Ogata and others are now standing outside the door of Yanba Warehouse, waiting for the arrival of Matsudaira Gennai.
Since just now, Inoue has been taking out his handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead.
Inoue is already over 40 years old. At this age, he was considered an old man in the Edo period.
Looking at Inoue's legs that were constantly shaking due to nervousness, Ogata couldn't help but worry about him.
"Sir Inoue," Ogata asked Inoue, "Are you okay? Do you want to try taking a few deep breaths? If you keep taking deep breaths, you may feel better."
"No." Inoue smiled bitterly and shook his head, "No need. I have taken a deep breath until my chest hurts..."
Compared to Inoue's nervousness, Ogata was much more relaxed.
When Gennai Matsudaira arrived, all he had to do was kneel on the ground.
Apart from kneeling on the ground to welcome the arrival of his lord, Ogata did not have to do anything else.
Therefore, Ogata did not feel nervous, and even hoped that Gennai Matsudaira would come to inspect the salt warehouse as soon as possible, so that they could be relieved as soon as possible.
…
…
While Ogata and others were waiting hard for Matsudaira Gennai's arrival, a samurai quickly ran towards Ogata and others.
Ogata recognized this samurai - he was also one of the treasurer officers.
However, Ogata was not familiar with him. He only recognized him as one of his colleagues. Other than that, Ogata didn't even know his name.
This fellow warehouse officer rushed to Ogata and others and said urgently:
"The Lord is coming! Hurry and prepare!"
As soon as the samurai finished speaking, Inoue turned his head and said in an anxious tone to Ogata and others:
"Quick! Kneel down! The lord is coming!"
After saying that, Inoue took the lead and knelt down on his knees, burying his head so deeply that his forehead was almost touching the ground.
After Inoue knelt on the ground, Ogata and others followed closely behind.
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.
Inoue and Ogata's colleagues slowed down their breathing, not even daring to breathe out.
Ogata couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Gradually - Ogata gradually heard the sound of footsteps and the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near to his left hand side.
Judging from the loudness of footsteps and horse hooves - there were quite a few people coming.
Because his hands were supporting the ground and his forehead was almost touching the ground, Ogata could only see the soil in front of the tip of his nose, and Ogata could not see anything else.
Therefore, naturally, the lord and his party who were walking slowly towards the Yanba Warehouse could not be seen.
Ogata couldn't see it.
At the same time, I didn’t dare to look at it.
In this day and age, looking up at one's master without permission - this is transgression.
Ogata didn't dare to put himself into trouble and get into unnecessary trouble just to take a look at his lord.
…
…
Soon, the intensive footsteps and horse hoofbeats finally stopped in front of Ogata and others.
Da da.
Ogata heard the sound of his feet landing.
It must have been someone who was riding a horse who jumped off the horse.
"Everyone, please raise your heads."
An extremely cold male voice with no emotion in his tone came into the ears of Ogata and others.
"Thank you, Lord!" With Inoue taking the lead, Ogata and others shouted "Thank you" in unison.
After raising his head, Oconi saw a young man standing not far in front of them.
This young man is wearing a light yellow kimono.
Although Ogata didn't understand clothes, he could tell that the fabric used in this young man's clothes was quite high-end.
I don’t know how many years of Ogata’s salary it took to buy such a set of clothes.
In addition, just looking at the handle and scabbard of the wakizashi inserted into this young man's waist, one can see that it was expensive to make.
The young man's face was extremely pale.
Ogata originally thought that the reason why this young man's face was so pale was because of the makeup powder he applied on it.
But after taking a closer look, Ogata was shocked to realize that this was not the case.
The young man had no makeup on his face.
His face was just so pale.
The bloodless face looked very scary.
The lips were very thin and as colorless as his face.
The eyes are very thin, dull and careless.
At such a young age, wearing such exquisite clothes, and hanging such a precious sword on his waist, this young man's identity is self-evident - he is none other than the lord of the Hirose Domain, Ogata and their lord: Matsudaira Gennai.
Behind Matsudaira Gennai stood an extremely tall and muscular man.
Ogata recognized this strong man.
This strong man must be the number one swordsman in Hirose Domain - Mataichiro Nanabahara.
Among the warriors of Hirose Domain, the name of Nanabahara is known to everyone.
Nanabahara's title of "the best swordsman in Hirose Domain" was not touted.
Instead, he cut it out bit by bit with his own sword.
Nanabahara is a member of Ito Itto-ryu's Hoshinoden.
By the Edo period, various schools in the swordsmanship community began to award certificates or scrolls at different stages to their disciples based on their strength.
For most swordsmanship schools, the certificates or scrolls awarded from low-level to high-level are: paper cutting, catalog, and all-or-nothing.
The Sakakibara Itto-ryu that Ogata learned adopts this order of certificate levels. The lowest certificate level is "Kirigiri", and the highest level certificate level is "Exemption from all licenses".
Regardless of the order in which certificates are awarded by each school, the highest level of certificates is basically - pass without permission.
What does it mean to have a license for a certain genre?
This means that when you go out to challenge others in the future, as long as you take out your universal certificate, the enemy may be frightened and their legs will tremble.
The "no permission required" certificate is very valuable, which means that it is very difficult to obtain.
Take the Sakakihara Itto-ryu as an example - at the Sakakihara sword academy where Ogata is located, since the establishment of the academy, no one has successfully obtained a certificate of exemption.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that Sakakihara Kenkan is a young swordsmanship hall.
Only a few years have passed since the museum was built.
Ogata himself was one of the first batch of disciples to join the Sakakihara Kenkan after its establishment.
In short, no matter what school they belong to, those who can obtain the certificate of exemption from that school are undoubtedly the top experts.
This is the case for Nanabahara, who possesses Ito Itto-ryu's Immortal Master.
It is said that Nanabahara once fought 10 people at the same time.
In this life-and-death struggle in which 1 vs. 10 people were extremely disparate, Qi Yuan just relied on his extraordinary swordsmanship to kill these 10 people one after another.
Even if you fight 1 against 10, you can still win a complete victory - just from this battle, you can see how terrifying Nanabahara's strength is.
Nanabahara also relied on his extraordinary swordsmanship to gain the appreciation of the previous lord. Many years ago, he was assigned to Matsudaira Gennai and served as Matsudaira Gennai's personal bodyguard until today.
As a result, Nanabahara became the object of admiration for almost all the warriors of Hirose Domain who were interested in making a living through swordsmanship.
Nanabahara was one of those people who rose to prominence with swordsmanship alone, and was the envy of countless samurai.