Asai skillfully cleared away the tea spilled on the tatami.
Lin also sat up straight again, wiping the remaining tea from the corner of her mouth while apologizing to Ogata and Omachi in front of her.
"I haven't been able to eat hot food since I was a child..."
After returning to her usual expressionless, unsmiling indifference, Lin continued:
"Although we have decided to fight to the death with Shiranui Ri, we still have too little information about Shiranui Ri at hand."
"The center of the shogunate's rule is in Kanto."
"But Shiranui's original base was located in the Omi area."
"The Omi area is quite far away from Kanto."
"Since Shiranui and the shogunate are now cooperating, it is very likely that Shiranui has changed the location of their base at the request of the shogunate."
Speaking of this, Lin turned her attention to Atachi.
"Ms. Atachi, has Shiranui changed the location of the base?"
"Well... I don't know..." A-Machi smiled awkwardly, "After I received the mission of 'Going to Butterfly Island' at the end of last year, I never went back to Shiranui."
"On the way back to Shiranui, I learned that I had been demoted to 'Ku', so I hurriedly defected to Shiranui."
"It wasn't until that night four days ago that I learned from the pursuers that Shiranui was cooperating with the shogunate..."
Seeing that she couldn't get any valuable information out of Atachi, Lin didn't show any signs of frustration.
After just nodding, he sighed softly:
"It would be nice if there was someone here who knew the current details of Shiranui..."
Upon hearing Lin's words, Ogata and Fuma both raised their eyebrows.
After Ogata and Fuma looked at each other, Ogata turned his head and said to Lin:
"Maybe there are people who know the current details of Shiranui... there are actually people here."
…
…
Kyoto, Fuma's home, woodshed.
Heitaro, whose left leg was broken by Fuuma's chain technique last night, was now tied tightly to the wooden post with hemp rope again.
At this moment, Heitaro's eyes were full of despair.
Now in his mind, he has completely lost the idea of escaping.
Let’s not talk about the fact that the stone that can be used to cut the rope is gone.
Even if the rope was cut again, he would not be able to escape with a broken leg.
Late last night, Feng Mo took some bone healing medicine and casually rubbed the wound on his leg.
Although it was true that he was given simple treatment, the treatment could only be considered simple...
Even now, Heitaro can still feel the pain in his left leg... He can't even stand still, let alone run away.
Just when Heitaro was desperately thinking about what he would face in the future, the door of the woodshed suddenly opened with a "squeak".
Heitaro raised his head and looked towards the door of the woodshed.
I saw a large group of people pouring in through the opened door of the woodshed.
A rather petite girl walking in front looked Heitaro up and down and said:
"Is this person the jounin from Shiranui that you captured, Fuma-sama?"
…
…
When she learned that Fuuma had captured a Shiranui ninja that night four days ago, and that he was also a jounin, Lin immediately asked Fuuma to take her to see this ninja.
Under the guidance of Fuma, Ogata, Amachi, and Lin entered the woodshed in the yard and saw the half-dead Heitaro.
When Lin asked if this person was the jounin from Shiranui who was captured by him, Fuuma nodded:
"Yes, that's him."
"Is this person really a Jonin?" Lin confirmed.
"He is indeed a jounin." This time, Atachi said, "I have seen him in Shiranui. He is indeed a jounin, and his name is Heitaro."
"Hey..." Because of the poor food these days, coupled with various injuries on his body and other reasons, Heitaro was weak when he spoke, "Who are you? What are you doing to me?"
Ogata squatted in front of Heitaro.
"Heitaro, let me ask you - after you Shiranui cooperated with the shogunate, did you change the location of your Shiranui base?"
Hearing Ogata's question, Heitaro sneered and tilted his head.
He neither went to see Ogata nor answered Ogata's question.
"It seems like you have a pretty tough mouth." Lin said softly.
After giving Heitaro a meaningful look, Rin asked Fuma:
"Lord Feng Mo, can you lend me this guy for a while?"
"Yes, yes. But what are you going to do with him after you borrow him?"
"It's nothing, I just plan to interrogate him properly."
"I have experts in interrogation here."
Hearing Lin's words, Ogata remembered the scene four days ago when Makimura interrogated the bald man.
After suddenly remembering the bald head, Ogata turned to Makimura next to him and asked:
"By the way, what about the bald head?"
"Oh, that bald man has been handed over to the government." Makimura shrugged and continued in a half-joking tone, "It is said that he was arrested by the Kyoto Prefecture's official sect on the remaining members of the Gravedigger.
, made a considerable contribution.”
…
…
After hearing words such as "borrow" and "interrogation" from Lin's mouth, a look of fear immediately appeared on Heitaro's face.
When Asai and Shimada untied Heitaro and prepared to take him away, Heitaro struggled violently due to his strong desire to survive.
In order to make Heitaro calm down, Asai had to knock Heitaro unconscious with his hand.
I can’t count how many times Heitaro has been knocked unconscious in the past few days...
After leaving Shimada responsible for carrying Heitaro on his back, Lin left with Makimura and others, as well as Xuanren, saying that she would visit again after asking Heitaro something.
Before leaving, Lin told Ogata and others the location of the hotel where they lived, so that if Ogata and others had any questions or needs, they could come to their hotel to find them.
After watching Rin and others leave, and looking at Rin's disappearing back, Atachi said to Ogata in an emotional tone:
"I feel like she is a very interesting girl..."
The way Rin looked burned by the tea just now, and the way she decided to fight to the death with Shiranui Ri, and quickly proposed an alliance to Ogata, seemed to have left a deep impression on Omachi.
After Atachi's sigh, Ogata smiled bitterly:
"A-Machi, you should be careful not to talk about gender-related topics in front of Lin in the future."
"Huh? Why?"
Ogata briefly talked about what happened between him and Rin when he left Butterfly Island and went to the base of Calabash House as a guest.
After learning about the past between Ogata and Lin, Atachi's eyes widened and she murmured:
"It seems that she is still a strange girl in some aspects..."
"Hahahaha..." At this moment, Feng Mo, who had been standing aside and listening since just now, chuckled a few times, "The reason why Xiaolin cares about gender so much has something to do with what happened when she was a child."
Having said this, Feng Mo paused.
A somewhat meaningful look flashed in his eyes.
"Xiao Lin... is also a very pitiful girl... From a certain point of view, Xiao Lin is very similar to me. This is probably why I prefer Xiao Lin so much."
After saying that, Feng Mo let out a few chuckles again.
"What happened when you were a child?" Amachi asked doubtfully, "Did Miss Kinoshita experience anything terrible when she was a child?"
"Ah, this can't be said, this can't be said." Feng Mo shook his head, "This is Lin's secret. I can't say it without Lin's permission."
After that, Fuuma returned to the house with his hands behind his back, leaving only Ogata and Atachi still standing at the door of the house.
Just when Ogata and Atachi were about to turn around and go back to the house with Fuuma——
"Ah! Master!"
A loud male voice suddenly sounded from beside Ogata and Atachi.
"Kondo?" After seeing who it was, Ogata raised his eyebrows.
The man who shouted "Master" was none other than Kondo Uchizosuke.
Kondo held the knife at his waist and ran towards Ogata quickly.
"Why are you here?" Ogata asked Kondo, who was running towards him quickly.
"A few days ago, Mr. Kotaro said that you were injured and were recuperating! I have some free time today, so I thought I would come and visit you!"
After approaching Ogata, Kondo looked up and down Ogata's face with serious eyes, as if "checking whether his husband possesses a woman's long hair."
"What are you doing?" Ogata, who felt a little goosebumps at Kondo's look, touched his face, "Is there anything dirty on my face?"
"Master, it turns out you are really the executioner Ittousai - Ogata Issei..."
"Did you not know that I am Ogata Ittousai until now..." Ogata felt helpless to complain, "I thought you recognized me as early as that night 4 days ago... so you have been
Are you calling 'Master' to someone whose name you don't even know..."
"On that night four days ago, after I followed your instructions and left the wife and daughter of the owner of Inaba Hall in the care of Kamiyama Koshinosuke, I realized that I never knew your name."
Kondo said seriously.
"I just feel like I've seen your face somewhere on the street."
"So after handing over the Inaba Hall Master's wife and daughter and the iron cannon to Kamiyama Koshinosuke, I ran around on the street to look for where I had seen your face."
"Then I saw you, Master, on a wanted poster posted on the street."
"Then I found out, master, that you actually accomplished the feat of 'attacking Nijo Castle'..."
As soon as Kondo finished speaking, Oubon said in a half-joking tone:
"Now that you know that I am the notorious Ogata Ittosai, do you still plan to ask me for swordsmanship?"
"Ogata Ittousai is just a heinous person in the eyes of the government. But in fact, Ogata Ittousai's prestige among the people is not that bad." Kondo smiled, "At least - I don't hate upholding justice in Hirose Domain.
Sword, Ogata Ittosai who killed the tyrant. On the contrary, he respects him very much."
"I have always believed that Ogata Ittosai's righteous deeds in the Hirose Domain are comparable to the 'Ako Forty-seven Martyrs Incident' 90 years ago!"
"The 'Ako Forty-seven Martyrs Incident' 90 years ago is different in nature from what I did in Hirose Domain."
Ogata said in a helpless tone.
"The Forty-seven Ako martyrs 90 years ago avenged their master, and I avenged my sect and those who were persecuted by Matsudaira Gennai."
"And my reputation will probably start to get worse now."
Speaking of this, the corner of Ogata's mouth evoked a hint of self-deprecation.
"If Ogata Ittousai was still a free-spirited knight in the eyes of others, then after that night 4 days ago, Ogata Ittousai may have become an 'attacking shogunate' in the eyes of most people.
It’s a lunatic who wants the land.”
"Maybe. But some people may respect Ogata Ittousai more. For example - me." Kondo replied without thinking.
"Oh?" Ogata cast a surprised look at Kondo, "Why?"
"In order to practice swordsmanship, I left my hometown and traveled around, so... I also saw many horrible scenes under the shogunate."
A look of reminiscence flashed across Kondo's face.
"After several trips, I had a vague idea: Maybe the shogunate should make some changes."
"We can no longer cling to ancient laws like this."
"But for a behemoth like the shogunate, 'change' cannot be carried out simply by doing it."
"Master, your attack on Nijo Castle 4 days ago may have made the shogunate realize that they are not secure, and it may have caused some... changes to the shogunate in the future."
"So in my eyes - Master, what you did that night four days ago, from some perspective, maybe it was a good thing."
"Ha." Ogata chuckled a few times, "I don't care what happens after the shogunate."
"On the contrary, Kondo, what you just said is very interesting."
"I didn't expect that you, who looks like a rough man, could say such shocking words."
"It doesn't matter if the whip is penetrated or something." Kondo smiled helplessly, "What I just said are just some small insights I experienced while traveling around the world."
"Then - I'll take my leave first."
"Hmm? Kondo, are you leaving?"
"Well, I came here today just to see how your injury is, Master. I feel relieved to see you so energetic, Master."
"Kondo, there's no need to leave so quickly. It's not too late to leave before you fulfill the agreement between you and me."
"Promise?" Kondo repeated the word doubtfully at first, then suddenly remembered what the agreement between himself and Ogata was, and his face lit up with joy.
"Follow me." Ogata said, turning around and walking towards the small yard of Fuma's house, "I'll... teach you my unique swordsmanship - 'Ogata-ryu'!"
"'Ogata style'?!" Kondo looked surprised, "Master, is this your own swordsmanship?"
"Hmm..." Ogata pondered for a moment, "Barely so...I even showed it in front of you."