The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 97 The Difficult Shinsengumi: Sengoku Eccentric - Fuurin Kazan

Seeing this, Zhang Chang'an calmly tucked the mask back in and looked up at him: "So what exactly are you here for?"

'

Xiao Ju looked down at the plain longsword in his hand, the moonlight casting a faint shadow on his face.

He spoke, his voice a few decibels lower than usual: "Sir, you know I'm an orphan. The kind who grew up in the slums, drifting from place to place, never feeling settled anywhere."

"That's why I like to gather intelligence. The more I know, the more confident I feel. Knowing who's on this street, what's happening, and where they came from makes me feel more at ease."

"Especially at times like this."

Zhang Chang'an understood his meaning, of course. The current situation in Kyoto was like a pot of boiling oil, which could splatter and scald people at any moment.

"So, what exactly happened tonight?" It wasn't all bad that Zhang Chang'an's identity was exposed. Xiao Ju was indeed a very good source of information. Before, she had been hiding things and always asked questions in a roundabout way. Now, he didn't have that problem anymore.

Xiao Ju, of course, didn't mince words: "The anti-shogunate faction has made their move."

He leaned back and began to explain, "You may not know, but the Kyoto Research Institute has been making a lot of noise lately. They're diverting supplies and squeezing out civilian transportation capacity, causing problems in many aspects of Kyoto."

That's not all. Recently, people have been going missing in the lower city. At first, we thought some samurai lord had been indiscriminately killing people again, but then someone found a body in the suburbs with many needle marks and signs of being examined, like slicing.

Zhang Chang'an roughly understood.

"Once this happened, the blame naturally fell on the research institute," Xiao Ju shrugged. "Plus, some people from the anti-shogunate faction instigated it, and then things escalated."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chang'an immediately asked, "Who started it?"

Xiaoju glanced at him: "Have you heard of Yoshida Toshimaro? And Kido Takayoshi, who is Katsura Kogoro-san?"

The two names swirled in Zhang Chang'an's mind, evoking a vague memory.

Normal historical figures, without extraordinary content such as deviations from history like Okita Souji, will not be shown in family genealogies.

However, he was, after all, a modern man, and his perspective was naturally much broader than that of people of this era. The Meiji Restoration—this was the subject of the most reinterpretations in Japanese history, aside from the Warring States period.

The so-called three heroes of the Meiji Restoration in this era were Saigo Takamori, who facilitated the surrender of Edo (Tokyo), and Okubo Toshimichi, who became the de facto leader of the later Restoration government.

Kido Takayoshi, or rather Katsura Kogoro, is also extremely well-known, having appeared in works like Gintama and Rurouni Kenshin. This is because he was one of the most active members in the early days of the Meiji Restoration.

In short, he and that so-called Yoshida were radical patriots who were completely different from Sakamoto Ryoma. At this time, they were leading the vast majority of the anti-shogunate activities of Satsuma and Choshu ronin in Kyoto.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Kyoto, the lights of Shimabara geisha district were exceptionally bright tonight. Not because of the hustle and bustle, but because of the fire.

Kondo Isami sat atop the roof of a three-story wooden building, overlooking the street below. Moonlight bathed the entire street, illuminating his dyed haori and the famous sword, Kotetsu, at his waist.

Below, the main street of the red-light district was littered with corpses. The bodies of ronin, courtesans, and several unfortunate customers lay scattered haphazardly. Blood meandered through the cracks in the stone slabs, gleaming darkly in the moonlight.

Only one person was still alive, being held down on the ground by two soldiers, still struggling desperately.

------------

"Let me go! You lackeys of the shogunate! You!"

Kondo Isami didn't look down at him, but he recognized the man.

Shuntaro Koga, a key member of the anti-shogunate faction, was one of the planners of tonight's attack. He led more than thirty ronin into the red-light district, targeting Wakatoshi Yoshi, a high-ranking shogunate official who was enjoying himself there.

Unfortunately, he chose the wrong place. The one guarding this place was Kondo, the commander of the Shinsengumi, who had hardly brought any men with him and whose swordsmanship was even stronger than Okita's.

His gaze passed over the burning eaves, landing on the night sky of Kyoto. In the distance, a few flames still flickered, and the faint sounds of battle cries drifted on the wind.

But closer still, all that could be heard was the sound of footsteps.

"Chief."

Hijikata Toshizo walked over to him on the roof tiles and sat down beside him. There were several tears in his haori, and the wounds inside could be vaguely seen, but his expression remained as cold and hard as ever.

"The riot in Sanjo-dori to the south has been quelled. All seventeen ronin have been killed."

Kondo Isamu nodded.

At the other end, there was another commotion. Harada Sanosuke, clutching a long iron spear, climbed up from the other side, plopped down on a tile, and gasped for breath. Several streaks of blood were splattered on his face, but he grinned carefree.

"That warehouse on the west side was leveled too. Damn it, those bastards can really run; they chased me for three blocks."

Kondo nodded, but then he spoke up: "Something happened to Okita."

The two were taken aback. "What is it?"

"The riot at the station is under control, but he encountered the Steam Ghost. His implant was damaged, and his old illness temporarily relapsed."

The two men frowned immediately. The name "Steam Demon" had been the talk of the town in Kyoto lately. He'd been known for hijacking caravans, killing samurai, and appearing and disappearing like a ghost.

Even if Sakamoto clarifies that he is not a member of the anti-shogunate faction, his frequent activity remains a problem.

Okita Souji was unable to keep him.

The two were anxious about this matter when they suddenly heard a series of somewhat dragging footsteps.

A soldier came running down the street, staggering, wounded, and deathly pale. When he reached the bottom of the building, he leaned against the wall, panting heavily, seemingly barely breathing.

Harada Sanosuke flipped over and jumped down, using his spear to steady himself.

"What's going on?!" He grabbed the soldier who seemed about to collapse.

"Commander-Commander--" The soldier struggled to raise his head, his voice weak as a candle flickering in the wind, "The Commander-in-Chief, he—"

And Captain Saito—something's happened!

Harada's expression changed.

Tu Fang had already jumped off the roof and landed beside him.

Explain yourself!

The squad member took a few deep breaths and said haltingly, "There are too many ronin in the festival district and around the shrine, but besides them, there are two strange people! Mr. Yamanami, he—"

He didn't finish speaking, but the captains already understood what he meant by what happened to their own people.

The "chief" he was referring to was not Director Kondo.

Chief Yamanami Keisuke. He is the assistant to the commander of the Shinsengumi, the Shinsengumi's main strategist, and has extremely high prestige within the group. His swordsmanship is second only to the commander, vice-commander, and Okita.

At the same time, on Celebration Street.

Saito Hajime, supporting Yamanami Keisuke, was retreating step by step.

His knife was still dripping blood, and he had several wounds on his body.

But none of that matters. What matters is Yamanami, who is practically hanging on Saito, unable to walk on his own, his face as pale as paper.

The chainmail that the Shinsengumi would inevitably wear when they went out in large numbers was completely ineffective against him. A deep knife wound and several very dangerous penetrating wounds were clearly visible on his chest, from which a large amount of blood was gushing out.

"Mr. Yamanami, hang in there!"

Before them, the entire street was stained red with blood.

The corpses of ronin, civilians, and several Shinsengumi members lay scattered on the ground. Because it was a festival street similar to a temple fair, the crowds were mixed, allowing for the ambush of more ronin and patriots. The scene here was far more tragic than in the red-light district.

They fought a bloody battle here and only managed to bring the situation under initial control with great difficulty.

Then.

Saito raised his head and looked ahead.

On the arched wooden bridge above the Kamo River, two people stood. The one on the right was more burly, wearing heavy Sengoku-era armor, with huge antler-shaped protrusions on his helmet and a large standing holly crest on his chest. He held a giant spear that was longer than himself.

Some wood chips fell from the burning houses around them and landed on the gun, instantly cutting it in two.

The one on the left wore jet-black armor, with only a large Takeda diamond pattern printed on the tunuma on his chest. He carried a huge katana at his waist, and on his back were two long banners, each with the four characters "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" on its four sides.