Kyoto, Sanjo Bridge (west of Kamogawa River), Ikedaya——

Odaka Matajiro cleared his throat, and then delivered the first sentence of this meeting:

"Time is tight, so just skip the meaningless greetings and opening remarks."

"Before we officially start today's agenda, I would like to present an equally urgent agenda - should we storm the Shinsengumi camp and rescue Shuntaro Kotaka?"

Shuntaro Kodaka—that is, the lofty idealist whose pseudonym is "Yuya Kiemon" whom Nagakura Shinpachi uncovered during the day.

After hearing this, Katsura Kogoro looked stern - he had already heard a little bit about what happened.

After Shuntaro Kotaka was captured and sent to the Shinsengumi camp in Mibu Township, there was no news at all, and his life and death are unknown.

As for whether to rescue Shuntaro Kotaka, a huge dispute broke out within the Zunbo faction, and there has been no conclusion yet.

"Do you even need to ask? Of course we need to save him!"

The speaker is the "majestic warrior" again.

The real name of "Majestic Samurai" is Matsuda Shigesuke, and he is also a radical with extreme ideas.

"Gu Gaojun is our companion! How can we ignore our companions?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone opposite him retorted unceremoniously:

"Rescue? Matsuda-kun, what you said is so easy! May I ask how we should rescue Kougao-kun? Should we directly attack the Imyo camp? Don't forget that the person currently guarding the Imyo camp is the 'tyrant' Serizawa Kamo.

!”

Serizawa Duck——After hearing this name, many people present looked timid.

When talking about "the ranking of the swordsmen of the Shinsengumi", the most common saying is undoubtedly "Ichi Tachibana, Two Okita, Three Nagakura, and Four Saito".

There is no objection to the top two among them - Tachibana and Okita. There is a huge gap between them and the others. One is T0 and the other is T1.

No one in the Shinsengumi can match their strength, they are all hovering at T2, T3 and below.

Therefore, the ranking of strength after Qingto and the General Secretary has always been quite different.

In terms of swordsmanship alone, Nagakura Shinpachi is indeed slightly better than Saito.

But the question is: Can Saito Ichi really not be able to beat Nagakura Shinpachi?

No one would think that when Shinpachi Nagakura faced off against Ichi Saito, the former would be a sure winner.

People who are also in the Shinsengumi T2 include Isamu Kondo, Toshizo Hijikata and Kamo Serizawa.

Their strength is no worse than Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi.

If they were allowed to fight with real swords and guns, it's hard to say who would win in the end.

Interestingly, there is a consensus widely circulated among the vast number of people with lofty ideals - I would rather encounter Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi than fight Serizawa Kamo!

The reason why people with lofty ideals "fear a duck as much as a tiger" is not because of how superb and exquisite Serizawa's swordsmanship is.

But because he is too cruel!

Serizawa Kamo is a rough and arrogant person.

He used his brutal style in battle and the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu he was proficient in.

Whenever he faces a battle, he will burst out with a terrifying aura that "swears to tear the enemy into pieces". With one strike, the person hit by the knife will be directly torn into pieces! It is really terrifying!

Not to mention anything else, the visual impact alone is enough to make people with lofty ideals feel scared.

It is precisely because of his ferocious and violent swordsmanship that he is so feared by those with lofty ideals.

I don’t know who started it, but Serizawa’s title of “tyrant” gradually spread among people with lofty ideals and became popular.

If the people guarding the Mibu camp were T3 level generals such as Inoue Genzaburo and Toudo Heisuke, then the Zunbo faction might still have the confidence to gather manpower and storm the Mibu camp.

However, it seems that the person who is currently leading the team to guard the Imyo camp is the "tyrant" Serizawa Kamo...

This caused many people with high lofty ideals to retreat.

The "Majestic Samurai"...that is, Matsuda Shigesuke, naturally understands the little Jiujiu in these people's hearts.

He slapped his thigh, showing an expression of grief and indignation:

"It's just a Serizawa duck. Look how scared you are! You are really a bunch of cowards!"

As expected - as soon as this statement came out, the "internal fighting" started again.

"What did you say?!"

"Matsuda-kun, watch your words!"

"We are definitely not cherishing our lives! We are just trying to find the best answer after calculating the gains and losses!"

They criticized Matsuda Shigesuke unceremoniously with sharp words.

Matsuda Shigesuke and his followers immediately launched a counterattack:

"If our comrades are in trouble and we go to rescue them, what's wrong with us?"

"'Calculating gains and losses'? Gu Gaojun has a lot of important information. We rescued him to prevent the information from leaking. Isn't this 'gain' not as good as the 'loss'?"

"How can we accomplish the great cause of respecting each other by being together with you, a bunch of insects who are greedy for life and afraid of death?!"

Looking at the two groups of people who were arguing fiercely, Katsura Kogoro sighed heavily, raised his hand to press his eyebrows, and a strong look of exhaustion appeared on his cheeks.

Prajna beside him was in great spirits.

He raised his right arm, supported his head, and watched the quarreling people from side to side with interest. It looked... like he was watching an animal show.

About 10 seconds later, Miyabe Daizo called out to stop the dispute:

"Stop making noise! ​​Be quiet!"

In the blink of an eye, the room that was noisy one second ago became audibly noisy this second.

Everyone turned to look at Miyabe Daizo - they saw him with a sullen face and an unhappy expression.

"Everyone, please listen to what I have to say."

"It is true that Gu Gaojun is our important companion,"

"Not only that, he also possesses a large amount of confidential information."

"We should rescue him."

"but!"

He suddenly changed the subject, emphasized his tone, and his eyes became sharp.

"If we try to rescue Gu Gaojun now, it will definitely do more harm than good!"

"Don't forget, the Shinsengumi troops responsible for patrolling Kyoto this month include not only Serizawa Kamo's fourth division, but also Nagakura Shinpachi's second division."

"In other words, if we forcefully break into the Mibu Township camp now, we will not only encounter Serizawa Duck, but also Nagakura Shinpachi."

"At the same time, we are enemies of Nagakura Shinpachi and Serizawa Kamo. What are our chances of winning?"

"Even if we successfully rescue Gu Gaojun in the end, the price we will pay will be extremely heavy!"

"Now is a critical time for Zunzheng's great cause."

"We shouldn't waste our precious combat power in a place like this!"

"So... the issue of 'rescuing Shuntaro Kotaka' will be put on hold for the time being! We will discuss it later!"

Miyabe Daizo's words were like a hammer falling.

Those who opposed rescuing Shuntaro Kotaka all breathed a sigh of relief and looked happy.

Matsuda Shigesuke and his party members all looked frustrated.

Although Miyabe Naizo said "we will discuss it later", everyone knew in their hearts: there will definitely not be any further discussion!

Miyabe Daizo just used a euphemistic way of saying it.

In essence, his meaning has been made very clear: abandon Shuntaro Kotaka!

Katsura Kogoro pursed his lips, and then opened his mouth again, as if he wanted to say something to Miyabe Daizo.

But in the end, he still chose to remain silent and not say a word.

Katsura Kogoro is actually inclined to "rescue Shuntaro Kotaka".

But... while he sympathized with Shuntaro Kotaka, he also understood that although Miyabe Daizo's decision was cruel, it was not wrong.

To put it harshly, Kotaka Shuntaro was not important enough for them to rescue him at all costs.

At this time, Odaka Matajiro, who was in charge of presiding over the meeting, stood up again:

"Everyone, since the matter of 'rescuing Shuntaro Kotaka' has been confirmed to be shelved, let us officially start tonight's topic - whether to implement the plan of 'burning Kyoto and kidnapping the emperor'!"

Seeing that he finally got to the point, Katsura Kogoro's eyes suddenly lit up.

Odaka Matajiro was about to continue what he said, but was intercepted by Katsura Kogoro:

"Everyone, I won't talk about unnecessary nonsense."

"Let me just say one thing - your plan is so ridiculous!"
To be continued...