Sazanoko stood beneath a white plum tree not far from Aoto.

The Sazanoko of today was no longer dressed like the elegant lady that Aoto first encountered, wearing a pale yellow kimono with a Shimada bun.

Today, she exuded the demeanor of a daughter of the samurai family — wearing a white kendo uniform with straight, mid-sleeves on the top, and a black kendo skirt that reached her ankles below. Her feet, in plain white socks, were clad in flat wooden sandals with blue straps. A wakizashi with a blue handle and sheath was attached to her left waist, and her raven-black beautiful hair was tied into a neat, waist-length high ponytail with a blue ribbon at the back of her head.

Perhaps it was because her hairstyle and attire had changed, her entire aura transformed, with a sharp and heroic look in her eyes and eyebrows.

This heroic spirit added a different charm to her.

She was a kendo uniform beauty, possessing both the heroic spirit of a man and the softness of a woman, standing beneath the falling petals of the blooming plum tree — this should have been a scene of harmonious beauty like a picture scroll.

However, the harmonious atmosphere of this beautiful scene was disrupted by the five samurais who surrounded Sazanoko.

These five samurais were all very young, and their attire was relatively tidy and appropriate. They formed a fan-shaped "formation," aggressively half-encircling the currently frowning Sazanoko.

The tourists who were enjoying the plum blossoms nearby, upon hearing the commotion from Sazanoko’s side, gathered around for the excitement.

Of course... only a few were truly here for the excitement; the vast majority were here to see Sazanoko.

Many, upon hearing the commotion, turned their heads towards the sound, and upon seeing Sazanoko’s appearance, their eyes lit up instantly, happily running over with the pretense of joining in the excitement to "admire" Sazanoko’s beauty and figure.

What Sazanoko was wearing now, that kendo uniform, certainly showed off her figure much more than those female kimonos did.

The kendo skirt was typically pulled up to the waist and then tightened at the waist, highlighting the waistline and significantly emphasizing the presence of the chest.

The kendo uniform excellently showcased Sazanoko’s extraordinary figure.

"What’s happening? What’s happening?" Chokata, standing beside Aoto, looked around blankly, "What happened?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Chokata had been completely engrossed in admiring the flying plum blossom petals in the air just now, so he hadn’t noticed the previous commotion until he realized that the crowd around had started to stir, seeming like something was up.

"Mr. Chokata." Aoto said solemnly, "I saw Miss Sazanoko, she seems to be being pestered by someone."

"What?" Chokata was taken aback, then quickly stood on tiptoes, following Aoto’s gaze, "Where? Where’s Miss Sazanoko?"

Even though Chokata stood on his tiptoes to the limit, perfectly blending into the surrounding crowd height-wise, no matter how much he stood on his toes or stretched his neck, his view was still blocked by the dense crowd and trees around, unable to find any trace of Sazanoko.

"Miss Sazanoko is over there." Aoto adjusted the sword at his waist, "Mr. Chokata... let’s go over and have a look."

Though he completely couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on, unclear of who exactly the five samurais surrounding Sazanoko were or why they were pestering her, Aoto instinctively felt that these five were probably not friendly.

Because he had just clearly heard — one of the five shouted at Sazanoko, "Why doesn’t your Little Chiba Sword Dojo take responsibility?"

A shout with such content... made Aoto feel that these five were very likely here to trouble Sazanoko, who was known as "Little Chiba Sword Dojo Miss."

Sazanoko was a friend of theirs from Shiwei Hall, with great camaraderie with Kondo, Chokata, and the others — based on this layer of relationship, Aoto couldn’t simply ignore Sazanoko, who seemed to be pestered by unknown people now.

As for Chokata, who had a very good relationship with Sazanoko, he was even less likely to ignore a friend seemingly in trouble.

Only to see Chokata nodding vigorously, giving a "yes" in response was followed Aoto to push through the crowd, moving towards where Sazanoko was situated.

Just as Aoto led Chokata and Saito painstakingly squeezing through the crowd ahead, he suddenly heard — Sazanoko addressing the five samurais surrounding him... more accurately, addressing the rather handsome young man standing at the very center of these five, saying with an impatient tone:

"Fourth cousin, I have already said everything I need to say, please step aside."

"Sazanoko." The handsome young man cross-armed, ignored Sazanoko’s request for them to leave, instead strictly said to Sazanoko, "You’ve finished speaking, but I haven’t."

Hearing this dialogue between Sazanoko and the handsome young man, Aoto and Chokata both showed expressions of surprise.

"This voice..." Chokata was startled by the handsome young man’s voice.

"Fourth cousin...?" And Aoto was surprised by Sazanoko’s address to the handsome young man.

At this moment, they heard the handsome young man continuing to sternly say to Sazanoko in a much higher-pitched tone, "Does your Little Chiba Sword Dojo have too much time on your hands? With so much time, can’t you do something more meaningful than playing silly games with Shiwei Hall, this third-class sword dojo?"

Shiwei Hall, this third-class sword dojo... when this sentence entered his ears, Aoto’s brow immediately furrowed tightly.

Chokata’s expression slightly changed.

The expressionless Saito, at this moment, also raised his gaze, looking at the handsome young man.