"In the summer of this year, Shiranui received their first big task from the shogunate after cooperating with the shogunate."

"That is, when the lord of the Owari Domain holds a banquet in Nijo Castle, he serves as the guard of Nijo Castle."

"And the night when the Lord of the Owari Domain held a banquet in Nijo Castle happened to be the night when we worked together to prevent those madmen from destroying Kyoto."

"Makimura should also know what happened in Nijo Castle after that."

"Nijo Castle was captured by Ogata Ittosai single-handedly, and the castle tower was directly burned down. All the Shiranui ninjas who guarded Nijo Castle that night were completely wiped out."

"The first big mission ended in such an unsightly ending. Shiranui Ri's ugly behavior in Kyoto this summer made almost everyone in the shogunate, including the shogun, extremely dissatisfied."

"There are many people in the shogunate who are extremely dissatisfied with the Shogun's appointment of ninjas from Shiranui."

“After Shiranui showed his ugly face in Kyoto, the call for ‘letting Shiranui’s ninjas go back to where they came from’ immediately became much louder.”

"The first big mission assigned by the shogunate ended in failure, and it was such an ugly failure that the ninjas in Shiranui were also worried."

"After the 'Nijo Castle Incident' this summer, many ministers criticized them on the grounds that 'the ninjas in Shiranui are not strong enough to be useful'."

"In order to restore the lost reputation, Shiranui decided to send a ninja under their command named 'Gokutaro' to participate in the 'Gozen Trial' that is about to begin."

"Winning the first place in the martial arts test of the 'Gozen Trial Combination', and proving the strength of Shiranui Ri to the ministers who criticized them."

Hearing this, Makimura's brows slightly raised slightly.

The information he heard from Hasegawa's mouth coincided with the information he and Asai found out from Kitaro's mouth at Shikiya tonight.

While Hasegawa swallowed his saliva and moistened his somewhat dry throat, Makimura took advantage of this gap to interject:

"I finally understand what happened in Shiranui."

"But does Shiranui have anything to do with what you just said, 'please ask me and Ogata Ittosai if you have something to do'?"

"There really is a connection."

After saying this calmly, Hasegawa cleared his throat.

"Did I just say that? There are many ministers who are quite opposed to incorporating Shiranui Ri as a royal ninja."

"After learning that Shiranui planned to use the 'Gozen Trial Match' to restore their reputation, these ministers who opposed Shiranui would naturally not sit idly by."

"And the method that these ministers who opposed Shiranui thought of to prevent Gokutaro from getting a good ranking in the 'Gozen Trials' is to send masters to participate in the 'Gozen Trials'."

"If you send a master to defeat Gokutaro in the 'Gozen Trial Combination', then Gokutaro will naturally not be able to get first place in the 'Gozen Trial Combination' martial arts test."

"So - the minister who came up with this idea approached me, who is in charge of the fire-paying thieves reform."

Hasegawa raised his right index finger and pointed at himself.

While pointing at himself, Hasegawa showed a wry smile.

"The members of my Fire Thief Kai team are among the few elites in Japan who have both superb skills and rich combat experience."

"It can even be said that the combat effectiveness of the troops currently stationed around Edo to defend Edo is not even as good as my Hufu Thieves Kai."

"Excluding Shiranui Ri, who doesn't know the details, my Hufu Thieves Kai are currently the strongest armed force in Edo - I'm very confident about this."

Speaking of these words, Hasegawa's tone contained a hint of pride.

"A common problem among today's samurai is that they have only wielded the 'dojo sword' and not much of the real sword."

"Due to lack of actual combat experience, the owner of the 'Ouyo Kyden' who has only wielded a real sword in the air lost to the owner of the 'Catalogue' who has tried to swing a real sword against people - I can count this kind of thing.

Seen too much."

"These ministers who oppose Shiranui also know that my Hufu Thieves Kai is currently the most powerful armed force in Edo. The team members have actual combat experience that most samurai currently lack."

"So they approached me and asked me to send the most elite people under my command to participate in the 'imperial trial'."

"They told me - if you can't find a suitable subordinate to participate in the 'imperial trial', you can also ask a trustworthy and capable friend."

Upon hearing this, the jumbled yarn in Makimura's mind was combed straight one by one and arranged into clear parallel lines.

Makimura finally understood what Hasegawa meant when he first said, "If you have anything to do, please ask Ogata Ittosai."

"So that's how it is..." Makimura let out a sigh of relief, "You are planning to ask me and Ogata to participate in the 'Gozen Trials'..."

"That's right." Hasegawa nodded solemnly, "I have seen Makimura's skills in Kyoto."

"I have seen a few masters of using the Odachi sword."

"But among the masters who use the Odachi that I have seen, their strength is far inferior to yours."

"And Ogata Ittosai is the person with the most superb swordsmanship that I have ever seen in the past 45 years."

"Makimura, I won't hide it from you either."

"I plan to use the 'human sea tactic'."

"Currently, most of the elite members of our Hufu Thieves Reform are not in Edo because they went to the Northeast region to capture a vicious thief."

"Although most of the elite have left, there are still some relatively strong people left in Edo."

"Among the subordinates who are currently staying in Edo, there are about four of them who are quite capable, who have not been busy with any important matters recently, and who are capable of passing the first literary test in the 'Gozen Examination'."

Hasegawa held out four fingers.

"I plan to have all four of my subordinates participate in the 'Imperial Trial'."

"At the same time, I will ask some friends who I can ask for help and who are quite capable. Let all of my friends participate in the 'Imperial Trial Combination'."

"In a word - mobilize all the people I can mobilize to participate in the 'Gozen Trial Combination', vowing to prevent that Ji Tairou from winning the first place in the 'Gozen Trial Combination' martial arts test."

After Hasegawa finished speaking, Makimura couldn't help but have a look of confusion on his face.

"It's okay to ask your subordinates to participate in the 'imperial trial'. You are their boss. As long as you give an order, they will not dare to disobey it."

"But if you go to ask your friends to participate in the 'imperial trial match', you might owe a debt of gratitude."

"You didn't hesitate to go to this point to prevent that Gokutaro from getting the first place in the 'Gozen Trial' martial arts test... Hasegawa-sama, are you also one of the shogunate who 'opposed Shiranui Ri'?"

"...I am not part of the cabinet ministers who 'oppose Shiranui Ri'."

Hasegawa shook his head.

"To be honest, I have always stayed away from this kind of political struggle."

"I don't care at all what happens to Shiranui."

"The reason why I would not hesitate to go to this point and stop Shiranui Ri's attempt on the 'imperial trial' is simply because the ministers who 'opposed Shiranui Ri' offered me a reward that I couldn't refuse."

"What?" Makimura said in a half-joking tone, "Did those people give you too much money?"

"You didn't give me any money." A helpless smile appeared on Hasegawa's face, "Makimura, do you know about the pedagogy I founded?"

"I know." There was a serious look on Makimura's face, "Before I gave up being a force in Kyoto... probably three years ago, I heard about what you said, Hasegawa-sama.

Created as a human foot storage facility.”

"Honestly, I have always thought that the human foot garden you established, Hasegawa-sama, is really great. There must be countless criminals who have been saved because of your human foot garden."

"Three years ago... That happened to be the time when I became the commander of the Hufu Thieves Kaiai and started building a training camp."

"It's a pity." Hasegawa smiled bitterly, "The operation of the football field has been quite unsatisfactory these days."

"Master Lao Zhong thinks that the income from my foot traffic is far lower than the cost, and it is a complete waste of money."

"So they tried different ways to put pressure on me, trying to get me to close down the airport and invest all the money used to run the airport into fighting against thieves."

"I don't want to close down the football field. I'm also very troubled by the pressure put on me by the old, Chinese and adults."

"And the minister who 'opposed Shiranui Sato' promised me that as long as he can successfully prevent Gokutaro from getting the first place in the 'Gozen Trial' martial arts test, he will lend a helping hand to me and help me run the ninjutsu field."

"There are many high-ranking and powerful people among these ministers. With their help, my pressure will be greatly reduced."

"In order to allow the footlodging facility to continue to operate smoothly, I decided to risk it all."

After saying that, Hasegawa let out a few self-deprecating chuckles.

"...I finally understand the specific story of what happened." Makimura, who still crossed his arms on his chest, nodded, "Is this necessary to prevent Kitaro from winning the first place in the martial arts test?"

"Can't there be another way?"

"For example, doing tricks in the 'Imperial Trial Match'."

"As far as I know, the 'Imperial Trial Match' is a two-game competition, right?"

"The literary test will be conducted first, and then the martial arts test will be conducted."

"Only those who pass the literary test can take the martial arts test."

"You can try to use some tricks in the literary test."

"For example, deliberately giving Ji Tairou some difficult test questions."

"If he can't pass the literary test, he won't even be qualified to take part in the martial arts test."

As soon as Makimura finished speaking, Hasegawa shook his head.

"The 'Imperial Trial Match' was personally conducted by Matsudaira Sadanobu-sama, a senior middle school student."

"Masudaira Sadanobu has a neutral attitude towards Shiranui Ri."

"Although I don't pay much attention to this 'imperial trial', but as far as I know - Mr. Lao Zhong attaches great importance to this 'imperial trial'. No one is allowed to mess with the 'imperial trial'."
To be continued...