Among all the people, only Atachi knew what Shintaro looked like because he was the "original ninja" in Shiranui.
While chasing Shintaro, Atachi frequently climbed tall trees to look for Shintaro.
Although her close combat ability is average, apart from her decent level of judo, her stealth, breath holding, and assassination skills are all average. But she is still a female ninja after all, so climbing a tree like this is a piece of cake for her.
A tree several meters high, Ating can climb up it as if he were flying.
Although this example may not sound pleasant, Ating's speed in climbing trees is really like that of a monkey.
Since we have no idea of ​​Shintaro's whereabouts, we can only rely on Atachi's eyes to track him.
Ating has excellent eyesight. Even a bee hundreds of meters away, Ating can see it clearly, and his dynamic vision is excellent. This is one of the reasons why Ating's shooting skills are so good.
After climbing up a tall tree again, crouching on a thick trunk and looking around quickly, Ating finally saw the face he had been looking for.
"I saw Shintaro!"
As Ating jumped down from the tree, he spoke to Lin and the others under the tree.
"Shintaro went in that direction!" Atachi pointed in a certain direction, "There are three people following him!"
"Your eyesight is amazing..." After praising Atachi who helped a lot, Lin waved her hand, signaling the people around to follow and chase Shintaro.
Every time they walked a certain distance, Ating would climb up a nearby tree or a tall house to confirm and correct the direction of their pursuit.
When Ating climbed up a tree again, she suddenly saw more than twenty black shadows approaching them from the north at a very fast speed.
Looking at the twenty or so black shadows, Ating's pupils shrank slightly, and then he hurriedly shouted to Lin and others below:
"Enemy approaching!"
As soon as Ating's warning sounded, more than twenty black shadows jumped out from the field of vision of Lin and others.
Looking at the twenty or so men in black who suddenly appeared, different people showed different expressions.
Almost everyone, led by Yilin and Mamiya, had a serious look on their faces, staring at the twenty or so men in black who suddenly appeared.
Only Yuanyi showed deep surprise when he saw these twenty or so men in black... no, to be precise, when he saw the black attire worn by these twenty or so men in black.
These men in black were all filled with murderous intent, and one could tell at first glance that they were up to no good.
And in fact - it is true.
As soon as this group of men in black appeared, an old man at the head of the group waved his hand, and a kunai shot out from his palm and flew straight towards Genichi.
Faced with the shuriken that was so fast that only its afterimage could be seen, Genichi's brows did not move. He just turned his body slightly to avoid the shuriken.
After the shuriken flew past him, Genichi murmured in a voice that only he could hear clearly:
“This method…”
Seeing that the men in black had launched an attack on them and after confirming that they were enemies, Lin no longer hesitated and waved to the gunners behind her.
Although judging from the attire of these men in black, they did not seem to be ninjas from Shiranui, Lin had no interest in understanding the identities of these enemies.
Now she just wanted to use the cannon to blow these people away quickly, and then continue to chase Shintaro.
However, as soon as Lin raised her hand, Genichi shouted at Lin:
"Xiao Lin, take the rest of the group and go after that Shintaro."
"I'll stay and deal with these guys."
As soon as Genichi finished speaking, Lin cast a puzzled look at him.
"I have a deep grudge against this group of people." Yuan Yi said softly, "I must settle the grudge between me and them by myself, and I cannot let anyone interfere."
"Hey!" Yuan Yi shouted to the group of men in black, "I think I'm your only target, right?"
The leading old man said in a deep voice:
"Our target is only Kinoshita Genichi. We don't care whether the others are dead or alive, where they are going, or what they are doing."
"...I understand." After looking at Yuan Yi's serious face for a while, Lin nodded vigorously, "Let's go."
Lin led everyone around the group of men in black.
And these men in black really did not attack Lin, Ating and the others, but just let them leave.
After Lin and the others left, only Yuan Yi and the twenty or so men in black were left standing opposite each other.
"You are from Iga, right?"
Genichi's tone was full of affirmation, even though the sentence he used was a question.
"It's been a long time since I last saw this outfit. I haven't seen it in 40 years..."
"And the unique way of throwing shuriken has not been seen in 40 years."
Just after seeing the black attire of these men in black, memories that had been sealed for a long time began to emerge in Genichi's mind.
After seeing the way the old man threw the shuriken just now, Genichi finally confirmed the identity of these people - the ninjas from Iga.
The old man who just threw the shuriken at Gen was Hannosuke.
"Since you still remember our Iga attire and shuriken throwing techniques..." Hannosuke said in a calm tone.
"Of course I remember." Genichi smiled, "After all, the battle with you guys in Iga no Sato 40 years ago was the first time I used the Muga Nito-ryu to fight against someone."
"It was a battle that was very meaningful to me. It would be hard for you Iga ninjas not to remember it vividly."
"I never thought I would see this outfit again in my lifetime, and see Iga no Sato's ninjutsu again."
"...Genichi." Dark shadows gradually grew on Hannosuke's face. "I've waited for 40 years, and finally I have the chance to take revenge on you."
"I will take revenge on you for the destruction of Iga Village!"
Hannosuke slowly drew out the ninja sword from his waist.
After Hannosuke drew his sword, the rest of his men behind him drew their weapons.
Without any change in expression, Yuan Yi placed his hands on the hilts of Yang Shen and Yan Rong's swords at his left waist.
Clank, clank, clank…
As the blade was pulled out inch by inch, the blade light reflected by Yang Shen and Yan Rong under the sunlight gradually covered Yuan Yi's face.
"bring it on."
The left and right hands holding Yan Rong and Yang Shen dropped naturally.
"I didn't expect to become an enemy of Iga again...!"
…
…
Shintaro and his three trusted men are looking for Keitaro.
"Master Shintaro!" One of the three henchmen shouted to Shintaro, "Those people are still chasing us!"
Shintaro looked behind him and frowned.
Just now, Shintaro noticed that a group of people were following them from a distance.
Shintaro originally wanted to ignore them and just get rid of them.
But I didn't expect that this group of people chased me so closely that I couldn't get rid of them.
Shintaro was now somewhat worried that the group of people following him from a distance might be the ones holding the cannons...
If a bunch of "dirty" people were following them, Shintaro wouldn't mind.
But if it was the guys with the big guns following them, that would be a threat that couldn't be ignored.
"Shintaro-sama," another henchman asked, "What should we do? Should we continue to ignore them?"
"...Follow me." After a moment of silence, Shintaro ran towards a dojo not far away that was usually used to train newcomers.
While running towards the dojo, Shintaro took out a black pill from his arms.
…
…
"They ran into that house!" A-Machi, who had just located Shintaro and the others once again, jumped down from the tree. "That house seems to be a dojo dedicated to training ninjutsu."
"Dojo?" Lin frowned.
Because Atachi was not familiar with "Shin-Shiranui" where the base was moved to Edo, Atachi could only roughly infer that the house might be a dojo based on its size and shape.
After Lin had the gunners give their respective cannons a final check, they headed straight for the dojo, led by Ating.
When they first entered the dojo, the first impression that came to Lin and the others was how quiet it was. There was no sound at all - but this was normal. After all, at this time, there would be no one training in this dojo.
After opening the door of the dojo, the first thing that caught everyone's eye was a corridor that was neither long nor short.
There are no doors or windows on either side of the corridor, only a wooden sliding door at the end of the other side.
After rushing to the sliding door and pulling it open, Lin and the others saw a fairly spacious dojo.
The layout and appearance of this dojo are similar to those of an ordinary swordsmanship dojo, but there are many instruments placed around the venue that Lin, Mamiya and others cannot name.
After entering the dojo, they saw three ninjas.
After Lin and the others opened the wooden door and appeared, the three ninjas immediately raised their weapons and rushed towards them without saying a word.
After taking a quick look at the faces of the three people, Ating immediately said to Lin:
"They're not Shintaro!"
After learning that these three people were not Shintaro, Lin frowned slightly and waved to the gunner behind her, signaling them not to open the door.
They actually don't have many shells left, so they have to save them as much as possible so that they can use them against Shintaro later.
"Jiulang, follow me."
"yes!"
After asking the gunners to stand by, Lin led Mamiya to kill the three ninjas.
Although it was 2 against 3, Lin and Mamiya were much stronger than these three people, so these three ninjas were quickly dealt with by Lin and Mamiya.
However - just when Lin and Mamiya had dealt with these three ninjas, something strange happened.
Bang!
There was a sudden loud noise.
A piece of ceiling above and behind the gunners was suddenly kicked down.
Then a figure fell along with the kicked-down ceiling.
As the figure fell, five smaller black shadows flew out from it.
These five small black shadows are five shurikens.
These five shurikens flew towards the large barrels carried by the five gunners.
Then he accurately destroyed the triggers of the five guns.
As soon as the figure landed, he immediately pounced towards Lin and their gunners.
Although the figure was moving very fast and his movements left a trail of afterimages, Ating, who had amazing eyesight, was able to quickly recognize who the figure was.
"It's Shintaro!" Atachi loudly reminded everyone around him.
…
…
Just now, Shintaro had been thinking about how to deal with these people who were chasing them.
If the people who have been following them are the ones using the big guns, it will be very troublesome, so Shintaro decided to kill everyone who is following them.
Then he led his three trusted men into the dojo.
The three confidants stayed in the dojo, while he lurked on the ceiling, responsible for attacking the people who were following them.
If the people following them are carrying a large cannon, his three trusted men will be responsible for making a feint attack to attract the enemy's attention, while he will seize the opportunity to destroy the extremely threatening large cannon - this is Shintaro's plan.
His three confidants were all loyal to Toyotomi and were as good as death warriors. Therefore, even though they knew that they might die for the feint attack, the three of them nodded and agreed to Shintaro's plan without hesitation.
Judging from the current situation, Shintaro's plan is very successful.
Because they saw three enemies rushing towards them as soon as they entered the dojo, Lin and the others' attention was subconsciously drawn away.
Shintaro also appeared from the ceiling behind the gunners in time and began to destroy these large barrels.
Under normal circumstances, Shintaro certainly wouldn't have the ability to throw out five shurikens in such a short time and accurately hit a small target like the trigger.
However – these are not “usual circumstances”.
Shintaro had already taken "Yashamaru" before entering this dojo.
…
…
Shintaro's goal was to destroy the big gun, so he didn't kill the gunners.
Because killing the gunner takes too much time, it would be faster to destroy the barrel directly.
With the blessing of the "Yaksha Realm", Shintaro's speed and accuracy in throwing shuriken also increased sharply.
In the short period of time from jumping down from the ceiling to standing on the ground, he successfully threw out 5 shurikens and destroyed 5 cannons.
After landing, Shintaro rushed towards the remaining four cannons.
Ding! Ding!
After rushing to the gunners closest to him who were still carrying intact large barrels, Shintaro swung the knife in his hand twice and broke the trigger.
Then he threw another shuriken, breaking the trigger of a large gun farther away from him.
Just before Shintaro was about to charge towards the last intact cannon, Makimura and Asai finally arrived.
It was not until Shintaro had destroyed all eight of their cannons that Makimura and Asai finally stood in front of Shintaro - it was not because they were slow to react.
But Shintaro's speed was too fast.
Shintaro did not fight with Makimura and Asai.
Instead, he once again demonstrated his extraordinary speed and bypassed Makimura and Asai.
Makimura and Asai were stunned as they couldn't stop Shintaro.
However - just as Shintaro bypassed Makimura and Asai, two more people blocked his way.
It was Rin and Mamiya who had just gone to deal with the three ninjas who were responsible for the feint attack.
"Prepare for artillery fire!" Lin swung her sword at Shintaro and shouted to the gunners who had the only remaining intact barrels.
As Lin swung her knife at Shintaro, Mamiya also attacked Shintaro almost at the same time.
After hearing Lin's order, the two gunners holding the undamaged barrels immediately began to load ammunition.
clang!
clang!
Shintaro swung his sword twice in succession, deflecting both Lin and Mamiya's swords.
The tremendous force transmitted along the blade caused both Lin and Mamiya to show expressions of deep surprise on their faces.
And Shintaro took advantage of this opportunity and threw another shuriken.
This time, the shuriken did not break the trigger of the barrel.
Instead, it flew straight into the muzzle of the cannon.
Then there was a loud "clang" sound.
It goes without saying - this big barrel must have been broken by Shintaro.
Lin took a few steps back and looked at the current Shintaro.
Veins bulged outside his clothes, and his skin was dark red. Indistinctly, you could see some thin gas similar to steam gushing out of his body - this was what Shintaro looked like at the moment.
"Is this... the 'Yaksha Realm'...!" Lin gritted her teeth.
This is Lin... no, it should be said - this is the first time that everyone present has seen the "Yaksha Realm".
Before this, they had only heard Ogata talk about it and had never seen what the "Yaksha Realm" looked like.
And now, they finally felt the power of the "Yaksha Realm" firsthand.
Everyone present looked at Shintaro who had entered the "Yaksha Realm" with a serious expression.
In less than 10 seconds, all their barrels were broken.
"...All of you leave here." After thinking for a moment, Lin said to the gunners in a deep voice, "Go!"
Since the main barrels have been destroyed, there is no point for these gunners to stay here any longer.
If they continued to stay here, they might get hurt accidentally, so Lin asked them to leave quickly.
The gunners had already been stunned by Shintaro's amazing shuriken throwing skills.
After receiving Lin's order, they immediately hurriedly left the dojo.
Shintaro ignored the gunners and let them leave.
Because he could see at a glance that they were all a bunch of insignificant trash.
Those who came to stop him just now are the masters who are truly worthy of attention.
"I don't know who you are, but you are really amazing..." Shintaro said softly, "You actually used the big gun to destroy the Shiranui with a history of more than 200 years."
Although what Shintaro just said sounded like a compliment, his tone was full of resentment.
After witnessing the group of people who destroyed Shiranui with his own eyes, boundless resentment began to well up in Shintaro's heart.
He had been lurking in Shiranui for 6 years and was finally about to completely control Shiranui, but this group of people suddenly showed up and destroyed Shiranui.
There are no words to describe how Shintaro feels right now.
He decided to put the idea of ​​escaping aside for now.
Let’s kill all these hateful people first!
Shintaro rushed towards Makimura who was closest to him.
Shintaro's speed was so fast that only a trail of afterimages was left behind, causing Makura's pupils to shrink suddenly in shock.
After Shintaro rushed into his field of vision, Makimura immediately and subconsciously swung the large sword in his hand and chopped down at Shintaro with great force.
Makimura is not a "skill-based" swordsman, he has always been a "power-based" swordsman.
Relying on his strong body and unique size advantage, he wields a large sword that is much longer than an ordinary katana to suppress the enemy - this is Makimura's swordsmanship style.
If he had not entered the "Yaksha Realm", Shintaro might have been quite afraid of Makimura's slash.
But when he entered the "Yaksha realm", Shintaro was not afraid to take Makimura's sword.
But in order not to waste energy and not to damage his own ninja sword, Shintaro did not choose to take it head-on. Instead, he turned his body to the side and dodged Makimura's downward attack. Then he took advantage of the situation to move closer to Makimura, clenched his left hand into a fist, and punched towards Makimura's stomach.
Makimura loosened his left hand that was holding the knife, put his left hand in front of Shintaro's fist, and used his left forearm to block Shintaro's fist.
But after blocking Shintaro's fist, Makimura immediately felt a piercing pain coming from his left arm.
The huge force coming from his left arm forced Mucun to take several steps back.
After stabilizing his body, Mucun looked at his left arm - it had started to become red and swollen, so it must be a fracture.
Just when Shintaro was about to chase Makimura and kill him in one go, a sharp shout suddenly came from behind him:
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Shintaro knew without even looking - he must be from the Shikken-ryu school.
After all, this breath-in-breath sound is so recognizable.
Shintaro can't even catch Makimura's sword, so he is certainly not going to catch the sword of a person who uses the Manifestation Style.
Without even looking behind him, Shintaro dodged Asai's knife based on the sound.
Asai and Lin attacked Shintaro from different directions at the same time.
Shintaro dodged Asai's knife and just happened to appear in front of Lin.
Lin clenched the Enma in her left hand and was about to swing the sword at Shintaro when she saw a flash of sword light coming towards her - Shintaro swung his ninja sword at Lin's neck at a speed that was one step faster than her.
Lin had no choice but to give up the attack, raised the two swords in her hands, formed an "X" shape, and used the blade reversal of the Muga Nito-ryu to block Shintaro's sword.
But when Shintaro's ninja sword collided with her Enma and Fuukishin, the power transmitted from the blade to her arms far exceeded Lin's imagination.
Lin's eyes widened in shock, and she pressed her feet hard against the ground, transferring all her strength to her arms, but she was still unable to compete with Shintaro's power.
When Lin was in trouble, Mamiya ran to Shintaro's side.
Mamiya lowered his center of gravity, held the scabbard of the katana with his left hand, and gripped the hilt of the katana with his right hand. He maintained the posture of drawing the sword, rushed to Shintaro's side, and performed the sword-drawing slash.
Shintaro would not stand there stupidly to take Mamiya's sword-drawing slash. He exerted force with both hands, pushed Lin away, and quickly retreated to avoid Mamiya's sword-drawing slash.
Seeing that his attack missed, Mamiya quickly sheathed the katana and once again assumed the sword-drawing stance at an astonishing speed, preparing to use the sword-drawing stance a second time against Shintaro who was still within his attack range.
However, before Mamiya could draw his sword again, he saw a cold light coming towards him quickly - it was Shintaro's blade.
Looking at the knife tip that was rapidly enlarging in his field of vision, Mamiya's pupils suddenly shrank.
Although he turned his head away as quickly as he could, the tip of the knife stabbed by Shintaro still left a bloody mark on Mamiya's left cheek.
Mamiya's eyes were full of surprise.
Because he saw it very clearly just now - he was clearly the first one to get into the stance of drawing the sword.
When he was ready to draw his sword, Shintaro hadn't made any moves yet, but Shintaro still drew his sword quickly, one step faster than him.
At this time, Shigong's eyes were full of surprise, but on the other hand, Shintaro's eyes were full of pride.
Stabbing——is the sword technique that Shintaro is best at.
From the sword-drawing technique that Mamiya just used, Shintaro could tell that Mamiya was an expert in the sword-drawing technique.
The characteristics of sword-drawing techniques are speed, accuracy, and the ability to kill with one strike.
So he had intentionally used his best stabbing attack to deal with Mamiya, just to tell Mamiya - look, my sword speed is far superior to your sword drawing technique.
But at this moment, Shintaro suddenly caught a glimpse of a girl squatting in a corner not far away.
The girl was pointing a short thing at him.
Shintaro has some knowledge about firearms.
So he could tell at a glance that the thing the girl was holding was a pistol.
Shintaro's pupils shrank suddenly in shock.
Bang!
A-Ming pulled the trigger, and a deafening sound of a bullet leaving the barrel was heard.
Almost at the same moment when Ating pulled the trigger, he quickly jumped to the side.
The scorching bullet flew past his right thigh.
After narrowly dodging Motoya's bullet, Shintaro felt cold sweat beginning to appear on his forehead.
As for the person who just shot Shintaro - Atachi, she now looked shocked.
A-Machi knew clearly that with her close combat ability, if she went up to fight with Shintaro, she would only be a hindrance, so since the battle began, she had been crouching not far away, ready to provide support with her best technique.
Just now, because Shintaro was fighting with others, Atachi couldn't find the best time to shoot.
Until just now, Atachi finally found the long-awaited shooting opportunity, but unfortunately Shintaro discovered Atachi who was about to launch a sneak attack on him at the last moment.
He secretly thanked his lucky stars that he had discovered Ating in time.
If he had been a step slower, his body might have been pierced by the bullet.
The "Yaksha Realm" only greatly increases a person's physical strength.
But no matter how much it grows, it is still a mortal body and cannot withstand firearms.
Atachi, holding a pistol, instantly became the most threatening person among all the people present in Shintaro's mind.
Shintaro frowned and reached for his waist, ready to take out the shuriken to get rid of Atachi.
But before his hand could reach his waist, Makimura and Asai came at him from different directions, leaving him no time to use shuriken. He could only concentrate on dealing with Makimura and Asai who were coming at him.
"Tsk..." Lin was moving her fingers that were numb from taking a slash from Shintaro, while she was staring at Shintaro who was fighting with Makimura and Asai, thinking about strategy.
Although there are currently five of them against Shintaro alone, and they have the advantage in numbers, the series of battles with Shintaro just now showed a cruel fact - even though they have the advantage in numbers, Shintaro still has the upper hand.
If they don't think of a solution, they might lose.
Just as Lin pursed her lips and thought about how to win...
…
"...My Lord, can you help me hold Shintaro back for two incense sticks?"
…
Mamiya, who had been standing beside Lin with an expressionless face and looking at Shintaro not far away, suddenly said this to Lin in a low voice.
Lin first cast a surprised look at Mamiya.
Then he quickly understood what Mamiya meant by what he had just said.
"Jiulang, do you want to use that? Aren't you still unable to guarantee that you can enter that state every time?"
As soon as Lin finished speaking, Mamiya took off the sword from his waist, then sat cross-legged on the ground, placed the sword on his legs, and said:
"Yeah, I can't guarantee that I can get into that state now."
"But now we can only take a gamble."
"It seems that we can no longer defeat Shintaro by relying on the advantage in numbers."
"So—try your luck."
After saying that, Mamiya closed his eyes.
His chest rose and fell in a peculiar rhythm.
"...I understand." Lin nodded seriously, "We will help you delay time."
After saying that, Lin clenched the two swords in her hands and rushed towards Shintaro.
Ating, who was crouching not far away, now looked confused.
She couldn't figure out what Mamiya was doing when he suddenly sat cross-legged in a meditation posture.
But she didn't dare to ask Mamiya, because she instinctively felt that it would be best not to disturb Mamiya now.
After looking at Mamiya carefully for a while, Atachi discovered that the rhythm of Mamiya's chest rise and fall was very familiar.
She had seen the same breathing rhythm in Ogata.
…
…
After Lin joined the battle, the pressure on Makimura and Asai was much lessened.
Makimura's left arm was broken in the previous battle, but even with only one arm left, he still retained considerable fighting power.
Although they were no match for Shintaro who had entered the "Yaksha Realm", Lin and the others were all masters without exception.
Moreover, Lin and the others belong to the Hulu House and have lived under the same roof for a long time. They have developed a tacit understanding without realizing it, and there is no situation where they hinder each other when cooperating against the enemy.
Makimura relied on his advantage in attack range to "remotely suppress" Shintaro.
Asai, who practices the fierce Shikken-ryu, meets Shintaro head-on.
Lin took the initiative to serve as a supporting attacker, and waited for the right opportunity to attack Shintaro.
Being besieged by three masters with tacit understanding, even if he entered the "Yaksha realm", it was difficult for Shintaro to determine the winner in a short period of time.
Of course - for Shintaro, the biggest threat now is naturally Atachi, who is holding Suying and is ready to attack him at any opportunity.
The Suzaku in Amaji's hand is like a sword hanging over Shintaro's head, and it may fall and pierce his head at any time.
Shintaro always wanted to get rid of Atachi immediately.
But because Lin and the others were fighting with him all the time, Shintaro not only had no chance to get close to Atachi, but also had no chance to use kunai against Atachi.
The presence of A-Machi forced Shintaro to devote part of his attention to guarding against A-Machi.
Not being able to concentrate all his attention on dealing with Lin, Makimura, and Asai made it even more difficult for Shintaro to quickly determine the outcome.
——What is that person doing?
Taking advantage of the air raid of the battle, Shintaro glanced at Mamiya who was sitting cross-legged on the ground not far away from him with confusion in his heart.
He was a veteran of many battles, but this was the first time he had seen an enemy suddenly sit down during a fight.
Not only Shintaro was confused, but Makimura and Asai were also very confused. They didn't know why Mamiya didn't come to help at such a critical moment, but just sat down where he was.
They really wanted to ask Lin, but the fight was in full swing and they had no time to talk, so they could only suppress their doubts for the time being.
Because Shintaro and Lin and the other two were fighting together, it became increasingly difficult to find an opportunity to hit Shintaro without accidentally hurting Lin and the other two.
Finally - at this very moment, Atachi finally got the best shooting opportunity she had been waiting for.
Bang!
Pull the trigger of Suying without hesitation.
Shintaro has always been keeping an eye on Atachi.
So when he saw Ating pull the trigger again, he immediately jumped to the side.
Although he dodged immediately, the hot bullet still brushed past his left rib. Although it did not hit his body, it took away some flesh.
The burning pain coming from his left ribs made Shintaro's expression extremely gloomy, so gloomy that it was a little scary.
The speed of Suying's bullets is too fast, far exceeding that of ordinary muskets. Even if you enter the "Yaksha Realm", there is no guarantee that you can dodge it 100%.
After experiencing the power of Suying once again, the threat level of A-Machi in Shintaro's mind rose to a higher level.
——That woman is so annoying!
Shintaro said bitterly in his heart.
He had not forgotten - the executioner Ittosai was also in Shiranui.
Although Shuntaro has been asked to hold back Ittosai, the opponent is the living legend after all, and Shintaro doesn't know whether Shuntaro has the ability to hold back Ittosai.
If we keep dragging this on, there’s no guarantee that Itdaosai will come.
These people are annoying enough as it is, and if another Ittosai comes to help, Shintaro can't imagine the consequences.
After all, the "Yaksha Realm" is not invincible. If it is besieged by so many masters, it will still be defeated.
And if he continued to drag it on like this, he might be ambushed and killed by Ating at any time.
The reason he was able to successfully dodge Suying's bullets the first two times was purely because of the help of the "Yaksha Realm" and because he observed in time that Atachi was about to shoot him.
If he had been distracted for a moment, the hot bullet might have penetrated into his body.
Shintaro misstepped and dodged Makimura's ōdachi again.
While dodging Makimura's knife, Shintaro flashed in front of Asai.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Asai slashed at Shintaro with the sword he had been holding high.
At the same moment when Asai made the monkey cry unique to the Shigen-ryu style and chopped the knife in his hand towards Shintaro, Shintaro raised the knife in his hand, put the handle against his left palm, and pointed the tip of the knife at Asai - this was the signature skill created by Shintaro, who was good at stabbing techniques: the Toad Sword.
Use your feet to push the ground hard, transfer the force from your feet to your arms, and then stab the sword out - because this method of using your feet to push the ground hard is a bit like a squatting and jumping toad, Shintaro named it the "Toad Sword".
When Asai swung the knife in his hand, Shintaro had not yet taken a stance.
But before Asai's sword could hit him, Shintaro quickly assumed the "Toad Sword" stance and attacked Asai.
Shintaro used the "Toad Sword" and the ninja sword in his hand turned into a stream of light and rushed towards Asai at an extremely fast speed.
clang!
Asai's blade collided with the tip of Shintaro's sword.
Shintaro's thrust blocked Asai's slash.
The next moment after blocking Asai's attack, the two swords crossed, and Shintaro's ninja sword touched Asai's sword, creating a series of sparks and stabbed towards Asai.
Shintaro's ninja sword pierced Asai's body.
However, because Asai's sword and Shintaro's ninja sword collided in mid-air just now, Shintaro's stabbing trajectory deviated slightly, so Shintaro's sword did not hit Asai's vitals.
Shintaro originally wanted to stab Asai with another knife, but Lin and Makimura standing by would naturally not allow him to do so.
Lin and Makimura attacked Shintaro from two sides.
Shintaro pulled his ninja sword back from Asai, then quickly retreated, dodging the attacks of Lin and Makimura, and once again assumed the "Toad Sword" posture.
This time, Shintaro aimed the tip of his knife at Lin.
Just as Shintaro was about to thrust his sword, another gunshot rang out.
Amachi took advantage of the fact that there was no one around Shintaro and fired the third shot.
This time, Suying's bullet finally hit Shintaro successfully.
However - because Shintaro's movements were too fast, even Atachi had difficulty shooting him accurately.
The projectile hit Shintaro's left hip.
Shintaro let out a low cry of pain, then endured the pain and used the "Toad Sword" on Lin.
clang!
The sound of swords clashing was heard again.
Lin originally planned to use a step to dodge Shintaro's move, but found that she could not dodge it at all, so she could only temporarily use Blade Reverse to defend herself.
Then, what happened to Asai just now happened to Lin again - Lin's two knives were bounced off by Shintaro's knife, and the tips of the knives pierced Lin's right shoulder.
There was also no time to finish off Lin because Mucun arrived.
As Makimura rushed towards Shintaro, Atachi pulled the trigger for the fourth time.
Unfortunately, the shooting didn't work this time.
Shintaro has already knocked down Lin and Asai, and the pressure has been greatly reduced, so he can devote more attention to guarding against Atachi.
While quickly dodging the fourth bullet flying towards him, Shintaro flashed in front of Makimura.
This time, Shintaro did not go to dodge the attack on Mu Village.
Instead, he raised the ninja sword in his hand to block Makimura's attack.
clang!!
Shintaro caught Makimura's knife steadily.
The huge force coming from the blade made Shintaro grit his teeth.
Using both arms to push Makimura's knife away, Shintaro then chopped at Makimura's open door.
And Makimura is also a man with rich combat experience.
After his knife was pushed away, he quickly and subconsciously took half a step back.
It was this half step back that saved him - Shintaro's knife only cut his flesh and did not hurt his internal organs.
The blade slid out of Makimura's body, and before Makimura fell, Shintaro hurriedly pulled out the shuriken from his waist with his free left hand.
Now there was no one to hinder him anymore.
He couldn't wait to kill Ating, who had caused him so much trouble since the beginning of the war.
The only injury on his body at the moment - the wound on his left hip - was caused by Ating.
If it weren't for Ating who was always waiting for an opportunity to shoot him, preventing him from concentrating fully, he would have defeated Lin and the others long ago.
Shintaro drew out the shuriken, and just as he was about to throw the shuriken at Atachi, a sound of breaking wind came from beside him.
Shintaro's pupils shrank slightly and he quickly jumped to the side, but the shuriken had already flown out of his palm and could not be taken back.
However, when the shuriken flew out, it was affected by Shintaro who suddenly jumped away, and its flight trajectory was slightly deviated.
The shuriken that was originally flying straight towards Atachi's chest changed its direction and flew straight towards Atachi's right shoulder.
Although when A-machi saw Shintaro take out a shuriken from his waist, he was ready to dodge.
But Shintaro threw the shuriken too fast and Atachi had no time to dodge it.
The shuriken still hit Ating's right shoulder accurately. Ating screamed in pain. Because of the injury to his right shoulder, his right hand could not hold Suying steadily, so Suying flew out of Ating's hand. Suying slid on the ground and finally stopped when it was more than ten steps away from Ating.
The person who just slashed at Shintaro was Lin.
Lin's right shoulder had just been hit by Shintaro's "Toad Sword", and now she is temporarily unable to hold the sword with her right hand. Therefore, Lin can no longer use the dual swords and can only use her left arm to hold Yama - this should be considered a blessing in disguise, because Lin is left-handed, and fortunately it was the right shoulder that was injured, not the left shoulder.
With a frown on his face and a glare at Lin who was getting in his way, Shintaro turned and rushed towards Lin.
The injury to his left hip caused by Atachi was still aching, but it did not affect Shintaro's performance much.
Even with the help of Makimura and Asai, and with his own body in good condition, Lin and the others are no match for Shintaro.
Now Makimura and Asai have both fallen to the ground due to injuries and have lost their combat effectiveness. Lin's right shoulder is also injured. Under such circumstances, Lin is naturally no match for Shintaro if she fights alone.
However - even though she knew that she was definitely no match for Shintaro, there was no fear or retreat on Lin's face.
While fighting with Lin, Shintaro took advantage of the opportunity and threw another shuriken at Atachi, who was covering his injured right shoulder and going to pick up Suzaku.
Since there was only the injured Lin left to fight him, Shintaro no longer had a chance to throw a shuriken like before.
However, because his main energy and attention were focused on dealing with Lin, Shintaro did not aim the shuriken carefully, so the shuriken did not hit Atachi's vitals, but only hit Atachi's left thigh.
Ah-Ming cried out in pain again and fell to the ground.
Due to a thigh injury, he is temporarily unable to stand up again.
But even though he couldn't stand up for the time being, Ating still crawled firmly towards where Suying had fallen, trying to pick her up.
After temporarily dealing with the threat of Atachi, Shintaro focused all his attention on the duel with Lin.
Although Lin was full of fighting spirit, the difference in strength could not be made up with spirit.
After only a few moves, Lin's Yama was knocked away by Shintaro.
Even after losing Yama, Lin's face still didn't show any fear.
He quickly reached to his waist and pulled out the wakizashi fukishin.
However——just as Lin pulled out the Zhen Guishen, Shintaro struck Lin with a powerful blow again.
Lin barely raised the Zhen Guishen in her hand to defend herself.
However, because she is a girl, strength is Lin's weakness.
Using one hand to defend against the two hands of Shintaro who had entered the "Yaksha Realm" - the result is predictable.
As soon as the Shintaro's ninja sword collided with the Shintaro's ninja sword, Lin was unable to withstand the huge force, causing the Shintaro to fly out of her hand like Yanma just now.
"...I have to praise you." Shintaro said to Lin, who no longer had any swords on her body, in a calm tone, "There are not many women who are proficient in swordsmanship. This is the first time I have seen a female swordsman as strong as you."
"Tell me your name. I want to know the name of a rare female swordsman like you."
"I don't have a name to tell the enemy." Lin responded without thinking.
"Really? Never mind."
Shintaro raised the knife in his hand, pointed the tip at Lin, and assumed the "Toad Sword" stance.
Makimura and Asai, who had fallen to the ground, wanted to get up and rescue him, but their injuries made it difficult for them to move.
Looking at Lin, who was already pointed at by Shintaro's knife, a faint despair began to appear on their faces.
And Ating was still a few steps away from her Suying.
No one is able to stop Shintaro...
However--
"Um?"
Just as he was about to stab with the knife in his hand, Shintaro's pupils suddenly shrank.
Shintaro had not taken a close look at Lin's face as he had been busy fighting this gang.
Now that the two of them were closer and had the time to take a closer look at Lin's face, Shintaro's face and eyes were instantly filled with surprise.
"Hello!"
For some reason, Shintaro released the "Toad Sword" stance that was already ready.
While staring at Lin's face, he asked in a deep voice:
"Let me ask you! Do you have any brothers or sisters?!"
"...I don't need to answer any of your questions." Although she didn't understand why Shintaro asked her this question for no reason, Lin still replied coldly.
Lin's answer made Shintaro grit his teeth in displeasure.
Just as he was about to say something else—
…
call--!
…
An extremely sharp sound of breaking wind suddenly came from behind him.
When he heard the sound of breaking wind coming from behind him, Shintaro felt all the hairs on his body stand up.
Relying on his fighting instinct, Shintaro rolled to the side in a not-so-good-looking posture.
However - even though Shintaro quickly dodged, the pain still came from his back.
After rolling on the ground for a few times and stabilizing his body, Shintaro immediately raised his hand and touched his back.
As soon as his fingers touched his back, Shintaro felt hot blood - blood oozing from his wound.
“You guy...?!” Shintaro looked at the person who had cut a wound on his back with a look of astonishment.
"...It seems like it succeeded." Lin looked at the man in front of her who was still holding the knife, and a smile appeared on her face, "Really... I've been waiting for you for a long time..."
"Sorry... I kept you waiting."
The person who had just successfully approached Shintaro and cut his back was Mamiya.
As Mamiya spoke, he slowly turned his head and looked at Shintaro not far away.
After Mamiya looked at him, Shintaro realized that there seemed to be some strange light flashing in Mamiya's eyes at this moment.
There was no emotion in the pupils of his eyes, and he looked neither sad nor happy.
Shintaro is still in shock.
He didn't even notice that Mamiya was approaching him from behind.
Moreover, he had clearly escaped as fast as he could just now, but Mamiya's knife still managed to leave a huge horizontal scar on his back.
Although not fatal, it is very painful.
Mamiya didn't say a word to Shintaro.
After taking a look at the fallen Makimura and Asai, he slowly sheathed the katana in his hand...
Bang!
A huge sound of kicking the ground was heard.
Mamiya turned into a shadow and pounced towards Shintaro.
Mamiya's speed made Shintaro's eyes widen in astonishment.
After rushing to Shintaro, Mamiya used the sword-drawing move.
The knife flashed towards Shintaro, and Shintaro just raised the knife in his hand to defend himself.
clang!
Just as Mamiya's speed just now shocked Shintaro, the power of this Time Palace also shocked Shintaro.
Mamiya launched a fierce attack on Shintaro like a violent storm.
His sword transformed into rays of light that enveloped Shintaro.
After exchanging attacks and defenses with Mamiya for more than a dozen times, the astonishment on Shintaro's face became more and more intense.
Now, compared to before, Mamiya seems like a completely different person.
Whether it's the look or the strength.
"You bastard!" Shintaro took advantage of the opportunity and yelled, "What did you do?!"
"I am not obligated to answer any of your questions." After responding to Shintaro indifferently, the knife in Mamiya's hand became faster.
Shintaro doesn't know why Mamiya suddenly became so much stronger.
The current Mamiya is already able to compete with him who has entered the "Yaksha Realm"... No, it should be said that he is able to gain the upper hand in the battle with him who has entered the "Yaksha Realm" - although Shintaro is reluctant to admit it, this is the fact.
——What on earth did he do?!
Shintaro yelled in fear in his heart, clenched his teeth, and used all his strength to fight against Mamiya.
Mamiya's katana and Shintaro's ninja sword collided dozens of times in mid-air at a blinding speed.
A-Ming had just picked up her Suying.
But she couldn't find any chance to support Mamiya.
Because now Mamiya seems to be stuck with Shintaro, and there is no good opportunity to shoot.
After realizing that Mamiya should not be underestimated at this time, Shintaro put away all his contempt, tensed every nerve in his body, and fought Mamiya with all his strength.
clang!
clang!
clang!
…
The sound of the sharp blades colliding exploded at a frequency that was not very rhythmic.
As if it was agreed in advance, Mamiya and Shintaro alternately suffered injuries of varying degrees.
But generally speaking – injuries appeared on Shintaro faster.
After forcing Shintaro back with one sword, Mamiya seized the opportunity and put the katana back into the sheath.
Then in the next moment, the knife light popped out from the scabbard and swept towards Shintaro's chest.
The clothes and flesh on Shintaro's right chest were all cut into pieces.
Shintaro endured the severe pain and launched a counterattack against Mamiya.
He swung the ninja sword in his hand and hooked Zhongzhonggong's right thigh from bottom to top, leaving a bloody mark in one breath.
But this injury was just a minor one that didn't hurt and couldn't even affect Mamiya's strength.
Shintaro suddenly jumped back several steps, putting some distance between himself and Mamiya.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Shintaro was breathing heavily and glaring fiercely at Mamiya in front of him.
He was already panting, while Mamiya's breathing was merely becoming heavier.
Not only that, Mamiya also had fewer injuries than him.
It is clear who has the upper hand now.
“Asshole…! Asshole…!”
Shintaro cursed loudly.
The battle situation was already clear - if he continued to fight with Mamiya like this, he would definitely lose.
After pursing his lips and thinking about countermeasures, Shintaro clenched the ninja sword in his hand, kicked his hind feet, and leaped towards Mamiya.
He slashed at Mamiya twice.
And there was no doubt that both of his sword attacks were blocked by Mamiya.
However, the moment the second knife was blocked, Shintaro quickly retracted his knife.
The hilt of the sword rested against his left palm, with the tip of the sword pointed at Mamiya - this was the stance for his signature skill, the "Toad Sword".
The next moment after the stance was formed, the tip of the knife stabbed straight into Mamiya's chest.
Shintaro's attack was much more powerful and faster than any of his previous attacks, causing a hint of surprise to appear in Mamiya's eyes, which had been calm until now.
The stabbing attack is a very difficult attack to defend, so Mamiya did not choose to defend, but instead chose to jump to the side to dodge.
However, the speed of Shintaro's "Toad Sword" was too fast. Even though Mamiya had dodged in time, the tip of Shintaro's knife still took away some flesh and blood from Mamiya's right rib.
Seeing that his attack had a good effect, Shintaro's face showed a bit of satisfaction and pride.
——He can’t deal with my “Toad Sword”!
Shintaro shouted excitedly in his heart.
Happy for finding a chance to win.
After quickly retracting the knife, Shintaro pounced on Mamiya again.
After a few more sword fights with Mamiya, Shintaro once again assumed the "Toad Sword" stance.
This time, Mamiya did not dodge.
Instead, he put his sword back into the sheath with a sullen face, and at the same time that Shintaro prepared the "Toad Sword", he assumed a sword-drawing stance.
With just one glance, Shintaro knew what Mamiya was planning to do - he was planning to compete with him in sword speed.
Let’s see whether his sword-drawing slash is faster or Shintaro’s toad sword is faster.
Seeing Mamiya preparing to draw his sword, Shintaro not only did not flinch at all, but became a little excited instead.
Because - he was confident in his sword-drawing skills.
choke--!
Mamiya drew his sword.
At the same moment when Mamiya drew his sword, Shintaro also stabbed out with the sword in his hand.
The two launched their attacks at the same moment.
However——Shintaro’s sword was one step faster than Mamiya’s.
Shintaro's sword pierced through the flesh below Mamiya's left collarbone.
Mamiya had just pulled his sword out of its sheath.
A low cry of pain came from Mamiya's throat.
Just now, before Shintaro's sword pierced Mamiya, Mamiya's body instinctively tilted a little, otherwise what would have been pierced would not be the flesh under his left collarbone, but his left chest.
Seeing that his Toad Sword completely defeated Mamiya's sword-drawing technique and successfully left a serious wound on Mamiya, the smug look on Shintaro's face became even more intense.
After quickly pulling the ninja sword out of Mamiya's body, Shintaro jumped back a few steps to increase the distance between himself and Mamiya.
Lin, Atachi, Makimura, and Asai were all watching the battle.
When they saw that Mamiya was no match for Shintaro's Toad Sword, they all looked stunned, shocked and worried.
But only Lin's expression remained unchanged.
While Mamiya and Shintaro were fighting, Lin quietly went to give a simple bandage to Asai who was more seriously injured.
While bandaging the wound, he also watched the fight between Mamiya and Shintaro silently.
Lin looked at Mamiya who was fighting a life-and-death battle with Shintaro with a calm gaze from beginning to end.
Even after seeing that Mamiya was unable to deal with Shintaro's Toad Sword, he remained calm, without a trace of worry on his face.
It seemed as if he wasn't worried at all that Mamiya would lose.
"Do you think your third-rate sword-drawing skills can be faster than my Toad Sword?" Shintaro shouted arrogantly at Mamiya.
Shintaro was very proud of himself because he had just successfully injured Mamiya by taking a step faster than Mamiya.
Mamiya ignored Shintaro's provocation. He raised his left hand and touched the new wound under his left collarbone.
"A third-rate sword-drawing technique?" Mamiya, expressionless, lowered his head and glanced at his left palm, which was covered in blood.
"I didn't want to use that trick against you. After all, it feels a bit cheap to use that trick against you."
Mamiya said softly.
"But what you said just now made me very unhappy."
"Really? There's nothing I can do..."
After saying that, Mamiya slowly put the katana in his hand back into the scabbard.
"Do you know?" Mamiya said softly while sheathing the sword, "Let me tell you a little trick for using the sword drawing technique."
"The art of drawing a sword is much faster if you eject the sword from the sheath in advance."
"Ah?" Shintaro looked at Mamiya, who was talking nonsense seriously, as if he was looking at a fool. "What are you talking about? Who doesn't know about this?!"
"No, you don't."
Mamiya's katana has been completely sheathed.
"You just know it's faster, but do you know how much faster?"
After saying this, Mamiya lowered his center of gravity and ran towards Shintaro at a speed as if he was flying close to the ground.
Looking at Mamiya who was actively rushing towards him, Shintaro was stunned for a moment, then he smiled a ferocious smile mixed with a bit of excitement.
Mamiya took the initiative to attack him - this actually helped him launch an attack.
Shintaro stood still, pointing the tip of the knife at Mamiya, the base of the hilt resting against his left palm, once again adopting the "Toad Sword" stance.
He planned to kill Mamiya with one blow using the Toad Sword, whose attack speed was far superior to Mamiya's, once he entered his attack range!
After seeing Shintaro assuming the Toad Sword stance, Mamiya's expression did not change at all.
Didn't dodge, nor did he take any defensive action.
Just keep your left hand on the opening of the sheath.
He raised his left thumb and pressed it against the guard of the sword, allowing the sword to pop out of the sheath about an inch.
Then he raised his right hand and gripped the knife handle tightly.
After Mamiya gripped the hilt of the knife, he successfully rushed into the range where his knife could hit Shintaro.
It’s just that – his attack range is the same as Shintaro’s.
In other words – he also entered Shintaro’s attack range.
Looking at Mamiya who was like a moth flying into a flame, a hint of pride appeared on Shintaro's face.
Just when Shintaro was about to thrust out the sword in his hand and end Mamiya's life -
A low murmur came from Mamiya's mouth:
"Feiyan Zanshinliu
Secret
--moment!"
…
…
--Um?
Shintaro looked at the scene in front of him in confusion.
Because everything in his field of vision was turned upside down.
Above is the floor and below is the ceiling.
Everything is upside down.
Not only was everything upside down, but Shintaro also felt his vision rapidly falling.
Everything in his field of vision was rapidly passing through his field of vision from bottom to top - as if his body was falling.
——What’s going on?
Shintaro wanted to move his body.
But he found that he couldn't move his body at all.
Just as Shintaro was wondering in horror what was going on, the scene that appeared before him told him the answer - Mamiya maintaining his sword-drawing posture, and a headless body standing in front of Mamiya.
Shintaro... no, it should be said that Shintaro, who only had a head left, recognized it - this was his body.
— I was… chopped?! When?! When was I chopped?!
Shintaro wanted to let out a scream of fear.
But he couldn't speak at all now.
He tried hard to recall what had just happened.
All he remembered was that Mamiya rushed into his attack range.
Just as he was about to use the Toad Sword... the scene in front of him suddenly turned upside down.
Even until his head was chopped off, Shintaro didn't see clearly when Mamiya drew his sword.
Boom.
Shintaro's head finally fell to the ground with a dull sound.
After landing, Shintaro began to feel his vision becoming blurry and black.
The fear of death instantly occupied his entire mind.
He instinctively wanted to resist death.
However, with only a head left, it was obvious that he could do nothing.
In the end, he could only watch as darkness filled his entire field of vision, and finally - he completely lost all consciousness.
When did he draw his sword? This was the last sentence that remained in Shintaro's mind.
…
…
After using the ultimate move, Shintaro's head was chopped off with a knife, and Shintaro's body fell limply.
After Shintaro fell, Mamiya sheathed his sword.
After the blade was sheathed, the strange light in Mamiya's eyes slowly dissipated.
After the strange light in his eyes faded, Mamiya's breathing suddenly became rapid, and he had to inhale and exhale deeply.
The fatigue that continued to surge from his body made Mamiya unable to help but kneel on one knee, feeling like his chest was about to explode.
"The 'selfless state' is really overbearing..." Mamiya smiled bitterly, "In just such a short time, my physical strength has been almost drained..."