Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 271: The Ordinary Sword Master
This loud shout caused both Ogata and Lin to show surprise on their faces.
However, the shock on Lin's face was mixed with a bit of annoyance.
Ogata followed the sound and looked towards the main door of the Buddhist temple.
The first person to appear in Ogata's field of vision was the panting Makimura.
Mucun now looked as if he had just run countless sprints, with sweat on his forehead and his chest heaving violently.
Immediately following Makimura, an old man appeared in Ogata's field of vision.
The old man was lying on Mucun's back.
An old man with wrinkled face who looks quite old.
The old man's skin looked like dried orange peel.
His hair had turned completely gray and was disheveled.
She was wearing a thin white kimono, and there was a hint of sleepiness in her eyes and cheeks - it seemed as if she had just woken up.
The old man's subsequent loud yawn also confirmed Ogata's guess - the old man must have been urgently awakened by Makimura just now, and then carried all the way here.
Seeing that Makimura finally brought the old man over, Mamiya on the side relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief:
"Mucun... you're finally here... my efforts to delay time just now were not in vain..."
"Thank goodness I have accomplished my mission." After responding to Mamiya in a half-joking tone, Makimura put the old man behind him down.
Mu Cun seemed to be in a hurry when he brought the old man here. The old man didn't even have time to put on his shoes before he was carried here by Mu Cun.
But the old man didn't care and just walked barefoot slowly towards Ogata and Lin.
"Xiaolin, what are you doing?"
The old man asked Lin in a rather stern tone.
"..." But Lin did not answer the old man's question.
He just lowered his head with a sullen look - he looked like a child who had done something wrong and urgently needed to be punished by his elders.
"Take Yan Mo back to me!"
"……yes."
Lin put the tip of the black knife in her hand back to the mouth of the sheath, and with a "clang" sound, she put the black knife back into the sheath.
Just now, Mamiya had tried countless times to persuade Lin to sheath her sword but failed. However, this old man only said a few simple words and Lin sheathed her sword without complaint.
As Lin put away her sword, the tense atmosphere between her and Ogata immediately dissipated.
The murderous aura that permeated the surroundings also dissipated for the most part.
Seeing Lin put away her knife, Ogata also slowly put away his Daishikuten.
"...Jiulang, were you the one who called my great uncle here?" Lin turned her head and cast a sharp gaze towards Mamiya.
"That's right." Mamiya said without hesitation, "It's all my responsibility. If you are not satisfied with me, please punish me as much as you want."
"……snort!"
After snorting heavily at Mamiya, Lin turned away.
Everyone in the temple, including Ogata, watched Lin leave with different looks in their eyes.
It was not until Lin was completely out of his sight that Ogata said to himself:
——What a strange person...
Lin gave Ogata a very bad first impression.
Not only did she look serious and cold throughout the whole process, but she also had an inexplicable malice towards him and kept saying weird things to pick on him.
Just now, he inexplicably pulled out a real sword and wanted to fight him to the death.
Ogata silently labeled Lin: a weirdo who seemed to have a problem with his brain.
"Ah... Xiaolin's personality... is really tricky..."
At this moment, the old man just now suddenly uttered a sigh to himself.
After expressing his feelings like this, the old man turned his attention to Ogata.
"You must be Ogata Issei. I wanted to wait until the afternoon before coming to see you, but I didn't expect to see you so soon."
The old man looked Ogata up and down several times.
"Hmm... He has a good physique, and is a good candidate for sword training..."
While the old man was looking at Ogata, Ogata was also looking at the old man.
"Um...Excuse me - are you Genichi Kinoshita?"
Although he had already confirmed this person's identity in his heart, Ogata couldn't help but ask the old man in a tentative tone.
"That's right." The old man said without hesitation, "I am Genichi Kinoshita."
Now that he was closer to the old man, Kinoshita Genichi, Ogata was able to see Genichi's face more clearly.
If I were to describe Genichi's appearance in one word, it would be - ordinary .
There was nothing special about him except that his height was above the average for the era.
Genichi is slightly shorter than Ogata, only about 168cm tall.
His facial features, covered by dense wrinkles, are ordinary. They are not ugly, but they are definitely not handsome either.
He had a carefully trimmed goatee, which was about as long as an adult's index finger. Like his hair, it was already gray.
The eyes glowed with a soft light, like a calm lake.
After simply looking Genichi up and down several times, Ogata couldn't help but wonder in his heart:
——Is he… the “unparalleled in the world” and “sword saint” Genichi Kinoshita who was praised to the skies by Mamiya and Makimura?
With his ordinary and common appearance, Genichi is more like a kindly old grandfather next door than an unrivaled swordsman.
However, to say that there is no part of Genichir's body that looks like a swordsman is also biased.
The palms of Genichi's hands were covered with calluses - this was the symbol of a person who practiced swordsmanship.
Just when Ogata wanted to say something to Genichi, Genichi suddenly said to Ogata:
“I’m so sorry…”
As Genichirō spoke, he bowed and apologized to Ogata.
"When Makimura-kun carried me here, he told me what happened between you and Xiaolin."
"Xiao Lin said a lot of rude things to you... I apologize to you on her behalf."
"Ah... that's not necessary." Ogata said quickly, "I don't mind this little thing... I'm just curious if I said something I shouldn't have said just now and irritated her..."
"Because you just said, 'If I weren't a man, I might have already lost to you.'" Asai, who had been silent since a while ago, suddenly answered.
"Is there anything wrong with what I said?" Ogata looked confused and bewildered.
"It is indeed just an ordinary sentence in the eyes of ordinary people, but it is not the case in the eyes of our lord." Asai said softly, "The words 'male' and 'female' are quite sensitive words in our Huluwu."
"Ah..." Genichi sighed, "We can talk slowly later. Now that we are awake, let's go have breakfast first."
"Mamiya-kun, do you have any leftover breakfast?"
"I'm sorry - no. I didn't know you would wake up so early, so I didn't make you breakfast."
"That's too much... Then - Mamiya-kun, could you please make me a simple breakfast?"
"Xiao Lin is definitely not willing to cook for me in her current state."
"I understand." After giving a bitter smile, Mamiya walked out of the Buddhist temple holding the knife at his waist.
"Ogata-kun, have you had breakfast?" Genichi turned his gaze back to Ogata.
"I have already eaten."
"Then eat a little more with me." Yuan Yi showed a warm smile, "We can talk while we eat."
…
…
Ogata and his group were currently in the courtyard where they had had dinner last night.
Mamiya threw various ingredients into the pot, cooking rice porridge mixed with various seasonings.
Makimura stood opposite Mamiya and helped him by stuffing the broken firewood under the pot one by one.
The weather was getting hot again, so after a short while, the herder near the firewood was sweating profusely.
In order to cool down, Mucun simply took off his clothes, revealing the red dragon tattoo on his back.
After the Buddhist temple dispersed, Asai and Shimada disappeared.
Genichirō and Ogata sat side by side next to the pot.
The biggest impression that Genichirō currently leaves on Ogata is that of friendliness.
Very friendly and easy-going, without any airs at all.
Ogata was originally worried that a peerless master like Genichi might have a strange temper or behavior.
"Xiaolin is a person with a strong sense of self-esteem."
Genichi said softly.
"Because of some things that happened when she was a child, she has always been very concerned about her identity as a girl."
"Or... I really hate my identity as a girl."
"So she hates people mocking her gender, or bragging about her gender. She is extremely sensitive about issues related to 'gender'."
"Ogata-kun, your words 'If I wasn't a man, I might have already lost to you', to Xiaolin, are just boasting to her that you are a man, so you have never lost."
"...Isn't she a little too sensitive?" Ogata couldn't help but complain, "I clearly didn't mean that...How did she take it like that..."
"Xiao Lin's personality is just like that." Yuan Yi smiled bitterly, "Her personality has troubled me for a long time..."
Ogata smiled bitterly along with Genichi.
While smiling bitterly, Ogata recalled the battle between him and Kinoshita Rin just now.
The biggest realization that the battle just now brought to Ogata was that there are indeed many talented and skilled people in this world.
Today, Ogata met a woman who could temporarily rival him.
——The Edo Shogunate ruled Japan for more than 200 years, and the number of masters under the Shogunate must be countless...
Ogata thought this for no reason.
Ogata lowered his head and looked at his outstretched palms covered with various calluses.
——Let’s not talk about the whole world... Just the Edo Shogunate must have many masters under its command.
——There must be many talented people in there who I am no match for at the moment...
The memory scenes hidden in his mind popped up automatically from Ogata's mind as if they had their own consciousness - Ogata recalled Chikanosuke, Sokai and others from Choujima.
The weak Chikanosuke and his companions had to negotiate with the shogunate to have a way out...
A picture automatically emerged in Ogata's mind: one day in the future, he encountered a master from the shogunate whose skills were far superior to his.
He had no power to fight back, so he had to kowtow to the shogunate like Chikanosuke and his men, in order to have a way out...
As soon as this picture appeared in Ogata's mind, he shook his head suddenly, as if trying to shake the picture out of his mind.
——I also…
Ogata said this to himself as he slowly clenched his fists.
——Not strong enough...
…
…
"Ogata-kun."
At this moment, Mamiya, who was cooking porridge seriously, suddenly spoke.
"Are you confused now? Why should we follow our lord when she has such a bad character?"
Ogata was stunned at first when he heard Mamiya's question.
Then he immediately said in his heart:
——Yes, how did you know.
After experiencing the unpleasant encounter with Kinoshita Rin just now, Obe had this thought: Why would such strong people like Mamiya and Makimura follow this woman who seemed to have great character flaws?
Of course - Ogata couldn't just say to Mamiya "Yes, you are right".
It would be inappropriate to answer like this.
Just as Ogata was thinking about how to answer more appropriately, Mamiya smiled and answered his own question.
"I don't know why others follow the lord."
"But I can tell you a little bit about why I decided to follow my lord."
"Due to the problems in her childhood environment, the lord's self-esteem is too high, which makes her too... extreme in some aspects, but... she is also uniquely gentle in some aspects."
"It was her unique gentleness that won me over..."
Mamiya's eyes flickered, as if he was recalling something.
"If you spend more time with the lord, you will one day be able to sense the lord's gentleness that is enough to convince others."
After hearing what Mamiya said, Ogata's mind slowly emerged with the image of Kinoshita Rin pointing a knife at him...
This picture cannot be associated with the word "gentle"...
"Alright." Genichi clapped his hands twice. "Let's stop talking about Xiaolin and talk about something else. Ogata-kun, can you tell me how you learned my Muga Nito-ryu?"
Genichi's words brought Ogata back to reality.
Seeing that Genichirō was about to change the subject, Ogata was happy to follow suit and changed the subject.
The series of events just now gave Ogata a very bad impression of Kinoshita Rin.
Therefore, there was no desire to get to know her better.
Using the briefest sentences possible, Ogata outlined to Genichi the entire process of how his uncle received the secret book of Muga Nito-ryu from Genichi, how the book was passed on to his master, who then passed it on to him, and how he finally comprehended the moves in the book with his extraordinary comprehension.
Of course - the part about relying on superior comprehension to comprehend all the moves in the secret book is pure fabrication.
After listening carefully to Ogata's summary, Genichi suddenly let out a few laughs...with a hint of pride.
"Mamiya-kun! Makimura-kun! Did you see that?!"
Genichirō put his arm around Ogata's shoulders.
"You guys always say in private that toilet paper is more useful than the secret book I wrote by hand!"
"Look! There is still someone who can learn the two-sword style with the secret book I wrote by hand!"
Someone could understand and learn the moves written in his secret book - this seemed to make Genichi quite happy.
