Keitaro stared at Ogata, who had severely injured him with a knife, with an unbelievable look on his face.
A large amount of blood rushed to his mouth, but Keitaro still resisted the urge to hold back the blood, and asked Ogata incoherently:
"You...did...what...?"
Keitaro couldn't believe what had just happened before his eyes.
Ogata, who was already covered in wounds and barely able to catch his breath, suddenly ran in front of Keitaro at a speed so fast that Keitaro could not react at all and dealt him a fatal blow.
It feels like seeing a mouse suddenly fly up.
"I didn't do anything." Ogata said softly, "I saw that you were a little slack just now, so I ran over and killed you with a sword - it's that simple."
"You..." Keitaro seemed to want to say something else.
But more and more blood flowed from his throat, and the remaining strength in his body became weaker and weaker, leaving Keitaro with no strength to speak.
After spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, Keitaro finally fell heavily to the ground.
After Keitaro fell to the ground, Ogata couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
And this magical state disappeared after Keitaro fell to the ground.
I can no longer perceive myself or anything around me.
As soon as this magical state disappeared, Ogata had to exit the state of "no self" due to physical exhaustion.
As soon as he came out of the state of "no self", an intense feeling of fatigue spread throughout Ogata's body, as if his entire body was wrapped in a towel soaked with water.
——I don’t know how A-Ming and Miss Lin are doing now…
While wiping the sweat and blood from his face, Ogata cast his gaze into the distance where the sound of artillery fire was no longer heard.
…
…
Time goes back to when Lin and the others just separated from Yuan Yi——
After Genichi pulled out his Yang Shen and Yan Rong, the Iga ninjas led by Hannosuke scattered and surrounded Genichi in a strange formation.
The circle of people closest to Genichi were holding ninja swords and other melee weapons.
The group of people closest to Genichi were holding weapons such as sickles and shurikens that could be used for long-range attacks.
Without the need for Hannosuke to issue any orders or instructions , the Iga ninjas immediately launched an attack on Genichi after completing the encirclement of Genichi.
The first to launch the attack were the ninjas armed with long-range weapons.
The ninjas standing at the outermost edge of the formation threw out the sickles and shurikens in their hands.
Each kamakura and each shuriken drew a different trajectory and shot towards Yuan Yi.
Scythes and shurikens attacked from all directions, but Genichi remained calm.
He slid his feet and used his superb footwork to dodge all the incoming kamakama and shuriken.
However, while Genichi was dodging the kamaksamas and shurikens that were attacking him, the ninjas who were closer to Genichi and were holding melee weapons such as ninja swords stepped forward and attacked.
These ninjas in charge of close combat took advantage of every opportunity and seized every chance to attack Genichi who was dodging sickles, shurikens and other objects.
Regarding these melee ninjas that attacked him, Genichi only dodged or defended, and did not counterattack against them.
Genichi dodged the continuous attacks launched by the Iga ninjas while observing the formation they formed.
--I see……
Genichi thought to himself.
——They must have been training this formation for a long time.
There were more than twenty people, some of whom stood at the outermost edge to carry out long-range attacks, while others stood at the innermost edge to engage in close combat against the enemies trapped in the formation.
Genichi also learned the weapon of the knuckle sickle.
As a unique weapon, the sickle is undoubtedly - extremely difficult to master.
To swing such a heavy sickle or hammer heavily and bring it back steadily - just by reading this description, you can feel how difficult it is to use a weapon like the sickle.
For someone who is using the sickle for the first time, it would be great if he or she does not hurt himself or herself when retrieving the sickle and hammer, let alone hitting the target.
According to Genichi's visual estimation, there were a total of 8 people standing on the outermost side of the formation using the sickle to carry out long-range attacks.
These eight people simultaneously used the kusarigama, a weapon with a wide attack range and easy to hurt their own people, but until now they have not accidentally hurt their companions, or let their kusarigama accidentally collide with other people's kusarigama in mid-air.
The same goes for these ninjas in charge of close combat. After launching the attack on Genichi, they have not accidentally injured their companions or inadvertently hindered their companions' attacks until now.
When "Ninja 1" and "Ninja 2" came forward together to attack Genichi, their attacks were full of tacit understanding and their advances and retreats were well-planned. There would never be a situation where "Ninja 1" hindered " Ninja 2".
The Iga ninjas who formed this formation cooperated seamlessly, and it seemed as if these twenty or so ninjas had become one.
"Hello!"
While dodging and defending against the waves of attacks launched against him by the Iga ninjas, Genichi turned his head and asked Hannosuke who was standing not far away and looking at him coldly.
"Could this formation be used by you specifically to target me?"
"...That's right." Hannosuke said solemnly, "This formation that can attack both long-range and close range was designed by me personally!"
"I spent countless years designing this formation!"
"Then it took countless years for my subordinates to practice and hone this formation!"
"Then I used this formation to defeat countless military masters, and accumulated sufficient experience in fighting the enemy!"
"Although it cost a lot to make this formation take shape, it's all worth it!"
Hannosuke became more and more excited as he spoke.
There was not a single lie in what he just said; it was all true.
Since the fall of Iga-no-sato, Hannosuke has been thinking about how to defeat Genichi Kinoshita.
He had seen with his own eyes what Kinoshita Genichi looked like when he was holding two swords and giving it his all - he looked like a devil.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Hannosuke had to face the cruel fact: even if he trained hard for a hundred years, he would never be a match for Genichi Kinoshita.
If Hannosuke wanted to kill Genichi Kinoshita, the only way he could think of was to use the human wave tactic.
And you can't just pile up the number of people, you need a formation to maximize the advantage of numbers.
Therefore, Hannosuke spent many years researching the formation that could maximize combat power.
Then he went around looking for potential seedlings worth cultivating, taught them Iga's ninjutsu, and trained them to become Iga ninjas. Then he let them learn and practice the formation designed by Hannosuke.
In total, I don’t know how many years it took.
Although it took many, many years, as Hannosuke just said - although it cost a lot, it was worth it.
Hannosuke could feel his heart beating fast now.
It was so fast that it seemed as if his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
After waiting for 40 years, they finally met Genichi again, and finally used the formation they had painstakingly honed to deal with Genichi.
If possible, Hannosuke wanted to just pick up his sword and join the formation.
Unfortunately - Hannosuke's physical strength no longer allowed him to do so.
Hannosuke is now an old man over 60 years old, and now he can't even hold the knife steadily.
In his current state, if he took up his sword and joined the formation, he would only be a hindrance, so Hannosuke could only resist the urge to go forward and avenge Iga no Sato himself, and stood outside the formation, watching from afar Genichi who was being besieged by his subordinates.
Looking at Genichi, whose steps were gradually becoming less agile in the center of the formation, a hint of pride appeared on Hannosuke's slightly upturned lips.
Hannosuke is determined to take Genichi's head today.
It's not just because he has confidence in the strength of his subordinates and his formation.
It is also because Genichi is no longer the young man in his prime 40 years ago.
Now Genichi was like him—his hair and beard were gray, and his skin was wrinkled like a piece of dried orange peel.
——Genichi…
Hannosuke said excitedly in his heart.
——No matter how strong you are, you are just a mortal. Even you cannot escape the aging of your body...!
…
…
Genichi had been dodging the continuous attacks coming at him from all directions, while quietly listening to Hannosuke introducing this formation specifically designed to deal with him.
After Hannosuke finished speaking, Genichi smiled slightly.
"I see, so you designed a special formation just to defeat me..."
"This formation is indeed amazing."
"Both close and long-range attacks are possible."
"Even if I just dodge or defend blindly, I won't be able to stay in this formation for too long."
"so what……"
Genichi took a deep breath.
A ninja standing next to Genichi just raised the ninja sword in his hand high and slashed at Genichi.
This time, Genichi neither dodged nor defended.
Instead, after slowly exhaling the air he had just inhaled into his lungs, he swung his right hand at a speed so fast that Hannosuke, who was standing outside the formation, opened his eyes wide.
The Yangshen slashed across the ninja's throat via the shortest route.
"I'm going to show off my real skills a little bit." Genichi announced to everyone present in a calm tone.
After killing the ninja beside him with one sword, Genichi quickly lowered his body center of gravity, and then his whole body turned into a sword afterimage and flashed towards the ninja closest to him.
As Genichi dodged the ninja, a sickle flew towards him from behind his left side.
But Genichi seemed to have eyes on his back. He waved his left hand and knocked down the sickle, then steadily came to the front of the ninja closest to him.
Step forward, bend and stretch your upper body, and chop the knife vertically from bottom to top.
Another ninja was killed by Genichi.
Because Genichi's speed was so fast, the ninja didn't have time to defend or counterattack until he was killed.
If someone with profound attainments in swordsmanship watched the two slashes that Genichi just made, he would probably be shocked by how powerful these two slashes were.
The two slashes that Genichi had just made were not extremely powerful.
But it is too accurate.
He hit the enemy's vital points with great precision, and the force used was just enough to take the enemy's life, not a bit more or a bit less.
This extremely precise slash can not only kill the enemy with the highest efficiency, but also save one's own physical strength to the greatest extent.
Hannosuke was naturally the kind of person who could see how exquisite Genichi's swordsmanship was.
Hannosuke's expression at this moment...is hard to describe with words.
After seeing Genichi kill two of his subordinates at a speed that was completely different from before, Hannosuke's pupils suddenly shrank, his mouth opened wide, and his jaw seemed to be about to drop at any time.
Genichi was now concentrating all his energy and attention on dealing with the ninjas around him, so he didn't see Hannosuke's wonderful expression.
Yuan's feet slipped and the ground made a creaking sound.
Genichi dodged again and again, his body nimbly moving around, avoiding all the swords swung at him, and the sickles and shurikens thrown at him by the ninjas.
After rushing to the two ninjas, Yan Rong dodged again and again, dodged silently twice. Blood mist rose from the bodies of the two ninjas, and then they fell heavily to the ground.
Genichi waved the Yangshen and Yanrong in his hands, reaping the lives of Iga ninjas one after another.
In a short while, this formation that Hannosuke had high hopes for was torn open by Genichi.
After forcibly tearing a hole in the formation, Genichi ignored the close combat ninjas who had not fallen yet, and instead rushed straight along the hole he had torn open towards a ninja holding a kusarigama who was standing outside the formation.
The ninja holding the sickle who was standing at the outermost edge of the formation naturally saw how Genichi killed his companions one by one with overwhelming force.
After seeing Yuan running straight towards him, he couldn't help but panic. He swung the sickle in his hand in a slightly messy posture and drove the sickle towards Yuan.
Genichi dodged the sickle that was flying towards him by simply turning his head.
After getting close to the ninja, Genichi did not swing his sword to kill him.
Instead, he used jutsu to take the ninja down.
While breaking the ninja's neck, he also took away the ninja's kusagima.
"The sickle... I haven't used it for a long time..."
After muttering this, Genichi held Yanrong in his mouth, then swung the Kusukami with his left arm, and threw the sickle heavily at another ninja in the distance who was also using the Kusukami, and then accurately cut his neck.
Although he was already an old man with gray hair and only used one arm to wield the kusarigama, the kusarigama that Genichi swung out was far superior to those thrown by the Iga ninjas in terms of strength, speed and accuracy.
"Don't be afraid! Don't panic!" Hannosuke shouted, encouraging his surviving subordinates, "Don't panic! Surround him again!"
Hannosuke's encouragement was still effective.
After hearing Hannosuke's shouts, the ninjas who had been panicking regained some composure.
But it didn't work.
Regaining their composure would not help them defeat Genichi.
Genichi continued to kill their companions one by one, like chopping melons and vegetables.
Soon, there were less than 8 Iga ninjas left, including Hannosuke.
The morale and fighting spirit of these surviving Iga ninjas naturally collapsed without a doubt.
The remaining survivors were basically those who had just joined Hannosuke's army not long ago or those who did not have a strong enough fighting will to begin with - because those who were loyal enough to Iga or had a strong enough fighting will had just bravely rushed forward to attack Genichi, and were then knocked down by Genichi's sword.
Faced with the overwhelming power of Genichi, their fear of death overwhelmed their loyalty to Iga.
Even though Hannosuke shouted until his voice became hoarse, and even swung his sword to kill a ninja who tried to escape, he was unable to stop the rest of the people from fleeing.
In the end - only Hannosuke, Zennosuke, and Shinnosuke remained.
The three of them, led by Hannosuke, are all survivors of the destruction of Iga-no-Sato 40 years ago.
The three elderly men stared at Yuan Yi who was walking towards them with a knife in hand.
His eyes were filled with anger, astonishment and shock.
"Your men are pretty good," Genichi said softly. "They are quite skilled and have a decent fighting spirit. They collapsed after only a few of them were left. If it were any other organization, they would have probably scattered and fled after I had knocked down half of their men."
After all, there are only a very small number of organizations that can fight to the death without retreating.
So just as Genichi said just now - the performance of the Iga ninjas just now was already very good. They began to collapse after more than 20 people were beaten down to less than 10 people.
Although their subordinates were either dying or fleeing, the three survivors of the destruction of Iga Village, led by Hannosuke, still stood firmly where they were, without any intention or movement to escape.
The three of them drew their respective ninja swords with gloomy faces.
"Kinoshita Genichi!" Hannosuke tightly grasped the ninja sword in his hand and roared at Genichi, "Why? Why are you the only one who is special?!"
There was a hint of crying in Hannosuke's voice.
"You are already a white-haired old man, but you still possess such strong power!"
"Why?!"
"Why are you always the special one?!"
At this point, Hannosuke's eyes began to turn slightly red.
Until less than an incense stick of time ago, Hannosuke still had full confidence in his subordinates and in their formation, and firmly believed that this time he would be able to kill Genichi Kinoshita and put a perfect end to the feud that had lasted for 40 years.
No matter how strong a person is, their body will still begin to weaken as they age, and Hannosuke didn't believe that they couldn't handle Genichi Kinoshita, who was so old that he didn't even have a single black hair left.
However...only one stick of incense later, Hannosuke's self-confidence was completely shattered by Genichi with his two swords.
Hannosuke felt very angry and... unwilling.
He didn't understand why Genichi still possessed such strong power at his age.
After Hannosuke and his friends turned 60, they began to have difficulty wielding swords.
The agility of his steps has also been greatly weakened. Not only is his speed slow, but he also often makes low-level mistakes such as accidentally tripping over his right foot with his left foot.
If they had not been in poor health, Hannosuke and his men would not have stood at the outermost edge of the formation, leaving the task of killing Genichi to their subordinates.
So Hannosuke was very unwilling.
I feel extremely unwilling that Genichi will always be the special one.
40 years ago, Hannosuke witnessed the heroic battle of Genichi, who was then in his prime.
Although Genichi was only 24 years old at the time, he showed strength far beyond his peers.
Now, Genichi is 64 years old, but he is still far ahead of his peers.
While people his age like Hannosuke are too old to hold a sword steadily, Genichi's steps are still nimble and his strikes are still sharp.
This strong feeling of unwillingness made Hannosuke's eyes turn red involuntarily, and a tearful tone appeared in his voice.
As soon as Hannosuke finished his sobbing, Genichi, with an expressionless face, said without hesitation:
"Because—I have never been old."
After he finished speaking, Genichi once again turned into a shadow.
Hannosuke and his two companions, who were already too old to hold their swords steadily, naturally had no chance of winning.
The three of them knew that they had no chance of winning.
But they still chose to fight to the death with Yuan Yi.
While letting out a roar as if to vent the resentment that had been pent up in his chest for 40 years, he swung his sword towards the source that was charging towards them.
The three of them couldn't even touch the corner of Yuanyi's clothes, and each of them was hit by three sword lights...
…
…
As Hannosuke and the others fell, their eyes were still wide open with anger and unwillingness. They stared at Genichi as they fell to the ground.
He stared at Genichi until he died.
It was as if he wanted to memorize Genichi's face firmly in his eyes, and then take the memory of Genichi's face with him to the underworld.
Genichi didn't care at all that Hannosuke and the others were glaring at him before they died.
After all - he himself had long been accustomed to it.
"Alright..." Yuan Yi sheathed a long breath as he put away his knife, "Where are Xiaolin and the others now..."
Genichi turned his gaze in the direction where Lin and the others had just left.
However - just as Genichi was about to run after Lin and the others, he suddenly heard a series of slow footsteps approaching from behind him.
Following the sound, Yuan Yi couldn't help but frown when he saw a figure appearing in front of him.
“Flame Demon…?”
"Genichi, am I right? Whenever I see you, it's always bad news. I was only away from Shiranui for half a day, and you've messed with Shiranui to the point where she's like this now."
The figure approaching from behind Genichi and walking slowly towards him was none other than Flame Demon.
Wearing what looked like a newly bought hat on his head, Enma stopped when he was about 10 steps away from Genichi.
Genichi still remembers what Enma said to him early this morning.
Frowning, after looking up and down at the Flame Demon for a while, Genichi asked in a deep voice:
"…Why did you come back? Didn't you say that you no longer planned to be the Flame Demon in Shiranui and no longer care about anything in Shiranui?"
There was a hint of confusion in Genichi's tone.
I don't understand why Yan Mo has come back after all this.
"yes……"
The Fire Demon had no expression on his face and spoke in a light tone.
"I did tell you that..."
“And in essence, I did just that.”
"Just now, I have already bought all the items for the journey, bought dry food for the journey, and have actually walked on the road to leave Edo."
"I really want to leave Shiranui completely..."
"But..."
The Fire Demon slowly lowered his head.
The wide brim of the hat on his head covered his face, so Yuan couldn't see his expression clearly.
"Genichi...can you see?"
"See... those ghosts that are haunting me..."
"The previous generation of Flame Demons, my former companions, their faces full of expectations for me, keep appearing in my mind."
"The promise they made to 'revitalize Shiranui' also echoed in my mind over and over again."
"I... don't want to remember this."
"But the more I try not to think about these things, the more these memories appear..."
“When I came to my senses…”
The Balrog raised his head again.
“I’ve already come back here…”
The Flame Demon's face was no longer expressionless as before, but now revealed a look full of bitterness.
But in this bitter expression, a light called "determination" gradually blossomed in the eyes of the Fire Demon.
Flame Demon raised his hand, untied the hat on his head, and continued speaking.
"Revitalizing Shiranui has always been the long-cherished wish of the previous generation of Flame Demon... no, it has always been the long-cherished wish of our Shiranui."
"I really can't completely abandon this long-cherished wish that has lasted for 200 years..."
The Flame Demon smiled bitterly.
The smile carries a calmness that seems to have let go of everything and seen through everything.
"I don't know, and I don't really want to know why you came to trouble me this time."
"All I need to know is that you are now my enemy in the Shiranui."
"Draw your sword, Genichi."
The flame demon threw away the bamboo hat in his hand, raised his hand, pressed the handle of the ninja sword on his left waist, and pulled out his own ninja sword inch by inch while announcing to Genichi word by word:
"I want to pull Shiranui back from the underworld!"
"...You can't pull it back." Genichi's tone was calm, "The era of ninjas is over."
"Then I'll show you!!" The Flame Demon took out a black pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
"...It seems that the Flame Demon is really back." Yuan Yi raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a faint smile with ambiguous meaning, then raised his hands and pulled out the Yangshen and Yanrong from his waist again.
As Genichi drew his sword, his chest began to rise and fall in a peculiar rhythm.
Strange rays of light began to burst out from Genichi's pupils.
After Yuan Yi entered the "selfless state", the fire demon's skin gradually turned dark red, and a thin, steam-like gas began to emerge from the skin.
"Come on... Sword Master!"
"Come on! Fire Demon!"
The Flame Demon attacked first.
He pointed the tip of the ninja sword at Genichi, and the tip of the sword hit Genichi's shoulder directly.
Yuan Yi stepped back, turned the sword to the side, then swung the Yang Shen in his right hand to slash at the Flame Demon.
The Flame Demon also jumped back lightly, dodging Genichi's sword.
Then the Flame Demon raised his sword, holding eight pairs of swords, and ran towards Yuan in one big stride.
This time, facing the Flame Demon attacking him, Yuan Yi did not dodge or defend. Instead, he lowered the tips of Yang Shen and Yan Rong's swords and adopted the lower sword momentum to meet the Flame Demon.
The two passed each other.
At the moment of crossing, the two bodies seemed to be tightly pressed together. The long sword in Yuan Yi's hand drew two white lights.
The two men staggered apart, and a cloud of blood mist spurted out from the fire demon's body.
Genichi just successfully left a big gash on the Flame Demon's chest.
After lowering his eyes to look at the big gash on his chest, a look of surprise and helplessness emerged on Flame Demon's face.
Just based on the slash that Genichi had made on his chest just now, Enma could tell that he was no match for Genichi.
——Genichi...Why are you still so amazing even at this age?
The Balrog gritted his teeth.
Although he knew that he could not defeat Genichi, he still endured the pain in his chest and turned around to fight with Genichi again.
Genichi's Yang Shen and Yan Rong kept colliding with Enma's ninja sword in mid-air.
The sparks produced by the friction between the blades repeatedly illuminated the faces of the two old men, Genichi and Enma, and illuminated their gray hair and beards.
Although both of them are already gray-haired and at an age where most people can't even walk fast, they can use extremely agile movements to fight fiercely enough to put all young people to shame.
The Flame Demon used all he had learned throughout his life in this battle.
And Genichi also tensed every nerve in his body, dissolving every attack from the Flame Demon and launching a counterattack that was far more sharp than the Flame Demon's attack.
The Flame Demon who has entered the "Yaksha Realm" is very strong - there is no doubt about that.
However, facing Genichi who had entered the "state of no self", Yan Mo was still suppressed by him.
Although Yan Mo still succeeded in inflicting some wounds on Genichi, the speed at which new wounds appeared on his body was much faster than the speed at which he inflicted injuries on Genichi.
As the battle became increasingly intense, more and more doubts began to emerge in the Flame Demon's heart.
He always felt that there was something off about Genichi.
An inexplicable sense of disharmony.
For some reason, Yan Mo felt that the Yuanyi in front of him was weird.
But I can't tell what's strange about it...
…
…
The two passed each other again.
The light of Yang Shen's sword flashed across the flank of the Flame Demon, and the Flame Demon hit the ground with one shoulder.
The intense battle and massive blood loss had made the Fire Demon feel dizzy and dazed.
But after falling to the ground, he gritted his teeth and quickly stood up again.
However, as soon as he stood up, the Flame Demon was shocked by the scene in front of him.
"Genichi...?"
When he got up again and fixed his sights on Genichi again, for a moment, Enma saw that Genichi had turned into his younger self.
His hair is jet-black, his skin is tight, and every piece of skin on his body seems to be full of vitality.
Flame Demon raised his hands and rubbed his eyes hard. When he opened his eyes and looked at Genichi again, Genichi had returned to his current white-haired appearance.
Flame Demon stared blankly at Genichi in front of him.
He was no longer as impatient to attack Yuan Yi as before.
"What's wrong?" Yuan Yi asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Hehe...Hehe." After being silent for a moment, Yan Mo let out a low laugh. A complex expression slowly emerged in the eyes that were looking at Yan Mo, "I have been wondering since just now."
"I wonder why you, Genichi, are still so strong even though you are so old."
"Even I am no longer able to use dual swords like before due to my physical weakness and have to use only one ninja sword, but you can still wield your Yangshen and Yanrong freely like a young man."
"Until just now, I finally knew the answer..."
Enma looked directly into Genichi's eyes.
"Genichi... your body may have aged, but the light in your eyes has never faded."
"The light in your eyes is exactly the same as when you were young...it hasn't changed at all."
"Genichi, why doesn't the light in your eyes fade?"
There was a hint of urgency in the Flame Demon's tone.
It's like I can't wait to know the answer to this question.
Until just now, Enma finally understood what was going on with the sense of incongruity he felt from Genichi - the current Genichi and the young Genichi were exactly the same in temperament, eyes, and other aspects.
Except for the aging body, everything else is the same as when I was young.
That's why Enma felt a strange sense of disharmony from Genichi.
It was precisely because of this that, in the trance just now, I saw Yuan Yi as his younger self.
Genichi calmly looked at Enma who was looking at him anxiously.
"My love for swordsmanship has never aged."
Genichi said quietly.
"The light in your eyes will naturally not fade."
"A heart that loves swordsmanship?" The Flame Demon looked confused.
"That seems to have happened 51 years ago."
A faint look of reminiscence appeared on Genichi's face.
"I don't come from a family of swordsmen, nor have I practiced swordsmanship since I was a child."
"I actually had never touched a sword until I was 13."
"Before I was 13, I had no interest in swords or swordplay, and I had no intention of learning swordplay. I just played around and spent my days doing nothing."
"Until I was 13 years old, I met a girl by chance."
"That girl is the daughter of the owner of a sword gym that teaches swordsmanship without a guard."
"The girl was very pretty and had beautiful feet. I fell in love with her at first sight."
"In order to get closer to this girl, I decided to enter this sword gym and learn swordsmanship, which I had never been interested in before."
"In order to see the master's daughter more often, I go to the sword hall every day."
"At that time, I went to the sword hall to learn swordsmanship purely for the master's daughter."
"It's a pity that nothing happened between me and the owner's daughter in the end."
"One year after I joined the sword gym, the gym owner betrothed his daughter to a wealthy and powerful warrior."
"After the master's daughter married someone else, she was no longer seen in the sword hall."
"But - even though the gym owner's daughter is no longer here, I haven't stopped going to the sword gym because of this."
"I still go to the sword gym every day and continue to practice swordsmanship."
"I had no interest in swordsmanship at first, but after joining the sword gym to practice swordsmanship because of the daughter of the sword gym, I gradually began to like swords and swordsmanship."
"I originally swung the sword for the gym owner's daughter, but gradually I began to swung the sword for myself."
"Even if I can no longer see the master's daughter in the sword hall, even if more painful things happen, I want to continue swinging the sword."
"Although I am now an old man, my love for swords has never diminished."
Having said this, a faint smile began to appear on Genichi's face.
"As long as I have the sword at my waist, my weak heart will continue to beat vigorously, and my blood will continue to burn like a prairie fire under my old skin."
The Flame Demon was in a daze and heard the last part.
“…I see.”
A bitter look appeared in the Fire Demon's eyes and on his cheeks.
"Genichi, you have never aged."
"And I... have already aged beyond recognition."
After saying that, Enma slowly raised the ninja sword in his hand .
As the ninja sword was raised, the bitterness on Enma's face slowly dissipated, replaced by a look of determination.
"Come on, Genichi."
"I'm almost out of strength after all the injuries I've suffered."
"In this next move - let's decide the winner!"
"Okay!" Genichi got into his two-sword style stance again.
Genichi pointed the tip of his blade at the Flame Demon.
The tip of the Flame Demon's sword was also aimed at Genichi.
The two of them only confronted each other for a moment, and then, as if they had agreed in advance, they shot towards each other like arrows.
When they were about to pass each other, they attacked at the same time.
In that fleeting moment, the flame in Yuan Yi's left hand swung the sword upward in a left-lower stance.
The vibration that made Yuanyi's palm numb spread throughout Yuanyi's entire left palm.
After passing by the Flame Demon, Genichi took another step forward, turned around suddenly, and swung the sword upwards again with the Yangshen in his right hand in a right-lower stance.
The feel of the blade cutting into flesh is quite adequate.
Genichi's first sword deflected the sword that Enma was swinging at him.
The second sword penetrated deeply into the body of the Flame Demon.
Genichi's two swords were like two flying swallows that flew close to the ground and then soared into the sky.
The second knife penetrated into the Flame Demon's body and hit the Flame Demon's vital point directly. An exaggerated blood mist spurted out from the wound.
“Cough… cough cough…”
The fire demon coughed violently, coughing up handfuls of blood and fragments of internal organs.
He was trying to keep his balance.
But this severely injured body was obviously unable to remain standing.
After struggling for a while, the Flame Demon fell heavily on his back.
"Genichi... have you defeated me again..."
The fire demon lay on his back on the ground with his eyes half opened, looking at the azure sky above.
"It's unexpectedly refreshing..."
After saying that, the Flame Demon let out a soft laugh.
Although he was defeated by Genichi again, Yan Mo did not feel any resentment or unwillingness.
He had tried his best and used all the moves he could. All he felt was the exhilaration of a long-lost all-out fight and a sense of relief that he couldn't describe in words.
"...You actually never thought about pulling Shiranui back from the underworld, did you?" Genichi said to Enma in a tone that was neither sad nor happy, "You just couldn't stand the torture of the obsession in your heart, so you returned to Shiranui to seek relief. You wanted to give an explanation to yourself, and also to... those who have always placed high hopes on you. Am I right?"
Enma did not answer Genichi's question.
Just... smiled.
The Flame Demon began to see abyss-like darkness appearing from all sides of his vision, then spreading from all sides to the center until it covered his entire field of vision...
…
- Balrog...Sir...?
The Flame Demon looked at the image that appeared before him in some astonishment.
…
Several beams of light suddenly appeared in the originally dark vision.
These beams of light rapidly expanded and merged, and then transformed into a picture - the previous generation of Enma lying on the sickbed turned his head to look at him, raised his hand and stretched out his somewhat withered hand in his direction: "From now on... you are the 12th generation of Enma. Shiranui... I will leave it to you..."
The Fire Demon remembered this scene.
This is the scene he...has always remembered.
In a trance, the Flame Demon subconsciously raised his hand and tightly held the hand of the previous Flame Demon.
"Master Flame Demon, leave it to..."
…
"...I... should..."
The fire demon, who was lying on the ground with his pupils beginning to dilate, raised his right hand tremblingly and stretched it towards the blue sky.
The movement of the right palm seems to be grasping something.
Pop.
The right hand, which was in the motion of grasping something, fell back to the ground.
The last bit of life remaining in the Flame Demon's eyes dissipated.
Genichi, who had already sheathed his sword, quietly watched the Flame Demon, who suddenly stretched out his hand towards the sky and whispered something in a trance.
"'Leave it to me' huh..." Genichi walked over slowly, then knelt on one knee beside the body of the Flame Demon, and repeated in a low voice the words that the Flame Demon had just whispered.
After looking at the Flame Demon for a while with his calm eyes, he said softly:
"This sentence... has tormented you for your entire life..."
"Until the last moment before you die, all that comes to your mind is these words..."
After saying that, Genichi raised his hand and gently covered Enma's eyes.
"Rest in peace, Ichitaro. You don't have to worry about what happened in Shiranui anymore."
Genichi slid his hand that was covering Enma's eyes down gently, closing his eyes.