Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 321: Sudden change in situation!
While adjusting his disordered breathing, Ogata wiped the blood off the blade of the Great Freedom Blade and then put the blade back into the sheath.
Makimura and Hasegawa, who successfully smashed the enemy's head with a hammer, walked towards Ogata side by side.
Looking at Ogata whose breathing was a little disordered, Makimura asked him:
"Brother Ogata, are you hurt?"
"I'm not injured." Ogata smiled slightly, "I just consumed some energy. It's really troublesome to deal with an enemy wearing heavy armor..."
Throwing a person to the ground, and throwing a person wearing heavy armor to the ground - these are two levels of difficulty.
Armor - especially the Nanbando, is simply a large piece of iron.
It goes without saying how much strength it takes to throw a person wrapped in such a large piece of iron to the ground.
Using jutsu to fight 10 heavily armored enemies in a row, even Ogata's breathing became a little disordered.
"Brother Ogata, why are you here?" Makimura asked, "Didn't I ask Master Yinxin to arrange for you to hide?"
"This is a long story..." Ogata raised his head and looked at the ceiling above his head. "I was also wondering how you two found this place. Let me finish searching this small building first and then I will slowly explain to you why I am here."
These 12 enemies dressed in Nanbando seem to be the last defense force of this small building.
After defeating all 12 enemies wearing Nanbando, Ogata and his companions no longer saw any enemies coming towards them.
But neither Ogata, Makimura, nor Hasegawa let their guard down.
Ogata slowly pulled out his Daishakuten.
Makimura picked up his large sword.
As for Hasegawa, he held the hammer in his left hand and pulled out his sword again with his right hand.
The three of them climbed up to the third floor with caution and care - they still didn't see any enemies on the third floor.
As soon as I stepped onto the third floor, a female voice suddenly sounded from a room on the third floor:
"Ayi! I'm here!"
Hearing the female voice, Ogata's tense nerves and muscles slowly relaxed.
After walking slowly to the room and opening the door, Ogata, Makimura and their companions saw Atachi sitting on a bald man who was tied up and had a rag stuffed in his mouth.
"A-Machi, you did a good job." Ogata said with a smile.
When Makimura saw the bald man with Ah-Ming sitting on his butt, he raised his eyebrows, pulled the corners of his mouth, and revealed a sneer:
"Hey, Baldy, didn't expect that we would meet again so soon?"
Looking at Mucun's extremely familiar tall figure, cold sweat broke out on the bald man's forehead.
"Ogata Ittosai, is this woman your companion?" Hasegawa, who did not know Atachi, asked Ogata.
Before Ogata could respond, Atachi spoke to Hasegawa first:
"Good evening~~My name is A-Ting."
"Good evening." Hasegawa bowed respectfully to Atachi, "My name is Hasegawa. Hasegawa Heizo."
"Oh my..." A-Ming was surprised and raised her hand to cover her mouth, "I met a celebrity..."
"I will be responsible for the frontal attack on this small building, and Atachi will be responsible for climbing up to the third floor for a surprise attack." Ogata, who was standing by, told Makimura and Hasegawa about the battle plan he and Atachi had drawn up. "It seems that you have achieved a lot, Atachi. It seems that you have caught a big fish."
"Master Hasegawa, you and Miss A-machi keep an eye on this bald guy." Makimura said at this time, "Brother Ogata and I will check if there are any fish that have escaped the net in this small building."
Makimura's suggestion was tacitly agreed by everyone present, so the four people divided into two teams, Hasegawa and Atachi stayed in this room to guard the bald man, while Ogata and Makimura went to search the other rooms in the small building.
Ogata and Makimura, each holding a candle for lighting, walked side by side in a corridor on the third floor.
Ogata turned his head to take a look at Makimura's expression at the moment.
Looking at the fatigue that could not be concealed on Makimura's face, Ogata said softly:
"...Macun, judging from your appearance, it seems that you have put in a lot of effort to find this place."
"Brother Ogata, you are almost the same." Makimura smiled bitterly, "You also look exhausted."
“Is that so…?” Ogata raised his hand and touched his face.
"Since this evening, I have traveled to many places in Kyoto..." Makimura said softly, "It would be strange if I could still be full of energy..."
"What a coincidence... Since this evening, I have also been running around a lot of places in Kyoto..."
Ogata and Makimura chatted as they opened each room on the third floor one by one.
There was nothing special in each room. After opening each room and taking a quick look inside, and finding nothing special, Ogata and Makimura headed to the next room.
Wow!
After the door of a room on the third floor was opened, a strange smell suddenly came out of the room.
Although the specific scene inside the room could not be seen clearly because there was no light in the room, one could vaguely sense that it was a fairly spacious room.
A constant strange smell wafted out of the room.
Smelling the strange smell, both Ogata and Makimura frowned.
"This is..." Ogata said in a deep voice, "The smell of gunpowder...!"
As if they had agreed in advance, the two of them quickly extinguished the candles in their hands, then clenched their knives and stepped into the room.
Makimura walked towards the closed window, while Ogata stood guard at Makimura's side with a knife in his hand.
They successfully reached the window and opened it. The moonlight shone into the room through the open window, and Makimura and Ogata were finally able to see everything in the room clearly.
Looking at the things piled up in the room, Mucun's pupils shrank suddenly...
…
…
Kyoto, Sengakukan, the room of the owner Mizuno Nobuyuki.
"Master, the Yamaboko Parade is about to begin. Are you really not going to watch it?"
A male voice that was quite familiar to Mizuno came from outside the room.
The person who spoke was Jiro Hirayama, an old disciple who had followed Mizuno for some years.
As soon as Hirayama finished speaking, Mizuno, who was sitting at the low table reading a book, answered without hesitation:
"I'm not in the mood to go..."
"Is that so..." Pingshan's tone was a little disappointed, "Then I will take my leave first."
After Pingshan left the door, Mizuno closed the book in his hand and sighed.
His words just now, "I'm not in the mood to go," were not just a perfunctory response to Pingshan.
Although Mizuno was not very enthusiastic about the Yamaboko patrol, he did not hate it either.
In previous years, if he had time, Mizuno would enthusiastically bring his family or disciples to watch the grand Yamaboko Procession.
But tonight he really wasn't in the mood to see Yamaboko.
Too many things happened today, which made Mizuno feel depressed.
The wound on his face from being hit by Tengu was still painful.
The owner of Inaba Hall was shot by an unknown person.
Although their six major sword halls have mobilized all the disciples they can to assist the officials in searching for Ogata Ittosai, there has been no result so far.
All these things combined made Mizuno have no mood to go out and play.
Because he was in a very depressed mood, Mizuno closed the book in his hand, pushed it aside, then raised his hand and opened the window next to him a little wider to let more fresh wind blow into the room.
Just when Mizuno was sitting by the window enjoying the breeze -
“Aaaaaaaaa——!”
A scream suddenly sounded from outside the room.
Hearing the scream, Mizuno's pupils suddenly shrank.
Mizuno recognized whose scream it was from the tone - it was the scream of Jiro Hirayama who had just left his room not long ago!
Mizuno quickly stood up and took the katana from the knife rack beside him.
As soon as he took the katana off the knife rack, the paper sliding door of the room was opened with a "whoosh".
Mizuno looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the person who opened the door was none other than Jiro Hirayama.
At this time, Jiro Hirayama looked extremely miserable.
There were so many wounds on his body that it was difficult to count them. Blood was constantly oozing out of each wound, staining his clothes red.
"master……"
Jiro Hirayama covered the wound on his body with one hand and held the door frame with the other.
Because blood kept coming out of his mouth, Jiro Hirayama's words were unclear.
"Pingshan! What happened..."
Before Mizuno could finish his words, several knives suddenly emerged from behind Hirayama and penetrated his chest.
After the knives were taken back from Pingshan's body, Pingshan, who had lost his life, fell limply to the ground.
After Hirayama fell to the ground, Mizuno finally saw clearly who the people who were standing behind Hirayama and stabbed him down were.
“You...?!” After seeing the appearance of these people clearly, Mizuno’s pupils suddenly shrank.
With just one glance, Mizuno recognized who these people were.
They are all his disciples.
To be more precise, they are all new disciples who have joined him recently.
"What are you doing!" Mizuno shouted, "Killing your own fellow disciples! What on earth are you trying to do!"
Mizuno's new disciples ignored Mizuno's question.
Holding the knife that was still dripping with blood in their hands, they slowly walked towards Mizuno.
Seeing that negotiation was useless, Mizuno could only draw out his katana with a sullen face.
"drink--!"
Mizuno released a powerful Qi He and swung his sword towards the disciple walking in front.
clang!
Unfortunately - his sword was easily blocked by this disciple.
“What…!” After his knife was blocked, a look of disbelief appeared on Mizuno’s face.
After all, these were new disciples recruited by himself, so Mizuno still had some impression of them.
In his impression, these new disciples of his were not that strong.
While Mizuno was still in shock, several other people brandished their knives and rushed towards him.
Although Mizuno fought hard, two fists were no match for four hands.
After Mizuno used his sword to block one man's attack, the other man seized the opportunity and swung his sword to hit Mizuno in the abdomen.
The wound was very large. Judging from the amount of bleeding, the wound on Mizuno's abdomen was fatal. I'm afraid that his internal organs had been cut.
"Ugh..." Mizuno spat out blood and felt that his strength seemed to flow out of the wound in his abdomen along with the blood.
Even though Mizuno had no injuries, he was no match for these people.
With his abdomen injured, he was no match for these people.
Although he still held the knife tightly, he was eventually hacked to death by these people...
"Let's go." After confirming that Mizuno was dead, the leader of the disciples pointed out and said, "Let's go and kill all our brothers."
When saying the word "senior brother", this person deliberately emphasized his tone, and his expression became more ferocious as his tone became more serious.
…
…
At this moment——
In an alley in Kyoto——
"Hey, Junior Brother, is there really an izakaya here that serves great drinks?"
“Really, really.”
"Would someone really open a homestay in a place like this..."
Five senior brothers from Qingxueguan, led by a junior brother who had just joined the sect, walked slowly towards a dim alley.
Behind these five senior brothers were four junior brothers who had also just joined the sect.
There are a total of 10 people in this group - 5 senior brothers who have been in the museum for some time, and 5 junior brothers who have joined the museum recently.
This group of people was one of the many "search teams" of Seigakukan after receiving the call to "track down Ogata Ittosai."
Just now, a junior fellow in the group suddenly suggested that they go to an izakaya he had recently found that served delicious drinks, to have a drink and take a rest.
They had been searching aimlessly in Kyoto for half an hour and were already a little tired, so when the junior brother made his suggestion, it was agreed by everyone else.
Just like that - their junior fellow apprentice led them into an alley where there was no one and no light.
Several senior brothers in the group asked again and again, "Have we arrived yet?" and "How long will it take?"
The junior brother who was in charge of leading the way just kept saying "almost there" and "almost there".
"That's enough! Are you kidding us?"
Finally, a senior brother with a hot temper yelled.
"How could there be an izakaya in such a damn place... Ugh!"
The senior brother hadn't finished speaking yet, and he couldn't utter the rest of the words.
Because - the junior brother who was walking in front and leading the way suddenly turned around.
As he turned around, he drew his knife and stabbed the fellow brother in the chest.
It happened so fast.
After the junior fellow who was in charge of leading the way suddenly took action and showed his respect for his brothers, the four fellow fellows who had been following behind him suddenly drew their swords and slashed at the remaining fellow fellows in front of them...
…
…
Similar scenes were also happening in other of the six major sword halls.
The masters of the remaining six major sword halls were assassinated by the new disciples who had recently entered their halls.
It wasn't just the owner who was assassinated.
The old disciples who had been in the sword hall for a while, as well as a few new disciples, were also slaughtered.
However, because these people were slaughtered in secret, no one else noticed the huge changes that were happening in the six major sword halls...
The only gym leader who escaped the massacre was Master Inaba of the Metaphysics Hall.
The owner of Inaba Hall, who was attacked by someone, is recuperating in a medical clinic.
Apart from the disciples who sent Master Inaba to the clinic, no one else knew which clinic Master Inaba was in.
And those disciples who sent Master Inaba to the clinic happened to be old disciples who had followed Master Inaba for some years.
Just like that—Master Inaba, who happened to be shot and passed out, escaped.
