Chapter 223: Chapter 105: Sakurada Gate Incident! The Monsters Reveal Themselves!

Kawasakizawa Chosamemon narrowly evaded this fatal attack, but his left shoulder was inadvertently slashed by Arimura Jisaburo.

The fourth patriot to kill by the side of the palanquin—Kurosawa Chuzaburo—arrived at this moment.

Arimura Jisaburo, Kurosawa Chuzaburo, and Hirooka Sonosuke attacked Kawasakizawa Chosamemon from three different directions. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Kawasakizawa Chosamemon, unable to fight off six hands with just his two fists, finally succumbed to a fatal blow.

But before his last breath, he used the remaining strength in his body for one final counterattack, slicing vertically from Hirooka Sonosuke’s forehead to the corner of his mouth, with a bone-crushing sound that made one’s teeth ache.

Hirooka Sonosuke let out a piercing scream, collapsed to the ground, and his body convulsed uncontrollably.

Arimura Jisaburo could no longer afford to check on his comrade’s condition.

After finally killing Kawasakizawa Chosamemon, Arimura Jisaburo gritted his teeth, pushed off the ground with both feet, and shot towards the palanquin like an arrow released from a string!

"Celestial Punishment—!"

Arimura Jisaburo pressed all his strength into the sword in his hand, thrusting the blade into the palanquin.

The sharp tip pierced the body of Ii Naosuke, who was now drenched in cold sweat and immobilized due to spinal damage.

"Cough, cough cough!" The fresh blood flowing from Ii Naosuke’s mouth and nose had already stained most of Ii Naosuke’s body. "Is this... the end...?"

"Get out here! Traitor!"

Arimura Jisaburo reached into the palanquin with a big hand, grabbed Ii Naosuke by the collar, and dragged him out.

Thrown into the snow, Ii Naosuke mustered the last bit of energy in his body and drew the wakizashi from his waist.

Arimura Jisaburo swung his sword in an Upper Stance, striking towards Ii Naosuke’s neck, only for Ii Naosuke to fend it off with his wakizashi.

In his prime, proficient in Iaido, with considerable expertise in jujutsu and other martial arts, Ii Naosuke would not have feared the now exhausted Arimura Jisaburo, who had battled his way here.

However... his spine had been shattered by a bullet, his lower body completely numb, reducing his strength to less than ten percent.

To parry Arimura Jisaburo’s slash—this was the utmost Ii Naosuke could do.

He had no strength left to defend against Arimura Jisaburo’s second strike.

"Cough, cough cough..." Ii Naosuke coughed up another mouthful of thick, saliva-mixed blood.

"Ha...hahaha..."

Ii Naosuke... suddenly started laughing.

On this blood-drenched battlefield, faced with imminent death, he displayed an unfazed smile.

"So it turns out... I fell... to you lot... who think that mere swords and slaughter... can usher in a new era..."

"Foolish rats...! Blind faith in swords and slaughter... will only lead this country astray...!"

These last words, uttered with his remaining strength, ultimately fell on deaf ears.

Arimura Jisaburo, now full of fervor and extreme excitement, could hear nothing.

He raised the sword in his hand high once more.

The shadow cast by the blade obscured Ii Naosuke’s view.

Ii Naosuke let out a few laughs again, tilting his head back, resting the back of it on the dense snow.

His gradually dimming eyes stared at the sky, "The black clouds press down on the city, threatening to overwhelm it."

"The future of the Shogunate... what will become of it...?"

He questioned the sky.

Arimura Jisaburo’s sharp blade descended.

Ii Naosuke’s neck instantly spewed blood.

The head fell to the ground.

Ii Naosuke’s smile, mixed with a trace of regret and... apology, blossomed in a pool of blood.

The blood spurting from Ii Naosuke’s severed head splashed across Arimura Jisaburo’s face.

Arimura Jisaburo wiped the blood from his face, reached out to grab Ii Naosuke’s head, and lifted it high: "The head of the traitor is taken—!!"

Watching the head lifted high by Arimura Jisaburo, Sakai Tetsu no Suke, who was responsible for command at the rear, blushed with excitement: "Arimura, well done! Well done!"

This bloody duel had lasted about fifteen minutes, and they finally achieved a resounding victory!

Due to the surprise attack in the heavy snow, and with no time to remove the sword guards’ hilt covers, many of the Ii guards were killed before they could offer any decent resistance.

The survivors either fainted or fled in disarray, morale collapsing upon seeing Ii Naosuke’s head taken.

The battlefield, filled with the roar of battle, fell silent once more.

The patriots scattered according to the pre-arranged plan, retreating.

Having taken Ii Naosuke’s head with his own hands, Arimura Jisaburo shouldered the task of carrying away this trophy of victory.

He and Hirooka Sonosuke, with a sword wound on his forehead and heavily injured, fled towards the Hibiya Gate.

The fiery blood coursing through his body slowly subsided... Arimura Jisaburo felt the pain returning bit by bit.

Limbs, torso, head... there was not a part of his body that was not in pain.

Looking down, the number of wounds on his body was shockingly numerous.

His body ached, but his heart was exhilarated.

Neither he nor Hirooka Sonosuke noticed—behind them, a severely wounded man, dragging a sword and dragging his feet, was pursuing them through the snow.

This wounded man’s name was Kohagihara Hideyoshi.

He had fought desperately on the battlefield, battling to the point of being severely wounded and passing out.