"Shannan." Qingdeng lowered the bamboo sword he was holding in his hand and grinned at Shannan, "It's been a long time since I've seen you."

Aoto turned around and thought about it carefully - the day after he traveled to this era, he asked Shannan Keisuke, who happened to be studying at the Little Chiba Sword Hall, "Is the Shiwei Hall really related to the Xuanbu Hall and the Little Chiba Sword Hall?"

After the "Better Days", I never had the chance to see Shannan again due to various reasons such as being too busy on weekdays.

"Yes." Shan Nan answered, "That's why I came here to see you and say hello to you."

Shannan wore an elegant smile as usual. When he walked in front of Qingteng, he found Okita standing behind Qingteng.

Shannan, who was a member of the Little Chiba Sword Hall who often dealt with the Imperial Guard Hall, naturally recognized Okita, who was one of the celebrities in the Imperial Guard Hall.

"Okita-kun." Shannanji bowed slightly to Okita gracefully and saluted Okita to say hello.

Shannan's elegant movements made Qingto involuntarily think back to Sanako, who also behaved very elegantly.

But the elegance of these two people is completely different.

Sanako has the elegance of a very "young lady". Her manners make people think that she must have received a very strict "Yamato Nadeshiko" education.

The elegance of Shannan is the kind of elegance that "has the spirit of poetry and calligraphy in it".

To put it simply and vulgarly, Shannan is the kind of person who looks very knowledgeable and educated.

Okita looked at Qingden in surprise, then looked at Shannan, and after a moment he showed a look of sudden realization.

"Yes... I almost forgot, Tachibana-kun, you told me before that you are friends with Shannan Keisuke from the Little Chiba Sword Hall."

I forget the specific day, but in short, when I was chatting with Kondo and Okita one day, Aoto mentioned his relationship with Shannan to them.

A friend he hadn't seen for a long time came over to say hello, so Qingden couldn't be too rude.

He took the initiative to chat with Shannan.

After the two briefly exchanged greetings, they heard Shannan suddenly sigh to Qingdeng with a hint of helplessness and surprise.

"Tachibana-kun... you really made me understand deeply what it means to treat each other with admiration after three days of separation."

"In less than 2 months, you have become a bit unfamiliar to me."

"When I heard that the man who solved the murder case in a very short time and defeated more than two hundred "radical anti-barbarian" thugs with fewer strikes, I almost couldn't believe it.

ears."

Shannan's praise of Qingdeng showed no trace of hatred, jealousy or other negative emotions.

Some, there is only pure joy and congratulations.

Faced with Shannan's praise, Qingdeng smiled and said a few words of humility, then asked:

"Shannan, since you will appear here...do you also want to participate in the competition?"

"Yes." Shannan nodded, "I am very honored to be chosen by the master to participate in today's competition."

"Ha." Qingdeng smiled, "That means... the two of us are going to 'meet each other in war' soon."

Shannan chuckled a few times, then changed to a half-joking tone: "I won't show mercy later."

After all, Shannan is also a "player" who will play in the competition later. He needs to set aside a certain amount of time to check the bamboo sword and other equipment and warm up. He does not have much time to stay here and chat with Qingdeng.

So, after the two briefly exchanged greetings for a while, Shannan quickly left and returned to the "main formation" of their Little Chiba Sword Hall.

As soon as Shannan left, Okita put the bamboo sword in his hand on his shoulder, looked at Shannan Keisuke's retreating back, and said quietly:

"Shannan Keisuke is also going to participate in today's competition. The three top masters from the Little Chiba Sword Hall are all here today..."

"The three top masters of the Little Chiba Sword Hall?" Qingto turned his head and cast a confused look at Okita who suddenly spoke out a name he had never heard of before.

"Ah, this is a title I made up on my own." Okita smiled, "As a friend of Shannan Keisuke, you should also know that Shannan Keisuke is very powerful in swordsmanship, right?"

Qingdeng nodded. He knew that Shannan's swordsmanship was very powerful, but Qingdeng didn't know exactly how powerful it was. After all, he had never competed with Shannan.

"Although many people, including Brother Kondo, feel that apart from Mr. Jutaro and Miss Sanako, there are still some people in the Little Chiba Sword Hall whose swordsmanship level is higher than that of Shannan Keisuke."

"But I personally have always believed that, looking at all the apprentices in the entire Little Chiba Sword Hall, Shannan Keisuke's strength is only second to Mr. Jutaro and Miss Sanako."

"So I will collectively refer to Mr. Jutaro, Miss Sanako and Shannan Keisuke as the 'three masters of the Little Chiba Sword Hall'... huh?"

Just when Okita was halfway through his words, he seemed to have seen something extraordinary. His eyes suddenly opened wider and he raised his hand to point to the northwest.

"Tachibana-kun, weren't you looking for Mr. Chiba Sadaikichi just now? That is Mr. Chiba Sadaikichi!"

Listening to what Okita said, Qingto was stunned for a moment, and then quickly looked in the direction pointed by Okita's finger——

If... there is someone standing here who has never seen Chiba Nobuyoshi and has only heard of Chiba Nobuyoshi's name, then he will definitely be very surprised when he sees Chiba Nobuyoshi's face.

Qingdeng is a good example.

He was surprised now.

"...Okita-kun, is that Mr. Chiba Sadakichi?"

"Yeah." Okita nodded vigorously.

——That person...is Chiba Nobuyoshi?

At the end of Qingden's sight, there was a... big fat man with a kind-looking face.

The important founder of Beichen Ittou Style, the younger brother of Chiba Shusaku who created Beichen Ittou Style, and the current owner of the Little Chiba Sword Hall... A man with so many titles, his figure is actually very out of shape...

Chiba Sadayoshi is 63 years old this year. Judging from his age, he is undoubtedly an old man.

As an old man, he has a rather "middle-aged" figure: his body is severely overweight, and his protruding belly directly pushes up the clothes and fabrics in his belly.

The growth of his body made Chiba Nobuyoshi's face bloated, and his facial features were deformed due to being "stretched".

If you look carefully, it is not difficult to see that Chiba Nobuyoshi's facial features are still very good, with a broad face and a heavy face, exuding a majestic air.

It's a pity that his fat figure directly caused a devastating blow to his appearance...

Although Chiba Sadaki's appearance was a little bit beyond Ayoto's expectations, Ayoto did not treat Chiba Sadikichi differently because of this.

Firstly, it’s because Qingdeng never judges people by their appearance.

Secondly, it's because Chiba Nobuyoshi's status has reached such a high level that no one even has the courage to question his strength.

Chiba Sadayoshi's status in the current Japanese swordsmanship world... To put it bluntly, he is the undoubted great master, a legendary swordsman who is still alive even if the general of the Edo shogunate came to visit.

Such an identity naturally makes Chiba Nobuyoshi the idol of countless swordsmen.

After Chiba Sadayoshi entered the competition venue through a gap in the northwest corner, some spectators in the "auditorium" who recognized Chiba Sadaikichi immediately became excited.

"Look, it's Chiba Nobuyoshi!"

"Chiba Sadakichi is here!"

"Oh... I really want to ask him for advice... It's a pity that I heard that he will no longer accept advice from anyone because of his old age..."

…

Under the enthusiastic cheers of the audience, Chiba Jutaro and his party at the "main formation" of the Little Chiba Sword Hall rushed towards Chiba Sadaikichi.

In the "VIP auditorium", Zhou Zhu led his wife with a smile to meet his old friend who had arrived belatedly.

The attention of many people at the scene...including Qingdeng, was sucked away by the legendary swordsman who finally appeared.

Of course - what Qingdeng pays attention to is slightly different from others...

——A great person like Mr. Chiba Sadayoshi, I wonder if he has any special or extraordinary talent...

Qingto was very focused on guessing the talents that Chiba Sadaikichi might have, and thinking about how to compete with Chiba Sadaikichi...

He has heard that Chiba Nobuyoshi will no longer accept challenges from anyone due to his old age, so it will definitely not work to directly come to Chiba Nobuyoshi and say "I want to ask you for advice."

While Qingto was still concentrating on how to compete with Chiba Sadaikichi, two very familiar figures suddenly appeared from the corner of Qingto's left eye.

"Tachibana-kun, Okita-kun, I finally found you."

"Mr. Kiryu? Miss Kinoshita?" Okita was surprised.

The two familiar figures who suddenly appeared in Aonto's peripheral vision were none other than Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita.

Boss Kiryu was dressed like an "ordinary old man next door", and with a gentle smile on his face, he led Mai Kinoshita towards Ayoto and Okita slowly.

After Aoto and Okita looked over, Kinoshita Mai quickly bowed politely to them.

Aoto discovered: Kinoshita Mai seems to really like the color red.

Every time I see her, she is wearing the same style of bright red kimono and flat clogs with red buttons.

Because Kinoshita Mai wears the same clothes every time, Qingto couldn't help but wonder about her wardrobe - does she only have this one piece of clothing, or does she have several of the same style...

After Kiryu appeared with Kinoshita Mai, he instantly attracted the attention of many people in the trial gym.

Because Kiryu often showed up in the trial hall, many people in the trial hall recognized this old man wearing glasses.

Many people gathered around and took the initiative to say hello to Kiryu, and Kiryu enthusiastically responded to their greetings one by one.

"Boss Kiryu!" Kondo showed a surprised smile and walked quickly towards Kiryu, "Are you here to watch the game?"

"Boss Kiryu, Miss Kinoshita." Qingden, who was casting surprised eyes back and forth on the faces of Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita, echoed, "I thought you wouldn't come..."

"Hahaha." Kiryu chuckled a few times in a low voice, "It's rare that there is anything urgent today, so I brought the young master to have a look."

After briefly chatting with Aomori and the others, Kiryu raised his head and looked at the surrounding auditorium: "There are so many people... Tachibana-kun, when will the competition start exactly?"
To be continued...