Volume 2 The Executioner Chapter 100: One versus a Hundred
The feeling of the sharp blade entering the flesh was transmitted from the handle to Ogata's palm.
However...Ogata's knife did not pierce Matsudaira Gennai's heart.
Instead, it stabbed into the chest of a young man in Matsudaira Gennai.
At that moment, a young man who was closest to Matsudaira Gennai rushed over, pushed Matsudaira Gennai away, and blocked the knife for Matsudaira Gennai.
It was precisely because of this young man's blocking of the knife that Ogata's stab missed.
"My lord... run away..." the young man muttered while spitting blood foam.
"Damn it...!" Ogata hurriedly pushed aside the brainwashed young man with the knife, for whom he didn't know whether to praise his loyalty or criticize his foolish loyalty, and immediately drew the knife from his waist.
Just now, the sword that Ogata used was the one he got from the short-bearded samurai.
After discarding this knife, Ogata still has his own knife at his waist to use.
Ogata could already hear shouting coming from all around him and the sound of footsteps approaching from afar at a very fast speed.
This was the sound of Matsudaira Gennai's guards rushing back to defend.
More than ten seconds have passed since Nanahara shouted "There is an assassin! Protect the lord!!"
This seemingly short period of time was enough for some guards who were closer to Matsudaira Gennai to rush back.
Not daring to hesitate any longer, Ogata quickly drew out his katana, raised it high, and chopped it down - launching a second attack on Matsudaira Gennai who was still sitting there.
The sharp blade, carrying strong wind and enormous power, whizzed towards Matsudaira Gennai's head...
clang--!
Then, there was a deafening sound of metal clashing.
"What……?!"
Ogata's eyes suddenly widened.
When his knife was only a fist's distance away from Matsudaira Gennai's head, it was blocked by a knife that stretched out from his right side.
The person who blocked Ogata's sword was Nanahara.
At this time, Nanahara was resting his left shoulder against Ogata's right shoulder, holding the knife in his left hand, and extending the knife forward from Ogata's right side. Before Ogata's knife could hit Matsudaira Gennai's head, he used the back of the knife to block Ogata's attack.
"Hmph!" Nanahara snorted coldly, then rushed to the left, knocking away Ogata who was standing on his left.
After putting some distance between himself and Ogata, he swung his knife towards Ogata's neck.
clang!
Ogata raised the knife in his hand upwards and accurately blocked Nanahara's knife.
While blocking Nanahara's sword, Ogata anxiously said to himself:
——Damn it! Why is Nanahara here? !
While Ogata was shouting anxiously in his heart, he glanced towards the place where Ichiro and others had just fought with Nanahara.
At that place, only the bodies of Ichiro and six others were left.
The six people led by Ichiro had all died at this time.
The sharp-eyed Ogata noticed that the way Ichiro and the other six died was very strange.
Only Jiro, Goro and Rokuro were stabbed in the neck or face and were killed in one blow.
Ichiro, Saburo and Shiro did not have any knife wounds on their bodies.
Instead, there was a thin object inserted into the throat.
It was a thin arrow that was not even as long as an adult's little finger...
After pushing Ogata away and slashing at him but being blocked by Ogata, Nanahara did not pursue him, but quickly pulled up Matsudaira Gennai and retreated rapidly.
"Protect the lord! Protect the lord!!"
Nanahara has a loud voice.
Loud enough to give people the illusion that Nanahara's voice could be heard throughout the Wild Boar Forest.
At this time, a large number of guards had already rushed back.
These guards who ran out from all over the forest were like small streams, shouting and converging towards Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara.
In a flash, more than 40 guards gathered around Matsudaira Gennai, and the number was still increasing at an alarming rate.
When the lord was attacked, all the guards ran back like crazy.
"Wait a minute!"
Ogata gritted his teeth, picked up his sword and prepared to chase Nanahara and Matsudaira Gennai.
However... Ogata had just taken two steps forward when five guards came towards him from five different directions.
"Get out of my way!"
Ogata swung the knife in his hand, drawing out five blade lights.
Using the four major sword techniques of Sakakibara Ittoryu, he took care of the five samurai who came towards him one by one, killing them all with one strike.
Before Ogata could turn his gaze back to Matsudaira Gennai, three more guards rushed towards him.
Three more knife lights flashed, and three more corpses appeared on the ground.
"That's it!"
At this moment, Nanahara's shouting reached Ogata's ears.
Ogata followed the sound and looked...
After seeing the scene in front of the voice, Ogata's pupils shrank uncontrollably.
There were already densely packed warriors standing around Matsudaira Gennai...
The eight samurai just now only held Ogata back for less than eight seconds from beginning to end.
But this less than 8 seconds, plus the more than 10 seconds wasted from the time Ogata and others rushed out of the bushes to the time Ogata's first assassination attempt failed, totaling about 20 seconds, was enough for the guards scattered around to rush back to Matsudaira Gennai.
Although a small group of Matsudaira Gennai's guards had been successfully killed just now and when they sneaked in, according to the information collected by Kuranaga, there were as many as 125 guards of Matsudaira Gennai.
So even though a group of Matsudaira Gennai's guards had been killed just now, there were still hundreds of guards around Matsudaira Gennai...
These hundreds of guards drew their swords and firmly guarded around Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara, forming a "circle" with Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara as the center.
Nanahara narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Ogata.
"I've seen the sword technique you used just now... It must be Sakakibara Ittoryu, right?"
"You have a long haircut... and you use the Sakakibara Ittoryu... Heh, I know who you are."
"You are the Ogata Issei, right?"
"The person who obtained the Menkyo Kaiden of Sakakibara Ittoryu more than a month ago."
"Are you here to avenge your master and your fellow apprentices?"
"How stupid!"
"Put the knife down!"
"Just put the knife down and I can try to plead for you!"
Ogata ignored Nanahara who was still making a fuss.
Instead, he turned his gaze slightly and looked at the bodies of Ichiro and others not far away from him.
If Ichiro and the others could help Ogata hold Nanahara back for even one second, Matsudaira Gennai would have been beheaded.
But Ogata had no intention of blaming Ichiro and the others.
He knew that Ichiro and the others must have tried their best.
Although he did not see the battle between Ichiro and others with his own eyes, Ogata was sure that Ichiro and others, who had given up their own future in order to kill Matsudaira Gennai, must have fought desperately with Nanahara, whose realm was far above theirs, just to help Ogata buy as much time as possible.
Ogata turned his gaze back.
Hundreds of samurai swords were pointed at him, and the cold light reflected from them made Ogata dizzy.
For no apparent reason, Ogata suddenly recalled the time when he practiced swordsmanship at the Sakakibara Sword Hall.
That was probably the happiest moment of his day since he came to the Edo period, before the Sakakibara Sword Hall was massacred by Matsudaira Gennai.
Just recalling the moments of practicing sword in the Sakakibara Sword Hall, a smile appeared on Ogata's face uncontrollably.
But these happy memories were gone forever because of Matsudaira Gennai's tyranny.
Seeing that Ogata ignored him, Nanahara, who was somewhat angry, shouted:
"Ogata Issei! Put down your sword! Don't think that just because you have the Menkyo Kaiden certificate from Sakakibara Ittoryu, you are unrivaled in the world!"
Nanahara's shout brought Ogata back to his senses from his memories.
There was no response to Nanahara.
He just glanced at the hundreds of samurai in front of him, then raised the sword in his hand and pointed the tip of the sword directly at Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara.
"Ogata Yisei!"
Nanahara's face suddenly turned red.
"You are such a traitor! As a vassal of the Hirose Domain and a samurai, you actually want to assassinate your own lord!"
"I gave you a chance out of kindness, but you don't even appreciate it!"
"Do you still have any sense of shame as a samurai?!"
After hearing the word "samurai" from Nanahara, Ogata couldn't help but recall his conversation with Kuranaga last night.
(When the sky falls and the earth breaks, there must be a few men who stand up. If you succumb to darkness and don't sacrifice yourself for justice, you are just a man in vain!)
Ogata was still remembering what Kuranaga had said to him last night.
"Today," Ogata said in a calm tone, "I am not here as a samurai."
"Today, I stand before you as a man."
The main reason why Ogata agreed to wield the sword to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai was for revenge.
But what Kuranaga said to him yesterday still deeply touched Ogata.
Ogata slowly raised his left arm, placed it on the hilt of the wakizashi sword at his left waist, and then pulled it out violently.
After performing the opening stance of the Muga Nito-ryu, Nanahara exclaimed:
"Ogata Issei! You can actually use the two-sword style?!"
"When did you develop the illusion that I only knew the Sakakibara Ittoryu sword technique?"
Even though there were hundreds of samurai blocking his way, Ogata had no intention of surrendering or retreating.
"I must take off Matsudaira Gennai's dog head today. Let's see who has the guts to stop me!"
The fierce murderous intent continued to emerge and boil from Ogata's body.
Many of the hundreds of guards of Matsudaira Gennai were frightened by Ogata's momentum and took half a step or even several steps back.
"snort."
There was already a look of impatience on Nanahara's face.
"You are so stubborn! Just because you use an extra knife, does that mean your strength will double?!"
"Hirose's warriors!" Nanahara ordered loudly, "Cut this traitor into pieces!"
Following Nanahara's order, hundreds of guards of Matsudaira Gennai, whether they were fearless or afraid, raised their swords high, shouted, and rushed towards Ogata.
Facing the hundreds of warriors charging towards him, Ogata's face did not show any timidity or fear.
He simply clenched the two swords in his hands and rushed towards the hundreds of warriors.
