I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Leave it to me!"

After hastily gathering more than ten soldiers, he rushed off to support Saito Hajime.

Suddenly—

boom!

A bullet was fired from a tricky angle, hitting Harada Sanosuke precisely in the abdomen and exiting through his back!

"Captain Harada!"

The soldiers around Harada Sanosuke gasped in unison.

Qing Deng hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound—and at the very end of his line of sight, he saw Harada Sanosuke lying on the ground.

"Sanosuke!"

As if by reflex, Qing Deng strode forward and arrived at Harada Sanosuke's side in the blink of an eye, helping him up.

Although only a moment had passed, Harada Sanosuke's face had already lost all color.

He mustered his strength, raised his hand to cover the gushing blood from his wound, grinned, and displayed a fearless and composed expression:

"Hehe... Mr. Ju... don't worry... this little injury won't do anything to me..."

"I'm... someone who can survive even seppuku... an 'immortal'..."

"Back in the day... before I became a ronin who had left his domain... when I was still an official in the Matsuyama Domain of Iyo... there was this annoying fellow who slandered me as a 'petty clerk who didn't even know how to commit seppuku'..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was too weak to continue.

Qingdeng looked up and shouted to the surrounding team members:

"Quickly take Sanosuke to the rear! Let Mr. Nanjo (Nanjo Akizaburo) treat him!"

The soldiers didn't dare to delay. They first did a simple hemostasis for Harada Sanosuke to slow down the bleeding, and then they hurriedly carried him to the rear.

Qing Deng didn't even have time to watch Harada Sanosuke leave... He frowned deeply, looking serious.

With Harada Sanosuke's injury and withdrawal from the battle, the already dire situation became even worse!

Souji is exhausted, Harada Sanosuke is injured, Yamanami Keisuke is elsewhere, Saito Hajime is in a tough battle... There are almost no people left around him who can be entrusted with important tasks!

After a brief moment of deep thought, Qingdeng lowered his eyelids, and a strange light gradually appeared in his eyes.

Just as he was preparing to enter a state of "selflessness" and make a desperate gamble—

"You're members of the Sixth Division, right? What's with your limp movements? I don't remember my subordinates being this weak!"

A familiar voice reached Qingdeng's ears.

Qingdeng was startled, turned his head, and stared in astonishment at the familiar figure.

"Uncle Yuan?"

Inoue Genzaburo forced a smile at Aoto while leaning on his cane.

"Tachibana-kun, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

The familiar figures that came into Qing Deng's view were not limited to Inoue Genzaburo.

Kondo Isami, Todo Heisuke, Serizawa Kamo... all the soldiers who should have been resting in the rear due to their injuries appeared before him!

They were still wrapped in thick burlap, their faces were extremely pale, and they walked as if floating.

Even so, they still held their weapons tightly!

"What are you doing here? Go back! Look at you all..."

Before Qing Deng could finish speaking, Kondo Isami chuckled a few times and interrupted:

"At a point like this, who cares about anything else?"

Heisuke Todo followed immediately:

"Although we are not fully recovered, we are more than capable of wielding our swords and killing the enemy!"

Serizawa Kamo pouted:

"After lying in bed for so many days, my body is practically rusted!"

In a short while, the surrounding soldiers noticed their captains returning, and were both surprised and invigorated.

Seeing Kondo Isami and the others displaying a willingness to die, Aoto pursed his lips, the strange light in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a strong determination.

"...Masajiro, give me the Honesty Flag!"

Upon hearing this, Masajiro Ozeki, though confused, obediently handed the military flag in his hand to Aoto.

Qingdeng reached out and took it, then forcefully shoved it into the ground.

"Listen up, everyone wearing a light blue haori!"

Upon hearing this, all the Shinsengumi soldiers present perked up their ears.

The enemy soldiers were also drawn by the sudden shout.

"As you can see, the current situation is far from optimistic!"

"But this suits me perfectly!"

"The Shinsengumi, which I built from scratch, is a formidable force that grows stronger with each setback!"

"The more difficult the battle, the more we can demonstrate our abilities!"

"Today's battle is the enemy's last counterattack!"

"The enemy has poured everything into this battle today! Winning today's battle will be our victory!"

"From this moment forward! No one, no matter who they are, is allowed to abandon this flag!"

"What you need to do next is very simple! Charge forward! Kill every enemy you encounter! Kill every enemy within your line of sight!"

"To die is an honor, to live is a disgrace!"

"If anyone is out of strength, step aside! Leave the honor of 'breaking through enemy lines and capturing the flag' and 'turning the tide' to us!"

With the added advantage of being a "failed art student" with a talent bonus, the short speech produced an immediate effect.

Looking up, every Shinsengumi member wearing a light blue haori was full of spirit and had a fighting spirit in their eyes.

Aoto turned to look at Kondo and the others:

"Yo, Genji, Heisuke, Serizawa, each of you lead your teams and break through the enemy lines!"

Kondo Isami and the others raised their heads with eager expressions and drew their swords.

Qingdeng raised Vairocana, stepped forward, and his light blue haori fluttered open.

"Shinsengumi! Follow me!"

……

……

The Northern Expeditionary Army and the British Army's camp—

The Yamata no Orochi sat cross-legged on the ground, with Ōtakemaru, Tamamo-no-Mae, Ōtakemaru's sister O-Rin, and a weathered middle-aged man standing by his side.

"Itsumade, thank you for your hard work. It must have been very difficult for you to come all this way to participate in the war, right?"

Itsumade... that is, the middle-aged man, shook his head.

"Lord Orochi, you are too kind. On the contrary, we should express our sincere gratitude to you."

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity to repay the kindness of the law-punishing party and to avenge ourselves against the shogunate."

"It is our long-cherished wish to personally slay the shogunate's lackeys."

Just from his name, one can tell that he is one of the few remaining cadres of the Fazhu Party. This person is specifically responsible for managing and training the "suicide squad".

[Note: Itsumade: A creature with a human face, snake body, and bird wings, whose cry sounds like "When will it be?" It often appears during plagues, representing the resentment of those who starve to death.]

To ensure their loyalty and fighting spirit, the assassins of the Fazhu Party, scattered among the people, all harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Edo Shogunate.

This is why they displayed such strong cohesion and fearlessness when attacking the important stronghold of the shogunate (Otsu Castle).

Itsumade gazed at the distant Otsu Castle and sighed deeply.

"...This group of suicide soldiers is the last armed force of our Fazhu Party...If they are all wiped out, all our efforts over the past ten years will have been in vain..."

The Yamata no Orochi smiled calmly and remained silent.

Tamamo-no-Mae frowned:

"So much time has passed, and Otsu Castle still stands... Has the battle not yet been decided...?"

Both the Northern Expeditionary Army and the British Army mobilized all their forces today, without holding back anything.

It is worth mentioning that although the Fazhu Party dispatched a "suicide squad", it retained its strongest "trump card" - namely, Ōtakemaru.

Naturally, some people expressed their confusion and demanded an explanation from Orochi.

At that moment, the eight-headed serpent shrugged:

"To be honest, I have repeatedly advised him not to worry about me and to go to the front lines to help fight, but he simply won't listen to me."

Immediately afterwards, with Aliya acting as translator, Ōtakemaru gave a reason that shocked everyone—the Yamata no Orochi didn't have much time left, and he wanted to stay by its side until the very end.

Considering that Ootengu was born deaf and mute and had a way of thinking that was completely different from ordinary people, coupled with his terrifying strength that was beyond the norm, no one dared to mess with him, so the matter was left unresolved.

In conclusion, excluding Ōtakemaru who was unwilling to fight for special reasons, the "Northern Expeditionary Army," the British Army, and the French Extermination Party had truly exhausted all their strength and could no longer send out a single soldier.

But as a result... the battle raged on until the sun was almost high in the sky, yet victory was still not in sight, and the fierce siege continued!

"..."

Suddenly, Ōtakemaru narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Ōtsu Castle.

A moment later, he made a few strange hand gestures to Ah Ling.

Only Orochi and Rin can understand Ōtakemaru's eyes and sign language.

A-Ling glanced at Ōtakemaru's hand gesture, then turned to Tamamo-no-Mae and Itsumade to translate:

He said the city had become a bloody battlefield.

……