Chapter 407 See the next Ogata flow! (Yangsha) [7400 words]
This change of move, which combines "Dodge" and "Dragon Tail", is far more powerful than Dragon Tail.
Even if a wooden sword was used, and even if Takigawa was wearing armor, Ogata was absolutely confident that he could seriously injure Takigawa or kill him directly by relying on "Dragon Tail: Dodge".
Wooden knives can also kill people. After all, they are made of very solid wood.
Once you accidentally hit someone's vital part with a slightly heavier force, it is extremely easy to cause injury or even death to others.
In order to avoid killing Takigawa with one blow, Ogata's attack just now was weakened.
It's just that--even though he tried to play down the power, Takigawa still didn't feel well after taking Ogata's "Dragon Tail: Dodge" attack.
The part of the armor that was struck by Ogata's wooden sword was already cracked.
Takigawa's head was covered in cold sweat, and the expression on his face was particularly ferocious due to pain. His ribs must have been broken.
He tried to get up.
But the severe pain from the part that Ogata had just hit left Takigawa without the strength to stand up.
And even if he stood up, it would be useless. The outcome was already decided.
After he was slashed away by Ogata's sword, the referee who was responsible for deciding the outcome was stunned for a moment and then loudly announced Ogata's victory.
After Takigawa was knocked down by Ogata with a sword, the whole audience was briefly silent for a while due to shock.
After the collective silence for a while, it was as if the magic of "time suspension" had been lifted, and everyone slowly started to stir in a not too ostentatious state.
Those who had just asserted with a confident attitude that "the outcome has been decided, Takigawa won", at this time, they all kept their mouths tightly shut and remained silent.
Some people who are more ashamed simply show embarrassment and bury their heads slightly.
All kinds of comments sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
…
"I remembered that I heard the name 'Mashima Goro' somewhere! It is said that a newcomer named 'Mashima Goro' was born at the Shirobei Club in Yoshiwara, and the 'Literary Examination' for the Imperial Examination began
Before, one man chopped down 25 Huo Fu thieves who were transformed into official servants."
"Hao Fu Thief Kai? Isn't that army full of fierce men?"
"Yes, after all, they are a force specifically responsible for catching vicious arsonists and thieves."
"Why would Goro Majima go up against the official officer of the Fire Rogue Thief Kai?"
"I don't know the specifics. It seems that the official servants who were fired by the thieves took the initiative to cause trouble. Then the troublemakers were settled by Majima Goro alone. After that, the 'Onipira' personally came forward to apologize to the Shirobei Club, and everything was calmed down.
This incident."
"It's too strong... One person can defeat 25 fire-fighting thieves... This can be considered a swordsman, right?"
"This guy not only won the first place in the literary test, but he is also so good at swordsmanship... Could he be a descendant of a famous family?"
…
As for Takigawa's friends, headed by Usaka, while everyone else was talking about Ogata, they hurried onto the field, took off Takigawa's armor, and then carried Takigawa off the field.
"Wait! I can still fight! This is just a minor injury! I can still fight!"
As if Takigawa was unwilling to accept the cruel reality in front of him, he yelled crazy words like "I haven't lost yet" and "Put me down" with a ferocious face.
Uesaka and others ignored Takigawa who was yelling and did not want to face the reality that "he had lost". They just carried Takigawa away as quickly as possible and took Takigawa to heal his injuries.
Ogata, who remained at the scene, was not in a hurry to leave.
Instead, he punched the air in front of him twice, then murmured with a smile:
"Very good, the feeling is back."
In the battle with Takigawa just now, the reason why Ogata looked so clumsy in his movements was simply because Ogata was not used to using a wooden sword.
The last time I used a wooden sword was before I went to Edo, I competed with Shimada in Owari to gain experience points.
It had been so long since Ogata had touched a wooden sword that he couldn't even adjust his center of gravity.
The Daishiten used by Ogata has a blade longer than most wooden swords. The blade length alone is 75cm.
The wooden sword Ogata used just now has a blade length of only about 63cm and is much lighter than a real sword.
Knives of different weights and lengths have slightly different optimal centers of gravity.
After getting used to using Dai Shiten and returning to an ordinary wooden sword, Ogata was a little unsure of his body's center of gravity and where the best attack range was.
In order to quickly regain the feel of using the wooden sword, when Ogata was fighting Takigawa just now, he did not immediately attack Takigawa. Instead, he defended first and slowly regained the feel of the wooden sword.
That's why the scene where "Ogata passively defended against Takigawa's attack with clumsy movements" appeared, giving everyone the illusion that Ogata's swordsmanship was average.
…
…
He handed the wooden sword back to the officer responsible for managing weapons and protective gear, and with the help of the officer, he took off the protective gear on his upper body and forehead. Under the attention of the people around him, Ogata returned to Makimura and Shimada.
beside.
"It's a pity that I don't have to gamble." Makimura grinned at Ogata who came back, "If I could gamble with money, I would keep betting on you, and I would definitely make a lot of money."
"Please put all your little thoughts into serious matters." After Ogata complained to Makimura helplessly, he stood between Makimura and Shimada and continued to pay attention to Masaru in the "Aba", "
"Course B" is a trial match that is going on one after another on these two venues.
Ogata and the others are waiting.
Waiting for Gokutaro's appearance.
They had never seen with their own eyes how powerful Gokutaro was.
Therefore, they planned to see with their own eyes the skills of Ji Tairou, one of the "Four Heavenly Kings".
Ogata and the others also asked Amachi how the strength of the "Four Heavenly Kings" was ranked.
It's a pity that Amachi doesn't know what the strength ranking of the "Four Heavenly Kings" is.
Questions like "who is stronger?" have always been extremely easy to cause all kinds of arguments.
The current "Four Heavenly Kings" in Shiranui have never fought together, so the ranking of the "Four Heavenly Kings" has never been determined. The other ninjas in Shiranui can only speculate through logical reasoning and imagination.
Because different people have different ideas, different versions are naturally born.
Before Omachi rebelled against Shiranui, the versions he had heard of were:
Shuntaro is the strongest, followed by Shintaro, and then Kotaro and Gokutaro are probably in between.
Some people think that Gokutaro should be the second strongest one, because Gitaro has the most achievements and is the one who works hardest on missions among the "Four Heavenly Kings", so he has the most practical combat experience.
Some people also think that Kotaro, who has been killed by Ogata, is the second strongest, because the weapon he uses is the very unpopular Scythe. If you are not familiar with the Scythe, even a master will be in trouble.
Although there are many different versions.
But no matter what version it is, they all have one thing in common.
That is - everyone believes that Shuntaro is the strongest one.
In various versions of the ranking of strength, no matter what the ranking of the bottom three is, the one who ranks first must be Shuntaro.
Ogata has asked Amachi why everyone in Shiranui thinks that Shuntaro is the strongest one. Has he done anything earth-shattering?
A-Machi's answer at the time was: She didn't know whether Shutaro had done anything earth-shattering or not.
She only knew that about three years ago, Shuntaro seemed to have done something terrible, and that incident caused a huge fuss.
What Shuntaro did three years ago was one of their taboos in Shiranui.
Enma seemed to be intending to make people forget what Shuntaro had done, and tried his best to control the spread of Shutaro's incident.
Many ninjas in Shiranui, including Atachi, don't know what Shuntaro did three years ago.
No matter who I asked what exactly Shuntaro did three years ago, the person I asked would either say "I don't know" or would be very secretive.
According to A-machi, the reason why everyone believes that Shuntaro is the leader of the "Four Heavenly Kings" is actually very simple - Enma has told everyone in Shiranui more than once: Excluding him, Enma, Shunma
Taro is their strongest fighting force in Shiranui.
Regarding Enma's personal certification, the other three people in Shiranui never questioned it, and they all acquiesced to Enma's certification.
Shuntaro's performance has always been consistent with Enma's praise of him.
The other three members of the "Four Heavenly Kings" have all encountered powerful enemies and have been seriously injured.
Only Shuntaro has never been seriously injured while on a mission.
Not to mention serious injuries, the number of injuries is so small that you can count them on ten fingers.
No matter who he fights, Shuntaro can win as easily as he fights his son.
With Enma's personal verification and his own glorious record as support, everyone unknowingly came to this consensus - "Shuntaro is the leader of the 'Four Heavenly Kings'"
…
…
The three Ogata people listened attentively to the names shouted by the officials of "A Field" and "B Field".
Finally - not long after Ogata ended the battle with Ryukawa, a long-awaited shout from the "Koba" rang out from Ogata and others:
"Kokuichiro! Kyokuichiro! Please come forward!"
Ogata and the others had already learned about the fact that Gokutaro took part in the "Gozen Trials" under the alias "Gokuichiro" from Hasegawa.
Just like a conditioned reflex, the three Ogata people went straight to the "A field" without saying a word.
As soon as Ogata and others arrived at the "Koba", they saw Gokutaro carrying two short swords and wearing armor with the help of official servants.
The weapons held by Gokutaro are two wooden kaitai swords.
The sword in the right hand is held upright, and the sword in the left hand is held backward.
He uses a sword as a weapon, and he still uses two of them - this is a rare "unpopular weapon user".
Therefore, after Gokutaro appeared on the stage, many spectators were attracted to the "A-field".
After putting on the protective gear, Kitaro stood opposite his opponent with a confident smile.
The weapon used by Kitaro's opponent is a spear.
Looking at Jitaro holding two short swords, the spearman showed a proud and joyful smile.
One inch is longer and one inch is stronger - this is the absolute truth in this vast terrain without any obstacles.
From a visual point of view, the attack distance of the weapon is countless times wider than that of Gokutaro, so this spearman has the advantage.
After both sides stood still, the referee on "field A" waved his hand and loudly announced the start of the trial.
As soon as the referee announced the start of the shouting, the extremely loud sound of feet tapping on the ground could be heard.
As soon as the referee announced the start of the trial, Gokutaro stepped on his back foot, turning his whole body into an afterimage and attacking the spearman on the opposite side.
The speed was so fast that the pupils of the spearman opposite him suddenly shrank.
However, the spearman still had a moment. After a brief shock, he quickly swung the spear in his hand, like a poisonous snake coming out of its hole, and stabbed at Kitaro, who was approaching quickly.
What a pity - the spearman's spear looks like a snake, and Gokutaro's movements are also like a snake.
Just as the tip of the spear was about to hit Ji Tairou, Ji Tairou twisted his body, pressed against the shaft of the spear, and slid towards the spearman.
Ji Tairou just slid in front of the spearman, and put the sword held in his left hand in front of the spearman's throat.
Reluctance and astonishment flashed several times on the spearman's face.
Finally, after letting out a gentle sigh, the spearman said: "I lost..."
The entire battle took less than 10 seconds from start to finish.
The spearman only had time to make one move before Gokutaro's sword was placed on his neck.
After seeing the spearman readily admit defeat, the confidence and pride on Ji Tairou's face became a little more intense. After taking back the sword in his hand, he strode back to the edge of the field and took off his protective gear with the help of the official.
The three Ogata people all frowned slightly at this time.
They originally wanted to see with their own eyes the specific strength of Kitaro.
This is a completely one-sided battle in which a level 100 player beats a level 10 player, and it is impossible to tell how powerful Gokutaro really is.
"I can't tell how strong he is at all..." Makimura lowered his voice and whispered helplessly to Ogata beside him.
"Fortunately, there is no gain at all." Ogata agreed with a helpless smile, "At least he knows that speed is his strength and he is good at fast breaks."
After Kitaro and the spearman left the "A field", two new contestants boarded the "A field" again.
Because the victory is determined by one blow, the pace of the martial arts test is quite fast.
The fast one only takes a few seconds, and the slow one only takes about 2 or 3 minutes to complete a game.
Of course, there were also a few weird ones, and even after waiting for several minutes, there was still no winner.
Two people were having a crazy "two-person turn" there.
I turned around, but I didn't see them rushing forward to decide the winner.
Naturally, the people in the government would not allow this kind of dilatory approach.
If everyone is there for the "two-person turn", there will be more than 400 people participating in the martial arts test, who knows how long it will last.
When a "two-person turn" situation occurs on a certain field, the referee of that field will sternly stop it and ask the two people not to mess around.
Because of the fast pace and the fact that two venues were opened for competition at the same time, it is expected that half of the 400 or so people will be screened out before this evening.
Just when Ogata was looking from a distance at Gokutaro, who had taken off his protective gear and reintegrated into the crowd, a familiar young male voice sounded behind Ogata:
"Huh? Isn't this Majima?"
Hearing this familiar young male voice, Ogata raised his eyebrows and listened.
"Five or six?"
A young man who was probably older than Ogata walked slowly towards Ogata with a smile.
A face that was very familiar to Ogata - it was the young man named "Go-ryoku" whom Ogata met on the banks of the Rashomon River a few days ago.
Makimura and Shimada didn't know Goroku, so they all looked at Ogata inquiringly.
"This is a friend I met in Yoshiwara, named 'Go-Roku'." Ogata briefly introduced Go-Roku to Makimura and Shimada, and then cast doubtful and curious eyes on Go-Roku.
"Wu Liu, are you here to watch the battle?"
"That's right." Wuliu shrugged, "I have been very interested in this 'imperial trial' since the government announced that it would be held."
Wuliu said as he walked to Ogata's side and stood side by side with Ogata.
"Since you are interested, why don't you participate in person?" Ogata asked in a half-joking tone.
"If possible, I actually want to take part in the 'Imperial Examination' in person." Wuliu smiled bitterly and shrugged, "Unfortunately, I have never studied the Four Books and Five Classics, and I am not even good at writing Chinese characters. I will take part in the 'Literary Examination'
'The whole volume will definitely end up blank."
Ogata asked: "Did you come here just now?"
"Yeah. I had a bit of a nap today, so I just came here."
"I saw you as soon as I came here. Majima, you are very tall, so it was easy to see you."
Ogata, who is 1.7 meters tall, stands out among a group of people who are only 1.5 meters, 1.6 meters tall, and a few people are only 1.4 meters tall.
In this way, Ogata and Wuliu had a chance to catch up, but chatted without a chance.
While Wuliu was chatting with Ogata, he was also watching the trials one after another on the "A Field" and "B Field".
After watching for a while, Wuliu frowned slightly:
"Why are the levels so low... I can't even see a master... It's so boring..."
Listening to Wuliu's words, Ogata couldn't help but smile.
There is no restriction on identity or age in the "imperial trial match", so naturally there are quite a lot of demons and monsters joining in this "imperial trial match".
Although there are occasionally one or two people with acceptable skills, most of them are just noobs pecking each other.
"Occasionally, masters appear." Ogata said softly, "The battle between the two samurai who used spears just now was quite exciting."
…
…
"Sakamoto Yuji! Sakamoto Yuji! Please come forward!"
"Course B" once again heard the loud shouts of the officials.
The winner of the last trial match has been decided, and the officials in "Sound B" began to call out the names of the contestants in the next round.
"Oh!" Wuliu exclaimed lightly, "It seems that a master has finally appeared."
As Wuliu spoke, he fixed his gaze on "Course B".
Ogata had just been watching the trial match on the "Arena" with Makimura and Shimada.
Hearing Wu Liu's words, Ogata, who was a little curious, turned his head and looked at "Yiba" on the other side.
However - as soon as he turned his attention to the "B Field", Ogata's expression instantly froze as if he had been cast a "time freeze" magic.
Ogata saw a young man with a somewhat honest face wearing protective gear with the help of an official.
After putting on the protective gear, the young man quickly stepped onto the "B Field" and stood opposite his opponent.
Looking at this honest-faced young man, a certain scene slowly emerged in Ogata's mind, as if he had a sense of autonomy - this scene was from Ogata and he met in Kyoto more than 3 months ago, and they
The face of someone who has a special bond with Ogata.
Although the time he knew that guy was relatively short, Ogata and him could be regarded as having a life-long friendship.
Ogata himself also tried his best to give some tips to this guy who stubbornly called him "master" all the time. He was considered half a master.
At this moment, the face in my memory coincides perfectly with the face of the young man standing on "Course B" now.
Kondo?!
Xu almost blurted out and called out the young man's name.
This young man with a somewhat honest face is none other than Kondo Uchizosuke, who met Ogata in Kyoto more than three months ago.
Looking at Kondo, who was standing with a knife in the "B Field", facing off against his opponent, Ogata felt as if his head had just been hit by a superfast train, and his brain was directly knocked into a ball of paste.
One question after another popped up in Ogata's mind.
Kondo, why is he here?
He actually participated in the "Imperial Trial"?
He was actually in Edo too?
While Ogata was still immersed in shock, the referee of "Course B" waved his hand and announced that the trial match had officially begun.
After the referee announced the start, Ogata slowly recovered from the shock.
After regaining his composure and taking a closer look, Ogata discovered that he still knew Kondo's opponent.
It was the same Nagano who had witnessed Ogata in Yoshiwara before, knocking down a guy who was using Hohoin-style spear skills, and then suddenly popped up and invited Ogata to be a guest at his sword hall.
Ogata remembered that Nagano seemed to have some connection with Genichi, so he had a deep impression on Nagano.
Kondo and Nagano both stood in mid-section postures, facing each other.
"Ono Itto-ryu, Nagano Shun." Nagano was the first to announce his name.
"Tenurishin-ryu! Sakamoto Yuji!" Kondo responded with a much louder voice than Nagano.
When he heard Kondo's announcement about his door, the black lines on Ogata's face became more numerous.
Ogata didn't know much about Japanese history in his previous life.
But even Ogata, who knew little about Japanese history, had heard of the name of Natural Rishin-ryu.
Ogata vaguely remembered what Kondo told him before: he created a new school based on Katori Shinto-ryu, but he had never thought of a name for it.
——So Rishin-ryu is a new genre created by Kondo?!
Ogata couldn't help but scream in shock in his heart.
But now, compared to natural Rishin-ryu, Kondo's name is what Ogata cares about more.
——What the hell is this Yuji Sakamoto...Did Kondo change his name...
I want to grab Kondo by the collar and ask him more and more questions...
While Ogata was "tortured" by the questions that popped up one after another, the trial match between Kondo and Nagano began.
It was Nagano who launched the first attack.
Nagano's sword has the word "stable" in it.
Whether attacking or returning to defense, he is very steady, neither hurried nor slow, neither arrogant nor impetuous.
On the other hand, Kondo's sword has an aura that is almost completely opposite to Nagano's.
Although Nagano was the one who launched the first attack, Kondo's subsequent counterattacks were more violent.
With a very high momentum, he launched a fierce attack on Nagano.
However - all the swords he swung out with great momentum were blocked by Nagano one by one.
"...Although I have never heard of the name Natural Rishin Ryu, Natural Rishin Ryu seems to be the type of school that focuses on killing with one strike and ending the battle in the shortest time." Five or six on the side suddenly said coldly,
"This type of sect has a problem, that is, it uses all its strength with every sword, so it is not good at long-term combat."
"The uncle who is his opponent seems to have noticed this weakness..."
Just as Goryoku said, Nagano seemed to have seen the weakness of Kondo's Natural Rishin-ryu and changed his tactics.
Instead of launching an active attack on Kondo, he began to focus on defense, consuming Kondo's physical strength.
Kondo saw Nagano's intention, gritted his teeth, and the wind pressure from the wooden knife in his hand became stronger - but it was of no use, and still could not break Nagano's defense.
After the fierce attack and defense between the two continued for a while, severe breathing began to come out of Kondo's mouth.
"...Young man." Nagano, whose breathing was just a little faster, whispered to Kondo who was beginning to gasp, "Although your swordsmanship is good, your actual combat experience is still insufficient, and you don't even know how to allocate your physical strength.
"
"Stop being so verbose..." After Kondo responded to Nagano in an unhappy tone, he raised the back of his left hand and wiped the sweat dripping down his chin.
"no solution anymore……"
After mumbling like this, Kondo took a deep breath.
Then he straightened up his slightly bowed waist and looked directly at Nagano in front of him with a serious face.
"Let me show you the 'Ogata style'!"
"'Ogata style'?" Nagano slowly frowned, "What is this? The secret technique of your school?"
Kondo didn't lower his volume when he yelled just now.
Even Ogata, who was a little far away from "Biba", could clearly hear Kondo's shout just now.
After hearing the word "Ogata-ryu" from Kondo's mouth, the expression on Ogata's face instantly became weird.
"It's indeed a secret skill, but it's not my natural Rishin-ryu secret skill. Keep your eyes open and see!"
After saying that, Kondo turned his sword upside down, and then directly inserted it into the ground covered with fine gravel under his feet.
Kondo's behavior of sticking the wooden knife upside down on the ground aroused doubts in everyone around him.
Regardless of those who have studied swordsmanship or those who know nothing about swordsmanship, they have never heard of or seen such a sword-holding posture.
While everyone else looked puzzled, only Ogata's expression became more and more strange.
Ogata now only feels that this scene is very familiar, and the sense of déjà vu is extremely strong!
"...Young man." Nagano frowned, "Is this inexplicable posture the 'Ogata style' you just mentioned?"
"No." Kondo shook his head, "It's hard for me to explain to you what's going on with my posture. In short, this is a skill I've developed over this period of time."
Although he couldn't understand Kondo's operation, the confidence and pride on Kondo's face still made Nagano unconsciously wary.
As he became wary, his fighting spirit also rose.
After clenching the wooden sword in his hand tighter, Nagano slowly approached Kondo.
He planned to come and experience for himself what the "Ogata-ryu" was that made this young man show such a confident expression.
No matter how Nagano tried to close the distance between the two, Kondo remained motionless and allowed Nagano to get closer.
Kondo's "motionless" appearance made Nagano frown even more.
Unknowingly, with Nagano approaching, the distance between Nagano and Kondo was less than 3 steps.
This was a relatively safe distance - Kondo couldn't hit him directly with the knife.
Just when Nagano, who was standing in a safe atmosphere, opened his mouth and was about to say something——
"Take the move!"
Kondo's eyes suddenly widened and he suddenly raised the sword that was stuck on the ground.
The raised sword blade stirred up a "drizzle" of broken soil and sand, heading towards Nagano's pavement.
Looking at the "rain of gravel" coming from the pavement, Nagano's pupils suddenly shrank, and he subconsciously raised his left hand to cover his face.
Nagano reacted quickly and blocked the "rain of sand and gravel" in time.
Although he failed to blind Nagano, he successfully exposed Nagano's flaws.
With excitement on his face, Kondo immediately rushed towards Nagano, whose flaw was exposed.
While rushing towards Nagano, he shouted excitedly:
"How's it going? Have you experienced the power of 'Ogata-ryu'?"