Although he only exchanged one move with this "man in black with two swords", but just from this one move, Xu Fang could tell that this "man in black with two swords" was no ordinary person.
——I don’t have time to waste on this…
Ogata is now rushing to Yoshiwara.
So his left hand let go of the hilt of Dashitian's sword, reached to his left waist, and pulled out Dashizhai.
Looking at Ogata who changed to dual swords, the "man in black with dual swords" raised his eyebrows in surprise.
After switching to dual swords, Ogata, without any hesitation, picked up Daishiten and Daishizai and took the initiative to kill the "man in black with dual swords".
Dashitian and Dashizai transformed into two silver lights, clasping the "man in black with two swords".
Ogata swung his two swords and slashed at the "man in black with two swords" in various places.
However - no matter how Ogata swung his sword, the "man in black with two swords" could always accurately block or avoid his every move.
While taking every move from Ogata, the "man in black with two swords" could also launch fierce counterattacks against Ogata from time to time.
Although his fierce counterattack was ineffective.
Just as every attack from Ogata was taken, every attack from the "man in black with two swords" was also taken by Ogata.
The more Ogata fought, the more surprised he became.
He didn't hold back at all.
He showed his true skills in every move.
But no matter how he attacked, this "man in black with two swords" could accurately resolve it and then counterattack.
Ogata was somewhat surprised by the powerful strength of the "man in black with two swords".
Ogata couldn't help but recall the reminder the uncle had just given him - Shuntaro, the leader of the "Four Heavenly Kings", was nearby!
——This guy…
Ogata's face darkened.
——Could it be Shuntaro…
Of course - the reason why Ogata is surprised now, besides the fact that the "man in black with two swords" in front of him is very powerful, there is actually another reason.
That is: he always felt that this "man in black with two swords" had an inexplicable sense of familiarity...
Ogata didn't know that the "man in black with two swords" with whom he was fighting had the same idea as him.
…
…
——This guy... is so strong!
Shuntaro couldn't suppress his surprise.
Although after fighting with this "White Fox", Shuntaro realized that this "White Fox" was a difficult character to deal with, he did not expect it to be so difficult to deal with.
The two sides exchanged offense and defense for more than ten rounds, but the game was still difficult to determine who was the winner.
——Who is this guy… Why… He seems familiar to me…
After seeing this "white fox" for the first time, Shuntaro felt a sense of familiarity.
I always feel like I've seen this person somewhere...
clang!
The double swords of "White Fox" and the double swords of Shuntaro collided heavily in an "X" shape, exerting force on each other.
Because the two swords were pointed at each other, Shuntaro was able to clearly see what the White Fox's sword looked like.
Because he had been concentrating on the duel with "White Fox", Shuntaro had not had time to pay attention to the sword of "White Fox".
Until now - when the two swords were pointed together and the "White Fox"'s sword was only a few inches away from him, Shuntaro finally noticed the "White Fox"'s sword.
The two swords of "White Fox", both the handles and the guards, are in beautiful blue and gold colors - very familiar.
Looking at these two familiar swords, memories emerged in Shuntaro's mind like a rising tide.
As the memories emerged, Shuntaro's eyes widened in surprise.
He finally understood why there was such a familiar feeling about the "white fox".
…
…
Ogatamoto and the "man in black with two swords" held their swords and fought.
But for some reason, the "man in black with two swords" suddenly opened his eyes wide.
He looked as if he had seen something very surprising.
Although no one knew what happened to the "man in black with two swords", his drastic emotional fluctuations were tantamount to exposing his own flaws, giving Ogata an opportunity.
Ogata quickly took a step back, withdrew from the wrestling with the "man in black with two swords", and then swung a knife horizontally at the "man in black with two swords"'s face.
Due to the drastic fluctuations in emotions, Shuntaro's reaction was a little slow.
Even though he retreated and dodged Ogata's sword, Daishikite's blade still cut through the cloth wrapped under the eyes of the "man in black with two swords".
Half of the face of the "man in black with two swords" was revealed.
Although the cloth on his face was cut, the "man in black with two swords" picked up the cloth again and tied it around his face in time.
But in this brief moment, Ogata still saw the half face of the "man in black with two swords".
Just like the “man in black with two swords” just now, Ogata’s eyes were now wide open.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Hurry up! Over here! It looks like there's a fight going on between samurai!"
"Stop it! Just surrender!"
…
Just then, there was a sudden burst of noise and footsteps outside the alley.
Ogata and the "man in black with two swords" both looked towards the alley entrance.
They saw police officers holding various types of capture tools running towards them quickly.
Ogata thought to himself:
——Have the officials arrived?
It would be strange if they didn't attract the police despite making such a big fuss.
Looking at the officers running towards them quickly, the "man in black with two swords" was the first to put the two swords in his hands back to his back, then he took two steps and jumped onto the roof next to him, and then quickly disappeared.
Seeing the "man in black with two swords" put away his swords and leave the battle, Ogata also put away his two swords.
Ogata did not chase after the "man in black with two swords".
Compared to chasing the "man in black with two swords", there is something obviously more urgent waiting for Ogata to do.
“It feels like there are more and more problems…”
After sighing softly, Ogata held the sword at his waist and ran towards another alley...
He ignored the shouts of the officers behind him.
Increase your speed to the highest speed.
While escaping from the pursuit of the officials, he rushed towards Yoshiwara.
…
…
Shuntaro didn't want to have any contact with the officers.
If we take action against the shogunate officials, we will get into a lot of trouble.
So when he saw the police appear, Shuntaro took the initiative to put away his knife and fled from the alley.
After running away until he could no longer see the officers, Shuntaro turned around and looked in the direction of the alley where he had just fought with the "White Fox".
His eyes were full of complexity.
"Master Shuntaro!"
Noisy footsteps were heard coming from beside Shuntaro.
Shuntaro looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhou Taro and the others.
"Lord Shuntaro! I finally found you! How about it, did you find the rebel ninja?" Zhou Taro asked.
"We did find him," said Shuntaro softly, "but the traitor had other accomplices, so he escaped. Although I have asked the rest of my subordinates to chase him, I don't know if we can catch him."
"There are accomplices?!" Zhou Tailang gritted his teeth, "What a difficult guy...!"
"Anyway..." Shuntaro said calmly, "Let's prepare for the possibility that tonight's mission may fail..."
"Shuntaro-sama! Shuntaro-sama!"
Before Shuntaro could finish his words, a sharp shout suddenly came from behind him, interrupting him.
Shuntaro turned his head and saw a panting and sweaty ninja running towards him.
Shuntaro frowned - as far as he could remember, this person was not among his subordinates tonight.
"Master Shuntaro! Ha...ha...I finally found you!"
"Who are you? I don't remember you being one of my subordinates tonight."
"Master Shuntaro! I just came out of the village! I came to tell you the news!"
The ninja's face was filled with panic.
"Master Shuntaro! Please go back to the village now!"
"Go back to the village now? What happened?" Shuntaro frowned even deeper.
"Yan, Yan Mo-sama is dead!"
…
…
Edo, Yoshiwara——
"Ha..." Keiemon yawned loudly.
A young official walking behind Qing'emon said with a smile: "Master Qing'emon, you look very sleepy. Didn't you get enough rest?"
"Yes, we caught a thief this morning. We interrogated him from day to night for several hours before he finally admitted that he was responsible for the previous thefts. I was so exhausted..."
After saying that, Keimon yawned again.
Tonight, Keimon is on the night shift.
It was already early morning and the main gate of Yoshiwara had long been closed, leaving only a small slip door next to the main gate for people to enter and exit.
At this time, few people would enter and exit the sleeve door.
All the brothels were closed.
There was no one visiting the streets anymore.
Tourists who choose to stay overnight in Yoshiwara begin to immerse themselves in this land of tranquility.
The only people who would walk around the streets of Yoshiwara at this time were the officials of the Shirobei Society.
The Shirobei Society, which shoulders the responsibility of governing and protecting Yoshiwara, never closes for rest at any time.
The officers on night duty tonight were carrying lanterns with the word "Club" printed on them as they patrolled the streets of Yoshiwara and stood guard at various checkpoints.
Keimon, who happened to be on night duty tonight, led four of his subordinates on a night patrol on a street on the east side of Yoshiwara.
During this boring and dull patrol mission, the best activity to kill time is nothing more than chatting.
"Hey, have you heard? It seems that the shogunate has sent more troops to Ezo." An officer said casually.
"More troops?" Keimon asked. "How many?"
"It seems that 500 more troops from the Aizu domain have been added. There should be 5,000 troops gathered in Ezo now."
"5,000 troops... wow, a truly large army... How many years has it been since the shogunate assembled such a large force?"
"Ha." A certain official sneered, "I heard from a samurai friend of mine that the shogunate's finances are quite tight right now because of the heavy military buildup in Ezo."
"The shogunate is now in decline..." the official continued, "200 years ago, when the decisive battle with the Toyotomi clan took place, the shogunate was able to mobilize nearly 200,000 troops. But now, just gathering 5,000 troops in Ezo has put the finances in a tight spot."
"I've been hearing a lot of news about Ezo recently. I heard that Russia has been sending expedition teams to Ezo frequently recently."
"Yes, the shogunate gathered heavy troops in Ezo just to guard against Russia."
"Speaking of Lucia..." Keimon, who had been listening quietly, now had a faint look of reminiscence on his face and said, "Have you heard of Lin Ziping?"
"Lin Ziping? Never heard of him."
"Is it a samurai?"
"Lin Ziping...ah, I've heard of this name. It's the 'strange man', right?"
"That's right." Keiichiro nodded, "It's that 'strange man' Hayashi Shiping."
"A strange man... Lord Kei'emon, what is so strange about this man? Please tell us about it."
Most people like to listen to stories about strange people and unusual things.
The officers who had no idea who Lin Ziping was cast curious glances at Qing Weimon.
"As for the specific story of Lin Ziping... I don't know much about it. I just heard some of his deeds from a tourist who came to Yoshiwara."
After clearing his throat, Keimon continued:
"I heard that Lin Ziping is a person with very strange behavior."
"Instead of reading the Four Books and Five Classics, you read some messed-up books."
"It would be fine if he just read some random books, but he is not a quiet person and always writes to the shogunate, offering some weird suggestions."
"Like lifting the ban on sea trade."
"Reorganize the army."
"Demand the shogunate to develop Ezo."
"Use military force to stop Russia's invasion of Ezo."
"I understand and agree with the idea of ​​using force to stop Russia's invasion of Ezo," an official said. "But what does it mean to lift the maritime ban and develop Ezo? Are there any benefits to either of these two?"
"Yes, the Ezo area is covered in ice and snow, and there are not many arable lands suitable for farming. What is there to develop?"
"That's why we call Hayashi Shigehira a 'strange man'." Keimon said with a smile, "Because he always says strange things and does strange things, he is called a 'strange man'...eh?"
Before Kei'emon could finish his words, he was cut off by the shock that surged in his heart.
This feeling made Qingemon feel as if his body was falling, and he stopped unconsciously.
Keiemon saw the light.
A red and orange light emerged from the distance.
And this beautiful light is getting brighter at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It was obviously a very beautiful color, but Keiichiro only felt his hair stand on end, and a chill spread from the soles of his feet and surged throughout his body.
Without any hesitation, Kei'emon's body moved before his brain.
He lifted up his hakama and ran towards the place where the light was coming from.
The four subordinates following behind Keiemon had the same reaction as Keiemon.
After seeing the light, they were stunned at first. Then when they found that Kei'emon lifted up his hakama and started running wildly, the four of them finally came to their senses and hurriedly followed him.
As he got closer to the light, Keimon gradually heard screams and cries.
He has spent most of his life in Yoshiwara, and Keimon has already memorized the layout of Yoshiwara.
After taking many shortcuts, Keiichiro finally saw the true face of the light.
Just as Keiemon guessed - it was fire.
The red and orange flames enveloped a dilapidated two-story house.
The flames were already climbing up the timbers and onto other houses at a rapid speed. The burning timbers were collapsing and falling.
The flames devoured everything that could catch fire, spewing out large amounts of sparks, and the burnt-smelling wind blew the sparks onto Keimon's face.
Sparks pricked the skin, thick smoke stung the eyes and nose, and just by taking a breath, the throat would begin to feel a burning pain.
Looking at the blazing flames in front of him, Keiichiro's face turned pale instantly.
This is the residential area of ​​Yoshiwara.
It is now the early hours of the morning.
At this time, almost all residents in the residential area were still asleep, so many people did not realize that there was a fire.
Only a few people who lived closer to the burning house were awakened by the thick smoke, and then saw the flames and screamed.
Although Keiemon was also frightened by the flames, fear and astonishment controlled his body for a moment, and Keiemon immediately regained control of his body.
Keiichiro turned around and quickly gave orders one after another to the four subordinates behind him.
"Listen!"
"Go back to Shirobei Club and wake up Lord Shirobei!"
"Go outside Yoshiwara and call all the town firefighters you can!"
"Go to various places in Yoshiwara and call all colleagues who are currently on patrol to come and provide support!"
"Just come with me to evacuate the nearby residents!"
Keimon gave orders one after another in an orderly manner.
After Keimon gave all the orders in an orderly manner, the four people responded in unison and then began to do their own things according to the orders Keimon had just given.
When Keimon and his subordinates, whom he had just ordered to stay and help evacuate nearby residents, split into two groups, he couldn't help but turn his head and look at the flames that were spreading faster and faster.
——Damn it!
Qing'emon couldn't help but curse in his heart.
It is October now, which happens to be a dry time.
Plus - recently, the night wind is very strong every night.
Fire takes advantage of the wind, and wind helps the fire's power.
With the help of the wind, the flames seemed to be showing off their power, swallowing and spitting wildly, invading wildly...
…
…
Guasheng doesn't have to work the night shift tonight.
So she went to bed early.
Just when he was sleeping soundly, he was suddenly woken up by a series of noisy noises.
He opened his eyes, lifted the quilt covering his body, sat up, and listened carefully.
The chaotic sound of footsteps, as well as the noisy screams and cries, flooded into Guasheng's ears one by one.
"What's going on...?!" Guasheng frowned and muttered to himself.
He quickly sat up, ran to the window next to him, opened it, and saw that the outside was in chaos.
The house where Guasheng lives has only one floor, and he can see the scenery outside just by opening the window.
Everyone was either empty-handed or carrying a bunch of things, running away in panic - this was the scene that came into Guasheng's eyes.
At this moment, an old lady who was familiar with Guasheng happened to pass by Guasheng's window, so Guasheng hurriedly called out to the old lady.
"Mother-in-law! What happened?"
"Oh! Xiaoxiu, I was just about to look for you!" The old lady ran to Guasheng's window holding a big cloth bag.
"There's a fire in Yangya Town! The fire is so big! Everyone is running for their lives! Xiaoxiu, you should run too!"
"There's a fire?!" Guasheng's face changed and his pupils shrank slightly.
Yangyacho is located west of Yoshiwara.
The place where Ueyu lived was located to the east of Yoshiwara.
Although the fire was not nearby, the surrounding residents were still terrified and fled to Yoshiwara with their families and all their valuable luggage.
Due to its numerous mountains, Japan has always been a densely populated country with a small land area.
In order to accommodate as many people as possible, houses are usually built next to each other.
Or a row of houses are simply connected together, with your east wall being my west wall. Such houses are called "longhouses". In order to meet the living needs of so many people, longhouses are a very common type of house.
The houses are close to each other and each one is made of wood and paper, so once a fire starts, it basically burns a large area.
The fear of fire is engraved in the bones of everyone in this era.
The courtesans and common people living in Yoshiwara were even more afraid of fire.
The "Furisode Fire" more than a hundred years ago, which burned down two-thirds of Edo and killed 100,000 people, completely destroyed Yoshiwara.
In that "Furisode Fire Incident", many poor prostitutes died because they were hindered by their gorgeous costumes and could not move flexibly.
The current Yoshiwara is the "New Yoshiwara" built on the Japanese embankment after the "Old Yoshiwara" was destroyed by the "Furisode Fire".
Because Yoshiwara had been destroyed by fire once in the not-too-distant past, the people of Yoshiwara had an insane fear of fire.
Even without being told, Uesugi could guess that Yoshiwara must be in chaos now, and people from all over the world were rushing out of Yoshiwara.
"Thank you for telling me, mother-in-law. You should run for your life as well."
With a serious face, Guasheng gave the old lady some instructions and closed the window.
Guasheng did not pack up her belongings and valuable gifts.
Instead, he picked up the wooden sword next to the bedding and rushed out of the room.
The reason why he only took the wooden sword and nothing else was obvious - Gua Sheng did not intend to escape like the others.
She was an officer of the Shirobei Guards. The sense of justice and responsibility that had always been in Uesugi's heart made her have only one thought: to quickly support her colleagues who must be evacuating the people of Yoshiwara or working hard to put out the fire.
Because he was in a hurry to get to the fire, Guasheng didn't intend to waste precious time changing clothes and putting on socks.
Uesugi is now only wearing a white yukata, and apart from this white yukata, he has no other cloth on his body.
Although it seemed a little indecent for a girl to go out wearing only a white yukata, Uesugi couldn't care less about that now.
Holding the wooden sword, he rushed out of the room quickly and ran straight to the front door of the house along the corridor.
When he was only about 7 steps away from the door of the house, Guasheng's pupils suddenly shrank.
The next moment, Guasheng paused and then leaped backwards.
As soon as Guasheng jumped away, a pistol pierced through the ceiling above where she had just stood and stabbed towards the place where Guasheng had just stood.
If it weren't for Guasheng's quick reaction, he would have been pierced by the pistol.
Guasheng jumped back, and just as his feet touched the ground, he heard a frivolous voice from the ceiling:
"Oh? You were able to dodge it, Keitaro. It seems that your skills need to be improved. You actually let a woman dodge your stab."
"I'm sorry, I will exercise more in the future."
As the voice fell, the pistol was put away.
After the pistol was retracted above the ceiling, the piece of ceiling that was pierced by the pistol was removed.
Then four people jumped down from the ceiling.
The leader had a frivolous smile on his face.
Looking at this young man with a frivolous smile, Guasheng's expression suddenly changed.
"Hey~~" The "frivolous man" looked up and down at Guase several times, then smiled obscenely, "Although I often come to Yoshiwara and often hear your name, this is the first time I look at your face seriously."
"Looking closely, you are very pretty, and your feet are small and cute."
"Your face is good enough for you to be the top girl in a brothel."
Guasheng ignored the compliments that the "frivolous man" had just given her.
He just silently raised the wooden sword in his hand and held it tightly with both hands.
"You guys are finally here..."
"I didn't expect that the person who came was you, Gokutaro..."
"Hmm?" The "frivolous man" - that is, Gokutaro raised his eyebrows, "'Finally'? Why did you just say that you sounded like you knew we would come to your door?"
"And—you actually know me?"
Guasheng's eyes were slightly red at this time.
"Do you still remember the Guasheng Dojo that you massacred four years ago?"
"Uesugi Dojo?" Gokutaro chewed the word for a while, then suddenly realized something. "Oh! I remember now."
"Four years ago, I did take on this task."
"I still remember this mission very clearly."
"The mission I received at that time was to rush to a sword gym called 'Uesu Dojo' in the Kamakura area and kill the owner and his family."
"The reason why I remember this mission so clearly is because I didn't completely succeed in that mission."
"When we counted the bodies afterwards, we found that the owner's 12-year-old daughter was missing."
"Because I couldn't find her no matter how hard I looked, I failed to complete the mission, and I was scolded by Lord Enma."
Having said that, Gokutaro once again turned his gaze to Uekushi, looking him up and down.
"Usesou Dojo...Usesou Hide...Are you the survivor of that night four years ago?"
Ueo did not respond to Gokutaro's words.
But his eyes became redder.
He gripped the wooden sword tighter.
"…It seems so."
"I remember the owner's daughter was named 'Use Megumi'."
"Did you change your name?"
"Forget it, such trivial matters don't matter."
Gokutaro smiled happily.
"I didn't expect there would be such a coincidence in the world."
"I actually ran into someone I missed killing four years ago."
"I really came here at the right time..."
Before Jitaro could finish his words, he saw a white shadow flash in front of him.
Guasheng kicked off his hind legs and rushed towards Jitaro.
After Gokutaro entered his attack range, he thrust his sword forward.
Uesugi's sudden attack forced Gokutaro to interrupt him.
If it were any other person with average skills, they probably wouldn't even have time to react and would be defeated by Guasheng.
Unfortunately, Uezaki’s opponent is Gokutaro.
Gokutaro's expression didn't change, he just took a quick step to the side.
It was as if it had been measured in advance with a ruler.
The distance that Gokutaro dodged was just enough to dodge the stab from Uesugi.
After dodging the knife thrust by Uesugi, Gokutaro bent his knee and kicked Uesugi's calf at a speed that was blindingly fast.
“Hmm…!”
Guase let out a low cry of pain and quickly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and Gokutaro.
While keeping his eyes fixed on Gokutaro, he glanced at the place where Gokutaro had kicked him just now.
"Don't worry!" Gokutaro shrugged, "I just stopped using force, your leg is fine."
"Are you kidding me?!" Uesugi roared at Gokutaro.
Gokutaro had every chance to inflict severe damage to Uesugi just now.
But he didn't do that.
Not only did he attack the calf, which was not in a vital position, but he also held back on his strength, only causing Guasheng to feel pain without breaking his leg.
"I just don't want to kill you so soon." Gokutaro showed a smile without a trace of warmth, "I ran into someone I missed killing four years ago. It's rare to come across such an interesting thing. I don't want to kill you so soon."
Listening to Gokutaro's almost humiliating remarks, Uesugi clenched his teeth tightly as if he wanted to break them.
Then he raised his sword again and rushed towards Gokutaro.
Guasheng used all the sword skills she knew one by one.
The sword technique she used was a set of sword techniques she created herself that was suitable for women.
It mainly relies on powerful stabbing techniques that allow the whole body's strength to be used, which can make up for the weakness that women are not as strong as men.
But it's just compensation.
When facing a powerful man, this power gap is not so easy to make up.
No matter how Uezaki attacks, Gokutaro can easily avoid Uezaki's attacks.
Gokutaro did not draw his weapon.
He didn't even take a fighting stance, but just let his hands hang naturally, and just kept dodging Guase's attacks.
He raised his legs from time to time, using a force that would not seriously injure Guasheng, and attacked those parts of Guasheng's body that were not fatal even if injured.
Uesugi knew that Gokutaro was just fighting with her for fun.
But she could do nothing but feel sad and angry.
The "battlefield" switched from the corridor to the living room.
After this one-sided battle continued for a while, Gokutaro yawned.
Then he raised his leg at a speed much faster than any of his previous attacks and kicked Guasheng's soft belly hard.
With his facial features twisted together in pain, Guasheng flew backwards several steps and hit the wall behind him heavily.
This wall happens to be the one with Ogata's portrait.
This wall just happened to have a new portrait of Ogata.
Because this portrait was put up not long ago, the glue is not sticking firmly enough.
After Guasheng hit the wall, the portrait was shaken off the wall due to the strong impact and fell lightly to the ground.
After falling to the ground, Guasheng covered his stomach with one hand and supported the ground with the other hand to hold up his upper body.
The taste of "iron" comes out of my mouth.
The portrait of Ogata fell from the wall and landed right next to Uesugi.
Uesugi turned his head and looked at Ogata's portrait.
Looking at Ogata's portrait, Uesugi's face showed mixed emotions.
Among these complex emotions, the dominant one is determination.
Uesugi stretched out his left hand, grabbed the portrait of Ogata, and held it to his chest as if he was protecting some fragile treasure.
"Fighting with a woman is really boring." Ji Tailang curled his lips, "No matter how much you practice, it can't make up for the difference in physical fitness that you were born with."
"I'm tired of playing."
"If you are the daughter of the owner who escaped four years ago, then you are only 16 years old this year."
"Although you are an adult, you still look like a child."
"I don't want to kill children or people who look like children unless I have no other choice. There is no sense of accomplishment in killing them."
"Hey, you two."
Gokutaro turned and looked at the two subordinates behind him.
"I'll leave this woman to you two to deal with."
"After you kill her, chop off her head."
"Keitaro, let's go. The burning smell of the fire is already coming... It's a bit unpleasant. I don't want to stay here anymore. Let's go outside to get some fresh air."
"Yes!" The young man who had been waiting quietly by the side holding a pistol responded respectfully.
"Hey! Wait!" Uesugi stood up again and roared at Gokutaro, "Don't leave!"
"You are not allowed to leave?" Gokutaro smiled sarcastically, "You can't even stop me, how can you have the confidence to tell me 'you are not allowed to leave'?"
After that, Gokutaro ignored Uesugi no longer and led Keitaro out of the room.
Guasheng wanted to chase after him.
But the two ninjas that Gokutaro had ordered to stay behind to deal with Uzusei surrounded him...
…
…
Gokutaro and Keitaro left Uesugi's house one after another.
In order to avoid the unpleasant burnt smell, Gokutaro and Keitaro walked to a place some distance away from Uesugi's house and stood on the roof of a house.
After taking a deep breath of fresh air, Gokutaro looked at the fire that had spread severely in the distance and smiled at Keitaro beside him:
"Keitaro, it's been a while since I've done such an interesting mission. The scene of flames burning everything is really something I never get tired of watching."
"Yeah, that's right." Keitaro smiled.
"Hmm? Keitaro, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so depressed?"
Keitaro is Gokutaro's old partner.
Almost 5 years ago, Gokutaro and Keitaro successfully completed a mission that was so dangerous that it almost cost them both their lives.
The two met during this mission five years ago.
Because their personalities match well and they have experienced life and death together, they have always been inseparable.
Gokutaro has always regarded Keitaro as his best partner and friend.
Even when Gokutaro went to Yoshiwara for fun, he always took Keitaro with him.
Whenever he encounters a mission, Gokutaro will try his best to bring Keitaro along.
Because they have a close friendship and usually spend time together, Gokutaro felt that Keitaro seemed to be in a bad mood tonight.
"Master Gokutaro, don't worry about me." Keitaro shook his head gently, "I just feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach. Maybe I ate something wrong today."
"Oh? Then do you want to go take a shit?"
"No need. It's not the kind of stomachache that makes you want to poop, but I just feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach."
"Is that so..." Gokutaro patted Keitaro's shoulder vigorously, "Then drink some medicine after we return to Shiranui."
After saying that, Gokutaro once again turned his gaze to the fire in the distance.
After watching the fire raging in the distance for a while, Gokutaro turned his gaze and looked at the full moon above his head.
Tonight is a sunny night and a full moon night.
Looking at the full moon above his head, Gokutaro raised his right hand.
Point your right palm towards the full moon, then slowly close your palm.
It looks like he is trying to catch the moon in his hands.
"After tonight, my achievements will be even more dazzling..."
Gokutaro continued softly to Keitaro beside him in an almost emotional tone.
"If this continues, it's not impossible for him to replace Shuntaro and become the most likely person to take over the position of the next Flame Demon."
If we were to ask who has the best chance of becoming the next Flame Demon, it would undoubtedly be Shuntaro.
Shintaro is undoubtedly the strongest. Although he always carries out every mission with a careless attitude, no matter what the mission is, Shintaro can always complete it successfully.
With his strong strength and excellent talents, the most popular choice is for Shuntaro to be the next Flame Demon.
Gokutaro has always been dissatisfied with this.
Gokutaro is not a man without ideals.
His ideal is to become the next Enma, the next supreme authority in Shiranui.
He knew that he might spend his entire life without ever being able to surpass Shuntaro in personal strength.
In order to make up for his disadvantage, Gokutaro does his best in every task.
Demonstrating talent far greater than that of Shintaro - this is the only area where Gokutaro has a chance of defeating Shintaro.
And Gokutaro's efforts have finally paid off in recent years.
The calls for Gokutaro to take over the position of Flame Demon are growing louder and louder.
The power of "Gokutaro supporters" is almost comparable to that of "Shuntaro supporters".
Pah pah pah…
At this moment, a series of footsteps sounded around Gokutaro.
The eight Genin from their Shiranui group quickly ran towards Gokutaro.
After arriving in front of Gokutaro, the eight Genin knelt on one knee, and the leader loudly reported to Gokutaro:
"Master Gokutaro, we finally found you. We have completed the task of setting the fire!"
"Yeah." Gokutaro nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."
Tonight, in addition to Keitaro, Enma also sent two Chunins and ten Genins to Gokutaro to assist him.
Gokutaro divided his men into two groups.
The group was made up of eight Genin, responsible for setting fires and creating chaos.
The other group was led by Gokutaro himself. He led Keitaro and the two Chunins and took advantage of the chaos to rush straight to Uekus's home and kill Uekus.
"Now we just have to wait for those two men to bring Guasheng's head over here." Jitaro said softly.
…
…
Ueoka could see that the two people in front of him were far inferior to Gokutaro in terms of strength.
If he were in his prime and it was a one-on-one match, Guase would have won.
But now it was one against two, and Uesugi had been injured by Gokutaro just now, so even though he had been fighting hard, he was gradually falling into a disadvantage.
Under the combined attack of these two people, Guess was kicked to the ground again.
He used the wooden sword to support himself on the ground and tried to stand up again - but he found that he no longer had the strength to stand up.
——Is this the end...?
A hint of despair and unwillingness appeared on Guasheng's face.
Looking at Uesugi who already had a look of despair on his face, the two Chunins began to whisper to each other.
"Hey, this girl is so cute. It would be a shame to just kill her like this. How about ..."
"There's no such thing as 'would rather'. Just kill her quickly so that you can report back to Lord Gokutaro as soon as possible."
"All right……"
The convinced Chunin, and the Chunin who had been determined to kill Uekusa quickly from the beginning, each holding their own ninja swords, walked quickly towards Uekusa...
…
Bang!
…
Uesugi had already closed her eyes, ready to face the ninja sword that was about to chop off her head.
But when everything was ready, I suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from beside me.
Both Uesugi and the two Chunins were attracted by the strange sound.
Guasheng opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound.
All I saw was a familiar figure, and under his feet there were pieces of paper windows all over the ground.
"Mashima-kun?!"
Looking at the figure, a cry of surprise came out of Guasheng's throat.
…
…
After being able to escape the fight with that guy thanks to the sudden intervention of the officials, Ogata rushed towards Yoshiwara at a speed that could be called a "running madly".
As they approached the Nihon Dam, Oben saw flames rising from Yoshiwara.
Just at this moment, a huge fire broke out in Yu Yoshiwara, filling Ogata's heart with an ominous premonition.
This made Ogata realize deeply that someone might really want to harm Uezaki.
After approaching the Yoshiwara gate, Obana saw a dense flow of people fleeing out of Yoshiwara through the Yoshiwara gate and the Sodemon Gate.
The dense flow of people blocked the gate of Yoshiwara.
There is no longer any way to enter Yoshiwara through normal means.
So Ogata could only find a deserted place, and then use the Shiranui-style stealth technique to climb over the tall wooden wall surrounding Yoshiwara.
Ogata had never been so grateful as he was now that he had upgraded his Shiranui-style stealth technique to the "intermediate level".
If it was "elementary" stealth skills, there would be no way to climb over such a tall city wall.
Ogata had been to Uesugi's house once and he remembered where it was.
Because he had worked in Yoshiwara for a period of time, Ogata also knew some shortcuts.
After entering Yoshiwara, Ogata took shortcuts and arrived at Uesugi's house.
The shortcut that Ogata took led directly to the window of the living room of the Ueura family.
Because he didn't want to waste time walking slowly through the main door, Ogata chose to break through the window made of paper and wood and rush directly into Uesugi's house.
As soon as he broke through the window and rushed into Guasheng's house, Xu Fang saw Guasheng kneeling on one knee on the ground, covered with bruises.
And the two men in black standing in front of Guase.
Uesugi and the two men in black were in the corridor connected to the living room, so as soon as Ogata broke through the window in the living room that happened to be opposite to the corridor, he could see Uesugi and the others.
"Mashima-kun?!"
Looking at Ogata who suddenly appeared, Uesugi, who was shocked, couldn't help but call out Ogata's alias.
Ogata was about to say something to Uesugi.
The two men in black standing in front of Uesugi rushed towards Ogata with knives in hand.
Although it was unclear who this person was or why he appeared here, in order to prevent any witnesses from appearing when "eliminating Uekushime", the two Chunins rushed towards Ogata without any hesitation, intending to kill him and silence him.
There might be other ninjas from the Shiranui around. If we delay too long , other ninjas might come to reinforce us.
Ogata's trip was just to save Urobuchi, not to have a head-on battle with the ninjas in Shiranui.
In order to get Uose away from here as quickly as possible, Ogata decided to use the quickest way to win when fighting against enemies in this era.
Bang!
Bang!
Ogata pulled out Kasumi from his arms and shot each of the two Chunins in the chest.
The distance between these two ninjas and Ogata was only a few inches away.
At such a short distance, even someone like Ogata who had never practiced shooting could accurately hit the opponent's chest.
The bullets pierced through the chests of the two Chunins.
The two Chunins' forward momentum stopped instantly.
He covered his chest and slowly fell down with a look of pain on his face...
…
…
Bang...
Bang...
The sounds of two cannon shots reached Gokutaro's ears.
"What happened?!"
Gokutaro, who was waiting for the two Chunins to bring Uzesaki's head over, stared with wide eyes towards the place where the sounds of the two cannon shots came from.
That is the direction of Guasheng's home.
With a bad feeling in his heart, Gokutaro led Keitaro and the eight Genin who had returned to report to the team and rushed to Uesugi's house.
As soon as he arrived at Uesugi's house, Gokutaro saw the two Chunins lying dead on the ground.
Both were shot in the chest.
The chest is one of the vital parts of a person. If a person is hit by a cannonball at a very short distance without any armor, he or she is basically certain to die.
Both of his subordinates were dead, and Ueyu Hide was nowhere to be found.
“Asshole…!”
Gokutaro's face turned red with anger.
He could guess what happened even with his butt.
Someone must have come to rescue that melon-scented show.
And in which direction they fled, no one knew.
“…It’s not over yet.”
Gokutaro didn't want tonight's mission to end in failure.
If the mission tonight fails, it will be an ugly omission for Gokutaro's achievements.
It will have an extremely adverse impact on his future competition for the position of Fire Demon.
Then, Gokutaro, with a gloomy face, took out a pitch-black ball from his pocket...