My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 348 - 137: Edo’s Strongest Great Sword Hero!

"Hooray!" As soon as Sazanoko finished speaking, Nakamura Tsuki immediately raised her hands high, as if by reflex, striking a "banzai" pose—unsurprisingly, she received a glance from Sazanoko.

"Sasa, Miss Sazanoko, I, I’m not, I’m not happy because we don’t have to practice anymore...!" Nakamura Tsuki hastily retracted her raised hands, stammering to explain, "I just, just... just..."

Seeing Nakamura Tsuki’s eager demeanor to explain... Sazanoko, who was usually very aloof, rare as it was, showed an expression of an amused chuckle.

"Ayue, don’t be nervous, I didn’t plan to blame you for anything."

"When I used to practice martial arts with Father, sometimes I also eagerly awaited hearing the words ’you can rest now’ from him."

"Alright, go and take a break."

Sazanoko’s words seemed to have a kind of magic power, immediately turning Nakamura Tsuki, who was just anxious, into a beaming smile.

Nakamura Tsuki nodded vigorously, answering with a loud "Yes" and then dashed like a fluttering butterfly to the edge of the dojo, picking up her water bottle and gulping down the water heartily.

After sending the female disciples for a break, Sazanoko lifted her left hand, using the back of her left hand to wipe the thin sweat off her forehead, then turned and walked over to the waiting Chiba Shigetarou.

"Brother, sorry to keep you waiting, did you buy back the medicine for Father’s back pain?"

"Yes." Chiba Shigetarou shook the medicine bag in his hand, "I bought four doses at once, where is Father now? I’ll go apply the medicine for him."

Sazanoko didn’t immediately answer Chiba Shigetarou’s question.

Instead, she first looked at her brother with a fond gaze, then replied with a smile:

"Brother, you probably don’t know, while you went out to buy medicine, an unexpected guest arrived."

"A guest?" Chiba Shigetarou was taken aback, "Who?"

"Second cousin." Sazanoko replied word by word, "Second cousin has returned, Father is currently chatting with Brother Rong in his bedroom."

"Second cousin?" Chiba Shigetarou’s eyes widened, showing joy, "Brother Rong is back? Wasn’t he supposed to return to Edo in a few days?"

"He returned early," Sazanoko answered, "He came back to Edo today at noon."

"In the afternoon... just as you went out to buy medicine, he came to visit our Little Chiba Sword Dojo alone bringing presents."

"Hahaha." Chiba Shigetarou grinned, "Brother Rong finally returned to Edo... It’s been quite a long time since I last saw him."

The Chiba siblings didn’t particularly control the volume of their conversation.

The contents of their chat just now were all overheard by the female disciples led by Nakamura Tsuki who were resting not far away.

"Hey." A freckle-faced girl whispered excitedly to Nakamura Tsuki beside her, "The ’second cousin’ Miss Sazanoko mentioned... wouldn’t happen to be ’Skill of Chiba’ Chiba Eijiro, right?"

"I heard the Deputy Master Chiba say ’Brother Rong’... so it must be Chiba Eijiro!" Nakamura Tsuki said excitedly, "That legendary ’Skill of Chiba’ is here right now?"

"I admire ’Skill of Chiba’ the most." Another girl clenched her small fists excitedly.

Chiba Eijiro—hearing this name, the group of female disciples gathered at the edge of the dojo immediately became animated.

In the current Edo marketplace, a popular phrase almost known to every household circulates—

Skill of Chiba, Powerful Saito, Position of Taojing.

This phrase refers to the three samurai regarded as "the strongest three swordsmen in Edo at present."

And these three samurai happen to come from Edo’s three great sword dojos.

From Xuanwu Hall is "Skill of Chiba" Chiba Eijiro.

From Training Hall is "Powerful Saito" Saito Mijuro.

From Shixue Hall is "Position of Taojing" Taojing Chunzang.

The entire meaning of this phrase is, in summary—

In sword skills, Chiba Eijiro is the strongest!

In sword power, Saito Mijuro is the strongest!

In sword elegance, Taojing Chunzang is the strongest!

And among these three, Chiba Eijiro’s reputation is the most resounding.

As for why Chiba Eijiro’s reputation is the most resounding... the reason is simple: Chiba Eijiro’s various achievements to this point are so dazzling that ordinary people can only look away, lamenting the inequality of heaven—for example—

At age 16, Chiba Eijiro, in a certain swordsmanship competition, single-handedly defeated 18 swordsmen consecutively, among whom were "Sword Master" Shimada Torazou and "Position of Taojing" Taojing Chunzang!

Also at age 16, when Chiba Eijiro challenged the similarly titled "Sword Master" Kakimoto Qingji, he used Kakimoto Qingji’s moves and won completely, leaving Kakimoto Qingji without any chance to counter.

At age 17, Yamagata Tetsuzan, known as "Ghost Iron," led more than 20 swordsmen to challenge Chiba Eijiro, intending to exhaust him with a series of matches. But Chiba Eijiro, fighting one against more than twenty, stubbornly defeated all the challengers, including Yamagata Tetsuzan himself, even using a bamboo sword with a broken handle.

At age 19, in a match against "Powerful Saito" Saito Mijuro’s second son, called "Ghost Joy" Saito Kanosuke, Saito Kanosuke suffered a disastrous defeat, and it is said that Saito Kanosuke was left with a deep mental shadow from this.