Chapter 221: Chapter 105: Sakurada Gate Incident! Monsters and Demons Revealed!

When these important figures ascended the castle, the country samurais would come running to see the scene. It was a common sight to see the formations of these world-renowned families, and no one would have suspected a thing.

To make the act more natural and less suspicious, someone even chatted up the young girl working in this tea stall, eliciting frequent girlish laughter from her.

Sakai Tetsu no Suke, who was responsible for overall command, Ogata Shiroshige, who was to witness Ii Naosuke’s death, and Saito Kanmon, who would deliver the ’Execution Letter’ to the Senior Councillor post-battle, held up oil-paper umbrellas, cloaked, and disguised as passersby, following from afar at the rear of the Ii Formation.

The wind blew even fiercer.

Cascading down ever more chilly silver grains.

...

...

Inside the palanquin, Ii Naosuke breathed warm air onto his icy hands.

At that moment, a gust of wind carried a single, pristine snowflake through the palanquin window.

Watching this snowflake flutter in front of him like a firefly, Ii Naosuke suddenly recalled the promise he had just made to Ajiuu — that in this rare heavy snow today, he would draw inspiration to quickly compose a tanka themed around snow.

"Out-of-season snow..." Ii Naosuke tilted his head, gazing at the cloud-thick sky outside the window, "Heh... quite poetic indeed..."

Ii Naosuke was intently watching the snowy landscape outside the window.

Contemplating the contents of the tanka.

Occasionally murmuring satisfactory lines aloud.

...

...

"Mr. Arimura, haven’t you adjusted your state of mind yet?" Kurosawa Chuzaburo glanced at Arimura Jisaburo’s still trembling hands.

Arimura Jisaburo gave an embarrassed smile, "Sorry..."

"...Don’t overthink it." Kurosawa Chuzaburo reassured lightly, "Once the battle starts, just keep moving forward."

"Direct your efforts towards the direction of Ii Naosuke’s palanquin, stride forward."

"There’s no need to think about anything other than ’moving forward’."

With that, Kurosawa Chuzaburo turned his gaze back to the street outside the dim alley.

His eyes suddenly sharpened, "They’re coming...!"

The Ii Formation... finally reached the prearranged battleground!

Standing inconspicuously by the roadside, bearing the heavy responsibility of the first attack, Mori Goroichiro raised his hands to his lips, exhaled warmly into his palms, then tread over the accumulated snow towards the forefront of the Ii Formation.

"A commoner submits a petition! A commoner submits a petition!" Mori Goroichiro pulled the "Petition of Grievance" from his bosom, "Please, Lord Tairō, seek justice for this small man! Please, Lord Tairō, seek justice for this small man!"

The Ii Formation was forced to a halt by Mori Goroichiro suddenly blocking its forefront.

"Hmm?" Ii Naosuke frowned, asking towards the outside of the palanquin, "What’s happening?"

"Lord," answered the Deputy Captain of the guards stationed at the palanquin door, Kawasakizawa Chosamemon solemnly, "A ronin is blocking the front of the procession, claiming to have grievances to present."

"Grievances?" Ii Naosuke’s frown deepened.

Samurais or commoners suddenly blocking the sedan of a high official, requesting the lord to rectify their grievances — such incidents were not uncommon.

In the Ii Formation, "Leader" Hishikawa Sanroku Yemon, responsible for addressing such matters, promptly stepped out, rushing to Mori Goroichiro, who was kneeling right in front of the formation.

"What grievance do you have..."

Before Hishikawa Sanroku Yemon could finish, Mori Goroichiro flung the "Petition of Grievance" towards the sky.

Simultaneously flung skyward were his hat and feathered robe.

Beneath the robe was clothing with sleeves already bound by a Sleeve Binder!

In this brief instant, with everyone within the Ii Formation yet to react, the fierce red glow in Mori Goroichiro’s eyes, along with the cold gleam of the blade, flashed out!

Mori Goroichiro, adept in Iaido, suddenly drew his sword, slicing a slender gap in the snowy curtain, severing Hishikawa Sanroku Yemon’s throat, his body swaying a few times before collapsing heavily to the ground.

Scalding blood sprayed out along the tip of Mori Goroichiro’s sword, sprinkling to the ground, forming one enchanting red plum blossom after another in the snow.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Quick, protect the lord!"

...

The originally orderly formation erupted into chaos.

Mori Goroichiro, seizing the momentum, flashed up to the nearest guard, delivering a Kasaya Slash to their chest.

Inside the palanquin, Ii Naosuke, who had just been admiring the snow scene outside and contemplating new tanka lines, was momentarily stunned upon hearing the successive cries of "enemy attack".

Subsequently, a color slowly emerged across his face, one inexplicable in words...

Watching Mori Goroichiro who had brilliantly completed the task of "drawing attention", Kurosawa Chuzaburo felt a rush of hot blood to his head.

He clenched his teeth, lifted his revolver towards the distant palanquin, and squeezed the trigger wildly.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam...

All the bullets in the chamber were fired empty by Kurosawa Chuzaburo in one breath.

Of the whistling projectiles, only 2 successfully hit Ii Naosuke inside the palanquin.

These two bullets that struck Ii Naosuke... one hit his thigh, and the other hit his lower back.

"Ugh!" Feeling a surge of severe pain from his lower back, Ii Naosuke tasted a sweetness in his throat.

His mouth opened, droplets of blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.

He attempted to move his steps, but by then, his lower body had completely lost sensation...