Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 282: The man who defeated Ogata Ittosai?
This sudden laughter immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
Whether it was the attention of the audience led by Ogata, or Mizuno and others, they were all attracted by this laughter.
Mizuno's reaction was greater than that of the audience, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
Everyone focused their attention on the person who just laughed.
What a coincidence - this person was sitting right behind Ogata, very close to him.
Ogata only had to turn his head to see the man's face clearly.
A katana and a wakizashi were neatly placed on his left waist - he was a samurai.
There is a sense of vicissitudes on his face. His age is probably between 30 and 35 years old. His height converted into the earth's length unit is about 1.57 meters, and he has a very strong body.
It can be seen that this is a person who has been exposed to the sun for many years, and his skin is quite tanned.
He has messy hair, with a few strands sticking up here and a bunch of hair standing up there, and his hair has never been properly combed. It is not difficult to judge that he is an unkempt person.
He seemed to be a traveler, as his feet without socks, straw sandals and leggings were covered with mud.
It's not particularly handsome or ugly, it's just an ordinary face, but it has two major characteristics.
The first characteristic is that the mouth is particularly big.
Ogata's fist might not fit into this person's mouth, but the fist of a girl like Atachi should be more than enough to fit into this person's mouth.
The second characteristic is that his eyes are bright and sparkling, and it seems that what is contained in the eye sockets is not eyeballs, but two balls of flame emitting flames.
After the strong man's loud laughter died down, Mizuno frowned slightly and asked the strong man who had just laughed:
"I don't know why you are laughing?"
"I laugh at the fact that the six major sword halls in Kyoto are only this strong!" said the burly man with a heavy accent.
Ogata had no knowledge of accents, so he couldn't tell where the strong man was from from his accent.
Hearing the burly man's extremely arrogant words, Mizuno's face immediately turned dark.
"Do you think my ability is mediocre, just like that person just now?"
“No, no, no.” The sturdy man shook his head, “I am different from the man just now.”
"The man just now was bribed by your Qianxueguan. But I was not."
The sturdy man's words made Mizuno's face change instantly.
But the next moment his expression changed, Mizuno quickly adjusted his facial expression and look.
"…Your Excellency, I cannot pretend that I didn't hear such slander."
The sturdy man did not respond to Mizuno's words, but twitched his mouth and sneered, then shouted again:
"Lord Mizuno, I guess - you have never held a real sword and have no practical combat experience?"
As soon as the sturdy man said this, a disciple who had been kneeling on one side of the dojo seemed to have reached the limit of his patience and shouted at the sturdy man with a red face:
"Our master's practical experience is far beyond the imagination of a country bumpkin like you!"
The burly man was unkempt, dirty, and spoke with a strong foreign accent - his appearance really fits the description of "bumpkin" perfectly.
The sturdy man ignored the man's mocking name of "country bumpkin" and just crossed his arms over his chest and said calmly:
"Then may I ask - has your master ever fought against any powerful people?"
"The experience gained from chopping down a few unarmed ordinary people who don't know swordsmanship is not actual combat experience."
"Our master once defeated the executioner Itosai!" This time it was another thin disciple who spoke loudly.
As soon as this person finished speaking, the expressions on the faces of Ogata and Atachi, who had been watching quietly, suddenly became interesting.
Especially Ogata's face hidden under the Tengu mask, the changes in his expression are so wonderful that the word "wonderful" is not enough to describe it.
"Oh?" The sturdy man raised his eyebrows, "The executioner Issai? But that man Zhan Yisei?"
"That's right!" It was still the thin disciple who answered loudly, "It was the executioner Ittosai who committed the crime of regicide and killed countless people - Ogata Issei!"
When the disciple shouted "My master defeated the executioner Ittosai", Mizuno remained calm and composed throughout and did not refute his disciple's words - this look was a disguised acknowledgment that his disciple was not wrong.
A hint of interest also appeared on the sturdy man's face at this time.
"Could you please tell us the whole story of how your master defeated the executioner Itosai?"
"... Let me tell you something." Mizuno, who had been silent from the beginning, finally spoke up, "At the beginning of this year, I went out to Luowai in Kyoto for some personal matters."
"I happened to meet Ogata Ittosai in Luowai, Kyoto, who was being hunted by the government at that time."
Mizuno is a good speaker. He tells stories clearly and logically, with a rhythmic flow.
Mizuno summarized in a few simple sentences how he met Ogata Ittosai in the wild and how he fought with Ogata Ittosai.
The reason he gave was that he was a man with a strong sense of justice and could not tolerate a regicide like Ogata Ittosai going unpunished, so he raised his sword, ready to enforce justice and kill Ogata Ittosai.
Mizuno spent more time talking about the battle between him and Ogata Ittosai.
"The swordsmanship used by Ogata Ittosai is a swordsmanship that is only spread in a small area of Izumo Hirose Domain - Sakakibara Ittoryu."
"Sakakibara Ittoryu is just a mediocre swordsmanship with a narrow range of influence and is not even worthy of being called a mainstream swordsmanship."
When saying this, Mizuno's face was full of arrogance.
"In terms of practicality and power, it is far inferior to my Zhong Juanliu."
"And Ogata Ittosai's strength is also not as good as mine."
"After several rounds of fighting, Ogata Ittosai gradually fell into a disadvantage."
"Finally, with one sweep of my sword, Ogata Ittosai was knocked to the ground by me and was completely defeated."
"It's a pity that Ogata Ittosai finally escaped."
"After I knocked Ogata Ittosai to the ground, he knelt on the ground and begged me to spare his life."
"I was confused by his pitiful appearance, and I softened my heart for a moment, giving him an opportunity to take advantage of me."
"Ogata Ittosai took advantage of my unpreparedness and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it at me, obscuring my vision."
"And he took advantage of the brief period when my vision was blocked to escape."
"Fortunately, Ogata Ittosai was captured by government officials not long after he escaped from me."
After listening to Mizuno's story quietly , the sturdy man shrugged and said in a tone that contained a hint of sarcasm:
"Mr. Mizuno, although the story you told is very vivid, it is just words. How can I be sure that you really fought with the world-famous executioner Ittosai and defeated him?"
"If you don't believe me, I can show you the commendation letter issued to me by the government." Mizuno said softly, "It just so happens that the big boss of Kyoto, Abe Riri, was at the scene at that time."
"Lord Abe happened to be leading his officers to Luowai to capture a criminal at that time."
"He just happened to run into me and witnessed the entire battle between me and Ogata Ittosai."
"Although I failed to kill Ogata Ittosai or capture him alive, Lord Abe still sent me a letter of thanks, thanking me for my willingness to stand up and fight against the evil thief."
"If you don't believe me, I'll show you this letter of thanks right now."
After saying that, Mizuno turned his head and shouted to a disciple sitting at the edge of the dojo:
"Yamamoto! Go get the letter of thanks that Lord Abe gave me!"
"yes!"
The disciple responded loudly and quickly left the dojo.
When he returned to the dojo, he had a dark green scroll in his hand.
Mizuno took the scroll and walked slowly towards the audience seats.
"This is the letter of thanks that Lord Abe gave me." Mizuno said as he handed it to the audience in front of him. "If anyone doesn't believe what I said just now, feel free to look through it. My words may be false, but I think the official seal printed on this letter of thanks should not be false, right?"
The audience, who were somewhat skeptical about what Mizuno had just said, quickly took the letter of thanks handed over by Mizuno and looked at it carefully.
"It's real! There's really a government seal on it!"
"And it's signed by the big boss Abe-sama!"
…
The audience who recognized the official seal exclaimed one after another.
Some viewers who had some doubts about the story Mizuno had just told had all their doubts dispelled.
After the letter of thanks was passed to the strong man, he immediately saw the official seal printed on it.
After seeing the official seal, the sturdy man frowned slightly.
While the others were passing around the letter of thanks, Omachi quietly nudged Ogata next to him with her elbow and said to him in a half-joking tone:
"Ayi, how do you feel now?"
Neither Ogata nor Atachi looked at the letter of thanks.
Because there is no need to watch it at all. Who else in the world knows better than the two of them that the "Mizuno vs. Ogata Ittosai" story is a fake?
Because Ogata was wearing a Tengu mask that only revealed a pair of eyes, Atachi could not see Ogata's current expression.
But she could roughly guess what Ogata's expression would be like now.
"…What else could I be feeling?" Ogata responded in an eerily calm tone, "Of course I'm very angry."
"This Mizuno is really going too far..." Atachi also said in a low voice with an unhappy tone, "In order to flatter himself, he can really make up any story."
"No, I'm not mad at him for lying about beating me."
“Although this matter is also very infuriating.”
"But the main thing that pissed me off was... he just said Sakakibara Ittoryu was an inferior swordsmanship."
After saying that, Ogata slowly stood up.
Ogata's sudden standing up surprised Mizuno, the burly man who had been questioning Mizuno, and Atachi who was sitting next to Ogata.
"Mizuno-sama!"
Ogata shouted to Mizuno.
"I really admire you for being able to defeat Ogata Ittosai!"
"I have always admired masters like you!"
After Ogata finished speaking, the look of surprise on Mizuno's face gradually disappeared.
A faint smile replaced the disappearing look of astonishment.
"Thanks……"
Mizuno, who mistakenly thought that Ogata was just an admirer who admired him, was interrupted by Ogata's next words before he could even say thank you:
"Master Mizuno! I would like to learn a few moves from you!"
"Huh?" A look of surprise reappeared on Mizuno's face.
"Learn something from the people you admire - that is why I came here."
After saying that, without waiting for Mizuno to respond, Obe stepped across the audience seats, walked slowly to a sword rack placed at the edge of the dojo, took out a wooden sword, and slowly stood in front of Mizuno, assuming a mid-section stance.
Mizuno was slightly stunned at first when Ogata suddenly wanted to ask for advice.
Just as he was about to politely refuse Ogata's request for advice, Mizuno suddenly noticed Ogata's posture and the way he held the sword.
After looking at Ogata's standing posture and sword-holding method with a meaningful look for a while, Mizuno smiled slightly:
"Since you are sincere in seeking advice, I will give you some pointers."
After saying that, Mizuno raised the wooden sword in his hand again, assumed a mid-range stance, and stood opposite Ogata.
Mizuno, who originally wanted to reject Ogata's request for advice, suddenly changed his mind because he noticed that Ogata's standing posture and sword-holding method were quite amateurish.
Even a "newbie" who didn't have much knowledge of swordsmanship could see that Ogata's standing posture and sword-holding method could be described as horrible.
Many of the Qianxue Academy disciples sitting on both sides of the dojo were now alert, ready to watch this man being easily defeated by their master.
And there were many people in the audience who could see that there was something wrong with Ogata's stance and the way he held the sword.
At this time, the audience also had the mentality of watching a good show.
There were only two people in the audience whose expressions were different from those of the people around them.
One of these two people is Ating.
After seeing Ogata's standing posture and sword-holding method, which even someone like her who was not good at swordsmanship could see was very bad, A-Machi understood what Ogata was planning to do.
A-Ming pressed her dough fan against her lips, covering the slightly upturned corners of her mouth.
Another guy whose expression was different from the people around him was the burly man who had been questioning Mizuno's strength.
When he saw Ogata standing with a sword in his hand, the sturdy man frowned slightly.
He felt a sense of disharmony from Ogata.
But he couldn't tell where this sense of coordination came from...
"You are welcome." Mizuno's face was covered with that calm smile again, "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready to teach you at any time." Ogata said softly.
"I'm on it!"
Mizuno, who had already determined that Ogata was an easy target, did not confront him for long. Instead, he rushed towards Ogata, shouting "I'm on you".
Mizuno likes opponents who can help him show his bravery in public.
As he pounced towards Ogata, a hint of joy and pride appeared on Mizuno's face.
Looking at Mizuno whose figure was rapidly enlarging in his field of vision, Ogata narrowed his eyes slightly.
The slightly lifted back foot falls back to the ground and becomes firmly planted on the ground.
Slightly changed the position of the hands holding the sword.
And change your focus.
Ogata's originally terrible sword-holding technique and standing posture were corrected in almost an instant and became extremely standard.
And Ogata's own momentum also changed instantly as he corrected his sword-holding technique and stance.
Looking at Ogata, who corrected his posture in an instant and whose aura suddenly changed, the sturdy man in the audience suddenly widened his eyes and his face was full of disbelief.
Mizuno, who was fighting against Ogata, naturally noticed this change in Ogata.
But——it was too late.
His sword has already been swung out.
Ogata used a step-over technique and took a step to the right to avoid Mizuno's downward attack.
The moment after dodging Mizuno's downward attack, Ogata launched a counterattack.
Sakakibara Ittoryu·Ryubi!
The wooden sword in Ogata's hand swept from right to left towards Mizuno's left cheek.
The blade of the wooden sword accurately cut Mizuno's left cheek.
After Mizuno flew sideways nearly a step away, his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground unconscious.
silence……
The whole place was silent.
Deathly silence.
Everyone in the field looked in shock at Ogata, who was still holding his sword, and Mizuno, who had fallen to the ground and passed out. The expressions on their faces were extremely interesting. After a moment, their rapid breathing, like a blower, sounded everywhere in the field.
