I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

With an unbelievable look, Keitaro stared at his Ogata with a knife in front of him.

A lot of blood poured into his mouth, but Keitaro still resisted the blood pouring into his mouth, and questioned Ogata vaguely:

"what have you done……?"

Keitaro couldn't believe what happened in front of his eyes no matter what.

Ogata, who was covered in bruises and could not even breathe well, suddenly rushed to Keitaro at such a speed that Keitaro couldn't react at all, and gave him a fatal wound.

This feeling is like seeing a mouse suddenly fly up.

"I didn't do anything." Ogata said softly, "I saw that your spirit was a little slack just now, so I ran over and cut you with a knife - it's that simple."

"You..." Keitaro seemed to want to say something more.

But more and more blood poured out from his throat, and the remaining strength in his body became weaker and weaker, making Keitaro lose the strength to speak.

After spitting out a few more mouthfuls of blood, Keitaro finally fell heavily to the ground.

After Keitaro fell to the ground, Ogata couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief.

And this magical state disappeared after Keitaro fell to the ground.

I can no longer perceive myself and everything around me.

As soon as this miraculous state disappeared, Ogata also had to withdraw from the state of "no-self state" due to exhaustion of physical strength.

As soon as he exited the state of "Non-Self Realm", a strong sense of fatigue spread all over Ogata's body, as if his whole body was covered with a towel that absorbed enough water.

——I don’t know how Ah-cho and Miss Lin are doing now...

While wiping the sweat and blood off his face, Ogata cast his gaze to the distance where there was no longer the sound of the cannonball.

...

...

Rewind the time back to the time when Lin and the others had just separated from Yuanyi——

After Yuanyi pulled out his Yangshen and Yanrong,

The Iga ninjas headed by Hannosuke scattered in all directions, surrounding Genichi in a strange formation.

The circle of people closest to Genichi is armed with ninja swords and other melee weapons.

The circle of people closest to Genichi held weapons that could be used for long-distance attacks, such as scythes and shurikens.

No need for Hannosuke to issue any orders or instructions. After completing the siege of Genichi, the Iga ninjas immediately launched an attack on Genichi.

The first to attack were the ninjas with ranged weapons.

The ninjas standing at the outermost edge of the formation threw out the sickles and shurikens in their hands.

Each lock sickle and each shuriken shot towards Yuan Yi along different trajectories.

There were scythes and shurikens coming from all directions, but Genichi's face remained unchanged.

Sliding his feet, relying on his superb footwork, he dodged all the incoming lock sickles and shurikens.

However, when Genichi dodged the sickles and shurikens that were attacking him, those ninjas who were closer to Genichi with ninja swords and other melee weapons stepped forward and launched an attack.

These ninjas in charge of close combat saw every opportunity, seized every opportunity to attack, and launched an attack on Yuanyi who was dodging the lock sickle, shuriken and other objects.

For these melee ninjas who were attacking him, Genichi only dodged or defended, but did not launch a counterattack against them.

Genichi dodged the continuous attacks of the Iga ninjas on him, while observing the formation formed by the Iga ninjas.

--I see……

Yuan Yi thought secretly in his heart.

——They must have been training this formation for a long time.

There are more than 20 people, some of them stand on the outermost edge to attack from a distance, while the other stand on the innermost side to start close combat against the enemies trapped in the formation.

Genichi has also learned the weapon of lock sickle.

As a strange weapon, there is no doubt that the lock sickle is very difficult to master.

Throwing out such a heavy sickle or small hammer and taking it back steadily - just looking at this description, you can feel how difficult it is to use a weapon like a lock sickle.

For those who use the lock sickle for the first time, let alone hit the target, it is very good not to hurt themselves when taking back the thrown sickle and small hammer.

According to Yuanyi's visual inspection, there are a total of 8 people standing on the outermost side of the formation and using the lock sickle to attack from a distance.

These 8 people used the sickle at the same time, a weapon with a wide range of attack and easy to accidentally injure their own people, but until now they have never accidentally injured their companions by mistake, or let their own sickle accidentally collide with other people's sickle in mid-air bumped together.

The same is true for these ninjas in charge of close combat. After they launched an attack on Yuan Yi, they have not accidentally injured their companions or accidentally hindered their companions' attack until now.

"Ninja 1" and "Ninja 2" came forward to attack Genichi together. Their attacks were full of tacit understanding and well-founded advances and retreats. There would never be a situation where "Ninja 1" hindered "Ninja 2".

The Iga ninjas in this formation cooperated seamlessly, and the twenty or so ninjas seemed to be integrated into one.

"Hey!"

While dodging and defending against the waves of attacks launched by the Iga ninjas, Genichi turned his head and asked Hannosuke who was standing not far away, looking at him coldly.

"Couldn't this formation be specially used by you to target me?"

"...That's right." Hannosuke said in a deep voice, "I designed this formation with both long-distance and short-range attacks!"

"I don't know how many years I spent designing this formation!"

"Then it took countless years for the subordinates to practice and adjust this formation!"

"Then I used this formation to defeat the unknown military masters, and accumulated sufficient experience against the enemy!"

"Although I paid a lot of money to make this formation take shape, the price is worth it!"

The more Hannosuke talked, the more excited he became.

There is not a single false word in what he said just now, it is all true.

Since the demise of Iga no Sato, Hannosuke has been thinking about ways to defeat Kinoshita Genichi.

He had seen with his own eyes what kind of posture Kinoshita Genichi, who was holding two knives and going all out, looked like an evil ghost.

Although he is reluctant to admit it, Hannosuke has to face this cruel fact: even if he trains hard for a hundred years, he is by no means an opponent of Genichi Kinoshita.

If you want to kill Genichi Kinoshita, the only way Hannosuke can think of is to use crowd tactics.

And you can't simply pile up the number of people, you need a formation to maximize the advantage of the number of people.

So Hannosuke spent many years studying the formation that can maximize combat power.

Then he went around looking for seedlings with potential and worth cultivating, taught them Iga's ninjutsu, and trained them into Iga's ninjas. Then let them learn and practice the formation designed by Hannosuke.

Back and forth, I don't know how many years it took.

Although it took many, many years, but as Hanosuke said just now-although a lot of costs were paid, these costs were all worth it.

Hannosuke felt his heart beating fast now.

It was as fast as if his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

After waiting for 40 years, I finally saw Yuan Yi again, and finally let the formation they honed so hard to deal with Yuan Yi.

If possible, Hannosuke would like to raise the sword directly and join the formation.

It's a pity - Hannosuke's physical strength no longer allows him to do this.

Hannosuke is now an old man over 60 years old, and now he can't even hold a knife firmly.

In his current state, raising a knife to join this formation will only hinder him, so Hannosuke can only resist the method of personally stepping forward to avenge Iga no Sato, standing outside the formation, far away Looking intently at Genichi who was being besieged by his subordinates.

Looking at Genichi whose footsteps gradually became less flexible in the center of the formation, a smug look emerged along with the slightly upturned corners of Hannosuke's mouth.

Hannosuke is determined to take down Genichi's head today.

Not just because he has confidence in the strength of his men and in his formation.

It is because Yuan Yi is no longer the young man in his prime 40 years ago.

Now Genichi is the same as him - his hair and beard are grey, and his skin is wrinkled like a piece of dried orange peel.

—— Yuan Yi...

Hannosuke said excitedly in his heart.

——No matter how strong you are, you are only a mortal body. Even you, it is impossible to escape the aging of the body...!

...

...

Genichi had been avoiding the continuous attacks coming towards him from all directions just now, while quietly listening to Hannosuke's introduction of this formation specially used to deal with him.

After Hannosuke finished speaking, Genichi smiled slightly.

"So that's the case, in order to defeat me, did you design a formation..."

"This lineup is really powerful."

"Both near and far."

"Even if it's me, if I just dodge or defend, I won't be able to stay in this formation for too long."

"so what……"

Yuan Yi took a deep breath.

A ninja standing on the side of Yuan just raised the ninja sword in his hand and slashed at Yuan.

This time, Yuan Yi didn't flash or guard.

Instead, after inhaling the air into the lungs with the lever and slowly exhaling it, he swung his right hand at Yangshen at a speed so fast that Hannosuke who was standing on the periphery of the formation could directly open his eyes.

Yang Shen took the shortest route across the ninja's throat.

"I have to show some real skills." Yuan Yi announced to everyone present in a calm tone.

After beheading the ninja beside him with a single blow, Genichi quickly pressed the center of gravity of his body, and then his whole body turned into an afterimage of the sword, flashing towards the ninja closest to him.

As Genichi dodged towards the ninja, a scythe flew towards him from his left rear.

But Yuan Yi seemed to have eyes behind him, and with a wave of his left hand, Yan Rong shot down the scythe, and then steadily came to the ninja closest to him.

Step in, bend and stretch your upper body, and cut the knife vertically from bottom to top.

Another ninja was beheaded by Genichi.

Because Yuan Yi's speed was too fast, the ninja didn't have time to defend or counterattack until he was beheaded.

If someone with profound knowledge in swordsmanship came to watch Yuan Yi's two slashes just now, he might be shocked from ear to ear by the strength of Yuan Yi's two slashes just now.

Yuan Yi's 2 slashes just now were not so powerful.

It's just too precise.

Hit the enemy's vitals very precisely, and the force used is just enough to take away the enemy's life, neither too much nor too little.

This kind of extremely precise slash can not only kill the enemy with the highest efficiency, but also save one's physical strength to the greatest extent.

Hannosuke is naturally the kind of person who can understand how exquisite Genichi's swordsmanship is.

Hannosuke at this time... His expression is hard to describe in words.

After seeing Genichi beheading two of his subordinates at an extremely fast speed that was completely different from just now, Hannosuke's pupils shrank suddenly, his mouth opened wide, and his jaw seemed to be about to fall off at any moment up.

Genichi is now focusing his energy and attention on dealing with the ninjas around him, so he didn't see Hannosuke's wonderful expression now.

Gen's foot slipped, and the ground creaked.

Dodging, dodging again, Yuan Yi's body flashed nimbly, dodging all the knives, sickles and shurikens thrown at him by the ninjas.

He rushed to the front and back of the two ninjas, dodged, and dodged again, Balrog's sword silently dodged twice, blood mist rose from the bodies of the two ninjas, and then fell heavily to the ground.

Genichi waved Yangshen and Yanrong in his hand, reaping the lives of one Iga ninja after another.

After a while, the formation that Hannosuke placed high hopes on was torn open by Genichi.

After forcibly tearing a hole in the formation, Genichi ignored the ninjas who were still in charge of melee combat, but followed the hole he tore open and rushed straight to a group standing outside the formation. A ninja with a sword in his hand.

The ninja standing at the outermost edge of the formation with a sickle in his hand naturally saw how Yuan Yi beheaded his companions one by one with a destructive force.

After seeing Yuan running straight towards him, he couldn't help but panic, and waved the lock sickle in his hand in a slightly messy posture, driving the sickle to cut towards Yuan Yi.

Genichi just turned his head to avoid the scythe flying towards him.

Getting close to the ninja, Yuan Yi didn't kill him with a knife.

Instead, use jujitsu to bring the ninja down.

While breaking the ninja's neck, he took away the ninja's sickle.

"The lock sickle...it's been a long time since it's been used..."

After muttering like this, Yuanyi bit Yan Rong in his mouth, then swung the lock sickle with his left arm, and threw the sickle heavily towards another ninja who also used the lock sickle in the distance, and then precisely cut his neck.

Even though he is already a gray-haired old man, he obviously only uses one arm to drive the scythe, but the scythe thrown by Genichi is far better than the scythe thrown by these Iga ninjas in terms of strength, speed, and accuracy. sickle.

"Don't be afraid! Don't panic!" Hannosuke raised his voice, encouraging his subordinates who were still alive, "Don't panic! Surround him again!"

Hannosuke's encouragement is still effective.

After hearing Hannosuke's shouts, the ninjas who were already panicked regained a little composure.

But that didn't help.

Restoring their composure doesn't help them defeat Genichi.

Genichi was still beheading their companions one by one like chopping melons and vegetables.

Soon, there were less than 8 Iga ninjas, including Hannosuke, who could still stand still.

And these Iga ninjas who are still alive, their morale and fighting spirit are undoubtedly-collapsed.

The remaining people who are still alive are basically people who have just joined Hannosuke's command for a short time, or who did not have a strong will to fight. Because those who are loyal to Iga or have a strong will to fight are very Heroically rushed up to attack Yuan Yi, but was knocked down by Yuan Yi's sword.

Facing Genichi with overwhelming power, their fear of death still overwhelmed their loyalty to Iga.

Although Hannosuke was hoarse from shouting, and even swung a knife to kill a ninja who was trying to escape, he couldn't stop the rest of the people from fleeing.

In the end——only Hannosuke, Zennosuke, and Shinnosuke remained in place.

The three of them, headed by Hannosuke, are all survivors of the destruction of Iga no Sato 40 years ago.

The three old men stared at Yuan Yi who was walking towards them with a knife.

His eyes were full of anger, astonishment and shock.

"Your subordinates are still very good." Yuan Yi said softly, "The skill is not bad, and the will to fight is not bad. Only a few people are left before they collapse. If it is another organization, I am afraid that they will be brought down by me. After half their companions, they scattered and fled."

After all, there are only a very small number of organizations that can fight to the death without retreating.

So just like what Genichi said just now—the performance of the Iga ninjas just now was considered excellent, and the twenty or so people were beaten down to less than 10 people before they began to collapse.

Although the subordinates fled to death, the three survivors after the fall of Iga no Sato, led by Hannosuke, still stood firmly in place, without the slightest thought or action of intending to escape.

The three of them pulled out their ninja swords with dark faces.

"Kinoshita Genichi!" Hannosuke clenched the ninja sword in his hand and roared at Genichi, "Why? Why are you always the only one special?!"

There was a hint of crying in Hannosuke's voice.

"Obviously you are already a white-haired old man, but you still have such a strong power!"

"why?!"

"Why are you always the most special one?!"

Speaking of this, Hannosuke's eyes began to turn slightly red.

As of less than a stick of incense, Hannosuke is still full of confidence in his subordinates and their formation. He firmly believes that this time he will be able to kill Genichi Kinoshita, and draw a picture of this 40-year-old enmity. The last full stop.

No matter how strong a person is, their bodies will still start to weaken with age. Hannosuke doesn't believe that they can't handle Genichi Kinoshita who is so old that he doesn't even have a single black hair.

However... after only a stick of incense, Hannosuke's self-confidence was completely smashed by Genichi with his two knives.

Hannosuke felt very angry and...unwilling.

He doesn't understand why Yuan Yi has such a strong power at this age.

After Hannosuke passed the threshold of 60 years old, they began to be unable to do things like swinging knives.

The agility of the footsteps has also been greatly weakened, not only is the speed slow, but also often makes such low-level mistakes as the left foot tripping over the right foot.

If it weren't for the fact that his body was no longer in good shape, Hannosuke and the others wouldn't have been standing at the outermost edge of the formation, leaving the heavy responsibility of killing Genichi to their subordinates.

So Hannosuke was not reconciled.

I feel extremely dissatisfied that Yuanyi will always be a special one.

40 years ago, Hannosuke witnessed Genichi, who was in full bloom at the time, fighting with his own eyes.

Genichi, who was only 24 years old at the time, showed a strength far beyond his peers.

Now that Yuanyi is 64 years old, he is still far ahead of his peers.

People of the same age like Hannosuke are too old to hold a knife steadily, but Genichi's footsteps are still agile, and his slashes are still sharp.

This strong unwillingness made Hannosuke's eyes turn red involuntarily, and a crying voice appeared in his voice.

As soon as Hannosuke's cry fell, the expressionless Genichi said quietly without thinking:

"Because—I've never aged at all."

After finishing speaking, Yuanyi turned into an afterimage again.

The three Hannosuke, who are too old to hold a knife, naturally have no chance of winning.

The three of them knew that they had no chance of winning.

But they still chose to fight Yuan Yi to the end.

While letting out an angry howl as if he was going to vent the anger that had accumulated in his chest for 40 years, he swung his knife and greeted Yuan Yi who was rushing towards them.

The knives of the three of them couldn't even touch the corner of Yuanyi's clothes, so they were hit by three knives...

...

...

When Hannosuke and the others fell down, they still stared at Genichi with eyes full of anger and unwillingness.

Until he died, he kept staring at Genichi.

This appearance, as if he wants to keep Yuan Yi's face firmly in his eyes, and then go to hell together with the memory of Yuan Yi's face.

Minamoto and Hannosuke didn't care about their behavior of glaring at him before they died.

After all—he himself has long been used to it.

"Okay..." Yuan Yi heaved a sigh of relief while retracting the knife, "Where are Xiaolin and the others going now..."

Yuanyi turned his gaze to the direction where Lin and the others left just now.

However——just when Yuanyi was about to go after Lin and the others, he suddenly heard a series of slow footsteps coming from behind him.

Following the prestige, Yuan Yi frowned involuntarily at the figure that appeared in Yuan Yi's eyes.

"The Balrog...?"

"Genichi, am I right? As long as I see you, nothing good will happen. I just left Shiranui for half a day, and Shiranui has been tossed by you into what it is now."

The figure approaching from behind Yuanyi and walking slowly towards Yuanyi is the Balrog.

Wearing a pair of newly purchased hats on his head, the Balrog stopped when he was about 10 steps away from Genichi.

The words that the Balrog said to him in the early morning of this morning still ring in Yuan Yi's ears.

Frowning, he looked Balrog up and down for a while, Yuan Yi asked in a deep voice:

"...What are you doing when you come back? Didn't you say that you no longer plan to be the Balrog in Shiranui, and don't care about anything in Shiranui anymore?"

There was some confusion in Yuan Yi's tone.

I don't understand what the Balrog is doing now that he is back.

"yes……"

The Balrog had no expression on his face, and his tone was very light.

"I did tell you that..."

"And in essence, I did."

"Just now, I have bought all the items for the journey, bought the dry food for the road, and actually walked on the way to leave Edo."

"I'm... I really want to leave Shiranui completely like this..."

"But ah..."

The Balrog slowly lowered his head.

The wide brim of the bamboo hat on his head covered his face, so Yuan couldn't see his expression clearly.

"Genichi...can you see it?"

"See... those ghosts entangled in my body..."

"The Balrogs of the previous generation, my former partners, their faces full of expectations for me, keep appearing in my mind."

"The promise I made to them to 'revitalize Shiranui' also echoed in my mind over and over again."

"I... don't want to remember this."

"But the more I want myself not to think about these, the more frequently these memories appear..."

"When I came back to my senses..."

The Balrog raised his head again.

"I've already returned here..."

The Balrog's face was no longer as expressionless as before, but showed a bitter expression.

But in this bitter expression, the Balrog's eyes gradually burst into a light called "firmness".

Balrog raised his hand, untied the hat on his head, and continued to speak.

"The revitalization of Shiranui is the previous Balrog... No, it is our long-cherished wish of Shiranui."

"As expected... there is no way to completely abandon this long-cherished wish that has lasted for 200 years..."

Balrog smiled wryly.

The smile carries the indifference of abandoning everything and seeing through everything.

"I don't know, and I don't really want to know why you came to trouble me again this time."

"I just need to know that you are now my enemy in Shiranui."

"Draw your sword, Genichi."

Balrog shook the hat in his hand, raised his hand, held down the handle of the ninja sword on his left waist, and while pulling out his ninja sword inch by inch, announced to Genichi word by word:

"I want to pull Shiranui back from Huangquan!"

"...You can't pull it back." Genichi's tone was very calm, "The era of ninjas has passed."

"Then I'll show you!!" Balrog took out a black pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

"...It seems that the Balrog has really returned." Yuan Yi pulled the corner of his mouth, revealing a faint smile, then raised his hands, and pulled out Yangshen and Yan Rong from his waist again.

At the same time that Genichi drew his sword out of its sheath, his chest began to rise and fall in a special rhythm.

Dots of strange light began to burst out from Yuan Yi's pupils.

After Yuanyi entered the "Selfless Realm", Balrog's skin gradually turned dark red, and a thin, steam-like gas began to emerge from the skin.

"Come on... Juggernaut!"

"Let the horse come here! Balrog!"

The Balrog made the first move.

He pointed the tip of the ninja knife at Genichi, and the tip of the knife struck Genichi's shoulder straight.

Yuan Yi always backed away, turned the sword aside, and then swung the Yang God in his right hand to slash at the Balrog.

The Balrog also jumped back lightly, dodging Yuan Yi's sword.

Then the Balrog raised his sword and held eight pairs, and rushed towards Yuan with a big stride.

This time, facing the Balrog attacking him, Yuan Yi did not dodge or defend, but lowered the tip of Yangshen and Yan Rong's swords, changed to the lower sword posture, and greeted the Balrog.

The two passed by.

At the moment of interlacing, the bodies of both sides seemed to fit tightly. The long sword in Yuan's hand drew two white lights.

The two staggered, and a cloud of blood sprayed from the Balrog's body.

Yuan Yiyu managed to leave a big gash in the Balrog's chest just now.

After looking down at the big opening in his chest, Balrog's face showed a bit of astonishment and helplessness.

Just based on the knife that Yuan Yi slashed on his chest just now, the Balrog could tell that he should not be Yuan Yi's opponent.

——Genichi...why are you still so powerful at this age?

The Balrog gritted his teeth.

Even though he knew that it was impossible for him to defeat Yuan Yi, he still resisted the stabbing pain in his chest, turned around and fought with Yuan Yi again.

Yuanyi's Yangshen and Yanrong collided with Balrog's ninja sword in mid-air.

The sparks from the blade-to-blade friction repeatedly illuminated the faces of the two old men, Genichi and Balrog, and illuminated their gray hair and beard.

Obviously both of them have gray hair, and both of them are at an age where most people can't even walk fast, but they can use extremely agile movements to fight fierce battles that can make all young people feel ashamed .

The Balrog used what he had learned all his life in this battle.

And Yuan Yi also tensed every nerve in his body, defusing every attack of the Balrog, and launched a counterattack that was much sharper than the attack of the Balrog.

The Balrog who has entered the "Yaksha Realm" is very strong - there is no doubt about it.

But facing Yuan Yi who has entered the "Selfless Realm", Balrog was still suppressed by him.

Although the Balrog still managed to inflict some wounds on Yuan Yi, the speed at which new wounds appeared on his body was far faster than the speed at which he inflicted wounds on Yuan Yi.

As the battle became more and more intense, more and more doubts began to emerge from the bottom of Balrog's heart.

He always felt that Yuan Yi always had a sense of disobedience.

An indescribable sense of disobedience.

For some reason, the Balrog felt that Yuan Yi in front of him was weird.

But I can't tell where it's coming from...

...

...

The two missed each other again.

The light of Yangshen's sword sliced ​​across Balrog's flank, and Balrog hit the ground with one shoulder.

The high-intensity battle and the massive blood loss had already made the Balrog feel dizzy and unconscious.

But after falling to the ground, he still gritted his teeth and quickly stood up again.

However, as soon as he stood up, Balrog's pupils shrank in shock from the scene in front of him.

"Yuanyi...?"

When he got up again and locked his eyes on Yuan Yi again, for a moment, the Balrog saw Yuan Yi turned into a youthful appearance.

The hair is black, the skin is firm, and every piece of flesh on the body seems to be full of vitality.

Balrog raised his hand and rubbed his eyes vigorously. When he opened his eyes and looked at Yuan Yi again, Yuan Yi changed back to his current white-haired appearance.

Flame Demon stared blankly at Genichi in front of him.

He no longer rushed to attack Yuan Yi as before.

"What's wrong?" Yuan Yi asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...ha...haha." After being silent for a moment, the Balrog smiled lowly, looking at the eyes and pupils of the Balrog, with complex colors slowly emerging, "I have been doing this since just now. Doubtful."

"I wonder why you are so old, Yuan Yi, but you are still so strong."

"Even I have to use only one ninja sword due to my physical weakness, but you can still wield it freely like a young man."

"Until just now, I finally knew the answer..."

The Balrog looked straight into Genichi's eyes.

"Yuanyi...Although your body is aging, the light in your eyes has never weakened."

"The light in your eyes is exactly the same as when you were young... It hasn't changed at all."

"Genichi, why doesn't the light in your eyes fade?"

There was a bit of urgency in Balrog's tone.

It's like I can't wait to know the answer to this question.

Until just now, Balrog finally knew what was going on with the sense of disobedience he felt from Yuan Yi—the current Yuan Yi and the young Yuan Yi, no matter in temperament, eyes, or other things. In every respect, it is exactly the same as when I was young.

Except that the body has become old, everything else is the same as when it was young.

That's why the Balrog felt that weird sense of disobedience from Yuan Yi.

It is also because of this that in the trance just now, he saw Yuan as his youthful appearance.

Genichi calmly looked at the Balrog who was looking at him eagerly.

"My love for swordsmanship has never aged."

Yuan Yi said quietly.

"The light in the eyes will naturally not weaken."

"Xin who loves swordsmanship?" Balrog looked confused.

"That seems to be 51 years ago."

A faint look of reminiscence appeared on Yuan Yi's face.

"I didn't come from a family of swordsmen, nor did I practice any swordsmanship since I was a child."

"I didn't actually touch a sword until I was 13 years old."

"Before the age of 13, I had no interest in swords and fencing, and I had no idea of ​​learning swords. I just played every day and spent my days doing nothing."

"Until the age of 13, I met a girl by chance."

"That girl is the daughter of the owner of a certain sword gym that teaches Wushu swordsmanship."

"That girl is very beautiful, and her feet are also beautiful. I fell in love with that girl just by looking at her."

"In order to get close to this girl, I decided to enter this sword hall and learn sword skills that I have never been interested in before."

"In order to see the owner's daughter more often, I go to the sword hall every day."

"At that time, I went to the sword hall to learn swords purely for the owner's daughter."

"It's a pity that there is still no result between me and the owner's daughter."

"One year after I joined the sword gym, the owner's daughter was betrothed by the owner to a certain rich and powerful warrior."

"After the owner's daughter married someone else, she was never seen in the sword hall again."

"However—although the owner's daughter is no longer here, I didn't stop going to the sword hall because of this."

"I still go to the sword hall every day and continue to practice swordsmanship."

"I had no interest in swordsmanship at first, but after I joined the swordhouse to practice swords because of my daughter, I gradually fell in love with swords and swordplay."

"I originally swung the sword for the owner's daughter, but gradually changed to swinging the sword for myself."

"Even if it is no longer possible to see the figure of the owner's daughter in the sword hall, even if there are more painful things than this, I want to continue to swing the sword."

"Although I am now an old man, my love for swords has never diminished."

Speaking of this, a faint smile began to emerge from Yuan Yi's face.

"As long as there is a sword in my waist, my weakened heart can continue to beat vigorously, and the blood under the old skin will continue to burn like a prairie fire."

The Balrog was in a daze, and heard the last.

"……So this is ah."

Bitterness climbed up the Balrog's pupils and cheeks.

"Yuanyi, you have never aged."

"And I... have been too old for a long time."

After all, the Balrog slowly lifted the Ninja Sword in his hand.

With the lifting of the ninja knife, the bitterness on Balrog's face slowly dissipated, replaced by a firm expression.

"Come on, Yuanyi."

"With so many injuries, I'm almost out of strength."

"In the next move - let's decide the winner!"

"Okay!" Yuanyi re-arranged the posture of Wuwo Dual Swordsmanship.

Genichi pointed the tip of his knife at the Balrog.

And the tip of Balrog's knife was aimed at Yuan Yi.

The two confronted each other for only a moment, as if they had made an agreement in advance, they shot towards each other like arrows leaving the string.

When they were about to miss each other, the two attacked at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, Yuanyi's left-handed Yan Rong swung his sword upwards in the posture of the lower left section.

The shock that caused Yuan Yi's palm to go numb spread throughout Yuan Yi's entire left palm.

After passing by Balrog, Genichi then stepped forward, turned around suddenly, and Yang Shen, who was holding his right hand, swung his sword upward again in the lower right posture.

The feel of the blade cutting into the flesh is quite adequate.

Genichi's first sword bounced off the knife that Balrog had slashed towards him.

The second sword penetrated deeply into the Balrog's body.

The 2 knives of Yuan Yi are like two flying swallows flying close to the ground and then soaring into the sky.

The second knife that entered Balrog's body directly hit Balrog's vitals, and exaggerated blood mist sprayed out from the wound.

"Cough...cough cough..."

The Balrog coughed violently, coughing up handfuls of blood and pieces of internal organs.

He was still trying to stand still.

But this body, which has been severely injured, obviously can no longer maintain a standing position.

After several struggles, the Balrog lay heavily on his back.

"Yuanyi... lost to you again..."

The Balrog lying on the ground half-opened his eyes, looking at the blue sky above.

"It's an unexpected joy..."

After all, the Balrog let out a soft laugh.

Lost to Genichi again, but Balrog didn't feel any resentment or unwillingness.

He had tried his best, used all the tricks he could use, all he felt was the joy brought by the long-lost full-strength battle, and a sense of relief... I don't know how to describe it in words.

"...You actually never thought about pulling Shiranui back from Huangquan, did you?" Yuan Yi said to Balrog in a tone without sadness or joy, "You just can't stand the obsession in your heart that is against you." You went back to Shiranui because you wanted to seek relief from your torment. I want to give myself an explanation, and I also want to give... those people who have always placed high hopes on you. Am I right?"

Balrog didn't answer Yuan Yi's question.

Just... smiled.

The Balrog began to see an abyss-like darkness appearing from the surroundings of his field of vision, and then spread from the surroundings to the middle until covering his entire field of vision...

...

——The Balrog... my lord...?

The Balrog looked at the image that appeared in front of his eyes in astonishment.

...

A few beams of light suddenly appeared in the originally pitch-black field of vision.

These beams of light quickly expanded and merged, and then transformed into a picture - the previous generation Balrog lying on the sickbed looked at him sideways, raised his hand and stretched out his somewhat withered hand in the direction where he was. : "From now on...you are the 12th Balrog. Shiranui...I will leave it to you..."

The Balrog remembered the scene.

This is the scene he...has always kept in mind.

In a trance, the Balrog raised his hand subconsciously, and tightly held the hand of the previous Balrog.

"Lord Balrog, leave it to..."

...

"...I...well..."

Lying on the ground, the Balrog whose pupils had begun to spread tremblingly raised his right hand and stretched it towards the blue sky.

The movement of the right palm seems to be holding something.

Snapped.

The right hand, which seemed to be holding something, fell back to the ground.

The last trace of anger remaining in the pupils of the Balrog dissipated.

Genichi, who had put his sword back into its sheath, quietly looked at the Balrog who was in a trance and suddenly stretched out his hand to the sky, whispering something.

"'Leave it to me'..." Yuan Yi walked slowly, then knelt down on one knee next to Balrog's corpse, repeating in a low voice what Balrog had whispered just now.

After staring at the Balrog with still calm eyes for a while, he said softly:

"This sentence... has tortured you for the rest of your life..."

"Until the last moment before you die, these words will appear in your mind..."

After finishing speaking, Yuan Yi raised his hand and gently covered the Balrog's eyes.

"Rest in peace, Ichitaro. You don't have to worry about Shiranui anymore."

Genichi gently swipe down the palm covering Balrog's eyes, closing Balrog's eyes.

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