"Back to my lord," Tobiru replied, "Matsuhira Gennai has not had any other movements today. He has been staying in the house..."
Speaking of this, Fei Yuan hesitated for a moment.
Then he used a movement like squeezing something stuck in his throat out of his mouth to spit out the remaining words with difficulty.
"Watching...'competition'..."
Hearing Tobiru's words, Kurunaga's expression changed and his brows furrowed slightly.
After a while, Kuranaga then asked Tobiru:
"Then...is there any other information about the lord?"
It was Kuronaga who was loyal to Tobiru, so Tobiru only called Kuronaga his lord. Tobiru Gennai always called Matsudaira Gennai by his first name.
"Yes. I have received reliable information - Matsudaira Gennai will go hunting again the day after tomorrow."
"Are you going to hunt again..." Gennai Matsudaira seemed to be exhausted, and sighed like a doctor with a tired look.
Because Kuronaga didn't speak further, the room fell into an eerie silence.
After a while, Tobiru used a tentative tone and cautiously said to Kurunaga in front of him:
"Lord...does our plan...still go ahead?"
"Of course!" Hearing Tobiru's question, Kuranagi said without hesitation, "The plan must be carried out to the end!"
"But..." A look of confusion appeared on Fei Yuan's face, "Do we... have any chance of winning...?"
As soon as he said these words, Tobiru realized that what he just said was a bit rude, so he quickly apologized to Nagai:
"Sorry, lord! I just made a mistake!"
"...It's okay." Kuronaga sighed softly, "It's normal for you to have such concerns..."
"By the way, Tobiru. I just asked Xuan An. Ogata-kun's injury will be healed soon."
"That young man..." Fei Yuan muttered, "If he is willing to help us, then our combat power can indeed be greatly increased..."
"By the way, I almost forgot to ask." Kuranagi patted his head gently, "Tobiru, has anyone from the Ishikawa Sword Hall recently tried to murder Ogata-kun?"
"Yes." Tobiru replied, "Yesterday, two disciples of the Ishikawa Kenkan were still determined to break into Ogata's home and avenge that Toyama Renichiro."
"Then what? How did you stop it?"
"I quietly informed the owner of the Ishikawa Sword Hall, Ishikawa Hyōma. This allowed Ishikawa Hyōma to take action in time to stop the two disciples."
"How did Ishikawa Hōma stop his two disciples?"
"In the name of practicing swordsmanship, he competed with those two disciples and deliberately injured those two people so that they could no longer cause trouble for Ogata."
"However... one of the two disciples, named Itagaki, clearly had a serious injury on his right shoulder. Even though the old injury had not healed and his master had given him a new injury, he still insisted on going.
Seek revenge on Ogata."
"It wasn't until his right leg was dislocated by Ishikawa Hyōma that Itagaki was forced to give up."
"Yeah." Kuranaga nodded expressionlessly, "That Ishikawa Hyōma is a smart man... He will not let more troubles arise. It's a pity that his disciples failed to understand their master's good intentions...
"
"Tobiru, continue to monitor the Ishikawa Sword Hall, cooperate with Ishikawa Hyōma Duoduo, and do not allow any disciple of the Ishikawa Sword Hall to seek revenge against Ogata."
"yes!"
After a moment of silence, Kurunaga softly asked a new question to Tobiru in front of him:
"... Fei Yuan, I understand that there are many unavoidable things to do in the next two days, right?"
Because of his old age, Kuronaga's memory is not as good as before.
So in recent years, Kurunaga began to ask his most trusted person, Tobiru, to help him remember his schedule for the next few days.
"Yes. Ming, the work in the next two days will be very heavy."
"That's it..." Kuronaga muttered, "Then choose the day after tomorrow."
"Tobiru, please invite Ogata-kun to our residence the day after tomorrow."
"yes!"
…
…
3 days later——
It's approaching dusk.
Hirose Domain, the home of Ogata.
On the tatami of Ogata's small and shabby home, two people were sitting one behind the other.
One of these two people is naturally Ogata.
Ogata is now naked from the waist up.
Behind him sat a bald, strong man.
This bald man was carefully examining every wound on Ogata's body.
This person is none other than Xuan An, the famous doctor who has been providing personal and careful treatment to Ogata for more than a month.
Xuanan nodded gently while inspecting every wound on Ogata's body:
"Yes, that's right. Every wound has healed well. It seems that you, Ogata-kun, did follow my doctor's instructions well and did not go to sword practice when you were injured."
"You are obviously injured, but you insist on practicing sword practice with your injured body - only fools can do this kind of thing." Ogata said in a joking tone, "Not to mention the inefficiency, it is also very likely to make people who are not originally
A very serious injury became serious."
"That's right." Xuan An, who had always looked serious, twitched the corner of his mouth at this time, and a smile appeared on his face, "I have seen too many people who were obviously injured, but refused to take care of themselves, and finally gave up.
You are an idiot who caused damage to your body that will never be healed."
Speaking of which, Xuan An had just finished checking every wound on Ogata's body.
"That's right. Every injury has healed well. You don't need any more medicine now."
"Then can I practice sword practice now?" Ogata asked hurriedly.
"That's okay." Xuan An nodded, "You can now jump as you did before - jump as much as you want."
Hearing Xuan'an's words, Ogata couldn't help but let out a cheer.
The boring and boring life of recuperation is finally over - this makes it difficult for Ogata to stay calm.
"Ogata-kun, you seem to be in a good mood today."
Xuanan, who was packing his medicine box, suddenly asked Ogata.
"From the moment I entered the room, I felt that there was always a smile on your face. Could it be that something happened recently that made you happy?"
"Yeah. In a little while, our banquet at Sakakibara Sword Hall will begin."
Ogata briefly told Xuanan the ins and outs of the banquet that was about to begin.
"Oh! A banquet to celebrate your recovery and your certificate of immunity? That would be great."
"Speaking of which--Ogata-kun, the fact that you obtained the Sakakibara Itto-ryu no-passing certificate has been spread in the past few days."
"Everyone is spreading the word - the Sakakihara Kenkan has produced a genius swordsman who was only 20 years old and received a certificate of exemption."
"It's too exaggerated to be a genius swordsman or something." Ogata smiled helplessly, "The reason why I was able to obtain the certificate of exemption from all transfers is just because the certificate of exemption from all transfers in our school is particularly easy to obtain."
Ogata's words were not meant to be modest.
He sincerely felt that it was really easy to get the Sakakibara Ito-ryu's certificate of exemption.
As long as you can learn to use any means in battle and master any of the four major sword skills in the school, you will be able to obtain the certificate of exemption.
The conditions for obtaining a certificate are not that easy compared to other schools.
Therefore, when Ogata accepted this certificate, which was not allowed to be passed on to anyone, he actually felt uneasy that "morality is not worthy of his place".
Xuanan packed up his medicine box and stood up to leave Ogata's home.
"Your injury has healed, so I don't need to visit you anymore to give you medicine."
"Well, Dr. Xuan'an, see you later!" Ogata stood up and bowed respectfully to Xuan'an, "Thank you for taking care of me these days!"
"You are wrong, Ogata-kun." Xuan An smiled slightly, "You should have said 'we will never see you again'."
"'We will never see each other again' - is the best state between doctors and patients."
"So - I hope you will always be healthy, Ogata-kun, and you will not have to see me again in the future."
"We have no time to wait, Ogata-kun."
After saying that, Xuanan picked up the medicine box and walked towards Ogata's door.
However - just when Xuan An put on his straw sandals in the dirt room of the house and was about to leave, Ogata, who had had a hint of hesitation on his face from the beginning, finally mustered up the courage to go to Xuan An.
Asked aloud:
"Dr. Xuan'an... before you leave... can you answer a question... that I have asked you many times before?"
"what is the problem?"
"...Doctor Xuan'an." Ogata looked directly at Xuan'an in front of him, "Master Kurunaga... why did he send you to treat me? Why is Master Kurunaga so kind to me?"