Sakumura Anno, Sakamoto Ryoma, Kido Takayoshi, Takasugi Shinsaku.
The famed [Four-Person Alliance].
An organization that emerged to save the nation, blazing like a meteor streaking across the sky—brilliant enough to rival the bright moon, yet vanishing after only an instant.
This was also the period when Sakumura felt most [Invincible Under Heaven].
"Musashi, you should understand that I was never a pure swordsman."
"And—I could never have been a pure swordsman."
Sakumura was telling the truth.
His talent for the sword was peerless, but had he lived in peaceful times, he would never have picked up a blade.
And if he lived in turbulent times and did pick one up, then his sword could never remain pure.
Sakumura had once said that if he had been born in an age of peace, he might have become a researcher studying birds. He might even have competed with Lawrence for a position.
That was Sakumura's defining trait.
Though he possessed a talent for the sword stronger and more supreme than anyone else's, he could never truly possess the heart of a swordsman—there were only two paths open to him.
Do not take up the sword.
Or take up an impure sword.
"The reason I took up the sword was to find, through it, a way to save the nation."
Sakamoto Ryoma was responsible for maritime affairs and coordination.
Takasugi Shinsaku was responsible for the frontline battlefield.
Kido Takayoshi was responsible for logistics and deployment.
Sakumura was responsible for assassinations, smuggling arms and other supplies, ensuring that the other three had guns and blades to use, food to eat, and enough money to pay their troops.
Back then, they supported one another and made up for one another's shortcomings, each displaying their strengths perfectly within their own field.
They had once been—so close