The ground of the arena is covered with non-slip white fine gravel, and a large number of flags embroidered with the family crest of the Shogunate and the Aizu Domain: Mitsuha Aoi are hung around it.

Mitsuba is the family crest of the Tokugawa family. For example, the Aizu clan, which has a blood relationship with the Edo shogunate, uses the family crest of the Tokugawa family. However, their trefoil is the same as that of the Edo shogunate.

There will be some slight differences in the texture of clover.

A large number of flags with sunflower pattern fluttering in the wind, the scene is so grand.

The east, west, and south sides of the arena were all transformed into simple spectator seats.

Among them, the martial arts viewing seats on the south side are reserved for contestants and related people from participating sword halls. Qingdeng, Zhou Zhu and others are sitting here.

The spectator seats on the east and west sides are open to civilians who come to join in the fun and watch the game.

As for the north side... in layman's terms, it is the "VIP seat".

The seats on the north side were surrounded by white curtains. Only the direction facing the arena did not have a curtain erected. Countless warriors with solemn expressions guarded the "VIP seats" from all directions, preventing anyone from getting close to them.

This competition attracted many daimyo who stayed in Edo for "participation."

Visitor transfer - this national policy that compulsorily requires most daimyo to live in Edo for at least half a year every year, makes Edo home to nearly half of the country's daimyo at any time.

Some players come to watch games simply to relieve their boredom.

There are also some celebrities who come here just to socialize.

There are also some daimyo whose goals are more pure and utilitarian - they are here for the Marquis of Aizu, and they want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to meet the Marquis of Aizu to curry favor with the man who is currently deeply trusted by the shogun Tokugawa Iemo.

Political celebrity.

Aizuhou, who is hosting this competition, and the other daimyo who came to watch the competition for various reasons, will sit at the "VIP seats" on the north side.

However, there is still no one at the "VIP table" right now, so the Lord of Aizu and other daimyo should have to wait a while longer before coming here.

In order to show that "all sword halls and all contestants are equal", the seats on the south side of the martial arts viewing seats are not fixed. There is no hard and fast rule about which sword hall must sit where, because the team from the trial guard hall came earlier.

, so I grabbed a pretty good spot.

"Hoo ho ho, the owner of Qingxue Pavilion: Kitaro Kawaguchi is here too. Huh? That guy Shimura is not dead yet..."

Shusuke Mosuo rubbed his smooth chin and looked at the martial arts viewing seats around him with interest. Ayoto had heard of the names he muttered to some extent - they were all people with a certain reputation in Edo.

Swordsmen.

This competition, with its grand scale and exciting content, has a strong appeal to both ordinary civilians and swordsmen.

Almost all sword halls in Edo sent their strongest newcomers to participate in this competition.

In other words - the person who can win the first victory in this swordsmanship competition will be able to wear the glorious crown of "the strongest among the younger generation in the Edo swordsmanship world"!

How can you miss this grand event that will directly determine who is the "strongest among the young generation" today?

Many swordsmen with high reputations in the Edo swordsmanship community came - they all wanted to use their own eyes to confirm for themselves who would win the title of "strongest".

Aoto didn't know as many swordsmen as Shusuke did. He didn't have an in-depth understanding of the Edo swordsmanship world. He only knew Chiba Sadakichi and the "Three Great Swordsmen of Edo" headed by "Gi no Chiba".

Several names are familiar.

There is still nearly half an hour until the game officially starts...

Qingdeng, who had nothing to do, simply closed his eyes and began to meditate.

But just when Qingden closed his eyes——

Hua Hua Hua Hua...

From the west side of the arena, bursts of noise suddenly came.

The sudden noise kept getting closer, and finally condensed into a clear cry.

"It's the training hall! The people from the training hall are here!"

"Ah! Look, it's Saito Yakuro! It's Saito Yakuro!"

"Tsk tsk... Look, Saito Yakuro's body is as strong as an ox... How did he develop such a strong figure..."

…

Captured by the shouts, Qingden opened his eyes and looked toward the west of the arena.

To the west of the arena, I saw a fencing team entering the auditorium of the arena in an orderly manner.

Every swordsman in this sword hall team basically has a very strong figure and exudes a powerful aura.

And walking at the front of the sword hall team, leading the sword hall team, was an old man about 60 years old, with most of his hair already gray.

Just looking at the old man's face, you would think that he is just an ordinary old man.

But if you move your gaze down to the area below his neck, you can notice how extraordinary this old man is.

This old man has an extremely strong figure, and his strong muscles hold up the clothes on his body. It is hard to imagine that this is the figure that an old man over sixty years old can maintain.

Looking at this extremely strong old man, Zhousuke smacked his lips a few times: "Hoo ho ho... 'Saito of Power' is here too..."

—— Saito of Power...

Qingden raised his gaze and stared at the old man for a while.

——That person is the famous Saito Yakuro...

——With this figure...he is worthy of being called the "Saito of Power" as a swordsman.

——Since that old man is the current master of the training hall, "Power of Saito", then the people walking behind him should be the swordsmen of the training hall.

The training hall, one of the three major venues in Edo, is here... Countless eyes with various emotions, accompanied by exclamations, are directed at Saito Yakuro and the swordsmen of the training hall behind him.

Saito Yakuro and the swordsmen of the training hall behind him seemed to have been accustomed to the gazes and admiration of others. They walked to the empty seats not far away from Aonto and the others with indifferent expressions and sat down.

.

"It is indeed the 'Three Great Shopping Malls of Edo'..." Okita was speechless, "The pomp and fame are completely different from ours..."

Although their victory over Chiba Kenkan in the "Plum Blossom Festival" red and white match two months ago greatly increased the reputation of their trial defense hall, their status in Edo is still not much.

High, still belongs to the level of "little transparency".

If you want to completely improve the status of the Trial Guard Hall, everyone in the Trial Guard Hall still has a long way to go.

"It's great..." Looking at the swordsmen who were already seated in the training hall, Kondo's eyes were full of explicit envy, "When will our training hall be able to have such a pomp and circumstance?"

What about fame..."

"Tch." Hijikata, who was sitting next to Kondo, sneered a few times, then stretched out his hand to hug Kondo's shoulders, "Akatsu, your goal is too low, right? With the same level of pomp and fame as the training hall,

Are you satisfied?"

"Have you never thought about going beyond the training hall... no, beyond Edo, all the sword halls in the country?"

Kondo smiled bitterly: "Ah Sui, if you have too ambitious ambitions, sometimes it's not a good thing."

While the group of people in the trial gym were chattering, suddenly there was a loud noise from the west side of the arena again.

"Ah, the swordsmen from the Scholar Academy are here too!"

"Look! It's the owner of the Shixuekan: Haruzang Momoi!"

“Following ‘Power of Saito’, ‘Personality of Momoi’ is also here?”

"Hahaha, this competition is really worth it. I actually met two of the 'Three Great Swordsmen of Edo' in a row!"

…

To the west of the arena, a new sword gym team appeared.

The overall temperament of this new sword gym team is significantly different from the swordsmen in the training hall just now.

If the temperament of the swordsmen in the training hall is "fine", then the temperament of the swordsmen in this new sword hall team is "elegant".

Almost every move of every swordsman in the team carries an air of elegance.

Especially their leader, a middle-aged man who is nearly 40 years old. His outstanding temperament makes him stand out from the crowd as he walks at the front of the queue.

This middle-aged man's face is not very upright and handsome, but he has the demeanor of a handsome young man.

There was a soft smile on his face, his posture was as loose as a pine tree, and his movements were both elegant and majestic.

Graceful as a startling dragon, graceful as a swimming dragon... these beautiful words seem to be specially designed for this person.

After this handsome man appeared, many women in the spectator seats immediately opened their eyes with countless little stars and cast admiring glances at this handsome man.

"Hoo ho..."

Zhousuke let out a low exclamation.

"'Saito of Power' and 'Momoi of Position' are both here... Wow, this swordsmanship competition is really a gathering of heroes..."

The appearance of Momoi Haruzang and the swordsmen from the Shigakukan undoubtedly pushed the atmosphere in the martial arts viewing seats to a new climax.

Two of the "Three Great Swordsmen of Edo" came here in succession... Such a grand occasion is rare!

As these great swordsmen with first-class reputation and strength appeared one after another, all the spectators in the spectator seats were excited.

Exclaims and sighs came and went.

Okita, who was sitting on the left side of Aoto, was shocked by the scene where this big man appeared one after another. He showed a surprised expression, blinked hard in the direction of Momoi Haruzang, and then said half-jokingly He said softly:
To be continued...