"Kondo, remember what I'm going to say next."

Ogata said seriously to Kondo.

"If I go according to my plan, I might be able to deal a fatal blow to these guys who don't know what they are planning to do in Kyoto."

"When you arrive at the teahouse, go find a man named Kamiyama Koshinosuke or Hasegawa Heizou. When you find two of them or one of them, tell them...

…”

…

…

"...Kondo, do you understand what I say?"

"I understand!" Kondo nodded solemnly.

"You once sent Mr. Feng Mo home when he lost his waist. Then you should still remember where Mr. Feng Mo's mansion is, right?"

"Remember!"

"Okay, then when it's over, you can go to Master Feng Mo's mansion and wait for me."

"No problem! Master! We have made an agreement. We will meet at Lord Kotaro's residence later!"

"I won't break my promise."

"Then master - I'm going to go first! Wife and daughter of the owner of the metaphysics hall, come with me, I will take you to a safe place."

…

…

Kondo held Izayoi wrapped in a piece of cloth under his arm, carried a one-eyed dragon on his back that could not walk normally on his own power, and followed Inaba's wife and daughter behind him.

Atachi gave the Cyclops a simple hemostasis treatment. The Cyclops's vital parts were not damaged and his life was no longer in danger for the time being.

In order to prevent them from yelling and causing trouble when they sent the one-eyed dragon to the sacred mountain, Ogata knocked the one-eyed dragon unconscious.

After watching the energetic Kondo leave quickly, Atachi turned his head and looked at Ogata beside him.

"Ayi, you asked Kondo to carry out this mission because you just wanted to protect Kondo and prevent him from getting into our troubled waters again - am I right?"

Hearing Atachi's rhetorical question, Ogata smiled bitterly:

"Ah-Ting, since you already know what the answer is, there's no need to ask me this question again."

"After Kondo completes this task, do you really plan to give him instruction in swordsmanship?"

"If I don't promise him something sweet, how can he be as active and serious as he is now? If I want him to stop pestering me and leave this muddy water, I can only promise him something he wants most now.

Already."

Amachi thought back to Kondo's energetic look when he watched Kondo leave just now, and then nodded gently: "That's right..."

Ogata put his left hand on the handle of Da Shiten's sword.

"Although Kondo is lacking in experience in using real swords and actual combat experience, he is also a malleable talent."

"To be able to create a brand new swordsmanship school based on Katori Shinto-ryu at this age is already considered an extraordinary talent."

"I have also been paying attention to Kondo's self-created swordsmanship. Although it is still a bit rough, it is unexpectedly a swordsmanship that is very suitable for actual combat."

"After Kondo completes this task and things on my side are settled, I will be happy to give him some guidance on swordsmanship."

"Huh?" Ating smiled, "Have you thought about what guidance you want to give him in the future?"

"I've already thought about it." A meaningful smile flashed across Ogata's face.

Ogata slowly turned around and walked slowly towards the end of the street where no one was around.

"Atachi, come with me."

"Now that Kondo has left, let's have a good chat."

Hearing Ogata's words, the light in Atachi's eyes flickered slightly.

After a moment of silence, A-Machi obediently followed Ogata's footsteps.

…

…

After walking far away from the three-story building where Inaba's wife and daughter were imprisoned, and arriving at a secluded place with no one around, Ogata finally stopped.

"A-Machi..."

While Ogata softly called Amachi's name, he slowly turned around to look at Amachi behind him.

As soon as Ogata turned around, Atachi suddenly shouted:

"Ayi! Beat me!"

At the same time as he yelled, A-Machi closed his eyes tightly, gritted his teeth, and clenched his hands that naturally hung down.

Looking at Omachi who tensed up every muscle in his body, the expression on Ogata's face became strange.

"beat you……?"

"I'm sorry, I lied to you." Amachi said bluntly, "I don't have any mission at all. To show your apology, you can beat me as hard as you can!"

"Is it your custom in Omi to beat liars hard?"

"No, this is not our custom in Omi. It's just a way of apology I just came up with to show my sincere apology. Come on, hit me as hard as you can."

"……I see."

Because his eyes were tightly closed, Amachi could not see what kind of expression Ogata had now. He only heard Ogata say "I understand" in a serious tone.

After hearing Ogata's words, A-Machi couldn't help but swallowed.

"...Um...Although I just said 'hit me hard', please don't really hit me with all your strength..."

"Also, don't hit me in the face...ah! It hurts!"

Before A-Machi could finish his words, he felt twinges of pain on both sides of his cheeks.

Ogata raised his hands, grabbed both sides of Omachi's cheeks, and pulled them to both sides with neither light nor heavy force.

After A-Machi cried out in pain, Ogata let go of A-Machi's cheek.

"Okay, I've already beaten you." Ogata said seriously, "Tell me what's going on."

"That guy just kept calling you a traitorous ninja... Could it be that you have defected to Shiranui, right?"

"..." Amachi was silent while rubbing his cheeks.

After being silent for a while, A-Machi said softly:

"...In fact, things are not complicated."

"After I left Butterfly Island and said goodbye to you, I walked happily on the way back to Shiranui, thinking that I could avoid being reduced to karma by relying on this mission."

"When I entered Omi and was about to return to Shiranui, an acquaintance of mine came to report to me."

"His name is Keitaro. He is a close friend of my father's. The relationship between me and him is like that of uncle and nephew. I have always called him 'Uncle Qing'."

"Uncle Qing found me and told me: The leaders have already plotted to reduce me to dirt."

"Thanks to Uncle Qing, I know the truth."

Speaking of this, a hint of self-deprecation flashed across A-Machi's face.

"It turns out that the leader has no intention of giving me another chance at all."

"No matter how well I complete my mission of landing on Butterfly Island, he will demote me to 'Scale'."

"Uncle Qing was the only one besides me in Shiranui who knew about the existence of Sozakura and Kasumi Nagi after my father passed away, and knew where they were placed in my home."

"Uncle Qing not only came to inform me, he also brought Sozakura and Kasumi Nagi, as well as their special projectiles and the money I had been saving all these years. Let me leave Omi quickly with these. ,Rebellion from Shiranui."

"After returning to Shiranui, I, who had been demoted to 'Ku', would either be sent to a flower house, or be given as a prize to some meritorious male ninja as a wife."

"So there is no good choice in this option. After taking Suying and Kasumi Nagi that Uncle Qing brought me, and some money that Uncle Qing gave me, I started to escape."

"Besides Shiranui, I have no other place to go, so I can only flee aimlessly to the west."

"While escaping to the outskirts of Kyoto, I learned from passers-by that the Gion Festival is currently being held in Kyoto."

“Participating in the Gion Festival in Kyoto has always been a dream of mine.”

"So I entered Kyoto City, bought the yukata I'm wearing now, and started wandering around Kyoto."

"Then I met you."

"Ayi, you also know what happened next."

After listening to Atachi's explanation quietly, Ogata nodded gently:

"So that's it... So what happened to your Uncle Qing? Did he defect to Shiranui with you?"

"No." A-Machi shook his head, "After Uncle Qing told me the secret, he went back to Shiranui by himself."

"I also persuaded him to leave Shiranui with me..." A bitter look appeared on Machi's face, "But I couldn't persuade him... He insisted on returning to Shiranui, and I don't know why..."
To be continued...