I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The plot of this chapter takes place in Chapter 344 "Plains, Mountains, Canyons, Waterfalls, Rain" and Chapter 345 "Start leveling up!" "between.

That counts as Chapter 344.5.

Tell the follow-up of that night between Ogata and Acho.

By the way—Chapter 344 has been harmonized for reasons that cannot be explained in detail. Those who want to read it can read it elsewhere.

It's a pity for those very talented paragraphs...

By the way—this chapter is the same as Chapter 344, whether you can understand it or not depends on your ability (laughs).

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Owari, Gourd House, Ogata's room——

...

...

A majestic mountain range.

The azure silhouettes of mountains begin to emerge on the northern skyline.

The winding outline of the mountains stretches towards the sky and in all directions, as magnificent as a galloping horse.

Although the mountains are high, Ogata is not afraid.

Not only fearless, but eager to try.

Without the help of any props, Ogata used only his two hands to climb the mountain.

Ogata started straight from the bottom of the mountain to the top bit by bit.

This is the first time Ogata has climbed such a mountain.

The process was more enjoyable than imagined.

In the process of climbing to the top, Ogata stopped from time to time, admiring the surrounding scenery very comfortably.

Because of Ogata's stopping and going, his speed to reach the summit was neither fast nor too slow.

Finally—Ogata climbed to the top of this mountain range.

At the very top of the mountain stood a huge light red boulder about as high as Ogata.

In addition to its height, this boulder also has a major feature, that is, its surface is very smooth.

It was the first time that Ogata saw this kind of light red stone with his own eyes.

Driven by curiosity, Ogata circled the light red stone many times.

While circling this boulder, I also carefully looked at and admired this boulder.

After carefully looking at every corner of the light red stone, Ogata stepped forward and began to stroke the stone with his hand.

From top to bottom, touch every corner of this stone.

The surface of the stone is smooth and feels good to the touch.

After seeing and touching this stone enough, Ogata decided to go down the mountain and look elsewhere.

After returning to the flatland along the route he had just gone up the mountain, Ogata headed south.

Located to the south of this majestic mountain range is a flat plain.

The plain suddenly opened up, in sharp contrast to the majestic mountains to the north.

Just like climbing the mountain just now, Ogata stopped and stopped while walking on this plain.

Stop from time to time and look at the surrounding scenery.

Or squat down and touch the grass under your feet.

Walking on the grassland is more pleasant than climbing a mountain-after all, walking on the grassland is easier.

But—although walking on this endless grassland is pleasant, but because the scenery and colors are too monotonous, Ogata feels a little bored after a while, so boring that people want to doze off.

So Ogata sped up his pace a little and walked straight further south.

Further south along the plain is a canyon.

The canyon is surrounded by high peaks, the red cliffs are covered with green ivy, and there are clumps of weeds on the top of the cliffs; the red cliffs are washed out with marks by the flowing water.

At this moment, there is a gurgling stream flowing from north to south at the bottom of the canyon.

Ogata was not in a hurry to climb to the top of the canyon to watch the scenery from the top.

Anyway, he has a lot of time now, and he plans to slowly appreciate this canyon with red rock walls.

Ogata lifted the hakama of his lower body, and carefully walked through the flowing water at the bottom of the canyon, entering the depths of the red canyon.

After arriving in the middle of the canyon, Ogata stopped, raised his head, and looked around from bottom to top with curious eyes.

I don't know if it was Ogata's illusion, but he always felt that the stream flowing at the bottom of the canyon seemed to become more turbulent.

Ogata happened to be a little thirsty now, so he bent down, picked up a few handfuls of stream water and drank it in small sips.

After scooping up the stream water to drink, Ogata discovered that the stream water had a very weak and strange smell.

But the smell is not bad.

After drinking until he got a little bored, Ogata wiped his mouth while looking up at the top of the canyon.

He was tired of seeing the scenery at the bottom of the canyon, and now he planned to see the scenery at the top of the canyon.

Ogata used both hands and feet, climbing on the red rock wall.

The red rock wall was washed out by the running water in a series of marks, which made it convenient for Ogata, allowing Ogata to have enough places to grasp.

Little by little, Ogata headed straight for the top of the canyon.

Just when Ogata's head poked out from the rock wall, there happened to be a gentle wind blowing.

The hair on the forehead flutters in the wind.

Ogata squinted his eyes halfway, feeling the comfortable wind while pulling his whole body up to the top of the rock wall.

The scenery at the top of the canyon is much more beautiful than Ogata imagined.

Ogata looked north.

The northernmost sky is covered with patches of fire clouds. The clouds seemed to be being burned by flames, burning extremely brightly, as if flames would fall from the clouds at any moment.

After seeing enough of the surrounding scenery, Ogata turned to look at the scenery at his feet.

There are still many plants in this canyon.

The cliffs are covered with emerald green ivy.

The top of the canyon is covered with clumps of weeds.

There are many weeds, but these weeds have been trimmed.

Whether it is the weeds on the top of the canyon or the ivy hanging on the rock wall, they are all trimmed neatly.

Ogata bent down and gently stroked a clump of weeds at his feet.

Ogata muttered in a low voice that only he could hear clearly:

"Looks like it's been pruned well..."

Crash la la la...

Ogata suddenly heard the sound of water flowing from the bottom of the canyon become louder and louder.

Ogata turned his head and looked towards the bottom of the canyon.

I saw that the stream flowing at the bottom of the canyon became more turbulent...

It's not just as simple as becoming turbulent.

The water level of this stream is also rising rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

According to the speed at which the water level rises, it probably won't take long to reach Ogata.

"Why is the water getting more and more urgent..." Ogata said with a bit of helplessness in his tone.

...

...

Very abrupt - the sky suddenly rained.

It's not the kind of rain that changes from small to large.

It's the kind of rain that is very heavy when it first appears.

The rain was so heavy that one wondered if the sea was pouring down from the sky.

Heavy rains wet the plains, the mountains to the north of the plains, and the canyons to the south of the plains.

The rainwater hit the flowers and plants in the plains, mountains, and valleys, splashing patches of mist.

After the rainwater from the sky splashed onto the ground, some of it condensed into a thin stream, slowly flowing in all directions.

Some stay on the leaf tips and petals of flowers and plants in the plains, mountains and valleys, turning into clear dewdrops.

Some are blended with the stream water of the canyon...

...

...

...

...

Ogata panted for a long time before finally readjusting his breathing.

The same is true for A-Machi lying next to Ogata, with his mouth wide open, greedily sucking in every bit of air around him, and adjusting his breathing evenly.

After his emotions slowly recovered and his breathing became stable again, Ogata realized that the table under him seemed to be crooked.

Although it has been quite a long time since the Edo period, Ogata still feels a little unaccustomed to some Japanese living habits.

For example - no chairs to sit on, just sit on the floor.

Another example - there is no bed to sleep in, everyone sleeps on the floor.

Ogata is not used to kneeling until now.

On occasions where you can choose not to sit on your knees, Ogata must sit cross-legged instead of using the tormenting sitting posture of kneeling.

Mamiya has been obsessed with carpentry for a while.

During the period when Lin, Mucun and the others went to Kyoto, Mamiya, who stayed at the headquarters, made a lot of wooden products to pass the time.

Just now, Mamiya took Ogata to see the pile of works he made during this period.

Among these works, Ogata took a fancy to a low cabinet.

This cabinet is wide and low enough to be used as a bed.

After spending more than a year in the Edo period, Ogata almost forgot what it was like to sleep in bed.

In order to relive the feeling of sleeping on the bed, Oo asked Kamiya for this cabinet, moved this cabinet to his room, then spread the quilt on this cabinet, and slept directly on it.

In the eyes of outsiders, Ogata's behavior of not sleeping on the tatami is extremely weird.

Just now when he was hugging A-Ming to this cabinet, A-Ming complained about Ogata: Why did he sleep on top of the cabinet?

After realizing that the cabinet under him seemed to be crooked, Ogata poked his head out of the edge of the cabinet and looked down the cabinet.

"Ah..." Ogata said softly, "One of the legs of the cabinet is broken... No wonder I always feel that the cabinet is crooked..."

After retracting his head, Ogata said to A-Machi beside him in a half-joking tone:

"It seems that Mamiya's craftsmanship isn't very good...it breaks so easily..."

"I don't think it has anything to do with Mamiya-kun's craftsmanship..." A-Ming said in a helpless tone, "You don't even think about how noisy we were just now... No matter how strong the cabinet is, it will definitely break, right? "

"Well...it makes sense... Let Jian Gong fix it after dawn."

Ogata lay back under the blanket, facing the ceiling above.

He no longer has the physical strength, and he doesn't have the emotion to do anything anymore.

At this moment, Ogata has entered the state of no desire and no desire. No matter what happens, it is difficult to arouse Ogata's emotions.

And A-Machi's current state is similar to that of Ogata.

No... It should be said that Ah-cho's condition is worse than Ogata's.

Ogata was simply tired.

Besides being tired, Ah-ding also felt a little pain.

"Ayi..."

After getting tired of looking at the ceiling above, A-Machi, who was sleeping on Ogata's right side, turned his body to one side and gently hugged Ogata.

While hugging Ogata, he tilted his head and pressed his forehead against Ogata's right shoulder.

"Tell me about your past."

"What happened in the past?" Ogata turned his gaze to A-Machi beside him.

"I just found out - I don't seem to know much about you before."

Ah-Ming said softly.

"I only know that you are from the Hirose clan and killed the lord of the Hirose clan."

"I can't sleep anyway, let's chat together."

"I don't really have anything to say about my past."

Ogata smiled, and then pulled A-Machi into his arms with his backhand.

Naturally, it was impossible for him to tell Ah Ding that he was a time traveler and systematic.

If he told Ah Ding that he was a time traveler, traveled from the future, and told Ah Ding about his previous life, A Ding would definitely regard him as a lunatic.

So Ogata sorted out his words, and slowly told the past of "Original Ogata":

"I used to be a low-level samurai of the Hirose Domain. Among all the samurai of the Hirose Domain, although it is not the lowest rank, it is also the second or third lowest."

"My father's name is Yukihisa Ogata. After my mother married my father, she took the surname 'Ogata' and changed her name to 'Ogata Yu'."

"My mother died of dystocia when she gave birth to me."

"Then my father also died of illness not long after I became an adult."

"Before my father died of illness, he was a treasury officer in Hirose Domain."

"After my father died of illness, I inherited my father's position as treasury officer."

Ogata raised his right hand, pointed at the air in front of him and twisted his five fingers, as if fiddled with an abacus.

"Now that I think about it—I haven't touched an abacus for a long time..."

Ogata joked.

"I used to make calculations all day every day."

"It's been almost a year since I touched the abacus."

"I kind of forgot how to use it..."

...

...

Ogata slowly recounted his past.

And Machi also listened quietly.

Before Ogata crossed over, the past of "Ogata Hara" was actually unremarkable, and there was nothing worth talking about, so Ogata quickly finished talking about the past of "Ogata Hara", and began to talk Looking at the series of things that happened after I crossed over.

Ogata talked about his various encounters after leaving the feudal clan from the death fight with Yuanshan in the "God Worship Contest".

In the end, it ends with the encounter with A-Ming on Butterfly Island.

After telling his own story, Ogata turned to look at Machi who was snuggling beside him.

"Machi, tell me about your past too."

"I don't know much about your past."

"My past was very ordinary." A-Machi smiled wryly, "so it might be boring."

A-Machi, who was curled up in Ogata's arms, twisted his body and changed into a more comfortable sleeping position. With a look of nostalgia on his face, he said slowly:

"I am the only child of my parents."

"My father's name is Setaro and my mother's name is Yui"

"They are all the ninja of the village."

The color of memories on A-Ming's face gradually became stronger.

"My parents are the kind of couple who fall in love freely and then get married because of love, which is rare in the village."

"About a year after I got married, I was born."

"Father and mother are mediocre, after all, they are just forbearance."

"Ninjas with mediocre skills have always been very dangerous."

"My mother died on a mission when I was about 5 years old."

"And then around 15, my father followed in my mother's footsteps and died on a mission."

This is the first time Ogata heard Ah-Machi tell her past.

In the past, Ah-Ming only spoke a few words about her past.

From the few words that A-Machi said before, Ogata vaguely deduced that-A-Machi's parents may have passed away long ago.

Although he had already made relevant speculations and made psychological preparations, Ogata's expression sank uncontrollably after he actually heard Ah-Ming say that her parents were dead.

And A-Machi also keenly noticed the change in the expression on Ogata's face, so he quickly smiled and said:

"Ninjas are like this. They died in a certain mission at some point."

"I'm 18 years old this year, and I'm no longer the kind of little girl who would cry because of this kind of thing."

"I've already seen it."

"And — even though my parents are gone, I don't feel alone."

"Because Uncle Qing is always with me."

"Uncle Qing?" Ogata repeated the slightly unfamiliar name.

"It's the person I told you about before, after I was demoted as 'dirt', he ran out to inform me and told me to run away quickly."

"Uncle Qing not only informed me in time, but also helped me bring Su Ying and Kasumi out, and gave me enough money to last a long time."

Speaking of this, A-Machi let out a long breath, and then said with gratitude on his face:

"If it wasn't for Uncle Qing, I don't know what would happen to me now..."

Hearing what Ah-cho said, Ogata quickly remembered who this "Uncle Qing" was.

After reuniting with A-cho in Kyoto before, when he learned that A-cho had actually become a traitor, A-cho mentioned this person to Ogata.

This is the man who helped Machi escape from Shiranui.

When Ding left Butterfly Island and was about to go back to Shiranui for business, it was this Uncle Qing who sneaked out of Shiranui and found her before Ding returned to Shiranui and told her that she had been reduced to "filth". of this news.

Not only did he inform A-Machi, but he also brought out A-Machi's two sabers, Su Ying and Kasumi Nagi, to help A-Machi prepare for his escape.

It can be said - it is thanks to this Uncle Qing that Ah-machi is able to dance like this in front of Ogata.

"Uncle Kei's full name is Keitaro." A-cho continued, "It's the village's jounin."

"Junin?" Ogata exclaimed in a low voice.

"Yes." Ah-Ming nodded, "He and my father are good friends who have been friends for many years."

"Uncle Qing and my father are a pair of well-known friends in the village. After all, the status of the two of them in the village is very different. One is a senior ninja and the other is a lower ninja, but they can have such a good relationship. It feels amazing."

"Uncle Qing and my father were already very good friends before I was born. So Uncle Qing watched me grow up."

"Uncle Qing is like a second father to me."

"After my parents died, it was Uncle Qing who took care of me and stayed with me."

"It's also thanks to Uncle Qing that I never feel lonely."

After finishing speaking, A-Machi twisted her body again, changed to a new posture, and continued.

"Let's talk about my parents and Uncle Qing first. Now I will talk about my own past."

"Although I have nothing to say about my past..."

"We have a rule in Shiranui: Children born between ninjas, children born between ninjas and 'Guu', and children born between 'Guu' and 'Guu' must become ninjas in Shiranui. "

"So, as the child of two ninjas, I was destined to become a female ninja from birth."

"I started ninja training when I was about 8 years old."

"It's just that my talent is poor..." A-Ming smiled wryly, "All the techniques are so-so..."

"The only one who can learn jujitsu well."

After hearing the word "Jiu-jitsu" from A-Machi's mouth, the expression on Ogata's face became weird.

Because he couldn't help recalling some things that happened on this cabinet just now.

Maybe it's because he's good at jujitsu, Machi's body is very soft...

And A-Machi also noticed Ogata's weird expression.

"...Ayi, are you thinking of something strange?"

"not at all……"

After scanning Ogata with suspicious eyes, A-Machi looked away, and continued:

"According to Shiranui's practice, descendants of ninjas in the village like me will be trained when they are 8 years old."

"I trained until I was 14."

"After these 6 years of training, I will officially become a ninja in the village."

"In the beginning, I was a low-level ninja, and then slowly accumulated merits to become a zhongnin and a high-level ninja."

"Because my level is very poor, until I betrayed Shiranui, I was still just a genin... And I was the kind of genin who couldn't get grades for a long time, so I was demoted to 'dirty'."

"If jujitsu is not included, my only two strengths are the making and use of iron cannons."

Speaking of this, Ah-Machi's eyes lit up with a bit of pride.

"Ayi, I should have told you? My father is very obsessed with firearms, studying firearms day and night."

Ogata nodded.

Not long after meeting A-Machi in Butterfly Island, A-Machi mentioned to Ogata that her father was obsessed with firearms.

"Father, she is not only obsessed with firearms, but also a genius at making firearms."

Ah-Ming unconsciously told the story of her parents again.

"Uncle Qing told me before - not only do I look like my father, but my love for firearms is also very similar to my father."

"As far back as I can remember, I've been interested in firearms."

"When I was only 6 or 7 years old, I liked to stand by and watch my father research and make weapons."

"After I was able to make firearms, I began to ask my father how to make firearms."

"In terms of talent for making firearms, I should not be as good as my father."

"But I have one more talent for using firearms than my father."

Speaking of this, Ah-Machi smiled happily as if recalling some happy past.

"The first time I used an iron cannon was at the age of 13, when I tried out a new iron cannon made by my father for my father."

"It was in that one use that I showed my talent for using the iron cannon. A sake bottle 4 rooms away was smashed by me with one shot."

"Father was so scared that he almost couldn't stand still."

"It's a pity——Shiranui has always regarded firearms as strange skills and obscenity, and disdain to research and use firearms."

A bitter look slowly appeared on A-Ming's face.

"Besides jujitsu, my only two strengths are the production of iron cannons and the use of iron cannons. They have not been valued by the villagers."

"The rest of the ninjas in the village also regard my father and I who are obsessed with making firearms day and night as weirdos."

"That only shows that the ninjas in Shiranui are really short-sighted and unwilling to accept new things." Ogata said disdainfully.

Although Ogata said so, he actually understood in his heart that the attitude of the ninjas in Shiranui towards firearms is actually a true portrayal of how most people in this era treat firearms.

Many samurai believe that firearms are strange skills and evil weapons that violate samurai morality, and that real samurai should use katana and spears to fight.

Firearms are feats of art and obscenity—the prevailing notion of the age.

Whether civilians or samurai, firearms are underestimated.

Because of this concept, the development of firearms in the Edo period has not made much progress.

Until the 19th century, when the Edo shogunate was about to perish, the firearms they used were still the matchlock guns of the Warring States Period in the 16th century.

"I don't know when it will take for everyone to clearly realize how powerful a firearm is..."

"I think—it should be soon." Ogata hugged A-Ming in his arms even tighter.

Although he doesn't know much about Japanese history, Ogata vaguely remembers that in about 6 or 70 years, Commodore Perry of the United States will lead a fleet to knock on the door of Japan.

At that time, Japan, which has neglected firearms for a long time, will deeply realize that the times have really changed.

...

...

The two had been chatting for a long time before they knew it.

During this chat, Ogata gradually recovered his physical and emotional strength.

With the recovery of physical strength, Ogata's mood gradually rose.

It was only at this time that Ogata discovered that the improvement of "life force" did not just make his body healthier, his physical strength recover faster, and his wound speed heal faster...

Ogata heard Ah Ding's begging for mercy, and she said that she had no energy and no longer had the strength to compete.

But Ogata Ri didn't pay any attention to Ah-Machi's words.

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