I formed the strongest swordsman group

Time is tight and information is scarce...

Under such circumstances, if you hope to extract information from those die-hard prisoners, you will probably be doomed.

As a result, Seito had to return to his old profession - before he became known as the "Nioh", he was a member of the Edo Hokuban shogunate!

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 a case, it was back to the "Abolition 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 take a chance than to wait for death!

After secretly making up his mind, Qingdeng lowered his eyelids and concentrated on thinking.

The first thing that needs to be made clear is 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 "wind borrows the power of fire, and fire assists the power of wind."

If you want to burn a city, you can only maximize the intensity of the fire by lighting it upwind.

When he rushed to the warehouse at full speed, Qingdeng carefully observed the wind direction tonight - it was southeasterly.

In this way, Yoshida Minoru would probably set fire to the southeast.

In addition to wind direction, the exact location of the fire is also important.

In order for the fire to burn quickly and 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, looking at the townsfolk...the narrow roads and the 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 him, 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 Qingto's mind one by one.

At this moment, he suddenly realized something.

He realized belatedly: There seemed to be something wrong with his thinking!

Why did the lunatics of the Zunbang sect burn down Kyoto?

What they did was not just violence, but an attempt to take advantage of the chaos and rob the emperor! Regain control of the imperial power!

"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,” think 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 Yoshida is."

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 Yoshida really be there?"

Qingdeng said calmly:

"This is just my personal conjecture and cannot be guaranteed to be correct. However, I think my conjecture is likely to come true."

Before he finished speaking, Toucho Shintaro beside him chuckled a few times.

"Mr. Orange, although your conjecture is very bold, it is not boundless nonsense."

"I think...Mr. Tachibana's conjecture is worth adopting!"

Tojo Shintaro bluntly expressed his support for Aoto.

Miss Sumire expressed a different opinion at this time.

"An Yi, although your conjecture is very reasonable, but... a 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!"

Ebi Ming Ye Zong looked hesitant.

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 replied 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 justified."

"As you said, my conjecture is just a conjecture after all. No one can guarantee that it is correct."

"Unfortunately, time is running out 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 — that’s a difficult choice.”

"In my opinion, we have no other options now, so let's 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."

Speaking of this, Qingdeng paused.

Then, he changed into a firm tone:

"Sometimes, you have to be as decisive as jumping 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 come 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 Aonto and Tojo Shintaro running away without blinking, until the two figures disappeared from his sight...

…

…

Kyoto, Sanjo Bridge (west of Kamogawa), Ikedaya——

"Ahhhhhhhhhh-!"

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 down diagonally! Draw 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 withdrew his sword, there was only a flash of light. 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 is a famous swordsman of the Zunbo sect, and his skills are quite good - now it seems that he really lives 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 strong, 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 of the sword abruptly, changing 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, holding his breath and concentrating, 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 the two people, you can keenly judge: the time has come 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, their sleeves met - the winner was decided.

Matsuda Shigesuke used stabbing attacks.

Although the attack was fierce, Nagakura Shinpachi easily dodged it.

After dodging, he lowered his body slightly, placed the knife in his palm diagonally on 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 speed of the two swords.

But in fact, any expert can tell 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 to barely support his body.

With the rapid loss of blood, he soon lost the strength to 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, only a strong desire to survive.

He used the 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 appearing in front of him - a young warrior walked out of the lightless shadows unhurriedly.

Because his vision gradually blurred, Matsuda Shigesuke could no longer see the face of the visitor clearly.

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 more he spoke, the weaker his voice became.

After saying these words, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, his eyes bulged, and then he slowly fell forward, toward the man.

Interestingly, facing the already dead Matsuda Shigesuke, the man had no intention of helping him, and did not even look at him. He simply turned sideways, avoiding Matsuda Shigesuke's body as if he were avoiding a dirty thing, and let him fall to the ground.

Matsuda Shigesuke's body merged with the shadow on the ground, and it was impossible to tell which was the body and which was the shadow.

"Excellent! The waist-cutting move just now was really wonderful!"

After the man bypassed Matsuda Shigesuke's body, he stood in front of Nagakura Shinpachi carelessly.

At this time, he finally walked out of the shadow completely, and the moonlight and candlelight illuminated his face and figure.

Nagakura Shinpachi looked closely - although the man was wearing a kimono, he wore a Western-style bowler hat and a Western-style cloak on his shoulders.

Shinpachi Nagakura couldn't help but frown when he saw this strange and unconventional dress.

However... although this person looked like a strange person, after seeing this person, Shinpachi Nagakura suddenly felt a chill in his hair!

His battle instinct, which had been tempered for thousands of times, told him that the person in front of him was definitely not an ordinary person!

So, without taking a breath, Shinpachi Nagakura spread his legs as if facing a great enemy, got ready, and was ready to fight at any time.

This person... was Prajna, who asked aloud:

"I wonder which hero of the Shinsengumi you are?"

Shinpachi Nagakura kept his fighting posture and said in a deep voice:

"Shinto Munen-ryu, captain of the Shinsengumi Second Division, Shinpachi Nagakura."

After hearing this, Prajna was immediately surprised.

"Nagakura Shinpachi? Are you the Nagakura Shinpachi from 'One Tachibana, Two Okida, Three Nagakura, Four Saito'?"

"Hahaha! I'm so lucky! I can actually meet the third best of the Shinsengumi!"

"I've wanted to compete with you Shinsengumi for a long time!"

"Now that we've met, let me learn the skills of the third best of the Shinsengumi!"

After saying that, he put on a strange smile, raised his hand to adjust the bowler hat on his head, then drew out the sword from his waist with the scabbard, and carried it on his shoulder with his right hand.

Seeing this, Nagakura Shinpachi frowned immediately:

"What do you mean? Since you want to compete with me, why don't you draw your sword?"

Prajna shrugged and laughed strangely:

"Don't be in a hurry. Let me test your skills first."

Fighting with others, but not even drawing the sword... Prajna's contempt for Nagakura Shinpachi is beyond words.

Seeing that the other party despised him so much, Nagakura Shinpachi changed color, frowned, and exuded a terrible breath!

Of course, Nagakura Shinpachi, who has experienced hundreds of battles, will naturally not make such a low-level mistake as "being dominated by emotions".

He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, shouted, and attacked!

Because he didn't know the details of the other party, Nagakura Shinpachi adopted a conservative strategy of "testing the other party first", leaving enough strength to change his moves, and slashed a knife diagonally, slashing towards Prajna's chest.

Nagakura Shinpachi thought that the other party would jump away or draw a knife to block.

But who would have thought that he would suddenly wave his hand - he still didn't draw his sword, but just swung it with the sword and sheath!

The blade with the sheath swept diagonally in the air, hitting the blade of Shinpachi Nagakura squarely.

If he used the sheath to block it, the sheath would definitely be broken, how could wood be against a steel blade?

But he did this - using the sheath to hit Shinpachi Nagakura's blade - not only could he save the sheath, but he could also deflect Shinpachi Nagakura's slash.

Shinpachi Nagakura was really caught off guard by this situation.

However, he quickly regained his strength, quickly pulled the sword in his palm back to his hand, and then used more strength to chop it more quickly from a different direction.

But the result... the same scene again!

Prajna swung the sword with the sheath, hitting Shinpachi Nagakura's blade, easily defusing his attack.

Two consecutive sword strikes were deflected by the opponent's sheath... Nagakura Shinpachi gritted his teeth and dared not hold back any longer! After a short breath, he released a continuous and fierce attack!

Stab forward, chop horizontally, chop vertically, slash upward, slash diagonally...

One sword after another.

One sword was faster than the other!

The dense slashes, the flickering sword light and shadow, covered the entire space.

However... no matter how Nagakura Shinpachi swung his sword or how he attacked, he could never hurt the opponent at all!

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