My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 357 - 139: Clash of "Momentum"—A Brand New Realm!

"Stopping the wind and clouds..." Aoto involuntarily showed a stunned expression.

The aura was so formidable that it gave the spectators the illusion that the wind and clouds around had stopped... This scene, this realm, Aoto couldn’t even imagine it...

A new world seemed to open its doors to Aoto.

While feeling shook in his heart... there was also a sense of yearning.

——If I continue to train at my current pace... when will I reach the realm of Chiba Shusaku and Chiba Dingji?

After teasing himself in his mind with a half-joking tone, Aoto sat up straighter, bowed respectfully to Zhou who had opened a new door on the path of martial arts for him tonight.

"Master, thank you for your guidance."

"Ho ho ho." Zhouzhu gently waved his hand, "No need to be so polite, you are a disciple of Shiwei Hall, and I’m the hall master of Shiwei Hall, teaching you these things is only natural."

Upon Zhouzhu’s request, Aoto slowly straightened his waist, which had bent to bow to Zhouzhu.

It was then that Aoto suddenly thought of another question.

"Master, what was the name of the mysterious teacher who inspired our grandmaster to create the secret teachings of the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream?"

Aoto suddenly recalled—Zhouzhu seemed never to have mentioned what the mysterious teacher of Grandmaster Kondo Naizosuke was called, always referring to him by the alias "mysterious teacher."

Upon hearing Aoto’s question, Zhouzhu fell into silence immediately.

After a moment of silence, Zhouzhu slowly shook his head:

"...I don’t know."

"...Huh?" Aoto blinked in confusion, "You don’t know?"

"The information about the grandmaster’s mysterious teacher... feels like it has been deliberately erased by someone," Zhouzhu sighed gently, "name, age, identity... none of these basic information has been left behind."

"Apart from being sure that such a person indeed existed, nothing else about them is known."

"Therefore, I used to speculate."

Zhouzhu rubbed his chin, jokingly said.

"Could it be that the grandmaster’s mysterious teacher was some big figure, whose name if known, would bring trouble to our Kondo family and Natural Reasoning Heart Stream, hence all information about them was deliberately erased."

...

...

At this moment——

Edo, Xuanwu Hall——

"Brother Rong, did you really enter that legendary ’State of No-Self’ while fighting that black bear?" Chiba Shigetarou cast a look of astonishment at Chiba Eijiro sitting in the seat of honor.

Tonight, Xuanwu Hall was extremely lively.

To welcome and celebrate the return of the pride of the Chiba family: Chiba Eijiro returning to Edo after a long time, Chiba Dingji and others hosted a grand welcoming banquet at Xuanwu Hall tonight.

The widow of Chiba Shusaku,

Chiba Eijiro’s two brothers: Chiba Daisaburo and Chiba Domon Shiro,

Chiba Dingji and his wife,

Chiba Shigetarou and Sazanoko.

In short, all current members of the Chiba family were present.

The whole family, reuniting after a long time, to celebrate Chiba Eijiro’s return.

Chiba Shigetarou, Sazanoko, and their mother sat on the left side of the banquet, while Chiba Daisaburo and others sat on the right side.

Chiba Dingji and the main guest of tonight’s banquet: Chiba Eijiro were undoubtedly seated in the seat of honor.

Seven years ago, determined to enter officialdom, Chiba Eijiro accepted the invitation of the Mito Domain and became an official there.

After serving in the Mito Domain, Chiba Eijiro seldom returned to Edo, and usually kept in touch with his family through letters.

Chiba Shigetarou couldn’t quite remember the last time he saw this cousin whom he was very fond of.

Chiba Shigetarou had always been interested in Chiba Eijiro’s official career.

So right as the welcoming banquet began tonight, Chiba Shigetarou pestered Chiba Eijiro to tell him about any new and interesting experiences in the Mito Domain’s officialdom recently.

Chiba Eijiro was happy to share his experiences with his family, so tonight’s welcoming banquet slowly unfolded with his storytelling.

He leisurely recounted the noteworthy stories he encountered recently to his family—including his recent accidental entry into the "State of No-Self" while fighting a black bear in the wilderness.

Upon hearing that Chiba Eijiro had entered this legendary realm of martial arts, everyone but Chiba Dingji who had already heard about it in the afternoon showed expressions of shock.

Besides showing shock, they also revealed expressions of "Well, that’s just typical"—Chiba Shigetarou and others were long used to hearing incredible news from this brother.

"Ha..." With his cheeks flushed red from drinking, Chiba Shigetarou’s eyes slowly revealed unabashed envy, "State of No-Self... I wonder if in my lifetime, I’ll have a chance to touch this legendary domain..."

Chiba Shigetarou mumbled in envy while refilling his cup with the bottle of wine placed by his leg.

As he was about to put down the wine bottle, Sazanoko sitting next to him snatched it away.

"Brother, you can’t drink anymore." Sazanoko said calmly, "Tomorrow is the Marquis of Aizu’s Swordsmanship Competition, if you keep drinking, you won’t be able to get up in the morning."

As soon as Sazanoko spoke, Chiba Eijiro immediately cast a curious look at his cousin: "The Marquis of Aizu’s Swordsmanship Competition?"

"Ah, right, I seemed to have forgotten to tell you." At this point, the usually silent Chiba Domon Shiro spoke slowly, "Second brother, since you returned to Edo only this morning, you might not know—tomorrow, the Marquis of Aizu will host a swordsmanship competition in Asakusa exclusively for newcomers from various sword dojos in Edo."

Chiba Domon Shiro briefly and concisely informed Chiba Eijiro about the details of this competition.

"The Marquis of Aizu, who hardly ever hosted any martial arts competitions before, is actually going to hold a swordsmanship competition..." Upon hearing this, Chiba Eijiro gently nodded, "This is indeed rare..."

"Brother Rong, after so long, a Great Daimyo is hosting a Swordsmanship Competition in Edo... won’t you come to watch tomorrow?" Chiba Shigetarou asked with a grin.

"...I’ll see." Chiba Eijiro shrugged with a wry smile, "To be honest, these competitions for swordsmanship beginners don’t quite interest me."

"Watching this level of competition... is no different to me than watching crickets fight."

"Brother Rong, you’re missing out." Chiba Shigetarou shook his head, "There’s a noteworthy participant in this competition."

With that, Chiba Shigetarou paused, then quickly asked Chiba Eijiro a follow-up question.

"Brother Rong, have you heard of Tachibana Aoto?"

Having asked, Chiba Shigetarou surreptitiously glanced at Sazanoko beside him.

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Tomorrow is the last day of the month! For friends holding monthly votes, be sure to vote for this book! (Cry like a leopard.jpg)

The author plans to hold a "Popular Character Vote-off" in the book group on August 1st to see who is the current most popular character in this book, those interested can join the group quickly in these two days~~

I guess the current popularity king in this book is either Sazanoko or Tenshōin.