready to fight at any time.
This person...that is, Prajna, asked aloud:
"I wonder which hero of the Shinsengumi I am?"
Nagakura Shinpachi said solemnly while maintaining his fighting posture:
"Shinto Muken-ryu, captain of the Shinsengumi second division, Nagakura Shinpachi."
After hearing this, Prajna suddenly looked surprised.
"Nagakura Shinpachi? Are you the Nagakura Shinpachi from 'Ichitachibana, Ni Okita, San Nagakura, Si Saito'?"
"Hahaha! I'm so lucky! I was able to directly meet the third master of the Shinsengumi!"
"I've wanted to compete with you Shinsengumi for a long time!"
"It's better to choose the day than to hit it. Now that we have met, let me learn the skills of the third master of the Shinsengumi!"
After that, he put on a strange smile, raised his hand to hold the bowler hat on the armrest, then took out the saber from his waist with both the sheath and the knife, and put it on his shoulder with his right hand.
When Nagakura Shinpachi saw this, he immediately frowned:
"What do you mean? Since you want to compete with me, why don't you draw your sword?"
Prajna shrugged his shoulders and laughed strangely:
"Don't be impatient. Whether you want to draw the sword or not, let me try your skills myself first."
Fighting with others, but not even drawing the sword... Hannya's contempt for Nagakura Shinpachi is beyond words.
Seeing that the other party despised him so much, Nagakura Shinpachi suddenly changed his color, frowned, and exuded a terrifying aura!
Of course, Nagakura Shinpachi, who has experienced many battles, will not make the stupid mistake of "being dominated by emotions".
He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, shouted loudly, and stepped forward to attack!
Since he didn't know the opponent's details, Nagakura Shinpachi adopted the conservative strategy of "trying the opponent first", leaving enough energy to change his moves, slashing diagonally towards Hannya's chest.
Nagakura Shinpachi originally thought that the opponent would jump away or pull out a sword to block.
But who would have thought, he suddenly waved his hand - he still didn't draw the sword, he just waved it with the sword in its sheath!
The sheathed blade swept diagonally through the air and hit Nagakura Shinpachi's blade squarely.
If he uses a sheath to forcefully connect it, the sheath body will definitely be chopped off. How can wood be better than a steel blade?
But what he did was to use the sheath to hit Nagakura Shinpachi's blade. Not only could he save the sheath, but he could also deflect Nagakura Shinpachi's slash.
For this kind of situation, Nagakura Shinpachi was really unexpected.
However, he quickly regained his composure, quickly pulled the knife in his palm back to his hand, and then used more strength to strike out with a faster knife from different directions.
But the result... was the same scene again!
Hannya swung the sword with its sheath and struck Nagakura Shinpachi's blade hard, easily neutralizing his attack.
Two consecutive swords were deflected by the opponent's sheath... Nagakura Shinpachi gritted his teeth and did not dare to hold back anymore! After a brief breather, he released a continuous and fierce offensive!
