I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"I was a swordsman in ancient Japan ()"

After saying this, Mamiya turned around and walked towards Mucun.

"Mucun, I see that there seems to be a small stream there, let's go and fill up some water and come back."

"Fill water? Can't you do this kind of thing by yourself?"

"Stop talking nonsense, just follow me obediently."

"Yes……"

Mamiya led Mucun towards a stream not far away, and after watching the two of them off for a while, Ogata turned his gaze back to A-Machi in front of him.

"Ayi... I wish you good fortune, we... see you in the future."

In the end, it was A-Machi who spoke softly to Ogata first.

But Ogata did not immediately respond to Ah-Machi's words.

Instead, he fixed his eyes on A-Ming in front of him for a while, and finally spoke slowly.

"A-Machi...you don't know where the fire is located?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this?"

Ogata shrugged: "If you don't even have your address, then no matter how destined we are, it's unlikely we'll meet again, right?"

"It's impossible for me to tell you where our Shiranui is." A-Ming smiled helplessly, "Telling outsiders the exact location of our Shiranui is a felony in our Shiranui."

"However... I can tell you which area our Shiranui is in. Our Shiranui is in the Omi area."

"Omi area...Amachi, do you know how big Omi is?"

"That's all I can tell you."

Speaking of this, Ah Ding paused.

Then, a sly look appeared on A-Ming's face.

"If you really want to come to me, go and find out the exact location of Shiranui by yourself."

"But I'll put my ugly words first—if you really find out where Shiranui is located someday in the future, you won't be able to enter Shiranui."

"It's impossible for an outsider like you to come in and out of Shiranui."

"Let's talk about this kind of thing at that time." Ogata said jokingly without thinking, "If the ninjas in Shiranui won't let me in, then I can only force my way in."

"Let's not talk about such big words." A-Ming smiled helplessly, "There are so many masters in Shiranui, and you alone can't break through."

Having said that, A-Machi raised his head and glanced at the sky that had begun to blacken.

"……I have to go now."

"Um……"

"Ayi... These days... I really appreciate your care..."

"You're welcome... I have also received a lot of care from you."

"Ayi... Let me tell you the truth... In fact, when I first came to you, I actually wanted to use you. After I used you, I abandoned you without hesitation, just like those backups in our team." The Jnin who are respected by everyone are also cold-blooded and ruthless, and everything takes the task as the top priority..."

"I've known about this kind of thing for a long time. The thing of forming a team is to get what you need."

"You're right. But——in the end, I'm just a low-level ninja."

A gentle smile bloomed slowly from Ah-ding's face like a delicate flower.

"I haven't even done the most basic thing for a ninja, not to put your personal feelings into the mission."

"Goodbye, Ayi."

After saying that, A-Machi turned around and ran towards the forest in the distance that was about to become dark due to the loss of sunlight.

When A-Ming's figure was about to disappear into the woods, Ogata vaguely saw it—A-Ming looked back at him.

It was only when he was completely out of sight that Ah-cho took her gaze away.

...

...

"how?"

Jiangong and Mucun returned with a few bamboo tubes filled with fresh water.

"Did you say goodbye to Machi-san?"

Ah-Machi has left.

But Ogata still stood where he was, his eyes still fixed on the direction where A-Machi's figure disappeared.

"...I feel a little lost."

Ogata raised his head, looked at the almost black sky above his head, and let out a soft sigh.

This faint sense of loss reminded Ogata of the day he left the Hirose Domain alone a few months ago.

"It's good to get used to this feeling." Mamiya said in a tone that was neither salty nor bland, "This is how a person's life is, constantly repeating encounters, separations and reunions."

"I just vaguely saw that there seems to be a cave there. The three of us will spend the night in that cave tonight."

"Yeah." Ogata nodded lightly to Mamiya's suggestion.

"Ogata-kun, what do you plan to do when the sun rises tomorrow? Will you leave for Kyoto as soon as the sun rises?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded without hesitation.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go to Kyoto?" Mamiya shrugged, "Before going to Kyoto—how about visiting our gourd house first?"

"A guest?" Ogata frowned slightly.

"Although Ogata-kun you do not join our Gourd House, it is very regrettable, but the door of our Gourd House is open to you at any time, and you are welcome to come to our Gourd House at any time as a guest and take a look around."

"Invite me to your gourd house for no reason...you don't have any bad intentions, do you?" Ogata asked in a joking tone.

"I don't have any bad intentions." Jiangong smiled slightly, "But it is indeed for a small purpose to invite you to our gourd house."

"I want the lord and Master Yuan to come and see that there is a third person in the world who has mastered the 'Wuwo Two Swords Style' sword technique."

"If Master Genda knows that someone has really succeeded in acquiring Wugo Two Swords style with the help of the swordsmanship cheats he wrote, he will be very happy."

"Ogata-kun, don't you want to take this opportunity to visit our gourd house?"

"Look at the heroic appearance of the second-generation direct successor of the Wuwo Two Swords Style."

"And...the undeniable unparalleled figure in the world—the heroic figure of 'Sword Master' Kinoshita Genichi."

Hearing Mamiya's words, Ogata raised his eyebrows slightly.

After contemplating for a while——

"...Okay." Ogata nodded, "If I just go to your Gourd House as a guest, I'd be happy to go. Your Gourd House's base shouldn't be far away, right?"

"Not far." This time, Mucun, who hadn't spoken much since just now, answered, "The base of our gourd house is in the Owari area. If you ride a horse, you can arrive soon."

"Horse? Where did the horse come from?"

"I told you about half an hour ago - the Japan of our gourd house is all over Japan."

"In short—" Mamiya said, turning around and walking towards the cave he saw just now, "Let's have a good rest tonight, and then we will officially set off tomorrow to find the guy who can provide us with horses, and who can go to A place to take a shower. Then go back to Owari!"

After Jiangong turned and left, Mucun immediately followed behind him.

Looking at the backs of these two people, a helpless smile appeared on Ogata's face.

After lifting Da Shitian and Da Zizai on his waist, he followed quickly.

...

...

at the same time--

The camp of the shogunate army, the camp of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"My lord..."

There were only Matsudaira Sadanobu and Inamori in the camp.

Because there are some things I want to confirm with Matsudaira, I came here to bother Matsudaira.

"Are we really going to let the islanders of Butterfly Island go?"

This is what Inamori wanted to confirm with Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"That's right."

Regarding the question raised by Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting behind the table looking at something, said without hesitation.

"If the series of riots on Butterfly Island were really man-made, then we have to change our approach to Butterfly Island and ogres again."

"I just ordered Mr. Banjing to start the research on ogres immediately."

"Since it is decided to restart the research, these islanders are precious experimental observation objects, and their lives have to be preserved."

"Anyway, they can't escape from our grasp now. If we want to kill them in the future, we can kill them all at any time."

"And—that monk has a point."

Speaking of this, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes burst out with a breathtaking coldness.

"If it is really an unknown power that turns people into ogres... then this power can only be controlled by our shogunate! We cannot let other people and other forces have this power!"

"Even if you can't have this kind of power, you must destroy this terrible power!"

"I have already sent people to look for the suspicious master and apprentice named He Shi and He Zhi."

"It's just that it's very difficult to find them."

A faint bitterness appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

"This name is most likely a pseudonym, and there are too few clues. If you are looking for a needle in a haystack like this, I really don't know how long it will take to find these two people."

"Let's not talk about this, let's talk about something more important."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu gathered and aligned the few pieces of paper he had been looking at just now, and then handed the few pieces of paper to Inamori.

"Inamori, you came just in time. I just happened to have something to go to you."

"This is...?" Inamori took the papers from Matsudaira Sadakano with a puzzled face.

"This is the latest information about Ezo that just arrived at me."

"It's related to Lu Country and Red Moon Fortress."

Hearing the two words "Luguo" and "Red Moon Fortress", Inamori's pupils shrank suddenly, and then quickly flipped through the papers in his hand that were full of densely written words.

While Inamori was flipping through the papers filled with the latest information about Ezo, Sadanobu Matsudaira whispered beside him:

"Lou Country has recently dispatched several new expedition teams to Ezo."

"These new expedition teams from the Lu country fought against the bandit soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress in early March this year."

"Relying on the overwhelming superiority of troops and weapons, the bandit soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress successfully drove back the expedition teams from the Lu Kingdom."

"However, the bandits in the Red Moon Fortress did not have an easy fight."

After Matsudaira Sadanobu's voice fell, Inamori just finished reading every word on the few sheets of paper in his hand.

"...Did Lu Country send expeditions to Ezo more and more frequently in the past two years?" Inamori frowned and raised his concerns.

"I think so too." Sadanobu Matsudaira frowned slightly at this time, "It seems——Lu Guo's ambition is not small, they might be planning to swallow Ezo completely."

"Ezo Land is not so easy to swallow." Inamori twitched the corner of his mouth and sneered, "With the gang of bandits from Red Moon Fortress, how can Ezo Land be so easy to occupy?"

"Don't be careless, Inamori." Matsudaira Sadanobu stood up and straightened his clothes, "In two days, I'm going back to Edo."

"In 2 days, you can go back to Edo with me."

"Letting a tiger general like you stay here to watch over the ogre is really unworthy."

"I will send a new general to take over Ji Yi's side later."

"After returning to Edo with me, I will persuade the General to send more troops to the Matsumae Domain."

"At that time, you will lead the newly added troops to station at the front line in the north of our country, and monitor all the movements of Lu Country and Red Moon Fortress."

"Yeah!" Inamori nodded solemnly.

"If Lu country sends a large-scale army to Ezo... I don't need to tell you, Inamori, you should know what to do, right?"

An ice-cold light burst out from Matsudaira Sadanobu's pupils.

"I know." Inamori grinned, "Let's wait until they and the bandit army in the Red Moon Fortress are both injured."

"That's right." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded with a smile, "The bandit soldiers in the Red Moon Fortress neither listen to the shogunate nor surrender to the Lu country. Let them and the Lu country fight to the detriment of both."

"We watched the fire from the other side and reaped the results."

"Master Lao Zhong." Inamori asked, "If the country of Lu really sends a large-scale army to occupy the land of Ezo in the future, and fight with the bandit army in the Red Moon Fortress, do we have to take a breath? Eliminate the weakened Red Moon Fortress?"

"...This kind of question, let's talk about it later." Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand.

"Yes!"

...

...

In the Omi area, in a certain deep mountain——

In a certain mountain in the Omi area, a village was built abruptly.

Although it is a village, this village does not exude the vitality and popularity that a human settlement should have from the inside to the outside, and there is not even much smoke from cooking.

In an ordinary wooden house in this "village", an old man with all the gray hair on his head and a huge, vertical scar on his left face was writing something on a scroll.

The vertical scar on the old man's face stretched from his left forehead to his left cheek, running through his entire left eye, leaving him with only one right eye to see.

"Lord Balrog."

A handsome young man walked slowly to the old man's desk, then knelt down on one knee.

"Gekutaro came to return."

"Oh! Jitaro, you have completed your mission and returned! You have worked hard."

After all, the old man who was called "Blaze" by Ji Taro put down the pen in his hand, and handed the scroll on the table to Ji Taro.

"Gekitaro, since you're here, do me a favor by the way."

"Help me give this list to Heitaro, and let him start to deal with everyone recorded in this list."

"This is...?" Ji Taro took the scroll with a puzzled face.

"These are the ninjas who will be downgraded to dirt next." Balrog said in a casual tone, "Gekutaro, if you are interested, you can see who is on the list."

"Then... I'm sorry."

After straightening the scroll in his hand, Ji Taro's eyes slid over each name written on it one by one.

When sliding to the last name, Ji Taro raised his eyebrows slightly.

"A-Machi? I remember she's out on a mission right now? Lord Balrog, don't wait for A-Machi to come back to work, and then decide whether to demote her according to her current completion of this mission?"

"No need." Balrog waved his hand, and then showed a smirk, "I've wanted to demote A-Ming since the end of last year."

"The reason why I gave Ah-Ming a task is purely to make use of the waste at the end. If she is allowed to degenerate into dirt in such a state of accomplishing nothing, it would be a waste of our cultivation of her over the years. .”

"No matter how well she completes this current task, I will reduce her to dirt-I have always planned to do so."

"Lord Balrog... you are really bad."

Although Ji Taro said so, there was no trace of regret on his face.

*****

Volume 4 "Undead" - the end!

*****

Volume 5 "Kyoto Summer Array" preview:

...

"Now Kyoto is very lively, after all, the annual Gion Festival is coming."

...

"Now there is a murderer in Kyoto, old lady, you have to be more careful. That man's name is Ogata Itsuki. If you find any clues, remember to notify the government in time."

...

"Brother Ogata, the Yuli and Tongxin from Kyoto, the officials from Huofu Thief Kai, all the samurai from the Six Great Sword Gyms, and the ordinary people in Kyoto...these people are all your enemies now, and you are now engulfing the whole city!" We are all enemies, you should leave Kyoto as soon as possible."

...

"Brother Ogata, are you going to venture into the Six Great Sword Halls alone?"

"That's right."

"They must have laid a net now. If you go to fight, you will fall right into their arms."

"So what?"

"If you go, you may never come back!"

"Then I won't come back!"