Chapter 422: Chapter 153: Duo Break-In! Aoto and Mai’s Peerless Infiltration [Massive Release 10K]_4

Tonight, this sparse moonlit cloudy weather provides great convenience for Aoto and Mukiwa’s actions.

The two of them moved rapidly like playing hopscotch, swiftly navigating through the shadows of various houses and streets.

At this moment, they suddenly saw two swaying shadows tightly together at the entrance of a street they must pass.

Having changed into their "Phantom Thief’s Outfit," Aoto and Mukiwa currently identify themselves as Edo’s famous "Phantom Thief Duo": Cat Monk and Fox Monk, so they should try not to let anyone notice their figures and movements.

The two tacitly agreed and simultaneously headed in the same direction: to the left, an open alley between two rows of houses where the eaves do not obstruct.

The black attire on them perfectly blended with the unprotected alley.

Just as Aoto and Mukiwa hid themselves, those two swaying shadows appeared at the alley entrance — two young men likely not even twenty years old.

This pair of young men with interlinked arms had faces flushed with a red that even darkness couldn’t conceal, and despite the distance, the alcohol scent they carried reached Aoto and Mukiwa’s noses.

The currently warming weather caused these heavily intoxicated young men, who couldn’t even walk straight, to wear only loosely donned kimonos.

Since they hadn’t fastened their kimono neatly, their entire upper body covered in large tattoos was visibly clear.

Both Aoto and Mukiwa furrowed their brows — with such large tattoos... their identities were self-evident.

Quietly waiting for the two drunken Yakuza to walk away, Aoto looked toward their departing direction, suddenly recalling the matter of "the Shimizu Clan forgiving the debt of the Tachibana Family" that happened this evening.

"...Miss Kinoshita, have you ever tried stealing from the ’Shimizu Clan’ in the past?"

"Hmm." Mukiwa blinked at Aoto in confusion, "Why ask suddenly?"

Aoto was silent for a moment, then softly answered, "Nothing... just a random question out of curiosity."

As it wasn’t something to hide from others, Aoto pondered briefly before deciding to briefly tell Mukiwa what happened this evening.

Upon hearing the surprising news about Aoto’s encounter today, Mukiwa’s beautiful eyes widened in astonishment, and then she sternly said:

"Mr. Tachibana, you should pay more attention to that ’Shimizu Clan’... they’re likely trying to win you over."

"Hmm." Aoto nodded, "I know. Besides wanting to win me over, they probably don’t have any other reason to forgive our family’s debt."

Seeing Aoto’s awareness in this aspect, Mukiwa gently nodded, then slightly lowered her head, her mouth softly mulling over the name "Shimizu Clan."

"...A long time ago, I had planned to act against this notorious Yakuza group."

"However..."

Mukiwa’s face showed a bitter smile.

"The ’Edo’s First Yakuza Group’ of the ’Shimizu Clan’... truly doesn’t live up to its reputation."

"Not just their main family, but every branch is heavily guarded, and each guard is a samurai with a sword at their waist."

"It’s no exaggeration to say that the main family and every branch of the ’Shimizu Clan’ are impenetrable fortresses; getting close is impossible, let alone sneaking in to steal their money."

"To date, I’ve tried several times to steal from the ’Shimizu Clan,’ but each time, I couldn’t find an opportunity to sneak in and ultimately returned empty-handed..."

As soon as Mukiwa finished speaking, Aoto silently thought to himself:

——Returning empty-handed... I expected nothing less.

Regarding Mukiwa’s recent response... Aoto wasn’t surprised.

Being a member of "Three Times," he understood the immense strength of the "Shimizu Clan" better than a regular person.

The Yakuza of this era are completely incomparable to those modern extreme path elements.

To put it simply — the Yakuza of this era could rightfully challenge those modern extremists: how dare you call yourselves a "Violence Group"? That’s laughable!

Organizations like the Yakuza, their breeding ground is the lack of social order.

In the early Edo Era, when the Edo Shogunate was strong and could effectively maintain social order, the Yakuza struggled to survive.

But as the Edo Shogunate’s rule gradually decayed and the foundation of small-scale farming economy crumbled under historical forces, the Yakuza immediately flourished like bamboo after rain.

A major reason for the rapid development of the Yakuza was the joining of increasingly destitute samurai.

Due to systemic defects and rigidity, hundreds of years ago, numerous lower-level samurai were already impoverished, struggling to even make a living.

So, many samurai who had mastered the swordsmanship and literature arts had no choice but to embrace the Yakuza for survival.

Whether an organization has educated cultural members changes its nature entirely.

With the addition of samurai, the Yakuza began to grow systematically and organized.

Therefore, Edo Era Yakuza should not be simply regarded as mere thugs — many of their members are samurai competent with swords and trained from youth in the swordsmanship, an art of killing!