"Xzhou" - a colloquial honorific for the vassal state.
"Senshu" means Sendai Domain. The lord of Sendai Domain can be addressed as "Senshu-sama".
By analogy: Aizu Domain is "Aishu" and Ogata's hometown, Hirose Domain, is "Guangzhou".
As for "Seven Spears", it is a title with a very ancient style.
Two hundred years ago during the Warring States Period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was beginning to emerge, fought a very famous battle - the Battle of Keigatake.
In this battle, seven generals performed exceptionally well.
After the battle, people called these seven warriors "Ken'gatake Seven Spears".
The "Seven Spears of Kengaku" is a household name.
Ogata had never heard of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
When this guy who called himself "Senshu Shichibongun" and "Akizuki Toshizen" was looking at Ogata, Ogata was also looking at this guy.
The first impression this person gave Ogata was that he was tall.
As far as Ogata could remember, the last time he had to raise his head so high to talk to someone was before leaving Edo, when he talked to Makimura, who was 1.86 meters tall.
The guy in front of him was taller than Mucun, and his height was definitely over 1.9 meters.
He was not only tall but also very strong. Even though he was wearing heavy armor, Ogata could still feel the rock-like tall and tight muscles underneath the armor.
Ogata, who is 1.7 meters tall, is already a standout in this era, not to mention those who are over 1.9 meters tall.
With a body this tall and this strong, just standing there is enough to scare some people to death.
He has a very young face and judging from his appearance alone, he is probably around 26 years old.
This guy was wearing battle armor, and Ogata couldn't help but take a few more glances at his armor.
Because this was the first time Ogata had seen this traditional armor since he traveled to the Edo period.
The last time I saw armor was in Kyoto a few months ago, when I encountered a group of enemies wearing Nanbando.
Nanbando is a "hybrid" that combines the features of Western armor and Japanese armor. It has excellent defensive capabilities and is also very rare.
The armor on the guy in front of me is the traditional Japanese armor - O-kai.
The breastplate is made of small pieces of armor and covered with a layer of leather mainly made of deerskin.
After being covered with leather made of deerskin, the surface of the armor becomes smooth, preventing the bowstring from being scratched by the armor when the warrior is shooting arrows.
Even though he knew nothing about fabrics, Ogata could tell that the black feather woven cloth that this guy wore outside his armor must be made of very high-quality fabric. Just by looking at it, he could tell that this feather woven cloth was very expensive.
Jinhaori - as the name suggests, it is a sleeveless haori worn over armor.
The main function is to make the wearer look more stylish, and it also has the function of keeping out the cold.
But this thin layer of sleeveless haori can't keep out the cold, so the main function of the haori is to make the wearer look more handsome and more impressive, making it easier to show off.
Generally speaking, only generals in the army can wear battle feathers.
The man had already given his family name, and Ogata immediately told him his name:
"Goro Majima, a guest at Hoshoken Kenkan."
"I just heard that someone is here to challenge us. Is that you guys?"
After saying that, Ogata turned his head and glanced at the dozen strangers sitting in a corner of the dojo.
The clothes of these strangers and Akizuki's feather woven cloth were embroidered with the same family crest - the bamboo sparrow pattern.
The bamboo sparrow pattern was the family crest of the Date clan, which ruled the Sendai domain.
In addition, Qiuyue just called himself "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
The identity of the group headed by Akizuki is obvious - they are from Sendai Domain.
Ogata couldn't help but think of the news that Jiro Nishino had just told him: "There are troops from the Sendai domain stationed near Kinno-cho."
After integrating all the information known so far, Ogata then asked the man in heavy armor in front of him - Akizuki Toshizen:
"I heard that the Sendai Domain's troops are stationed near Kinno-cho."
"Are you soldiers from the Sendai Domain?"
"That's right!" Qiuyue grinned, "We are the generals and soldiers of the Sendai Domain."
"It's a bit boring staying in the barracks."
"Then I heard that there is a sword hall in this Nishikino town which is very close to the military camp."
"So I took advantage of the little time I have now to come here and kill some time."
"As for what you just said about 'challenging'..." Qiuyue shrugged, "Don't put it in such a harsh way. I just came here to exchange ideas and learn from you."
"I consider myself to be a kind person. No matter what the result of today's discussion is, I will not tell anyone about it."
After saying that, Qiuyue looked at Ogata in front of him again.
"Since you were invited to be a guest, you must be very strong."
"I see the calluses on your palms are very thick."
"Only those who have held a sword for many years can have such palms."
Qiuyue smiled happily.
"Do you want to challenge me?" Ogata asked back in a calm tone.
"Are you willing to accept my challenge?"
"I am also a guest of the Hosho Sword Hall. If you want to challenge me, I will accompany you to the end."
The masters and disciples of the Hosho Sword Hall have successfully helped him gain a large amount of experience points in recent times.
Ogata felt grateful towards his teachers and disciples at Hosho Sword School.
Moreover, he was also a patron of the Baosheng Sword Hall. Protecting the sword hall was the duty of the patron.
Putting aside his personal dignity, just considering his feelings towards the masters and disciples of Hosho Kenkan, Ogata has no reason to back down in the face of the challenge from the "challenger".
"That's great!" Qiuyue's smile became even more intense, "But I have to wait a while before I can challenge you."
"Before you came, we had already agreed to ask for advice from another person."
After saying that, Qiuyue turned her head and looked at the apprentices kneeling on both sides of the dojo.
"Hey! Who just said he wanted to challenge me?"
"It's me!"
As Qiuyue finished speaking, a young man stood up from the side of the dojo.
"I am Ichiro Miyauchi, the 'Ten Swords of Hosho'!"
After introducing his family's address, Miyauchi turned to look at Ogata and apologized to him.
"I'm sorry, Master Majima, please allow me to ask for advice from the 'Seven Spears of Senshu' first."
Ogata naturally didn't care about such trivial matters as who went up first and who went up later. After nodding, he took off the Daishakuten from his left waist, held it with his right hand, and walked quickly towards the side of Director Baosheng.
"Put on armor." Qiuyue nodded towards Gongnei.
As Qiuyue finished speaking, the dozen or so warriors who had been sitting quietly in a corner of the dojo, wearing clothes embroidered with the Sendai clan's crest, began to move.
They brought a set of armor to Gongnei and helped him put on the armor.
After quickly walking to the side of Director Baosheng, Ogata quickly knelt down and sat down.
After Ogata sat down, Director Hosho first exchanged a few pleasantries with him and asked him how he had been doing in the past two days since he left Kinno-cho.
After a brief greeting, Xu Fang began to ask what was going on with Qiuyue and his group.
Director Baosheng also explained what happened in a concise manner.
About half an hour ago, this group of people suddenly visited their sword hall.
The uninvited guests told them directly that they wanted to seek advice.
Although there were more than a dozen of them, the only one who wanted to come forward to seek advice was Akizuki Rizen, who called himself "Master of the Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
Qiuyue said that wearing armor would give one a better feeling of fighting with others, and it would be less likely to be injured or to hurt others, so she required both parties to wear armor.
So in addition to bringing his own armor, Qiuyue also carefully brought three sets of armor of different sizes for people of different body shapes to wear.
Before Ogata arrived at the sword hall, Akizuki had already sparred with three apprentices from the sword hall.
Those who stepped forward to fight Akizuki were all members of the "Ten Swords of Hosho".
The results of the battles were all without exception - Qiuyue won.
Faced with Akizuki's 3-meter-long spear, the members of the "Ten Swords of Hosho" who stepped forward to fight were completely unable to fight back and were quickly defeated.
Just as Akizuki defeated the third of the "Ten Swords of Hosho" who came forward to fight, and Miyauchi, who was also one of the "Ten Swords of Hosho", loudly announced that he would fight Akizuki next, Obian entered the dojo.
After quietly listening to Director Baosheng's explanation of the cause and effect of the matter, Ogata asked in a voice that only he and Director Baosheng could hear clearly:
"Mr. Baosheng, can you introduce me to the 'Seven Spears of Xianzhou'? What is this?"
Ogata originally thought that he didn't know the "Seven Spears of Senshu" because he was a foreigner and was not familiar with Ou.
But who would have thought that Director Baosheng would also shake his head slightly.
"I don't know much about the 'Seven Spears of Xianzhou' either."
Director Takatsuo whispered in a voice that only he and Ogata could hear:
"I only know that 'Senshu Seven Spears' is a title bestowed by the current lord of Sendai Domain to the seven most courageous generals in their army."
"Besides that, I know nothing more about the 'Seven Spears of Xianzhou'."
Although Director Baosheng didn't know much about the "Seven Spears of Senshu", his simple introduction just now helped to dispel some of the fog in Ogata's mind.
What is known so far is that there are a total of 7 people in the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou", and their skills should be very good, strong enough to stand out in the army.
At this time, Miyauchi, one of the "Ten Swords of Hosho" who had just decided to challenge Akizuki, finally put on his armor.
After putting on his armor, Miyauchi casually took a wooden sword from the rack, then stood in front of Qiuyue, assuming a standard mid-section stance.
After setting up the knife in the palace, Qiuyue spread her feet, held the gun with her left hand in front and her right hand behind, and pointed the tip of the gun wrapped in white cloth straight into the palace.
When Miyauchi carried the gun on his shoulder just now, he didn't think the gun was scary.
It was not until he put the gun down and pointed it at people that he clearly felt how oppressive the gun was.
It was obvious at first glance that the gun in Qiuyue's hand was specially made.
The gun is 3 meters long and the barrel is half as thick as a bowl - anyone without some strength cannot wield this gun.
Because Akizuki was using a spear, in order to avoid being accidentally injured by Akizuki, everyone in the dojo sat farther away than usual when watching the sparring.
A 1.9-meter-tall man wielding a 3-meter-long spear - only those who have faced him can truly feel how terrifying this sense of oppression is.
Miyane swallowed and took several deep breaths to calm his nervous mood a little.
Then he shouted loudly and poured his strength into his feet, intending to use all his strength from the beginning and close the distance between himself and Qiuyue in one breath.
However - he had just taken a few steps when he saw the gun tip wrapped in white cloth enlarging in his field of vision at an extremely fast speed.
Qiuyue just took a half step back at a much faster speed than Gongnei, then adjusted the tip of the gun and stabbed towards Gongnei.
That's the disgusting thing about long weapons.
In cold weapon combat, unless it is in any special circumstances, the person who uses long weapons and has a wider attack range has the advantage.
It is very common for a novice who has only learned to use the spear for one or two months to use the spear to defeat a veteran swordsman who has practiced swordsmanship for several years.
The practicality of the spear in combat is extremely high, so it is called the "king of all weapons".
Facing the gun tip that was about to pierce his chest, Miyane narrowly avoided it.
Qiuyue's moves changed very quickly.
Seeing that his straight thrust missed the target, he quickly changed his stance.
From "stabbing" to "whipping".
Like cracking a whip, Qiuyue swung the spear in his hand towards the palace.
Qiuyue's "whip-smacking" this time was much faster than the "stabbing" just now.
Miyauchi had no time to dodge and was hit hard in the side, knocking him to the ground.
Akizuki defeated Miyauchi, one of the "Ten Swords of Hosho", with only two moves.
The apprentices who were sitting closest to Gongnai hurried forward, helped Gongnai up, and checked if he was injured.
Ogata could see that Akizuki had held back just now.
Qiuyue held back and because he was wearing armor, Gong Nei didn't suffer any injuries.
After easily defeating Miyauchi, Akizuki put the big wooden spear back on his shoulder, then turned to look at Ogata with a grin:
"All right, eaters. On to the stage!"
Akizuki called on Ogata to come on stage.
And Ogata did not drag his feet either.
He took off the big belt around his left waist and placed it on the tatami on the right, then slowly walked in front of Qiuyue.
Akizuki is actually known as the "Seven Spears of Sendai", so he must be a general of high status in the Sendai clan's army.
Therefore, Ogata guessed that the dozen or so people who came here with Akizuki were most likely Akizuki's personal soldiers.
After Ogata came on the field, a dozen or so people who were probably Akizuki's personal soldiers came forward to help Ogata put on armor.
Since someone was helping him put on the armor, Ogata didn't need to do anything but raise his hands horizontally to both sides.
While waiting for the armor to be put on, Ogata had nothing else to do, so he simply pulled out his system interface to check his current personal status.
[Current personal level: Lv35 (2580/5400)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 12th Stage (5655/9000)]
[My Two-Sword Style Level: 11th Stage (3990/12000)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 7th Stage (4290/4500)]
After annihilating that group of bandits, Ogata's experience bars all increased greatly.
There are only a few hundred experience points left for the Shiranui-style ninjutsu to be upgraded.
When Ogata checked his personal status and closed his personal system interface, the armor on his body had just been put on.
Ogata turned his wrist, experiencing the feeling of wearing armor.
It was not until then that Ogata remembered that this seemed to be the first time he wore armor since he traveled to this era.
Previously, he had only worn the chain mail provided by the Kuranaga family elder when he assassinated Matsudaira Gennai.
The armors provided by Qiuyue are all very ordinary armors, the kind that only young generals can wear.
But even that kind of ordinary armor is quite heavy.
If he were to ask what he felt when wearing the armor, the first thought that came to Ogata's mind was that it was heavy.
However, this amount of weight is nothing to Ogata, who now has 20 points of strength.
After simply confirming that all joints could rotate normally and that there was no place where the armor was not worn properly, Ogata raised the wooden sword in his hand and readied the sword.
After seeing Ogata ready his sword, Akizuki also put down the spear on his shoulder, spread his legs, and pointed the tip of the spear diagonally at Ogata.
——It really feels oppressive.
Ogata couldn't help but think this in his mind.
He was just watching the game from the sidelines just now.
Now that he was on the field himself and facing off against Akizuki, Ogata truly felt how oppressive Akizuki, who was 1.9 meters tall and wielded a 3-meter-long spear, was.
However, in terms of the sense of oppression, Akizuki is still a little inferior to the "evil monk" that Ogata encountered on Butterfly Island before.
After all, the "evil monk" is over 2 meters tall.
The length of the naginata he used was not much shorter than the wooden spear used by Akizuki.
Because he had fought against more oppressive people before, when facing Akizuki, Ogata was not at a loss like a rookie, not even knowing how to get close.
Ogata quickly took a half step to the right.
The next moment he took a step to the right, the tip of the gun wrapped in cloth pierced through the air and stabbed straight towards Ogata.
The step that Ogata took just now was actually just a feint to lure Akizuki .
After Qiuyue thrust out the tip of his spear, Oobian quickly retracted the half step he had taken, and then, as if after precise measurement, he perfectly avoided Qiuyue's stab, dodging the distance not a point more or less.
Then, Ogata began to step forward, as if trying to close the distance between himself and Akizuki.
But just after Ogata took a few steps forward, he encountered exactly the same thing as what happened to Miyauchi just now - Akizuki quickly took a half step back, then shook the spear, and the spear in his hand turned into a poisonous snake, biting towards Ogata with amazing momentum.
This time, Ogata did not dodge.
Instead, he used the wooden sword in his hand to chop at the tip of the wooden spear that came into his attack range.
Muga's Two Swords Style: Blade Reversal!
Ogata's blade collided with the tip of Akizuki's spear, forcibly causing Akizuki's spear to deviate from its original trajectory.
The impact of the collision between the knife and the gun was transmitted along the gun shaft to both palms, causing Qiuyue to show a bit of surprise on her face.
Afterwards, this bit of surprise turned into a stronger fighting spirit, which made Qiuyue perk up.
After taking another half step back to put some distance between himself and Ogata, Akizuki changed his tactics.
No more stabbing, but slashing.
The spear turned into a "whip" and swept towards Ogata heavily.
After Ogata took two steps back to avoid it, Akizuki took a step forward relentlessly, closing the distance that had been widened by Ogata's retreat, and then swept the spear forward again, slashing at Ogata.
Bang!
Ogata did not choose to dodge this time, but used the blade counter again to block Akizuki's spear.
The moment the gun in his hand was blocked, Qiuyue quickly adjusted his stance and continued to attack Qiuyue.
Whether it was the fake move at the beginning or the subsequent step towards Akizuki, Ogata was testing Akizuki.
After a simple test, Ogata had some basic understanding of Akizuki's skills.
Now that he saw Qiuyue changed his fighting tactics and no longer used stabbing to deal with him, but used slashing to deal with him, Oofang discovered that Qiuyue was different from those people who used spears as weapons he had encountered before.
Those people who used spears as weapons that Ogata had encountered before... in layman's terms, all took the "agile" route, and their attack method was mainly stabbing.
But Qiuyue is not like that.
Qiuyue takes the "power" route, and his main attack method is slashing.
Compared to stabbing, Qiuyue's slashing is obviously more powerful, faster, and more skillful.
The force was powerful and the destructive power was incredible - the above words were the most appropriate to describe Qiuyue's attack.
Qiuyue's attack method is particularly suitable for use on the battlefield - just relying on Qiuyue's arm strength, a sweep forward would easily sweep away several miscellaneous soldiers.
After once again deflecting Qiu Yue's spear, Ogata couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
——People with a large attack range are really shameless...
Akizuki is 20 centimeters taller than Ogata in terms of height alone, not to mention the difference in the length of their weapons.
Its attack range is many times wider than Ogata's.
Even Ogata could not violate the iron rule that "except in certain specific situations, the one with the longer attack range has the advantage in the battle."
Akizuki could stand far away where Ogata could not reach him and launch continuous attacks on Ogata, while Ogata could not even touch Akizuki.
Normally, Ogata, who has long arms and legs, would use his Daishakuten, which is much longer than ordinary katana, to bully opponents who are generally shorter than him.
Ogata didn't know when was the last time he was in a situation like this one where he was the one with "short arms and short legs".
If it were a person with average skills, facing such a battle with a huge difference in attack distance, he would probably not know how to fight.
——Qiuyue’s fighting style is really similar to that “evil monk”…
The extremely burly figure who had been killed by his sword appeared uncontrollably in Ogata's mind.
Although the battle with the "evil monk" caused Ogata to suffer a lot.
But it has to be admitted that the battle with the "evil monk" allowed Ogata to accumulate considerable experience in dealing with opponents using long weapons.
In the fatal battle with the "evil monk", Ogata figured out a tried and tested method to deal with opponents using long weapons.
Ogata took a deep breath and adjusted his breathing.
Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and focused his mind.
In front, Qiuyue swung the spear in his hand again, and the spear drew a beautiful arc from the lower right to the upper left.
Ogata clenched the wooden sword in his hand and switched to an upper stance.
After Akizuki's spear was in the best position, Ogata swung the knife in his hand violently.
Sakakibara Ittoryu: Waterfall.
Target——the tip of the spear!
If we talk about which of the four sword techniques of Sakakibara Ittoryu can cause the greatest damage to the opponent, it is undoubtedly the Bird Thorn.
Bird thorn is a stabbing technique, and stabbing is more likely to cause fatal injuries to the human body than slashing.
But if we talk about which move is the most powerful, it is undoubtedly Shui Luo.
After all, Shui Luo is a technique of chopping from top to bottom, which can easily utilize the strength of the whole body.
Bang!
There was a loud explosion that was much louder than any of the previous collisions.
Ogata used the Waterfall Technique and accurately chopped the tip of Akizuki's spear from the side with the blade of his wooden sword.
The two touched for only a moment before Qiuyue's spear was bounced away.
And it's not a simple bounce.
Instead, the spear bounced back as if it was about to fly out of Qiuyue's hand.
Qiuyue's mind was therefore opened wide.
The tried-and-true method that Ogata learned from the "evil monk" to deal with enemies wielding long weapons was to simply use brute force to push away their weapons, leaving them with a flaw big enough for him to get close.
The moment after Shui Luo used his sword to split Qiu Yue's sword, Ogata stepped forward with his back foot, and with his 18 points of agility fully activated, he rushed straight towards Qiu Yue at the fastest speed he could currently achieve.
In just a blink of an eye, Xu Fang shortened the distance between him and Qiuyue.
When the spear in his hand was bounced away, an expression of surprise and shock appeared on Qiuyue's face.
After Ogata rushed towards Akizuki like an arrow, Akizuki quickly stepped back, trying to distance himself from Ogata.
While widening the distance between them, he tried to adjust his stance and launch a counterattack against Ogata.
It’s a pity—it’s too late.
Ogata's speed was so fast that Akizuki had no time to regroup.
Ogata quickly rushed into the range where his wooden sword could reach Akizuki, and then raised the wooden sword in his hand.
The tip of the knife was firmly pressed against Qiuyue's throat.
Akizuki, the dozen or so subordinates that Akizuki brought with him, and even the masters and disciples of the Hosho Sword Hall, were now looking at Ogata in shock as he had just successfully broken the gun with his sword.
As for Ogata, the person involved—
——Wearing armor still slows down my movements... If I wasn't wearing armor, I would have been much faster.
He was silently thinking that if Qiuyue and the others knew the details, they might be so shocked that their eyes would pop out...