After the battle with Akizuki, Ogata finally understood why Akizuki insisted that both sides wear armor before the battle began.
Qiuyue's fighting style is indeed very dangerous if you fight against him without armor.
The 3-meter-long spear was swung over, and even if Qiuyue held back, it would be extremely easy to injure someone, or even cause fatal injuries.
But the power of his spear was still not as powerful as the naginata of the "evil monk" - in terms of strength alone, Akizuki was obviously weaker than the "evil monk".
The battle with Akizuki made Ogata feel like he was fighting a weakened version of the "evil monk".
With the combat experience against long weapon users accumulated from the previous battle with the "evil monk" as a foundation, there was no reason for Ogata to lose to Akizuki.
Before and after he put the tip of the wooden sword against Qiuyue's throat, the system's prompt sounded in his mind:
[Ding! Use Sakakibara Ittoryu: Waterfall to defeat the enemy]
[Gained 150 points of personal experience, 160 points of swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ittoryu", and 35 points of swordsmanship "Mugu Two-Sword Ryu"]
[Current personal level: Lv35 (2730/5400)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 12th Stage (5815/9000)]
[My Two-Sword Style Level: 11th Stage (4025/12000)]
Ogata just used Shuiluo to split Qiuyue's spear, leaving Qiuyue with a flaw that could decide the outcome of the battle.
So it was probably because of this that the system concluded that Ogata defeated the enemy with Shui Luo.
Before the decisive blow, Ogata used the blade of his Muga Nito-ryu to parry Akizuki's attacks several times, so he also gained some experience points from Muga Nito-ryu.
The dojo is now so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.
Be it the masters and disciples in the dojo or the people brought by Qiuyue, none of them are completely ignorant of martial arts.
They all knew how difficult it was to use a knife against a gun.
Although the masters and disciples of Master Baosheng's sword gym knew that Ogata was very skilled, they still couldn't help but sweat when Ogata went on the field.
The master and disciples who had underestimated Ogata's strength were all shocked and stunned when they saw Ogata defeat Akizuki so easily.
The reactions of the dozen or so people who came here with Qiuyue were even more exaggerated.
Ogata's guess just now was not wrong, these people were Akizuki's personal soldiers.
Because they are Qiuyue's personal soldiers, they know how strong Qiuyue is.
A man who possessed outstanding strength in the Sendai Domain army and was selected as one of the "Seven Spears of Senshu" - such a person was actually defeated by a patron whose name had never been heard of in an obscure sword hall in a little-known town!
And looking at the diner's appearance - he seemed to be able to handle it with ease.
The first
"...Your name is Majima Goro, right?" Akizuki asked Majima with a serious face.
"That's right." Ogata took his wooden sword away from Akizuki's throat.
“…It’s amazing.”
Although Qiuyue recovered from his shock, his expression still looked dazed.
Although she lost to Ogata, Akizuki did not show any sign of frustration.
He seemed somewhat... agitated.
"I didn't expect that there would be such a master living in seclusion in this small town whose name I had never heard of before..."
After that, Akizuki said to Majima in a somewhat excited tone.
"Majima Goro-kun!"
Qiuyue used honorifics.
"Please compete with me again!"
After saying that, Qiuyue held the wooden spear in his hand horizontally.
However, before Qiuyue could even get ready, a deep voice sounded from behind him:
"Master Qiuyue, it's almost time."
Ogata looked in the direction of the voice - the person who spoke was a middle-aged man with a hideous scar on his face.
This middle-aged man was one of the dozen or so personal soldiers brought by Qiuyue.
When Scarface said this, Qiuyue frowned.
"No time?"
"That's right. There's no time." Scarface nodded, "It's time to go back."
"Tsk..." A look of strong reluctance emerged on Qiuyue's face.
Although he looked unwilling, he silently raised the wooden spear in his hand and placed it on his shoulder.
"……knew."
After responding to "Scarface", Akizuki looked at Ogata.
"Mashima-kun, will you stay here for a long time?"
"Not really." Ogata answered without hesitation, "I am just staying in this town temporarily."
"In about a month, I should be leaving this place."
Ogata's words made Qiuyue look anxious.
"May I ask where you are going?"
Ogata didn't want to casually report his whereabouts to a guy who was almost a stranger.
"I don't know where I'm going next, so I'll just go wherever I can."
Ogata shrugged.
"After all, I am just a wanderer who is wandering aimlessly."
He actually wasn't lying when he said that just now.
Because Ogata really didn't know where he would go next.
Ezo is very large. To find the master and disciple who might be able to cure the "immortal poison", one would probably have to wander aimlessly in Ezo for a long time.
"Wandering? Are you practicing martial arts?" Qiuyue asked.
"Well, I guess so." Ogata, too lazy to spend too much time explaining, simply nodded in acknowledgment.
There was visible frustration on Qiuyue's face and in her eyes.
"What a pity... I wanted to compete with you again..."
After letting out a long, heavy sigh, Qiuyue called upon his personal soldiers to help him take off his battle feather robe and armor.
By the way, he also took off Ogata's armor.
After quickly removing his and Ogata's armor and wrapping them up with a large piece of cloth, Akizuki said to Ogata in a serious tone:
"Mashima-kun."
"With your swordsmanship, whether you go to the shogunate or to a certain feudal domain, you will definitely have no trouble finding an official position."
"If you are interested, I can introduce you to my lord. My lord likes the art of war and never refuses strong warriors."
"I promise you that if you come to my Sendai Domain, you will at least be able to obtain an official position with an annual salary of 300 koku."
Qiuyue's words made many of the apprentices of the Hosho Sword School and Qiuyue's personal soldiers breathe heavily.
From being a wandering ronin to becoming a "proper samurai" with an annual salary of at least 300 koku - in their eyes, this was something that could only be encountered by chance. It could be called a meteoric rise to fame.
But faced with this beautiful thing that they considered to be a great success, Ogata answered without hesitation:
"I'm sorry, I have no intention of entering the officialdom. Thank you for your kindness."
——If you knew that the person you invited was “Ogata Ittosai”, you would be scared to death...
Ogata couldn't help but complain in his heart.
Putting aside the fact that he now has to go to Ezo to deal with an important matter, his true identity alone is enough to ensure that Ogata will never have a career in politics in this life.
Unless Ogata always wears this human skin mask and never takes it off in front of others, and always lives as "Mashima Goro".
But for Ogata, he had no desire to live a life where he had to pretend to be "Mashima Goro" for his entire life.
Moreover, Ogata’s three views are not in sync with the mainstream three views of this era.
So when faced with the olive branch thrown by Akizuki, Ogata just felt like smiling bitterly: the class stratification in this era is indeed outrageous.
Even a person like him who has superb swordsmanship could only receive an annual salary of 300 koku...
Although the annual salary of 300 koku is enough to live a decent life.
But when he thought of how many samurai were born superior, destined to inherit hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of koku of family salary, Ogata felt deeply moved...
In this era, hard work is almost no way to make up for the gap caused by being born in different wombs.
Ogata's ruthless rejection made the look of surprise on Akizuki's face even more intense.
“…I see.”
Qiuyue sighed again.
"Since you have no intention of pursuing a career in politics, I will not force you to do so."
"Although you are unwilling to enter the officialdom, I still welcome you to visit our Sendai Domain at any time."
"I admire strong men the most."
"If you come to my Sendai domain, I will definitely entertain you with a feast."
At this point, Qiuyue seemed to remember something, paused, and then added:
"But - if you want to come to my Sendai Domain, I suggest you come after next summer."
"Until tomorrow summer, I will probably not be in Sendai Domain anymore."
"Got it." Ogata nodded and said casually, "When I have the opportunity and time in the future, I will consider going to Sendai Domain to gain more experience."
…
…
Akizuki had said everything he wanted to say to Ogata.
With a look of reluctance still remaining on his face, Qiuyue led his personal soldiers to pay respectful tribute to Ogata, then quickly left the Hosho Sword Hall.
As soon as Qiuyue and the others left, the sword hall's masters and disciples, led by Director Baosheng, immediately surrounded them.
The scene can be described as "a lot of talk".
Some praised Ogata's swordsmanship.
It was the first time to see “breaking a gun with a knife”.
Some people also asked how Ogata was doing during the two days he was away from Kinno-cho.
Some people also asked why Ogata did not agree to Akizuki just now and gave up the opportunity to enter the official career.
Ogata gave a helpless smile and answered the questions raised by the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall one by one.
…
…
at the same time--
Somewhere on a mountain road not far from Kinno-cho.
"Master, where are we going next?"
Mizuno, who had just woken up from his sleep, cast a questioning look at Hizaka in front of him.
"Hmm..." Hizaka touched her chin, "Let me think about it..."
Master and apprentice Hizaka and Mizuno were the last group of people to leave the village.
Yesterday at noon, after eating the sumptuous lunch provided by the villagers - more refined rice, radishes and pickles, Tsuchiya and Jincheng left.
Jincheng was originally practicing martial arts, and the direction he wanted to go happened to be the same as Tsuchiya's, who was going back to the castle town where he lived, so he went with Tsuchiya.
Not long after Tsuchiya and Kinjo left, Hizaka and Mizuno also left the village.
The master and the disciple have always been like a leaf floating on the sea - they go wherever the waves push them.
Their wandering was truly aimless.
Go wherever you want.
The reason why they are in the Ou area now is that they suddenly wanted to visit the Ou area two months ago, which they had never been to before.
Hence the scene where Mizuno, who had just woken up, asked Hizaka where she was going, and Hizaka looked at her thinking seriously - this scene has appeared countless times.
It's usually Hizaka who decides where to go.
After thinking for a moment, Huo Ban clapped his hands.
"Let's go to Edo next!"
"Going to Edo?" Mizuno looked puzzled. "Why are you going to Edo?"
"No reason." Hizaka shrugged, "It's just that I haven't been to a big city for a long time, so I want to go to a big city after a long time."
“And it’s almost Chinese New Year.”
"It would be too boring to celebrate the New Year in the wild."
"Just spend a peaceful New Year in Edo."
"and……"
Hizaka gave Mizuno a meaningful look.
“You are from Edo. You have been away from home for so long. It is time for you to go back home.”
Mizuno was stunned.
Then he smiled bitterly:
"Master, the last sentence is the real reason why you plan to go to Edo, right?"
Huo Ban smiled but said nothing.
"Okay." Mizuno stretched hard, "Let's go to Edo now."
"But will we be able to reach Edo before the New Year?"
"Well, as long as we don't procrastinate, there will be no problem arriving in Edo before the New Year."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huosaka paused as if he remembered something.
Then he slapped his forehead.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."
"Ishida said a few months ago that he wanted his beloved apprentice to participate in the 'Imperial Trial' to see the world."
"So he took his beloved apprentice to Edo."
"I don't know if they are still in Edo now."
After hearing the name "Ishida" from Hizaka, Mizuno couldn't help but shrink his neck.
Huosaka has a generous personality and is good at making friends. Wherever he goes, he makes friends. It can be said that he has friends all over the world.
The "Ishida" he just mentioned is one of Hizaka's friends.
And they are very good friends.
The full name of that "Ishida" is "Ishida Hirotoshi".
He was good at using the Hozoin-ryu spear technique and had a disciple named Koji.
He was an excellent marksman and a man of considerable talent.
Hizaka had introduced Ishida to Mizuno before. He came from a well-off family and had practiced both literature and martial arts since childhood. He had once studied under a great Chinese scholar and received a fairly high level of education.
But because he was more interested in martial arts, after studying for a few years under the tutelage of that great Chinese scholar, he carried a spear and began to practice martial arts.
Because he had once studied under that great Chinese scholar, Ishida also had a lot of experience in writing.
Mizuno has never been good at dealing with Ishida.
Because Ishida is a person of the different paths.
Not only that, his disciple is also a person who has mastered this way...
The two of them are not only master and apprentice, but also have that kind of relationship...
Mizuno has always been polite in refusing to respond to everyone's advice.
Therefore, Mizuno has never known how to get along with Ishida, who likes to do many things.
Mizuno has always been curious about why his master has such a good relationship with a Zhongdao person...
Mizuno once wondered whether his master was also a fellow practitioner.
In fact, Mizuno also tried to directly ask whether Hosaka was also a member of the Shudo. Hosaka denied it, saying that the reason why she had a good relationship with Ishida was just because Ishida was more humorous and it was more comfortable and fun to chat with him.
"Hahaha." Hizaka laughed heartily, "The last time I saw Ishida and his apprentice was five months ago."
"After parting with Ishida and his apprentice, the two of them went to Edo."
"There have been a lot of interesting things in the past five months."
"Just the story of fighting side by side with the great swordsman Majima Goro-kun against the bandits is enough to talk about for a long time."
"If Ishida is still in Edo, let's have a good chat with him!"
"Mizuno, let's go!"
After saying that, Huosaka pulled himself together and strode towards the official road not far away.
Mizuno followed closely behind.
After walking side by side with Hizaka and stepping onto the official road together, Mizuno unconsciously turned his head and looked to the west.
To the west was the location of the village they had saved.
"Mizuno, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Mizuno retracted his gaze, "Just...some feelings."
Mizuno couldn't help but let out a wry smile.
"We fought bloody battles to save the villagers of that village."
"But the villagers in that village were wary of us from the beginning to the end and never fully trusted us."
Until Huosaka and the others left, there was no sighting of any young women from their village.
Apparently - the villagers hid all the young women in their village.
Although a group of villagers led by the village chief saw them off when they left, Mizuno could guess with his toes that there must be many villagers who were eager for them to leave.
When Mizuno finished speaking, Hizaka was stunned.
Then he gave a wry smile like Mizuno.
"It's normal to be on guard."
"No matter how the world goes, farmers are always the disadvantaged party."
"There was a war, and men were conscripted and their money and food were stolen."
“Even if peace is achieved, there is still the risk of natural disasters and man-made disasters that may destroy families and people.”
"After years of being 'bullied', they have learned all kinds of ways to protect themselves."
Having said this, Huo Ban suddenly laughed at herself.
"Well, people like us have no right to say that the farmers are the 'bullied' party."
"After all, we warriors are also being bullied."
"We, the lower-ranking samurai, are bullied by the higher-ranking samurai."
"The superior samurai were bullied by the daimyo."
"The daimyo were bullied by the shogun."
"Even if a new shogunate is established in the future, this situation of one level bullying another will probably continue for tens of millions of years without changing."
"After all, if we don't allow everyone to bully each other, we can't establish a country."
Mizuno cast a surprised look at Hizaka.
"Although you are usually careless and say vulgar and rude things, you sometimes say things that sound like something a great scholar would say..."
"Don't underestimate your master." Hizaka grinned, "After all, I studied at Terakoya for a few years."
…
…
The Sendai Domain Army Camp is 1 mile (4 km) away from Kinno-cho.
When Qiuyue rode his horse and led his dozen personal soldiers back to his own military camp in a majestic manner, a very familiar voice sounded from his side:
"Qiuyue! You're back just in time! Hanzawa's army is moving faster than expected."
"So we expect to move out of camp a little earlier."
"If you come back any slower, you might have missed the time to break camp."
Qiuyue dismounted and looked in the direction of the voice: "Is that so... then it seems that I came back just in time."
The person who was talking to Akizuki was a young warrior who was about 1.7 meters tall and thin.
Although this young warrior does not look very strong, he is actually one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou" together with Akizuki.
Like Akizuki, he was a brave and powerful general named "Kuroda Genyoshi".
The reason why their Sendai clan's army camped near Kinno-cho was actually to wait for another army of their Sendai clan that was following behind them.
Because that army was marching slower, Qiuyue and his men stopped and waited for this army to catch up.
Because it was a bit boring to stay in the military camp, and because he heard that there was a sword hall called "Hosho" in Kinno-cho not far away, Akizuki took a dozen of his personal soldiers to Kinno-cho in the early morning to visit the Hosho sword hall.
"How was it? Did you have any fun in Kinno-cho?"
"This trip to Kinno Town was really worthwhile." Qiuyue smiled happily, "I met a master this time."
After that, Qiuyue told Heiyue in detail what happened to him at the Hosho Sword Hall.
"Oh?" Kuroda raised his eyebrows, showing that he was very interested in what Qiuyue had just said. "Really? Did that guy really defeat you?"
"Yes." Qiuyue nodded without hesitation, "Not a single word of what I just said is false."
Kuroda and Akizuki are both one of the "Seven Spears of Senju".
Therefore, Kuroda was quite clear about Akizuki's strength.
In a town whose name had never been heard of before, a young samurai who was able to defeat a member of their "Seven Spears of Senshu" actually appeared - this surprised Kuroda very much.
"I didn't expect that such a master would live in seclusion in the small town of Kinno..."
Kuroda turned his head and looked in the direction of Kinno Town.
"If it weren't for the fact that we have to break camp now, I would really like to go and meet the person who defeated you."
"What was the name of the guy who defeated you? Majima what?"
"Goro." Qiuyue said word by word, "Mashima Goro."
"Is he a long-time resident of Kinno-cho?"
"No." Qiuyue shook her head with a look of regret. "I asked him, and he said he was just staying in Kinno-cho temporarily."
"After about a month, he will leave Kinno Town and continue to travel around the world and practice martial arts."
"Is that so... What a pity." Kuroda sighed softly, "I was thinking that after the war with Ezo, I would come to Kinno Town to see the strength of Majima Goro."
"Ah, speaking of this... Qiuyue, I almost forgot to tell you."
"Qiuyue, we need to speed up a bit from now on."
"Huh? Why?" Qiuyue asked back.
"I have just received accurate intelligence - the speed of Huizhou's army's march is much faster than we imagined."
"If we continue to move at this speed, we will most likely not be able to reach Ezo before the Kaishu army."
At this point, Kuroda smiled twice with a forced smile.
"How can we, the Sendai samurai, fall behind the Aizu samurai?"
Aizhou—that is, Aizu Domain.
In the Tohoku region, there was another powerful domain that was as famous as the Sendai Domain.
There is a popular saying among the people: "In terms of financial resources, the Sendai domain has the upper hand, and in terms of military strength, the Aizu domain has the upper hand."
Due to various reasons including local customs, the samurai of Aizu Domain were notoriously strong.
It is generally believed that in terms of military strength, the Aizu Domain is undoubtedly the best in the Tohoku region.
In terms of comprehensive strength, which one is the best in Northeast China, Aizu Domain or Sendai Domain? This question has always been one of the topics that people like to talk about after dinner.
Because it is generally believed that the Aizu domain had the strongest military power, most people believe that the Aizu domain was the most powerful domain in the Tohoku region.
The samurai of Sendai Domain have always been quite dissatisfied with this - in terms of military strength, they are no worse than the samurai of Aizu.
Therefore, when the shogunate issued a call to the northeastern domains, asking them to send troops together to attack Ezo, the samurai of Sendai domain were quite happy - the opportunity to prove that the Sendai samurai were stronger than the Aizu samurai had come.
When leading the army to the battle, Akizuki and other Sendai samurai were holding back a grudge - they vowed to compete with the Aizu samurai.
Whether it is combat effectiveness or advance speed.
The Jin army arrived at the front line in one step in the evening - they could not tolerate such a thing.
So as soon as Kuroda finished speaking, Akizuki grinned and laughed:
"I see. Has the Huizhou army already gotten ahead of us?"
"Could it be that they also want to have a good fight with our Sendai warriors?"
"Now that they are ahead of us, we should really speed up."
"Send the order to the entire army now."
"Let them be prepared that the days ahead will be a little harder."
…
…
In Edo, on a certain street——
Hongzhi was feeling depressed and walked slowly back to the hotel holding the rice ball he bought.
Hongzhi was very depressed during this period.
Because his master, Ishida Hirotoshi, has been making him very angry recently.
In order to let him see the world, his master Ishida planned to let him take part in the "Imperial Examination".
Not long after arriving in Edo, the two of them went to Yoshiwara for a visit out of curiosity.
Looking back now, Hongzhi regretted very much that he should not have gone to Yoshiwara at that time.
While wandering around Yoshiwara, I met a samurai named Majima Goro.
The guy obviously had an ordinary look, but Ishida was interested in him.
After that, the martial arts test of "Imperial Trial" began, and Ishida was still secretly watching Majima Goro from afar.
That Majima Goro had only participated in the martial arts exam for two days before he suddenly disappeared.
But Ishida still seems to be obsessed with Majima.
Hongzhi now had no idea what his master was going to do.
Even though the "Imperial Trial" had ended for a long time, it still remained in Edo.
Every day in the hotel, he looked thoughtful, and I wonder what he was thinking about.
The rice balls that Hongzhi is holding in his arms now are the ones he bought for lunch with his master in the hotel at noon.
"Master, I'm back."
Hongzhi opened the door of the hotel room where he and his master were staying.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw his master with a rosy face and looking very energetic.
"Oh! Hongzhi! You're back!"
Looking at his master's appearance, Hongzhi couldn't help but frown.
"Master, what's wrong with you? You seem to be in a very good mood."
"You're right." Ishida crossed his arms, "I'm in a really good mood right now."
"Because I've already decided."
"I want to write a Joruri Bunraku puppet play based on Goro Majima!"