章 261: Even if You Bend Your Waist, You Must Go Straight!

"[It's enough], I think, he must want us to tell you this," Kawaki continued, "Also, even if he is no longer beautiful or young, but... the longing that has lasted for hundreds of years isn't this a kind of light?"

Speaking of this, Kawaki looked at Otohime and sighed softly, "It is really beautiful. To be honest, this is the first time I have seen that light called [Longing]. That kind of beauty that can't be described..."

As he spoke, Kawaki turned around and glanced at the people behind him. He asked softly, "What do you think?"

"Of course!" Everyone answered at the same time.

Hearing this, Otohime's face was instantly filled with tears. She bit her lower lip and muttered, "Thank you..."

"Otohime-sama!" A shout came. It was a group of turtle soldiers who had just recovered.

The turtle soldiers arrived in front of Otohime. They bent down and stretched out their hands, wanting to lift up the huge steel beam that was pressing down on Otohime.

"No, it won't move at all!" A turtle soldier gritted his teeth and muttered, "Hey, hurry up and call more people."

"No need..." Otohime stopped crying and looked at the guards beside her, "That's enough. Tell the soldiers that Ryugu Palace is about to collapse. Hurry up and drive it to the sea's surface to avoid hitting innocent humans. In addition, to save everyone, release all the lifeboats. Don't leave even a single mouse in the whole city! All go for refuge!"

"Of course, those guys are the same," Otohime said as she turned to look at Kawaki and the others in front of her.

"But... Princess, you..." A turtle soldier wanted to object, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Otohime again.

"Hurry up!"

Just as Otohime finished speaking, everyone once again felt a violent tremor. It was even more intense than the previous one. It seemed that this Ryugu Palace had arrived at the final moment.

Seeing this, although the turtle soldiers present could not bear it, they could only listen to Otohime's order. They turned around and rushed out...

"Otohime..." Shinpachi murmured.

"It's fine," Gintoki picked his nose and glanced at Kawaki casually, "Hey, it's your turn."

"Yare, yare, it's really troublesome." Kawaki curled the corners of his mouth, his face full of impatience. However, his movements were not slow. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived in front of Otohime.

"You..." Otohime muttered with her eyes wide open.

"Shut up," Kawaki stretched his shoulders and neck, then bent down slightly, "I hate listening to women nagging the most."

Just as Kawaki was about to reach the gap between the steel beam, he heard the people behind him exclaim simultaneously. Before Kawaki could react, a steel beam several times bigger than Otohime was smashed directly into Kawaki's head.

BOOM!!

"Kawaki!" "Kawaki-san!" "Idiot!" "Little Uncle!"

Before the smoke had dispersed, everyone heard Kawaki's voice coming from within...

"Cough cough..." Kawaki gritted his teeth and said, "He's still... not dead yet..."

At this time, the smoke slowly dissipated. Only then did everyone realize that Kawaki had bent his legs, and his face was bursting with veins to resist the falling steel beam.

"Hey! Don't watch over there! Hurry up and save this damn old woman! I can't hold on for long!" Kawaki gritted his teeth and shouted.

"Enough! Hurry up and run for your life!" Otohime shouted at Kawaki, who was gritting his teeth and trying his best to persevere, "It is impossible to meet that person again. I have been silently guarding him for hundreds of thousands of years. I am really tired. In the long wait, not only my body, but even my soul seems to be contaminated..."

"But! Thanks to you, I can rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice. I have let that person fall into loneliness again and again. Really, thank you. Now I can finally see clearly... The light you brought... I see it clearly... Really... Thank you."

Just as Otohime finished speaking, the entire Ryugu Palace began to shake violently again. From the outside, Ryugu Palace was beginning to disintegrate bit by bit.

Otohime closed her eyes, and her expression became completely gentle, 'Urashima-sama, the wish to meet again in this life has not come true in the end. At least please allow me to accompany you quietly at the bottom of the sea. ...Let's sleep peacefully together...'

However, at this moment, Otohime suddenly felt that her body seemed to be a little lighter. She looked up and saw Gintoki and the others struggling to lift up the steel beam on her body.

"You..."

"Why did that man make you wait hundreds of thousands of years?" Gintoki's veins popped out, and he firmly gripped the gap between the steel beam, "Why can't you forget that man's words among thousands of words? It's not because it's not just about the appearance, but also because it's a heartfelt compliment from the soul?!"

"Isn't it because you deeply love that man? Even if your face is full of wrinkles and even if you are hunched, isn't it good? No matter if you have false teeth or brown spots all over your body, even if you have dementia, you have to live well! Face him with that wrinkled face with a smile! Damned old woman!" The last two words, Gintoki roared out...

"I say, can you guys hurry up..." Kawaki clenched his teeth and firmly supported the steel beam above the crowd heads, "I am already reaching my limit!! Bastards!!!"

"Shut up! We're already working hard!" Gintoki gritted his teeth and shouted.

Otohime looked at this group of "strangers" who gritted their teeth and persisted and suddenly thought of what Otae had said: [No matter how beautiful a person is, sooner or later, they will become full of wrinkles until they die. Even so, even if their appearance and figure have changed, don't they still want something to remain unchanged? Even if this body is destroyed, no matter how many years have passed, they will still want to believe that there are still things that can't be destroyed!]

Tears once again welled up in her eyes...

"Sigh! I originally wanted to gather the warriors who would defeat Otohime-sama. It seems that I have drawn the top prize." Kamenashi, who had just arrived, looked at the people trying to save Otohime with his hands crossed. The corners of his mouth raised, and he sighed slightly.

"What are you still doing here?!" A turtle soldier who passed by shouted at Kamenashi, "Hurry up and run! Are you going to waste Otohime-sama's goodwill?!"

"Is it really okay if you don't save her?" Kamenashi asked indifferently.

"This is Otohime-sama's last order. You can't violate it." The turtle soldier bit his lower lip and said with a look of pity.

"Hmph, I'm sorry." Kamenashi adjusted his sunglasses and snorted, "I'm a rebel. I don't need to listen to Otohime-sama's orders."

With that, Kamenashi walked toward Kawaki and the others.

Looking at Kamenashi's back, the turtle soldiers also reacted and shouted, "In that case, we will also be rebels!"

As he spoke, a group of turtle soldiers also rushed toward Kawaki and the others.

Finally, with the help of everyone, Otohime was pulled out...

"It's enough. You can let go now." Gintoki reminded Kawaki, who was still carrying the huge steel beam.

"I can't wait any longer!" Kawaki shouted and threw the steel beam to the side with all his strength.

"Is this guy a monster?" A turtle soldier pointed at Kawaki and asked.

...

The incident was over, and everyone safely returned to the shore with the lifeboat.

At this time, at the bottom of the deep sea where Ryugu Palace fell, a portrait was quietly lying on a certain deep-freeze capsule.

A long time...

"Why?! Why did I just get younger in the portrait!!!" Toshiro on the portrait roared with veins bursting, "It's not fair at all!! And those guys have completely forgotten me! Bastards!!"

At this moment, a hand suddenly grabbed the portrait and swam upwards...

"You are..." Toshiro opened his eyes slightly and murmured.

The owner of the hand turned his head and smiled at Toshiro. Then he turned his head and swam upwards again.

There was only an empty deep-freeze capsule left at the bottom of the sea...

...

A month later, in a tavern called [Ryugujo] on the streets of Edo.

Kondo and Sogo sat here, reminiscing about Toshiro, who had disappeared for a month for no reason. Of course, for Kondo, compared to Toshiro, who had disappeared for no reason, the feeling of being rejected by Otae was even more heartbreaking.

"Damn it!" Kondo, already drunk, knocked on the table in front of him. Then he covered his head and cried bitterly, "People like me are better off dead! Anyway, it's not very useful to be alive! Woo..."

"Calm down, Kondo-san." Sogo patted Kondo on the shoulder and comforted him, "That kind of thing can be done whatever you want. The most important thing now is when will you announce that I am the new deputy chief of Shinsengumi? You should know that I asked Yoshiwara's boss to hold a celebration party for my promotion yesterday. Moreover, Shinsengumi can't be without a deputy chief for a day. This is the rule set by the former deputy chief Hijikata-san."

"Who cares about that kind of thing!" Kondo cried, "Do what you want! Is there anything more important than me being dumped by Miss Otae?"

"Dumped again? What a useless man." The proprietress smiled and put a bottle of wine in front of Kondo, "Alright, this is my treat. After drinking, forget all the unhappy things."

After doing all this, the proprietress turned around and began to wash the dishes in the sink.

"Okaasan! You really are a good person!" Kondo raised his head and cried out, "Why don't Okaasan go on a date with me?"

"No," The proprietress said with a smile, "Because I already have someone I've promised for my entire life."

"Stop it! You're definitely lying!" Kondo shouted drunkenly, "How is that possible!"

"Ara, don't look at me like this," The proprietress continued with a smile, "I used to be the princess, and I was very beautiful at that time."

"Hahahaha..." Hearing this, Kondo laughed out loud, "It must be Ryugu Palace's Princess! It must be the Princess of the small tavern "Ryugu Palace"! Then, I would like to ask Otohime-sama, the Ryugu Palace ruler. How can a man become popular?"

"That..." Otohime said without looking back, "A man shouldn't say unnecessary words..."

Before Otohime could finish, the tavern door was suddenly pulled open, and the wind chime in front of the door rang.

"Please take a seat. It's a little noisy. I'm sorry." Otohime greeted without looking back.

The man holding a portrait came to the front and sat down. At the same time, he handed the portrait in his hand to Sogo, and then he whispered to Otohime, who had her back to him, "It's really beautiful~."

"Hey, little brother, did you make a mistake?" Kondo teased, "And your dress is too old, isn't it? A few hundred... no, it should be thousands of years ago, right?"

However, just as he finished speaking, Kondo noticed Toshiro on the portrait, "Huh? Toshiro, why are you here? Where did you run off to in the past month?"

"Hey," Toshiro, with veins bursting out in the portrait, yelled at Sogo, "Are you not going to say anything, you bastard?! Or are you saying that you have completely forgotten me...Hey, explain it clearly to me asshole!"

"Ah, I accidentally dropped Hijikata's portrait on the ground..." After deliberately throwing Toshiro's portrait on the ground, Sogo pretended to be innocent.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Toshiro cursed, "Be careful; I'll chop you up!"

However, just as he finished speaking, Toshiro felt something was wrong. He raised his head and looked around. Then, he looked down at his body, "Ah, I've recovered..."

Then, Toshiro thought of something. He immediately pulled out his sword and slashed at Sogo. However, the latter nimbly dodged it.

At the same time, Sogo took out a bazooka from behind him and pulled the trigger without hesitation at Toshiro, "The person who has already become a portrait should not appear again! I am clearly going to become the deputy chief soon!"

BOOM!!

Ignoring the ruckus caused by Sogo and Toshiro, the man spoke again, "I... it's the second time I've seen such a beautiful person. Otohime-sama, you're just as beautiful as before..."

Otohime stopped washing the dishes and turned to look at the person with a big smile...

(Ryugujo, finished.)

——Easter eggs——

There was a real deserted island about ten kilometers away from the island where Kawaki and the others had drifted to after encountering a shipwreck.

A long-haired man sat cross-legged on the ground in front of a small bonfire with his eyes closed. There was also a sword beside him.

In front of this man was also a white sleeping creature. This sleeping creature also had its eyes closed.

"Alright!" The long-haired man suddenly opened his eyes and said.

[Yes! Katsura-san]Elizabeth also opened his eyes and raised his wooden board.

Katsura picked up the grilled fish next to the bonfire and said to Elizabeth, facing him, "A real samurai must remain calm no matter what kind of situation he is in! Alright, the grilled fish is already cooked. Hurry up and eat it. We will only have the strength to leave this place after we are full and search for Kawaki and the others..."

After saying that, Katsura began to eat. Elizabeth also grabbed the grilled fish and began to eat it...

As for why the two of them were here, it had to start from a certain day a month ago...

One day, to earn money for Jouishishi, Katsura found a part-time job driving a boat to escort tourists... Then he encountered two big waves... and then... there was no more after that...

By the way, there were five people on the boat that Katsura was on at that time. They were Kawaki, Tsukuyo, Toshiro, Sogo, and... Master Roshi...