I formed the strongest swordsman group

That night--

Shinsengumi settlement, bathhouse——

Run-up, power-up, take-off... Shimada Kui used neat movements and postures to throw himself into the spacious bathtub with steam billowing out.

Instantly, warm hot water rushed towards him from all directions and enveloped him.

Under the moistening of the hot water, Shimada Kui felt that the muscles and bones in his whole body were relaxing, and most of the fatigue in his body was relieved. He was so comfortable that he almost screamed out.

"Huh...the heat is just right...!"

As he spoke, he stretched hard, leaned back, and leaned against the wall of the pool behind him.

He was very lucky and got a seat with a backrest.

The bathhouse is very spacious and can accommodate 6 to 70 people bathing at the same time without feeling crowded. This is another generous effort of the original owner of this mansion, who built a bathhouse that can be used as a swimming pool.

Looking up, the bathhouse was crowded with white bodies.

For the Shinsengumi soldiers, the bathing time after dinner was one of the few leisure moments in the day.

Everyone took advantage of this rare opportunity to gather together in twos and threes and chat freely.

The sound of chattering is endless.

"Ah...I'm so tired..."

"You won't have to stand all day again tomorrow, right?"

"Who knows."

"Damn, my feet hurt!"

"Rub this acupuncture point on the sole of your foot vigorously, and you will feel much better."

"Hmph, let me teach you! This is a wonderful skill I learned in the afternoon! When standing in the military posture, don't just stand stupidly! Sometimes put your body weight on your left foot, sometimes put your body Put the weight on your right foot and let both feet take turns to rest, so that you can stand longer and stand more easily!”

…

In order to pass the time, Shimada Kui pointed his ears and listened to the conversations around him, while scanning his eyes and carefully observing the demeanor and expressions of the people around him.

I saw many people looking lifeless.

There are people with sad faces.

There are people who are discouraged.

There are also those who are worried.

What's more, his expression was numb and his face was as pale as a clay sculpture. Even the heat of the pool water couldn't bring back the color on his face.

Shimada Kui understands this very well: today’s training was really hard!

Under Qingdeng's deliberate design, the soldiers' daily arrangements were roughly as follows -

I opened the schedule and looked it up. There was no time in the schedule. On each crooked page were written the words "love soldiers as sons". I couldn't sleep anyway, so after reading carefully for half the night, I saw two words between the words. The first word: training. When I took a closer look, I saw a few more words: If you can’t practice to death, practice to death.

The morning training started at 6 o'clock. Except for a breakfast break in the middle, training continued until 12 o'clock.

After lunch it was a short lunch break.

The afternoon training starts at 14 o'clock. There is no tea time - the culture of drinking afternoon tea has not yet spread in Japan today - the afternoon training will continue until 19 o'clock.

Training, training, training...roughly calculated, the total training hours of the soldiers today was as high as 10 hours!

The training intensity is not very intense.

In the afternoon, after completing the punishment of "running around the training ground three times" ordered by Aoto, Shimada Kui returned to the first team's queue and continued military posture training.

This time, he didn't dare to slack off anymore. His arms clung tightly to the sides of his legs, as if he wanted to use glue to stick his arms and thighs together.

Qingdeng's personal demonstration played a very good leading role.

The captains headed by Souji imitated Qingto's approach and launched "sneak attacks" from the rear from time to time to check whether the arms of the team members were close to the sides of their legs.

Many people followed Shimada Kui's footsteps and had their arms pulled away from their legs, and then ran around in circles "humming hummingly".

To be honest, after seeing this scene, Shimada Kui couldn't help but feel secretly happy: If he was the only one to be punished all day long, it would be so shameless!

No one dared to complain about the "sneak attacks" of the captains. Everyone who was successfully "sneak attacked" accepted the punishment silently - any one of the 10 captains could easily beat them all over the ground. Ya, who dares to complain?

In this way, the soldiers persisted until the sun went down.

Shimada Kui originally thought that their training today was over.

But who would have thought that just when he was relieved, Qingdeng suddenly appeared at the training ground again like a ghost, and brought an order: "Before dinner, everyone should go around like they did in the morning. Run 5 laps on the training ground!”

To be honest, when he heard this order, Shimada Kui, who was very confident in his physical ability, couldn't help but feel his eyes darken.

If he had received this order while in good health, he would have gladly accepted it.

However... after standing in a military posture for almost a whole day and running a full 1,500 meters due to punishment, his back, legs and feet were already sore.

I have to run another 2,500 meters in this physical condition... Just thinking about it, Shimada Kui couldn't help but feel his limbs become weak, cold sweat dripping from his back, and the cold wind blew, making him feel cold.

Although he was worried, it didn't help.

The military order has been issued. What else can we do besides complying with it according to quality and quantity? Are you waiting to be beheaded?

As a result, the soldiers gritted their teeth and used all their strength.

Although the power of the spirit is powerful, its limitations are also cruel.

Before they even finished one lap, the entire queue stretched out and became loose.

In the end, the soldiers almost relied on perseverance to drag their bodies to the finish line - at this time, almost everyone looked like they were dying and would fall to the ground at the slightest breeze.

Today's dinner was also very sumptuous.

There is an unlimited supply of rice; there is no shortage of meat and egg soup dishes.

However, Shimada Kui almost couldn't eat during dinner because he was too tired!

He is far from the only person in this situation.

To be more precise, every one of the soldiers showed an extremely weak appetite due to exhaustion.

Compared with the lively atmosphere at breakfast and lunch, the atmosphere at dinner was as cold as a world away.

The air inside and outside the cafeteria was filled with dull air, and there was no other sound except the clinking of bowls and chopsticks.

Everyone was silent, just like puppets, completing the task of eating mechanically.

While eating dinner, Shimada Kui finally understood the true meaning of what Aomori said before - only by eating a full meal can you have enough strength to survive the next training!

If you don't eat well, if you don't eat such a sumptuous meal, you won't be able to survive at all!

——Is this just the beginning...

Half a month from today will be their adaptation period. After the adaptation period, the training intensity will gradually increase. Anyone who cannot persevere will be ruthlessly kicked out of the team - This is Qing The announcement was published this morning.

Such arduous training turned out to be just an appetizer... Thinking of this, Shimada Kui couldn't help but feel discouraged.

——I underestimated the Shinsengumi too much...

Shimada Kui sighed again.

After experiencing such a cruel day, the self-confidence he had built up before was gone.

——Can I really persist in the Shinsengumi...?

Just when Shimada Kui fell into deep self-doubt, a male voice suddenly came from his side - a male voice that was extremely familiar to him:

"Hey, Akui, why are you crying so hard? What? Is it because the training is too hard and makes you want to give up?"

Shimada Kui was startled for a moment, and then subconsciously followed the sound - not far away from him, a strong man with a strong body and scars on his body was looking at him with a smile.

Shimada Kui blinked, was stunned for two seconds, and then shouted happily:

"Shinpachi!"

Nagakura Shinpachi chuckled:

"Akui, you finally found me! I've been sitting next to you for a long time!"

With that said, Nagakura Shinpachi moved his butt a few times and sat next to Shimada Kui.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Shimada Kui responded with an apologetic wry smile.

Nagakura Shinpachi is an old acquaintance of Shimada Kui.

Furthermore, the two are very close friends.

How did the two of them meet, know each other, and become familiar with each other?

This all starts with Kui Shimada’s master, the master of Tsubouchi, a well-known swordsman who works in the Goshoin group and is quite famous in Edo.

[Note: Goshoin Group: Tokugawa Shogun's personal bodyguards]

When he was young, Shimada Kui went to Edo in order to improve his swordsmanship. He became a disciple of Chuma Tsubouchi and devoted himself to practicing the heart-shaped sword style. It was at Chuma Tsubouchi's dojo that he met Nagakura Shinpachi.

Nagakura Shinpachi has been a restless master since he was a child.

He was born in the tenth year of Tianbao (1839) and was the only son in his family.

The Nagakura family served as officials in Matsumae Domain for generations, enjoying a salary of 150 koku, and their family status was quite good.

In general, Nagakura Shinpachi, like Souji, is a man "born for the sword."

He became obsessed with swordsmanship at the age of eight and determined to become a world-famous swordsman.

Therefore, his father found Okada Jumatsu, a well-known Shinto Muken-ryu master at the time, to be his teacher, hoping that his beloved son would have a long-lasting martial arts career.

His father's strong support and the advice of famous teachers... Under the interaction of the two, Nagakura Shinpachi's swordsmanship became more and more refined, and he was recognized as "Shinto Muken-ryu Fusho Kaden" at the age of only 18.

At that time, the Matsumae Domain implemented a martial arts reward system.

According to old rules, the second and third sons of a samurai family must be sent to a good martial arts school to learn.

The eldest son cannot go out because he needs to inherit the position of family governor.

Although Nagakura Shinpachi, who was full of ambitions in martial arts, was unwilling to achieve only small results, he could only watch helplessly as his friends around him went to the martial arts school to further their studies.

In the spring of his 19th year, he finally made up his mind to leave the feudal clan without even telling his parents.

To leave the feudal clan is to break away from the feudal clan and become a ronin.

During the Edo period, it was a serious crime to secede from the feudal clan.

Although during the Warring States Period, it was common for ministers to change jobs, but after entering the Edo Period, there was a growing trend to view the departure from the feudal clan as "betraying the master as a minister" and it was unforgivable.

At the same time, in order to facilitate the management and control of the vassals, the shogunate explicitly prohibited the act of leaving the vassal state. No one, whether samurai or common people, was allowed to leave their vassal state without authorization.

If for some reason, you have to leave the feudal country temporarily, you need to complete certain legal procedures.

If someone breaks away from the feudal clan without going through the formalities, he will be charged with running away from the feudal clan, his family name will be cut off and his property will be confiscated. If he is caught, he may also be sentenced to death depending on the circumstances.

Logically speaking, Nagakura Shinpachi's behavior of leaving the feudal clan without even informing his parents is really treasonous.

However, his parents understood his behavior and did not blame him.

In addition, because he was passionate about swordsmanship and did not do anything that would bring disgrace to the feudal state after leaving the feudal clan, the feudal lord, although he affirmed the law, thought that his spirit was commendable, so he was found not guilty and did not even recover him. .

After breaking away from the feudal clan, Nagakura Shinpachi mainly worked in Edo and Kanto areas.

In order to hone his skills and courage, he went to the gym and the field from time to time regardless of his wealth and life.

Such a flamboyant behavior naturally attracted the attention of some people - such as Tsubouchi's main horse.

Master Tsubouchi took a fancy to Nagakura Shinpachi's skills and invited him to his dojo to serve as a shihandai.

Not only can he earn money, but he can also frequently compete with others in martial arts... This kind of good job that is difficult to find even with a lantern, Nagakura Shinpachi naturally agreed happily.

Nagakura Shinpachi is a person with a bold personality and easily gets along with others.

During the period when he served as a teacher in Master Tsubouchi's dojo, he competed with his fellow disciples from morning to night, honed his sword skills, and often went out to teach with kendo equipment on his back.

In this way, he naturally met his fellow student Shimada Kui.

Although the two are not the same generation - Nagakura Shinpachi is 27 years old and Shimada Kui is 35 - they quickly formed a deep friendship because of their similar personalities and congenial spirits.

Later, Nagakura Shinpachi concluded that "training in the dojo could no longer improve my skills," so he resigned from his position as a teacher and left the Tsubouchi dojo.

He went to Qianshiya to apply for a bodyguard job, was recommended to Qingto by Kiryu's boss, and became acquainted with Qingto - and this is the story that followed.

Shimada Kui didn't know that his old friend had joined the Shinsengumi until Seito announced the list of officers of the Shinsengumi, and he was directly promoted to the high position of captain of the second division of the Bato Team.

On the night when the Shinsengumi officially departed for Shangluo, Shimada Kui looked around the camp for Nagakura Shinpachi, and finally reunited with him.

At that time, the two chatted for a long time.

Even though they have been separated for a long time, the two are still close friends who talk about everything.

If it were some people, they might be shy and ask Nagakura Shinpachi to use his position to take care of him - Shimada Kui would not do that.

He would rather die than rely on nepotism to gain a high position!

"Ah! Captain!"

"Captain! Why are you here?"

"Captain, your body is quite strong!"

Shimada Kui's "Shinpachi" just now attracted the attention of everyone around him.

Everyone was shocked to see the captain of the Second Division here.

Or be so surprised that you forget to speak.

Or stand up and salute in panic.

Or looking at Nagakura Shinpachi's body with interest.

"Okay, everyone, please relax!"

Nagakura Shinpachi waved his hand.

"This is a bathing place, not a training ground! At this time and place, you and I are both bathers, and there is no relationship between superiors and subordinates!"

Nagakura Shinpachi, who originally couldn't read a word, has become eloquent since he regularly participated in the "culture classes" offered free of charge by Shannan Keisuke at the Shiwei Hall.

Now that Nagakura Shinpachi said so, everyone was no longer restrained and sat down one after another.

In the blink of an eye, curious eyes focused on Nagakura Shinpachi.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Someone asked excitedly:

"Captain! I heard that you were always by his side and fighting side by side with Niou-sama when he was still an ordinary Sadachi Hui Tongshin in the Northern Bansho. Is this true?"

"Um?"

Nagakura Shinpachi raised his eyebrows, then grinned:

"You are right, there is such a thing."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone else asked:

"Captain! I heard that Lord Niou is a member of the Taoist movement, and he has an unclear relationship with the captain of the first team. Is this true?"

*******

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Sorry! Leopard Leopard has tried his best! But it still failed and failed to reach 6000+ (Leopard Leopard Head in tears.jpg)

It’s been too cold in Guangzhou recently! Seals are hibernating creatures, so they can't help but sleep when the weather gets cold... (Leopard cry.jpg)