Volume 1: Re:Zero -Starting Life as a Samurai Chapter 25: Ito Ittoryu Menkyo Kaiden
Ogata could see that Inoue was quite nervous.
Ogata and others are now standing outside the door of the salt warehouse, waiting for Matsudaira Gennai's arrival.
Since just now, Inoue has been taking out his handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
Inoue was already over 40 years old, which was considered an old man in the Edo period.
Looking at Inoue's legs trembling with nervousness, Ogata couldn't help but worry about him.
"Mr. Inoue." Ogata asked Inoue, "Are you okay? Do you want to try taking a few deep breaths? If you keep taking deep breaths, you may feel better."
"No." Inoue smiled bitterly and shook his head. "No need. I've been taking deep breaths so hard that my chest hurts..."
Compared to Inoue's nervousness, Ogata was much more relaxed.
When Matsudaira Gennai arrived, he only needed to kneel on the ground.
Apart from kneeling on the ground and welcoming the arrival of his lord, Ogata didn't have to do anything else.
Therefore, Ogata did not feel nervous, and even hoped that Matsudaira Gennai would come to inspect the salt warehouse as soon as possible, so that they could be relieved sooner.
While Ogata and others were anxiously waiting for Matsudaira Gennai's arrival, a samurai ran towards them quickly.
Ogata recognized the samurai - he was also one of the storehouse officials.
However, Ogata was not familiar with him. He just recognized him as one of his colleagues. Apart from that, Ogata did not even know his name.
After the warehouse officer ran up to Ogata and the others , he said in a hurry:
"The Lord is coming! Get ready quickly!"
As soon as the samurai finished speaking, Inoue turned his head and said to Ogata and others in an anxious tone:
"Quick! Kneel down! The lord is coming!"
After saying that, Inoue took the lead and knelt on his knees, burying his head deeply, with his forehead almost touching the ground.
After Inoue knelt on the ground, Ogata and others followed closely.
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.
Inoue and Ogata's colleagues slowed down their breathing, not even daring to breathe.
This made Ogata feel a little nervous.
Gradually - Ogata gradually heard the sound of footsteps and horse hooves coming from far away on his left.
Judging from the loudness of the footsteps and horse hooves, there must be quite a few people coming.
Because his hands were supporting the ground and his forehead was almost touching the ground, Ogata could only see the soil in front of his nose. Apart from that, he could not see anything else.
Therefore, naturally, they could not see the lord and his group walking slowly towards the salt warehouse.
Ogata couldn't see it.
At the same time, I didn’t dare to look.
In this era, looking up at your master without permission is an act of usurpation.
Ogata didn't dare to break the law and get into unnecessary trouble just to see his lord.
…
…
Soon, the dense sounds of footsteps and horse hooves finally stopped in front of Ogata and others.
Da da.
Ogata heard the sound of two feet landing on the ground.
Someone must have jumped off a horse.
"Everyone, raise your heads."
An extremely cold male voice, which seemed to contain no emotion at all, reached the ears of Ogata and the others.
"Thank you, lord!" Led by Inoue, Ogata and others shouted "Thank you" in unison.
After raising his head, Oofang saw a young man standing not far in front of them.
The young man was wearing a kimono with light yellow as the main color.
Although Ogata didn't understand clothes, he could tell that the fabric used in the young man's clothes was of quite high quality.
I wonder how many years of salary Ogata would need to buy such a set of clothes.
In addition, the wakizashi that this young man has inserted on his waist is also very expensive just by looking at the handle and scabbard.
The young man's face was extremely pale.
Ogata originally thought that the reason why the young man's face was so pale was because of the makeup powder he used.
But after taking a closer look, Ogata was shocked to realize that this was not the case.
The young man had no makeup on his face.
He was just so pale.
His pale face looked extremely scary.
His lips were thin and as bloodless as his face.
His eyes are very narrow and lifeless, and he looks nonchalant.
At such a young age, wearing such exquisite clothes, with such a precious sword hanging on his waist, the identity of this young man is self-evident - he is the lord of Hirose Domain and the master of Ogata and his lord: Matsudaira Gennai.
Behind Matsudaira Gennai stood an extremely tall and strong man.
Ogata recognized the burly man.
This sturdy man must be the number one swordsman of Hirose Domain - Matachichiro Nanahara.
Nanahara's name was well-known among all the samurai of Hirose Domain.
Nanahara's title of "the best swordsman in Hirose Domain" was not just exaggerated.
Instead, he relied on his sword to cut it out bit by bit.
Nanahara is the Menkyo Kaiden of Ito Ittoryu.
During the Edo period, the various schools of swordsmanship began to award certificates or scrolls of different stages according to the abilities of their disciples.
The certificates or scrolls awarded by most sword-fighting schools are, from the lowest to the highest, paper cutting, catalogue, and free permission.
The Sakakibara Ittoryu that Ogata learned adopted this order of certificate levels. The lowest level of certificate level was "Kirishiki" and the highest level of certificate level was "Menkyo Kaiden ".
Regardless of the order in which each school of thought adopts to award certificates, the highest level of certificates are basically - passed on to everyone without permission.
What does it mean to have the permission to borrow from a certain school?
This means that in the future when you go out to fight someone in a duel, as long as you take out your certificate of exemption from permission, your enemy may be so scared that his legs will tremble.
The value of the "Exemption from Permission" certificate is quite high, which means that it is quite difficult to obtain.
Take Sakakibara Ittoryu as an example - since the establishment of the Sakakibara sword school where Ogata worked, no one has successfully obtained the Menkyo Kaiden certificate.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that Sakakibara Sword Gym is a young sword gym.
Only a few years have passed since the museum was built.
Ogata himself was one of the first disciples to enter Sakakibara Sword School after its establishment.
In short, no matter which school it is, those who can obtain the school's certificate of free transmission are undoubtedly top-notch masters.
This is the case with Nanahara, who possesses the Menkyo Kaiden from Ito Ittoryu.
It is said that Nanahara once fought against 10 people at the same time.
In this life-and-death fight with a huge disparity of numbers between 1 and 10 , Nanahara relied on his extraordinary swordsmanship to kill all 10 people one after another.
Fighting 1 against 10 and still winning - just from this battle, we can see how terrifying Nanahara's strength is.
Nanahara also won the appreciation of the previous lord with his extraordinary swordsmanship. Many years ago, he was sent to Matsudaira Gennai's side to serve as Matsudaira Gennai's personal bodyguard until today.
As a result, Nanahara became the object of admiration of almost all the samurai in Hirose Domain who aspired to make a living by swordsmanship.
Nanahara is one of those people who rose to prominence simply by relying on his swordsmanship, and is the envy of countless samurai.
