Looking at Junliu's hand stretched out towards him, Makimura pursed his lips.

Then... he slowly raised his hand and stretched it out towards Shunliu.

Looking at Mucun's hand stretched out towards him, Shunliu beamed with joy, and then walked towards Mucun.

However - as soon as he took a step forward, Makimura suddenly said:

"Junroku, just now...I met Mr. Konraku."

Shun Liu raised his eyebrows: "You actually saw Jin Le..."

"When I met Konraku-sama, Konraku-sama asked me a question very similar to the question you just asked."

"Konraku-sama asked me: I am clearly no longer a member of Kyoto and have no responsibility to protect Kyoto, so why have I risked my life so far?"

"I did not answer this question, Mr. Konraku."

"Because I didn't know the answer to this question at that time."

"But now...after meeting you Shunliu, I suddenly understand."

"I understand... what drives me, even though I am already white, to still run forward to protect Kyoto like this."

"Junroku, as you just said, I personally told Mr. Kamiyama two years ago: I am extremely disappointed with the samurai."

"And my idea has not changed until now."

"I'm still very disappointed in the samurai."

"It's just..."

An inexplicable smile appeared on Makimura's face.

"Although I still know very well that real samurai are unbearable and very disappointing."

Makimura lifted the original and slowly lowered the hand extended to Shunliu.

"But I still long for the kind of warriors who are chivalrous and righteous, fighting against the strong and supporting the weak."

"Even if such warriors exist only in the mouths of storytellers."

"Only exists in my heart."

"I longed to be the kind of samurai who would do chivalry and fight against the strong and help the weak, so I resolutely accepted the invitation from the Holy Mountain to transform from a commoner to a samurai and become a powerful figure in Kyoto."

"As long as my heart is still there, it doesn't matter whether I have the title or not."

"So——Shun Liu, turn back!"

"Call back your subordinates who plan to burn down Kyoto!"

After hearing Makimura say, "I still yearn for the kind of samurai who are chivalrous and righteous, hoeing the strong and supporting the weak," Shunliu looked stunned.

After a while, Shunliu gave a bitter smile, and then slowly lowered the hand he originally stretched out towards Makimura.

"...Makimura, do you know why I told you two years ago - the first place I wanted to bomb was the 'White Ground'?"

Shunliu looked at the desolate open space below his feet that contained nothing but weeds.

"Because this place is where our brothers' dreams began."

"We don't have money to study in a sword hall, so we can only study by ourselves."

"Back then, we brothers practiced sword practice with tree branches in an open field."

"Because there is nothing here and no one passes by here, we brothers named this open space 'White Land'."

"If we hadn't practiced our own original swordsmanship on this 'white land', we wouldn't have been able to become famous in Sanjiang Street, nor would we have been appreciated by the sacred mountain, nor would we have had a series of stories that followed.

."

"So I'm going to destroy this place!"

Shunliu's tone gradually became serious.

"This will be an important ceremony for me."

"A... ceremony to say goodbye to the past me."

"Now it seems...it's really ironic."

"Now I not only have to say goodbye to the place where my dream began, but I also want to say goodbye to the people who were once as close as brothers."

After hearing Junliu's words, Makimura's eyes narrowed slightly, and his fists that were naturally hanging down slowly clenched.

"Ah Ba. Nine years ago, in order to survive, we had to choose to make a living as Yakuza."

"That year, we hired Kinle to give us tattoos."

"Kinle's tattoo rule is to tattoo different animals on different customers. Customers do not have the freedom to choose the tattoo they want."

"Konle, who has such a rule, gave us a dragon tattoo."

"Both of us were extremely happy at the time. We both thought that we would become some big shot in the future because we could be tattooed with the dragon tattoo by the famous Konle."

"After we have the dragon mark, we often compete on this 'white ground' on the grounds of 'seeing whether the red dragon or the black dragon is stronger'."

"Tonight...let's have one last fight!"

Shunliu slowly raised his right hand and tightly grasped the clothes on his left shoulder.

"All our previous competitions have been done to the point, and we have never fought with our lives on the line!"

"In this last competition tonight, let us risk our lives to see who is stronger, the black dragon or the red dragon!"

Shunliu tore up the clothes on his upper body and threw them away casually.

Shun Liu, who showed off his muscular upper body, also revealed the tattoo on his back.

A black dragon.

The black dragon bared its teeth and claws, bowed its head, and glared viciously at the ground with its ferocious eyes, as if it was about to fly out from Shunliu's back at any moment, swoop down to the world, and devour anyone of its choosing!

"Konraku once told us that Kyoto is too small to accommodate two dragons."

"Now it seems that what Kinle said is indeed right."

Shunliu slowly pulled out the knife from his waist, his eyes flashing with light.

"Kyoto is too small, so... only one dragon is enough!"

"The title of 'Dragon' or whatever, it doesn't matter to me at all." Makimura slowly drew out his Odachi, "But since you want to fight Junroku... then I will accompany you to the end!"

Makimura raised his left hand and grabbed the clothes on his right abdomen, and then tore the clothes on his upper body to pieces.

As the clothes covering his upper body tore apart, the red dragon on Makimura's back appeared.

The red dragon lies horizontally and hovers, with its head raised high, its eyes shining with unyielding light staring at the sky, as if it is about to fly out from the back of Mucun at any time, rush into the sky, and fight with the gods and Buddhas in the sky!

"Haha! Since you just said that you still admire the kind of samurai who can defeat the strong and support the weak, then - let's use samurai etiquette to fight this last fight!"

Ah Ba raised the knife in his hand.

"My swordsmanship! Kunieda Junroku!"

Makimura swung the Odachi sword in his hand.

"My swordsmanship! Makimura Yahachi!"

Then the two of them shouted in unison:
Chapter completed!