Chapter 263 The Red Moon Fortress and the Lu Country Going South (2)
After saying this, Mamiya turned and walked towards Makimura.
"Mucun, I saw there seems to be a stream there. Let's go and bring back some water."
"Fill the water? Can't you just do this yourself?"
"Stop talking nonsense and just follow me."
"yes……"
Mamiya led Makimura toward a creek not far away. After watching the two of them for a while, Ogata turned his attention back to Omachi in front of him.
"Ayi... I wish you good luck in martial arts, and we... may meet again in the future."
In the end, it was Amachi who took the lead in whispering this to Ogata.
But Ogata didn't immediately respond to Amachi's words.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on Omachi in front of him for a while, and then finally spoke slowly.
"Atachi...where is your Shiranui location?"
"Huh? Why do you ask this?"
Ogata shrugged: "If we don't even have your address, then no matter how destined we are, we are unlikely to meet again, right?"
"There's no way I can tell you where we are in Shiranui." A-Machi smiled helplessly, "It's a serious crime for us in Shiranui to tell outsiders the specific location of our inside."
"But...I can tell you which area our Shiranui is in. Our Shiranui is in the Omi area."
"Omi area... Omachi, do you know how big Omi is?"
"That's all I can tell you."
Having said this, A-Machi paused.
Then, a hint of cunning appeared on A-Machi's face.
"If you really want to come to me, just go and slowly check the specific location of Shiranui."
"But I'll start with my ugly words - if you really find out where Shiranui is in the future, you won't be able to get into Shiranui."
"It's impossible to let an outsider like you come in and out of Shiranui at will."
"Let's wait until then to talk about this kind of thing." Ogata said in a joking tone without thinking, "If you ninjas in Shiranui don't let me in, then I will have to force my way in."
"It's better to stop talking big words like this." A-Machi said with a helpless smile, "There are so many masters in Shiranui, but you alone can't get through it."
After saying that, A-Machi raised his head and glanced at the sky that had begun to darken.
"……I have to go now."
"Um……"
"Ayi... I really appreciate your care these days..."
"You're welcome...I've also received a lot of care from you."
"Ayi...let me tell you the truth...in fact, when I first found you, I actually wanted to use you. After using you, I threw you away without hesitation, just like those preparations in our group.
The jonins who are respected by everyone are just as cold-blooded and ruthless, and put their mission first..."
"I've known about this kind of thing for a long time. Forming a team is just about everyone getting what they need."
"You're right. But - in the end, I'm just a low-level genin."
A gentle smile slowly bloomed from A-Machi's face like a delicate flower.
"I haven't even done the most basic thing as a ninja, not to invest my personal feelings in missions."
"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-Machi's figure was about to disappear in the woods, Ogata vaguely saw - A-Machi turned back to look at him.
It wasn't until he was completely out of sight that A-Machi withdrew her gaze.
…
…
"how?"
Mamiya and Makimura came back carrying several bamboo tubes filled with fresh water.
"Have you had a good separation from Ms. Atachi?"
Atachi has already left.
But Ogata still stood there, his eyes still fixed on the direction where Omachi'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 sigh.
This faint feeling of loss reminded Ogata of the day when he left 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 indifferent. "Human life is like this, with repeated encounters, separations and reunions."
"I just vaguely saw that there seemed to be a cave there. The three of us will spend the night in that cave tonight."
"Yeah." Ogata nodded lightly at Mamiya's suggestion.
"Ogata-kun, what are your plans when it gets up tomorrow? Will you set off directly to Kyoto as soon as it gets up?"
"Yeah." Ogata nodded without hesitation.
"Why are you in such a hurry to go to Kyoto?" Mamiya shrugged, "Before going to Kyoto - why not come to our Gourd House as a guest first?"
"Being a guest?" Ogata frowned slightly.
"Although it is very regrettable that you, Ogata-kun, will not join our Calabash House, the door of our Calabash House is always open to you, and you are always welcome to come to our Calabash House as a guest and take a look around."
"You invited me to your Gourd House for no reason... You don't have any bad intentions, right?" Ogata asked in a joking tone.
"There is no bad intention." Mamiya smiled slightly, "But inviting you to our Calabash House is indeed for a small purpose."
"I want my lord and Master Gendai to come and see that there is a third person in the world who masters the swordsmanship of the 'Mugo Two Swordsman Style'."
"I would be very happy if Mr. Gendai knew that someone had actually successfully learned the Wuwo Sword Style by relying on the swordsmanship secret book he wrote."
"Ogata-kun, don't you want to take this opportunity to come and visit our Gourd House?"
"Look at the heroic appearance of the second generation direct descendant of Wuwo Erdao style."
"And...the unparalleled heroic figure of the 'Sword Master' Kinoshita Genichi."
Hearing Mamiya's words, Ogata raised his eyebrows slightly.
After pondering for a while -
"...Okay." Ogata nodded, "If I just go to your Calabash House as a guest, I would be happy to go. Your Calabash House's base should not be far away, right?"
"It's not far." This time, Makimura, who had not spoken much since before, answered, "Our base of Gourdiya is in the Owari area. If you ride a horse, you can get there very quickly."
"Horse? Where did the horse come from?"
"I told you about half an hour ago - our Huluya's Japan is spread all over Japan."
"Anyway -" Mamiya said, turning around and walking towards the cave he just saw, "Let's have a good night's rest tonight, and then officially set off tomorrow to find the guy who can provide us with horses, and the ones who can go there
Bathing place. Then go back to Owari!"
After Mamiya turned around and left, Makimura immediately followed him.
Looking at the backs of these two people, a helpless smile appeared on Ogata's face.
After lifting the Da Shi Tian and Da Zi Zi on his waist, he quickly followed.
…
…
at the same time--
The shogunate army camp, Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent.
"Lao Zhongsheng..."
There were only two people in the camp, Matsudaira Sadanobu and Inamori.
Because I want to confirm something with Matsudaira Sadanobu, I came here specifically to bother Matsudaira Sadanobu.
“Do we really want to let the islanders of Butterfly Island go?”
This is what Inamori wants to confirm with Matsudaira Sadanobu.
"That's right."
Regarding the question raised by Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting behind the desk and looking through something, said without hesitation.
"If the series of riots on Butterfly Island are really man-made, then we will have to change our methods of dealing with Butterfly Island and cannibals again."
"I just ordered Master Hanjing to immediately restart the research on cannibals."
"Now that we have decided to restart research, these islanders are precious experimental observation subjects, and their lives must be spared."
"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."
"Besides, what the monk said makes sense."
Speaking of this, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes burst out with a captivating cold light.
"If it is really an unknown force that turns people into cannibals...then this power can only be controlled by our shogunate! We cannot let other people or other forces have this power!"
"Even if you cannot possess this power, you must destroy this terrible power!"
"I have sent people to look for this pair of suspicious masters and disciples named Heshi and Hezhi."
"It's just that it's very difficult to find them."
A faint bitter look appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.
"This name is most likely a fake name. There are too few clues. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. 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 saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu gathered up the pieces of paper he had been looking at, aligned them, and then handed them towards Inamori.
"Daomori, you came just in time. I happened to have something to do and planned to find you."
"This is...?" Inamori took the pieces of paper handed over by Matsudaira with a puzzled look on his face.
"This is the latest information about Ezo Land that was just delivered to me."
"Related to Lu Country and Red Moon Fortress."
When he heard the words "Lu Country" and "Red Moon Fortress", Daomori's pupils shrank suddenly, and then he quickly flipped through the papers in his hand that were filled with densely packed words.
While Inamori was flipping through the pieces of paper filled with the latest information about the Ezo Territory, Matsudaira Sadanobu whispered to the side:
"The Lu Kingdom has recently dispatched several new expedition teams to Ezo."
"These new expedition teams from the Lu Kingdom fought against the bandits of the Red Moon Fortress in early March this year."
"Relying on the overwhelming superiority in troops and weapons, the bandit soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress successfully drove back these expedition teams from the exposed country."
"However, this battle was not easy for the bandits of Red Moon Fortress."
After Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Inamori just finished reading every word on the pieces of paper in his hand.
"...Have the frequency of Lu Guo's expeditions to Ezo Land become more and more frequent in the past two years?" Inamori frowned and raised his concerns.
"I think so too." Matsudaira Sadanobu's brows wrinkled slightly at this time, "It seems that the ambitions of the Lu Kingdom are not small. They may be planning to swallow up the Ezo land."
"The Ezo Land is not so easy to occupy." Inamori twitched the corner of his mouth and sneered, "With the gang of bandits from the Red Moon Fortress here, how can the Ezo Land be so easy to occupy?"
"Don't be careless, Inamori." Matsudaira Sadanobu stood up and straightened his clothes, "In two days, I will leave for Edo."
"In two days, you come back to Edo with me."
"It's too humiliating to let a tiger general like you stay here to monitor the cannibals."
"I will send a new general to take over Kii's side."
"After I return to Edo with me, I will persuade the shogun to send more troops to Matsumae Domain."
"At that time, you will lead the new troops to guard the frontline in the north of our country and monitor all movements in the Lu Kingdom and the Red Moon Fortress."
"Yes!" Daomori nodded solemnly.
"If the Kingdom of Lu sends a large-scale army to Ezo... Needless to say, Inamori, you should know what to do, right?"
An icy cold light burst out from Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes.
"I know." Daomori grinned, "We'll wait until they and the bandits from Red Moon Fortress are both defeated."
"That's right." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded with a smile, "The bandit soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress neither listen to the shogunate's orders nor surrender to the Lu Kingdom. Let them and the Lu Kingdom fight and lose both sides."
"We'll just watch the fire from the other side and reap the rewards."
"Lao Naka-sama." Inamori asked, "What if in the future the Lu Kingdom really sends a large-scale army to invade the Ezo land and fight with the bandits of the Red Moon Fortress, both of us will suffer losses? Do we want to do it in one fell swoop?"
Eradicate the weakened Red Moon Fortress?"
"...Let's discuss this kind of issue later." Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand.
"yes!"
…
…
In the Omi area, in a deep mountain——
In a large mountain in the Omi area, a village was built unexpectedly.
Although it is a village, this village does not exude the vitality and popularity that a human settlement should have from the inside out. There is not even much smoke from cooking.
In an ordinary wooden house in this "village", an old man with all 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 extended from his left forehead to his left cheek, penetrating the entire left eye, leaving him with only one right eye left to see.
"Lord Enma."
A young man with a handsome face walked slowly to the old man's desk and knelt down on one knee.
"Gokutaro has come to revive you."
"Oh! Jitaro, you have returned from your mission! Thank you for your hard work, thank you for your hard work."
After saying that, the old man who was called "Enma" by Gitaro put down the pen in his hand and handed the scroll on the desk to Gitaro.
"Jitaro, since you are here, please do me a favor."
"Help me give this list to Heitaro, and let him start to deal with everyone recorded in this list."
"This is...?" Ji Tairou took the scroll with a puzzled expression.
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"These are the genin who will be demoted to Kuu next." Enma said in a casual tone, "If you are interested, Kitaro, you can take a look at who is on the list."
"Then...I would be rude."
After straightening the scroll in his hand, Gokutaro's eyes slid over each name written on it one by one.
When he reached the last name, Ji Tairou raised his eyebrows slightly.
"A-Machi? Didn't I remember that she is out on a mission now? Enma-sama, will you decide whether to demote her based on the completion of her current mission before she comes back?"
"No need." Enma waved his hand, then revealed a sinister smile, "I have wanted to demote Atachi since the end of last year."
"The reason why I gave A-Machi a task to do is simply to make use of the waste. If she is allowed to remain in this state of accomplishing nothing, it will be a waste of all the years of training we have given her.
."
"No matter how well she completes her current mission, I will reduce her to filth - this has always been my plan."
"Lord Enma...you are so evil."
Although Ji Tairou said this, there was no trace of regret on his face.
*******
Volume 4 "The Immortal" - The End!
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Preview of Volume 5 "Kyoto Summer Formation":
…
"Kyoto is very lively now. After all, the annual Gion Festival is coming."
…
"Now there is a man in Kyoto who is killing people everywhere. Old lady, you have to be more careful. His name is Ogata Issei. If you find any clues, remember to inform the authorities in time."
…
"Brother Ogata, the people of Kyoto, the officials who have been reformed as thieves, all the samurai in the six major sword halls, and the common people in Kyoto... these people are all your enemies now.
We are all enemies, you’d better leave Kyoto as soon as possible.”
…
"Brother Ogata, do you plan to enter the Six Great Sword Halls alone?"
"That's right."
"They must have laid a dragnet now. If you go to challenge, you will play into their hands."