Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 284: The Last and Strongest Fuma Kotaro
After leaving the dusty door of the clinic, Ogata let out a groan full of disbelief.
"What's going on now... There are three masters and apprentices, two of them are missing... One is in jail..."
Ogata now felt a slight headache.
"The only person who knows his approximate whereabouts at the moment is Xuanzheng's little apprentice Xuanren. " A-Ming echoed.
"Hmm... That's right, so it can't be said that all clues are gone..."
After a moment of silence, Ogata suddenly said:
"…Is there any way to know which prison that Xuanren is imprisoned in?"
"Ayi...you're not planning to rob the prison, are you?"
"I don't want to do anything so extreme unless it's absolutely necessary. I just want to see if there is any way to sneak into the prison in Kyoto and secretly meet Xuanren ."
"Is there anyone who can tell me where all the prisons in Kyoto are..."
As soon as he murmured, the face of Hasegawa Heizo suddenly appeared in Ogata's mind.
Hasegawa Heizo is the chief of the fire thieves Kai, and although his base is in Edo, he might still know where the prisons in Kyoto are.
But as soon as Hasegawa Heizo's righteous face appeared on Ogata's face, Ogata shook his head vigorously, shaking Hasegawa's face out of his mind.
Putting aside the fact that Ogata had no idea where Hasegawa was in Kyoto now, even if he could find Hasegawa, Ogata didn't think that Hasegawa would tell him the specific locations of the prisons in Kyoto.
Just as Ogata was thinking about whether there was any way to find out the specific addresses of the prisons in Kyoto, Atachi, who had been in deep thought, suddenly said:
"…How about asking Master Fuma? Master Fuma might know the exact locations of the prisons in Kyoto."
"Lord Fuma?" Atachi suddenly uttered a strange name, causing Ogata to frown slightly.
"Ayi, do you know Fuma Kotaro?"
"To be honest - I've only heard the name, but I don't know anything too deeply."
"During the Warring States Period , there were five major ninja villages - Iga no Sato, Koga no Sato, Fuma no Sato, Togakushi no Sato, and Manten no Sato." Atachi narrated, "Fuma Kotaro was the leader of Fuma no Sato."
"The name Fuma Kotaro is actually a title passed down from generation to generation by each leader of Fuma Village."
"As long as you become the leader of Fuma no Sato, you will become the new Fuma Kotaro."
"This is very similar to our Shiranui."
"The leader of our Shiranui also has a title that has been passed down from generation to generation - Flame Demon."
"As long as you can become the new leader of our Shiranui, you can become the new Flame Demon."
"The current leader of our Shiranui is the 12th Enma."
"After the title of Fuma Kotaro was passed down to the fifth generation, the Fuma faction began to decline due to the demise of the main family they served, the Hojo family."
"Finally, after being reported by other ninjas, the Fuma gang was captured by the Edo Shogunate and all of them were executed."
"But the Fengma faction did not perish."
"Although in that large-scale capture operation, most of the ninjas in Fuma Village, including the fifth generation Fuma Kotaro, were captured and executed."
"But several ninjas from Fuma no Sato escaped that capture."
"And Feng Mo and his party also survived because of this..."
"I have survived until ..."
Ating raised his hand and pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
"Now."
"The title of Fuma Kotaro has been passed down to the 17th generation."
"The 17th generation Fuma Kotaro is now living in seclusion in Kyoto."
"The 17th Fuma Kotaro has lived in Kyoto for a long time. He might know where the prisons in Kyoto are."
"Ayi, if you want to meet Master Fengmo, I can introduce you to him."
"Hmm?" Ogata raised an eyebrow, "A-Machi, do you know the 17th Fuma Kotaro?"
"Yes." A look of nostalgia flashed across Ating's face, "About 10 years ago, due to various coincidences, Master Fuma and my father became friends."
"It is thanks to the friendship between Master Fuma and my father that Master Fuma and I know each other."
"It's just... I don't know if Master Fengma still remembers me."
Ating's face showed a bit of bitterness when he said this.
"Master Fuma... he should be 72 years old this year. He has already reached the age where it is not surprising if he becomes confused..."
…
…
Kyoto, Luozhong, a certain sushi restaurant.
This is a sushi restaurant with very beautiful interior layout and decoration.
Because it is not dinner time anymore, there are very few customers in the store.
Although it is not meal time, there are still some guests coming from time to time.
For example - right now, four people dressed as samurai opened the curtain of the store door, walked slowly into the store, and sat down casually.
"Sir! Welcome!"
As soon as the four guests dressed as warriors took their seats, a waiter immediately shouted "Welcome" enthusiastically and handed four menus to them.
After handing the four menus to the four warriors, the waiter keenly discovered that among the four warriors, the shortest and most delicate one seemed to be the most respected.
The other three warriors casually glanced at the menus in their hands, then focused their attention on the shortest warrior.
The shortest warrior glanced at the menu in his hand casually, then returned it to the waiter and said:
"I want to order 2 of all the sushi on the menu."
The waiter had seen many customers who threatened to serve all the sushi on the menu.
This sushi restaurant is considered one of the more high-end restaurants in the whole of Kyoto. The people who patronize this sushi restaurant are not ordinary people. Such wealthy customers are not uncommon in this restaurant.
After respectfully saying "I understand", the waiter took back the four menus handed to the four samurai, then quickly left and went to the kitchen to ask the sushi chefs to start work.
After the waiter left, the shortest warrior said sternly to the other three warriors in front of him:
"Everyone, eat your fill. It might get busy later."
As soon as the short warrior finished speaking, the other three warriors immediately said respectfully in unison:
"yes!"
This short samurai was none other than Kinoshita Rin.
The three warriors sitting in front of Lin were none other than Makimura, Asai, and Shimada, who accompanied Lin to Kyoto.
Although they set out three days later than Ogata, Lin and his friends arrived in Kyoto less than half a day later than Ogata.
Ogata arrived in Kyoto today, on the morning of July 17th.
Lin and her group arrived in Kyoto just now - in the afternoon.
After successfully passing through the Seven Gates of the Capital and entering Luozhong, Lin and his companions went straight to the hotel and put down their luggage.
After putting down the luggage, Lin announced their first mission after arriving in Kyoto: to find a restaurant with delicious food to fill their stomachs.
When Lin and his companions arrived in Kyoto, converted into Earth time, it was already around 2:00 p.m. or almost 3:00 p.m.
They hadn't had lunch yet and were all starving.
While waiting for the sushi to be served, Shimada Chaolin asked:
"My Lord, shall we set out immediately after lunch to look for the master and disciple pair, Kazuyo and Kazunao?"
"That's right." Lin nodded gently.
In order to make things easier, Lin is now dressed in men's clothes.
His chin-length hair is now braided into a beautiful bun. He is wearing a crimson kimono and white hakama. From the outside, he looks like a handsome young man.
"...Can that Fuma Kotaro really help us find the master and apprentice pair of Kazuyo and Kazunao?" Shimada couldn't help but ask Lin.
When Lin led Makimura and the other two to Kyoto, she told them her plan on the way to Kyoto - after arriving in Kyoto, she would go directly to find the 17th Fuma Kotaro who was currently living in seclusion in Kyoto.
"Master Fuma has lived in Kyoto for nearly 40 years." Lin said softly, "In terms of his understanding of Kyoto, I'm afraid he knows more about it than those who have lived in Kyoto since childhood, even more than the Kyoto Soshidai and Kyoto Town Magistrate."
"If you want to find someone in Kyoto, or ask about things related to Kyoto, it would be most useful to ask Master Fuma."
"If Master Fuma can't provide us with any useful clues, then we'll talk about it later."
"...I still can't believe it until now." Shimada murmured, "I didn't expect that the Fuma faction still exists. Fuma Kotaro has been passed down to the 17th generation..."
Among Lin's group, only Shimada did not know in advance that the Fuma gang still existed.
So when Shimada learned from Lin that the Fuma clan still existed and that Fuma Kotaro had been passed down to the 17th generation, his jaw almost dropped to the ground in shock.
"Then when you meet Master Fuma later, Shimada, remember to take a few more glances at him." Makimura said in a half-joking tone, "The Fuma Kotaro you will meet later will be the last Fuma Kotaro."
"Huh?" Shimada looked surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Although the Fuma faction managed to survive the siege by the shogunate two hundred years ago," Asai answered, "they have been living a hard life for the past two hundred years."
"I'm just surviving, really."
"When the 17th Fuma Kotaro took office 40 years ago, there were less than 10 members of the Fuma party left."
"And 10 years ago, the current Fuma-sama issued his last order as the leader of the Fuma faction: to completely disband the Fuma Village."
"My uncle has some friendship with the current Fuuma Kotaro." Now it was Lin's turn to speak softly, "Thanks to my uncle, I have also met Fuuma-sama several times."
"Master Fuma has told me and my uncle more than once that he has no intention of rebuilding the Fuma Village, nor does he intend to pass on the ninjutsu that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Fuma clan to others."
"'The history of Fuma no Sato and Fuma Kotaro will end with me' - these are the exact words that Fuma-sama once said to me and my uncle."
"Does he really hate Fuma-no-Sato and being a ninja...?" Shimada asked.
"… Katsurokuro, do you know how the other ninjas of the Fuma faction reacted when Master Fuma announced the disbandment of the Fuma Village 40 years ago?"
"Well... very sad?" Shimada asked back in a tentative tone.
"You are wrong. When Fuma-sama announced the disbanding of Fuma Village, the other ninjas in the Fuma faction were so happy that they almost cried."
Having said this, Lin paused.
After a moment's silence, he spoke again.
However, when she spoke again, Lin's tone had a hint of loss and sadness.
"In the past two hundred years, the descendants of Fengmo must have suffered a lot..."
"It's like carrying a big rock all the time..."
After saying that, Lin paused again.
Lin paused this time to sort out her emotions.
After she had sorted out her emotions, Lin's expression and tone returned to their usual state - her face expressionless and her tone cold.
"Katsurokuro." Lin continued, "Although what Yahachi said just now makes some sense, the Fuma-sama we will see later will be the last Fuma Kotaro in history. You can take this precious opportunity to look at Fuma-sama a few more times, or talk to him a few more times."
"But remember to be polite. Don't do anything that would annoy Fuma-sama."
"The current Fuma Kotaro is not only the last Fuma Kotaro, but also the strongest Fuma Kotaro in history."
“The…strongest…?” Shimada spoke out the word that Lin had just said word by word.
"This is what Grandpa told me himself. He praised the current Fuma Kotaro as being the strongest Fuma Kotaro in history."
"My uncle even told me personally that even if he was in his prime, he would not be sure of winning against Master Fengma in his prime."
“Is it so powerful…” Shimada swallowed.
"It is very powerful. According to my uncle, when he was young, Master Fengma went through unimaginable hardships to reach such a high level."
"Katsurokuro, let me tell you another legendary story about Fuma-sama."
"Ten years ago, a full-scale confrontation suddenly broke out between Shiranui Village and Fuma Village."
"I don't really know what the reason for the confrontation is."
"At that time, there were less than 10 ninjas left in Fuma Village, including Master Fuma."
"Although I don't know exactly how many ninjas there were in Shiranui at that time, their number of ninjas was definitely much greater than that of Fuma no Sato."
"The difference in numbers is huge. This should be a war that Fuma no Sato will lose."
"But in the end, the war ended with Shiranui being killed and defeated."
"Fuma-sama went alone into Shiranui, turned the place upside down, and finally escaped unscathed."
"Although the reason why Fuma-sama was able to escape unscathed in the end was largely due to the help of the uncle, and also because most of the main forces of Shiranui were not there at the time, so Fuma-sama successfully broke into the empty space."
"But even so, the terrifying strength of Master Fengma can still be seen."
"After the war, under the auspices of Lord Haku, Shiranui and Fuma no Sato signed a peace agreement. Since then, the two sides have kept their distance from each other."
"Of course - this was 10 years ago."
"Now 10 years have passed, and Master Fuma is now 72 years old."
At this point, Lin sighed softly.
"I wonder how much strength Master Fuma, who is now 72 years old, has left..."
"...Maybe he doesn't even have the strength to hold the knife." Makura, who was sitting opposite Lin, added in a half-joking tone.
Lin did not make any rebuttal to what Makimura said.
He just nodded slightly, agreeing with what Makura had just said.
