"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?"
"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..."
"...Why did you lie to me and say you were on a mission in Kyoto..." Ogata sighed softly.
"If I told you the truth, would you still be able to play around in Kyoto with me calmly?"
"...You are really big-hearted." Ogata smiled bitterly, "Even when you are being hunted, you are still able to enjoy yourself leisurely in Kyoto."
"Yeah." A-Machi smiled, "I think so too... From some angles, I'm really brave..."
After this sigh of relief, A-Machi fell silent.
After a while, A-Machi let out a long sigh:
"It's really too much..."
"Shiranui was already strong enough, and now he has joined forces with the shogunate..."
"Joining forces with the shogunate or something... is really too much... it's too shameless..."
"How could I...be able to cope with the shogunate..."
"Sorry, Ayi, I want to find a place to sit and rest for a while, is that okay?"
"I just went after the murderer who sniped Inaba, and I followed you here. My legs are tired..."
Ogata lowered his head and glanced at Omachi's slightly trembling legs.
"...Hmm." Ogata raised his gaze, no longer looking at Amachi's legs, but looked directly into Amachi's eyes and smiled slightly, "Let's take a rest together."
…
…
Kyoto, Gion area.
"Wow……"
Looking at everything around him, Shimada couldn't help but open his mouth wide and let out an exclamation.
"Makimura-senpai, where is this?"
Makimura and Shimada are now walking in tandem on an extremely busy street.
What the two of them stepped on was no longer dusty mud.
The entire street is paved with neat stone bricks. Just from the fact that it has a stone brick road, it is enough to see how extraordinary this place is.
Men and women dressed in costumes kept passing by Shimada.
Both sides of the street are lined with street performers performing various talents.
There are acrobatics performers, animal performers, everything.
There are no private houses for civilians to live in in the houses on both sides of the street, but only teahouses, Zhiju huts and other entertainment places.
There is a Shibaju hut standing next to Shimada. A large flag is placed outside the Shibaju hut. There are four large Chinese characters written on the flag: Onoe White Sakura.
Outside the door of this Zhiju hut stood a man soliciting customers.
Perhaps because of his rich work experience, I could tell at a glance that Shimada was the kind of person who came to Gion-ku for the first time or rarely.
After seeing Shimada, the man's eyes immediately shone, he stopped in front of Shimada, and shouted to Shimada:
"Master Samurai! Are you interested in watching a kabuki performance?"
"Our performance here is about to begin! Tonight's play is "The Loyalty of the Loyalty"!"
"The performer is Shirakakura Ogami Sandaime!"
The man raised his hand and pointed towards the flag with four Chinese characters for "Ogami White Sakura" on the roof of the small house.
"Sandaime Ogami Shirosakura-sama is the greatest treasure of our Gion District!"
"Look! Even though the Yamaboko Parade will be held in a while, there are still many people who came here specifically to watch our Kabuki performance tonight. I guarantee you - more than 70% of these people came specifically to watch tonight's performance. All the people are here to see the Sandaime Ogami Shirosakura-sama!"
Shimada followed the direction pointed by the person's finger - their Shibaju hut did indeed have a lot of people coming in and out, and the flow of people was far greater than other Shibaju huts around.
But Shimada still has the important task of "assisting Makimura", so he can only wave his hand to refuse.
After sending away the man who came to solicit customers, Makimura turned around and smiled at Shimada behind him:
"Welcome to one of the busiest places in Kyoto - Gion District."
"The Gion area is the largest fun street in Kyoto, where jugglers and kabuki can be seen everywhere."
"It's amazing..." Shimada nodded seriously, "The prosperity of this area has almost caught up with Edo..."
Upon hearing Shimada's words, Makimura shrugged:
"Shimada, let me give you a piece of advice: Never let the people of Kyoto hear what you just said. People in Kyoto are generally very arrogant and think that they are residents living in the royal land. If you hear what you just said, They will be angry with those words. Ah, here we are."
Makimura stopped in front of a perfume shop with a plaque of "Iguchi House".
"Geisha and kabuki can be seen everywhere in the Gion area, so the demand for fragrance powder is quite large. Only Iguchiya opened in the Gion area has the largest number and the most complete variety of fragrance powder."
Makimura introduced to Shimada behind him.
"Only Iguchiya sells a very rare fragrance powder called 'Wakasa Incense'."
After that, Makimura strode towards the Iguchi House in front of him.
Before Makimura could open the door of the Iguchi House, the door of the Iguchi House opened with a loud "swish".
It turned out to be a customer from the well house who was coming out of the store.
This customer is a short bald man.
After the bald man opened the store door from inside the store, he saw Makimura and Shimada who were just about to enter the store.
After glancing at Makimura and Shimada, the bald man tightened his clothes and strode out of the store.
Makimura didn't pay attention to the bald head. After taking a glance at the bald head, he led Shimada into the well entrance house along the store door that was just opened by the bald head.