"I think this plan, Majima-sama, is a great one!"
Jincheng, who regarded Ogata as a role model, was the first to express his agreement with Ogata's simple and crude plan.
Hizaka followed closely behind.
Higasakamoto is the kind of person whose thinking and behavior are simple and rough, and Ogata's plan is very much to his liking.
"Directly attack their base... this is a good plan!"
"They can't just sit there and do nothing now that the small group of people they sent to 'advise' the villagers is gone."
"Since their small group of troops has not returned yet, they will definitely wonder if something happened to the village."
"It will be troublesome if they know that the people of this village have invited warriors to help."
"It would be best to seize the initiative before those bandits know that the people of this village have invited samurai."
After Hizaka and Kinjo both expressed their approval of Ogata's plan, Tsuchiya and Mizuno were the only ones left who had not yet expressed their opinions.
Tsuchiya, who was not very talkative, spoke a long speech at this time:
"I also agree to take the initiative and go straight to the dragon."
"But—this is easier said than done."
"There were 42 bandits in total. Even if 12 of them have been killed now, there are still 30 left."
“And there are only five of us.”
"It's too dangerous to fight 30 bandits with only 5 people, even if Mashima-kun is an extraordinary swordsman."
"We can't just charge into the bandits' base without thinking."
"We need to come up with a detailed strategy to deal with the bandits entrenched in the stronghold."
“So I have a strategy.”
Tuwu, who was as quiet as a mute, actually worked out a strategy - this surprised everyone present, so they all listened attentively.
"Let's find a way to sneak into their base."
Tsuchiya spoke word by word.
"Assassinate their leader."
"The bandits are just a bunch of rabble."
"Without the leadership of their leader, they will just be a mess."
"As long as their leader is gone, our chances of winning will increase significantly at once."
Tsuchiya stated his plan in a concise manner.
As soon as he finished talking about his plan, Hizaka smiled bitterly:
"Shoot the horse first... Your plan sounds really great, but the question is - how can we sneak into the bandits' base and assassinate their leader?"
As soon as Huosaka said this, the atmosphere at the scene and everyone's expressions became heavy .
Even Tsuchiya, who proposed this "assassination plan", pursed his lips and had a serious expression.
Only Ogata and Atachi looked calm.
After the two of them looked at each other in tacit understanding, Xu Fang crossed his arms over his chest and said:
"Sneak into the bandits' base and kill their leader - that's a good plan. Very sound."
"How about doing it more thoroughly?"
"Not only should we assassinate their leader, but we should also assassinate all the targets that can be assassinated in their base."
Ogata's words shocked the whole audience.
"Mashima-sama. That's true..." Hizaka hesitated, "But the question is...how do we sneak in?"
Hearing Hizaka's question, Ogata smiled and shrugged.
"About this...you don't have to worry about it."
As Ogata spoke, he turned his head to look at the sky outside.
"It's almost 9:00 (noon). After we finish lunch and get enough rest, we will let this guy lead the way to their base."
Ogata nodded at Ohno who was tied up.
"Once we reach their stronghold, we will wait until dark."
"After dark, my wife and I will start the action."
"My wife and I will sneak into their base under the cover of night and wipe out some of the bandits in secret."
Ogata raised his hand and stroked his neck horizontally.
"When my wife and I have almost reduced the number of bandits, I will give you the signal and you can attack together."
Ogata simply explained the specific battle plan he had just drawn up.
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Hizaka was the first to widen her eyes and asked Ogata:
"Master Majima, do you still plan to bring Lingzheng with you to defeat the bandits? Do you also want Lingzheng to sneak into the bandits' base with you?"
"Well... Excuse me, it's very difficult to sneak into a place and carry out an assassination without anyone noticing..."
"I know." Ogata nodded with a smile, "But I still know a few tricks of sneaking in and hiding my body."
"As for my wife..."
"Don't underestimate my wife."
Ogata changed his tone to a half-joking one.
"Her skills are far better than you think. At least better than the bandits who attacked today."
"And she's also very good at sneaking into places without anyone noticing."
"Rather , my infiltration and concealment skills were taught to me by my wife."
"It's just a bandit base. I have the confidence to sneak into it and assassinate all the bandits in it who can be assassinated."
At this point, Ogata suddenly remembered that he hadn't used the "Shiranui Stealth Technique" to sneak into a place for a long time since leaving Kyoto.
What he said just now, "My skills of sneaking and hiding were taught to me by my wife," is actually not wrong.
Although the reason why Ogata was able to light up the skill tree of "Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu" was all thanks to the system.
But if Atachi had not demonstrated the various moves of the Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu to him at that time, Ogata would not have been able to use the system to unlock the "Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu".
Therefore, it is not wrong to say that A-machi is Ogata's master in "Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu".
As soon as Ogata said this, everyone present looked at Atachi in shock.
"Ms. A-Machi." Hizaka murmured, "Are you so powerful?"
Everyone, including Hizaka, originally thought that Atachi was just an ordinary woman who was ordinary in every other way except that she was pretty.
Because he was not used to being stared at with shocked eyes by so many people, Ating couldn't help but let out a somewhat shy smile.
If it had been early this morning, before the bandits led by Ono attacked, when Ogata said that he and his wife would sneak into the base to assassinate the bandits, Jincheng and the others would definitely have sneered and thought Ogata was crazy.
But now, after seeing Ogata's strength and knowing that he is a great swordsman with such superb swordsmanship, Jincheng and the others' thoughts and concepts have all changed.
Seeing Ogata swearing that he had the confidence that he and his wife could easily sneak into the bandits' stronghold and assassinate the bandits one by one, Jincheng and the others just felt that - Ogata might really be able to do it!
In addition to this, except for the rather dull Tsuchiya, Hizaka, Kinjo, and Mizuno all admired Ogata even more.
The three of them just felt that Ogata, a great swordsman with extraordinary swordsmanship, had taken the initiative to take on the most dangerous task.
When the bandits led by Ono attacked today, it was Ogata who led the charge first.
What kind of spirit is this?
Ogata's image in their minds became even more impressive...
Out of trust in Ogata, everyone agreed to Ogata's extremely bold battle plan.
…
…
After getting all the information they wanted from Ohno and making a simple battle plan, the sun was almost at its highest point.
To thank Ogata and his friends for their heroic performance today, the villagers prepared a much more sumptuous lunch for them than usual - but in essence it was just more radishes and pickles on each person's plate.
After lunch and a brief rest, Ogata and his companions took their swords and rushed to the bandits' base.
The little leader named Ohno had his hands tied tightly behind his back with hemp ropes. He walked in front, leading Ogata and the others.
Ogata walked behind Ono, always on guard against him and trying to prevent him from escaping.
Ohno also knew Ogata's strength, so he didn't dare to act rashly. He obediently led Ogata and others to their base.
Soon, Ogata and his companions went deep into the vast snow-capped mountains to the south of the village.
While on their way, Ogata and his companions also took in the nearby scenery - although there was nothing particularly beautiful.
There was snow under my feet, around me, and everything within sight was covered with snow.
Look up - there are mountains nearby and in the distance.
The Ou region is indeed a mountainous area, and you can see continuous mountains wherever you go.
Mountains of various shapes and appearances were all covered with snow, reflecting silver light under the sunlight. If you have never seen snow, you might be very excited when you first see the snow scene. But snow scenes are just like that after seeing them too many times. Since entering the Ou region, Ogata has been tired of seeing snow scenes.
While letting Ohno lead the way, Ogata and others continued to extract more information from him, mainly asking for some details about their group of bandits.
According to Ohno, their leader was named Koizumi Seiichirō, who had superb swordsmanship and was once a low-ranking samurai in a certain domain.
After the Tenmei famine broke out, in order to reduce the financial burden, the feudal government stripped some samurai of their jobs and demoted them to ronin.
Their leader, Koizumi, happened to be one of the demoted people. He was forced to leave the feudal state where he grew up and find a way to make a living for himself.
Due to class attributes and other reasons, there are many jobs that do not recruit samurai at all.
So after becoming a ronin, there were so few jobs available that no matter what he did he could not escape his poverty and misery.
About half a year ago, he finally decided to take the risk and become a bandit.
He gathered together some vagrants who were equally poor and struggling to make ends meet, and together they became road bullies, robbing passers-by of their money.
The companions that Koizumi gathered had basically the same experience as him - after the outbreak of the "Tenmei Famine", they were ruthlessly abandoned by the feudal governments they had originally been loyal to.
It was at that time that Ohno joined Koizumi's team.
Ohno's previous experience was almost exactly the same as Koizumi's.
Ohno was once a low-ranking samurai in a certain feudal domain. However, after a great famine spread throughout the country, he was ruthlessly abandoned by the feudal government in order to reduce financial pressure, and became a ronin.
After becoming a ronin, he tried hard to make a living, but there were too few jobs to find, and he gradually fell into a predicament of almost starving to death.
After Koizumi found him and invited him to be a bully together, Ohno nodded and agreed without hesitation in order to survive.
So a very ironic thing happened:
When he was still a serious samurai, he worked hard to serve the country wholeheartedly, but he could only get a fixed salary that might not change throughout his life. When disaster struck, he was ruthlessly abandoned by the feudal government like a burden and garbage.
After becoming a ronin, he did not give up hope and continued to work hard to make a living. However, since many jobs did not recruit samurai, it was difficult to change his poor situation.
After I gave up and decided to be a bad person, my life immediately got better.
By showing the sword at his waist and making a few threats, he could rob money and food from passers-by.
If you are lucky, you can even snatch a beautiful woman and have some fun.
At the beginning, Koizumi had only a few people under his command.
There are so many homeless ronin in the Oyu region now, and there is no shortage of fresh blood. As long as you can prove that you have the ability to lead everyone to a life of luxury, there will be a large number of people willing to follow you and put their heads on their belts.
As a result, the number of people gradually increased, and gradually developed to the current size of more than 40 people.
After his business expanded to a certain size, Koizumi was no longer satisfied with being just a bully who robbed passers-by of their money.
He decided to do something big - to rob a village.
So they chose this small village with a total population of less than 100.
This was their first time robbing a village, and they had run into a tough opponent...
After Ohno finished describing the history of the formation and development of their bandit group, he sneered and said to Ogata and the others who were walking behind him:
"Since you are hired by farmers, you must be wanderers who have no place to live and no food to eat, right?"
Ohno's tone was full of confidence when he said this, as if he already knew what the answer would be.
"So what?" Hizaka replied.
As soon as Huosaka finished speaking, Ohno shrugged and sneered:
"It's nothing, I just think you guys are weird. Why do you want to help the farmers in that village?"
"I know that the village is very poor and they definitely can't offer a generous reward."
"You choose to make enemies with dozens of bandits just for such a small reward? Don't you think you are stupid?"
"Why don't you be a thief like us? It's so much fun to be a thief."
"Heh." Jin Cheng laughed sarcastically, "What? You're so proud of being a thief?"
"I am indeed very proud." Ohno said with a forced smile, his shoulders shaking a few times, "When I was a law-abiding samurai, I served the country wholeheartedly, but I could only receive a meager salary."
"When disaster strikes, they are ruthlessly abandoned."
After hearing what Ohno said, Tsuchiya pursed his lips uncontrollably.
It's like... recalling some bad memories.
"After becoming a thief, my life is much more comfortable than before."
"In this world where being a bad person is more rewarding than being a good person, why shouldn't I feel proud?"
"I have always been proud of being a free thief."
Having said this, Ohno turned his head and looked at Ogata behind him.
"Hey, I say, have you ever thought about being a thief together?"
Ohno looked at Ogata with a sharp gaze.
"Your swordsmanship is so superb. As long as you raise your arm, there will be many ronin willing to respond to you and follow you to become bandits."
"With your swordsmanship, whether you are robbing a village or stealing money from passers-by, it will be easy for you."
"You can live a much better and more comfortable life than you have now..."
Before Ohno could finish his words, Obe slashed at him with a gaze as sharp as a sword.
"Shut up."
Ogata said in a calm tone.
"I have no interest in being a thief."
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll cut off your tongue."
Ogata's gaze was so sharp that Ohno felt as if he had been stabbed.
After shrinking his neck in fear, Ohno dared not say anything more. He quickly turned his head back, not daring to look at Ogata again.
As he turned his head back, Ohno curled his lips and a hint of resentment appeared in his eyes.
…
…
Around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Ogata and others saw wisps of smoke rising from a small hill in the distance.
Looking at the rising smoke, Ogata whispered:
"Looks like we've arrived..."
After getting closer to the bandits' base, Ogata asked Atachi to climb a big tree nearby and scout the bandits' base from a distance.
With amazing eyesight, Ating is like a "walking telescope".
After climbing up a tree that was tall enough nearby, Ating reported what she could see to the people under the tree.
"There are people on guard, but not many. From what I can see, there are only five sentry posts."
"Mashima-sama," Jincheng asked, "Would you like to come a little closer?"
Unconsciously, everyone has regarded Ogata as their backbone.
"... Let's get closer." Ogata thought for a while and said, "There is a forest ahead. Let's hide there and wait until dark."
…
…
It's winter now and it gets dark quickly.
After Ogata and the others hid in the woods and ate some dry food to replenish their strength, the sky began to gradually darken.
After the sky darkened completely, Ogata and A-machi looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
"A-Ming, let's go."
"Um."
"Mashima-sama," Hizaka said sternly, "I wish you and Lingzheng good luck in martial arts."
The others also offered their blessings to Ogata and A-Machi.
After nodding to Hizaka and the others in response, Obe waved to Atachi beside him, then lowered his center of gravity, half-crouched, and walked towards the darkness in front of him at a moderate pace.
Soon, the figures of Ogata and Atachi were swallowed up by the darkness and completely disappeared from the sight of Hizaka and others.
…
…
This group of bandits built their base on a small hill.
Although there are few people, they are surprisingly vigilant. No matter day or night, there are organized people standing guard, but - there are not many people.
A bandit was leaning against a big tree, holding the knife at his waist.
There was a long wooden stick next to him, with a torch tied to it. He relied on the light from the torch to keep an eye on his surroundings.
But he was just pretending to be on guard.
Not sure if he was sleepy or tired, he just cast a blank gaze into the darkness that could not be reached by the surrounding firelight, and he was not keeping watch seriously at all.
His nonchalant attitude made him not notice that there was an extra person on the tree trunk above his head.
The dark shadow crouching on the tree trunk above his head adjusted its direction and then jumped down easily.
Hearing the strange sound of breaking wind above his head, the bandit instantly felt refreshed and then raised his head to look upwards.
But obviously - it's too late.
As soon as he raised his head, he felt like his head was clamped by something.
Then...
Kara.
The bandit heard the sound of his neck breaking.
As the sound of shattering rang out, the bandit didn't even have time to scream before he felt his consciousness gradually dissipating...
…
…
After leaping down from the tree trunk, Obe clamped the bandit's head between his knees, and then used several killing techniques from the Shiranui-ryu jutsu to twist the bandit's head off.
As a jutsu originating from the Shiranui style, Shiranui-ryu jutsu contains many techniques and moves that are particularly suitable for assassination.
[Ding! Shiranui Style Ninjutsu, Shiranui Style Jujutsu, kill the enemy]
[Gain 70 points of personal experience and 70 points of Ninjutsu "Shiranui Style Ninjutsu" experience]
[Current personal level: Lv35 (650/5400)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 7th Stage (4070/4500)]
From jumping down from the tree to using jutsu to assassinate the bandit, Ogata kept very quiet throughout the whole process.
"One..."
After killing the bandit, Ogata quietly counted the number of kills while putting the bandit's body away.
At this time, Atachi was holding her wakizashi and walking slowly out of the darkness not far away.
The wakizashi in A-machi's hand was the one that A-machi had spent a lot of effort to modify when she left Kyoto and rested at the Karasuya base in Owari a few months ago.
The inside of the hilt is hollowed out and filled with healing medicine.
The handle of the knife was wrapped with a thick black cloth.
This black cloth strip can not only be used to stop bleeding and bandage when injured, but can also be used to retrieve the wakizashi when using the wakizashi to climb to a certain place.
Atachi, who had been lurking not far away, had a clear view of Ogata's skillful killing of the enemy.
"You can be quite annoying sometimes."
A-machi pursed her lips and continued in a low voice that only she and Ogata could hear.
"It's only been a few months since I learned the Shiranui-ryu Jutsu."
"It only took you a few months to master Shiranui-ryu jutsu to this level... If we were to fight each other in jutsu now, I would definitely not be your opponent."
Ogata smiled:
"In terms of skills, I am definitely not as good as you. If I were to compete with you in Jiu-Jitsu, I could only defeat you by relying on my physical advantage."
According to Ogata's estimation, the level of Atachi's Shiranui Jujutsu is roughly "advanced".
In terms of skills, Atachi's judo skills are definitely better than Ogata, whose judo level is only "intermediate".
However, this kind of unarmed combat technique is greatly affected by physical fitness.
With the same moves, people with better physical fitness can exert greater power.
Ogata's current physical condition is much better than Atachi's when she was a girl.
So even though Atachi's judo level is one level higher than Ogata's, Ogata can still beat Atachi mercilessly and pin him to the ground.
"Let's go."
Ogata waved to Atachi.
"There are still 29 people waiting for us to kill one by one."
"Are you planning to kill this group of bandits by yourself?" Ating asked in a half-joking tone.
"If there is a chance to do so, I don't mind doing so." Ogata smiled faintly and responded to Atachi in a half-joking tone.