Chapter 238: Chapter 108: Obtaining Divine-level Talent: [Ghost Heart]

Kin’emon is the type of person who, at a glance, you can tell has a lot of experience in taking hits.

He raised his arms in a rather professional manner, protecting his face while loudly questioning the masked man’s identity.

The masked man remained unmoved, continuing to hit Kin’emon in silence.

For a moment, passersby stopped one after another, watching this sudden "street encounter" with curiosity or shock.

Inside the inn, Aoto, Nishino, and others watched in shock at this unexpected incident...

Huh? What’s going on...?

A mysterious person suddenly appeared, beating up the suspect they were supposed to capture without a word... This sudden change left Aoto and the others dumbfounded.

"M-My lords," the old servant stammered, "what should we do now?"

"...Let’s go out and catch them now," Aoto said, frowning slightly, "If we let that masked man continue, if Kin’emon gets injured or killed, it will be troublesome."

"Capture the masked one as well," Nishino said sternly, frowning deeply, "Beating someone on the streets of Edo in broad daylight... What a disgrace!"

Someone suddenly beating people on the street—they, as the Dōshin of "Three Times," couldn’t just sit by and watch after witnessing such an incident.

Aoto blinked, then nodded, agreeing with Nishino’s earlier statement "Capture the masked man as well."

Deciding to act immediately, Aoto and the masked men led their respective subordinates and the servants of Takaracho out of the inn’s back door in a file, then split into two groups as originally planned.

Aoto led one group to the west side of the street.

Nishino led another group to the east side of the street.

The two groups surrounded Kin’emon and the masked man from east and west, leaving them no escape route.

Aoto and the others appeared in droves from both the east and west sides of the street, causing the masked man’s hand, still hitting Kin’emon, to pause.

He looked up, turned his head, and scanned Aoto and Nishino, who were surrounding them from east and west.

Although his expression was not visible, Aoto guessed that upon seeing the Dōshin of "Three Times" "responding at the speed of light," and two of them at that, he must look bewildered.

The masked man made a quick decision—he let go of Kin’emon, whose collar he was still holding, and planned to leave.

Kin’emon’s face had been beaten black and blue, with bruises and cuts by the masked man—but he still had the ability to flee.

Seeing the Dōshin of "Three Times" suddenly arrive, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly got up from the ground, prepared to escape.

Kin’emon and the masked man fled in opposite directions, the former heading towards Nishino and the latter towards Aoto.

Seeing the masked man attempt a breakthrough in his direction, Aoto fearlessly stepped forward to meet him.

Just as he was about to pass the masked man, Aoto raised his hand and grabbed the masked man’s collar.

He intended to use capture techniques to take him down, but who would have thought that this masked man had some skills.

After Aoto grabbed him by the collar, the masked man used a special technique to break free from Aoto’s control.

"Oh?" Aoto raised an eyebrow, a newfound interest flickering in his gaze at the masked man.

Persistently, Aoto continued to approach, trying to subdue the masked man, while the masked man kept using various techniques to try to shake off Aoto.

The techniques the masked man used were clearly a self-taught, unorthodox style.

Although unorthodox, his skills were quite high.

Because in this era, people generally didn’t pay much attention to hand-to-hand combat, this was the first time since traveling here that Aoto had encountered someone with decent hand-to-hand combat skills.

Therefore, when Saito and the servants of Takaracho intended to rush forward to help, Aoto promptly stopped them, telling them not to come forward to assist him.

Having finally met an opponent with basic hand-to-hand skills, Aoto, who in his previous life was particularly fond of various hand-to-hand combat skills, couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

Aoto and the masked man exchanged blows back and forth.

Perhaps realizing that Aoto wasn’t someone to be trifled with, the masked man’s movements became serious and fierce.

After a few simple exchanges, Aoto quickly judged—that this masked man must have extensive combat experience with considerable real combat knowledge.

These unorthodox techniques of the masked man, though quite skilled... ultimately could not compare to the systematically trained, orthodox fighting skills that Aoto had mastered.

Aoto and the masked man’s strength and speed were not too different.

Under the premise that the two’s physical qualities were similar, one used orthodox fighting techniques, and the other used unorthodox styles... the advantage was obvious.

Aoto feinted a move, and the deceived masked man exposed a significant flaw.

Then Aoto seized this opportunity, grabbed the masked man’s arm, and used capture techniques to pin the masked man to the ground.

"Ah ah...!" The masked man let out a low moan of agony.

He tried to get up, but his arm was bound, and he had no more strength to resist.

The outcome was decided.

And just as the result was determined—

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Talent "Ghost Heart" successfully copied]

[Talent Description: Possesses an extremely high understanding ability in both academics and martial arts]

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