"Ahhhhhhhhh! Help, help!!"

Nishino squatted down, stretched out his left hand, and latched onto Phoenix Yataro's right arm...

Whoosh!

Suddenly, there was a sharp sound of breaking wind, and a black shadow cut across Nishino's field of vision horizontally - an arrow plunged straight into the ground at Nishino's feet, its tail feathers trembling.

"Tsk!"

Nishino thought that the group of archers under Phoenix House Yataro were chasing after him, so he quickly picked up the sword in his hand and got into a fighting stance.

Blah blah blah...

Following the chaotic sound of footsteps, a large wave of warriors rushed out from the east side of the street.

There are about 40 people in total, all moving in a uniform manner, wearing bright and beautiful clothes, and each holding bows, arrows, thorns, short spears and other sophisticated weapons.

Nishino noticed that the clothes of these samurai warriors who came out of nowhere were all embroidered with butterfly-shaped family crests.

——The family crest of the Shonai clan... Is he a member of Sakai Kingo...!

Nishino's face suddenly darkened.

Soon enough, the samurai stopped 10 steps away from Nishino, and then formed a tight formation with short spearmen at an extremely fast speed, with the sword hand in front, the stabbing hand in the middle, and the archers behind.

Immediately afterwards, the battle formation split from the center to the left and right, leaving a path large enough for two adult men to pass side by side.

A middle-aged man who was not tall in stature but had a majestic face and an intimidating aura in his movements strode to the front of the array.

Nishino recognized this person—it was Sakai Kingo, one of the current priests of the temple!

Temple worship is the highest position among the "three worships", and its power is terrifying.

It is not only responsible for managing temple communities and temple territories across the country and formulating religious policies, but also has jurisdiction over litigation and criminal investigations within temple communities and temple territory.

In addition, the master of Momijiyama, the master of Momijiyama, who is responsible for the management of "Momijiyama", the shogun's memorial temple of the past, is also responsible for the temple's responsibility.

manage.

In terms of status, he is on the same level as Laozhong, Kyoto's director, and Osaka Castle.

Because the position is so important that it cannot be left to outsiders, the shogunate has set a rule: Unless there are special circumstances, the temple officials will be selected from among the Daimyos.

[Note: Generational daimyo: Before the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the daimyo had been following Tokugawa Ieyasu. That is, there were descendants of important ministers who had made great contributions to the dragon]

Sakai Kingo is the current lord of Shonai Domain (total stone height in the domain: 170,000 koku).

"Thief! You are so brave!"

Sakai Kingo snorted coldly and shouted to Nishino angrily:

"How dare you kill people under my nose!"

Looking at the angry-looking Sakai Kingo, Nishino's expression was filled with thick clouds at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Sakai Kingo's residence is nearby... It was probably Phoenix Yataro's cry for help just now that alerted him.

He single-handedly faced the elite Shouchi clan who were fully armed and prepared for battle... Even if Nishino was restored to his full strength and given 10 more lives, he still wouldn't be able to get through...

"Ah! Sakai-sama! Sakai-sama! Help me! Save me!"

After recognizing the identity of this uninvited guest who suddenly arrived, the look of panic and fear on Phoenix House Yataro's face instantly turned into happiness and ecstasy.

"Hmm? Phoenix House-kun?"

Sakai Kingo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Phoenix Yataro, as a Sashimi with a special social status and vast wealth, naturally had close contacts with the upper class of Edo.

Although he and Kingo Sakai were not very close, they had some friendship with each other.

Phoenix House Yataro, suddenly aware of the darkness, hurriedly crawled towards the place where Sakai Kingo was.

However, as soon as he climbed out, he was pushed to the ground by Nishino.

"Don't move!"

"You are the one who is not allowed to move!"

Sakai Kingo waved his big hand, and the feudal soldiers beside him immediately entered a battle-ready state ready to join the battle at any time.

"Thief! Let go of Mr. Phoenix House!"

"Ahhh! Sakai-sama! Don't shoot the arrow! Don't shoot the arrow! You will hit me!"

Words such as bad and troublesome are no longer enough to describe Nishino's current situation.

Kingo Sakai already regarded him as a nighttime thug.

In fact, in the eyes of uninformed people, Nishino, who was covered in blood and wielding a knife, was indeed extremely suspicious and untrustworthy.

If one of them is not good, he will die miserably and unexplainedly here.

It was obviously to destroy Genfusei and for the future of the shogunate that he had been fighting with his life until now, but in the end, he died at the hands of his own people - this kind of thing is really too darkly humorous.

--what to do……?

A heavy cold sweat ran down Nishino's furrowed brows.

Just as Nishino was racking his brains to think about how to solve the current desperate situation——

"Huh? Who is this voice?"

From the rear of the battle formation, a rich voice that was extremely familiar to Nishino suddenly sounded.

A fat man covered in fat "squeaked" his way through the feudal soldiers blocking his way, and stood next to Sakai Kingo.

"Nishino-kun! It is indeed you!"

Nishino opened his eyes wide and looked in disbelief at the fat man who accurately called out his name.

"Hakui...sir?"

The big fat man...that is, Nishino's boss and the current boss of the Northern Division: Chujiro Susui, looked at Nishino with a complicated expression.

Although he didn't say a word, Nishino could guess what he was thinking at the moment.

He must be surprised that his long-lost subordinate reappeared in such a shocking way.

Nishino briefly observed Bojing and found that his face was red.

Thinking of the friendship between Hakui and Sakai Kingo, Nishino speculated that Hakui must have been drinking with Sakai Kingo just now. After hearing Phoenix House Yataro's cry for help, he came out with Sakai Kingo to check the situation.

"Nishino?"

Sakai Kingo turned his eyes and looked at Nishino several times from head to toe.

"Are you Nishino Hosejiro from Kitabansho Town?"

Nishino had accompanied Susui to Kingo Sakai's residence for entertainment several times, so Kingo Sakai had a slight impression of Nishino.

"It seems like it's really you... Nishino Hosejiro! As a member of the government, why do you know how to break the law and commit crimes and hurt people?!"

The atmosphere at the scene did not ease slightly because Susui recognized Nishino.

On the contrary, it has become heavier and more confusing.

In this tense situation, the person who said the first words was Bo Jing.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! It's all misunderstanding!"

Susui laughed a few times, then puffed out his huge belly and moved between Nishino and Kingo Sakai.

"Master Sakai! This is a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstand?"

Kingo Sakai frowned slightly.

"Yes! Here's the thing - I arranged a very important errand for Nishino-kun a while ago! Nishino-kun must have been in a hurry to handle the case, so he accidentally arrested the wrong person!"

As soon as Hakui finished speaking, Phoenix House Yataro's eyes widened.

"Accidentally arrested the wrong person?! Are you kidding me! This guy came just for me! He even forced everyone to break into my house! I have sufficient evidence to prove that this guy committed murder deliberately! Sakai-sama! Please, please

Bring this lunatic to justice quickly!"

Although Phoenix House Yataro argued hard, Hsui was completely unmoved.

"Well...it's probably just a misunderstanding!"

"In short - Nishino-kun, please let him go quickly. Since you arrested the wrong person, stop holding on to him!"

"Master Sakai, you too! Let your subordinates put away their weapons! If they accidentally fire, we will be in big trouble!"

Bo Jing skillfully smiled at both sides.

His seemingly innocent smile made people feel inexplicably close to him.

Sakai Kingo looked at Susui, then at Nishino, thought for a moment, and then nodded lightly.

"...Okay, since it's a misunderstanding, it's easy to talk about it."

"Sakai-sama?!"
To be continued...