This loud shout caused a look of surprise to appear on both Ogata and Lin's faces.
However, the look of surprise on Lin's face was also mixed with a bit of annoyance.
Ogata followed the sound and looked towards the door of the Buddhist hall.
The first thing that appeared in Ogata's field of vision was the panting Makimura.
Makimura now looked as if he had just run countless sprints, with fine sweat on his forehead and chest heaving violently.
The person who appeared in Ogata's field of vision immediately after Makimura was an old man.
The old man was lying on Makimura's back.
An old man with a face covered with wrinkles who looked quite old.
The old man's skin looked like dried orange peel.
His hair was all gray and disheveled.
Wearing a thin white kimono, there was a faint sleepiness in his eyes and cheeks, as if he had just woken up.
The big yawn that the old man then yawned also confirmed Ogata's conjecture that this old man should have been woken up by Makimura in an emergency just now, and then carried him all the way.
Seeing that Makimura finally brought the old man over, Mamiya looked relieved and let out a sigh of relief:
"Makimura...you're finally here...my efforts to delay time were not in vain..."
"Fortunately, I live up to my fate." After responding to Mamiya in a half-joking tone, Makimura put down the old man behind him.
Makimura seemed to be in a hurry when he brought the old man over. The old man didn't even have time to put on his shoes before he was carried over by Makimura.
But the old man didn't care, and just walked slowly towards Ogata and Lin with bare feet.
"Xiaolin, what are you doing?"
The old man asked Lin in a rather stern tone.
"..." But Lin did not answer the old man's question.
He just lowered his head with a sullen look, like a child who had done something wrong and was in urgent need of punishment from his elders.
"Take Yama back to me!"
"……yes."
Lin put the tip of the black knife in her hand back to the sheath, and put the black knife back into the sheath with a "choking" sound.
Just now, Mamiya spent countless words but failed to persuade Lin to sheath the knife, but the old man only said a simple sentence and let Lin sheath the knife without any complaints.
As Lin sheathed her sword, the tense atmosphere that had accumulated between her and Ogata was immediately released.
Most of the chilling air that permeated the surroundings also dissipated.
Seeing that Lin had put away his sword, Ogata also slowly put away his Daishiten.
"...Kuro, was it you who called my uncle here?" Lin turned her head and turned her sharp eyes towards Mamiya.
"That's right." Mamiya said without hesitation, "This is all the attention of me, Mamiya. If you, my lord, are dissatisfied with me, please punish me as much as you like."
"……snort!"
After giving a loud "hum" to Mamiya, Lin walked away in a puff of her sleeves.
Everyone in the temple, including Ogata, watched Lin leave with different expressions.
It wasn't until Lin was completely out of his sight that Ogata thought to himself:
What a strange person...
Rin's first impression on Ogata was quite bad.
Throughout the whole process, he looked stoic and cold. He also treated him with inexplicable malice and kept saying weird things to find fault with him.
Just now, he inexplicably pulled out a real sword and wanted to fight him in a life-or-death duel.
Ogata silently labeled Lin: a weirdo who seems to have a problem with his brain.
"Sigh... Xiaolin's character... is really tricky..."
At this moment, the old man just now suddenly let out a sigh to himself.
After sighing like this, the old man turned his attention to Ogata.
"You must be Ogata Issei. I originally wanted to wait until the afternoon to see you again, but I didn't expect to see you so soon."
The old man looked Ogata up and down several times.
"Well... he has a good physique and is a good candidate for sword practice..."
When the old man was looking at Ogata, Ogata was also looking at the old man.
"Um...are you Kinoshita Genichi?"
Although he had already confirmed the identity of this person in his mind, Ogata couldn't help but asked the old man in a tentative tone.
"That's right." The old man said openly without any pretense, "I am Kinoshita Genichi."
Now that he was closer to the old man, Kinoshita Genichi, Ogata could see Genichi's face more clearly.
To describe Yuan Yi's appearance in one word, it is ordinary.
Apart from being above the average height for this era, there is nothing special about him.
Genichi is slightly shorter than Ogata. He is only about 168m.
The facial features covered by dense wrinkles are ordinary and not very ugly, but they are definitely not very handsome either.
He has a carefully trimmed goatee, and the beard hanging down from his chin is about as long as an adult's index finger. Like his hair, the beard is gray.
His eyes glowed softly, like a calm lake.
After simply looking up and down at Genichi several times, Ogata couldn't help but thought to himself:
Is he... the "Unparalleled" and "Sword Master" Kinoshita Genichi who was blown to the sky by Mamiya and Makimura...
With his unremarkable, ordinary appearance, Genichi looks more like a kindly grandfather next door than a peerless swordsman.
However, it would be unfair to say that there is no part of Genichi's body that looks like a swordsman.
The palms of Genichi's hands are covered with calluses, which is a symbol of a swordsman.
Just when Ogata wanted to say something more to Genichi, Genichi suddenly said to Ogata:
"I'm so sorry..."
As Genichi spoke, he bowed to Ogata and apologized.
"When Makimura-kun carried me here, he already told me what happened between you and Xiaolin."
"Xiaolin said a lot of rude things to you... I apologize to you on her behalf."
"Ah...it doesn't have to be like this." Ogata said quickly, "I don't mind this little thing...I'm just curious now if I said something I shouldn't have just said to annoy her..."
"Because you just said, 'If it weren't for me being a man, I might have lost to you.'" Asai, who had been silent since just now, suddenly replied.
"Is there anything wrong with what I said?" Ogata looked confused and confused.
"It is indeed just an ordinary sentence to ordinary people, but in the eyes of our lord, it is not like this." Asai said softly, "The words 'male' and 'female' are very sensitive words in our Hulu House.
"
"Alas..." Yuan Yi sighed, "Let's talk slowly later. Since we are all awake now, let's go have breakfast first."
"Mamiya-kun, is there any leftover breakfast?"
"It's a pity that I didn't. Because I didn't know that you would wake up so early, Mr. Genichi, so my lord didn't cook your breakfast just now."
"That's too much... Lord, can you please make me some simple breakfast?"
"Xiao Lin is definitely not willing to cook for me in her current state."
"I know." Mamiya smiled bitterly, then walked out of the Buddhist hall holding the knife on his waist.
"Ogata-kun, have you had breakfast?" Genichi turned his attention to Ogata again.
"have eaten."
"Then come and eat some more with me." Yuan Yi showed a warm smile, "Let's chat while we eat."
…
…
Ogata and his party were currently in the courtyard where they had dinner last night.
Mamiya threw various ingredients into the pot and cooked rice porridge mixed with various condiments.
Makimura stood opposite Mamiya and helped Mamiya, stuffing the broken pieces of firewood under the pot.
The weather has now warmed up again, so within a short time, Mucun, who was near the firewood, was sweating profusely.
In order to cool down, Makimura simply took off his upper body clothes, revealing the red dragon tattoo on his back.
After they dispersed in the Buddhist hall, Asai and Shimada disappeared without a trace.
Minamoto Ichinori and Ogata sat side by side next to the pot.
The biggest impression Genichi has brought to Ogata so far is his kindness.
Very kind, easy-going, and no airs at all.
Ogata was originally worried that a peerless master like Genichi might have a weird temper or behavior.
"Xiao Lin is a person with strong self-esteem."
Yuan Yi said softly.
"Because of some things that happened when she was a child, she has always been very concerned about her identity as a daughter."
"In other words... I hate my identity as a daughter."
"So she hates others mocking her gender, or boasting about her gender. She is extremely sensitive on issues related to 'gender'."
"Ogata-kun, your words 'If it weren't for the fact that I am a man, I might have lost to you', in Xiaolin's ears, you are bragging to her that you are a man, so you have never been defeated."
"...Is she a little too sensitive?" Ogata couldn't help complaining, "I obviously didn't mean this...how did she understand it like this..."
"Xiao Lin's character is like this." Yuan Yi smiled bitterly, "Her character has also troubled me for a long time..."
Ogata smiled bitterly a few times along with Genichi.
While smiling bitterly, Ogata thought back to the battle he had just fought with Kinoshita Rin.
The biggest realization that the battle just now brought to Ogata is that there are indeed many capable masters in this world.
Today, Ogata met a woman who could temporarily compete with him.
The Edo shogunate ruled Japan for more than 200 years, and there were probably countless masters under the shogunate's command...
Ogata thought this way for no reason.
Ogata lowered his head and looked at his open palms, which were covered with various calluses.
Not to mention the whole world... Just the Edo shogunate must have many masters under its command.
Inside... there must be many capable people who are far beyond my opponent...
The memory images hidden in his mind seemed to have their own consciousness. They popped up automatically in Ogata's mind. Ogata recalled Konnosuke, Sokai and others on Butterfly Island.
The weak Kinnosuke and his party had to negotiate with the shogunate to find a way out...
A picture was automatically sketched in Ogata's mind: one day in the future, he encountered a master from the shogunate who was far more skilled than him.
He had no power to fight back, so he had to humbly talk to the shogunate like Konnosuke and the others did in order to have a way out...
As soon as this picture appeared in Ogata's mind, Ogata shook his head suddenly, as if he wanted to get this picture out of his mind.
I still……
Ogata thought to himself in his heart and slowly clenched his fists.
Not strong enough...
…
…
"Ogata-kun."
At this moment, Mamiya, who was cooking porridge seriously, suddenly said.
"Are you confused now that our lord has such a bad character, why do we still follow her?"
Upon hearing Mamiya's question, Ogata was stunned for a moment.
Then he immediately thought to himself:
That's right, how do you know?
After experiencing the unpleasant encounter with Kinoshita Rin just now, Obelo came up with this idea: Why would such strong people as Mamiya and Makimura follow this woman who seemed to have a very flawed character?
Of course, Ogata could not directly say to Mamiya, "Yes, you are right."
It would be a bit inappropriate to answer like this.
Just when Ogata was thinking about how to answer more appropriately, Mamiya smiled and asked himself.
"I don't know why the others follow the Lord."
"But I can tell you a little bit about the reasons why I am determined to follow my lord."
"Due to problems with her childhood growth environment, the master's self-esteem was too high, which made her too...extreme in some places, but...she has a unique gentleness in some places."
"It was her unique tenderness that impressed me..."
Mamiya's eyes flickered, as if he was remembering something.
"Ogata-kun, if you have more contact with my lord, one day you will be able to notice my lord's tenderness that is so convincing."
After listening to Mamiya's words, the image of Kinoshita Rin pointing a knife at him slowly emerged in Ogata's mind...
This picture cannot be associated with the word "gentleness"...
"Okay." Genichi clapped his palms twice at this time, "Let's not talk about Xiaolin anymore, let's talk about something else. Ogata-kun, can you tell me how you learned my selfless two-sword style?
Of?"
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Genichi's words brought Ogata's consciousness back to reality.
Seeing that Genichi planned to change the topic, Ogata was happy to follow the idea and change the topic.
The series of events just now gave Ogata a very bad impression of Kinoshita Rin.
Therefore, I have no intention of getting to know her better.
Ogata used the shortest possible sentences to tell the story that his uncle had obtained the secret book of the Fugo Two-sword Style from Genichi. This secret book was passed on to his master, and then his master passed it on to him. Finally, he relied on his superior understanding to participate in the secret book.
The entire process of understanding the moves in the secret book was outlined to Yuan Yi.
Of course, the part about using his superior understanding to understand all the moves in the secret book was purely made up.
After carefully listening to Ogata's summary, Genichi suddenly let out a few... laughter with a hint of pride.
"Mamiya-kun! Makimura-kun! Did you see it?!"
Genichi grabbed Ogata's shoulders.
"You always say privately that the straw paper you use to wipe your butts is more useful than the secret book I wrote in my own hand!"
"Look! There are still people who can learn Wuwo Dual Sword Style with the help of the secret book written by me!"
It seems that someone can understand and learn the moves written in his secret book, which seems to make Yuan Yi quite happy.