The members of the Kondo Group's Eight Gates—setting everything else aside, Yamazaki, their current captain, had been a bona fide yakuza and biker gang member before joining the Kondo Group—no, before entering the Kondo Dojo. Back when Yamazaki approached from afar, the first thing anyone noticed was probably that Mohawk of his, right?
After all, Demon XX Yamazaki...
And here came the important point: even someone like Yamazaki had managed to rise to the position of captain in the Kondo Group. As for the other members... heh. Hehehe...
This forced Sogo Doma to admit that Hijikata that bas—Mr. Hijikata's management skills really were impressive. In fact, Toshiro Hijikata was a man strict with himself and lenient toward others. Unfortunately, even after lowering his standards for everyone else, he still had the Kondo Group members crying out, "The demon vice commander!"
Though he had indeed lowered the standards based on his own, and Sogo Doma could attest to that. Of course, there was no way he actually would testify. Still, Hijikata had managed to fight him to a standstill through sheer effort. Sure, that was partly because Sogo had not been serious, but even when he was barely trying, the strength he displayed was not something ordinary people could hope to match!
Draw. Slash. Draw again. Slash again...
"Mr. Hijikata, times have changed. No matter how diligently you train, when you're facing firearms..." The first time Sogo Doma caught Hijikata secretly practicing, he had tried to persuade him. Well, what he really meant was, wasn't it better for everyone to be lazy together? Why work so hard? Were they trying to outdo everyone else!?
"Even so..." Toshiro Hijikata persisted. As he drew and swung his sword, he said, "I still believe in the sword in my hand."
"..."
The Kondo Group's