Volume 3 Buddha's Enemy Chapter 149: The Treasure of Benxiang Temple
Hasegawa was naturally unwilling to let the "Buddha's enemy" get away like this.
Under Hasegawa's order, the fire thief Kai's officers scattered and went to various places in Matsumachi to search for the traces of the "Buddha enemy".
However, after searching for a while, the result was - nothing.
"hateful!"
Imai punched the earth wall beside him heavily.
"I finally encountered the 'Buddha Enemy', but he just ran away like this!"
Compared to Imai's resentment, Hasegawa was much calmer.
"Okay, Imai," Hasegawa said softly, "there's no point in getting angry here. You and I should have been prepared for the difficulty of the 'Buddha Enemy', right?"
"Not only is his swordsmanship superb, he is also extremely agile. When he is determined to escape, whether we can catch him or not will largely depend on our luck."
Tachibana was standing next to Hasegawa and Imai at this time.
After Imai and Hasegawa finished speaking, Tachibana murmured:
"Is he... the 'Buddha Enemy'..."
"That's right..." Imai turned his head and gave Tachibana a wry smile, "The guy with the black knife just now is the 'Buddha Enemy'. What do you think? Do you realize how difficult he is?"
"Hmm..." Ju nodded gently.
Before the "Buddha enemy" escaped, Ju and the "Buddha enemy" exchanged a move.
Although it was just a single move, but just from this one move, Ju felt that there was a huge gap in swordsmanship between him and his "Buddha enemy".
If Hasegawa had not intervened in time, Tachibana was sure that he would not be able to survive more than three moves in front of that "Buddha enemy".
"'Buddha's enemy' is the most difficult and mysterious thief I have ever seen in my life."
At this time, Hasegawa on the side took over the conversation.
"I don't know his voice, I don't know what he looks like, I don't know his age, I don't know what style of swordsmanship he uses."
"The only thing we know is that he is a left-handed swordsman, using the precious sword 'Yanma' that he stole from Honzoji Temple two years ago."
"'Yan Mo'...?" Tachibana chewed on the word, "Is it the black knife that 'Buddhi' used just now?"
"That's right." Hasegawa nodded. "Two years ago, the 'Buddha Enemy' attacked and burned down the largest temple in Nara, Honzoji Temple. They burned Honzoji Temple to ashes and stole the treasured sword 'Yanma' that had been enshrined in Honzoji Temple for over 200 years."
"Because of his heinous crimes of burning temples and stealing treasures, he was denounced by Buddhists as 'the reincarnation of Oda Nobunaga' and was therefore called the 'enemy of Buddhism'."
"For the sake of convenience, we have been calling him 'Buddha's enemy' and 'Buddha's enemy'."
"This guy not only set fire, but also stole treasures. The place of arson was the sacred Honzoji Temple, and the treasures he stole were also rare treasures. He is the mortal enemy of our Fire Thief Kai."
As soon as Hasegawa finished speaking, Imai beside him sighed:
"It's a pity that after two years, we still can't bring him to justice..."
"Imai, take your time." Hasegawa raised his hand and patted Imai on the shoulder. "One day, we will definitely be able to capture 'Buddha' and all his subordinates!"
Since the "Buddha enemy" had already slipped away, Hasegawa had no choice but to accept this fact and gave the order to withdraw the troops.
As Hasegawa gave the order to withdraw, Tachibana, who had been hesitant from the beginning, finally mustered up the courage to ask Hasegawa:
"Master Hasegawa! Then... what should we do with the samurai in the light green haori who ran away, and the samurai with glasses?"
"Hmm? Oh, those two people. Those two people should also take their time."
"I think we will be able to catch those two soon."
Having said this, Hasegawa showed an intriguing smile on his face.
"I have prepared a backup plan to deal with those two guys."
…
…
Outside Matsutachi, in a forest.
The "Master of the Manifestation Stream" sat at the base of a large tree, holding his sword.
Sand, sand, sand, sand, sand…
The "Master of Manifestation" heard the sound of footsteps on snow coming from his side.
Following the sound, he saw a familiar figure running towards him.
"My Lord!"
"Master of the Manifestation Style" shouted as he took off the bamboo hat on his head, revealing a handsome face.
"Asai."
The "Buddha enemy" who had just escaped from the siege of Hasegawa and others said to the "Manifestation Master".
"I'm sorry I'm late."
"My lord, are you injured?"
"No. The terrain of Jomachi was very advantageous to me. I was not injured and I managed to get rid of 'Onihira'."
"My Lord..."
The "Master of Manifestation" - or rather, Asai gave a bitter smile to the "Buddha enemy" in front of him.
"Please don't do such dangerous things again..."
"Don't you trust me to cover your retreat ?"
"No." Asai shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is not risking your life to help a stranger again."
"We have no relationship with that 'Executioner Itosai', why would we do something so dangerous just to cover his escape?"
"No matter what, the Fire Thieves are an extremely dangerous group to us."
"We were able to escape from the Fire Thief Kai this time, but we may not be able to escape next time."
"To go to this extent to help a stranger who is not related to you or anything like that... Lord, I don't think it's worth it."
"…Asai."
Buddha's enemy said softly after a moment of silence.
But his tone was still as cold as ever, seemingly without any emotion.
"He is very interested in Ogata Ittosai."
"And I—actually, I'm also very interested in Ogata Ittosai."
"It would be too boring if Ogata Ittosai fell into the hands of 'Onihei' like this."
"Asai, if you are disgusted by helping strangers, I can consider not letting you do similar tasks in the future."
"My lord..." Asai smiled bitterly as if he was about to cry, "I don't have any problem with you, it's just..."
"Okay, I was just joking. Asai, let's go. Let's go find something to eat. I just had a fight with 'Onihei' and then I ran for so long, I'm hungry."
"Yes... Lord, we have spent so much effort, what if that Ogata Ittosai is still captured?"
"Nothing can be done - let Ogata Ittosai fend for himself. We have done the best we can."
At this point, the "Buddha Enemy" paused.
As if he remembered something, he paused for a long time before continuing:
"But - even if that Ogata Ittosai is caught now, it won't matter."
"Now, even if we are caught by 'Onihei', we will neither die nor be tortured."
"He will just be taken to Kii."
