Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 339: Teaching "Ogata Style!"
"Sorry...I lost my composure..."
Asai skillfully cleaned up the tea that spilled on the tatami.
Lin also sat up again, wiping the tea residue from the corner of her mouth while apologizing to Ogata and Atachi in front of her.
"I have never been able to eat hot food since I was a child..."
After returning to her usual expressionless, stern and indifferent look, Lin continued:
"Although we have decided to fight Shiranui to the death, we still have too little information about Shiranui at hand."
"The shogunate's ruling center is in Kanto."
"And Shiranui's original base was located in the Omi region."
"The Omi region is some distance away from Kanto."
"Since Shiranui is now cooperating with the shogunate, it is very likely that Shiranui has changed the location of their base at the request of the shogunate."
Having said that, Lin turned her attention to Ating.
"Ms. A-machi, may I ask if the location of the base has been changed in Shiranui?"
"Well... I don't know..." Atachi smiled awkwardly, "After I received the mission to 'go to Butterfly Island' at the end of last year, I have never returned to Shiranui."
"I was on my way back to Shiranui to report when I learned that I was demoted to 'dirty', so I hurriedly defected from Shiranui."
"It was not until that night four days ago that I learned from the pursuers that Shiranui had cooperated with the shogunate..."
Seeing that she was unable to extract any valuable information from Ating, Lin did not show any frustration on her face.
After nodding, he sighed softly:
"It would be nice if there was someone here who knew the details of Shiranui's current situation..."
Hearing Lin's words, Ogata and Fuma both raised their eyebrows.
After Ogata and Fuma exchanged glances, Ogata turned his head and said to Lin:
"Maybe there is someone here who knows the details of Shiranui's current situation...
…
…
Kyoto, Fuma's home, the firewood room.
Heitaro, whose left leg was broken by Fuma's chain technique last night, was now tied tightly to the wooden pillar with hemp ropes.
At this moment, Heitaro's eyes were filled with despair.
He no longer had any thoughts of escaping.
Let’s not talk about the fact that the stone that could be used to cut the rope is gone.
Even if the rope was cut again, he would not be able to escape with a broken leg.
Late last night, Fengmo took some bone healing medicine and casually rubbed the wound on his leg.
Although he was given a simple treatment, it was only a simple treatment...
Until now, Heitaro can still feel the pain in his left leg... He can't even stand still, let alone escape.
Just as Heitaro was desperately thinking about what he would face next, the door of the woodshed suddenly creaked open.
Heitaro raised his head and looked toward the door of the woodshed.
I saw a large group of people rushing in through the open door of the woodshed.
A petite girl walking in front looked Heitaro up and down and said:
"Is this the Shiranui jonin you captured, Fuma-sama?"
…
…
When Lin learned that Fuma had captured a ninja from the Shiranui on the night four days ago, and that he was a Jonin, she immediately asked Fuma to take her to see the ninja.
Under the guidance of Fuma, Ogata, Atachi, and Lin and their group entered the woodshed in the yard and saw the half-dead Heitaro.
When Lin asked if this person was the jonin from Shiranui that he had captured, Fuma nodded:
"Yes, that's him."
"Is this person really a jonin?" Lin confirmed.
"He is indeed a jonin." This time it was Atachi who spoke, "I have seen him in Shiranui. He is indeed a jonin, his name is Heitaro."
"Hey..." Because the food was not good these days, coupled with the various injuries on his body, Heitaro spoke weakly, "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
Ogata squatted in front of Heitaro.
"Heitaro, let me ask you - after you and the shogunate cooperated, did you change the location of your base in Shiranui?"
Hearing Ogata's question, Heitaro sneered and tilted his head.
He neither went to see Ogata nor answered Ogata's question.
"It seems that you are quite stubborn." Lin said softly.
After giving Heitaro a meaningful look, Lin asked Fuma:
"Master Fengma, can you lend me this thing for a while?"
"Of course you can. But what are you going to do with it after you borrow it?"
"Nothing, I just plan to give him a good trial."
"I have an expert in interrogation here."
Hearing Lin's words, Ogata recalled the scene four days ago when Makimura interrogated the bald man.
Suddenly remembering the bald man, Ogata turned to Makimura beside him and asked:
"By the way, what about the bald guy ?"
"Oh, that bald guy. He has been handed over to the government." Makimura shrugged and continued in a half-joking tone, "It is said that he made a significant contribution to the capture of the remaining members of the 'Gravedigger' by the Kyoto government officials."
…
…
After hearing the words "borrow" and "interrogation" from Lin's mouth, a look of fear immediately appeared on Heitaro's face.
When Asai and Shimada untied Heitaro and were about to take him away, Heitaro struggled violently due to his strong desire to survive.
In order to make Heitaro behave himself, Asai had to knock him unconscious with a wave of his hand.
I can’t count how many times Heitaro has been knocked unconscious in the past few days...
After asking Shimada to carry Heitaro on his back, Lin left with Makimura and others, as well as Xuanren, saying that they would visit again after getting some information from Heitaro.
Before leaving, Lin told Ogata and the others the location of the hotel where they were staying, and told them that if they had any questions or needed anything, they could come to their hotel to find them.
After watching Lin and the others leave, looking at Lin's disappearing back, A-Machi said to Ogata with a sigh:
"She seems like a very interesting girl..."
The way Lin was scalded by the tea just now, and the way she decided to fight to the death with Shiranui and quickly proposed an alliance to Ogata seemed to have left a deep impression on Atachi.
After Atachi sighed, Ogata smiled bitterly:
"A-Ming, you should be careful in the future and not talk about gender-related topics in front of Lin."
"Hmm? Why?"
Ogata briefly told Atachi what happened between him and Lin when he left Choujima and went to visit the base of Huluya.
After learning about the past between Ogata and Lin, Atachi's beautiful eyes widened and she murmured:
"It seems that she is still a girl who is a little strange in some aspects..."
“Hahahaha…” At this moment, Feng Mo, who had been standing aside and listening, chuckled a few times, “The reason why Xiaolin cares so much about gender is related to her childhood.”
Having said this, Fengmo paused.
There was a meaningful flash in his eyes.
" Xiao Lin... is also a very pitiful girl... In a way, Xiao Lin and I are very similar. This is probably why I prefer Xiao Lin so much."
After saying that, Fengmo chuckled again.
"What happened in childhood?" A-Machi asked in confusion, "Did Ms. Kinoshita experience anything terrible in her childhood?"
"Ah, this cannot be said, cannot be said." Feng Mo shook his head, "This is Lin's secret. I can't tell you without Lin's permission."
After saying that, Fuma returned to the house with his hands behind his back, leaving only Ogata and Atachi standing at the door of the house.
Just when Ogata and Omachi were about to follow Fuma back to the house -
"Ah! Master!"
A loud male voice suddenly sounded from beside Ogata and Atachi.
"Kondo?" After seeing who it was, Ogata raised his eyebrows.
The person who shouted "Master" was Kondo Uchisuke.
Kondo held the knife at his waist and ran towards Ogata quickly.
"Why are you here?" Ogata asked Kondo who was running towards him quickly.
"A few days ago, Kotaro-sama said that you were injured and are recuperating! I happened to have some free time today, so I thought of coming to visit you!"
After approaching Ogata, Kondo looked Ogata's face up and down with a serious look, as if "checking whether her husband has long hair that possesses a woman."
"What are you doing?" Ogata, who felt goosebumps on his face due to Kondo's gaze, touched his face and said, "Is there something dirty on my face?"
"Master, you really are the executioner Ittosai - Ogata Nosuke..."
"You didn't know I was Ogata Ittosai until now..." Ogata felt like he couldn't complain anymore, "I thought you recognized me four days ago that night... So you've been calling someone you don't even know 'Master' all this time..."
"That night four days ago, after I followed your instructions and handed the wife and daughter of Master Inaba to the care of Kamiyama Kosunosuke, I realized that I didn't know your name until now."
Kondo said seriously.
"I just felt like I had seen your face somewhere on the street."
"So after handing over the wife and daughter of Master Inaba and the iron cannon to Kamiyama Koshinosuke, I ran to the streets to look for where I had seen your face before."
"Then I saw you, Master, on a wanted poster posted on the street."
"Then I learned that you, Master, had accomplished the feat of 'attacking Nijo Castle'..."
As soon as Kondo finished speaking, Obe said in a half-joking tone:
"Now that you know that I am the notorious Ogata Ittosai, are you still planning to ask me for swordsmanship lessons?"
"Ogata Ittosai is only considered an unforgivable criminal in the eyes of the government. But in fact, his prestige among the people is not that bad." Kondo smiled, "At least - I don't hate Ogata Ittosai who raised the sword of justice and killed the tyrant in Hirose Domain. On the contrary, I respect him very much."
"I have always believed that the heroic deeds of Ogata Ittosai in the Hirose Domain are comparable to the 'Ako Forty-seven Ronin' Incident' 90 years ago!"
"The 'Ako 47 Ronin' incident' 90 years ago is different in nature from what I did in Hirose Domain."
Ogata said this in a helpless tone.
"The 47 Ako heroes 90 years ago avenged their lord, and I avenge my master and those who were persecuted by Matsudaira Gennai."
"And my reputation should start to get worse now."
At this point, Ogata's mouth curled up in a self-deprecating manner.
"If Ogata Ittosai was still a chivalrous man in the eyes of others before, then after that night four days ago, Ogata Ittosai may have become a 'madman who attacked the shogunate's stronghold' in the eyes of most people."
"Maybe. But some people may respect Ogata Ittosai more. For example - me." Kondo answered without thinking.
"Oh?" Ogata looked at Kondo in surprise, "Why?"
"I left my hometown and traveled around to learn swordsmanship, so... I also saw many horrific scenes under the rule of the shogunate."
A look of reminiscence flashed across Kondo's face.
"After traveling around for a while, I had a vague idea: maybe the shogunate should make some changes."
"We can't keep clinging to the old ways."
"But for a behemoth like the shogunate, 'change' is not something that can be carried out simply by saying it."
"Master, your attack on Nijo Castle four days ago might have made the shogunate realize that they are not sitting on the throne of power. It might have caused some... changes in the shogunate in the future."
"So in my eyes - Master, what you did that night four days ago, from some perspectives, might have been a good thing."
"Ha." Ogata chuckled a few times, "I don't care what happens after the shogunate."
"On the contrary, what you just said, Kondo, is very interesting."
"I didn't expect that you, who look like a rough guy, could say such incisive words."
"It's not that profound." Kondo smiled helplessly, "What I just said are just some small insights I gained while traveling around the world."
"Then - I'll take my leave now."
"Hmm? Kondo, are you leaving?"
"Well, I came here today just to see how your injury is, Master. Seeing you look so energetic, I feel relieved."
"Kondo, there's no need to leave so quickly. It's not too late to fulfill the promise between you and me before leaving."
"Promise?" Kondo first repeated the word in confusion, then suddenly remembered what the agreement between him and Ogata was, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Follow me." Ogata said as he turned and walked towards the small courtyard of the Fuma family, "I will... teach you my unique swordsmanship - 'Ogata Style'!"
"'Ogata-ryu'?!" Kondo was surprised, "Master, is this your own sword technique?"
"Hmm..." Ogata hesitated for a moment, "I guess so... I've even demonstrated it to you before."
