[Special] Chapter 344.5 Ogata and A-cho in the discussion [6600 words]
The plot of this chapter takes place between Chapter 344 "Plains, Mountains, Canyons, Waterfalls, Rain" and Chapter 345 "Start Leveling Up!".
It’s Chapter 344.5.
Tells the aftermath of that night between Ogata and Omachi.
By the way, Chapter 344 was harmonized for reasons that cannot be explained in detail. If you want to read it, please read it elsewhere.
What a pity for those very talented commentators...
By the way, this chapter is the same as Chapter 344. Whether you can understand it or not depends on your ability (laughs).
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Owari, Calabash House, Ogata's room
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A majestic mountain range.
The blue silhouettes of the mountains begin to appear on the northern skyline.
The winding outline of the mountains stretches toward the sky and in all directions, as majestic as a galloping horse.
Although the mountains are high, Ogata is not afraid.
Not only was he not afraid, but he was also eager to try.
Without the help of any props, Ogata climbed the mountain using only his two hands.
Ogata started straight from the bottom of the mountain to the top bit by bit.
This is Ogata's first time climbing such a mountain.
The process was more pleasant than imagined.
While climbing to the top, Ogata stopped from time to time and enjoyed the surrounding scenery very comfortably.
Because Ogata was walking and stopping, his speed at reaching the top was neither too fast nor too slow.
Finally Ogata climbed to the top of this mountain range.
At the top of the mountain stands a pale red boulder about the same height as Ogata.
In addition to its height, another major feature of this boulder is that its surface is very smooth.
This was the first time Ogata saw this kind of light red stone with his own eyes.
Driven by curiosity, Ogata circled the light red stone many times.
While circling around the boulder, I also carefully looked at and admired the boulder.
After carefully looking at every corner of the light red stone, Ogata stepped forward and began to raise his hand to stroke the stone.
Touch it from top to bottom, touching every corner of this stone.
The surface of the stone is very smooth and feels good to the touch.
After seeing enough and touching this stone, Ogata decided to go down the mountain and look elsewhere.
After returning to the ground along the route he had just taken up the mountain, Ogata headed south.
Located to the south of this majestic mountain range is a flat plain.
The plain suddenly opened up, forming a sharp contrast with the towering mountains to its north.
Just like when he was climbing a mountain, Ogata also stopped and stopped while walking on this plain.
Stop from time to time and look at the surrounding scenery.
Or squat down and touch the grass under your feet.
Walking on the grassland is more pleasant than mountain climbing. After all, walking on the grassland is easier.
However, although walking on this endless grassland was pleasant, the scenery and colors were too monotonous, so Ogata soon felt a little bored, so boring that it made people want to doze off.
So Ogata quickened his pace a little and walked straight further south.
Further south along the plain is a canyon.
The canyon is surrounded by high peaks. The red rock cliffs are covered with green ivy, and the top of the cliffs are covered with clumps of weeds. The red cliffs have been carved out by the running water.
At this moment, a gurgling stream flows from north to south at the bottom of the canyon.
Ogata was in no hurry to climb to the top of the canyon to view the scenery at the top.
Anyway, he has a lot of time now, and he plans to slowly appreciate this canyon with red rock walls.
Ogata lifted up the hakama of his lower body and carefully flowed through the water at the bottom of the canyon, entering the depths of the red canyon.
After reaching the middle area of the canyon, Ogata stopped, raised his head, and looked around with curious eyes from bottom to top.
I don't know if it was Ogata's illusion, but he always felt that the stream flowing at the bottom of the canyon seemed to have become more rapid.
Ogata happened to be a little thirsty now, so he leaned down, picked up a few handfuls of water from the stream and drank it in small sips.
After scooping up the stream water and drinking it, Ogata discovered that the stream water had a very faint and strange smell.
But the smell is not unpleasant.
After drinking until he got tired of it, Ogata wiped his mouth and looked up at the top of the canyon.
He was tired of seeing the scenery at the bottom of the canyon, and now he planned to see the scenery at the top of the canyon.
Ogata used his hands and feet to climb on the red rock wall.
The red rock wall was washed out by the running water, and these marks were convenient for Ogata, giving him enough places to grab.
Ogata headed straight towards the top of the canyon bit by bit.
Just when Ogata's head poked out from the rock wall, a gentle breeze happened to blow.
The hair on the forehead is fluttering in the wind.
Ogata half-closed his eyes, feeling the comfortable wind carefully while pulling his entire body up to the top of the rock wall.
The scenery at the top of the canyon is much more beautiful than Ogata imagined.
Ogata looked north.
The northernmost sky is covered with patches of flaming clouds. The clouds seem to be burned by flames, burning extremely brightly, as if flames will fall from the clouds at any time.
After seeing enough of the surrounding scenery, Ogata turned to look at the scenery at his feet.
There are still many plants in this canyon.
The cliffs are covered with green ivy.
The top of the canyon is covered with clumps of weeds.
Although there are many weeds, they have all been pruned.
The weeds on the top of the canyon and the ivy hanging on the rock walls have all been trimmed neatly.
Ogata leaned down and gently stroked a clump of weeds at his feet.
Ogata whispered in a low voice that only he could hear:
"It seems like it's been well pruned..."
Blah blah blah...
Ogata suddenly heard the sound of water flowing from the bottom of the canyon getting louder and louder.
Ogata turned his head and looked towards the bottom of the canyon.
I saw that the stream flowing at the bottom of the canyon became more rapid...
It's not just as simple as becoming turbulent.
The water level of this stream is rising rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
According to the rate at which the water level is rising, it probably won't take long to reach Ogata.
"Why is there more and more water, and it's getting more and more urgent..." Ogata's tone was a little helpless.
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Very unexpectedly, the sky suddenly started to rain.
It's not the kind of rain that changes from light to heavy.
It's the kind of rain that is very heavy as soon as it appears.
The rain was so heavy that people wondered if the sea was pouring from the sky.
Heavy rain wetted the plain, the mountains to the north of the plain, and the canyons to the south of the plain.
The rain hits the flowers and plants in the plains, mountains, and canyons, splashing up pieces of mist.
After the rainwater falling from the sky splashed to the ground, some condensed into a thin stream and slowly flowed in all directions.
Some stay on the leaf tips and petals of flowers and plants in plains, mountains, and canyons, turning into clear dewdrops.
Some blend with the streams of the canyon...
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Ogata panted for a long while before finally adjusting his breathing evenly again.
Amachi, who was lying next to Ogata, was also like this, with his mouth wide open, greedily sucking in every trace of air around him and adjusting his breathing.
After he slowly regained his composure and his breathing became steady again, Ogata realized that the table beneath him seemed to be tilted.
Although he has been in the Edo period for a long time, Ogata still feels a little uncomfortable with some Japanese living habits.
For example, there are no chairs to sit on, so you can only sit on the ground.
Another example is that there are no beds to sleep on, so everyone sleeps on the floor.
Ogata is not used to sitting on his knees until now.
When there is an option to sit without kneeling, Ogata must sit cross-legged instead of kneeling in such a torturous sitting position.
Mamiya is obsessed with carpentry these days.
While Lin, Makimura and the others were heading to Kyoto, Mamiya, who stayed behind at the headquarters, made a lot of wood products to pass the time.
Just now, Mamiya took Ogata to see the pile of works he had done during this period.
Among this pile of works, Ogata took a fancy to a low cabinet.
This cabinet is wide enough and low enough to be used as a bed.
After spending more than a year in the Edo period, Ogata had almost forgotten what it felt like to sleep in a bed.
In order to recall the feeling of sleeping on the bed, Oxiang asked Mamiya for this cabinet, moved the cabinet to his room, then spread the bedding on the cabinet and slept directly on it.
In the eyes of outsiders, Ogata's behavior of not sleeping on the tatami was extremely weird.
Just now when he was carrying A-Machi onto this cabinet, A-Machi complained to Ogata: Why do you sleep on top of the cabinet?
After realizing that the cabinet beneath him seemed to be tilted, Ogata stuck his head out of the edge of the cabinet and looked underneath the cabinet.
"Ah..." Ogata said softly, "One of the legs of the cabinet is broken... No wonder I always feel that the cabinet is crooked..."
After retracting his head, Ogata said to Amachi in a half-joking tone:
"It seems that Mamiya's craftsmanship isn't that good either... It broke so easily..."
"I don't think it has anything to do with Mamiya-kun's craftsmanship..." Amachi said in a helpless tone, "You don't even think about how noisy we were just now... No matter how strong the cabinet is, it will definitely be broken, right?
"
"Well... that makes sense... Let's ask Mamiya to help repair it after daybreak."
Ogata lay back on the bed, facing the ceiling.
He has neither the physical strength nor the mood to do anything anymore.
At this moment, Ogata has entered a state of having no desires or demands. No matter what happens, it will be difficult to arouse Ogata's emotions.
And Atachi's current state is similar to Ogata's.
No... It should be said that Atachi's condition is even worse than Ogata's.
Ogata was simply tired.
In addition to being tired, A-Machi also felt a little sore.
"Ayi..."
After getting tired of looking at the ceiling above, Amachi, who was sleeping on Ogata's right side, turned his body to one side and gently hugged Ogata.
While hugging Ogata, he tilted his head and put his forehead against Ogata's right shoulder.
"Tell me about your past."
"What happened in the past?" Ogata turned his gaze to Amachi beside him.
"I just realized that I don't seem to know you very well before."
A-Machi said softly.
"I only know that you were born in the Hirose Domain and killed the lord of the Hirose Domain."
"I can't sleep anyway, let's talk together."
"I actually have nothing to say about my past."
Ogata smiled, and then he held Amachi in his arms with his backhand.
Naturally, it was impossible for him to tell A-Machi that he was a time traveler and that he was systematic.
If he tells A-Ting that he is a time traveler who has traveled from the future and tells A-Ting about his past life, A-Ting will definitely treat him as a lunatic.
So Ogata tidied up his words and slowly told the past events of "Ogata Hara":
"I used to be a lower-level samurai of the Hirose Domain. Among all the samurai of the Hirose Domain, although I am not the lowest, I am still the second to third lowest."
"My father's name is Ogata Yukihisa. After marrying my father, my mother took the surname 'Ogata' and changed her name to 'Ogata Yu'."
"My mother died in childbirth when she was giving birth to me."
"Then my father died of illness not long after I became an adult."
"Before my father died of illness, he was a treasurer of the Hirose Domain."
"After my father died of illness, I inherited my father's position as treasurer."
Ogata raised his right hand and twisted his fingers into the air in front of him, as if he were playing with an abacus.
"Now that I think about it, I haven't touched an abacus for a long time..."
Ogata joked.
“I used to spend a whole day planning every day.”
"I haven't touched the abacus for almost a year now."
"I have almost forgotten how to use it..."
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Ogata slowly told his past events.
And A-Machi also listened quietly.
Before Ogata traveled through time, the past events of "Ogata Hara" were actually ordinary, and there was nothing worth talking about. So Ogata quickly finished briefly telling the past events of "Ogata Hara" and began to talk about it.
Looking at the series of things that happened after he traveled through time.
Ogata talked about his various experiences after breaking away from the feudal clan, starting from his deadly fight with Toyama in the "Kung Fu Contest".
Finally, it ends with meeting A-machi on Butterfly Island.
After telling his story, Ogata turned to look at Atachi who was clinging to him.
"A-Machi, please tell me about your past."
"I don't know much about your past either."
"What I did in the past was very ordinary." A-Machi said with a wry smile, "So it might be boring."
Amachi, who was shrinking in Ogata's arms, twisted his body and changed into a more comfortable sleeping position, with a look of reminiscence on his face, and said slowly:
"I am the only daughter of my parents."
"My father's name is Setaro and my mother's name is Ai"
"They are all genin in the village."
The color of memories on A-Machi's face gradually grew stronger.
"My parents are a rare couple in the village who fall in love freely and then marry because of love."
"I was born about a year after we got married."
"Both father and mother have mediocre skills. After all, they are just genin."
"And ninjas with mediocre skills are always very dangerous."
"When I was about 5 years old, my mother died in a mission."
"Then when I was about 15 years old, my father followed in my mother's footsteps and was killed in a mission."
This is the first time Ogata hears Amachi talk about her past.
In the past, Ating only talked about some of her past events in a few words.
From the few words that Atachi said before, Ogata had a vague inference that Atachi's parents may have passed away long ago.
Although he had made relevant speculations and was mentally prepared, Ogata's expression still sank uncontrollably after he actually heard A-Machi say that her parents were dead.
Amachi also keenly noticed the change in the expression on Ogata's face, so he quickly smiled and said:
"That's what ninjas are like. They died in a certain mission at some point."
"I am already 18 years old this year, and I am no longer the kind of little girl who would cry because of such things."
"I've looked away a long time ago."
"And even though my parents are gone, I don't feel lonely."
"Because Uncle Qing is always with me."
"Uncle Qing?" Ogata repeated this slightly unfamiliar name.
"It's the person I told you before who came out to inform me after I was demoted to 'Scale' and asked me to escape quickly."
"Uncle Qing not only informed me of the news in time, but also helped me bring Soyakura and Kasumi Nagi out, and gave me enough money to last for a long time."
Having said this, A-Machi let out a long breath, and then sighed with gratitude:
"If it weren't for Uncle Qing, I don't know what would happen to me now..."
Hearing what Atachi said, Ogata quickly remembered who this "Uncle Kei" was.
After reuniting with A-Machi in Kyoto and learning that A-Machi had actually become a rebellious nin, A-Machi mentioned this person to Ogata.
It was this person who helped Atachi escape from Shiranui.
When A-Machi left Butterfly Island and was about to go back to Shiranui-ri, it was this Uncle Kei who secretly slipped out of Shiranui-ri. He found her before A-Machi returned to Shiranui-ri and told her that she had been demoted to "Ku".
of this news.
Not only did he inform A-Machi, but he also brought out A-Machi's two pistols, Sosakura and Kasumi Nagi, to help him prepare for his escape.
It can be said that the reason why Atachi is so lively in front of Ogata is all thanks to Uncle Qing.
"Uncle Qing's full name is 'Keitaro'." Amachi continued, "He is the jounin of the village."
"Jounin?" Ogata exclaimed in a low voice.
"Yes." Ating nodded, "He and my father are good friends who have known each other for many years."
"Uncle Qing and my father are a pair of well-known friends in the village. After all, their status in the village is very different. One is a jounin and the other is a genin, but they can have such a good relationship, which makes many people...
It feels amazing.”
"Uncle Qing and my father were already very good friends before I was born. So Uncle Qing watched me grow up."
"Uncle Qing is like a second father to me."
"After my parents died, Uncle Qing was always looking after me and staying with me."
"It's thanks to Uncle Qing that I never feel lonely."
After saying that, A-Machi twisted his body again, changed into a new posture, and then continued.
"Let's stop talking about my parents and Uncle Qing. Now I'll talk about my own past."
"Although I have nothing to say about my past..."
"We have rules in Shiranui: Children born between ninjas, children born between ninjas and 'Ku', and children between 'Ku' and 'Ku' must become ninjas in Shiranui in the future.
"
"So as the child of two ninjas, I have been destined to become a kunoichi since I was born."
"I started training as a ninja when I was about 8 years old."
"It's just that my talent is very poor..." A-Machi smiled bitterly, "I learned all the techniques only half-heartedly..."
"Only Jiu-Jitsu is a good one."
After hearing the word "jujutsu" from Atachi's mouth, the expression on Ogata's face couldn't help but become weird.
Because he couldn't help but recall some of the things that had just happened on this cabinet.
Maybe it's because he's good at jujitsu, but Atachi's body is very soft...
And A-Machi also noticed Ogata's expression that became a little weird.
"...Ayi, are you thinking about something strange?"
"not at all……"
After scanning Ogata with suspicious eyes, Omachi looked away and continued:
"According to Shiranui's practice, descendants of ninjas in the village like me will be trained when they are 8 years old."
"Training until the age of 14."
"After these 6 years of training, you will officially become a ninja in the village."
"I was a genin in the beginning, and then gradually accumulated merits and became a chunin and a jounin."
"Because my skills were very poor, until I betrayed Shiranui, I was still just a genin...and I was the kind of genin who couldn't achieve results for a long time, so I was demoted to 'Ku'."
"Excluding jujitsu, my only two strengths are the production of iron cannons and the use of iron cannons."
Speaking of this, A-Machi's eyes shone with a hint of pride.
"Ayi, I should have told you, right? My father is very obsessed with firearms and studies them day and night."
Ogata nodded.
Not long after meeting A-Machi on Butterfly Island, A-Machi mentioned to Ogata that her father was obsessed with firearms.
"Father, she is not only obsessed with firearms, but is also a genius in making firearms."
Unknowingly, A-Ting returned to the story about her parents.
"Uncle Qing told me before that not only do I look like my father, but my love for firearms also resembles my father's."
"I have been interested in firearms since I can remember."
"When I was only 6 or 7 years old, I liked to stand by and watch my father research and make weapons."
"After I had the ability to make firearms, I began to ask my father how to make firearms."
"In terms of talent for making firearms, I should be inferior to my father."
"But I have one more talent for using firearms than my father."
Speaking of this, A-Machi smiled happily as if recalling some happy past events.
"The first time I used an iron cannon was when I was 13 years old, trying out the new iron cannon made by my father."
"It was during that use that I showed my talent for using iron cannons. A sake bottle four rooms away was shattered by my shot."
"My father was so frightened that he almost couldn't stand still."
"It's a pity that Shiranui has always regarded firearms as a fancy skill and doesn't bother to study or use firearms."
A bitter look slowly appeared on A-Machi's face.
"Apart from jujitsu, my only two strengths are the production of iron cannons and the use of iron cannons. They have never been taken seriously by the villagers."
"The other ninjas in the village also regard my father and I who are obsessed with making firearms day and night as weirdos."
"That only shows that the ninjas in Shiranui are really short-sighted and unwilling to accept new things." Ogata said disdainfully.
Although Ogata said so, he actually understood in his heart that the attitude of the ninjas in Shiranui toward firearms was actually a true reflection of how most people in this era treated firearms.
Many samurai believed that firearms were miraculous tricks and evil weapons that violated samurai ethics. They believed that real samurai should use katana swords and spears to fight.
Firearms are miraculous and cunning. This is the mainstream concept of this era.
Both civilians and warriors despised firearms.
It is precisely because of this concept that the development of firearms in the Edo period has not made much progress.
Until the 19th century, when the Edo shogunate was about to fall, the firearms they used were still the matchlocks from the Warring States Period in the 16th century.
"I don't know when it will take everyone to clearly realize what a powerful weapon firearms are..."
"I think it will be soon." Ogata hugged Omachi tighter in his arms.
Although he didn't know much about Japanese history, Ogata vaguely remembered that in about 60 or 70 years, the American Commodore Perry would lead a fleet to open Japan's door.
By then, Japan, which has despised firearms for a long time, will deeply realize that times have really changed.
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The two of them had been chatting for a long time without knowing it.
During this chat, Ogata gradually recovered his physical strength and mood.
As his physical strength recovered, Ogata's mood gradually increased.
Only then did Ogata realize that the increase in "vitality" seemed to not only make his body healthier, but also restore his physical strength faster and recover from wounds faster...
Ogata heard Omachi begging for mercy. She said that she had no energy left and no longer had the energy to spar.
But Ogata didn't even pay attention to what Amachi said.