As if they had agreed upon it, the two of them stepped forward with their hind legs at the same time and rushed towards each other like arrows.
clang!
The two swords collided fiercely in mid-air, creating a series of sparks.
…
…
"Hey, you, yes, I'm talking about you, I haven't seen you before... Are you new here?"
"I'm a newcomer. My family all died because of the epidemic, and I was left homeless, so I just became a wanderer."
"Is that so...then you don't have any other family members?"
"Um."
"Then what about me... My name is Shunliu, what's yours?"
"Yahachi."
"Yahachi... this name is a little hard to pronounce. Can I call you 'Ahachi'?"
"random."
"So - Ah Ba, what are you eating?"
"Nothing, just some pastries given to me by a kind shop owner."
"It looks delicious, can you give me some?"
"Here, take it."
…
…
Neither of them learned from any school or sect, and they all used the self-taught swordsmanship.
Mucun's swordsmanship is powerful and open.
Shunliu's swordsmanship is swift and powerful.
The two men's swords created a string of sparks in the air.
Makimura swung the knife in his hand and slashed at Shunliu, who was only half a step away from him.
Almost at the same time, Shunliu thrust the knife in his hand forward.
Both of their knives hit each other.
Makimura's knife hit Shunroku's left shoulder.
Shunliu's knife stabbed Makura's right chest.
Strings of blood splashed onto the ground.
Both Makimura and Shunliu seemed to feel no pain at this moment. Even though there were such large wounds on their bodies, they did not even frown. They quickly adjusted the knives and postures in their hands and rushed towards each other again.
…
…
"Hey, Junroku. Do you think we have a chance of becoming samurai?"
"There should be a chance. Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Warring States period was able to become a commoner and become a master of the world. Why can't we two become samurai from commoners ?"
"Hehe, the samurai story that the storyteller just told was really cool. I wonder if we will have the chance to become such a samurai who takes it as our responsibility to help the weak and suppress the strong in the future..."
"Haha, don't worry! Ah Ba, you will definitely become such a big shot in the future!"
…
…
Shunliu has been carefully observing Mucun's sword movements, looking for Mucun's flaws.
At this moment, Shunliu's eyes suddenly widened.
He found a flaw in Mucun's attack - the sword movement that Mucun was currently using was a little crooked.
This gave Shunroku the opportunity to attack the side of Makimura's sword.
Shunroku acted decisively and immediately turned his body to the side to avoid Makimura's attack, while swinging his sword at the most vulnerable part of the large sword in Makimura's hand - the side of the sword.
Junroku's blade accurately hit the side of Makimura's sword, and Makimura's sword broke.
After successfully cutting off nearly half of the blade of Makimura's sword, Shunroku turned the blade without any hesitation and chopped towards Makimura's head.
…
…
"Junroku...are we two...really going to become Yakuza...?"
"There's nothing we can do... We don't have any skills. If we want to make a living, we can only become Yakuza and join a Yakuza family..."
"Then... this is the only way..."
"Don't worry! Ah Ba! We two brothers won't live under someone else's roof forever! I've already made a plan! We'll join the Sakata family first! Once we get used to the world of the Yakuza! And have the ability to fight on our own, we'll leave that family! We'll work on our own! We two brothers will never live under the roof of any Yakuza family forever!"
…
…
Facing Shunliu's knife, Mucun was not afraid at all. After a cold snort, he threw the broken knife in his hand aside, then raised his hands high, caught the blade with his bare hands, and grabbed Shunliu's knife tightly with both hands.
“Drink aaaaaaa——!”
While shouting loudly, Mucun tightly grasped Shunliu's knife, then tilted his head back, gathered enough strength, and headbutted Shunliu on the head.
Makimura's forehead hit Shunliu's forehead hard.
The loud noise made made people wonder if it was stone hitting stone.
After their foreheads were separated, blood began to spurt out from both Makimura and Shunroku's foreheads.
"Ouch..." Unable to hold back a cry of pain and unbearable dizziness in his head, Shunliu subconsciously loosened his grip on the knife.
Makimura also took the opportunity to snatch Shunliu's knife, and then threw it far away.
…
…
"Hello! Are you Gokuraksai? My name is Junroku Kunieda! This is my brother, Yahachi Makimura! We heard that your tattoo skills are amazing, could you please give us two brothers a tattoo?"
"...Since you know the name of my Jilezhai, you two should also know the tattoo rules of my Jilezhai, right? It's not that I will give you a tattoo just because you want it. I will give different tattoos to different people, and you can't make any requests. If you are ready, you two can just lie there."
…
…
Neither of them had any weapons in their hands at this time.
But the dragons' fight continues!
Even without knives, the two still have the most primitive weapon of mankind - fists!
Makimura and Shunroku both clenched their fists and rushed towards each other.
Makimura's right fist and Shunliu's left fist collided heavily in mid-air.
Neither Makimura nor Shunliu tried to hold back at all.
As a result, when the two fists collided with each other, flesh and blood spurted out.
Mucun, who was the first to retract his fist, shouted loudly, bent down, and gave Shunliu a bear hug on the waist and abdomen. He picked Shunliu up by the waist and then slammed Shunliu's body heavily to the ground.
My back made extremely intimate contact with the solid ground.
Shunliu felt sparks flashing before his eyes in an instant, and a shattering pain spread from his back throughout his body.
After smashing Shunliu to the ground, Makimura's attack did not stop.
Mucun took advantage of the situation and rode on Shunliu's body, swinging his right fist towards Shunliu's head.
Shunliu 's consciousness, which had just been somewhat distracted by his back hitting the ground, was regained in focus at this moment.
Looking at the oncoming fist of Mucun, Shunliu gritted his teeth and turned his head away.
Bang!
Because Shunroku tilted his head, Makimura's fist hit the ground heavily.
The gravel and sand on the ground cut the skin on Mucun's fist into thin cuts.
…
…
"You two seem to have a good relationship. Ah, Kunieda-kun, please don't move. If you move, I'll easily get the wrong tattoo."
"Master Ji Le Zhai, you are right! Although Ah Ba and I are not brothers, we are better than brothers!"
"…Then let me give you two a piece of advice. It's best if you two don't get too close."
"Ah? Master Jilezhai, what do you mean? Do you want me to break up with Shunliu?"
"…I am doing this for your own good. Kyoto is too small to accommodate two dragons."
"Master Ji Le Zhai, what are you talking about... Ah Ba and I don't understand what you are saying..."
"You will understand what I mean later."
…
…
Junroku gritted his teeth and used his jutsu skills to pull himself out from under Makimura, then reversed their positions.
Originally, Mucun was riding on Shunliu, but now Shunliu is riding on Mucun.
Shunroku, who was riding on Makimura, had no attack on his head that was easily avoided.
Instead, he chose to attack Makimura's chest.
Shunliu swung his fists and hit Mucun's chest again and again.
“Ahem!”
Mucun coughed and couldn't help spitting out some blood.
He had clearly heard the sound of bones breaking just now - the bones in his chest were probably injured. The pain spread from his chest to his whole body, making Mucun couldn't help but cry out in pain.
But at this moment, Mucun had no time to savor the pain.
Jujutsu - Makimura also knows it.
When Shunliu was about to swing his left fist to hit Makura's chest for the fifth time, Makura suddenly raised his hand, grabbed Shunliu's left fist that had already been swung in the air, and then used judo to throw Shunliu off him.
After Makimura used judo to throw Junroku to the ground, Makimura changed his fighting style and began to use judo against Junroku.
Mucun's two big hands were like two steel clamps, clamping Shunliu's waist and throwing him to the ground again before he could adjust his body...
…
…
"Shunliu... I... am a little tired..."
"Hmm? Hachi? What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing... I just suddenly realized... I'm afraid that the two of us will never be able to become samurai in our lifetime..."
"Ah Ba! Don't be discouraged!"
"I'm not discouraged... I just... feel a little tired..."
"…Hachi, cheer up! You are the most powerful man I have ever seen! Your dream of becoming a samurai will definitely come true!"
"Thank you... Shunliu..."
"Hey, hey, hey, Ah Ba, don't cry."
"These are tears of joy. I am so lucky to have a brother like you who can encourage me when I am confused."
"Don't say such disgusting things!"
…
…
It was as if he wanted to deliberately compete with Makimura. After seeing Makimura change his fighting style and use jujutsu to deal with him, Shunroku also began to use jujutsu to fight against Makimura.
When Mucun's hands grabbed his waist again, Shunliu lowered his center of gravity and used the force-unloading technique to remove Mucun's hands from his waist. Then he grabbed Mucun's right arm and gave him an extremely sharp shoulder throw.
Makimura's back hit the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Makimura spat out blood again, clenched his teeth that were already stained red with blood, lay on the ground carelessly, and then used the "laying technique" in judo on Junroku.
Ground technique - a counterattack technique in judo that uses the body lying flat on the ground with bare hands to attack the enemy.
Makimura used a lying technique to throw Junroku, who was originally standing, to the ground.
Seeing Makimura start to use the lying technique, Shunroku also started to use the lying technique.
The two people lying on the ground took turns using ground techniques to counterattack each other.
Whether it was Makimura or Shunliu, their faces and bodies were covered with blood and dust.
It’s just that - even though their faces were covered in blood and dirt at this moment, their eyes were still radiant, as if there were flames burning in their eyes.
The fire burning in the eyes of the two men seemed determined not to stop until they turned the other person in front of them into ashes.
…
…
"Hachi, let me introduce you! This is the woman I met a few months ago when I went to Osaka on official business - Ayodo. We are going to get married in a month."
"What?! Shunliu, you're getting married?!"
"Um, sorry for notifying you now!"
"You're such a jerk! How dare you betray me! You secretly found such a beautiful woman to be your wife!"
"Hahahaha! Sorry, sorry!"
"I'm really angry now. You actually betrayed me. Didn't we agree not to get married before the age of 24 in order not to affect our service to the public?"
"I'm sorry, Ah Ba. I have met a woman who is worth protecting for my whole life. I promise you! This is the first time I betray you! And it will be the last time I betray you!"
…
…
"Cough, cough, cough..." Mucun coughed out a little blood foam.
“Ha…ha…ha…ha…” Shunliu gasped violently, and a light red liquid mixed with saliva and blood dripped from his mouth.
Both of them supported themselves on the ground with their hands, struggled to get up, and then ran towards each other.
The two of them are no longer using any fighting techniques.
They just swung their fists at each other without any plan.
You hit me, I hit you back.
Every time he punched the opponent, blood splattered and spilled onto the nearby ground.
In just a short while, the dust and weeds around the two of them were all splattered with blood.
The fists of the two men had already turned bright red at this moment, and it was impossible to tell which was their own blood and which was the other's.
After punching each other for more than ten times, the two raised their fists almost at the same time.
Makimura raised his right fist.
Shunliu raised his left fist.
The two fists were raised high and then collided heavily.
Then the two of them were pushed back several steps by the recoil force.
Coincidentally, after Makimura retreated a few steps, he exactly reached the place where his Odachi fell.
After Shunliu retreated a few steps, he just retreated to the place where his katana fell.
The two men picked up their respective knives.
"Come... let's put an end to this! Hachi!!"
Shunliu swung his katana and charged towards Makimura.
“Hah aaaaaah——!” Makimura responded to Shunroku with a loud roar.
clang!
The blades collided, sparks flying.
Makimura first used the half-bladed sword to pry off Junroku's sword, then lowered his waist to accumulate strength. Finally, he chopped it hard from top to bottom. This slash was done in one go, and Makimura only felt the blade cutting into the flesh - this feeling was truly amazing.
Makimura's broken knife cut from Shunliu's left shoulder all the way to Shunliu's left thigh.
It’s a pity that the wound was not deep and only cut Shunliu’s flesh.
As soon as Makimura's broken knife cut through Shunliu's left thigh, Shunliu immediately launched a counterattack.
The blade turned into a stream of light and pierced through Makimura's right shoulder.
Neither Makimura nor Shunroku screamed or cried out in pain after suffering such serious injuries.
In their eyes, the world only has each other.
The two of them now have only one thought: to defeat the man in front of them!
clang!
The two swords collided again.
The sword guards were placed together, and both sides exerted their strength.
Both Makimura and Shunliu were covered in wounds and almost exhausted, so even with their weak strength at this moment, they were actually on par with each other.
“Hahhhhhhhhh——!!” Makimura and Shunroku shouted at the same time, and then pushed forward at the same time, pushing each other away and keeping some distance.
Then, almost at the same time, the two men turned the directions of the knives in their hands, with the tips of the knives pointing at each other.
Then--
laugh!
The two men thrust their swords forward at the same time.
Makimura's knife pierced through Shunroku's body.
And Shunliu's sword also pierced through Makimura.
The two maintained this position of piercing each other's bodies for several breaths.
Then——
“Ha, hahahaha…”
Shunliu was the first to laugh.
Then he rested his head on Mucun's shoulder in front of him.
The two of them were almost touching each other at this time, so Shunliu only needed to lower his head to put his forehead against Mucun's shoulder.
"It seems... the Red Dragon won..."
The knives in their hands pierced each other.
However, Shunliu's knife missed the target and did not pierce Mucun's vital point.
And Makimura's knife hit Shunliu's vital points accurately.
laugh!
Makimura pulled the knife out of Junroku's body.
Shunliu, who lost his support, swayed a few times and then fell heavily to the ground.
Blood gushed out from the wound in Shunliu's abdomen like a fountain.
Although the severe pain from the wounds all over his body almost made Mucun faint, he still endured the severe pain from all parts of his body and knelt on one knee beside Shunliu.
"You win... Ah Ba..."
Although he was defeated by Mucun and was about to die, Shunliu did not show any regret or pain. He showed a calm smile and talked to Mucun in a relaxed tone as if he was chatting with an old friend.
Makimura knelt on one knee beside Shunliu, looking at Shunliu with complicated eyes. His face was pale and his breathing was getting weaker and weaker.
At this moment, Mucun suddenly discovered that there was a little familiar powder on Shunliu's neck.
After rubbing the powder with his fingers and examining it, Makimura's pupils shrank slightly:
"Is this... Wakasa Kaori...?"
"Yes, it is... Wakasa Kaori." Shunroku smiled slightly, "Wakasa Kaori... is Ayodo's favorite perfume..."
"Even though the scent is so strange...but she just likes to use it..."
"Every day...I put a lot of it on my body..."
"When she... was still alive... she was the only one in Kyoto... who often bought this perfume..."
"She always troubles me to go out of my way to buy things... I really can't stand her..."
"After she left, I unknowingly got into the habit of applying Wakasa incense on my body every day..."
"As long as I apply Wakasa incense... I can feel... that she is by my side..."
"So I put a lot of it on my body every day...so much so that when I shake my body, a lot of Wakasako powder will fall off..."
After chuckling a few times, Shunliu used the last bit of strength left in his body to reach towards his hakama.
The hakama on Junroku's lower body has been specially modified, with a bag sewn on the side of the hakama.
After reaching his hand into the bag sewn on the side of the hakama, Shunroku took out a small cloth bag.
"This is... the little bit of Wakasa incense I left... Hachi... I'm giving it to you..."
Makimura didn't say much, but just silently held the Wakasa incense handed to him by Junroku tightly in his hand.
"Junroku, what is this?" After putting away the Wakasa incense handed to him by Junroku, Makimura discovered that two flesh-colored unidentified objects had fallen beside Junroku's hakama.
It was something that Junroku accidentally took out of his pocket when he took out Wakasaka from his hakama pocket just now.
"That... is a human skin mask..."
"I spent a lot of money... to customize it..."
"Because... Ogata Ittosai's body is neither fat nor thin... his face is easier to make... so I bought a human skin mask of Ogata Ittosai... I wore this mask... and killed people everywhere..."
"The other one... is a face with ordinary features... When I am in Kyoto normally, I wear this face with ordinary features... so that some ... don't recognize me as Junroku Kunieda..."
"So you wore this thing last night, disguised as Mr. Ogata and killed people everywhere..."
Makimura said this softly as he picked up the two pieces of flesh-colored stuff and unfolded them. On one of them, one could vaguely make out some of Ogata's facial features, but on the other one, it was just an ordinary face that could be seen anywhere.
"These two masks...are also for you..."
At this moment, Shunliu's voice was very weak, as if he might be unable to speak at any time.
"Shunliu, your plan is indeed perfect." Mucun said softly, "But your perfect plan still has a lot of loopholes. Two months ago, an explosion occurred in Luowai for unknown reasons."
"You guys were the ones who caused the explosion, right?"
"Hahaha..." Shunliu laughed weakly. "That's... we were testing my modified bomb..."
"Some idiot... accidentally made a mistake... and caused the bomb to explode..."
"Apart from this loophole, there are many other mistakes in your plan. The most serious mistake is that you shouldn't disguise yourself as Ogata Ittosai."
"You probably never dreamed that the real Ogata Ittosai would appear in Kyoto on the day you planned to implement your plan."
"Yeah... my luck is really... too bad..."
Shunliu's last sentence, "It's too bad," was so weak that it sounded like the hum of a mosquito.
Shunliu forced his eyes, which were about to close, to look at Makimura who was kneeling on one knee beside him.
“…Makino…You look like you’re about to cry… That’s really rare… Hahahaha…”
"It's really strange... You beat me so badly... You ruined my plan..."
"But I'm not angry at all..."
“Being defeated by you… unexpectedly makes me feel good… hahahaha…”
"I am a completely different person than I was two years ago..."
"But you haven't changed at all... neither your face... nor your original intention..."
"Jinle gave you... the Red Dragon Mark... and it turned out to be the right one..."
"You are truly...a dragon among men!"
After saying that, Shunliu's mouth corners curled up slightly.
Then... he slowly closed his eyes.
…
…
"Have a good sleep, Shunliu."
…
…
Mucun covered his chest, which was the most injured, and slowly stood up.
"Okay... How should we deal with Shunliu's gang... the subordinates who sneaked into the six major sword halls..."
Mucun muttered this while looking up and forward.
As soon as he looked forward, Makumura was stunned.
He was so focused on the life-and-death battle with Shunroku that Makimura didn't notice until now that the Nijo Castle in the distance was ablaze!
…
…
Nijo Castle, Kyoto.
"Master Kotaro!"
While leading the remaining subordinates to the Honmaru Palace in Nijo Castle, Kotaro listened to the report of a subordinate beside him.
"The bandits just broke through the Ninomaru Palace, passed through the covered bridge, and entered the Honmaru Palace!"
"Have they already attacked the Honmaru Palace...!" Kotaro gritted his teeth, "All the people I sent to stop him were killed by that guy...!"
Just now, Kotaro had been leading the main force to escort the important figures in Nijo Castle out of the city.
If any of these big shots made any mistake, they would not be able to take the responsibility.
After escorting these important figures out of Nijo Castle through the secret passage, Kotaro led the main force back to meet the incoming enemy.
The two major building complexes of Nijo Castle - Honmaru Palace and Ninomaru Palace - are separated by an "inner moat".
There is only a narrow covered bridge connecting the Honmaru Palace and the Ninomaru Palace.
After leading the main force quickly to the corridor bridge, Kotaro was surprised to find that a group of people were rushing towards the Honmaru Palace along the corridor bridge.
All of Kotaro's subordinates deployed along the way including Higashi-Ote-mon, Kara-mon, Ninomaru-goden, the covered bridge, and Honmaru-goden had been defeated by the invading enemy, so now outsiders could easily break into Nijo Castle.
"What a disgrace!" Kotaro's face turned pale.
To be the guard of Nijo Castle tonight - this is the first major mission they received after Shiranui and the shogunate began to cooperate.
And their first major mission has now turned out like this - they were attacked by a man of unknown origin and killed all the way to the Honmaru Palace.
Kotaro couldn't imagine how angry the shogunate in Edo would be if they knew that Shiranui had messed up this simple mission...
When he thought of this, Kotaro felt cold sweat on his back.
——We must kill this bastard who broke into Nijo Castle!
Kotaro yelled this in his heart.
Only by killing this damn enemy can they minimize the punishment that Shiranui will suffer in the future.
Because time was urgent, Kotaro didn't have time to ask what these people who rushed straight to the Honmaru Palace were doing. He used their Shiranui stealth technique and quickly rushed into the Honmaru Palace.
According to the information Kotaro currently knows, the invading enemy is currently in the castle tower located southwest of the Honmaru Palace.
The castle tower of Nijo Castle is a five-story, six-story tower building with a total height of about 90 feet (27 meters).
Kotaro led his subordinates and walked through every floor of the castle tower with this group of unknown guys.
Finally - on the highest floor of the castle tower, they met the damned man who had put them, Shiranui, in such an embarrassing situation.
He is a young warrior.
And he is a very familiar looking warrior.
After Kotaro and the others reached the top of the castle tower, the young samurai whispered:
"It's finally here..."
"You are..." Kotaro said in a deep voice, "Ogata Ittosai...!"
Kotaro had seen this face on a wanted poster.
Therefore, he recognized him at a glance - this person was the famous Ogata Ittosai!
"Yes." The young warrior responded without any hesitation, "Are you the so-called Kotaro?"
"You know me..." Kotaro's face became more and more ugly, "Ogata Ittosai, what are you crazy about? Do you know what it means to attack Nijo Castle, and the Nijo Castle that is being guarded by us, Shiranui?"
"Nijo Castle is the Shogun's headquarters in Kyoto!"
"It is the symbol of the power of the Edo Shogunate!"
"If you attack here, you are declaring war on the Edo Shogunate!"
Ogata chuckled at Kotaro's words.
Then--
"As early as last year when I killed Matsudaira Gennai, my all-out war with the Edo Shogunate had already begun!"
"I attacked Nijo Castle this time not for anything else but to take back what was taken away!"
"What a joke! What did we take away from you?!"
"A-Machi's smile."
"A-Ming?"
When he heard the name, Kotaro was stunned for a moment.
"I see..." Kotaro realized something and his expression became even uglier. "Are you doing this for the traitor Atachi..."
Ogata shifted his gaze from Kotaro to the samurai dressed in various clothes.
"Hey! You guys! Are you all members of the 'Gravediggers'?"
When the samurai heard the word "gravedigger" from Ogata's mouth, their faces changed.
Looking at the changing expressions of these samurai, Ogata muttered softly:
"It seems so..."
Ogata called up the system.
In the previous battle with the enemy wearing Nanbando, Ogata's Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu was performed twice in a row and he gained 4 skill points.
His personal level was about to be upgraded.
When breaking into Nijo Castle, Ogata's personal level was raised by one level and he gained 1 skill point by killing many ninjas from Shiranui.
Ogata had already figured out how to use the five skill points he currently had.
Ogata added one of the points to strength.
As a result, Ogata's strength and agility reached 12 and 11 points respectively.
Just enough physical fitness to upgrade "Edge Reversal" to "Master Level".
After adding points to Strength, Ogata used the remaining 4 points to upgrade "Blade Counter".
[Ding! Consume 4 skill points, and the Wuwo Two-Sword Flow Sword Skill: Blade Counter is promoted to a "Master Level" skill]
After using up all his skill points, Ogata slowly pulled out the Daishikuten and Daishizai from his waist.
"Tonight, right here at the castle tower of Nijo Castle, let everything come to an end!"
Ogata's aura reached its peak, soaring into the sky.
Ogata clenched the Daishakuten and Daijizai in his left and right hands, put the two swords together to form an "X" shape, and then split them heavily to the left and right.
Mahāśrīpa and Mahāśrīla made loud sword sounds, as if responding to the heroic declaration made by their master just now.
"Sakakibara's Ittoryu, Muga's Two-Sword Ryu!"
"Ogata Yisei!"
"Here I am!!!"