After shouting "The Secret of Fengmo Style", Fengmo suddenly reached his hand into his arms.
“Wait, wait!”
When Genichi heard Fuma shout out the term "Fuma Style's Secret", his expression changed.
"I was just joking. Don't use your troublesome secret in such a narrow place."
"Humph." Fengma pulled his hand out of his bosom, his face showing indignation, "Genichi, it's okay if you don't mention my head. I get angry when you mention it."
"You were more indulgent than I was when you were young."
"You drink much more than I do, and you go to the brothels more often than I do, but in the end, my hair has fallen out, while your hair is still as thick as it was when you were young."
It was the first time that Ogata and Atachi knew that Genichi often went to brothels when he was young.
The couple, who had unknowingly discovered Genichi's little secret, couldn't help but look at him with strange eyes.
Noticing the looks from Ogata and Omachi, Genichi laughed without any shame:
"When my hair was still black, every time I passed by a playground, my body would turn around and go into the playground uncontrollably. Ogata-kun, you should understand this feeling of 'being unable to control yourself', right?"
"No, I don't understand. Because I have never had this feeling before." As soon as Genichi finished speaking, Obaya turned his head to look at Atachi at an extremely fast speed, and said this seriously.
In response to Ogata's "disassociated himself without hesitation", Genichi smiled nonchalantly and continued speaking to Fuma.
"Drinking and hanging out at bars have nothing to do with hair loss."
"When I was wandering in England, a doctor who didn't drink, smoke, or play with women advised me to drink less and have less contact with those unclean women."
"As a result, the doctor who advised me to live a healthy life got a terminal illness one year later and died not long after due to lack of medical treatment."
"And even though he refuted that I was living an unhealthy life, I have been living a healthy life until now."
"So hair loss, illness, etc., I think it's all related to luck."
"People with bad luck can easily get sick and die suddenly even if they have a good lifestyle."
"Ganshi, you just have a little bad luck."
After saying that, Yuan Yi slowly sheathed the Yang Shen and Yan Rong in his hands.
After sheathing the sword, Genichi looked Fengma up and down several times with a... somewhat lonely look.
"... Ganshi, after a closer look... you really have aged a lot, and there are so many wrinkles on your face..."
"Don't you see how long it has been since we last met? The last time we met... it was so long ago that I can't even remember it." Fuma smiled, "Genichi, you look much older too, don't you?"
"As far as I can remember, the last time I saw you, you still had a little black hair on your head. But now there is no black hair left at all."
Looking at Genichi who was happily chatting with Fuma, Ogata couldn't help but silently said in his heart:
——Luckily, Master Fuma came with me to Osaka this time.
If we were to ask who in the gourd house Ogata most wanted to meet and chat with after reuniting in Osaka, it would undoubtedly be Genichi.
He had quite a lot to say to Yuan Yi.
Sculucci's matter.
There is also the matter of Fengmo.
Skulucci once asked Ogata to tell Genichi a message if he met him in the future: Although I became a notorious Cossack for a living, I have never forgotten what I have always wanted to do.
Ogata had always had a very clear understanding of the previous battle against the shogunate's 10,000-strong army - without Skulucci's full support, he would have no way of breaking into the shogunate's main camp by himself.
Out of gratitude to Skulucci, Ogata has never forgotten the promise he made to Skulucci.
Not long after meeting Genichi again in Osaka, Ogata found an opportunity to tell Genichi in detail how he met Skulucci in Ezo, and brought Genichi the words that Skulucci had entrusted him to convey.
After hearing the name "Skulucci" from Ogata, Genichi immediately showed a nostalgic expression.
After listening to Ogata's story about his experiences with Skulucci in Ezo, Genichi began to briefly tell Ogata the story of himself and Skulucci.
Sculucci was a "war orphan" whom Genichi picked up by chance when he was "tactically transferred" from the Papal States to Lucia due to some difficult trouble.
According to Genichi, Skulucci is a childish boy who is somewhat adorable.
In this era when all Western countries are using guns and cannons, people still yearn to become the kind of knights in chivalrous literature who travel and leave legends wherever they go.
Genichi and Sculucci didn't spend much time together, only a little over a year in total before they parted ways.
The reason for their separation was not complicated - Skulucci simply wanted to break away from the protection of his savior, Genichi, and go out on his own.
After they parted, Genichi never saw Skulucci again.
It was not until now, through Ogata, that Genichi learned that Skuluch was still alive and had become a small leader among the Cossacks.
Skuluch, who dreamed of becoming a noble knight, turned out to be a Cossack notorious for his love of burning, killing and looting. Faced with this fact, Genichir did not show any shock.
He just smiled.
Genichi, who seemed to have no interest in why Skuluch chose to become a Cossack, asked Ogata:
"Even if he became a Cossack for some reason I don't understand, Skulucci must have always held himself to the standards of a 'noble knight', right?"
"Yeah." Facing the question asked by Genichi, Ogata nodded firmly.
After finishing talking about Skulucci, Oobian immediately started talking about Fuma.
Ogata knew how close the relationship between Genichi and Fuma was, but he didn't know much, and only heard about some of the past events between Fuma and Genichi occasionally.
The two of them knew each other when Genichi and Fuma were just young men just starting out.
Fuma once told Ogata that he had a very bad impression of Genichi at the beginning, because the first time he saw Genichi was in the corridor of someone's house.
Genichi was lying on his side at the end of the corridor at that time, and he said seriously to Fuma who asked him what he was doing: I am looking at the feet of the women walking in this corridor.
At that time, Fuma only thought that Genichi was a pervert with a problem in his brain. It was not until he experienced a lot of things with Genichi later that Fuma realized that this "pervert" was such an extraordinary person.
Ogata informed Genichi in detail that Fuma was also currently in Osaka, and agreed with Genichi that when both he and Fuma had time, he would bring Fuma to see Genichi.
So we have the current scene.
"that……"
At this moment, a soft female voice, speaking in a cautious tone, suddenly sounded from the end of the corridor on the left of Ogata and the others.
"Excuse me...what happened?"
The owner of the voice was a young waitress in the hotel.
The young waitress now hid her lower body in the corner of the corridor, with only half of her body sticking out, looking at Ogata and others with a look of fear.
Ogata knew at a glance that the waitress must have been disturbed by the noise of the fight between Genichi and Fuma, so she came to check the situation.
"Nothing happened." Ogata smiled at the waitress, "We just... got a little excited while chatting, that's all, nothing happened."
The waitress looked at Ogata and the others with a half-believing and half-doubting look, and then left after reminding them a few words, "Please don't make too much noise."
"Oh, I was so excited to see my old partner whom I haven't seen for a long time." Genichi scratched the hair on the back of his head, "I forgot that this is a hotel."
"Okay, everyone, stop standing at the door." Lin said at this time, "Go to your rooms quickly."
"Ms. Lin." A-Machi asked as he walked into the room, "Where are Mamiya and Asai?"
"I asked Jiulang and Shichirobei to visit some business partners on my behalf who don't need me to visit them in person." Lin shrugged. "This is the troublesome thing about being a businessman. You need to spend a lot of time and effort to maintain a lot of interpersonal relationships."
"Miss Lin." Ogata, who was kneeling in front of Lin, suddenly said, "In addition to Master Fuma, I also brought a guest."
"Oh? Guests?" Lin raised her eyebrows.
"This guest... is quite an important person. He is a new companion whom I met by chance after I left Ezo on the smuggling boat."
Ogata explained slowly.
"My new companion is a female ninja like A-machi, but the ninjutsu she uses is from the Iga-ryu school."
Hearing the word "Iga", Genichi's eyes narrowed slightly: "Iga?"
Azhu's goal is to find her parents and sister Ajiu who were forcibly separated by the remnants of the Iga gang.
It was for this purpose that she followed Ogata, who was suspected to be targeted by the remnants of the Iga clan.
If you want to find someone, Lin, who has a big family and a wide network of contacts, might be able to help.
Furthermore, now that Ogata has formed an alliance with Huluya again, it is necessary for Lin and the others to meet the new members of Ogata's small team.
So after reuniting with Lin and the others, Oofang considered whether to let Azhu meet and get to know Lin and the others.
Prior to this, Ogata had not mentioned Azuki's existence to Hulusha and others, as he was not sure whether she would be happy for outsiders, whom she was not familiar with, to know her identity as an Iga ninja.
On the night of agreeing to form an alliance with Huluwu, Oofang found Azhu and asked for her opinion, asking her if she would like to get to know Lin and others.
Azuki thought for only a moment, then readily said that as long as they could help her find her family, she would be happy to let Ogata's friends know her identity as an "Iga ninja".
Therefore, when visiting the temporary base of Huluwu and his group today, Ogata not only brought Fuma, but also brought Azhu as well.
After listening to Ogata's brief introduction to Azuki, Genichi said "Oh" and then asked:
"So where is this Iga kunoichi named Azuki now?"
"After hearing me say that Miss Lin likes food that is not hot, the child insisted on going to a famous Japanese confectionery shop in the east of Osaka to buy the freshest Japanese confectionery as a souvenir."
Xu showed helplessness.
"She had already made an advance reservation for the Japanese confectionery last night. Since the store is far away, it would take quite a while to get there, so she asked us to come to your place first and she would come later."
"Ha." Lin, who rarely smiles, smiled. "It seems that he is a child who pays great attention to etiquette."
"Iga..." Genichi revealed a reminiscent look, "The last time I saw a female ninja from Iga was more than forty years ago, when Iga-no-Sato still existed. That kid named Azuki... shouldn't know about the grudges between Kinoshita Genichi and Iga-no-Sato, right?"
"She doesn't know." Ogata shook his head. "The elder who taught her Iga-ryu ninjutsu hardly mentioned anything about the past of Iga Village to her. She doesn't even know the truth about the destruction of Iga Village."
"In fact, she is not even that interested in Iga-ryu ninjutsu. She was forced to practice Iga-ryu ninjutsu purely in order to find her family." A-machi added.
"Is that so..." Genichi smiled, "That's good. I don't want to fight with someone who shouts 'revenge for Iga' again."
"The female ninja from Iga... " Makimura gave Ogata a meaningful smile, "I didn't expect that before I knew it, there would be another female ninja by your side, brother Ogata... I always feel that you seem to have an unexpected affinity with female ninjas."
Facing Makimura's sentiments, which Fuma had also expressed before, Ogata smiled and responded in a half-joking tone:
"Compared to female kunoichi, I think I have a better affinity with your Calabash House. At least my affinity with female kunoichi is not to the point where I can bump into them wherever I go."
"Iga..." Shimada muttered at this time, "I have never seen a ninja from Iga."
"Iga-no-Sato was destroyed by Haku-Kou 41 years ago." Lin silently complained, "It's strange that you can see it."
"By the way..." Shimada turned his gaze to Genichi and "I still don't know what happened between Genichi and Iga no Sato. I only know that Genichi destroyed Iga no Sato."
Having said this, Shimada seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to look at Makimura and Lin.
"Could it be that I am the only newcomer here who doesn't know anything?"
"That's not the case." Makimura said, "I don't know what happened between Genichi and Iga no Sato. Genichi doesn't seem to like talking about it."
"The reason why I don't like to talk about this is because it happened too long ago. It was 41 years ago, and I have forgotten many details." The reminiscence on Genichi's face gradually became richer. "The grudge between Iga no Sato and I was actually not complicated."
"After the Iga ninjas helped Tokugawa Ieyasu conquer the world, they were designated as official ninjas by the Edo shogunate."
"Not only were they highly valued by the Edo Shogunate, but they were also granted a fiefdom by the Edo Shogunate."
"Iga-no-sato, which received a fief and a host of privileges from the Edo Shogunate, is no longer a simple ninja village, but more like a small feudal state."
"Each Iga ninja no longer looks like a ninja, but more like a landlord in Iga Village, owning fields and exploiting the common people in their fiefdoms."
"This comfortable environment caused them to corrupt quickly."
"On the eve of my decision to attack Iga-no-Sato, there were only a few decent ninjas left in Iga-no-Sato."
"And the reason why I destroyed Iga Village was very simple - they annoyed me, and I had just mastered the Muga Two-Sword Style at that time, and I was in urgent need of finding some strong opponents to test my newly created swordsmanship, so I decided to destroy Iga Village, where there were not many serious ninjas left."
"Although I succeeded in destroying Iga Village, I was alone. Although Iga Village was destroyed, many ninjas were lucky enough to escape and save their lives."
"I never thought that 41 years later, there are still ninjas from Iga active..."
After saying that, Yuan Yi gave a meaningful wry smile and shook his head slightly.
Just as Genichirō finished his words, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door.
Hearing the footsteps, Ogata raised his eyebrows and smiled: "It seems that she is here."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Azuki's energetic :
"Mashima-sama! A-machi-san! Fuu-sama! Are you in there?"
…
…
At this moment——
Osaka, Ryusuji Temple——
"Master Qingcheng! Thank you so much for saving my son! My son's fever has subsided! You are truly a miracle doctor!"
An old woman with patched clothes shouted loudly and then knelt on the ground.
As soon as she bent her knees, an old monk standing in front of her, with kind eyes, wearing a brown robe and exuding a pleasant fragrance, immediately stretched out his hands and supported the old woman.
"Donor, there is no need to do this." Qingcheng smiled slightly, "I accept your gratitude, but you don't have to be so generous to me. I can't afford it."
When Qingcheng supported the old woman, two young monks, one tall and one short, approached each other not far away.
"Look," the tall monk muttered, "another person has come to thank the abbot."
"Isn't this a common occurrence?" The short monk looked at Qingcheng with admiration. "The abbot is a skilled doctor. He often goes out to treat people for free and is deeply loved by the people. You are new here and probably don't know this - I have seen seven groups of people come here in one day to express their gratitude to the abbot for his kindness."
"The abbot is really a living Bodhisattva..." the tall monk said with emotion, "The abbot's only shortcoming is probably that he likes to use his own special incense to make himself smell good."
“Isn’t this a shortcoming?”
"In my eyes, this is a shortcoming." The tall monk curled his lips, "I don't like the art of incense."
While the tall monk and the short monk were whispering to each other, Qingcheng had already started to watch the old woman who had come to him specially to thank him leave.
As soon as the old woman left Qingcheng's sight, Qingcheng turned his head and looked at the tall monk and the short monk who were still chatting not far away.
"You guys are really brave." Qingcheng said half-jokingly, "I was standing not far away, and you dare to be lazy so blatantly."
"Yes, I'm sorry!" The short monk blushed, then quickly picked up the broom and swept the bluestone floor under his feet vigorously.
The tall monk also continued to work with a look of panic on his face.
"Don't let me catch you guys slacking off again." Qingcheng's tone became a little more serious. "I'm going to go back to the inner room to rest now. When I wake up, I want to see that the fallen leaves here have been cleaned up."
The tall monk and the short monk said: "Yes!"*2
After leaving this somewhat tough order, Qingcheng dragged his robes and walked quickly towards the backyard of Longshui Temple.
The tall monk secretly observed Qingcheng. When he could no longer see Qingcheng, he gave the short monk a wry smile and said, "Although the abbot is a living Bodhisattva and is usually kind to everyone, he can occasionally show a very stern side..."
"Okay, stop talking." The short monk said helplessly, "Hurry up and work hard. I don't want to be scolded by the abbot for not working hard."
…
…
On the way back to his room, Qingcheng met many monks from the same temple.
Qingcheng, who was highly respected and loved by all the monks in the temple, naturally received warm greetings from the monks one after another.
With a gentle face, Qingcheng responded to the endless "Good morning, Abbot" one by one.
The area of ​​Longshui Temple is not very large.
Qingcheng, dragging his robes back to his residence, arrived at the backyard of the temple and the door of his room in just a short while.
Crash...
Qingcheng slowly opened the door and walked into her room.
Just as I closed the door, a teasing voice came from the corner of the dim room:
"Kiyosumi, your acting is truly astonishing no matter how I look at it."
"It would be great if you were my subordinate. You'd be a great ninja."
This teasing... seems to have some magical power.
As soon as it rang, the gentle smile on Qingcheng's face disappeared.
"Heh..." The gentle smile turned into a sneer, "Sorry, Jijiu, I have no interest in being a ninja."
After saying that, Qingcheng casually threw his cassock to the ground, and then walked quickly towards the place where the teasing voice came from - there, an old man with gray eyes was sitting cross-legged.
"Jijiu, you look like you have a lot of free time."
"I've been so idle that I'm almost getting moss." Jijiu said calmly, "So I just went outside for a walk and got some fresh air."
"The more I look at this Ryusui Temple, the more I like it." Yoshihisa's lips curled up. "It has a great location, in the heart of Osaka, and it happens to be at a high altitude."
"It was a correct decision to set this place as the main camp of the Osaka Spring Campaign."
"I'm really...looking forward to tonight more and more."
After he finished speaking, a hint of excitement flashed in Yoshihisa's eyes.
"You went out just now?" Qingcheng curled his lips, "Really? Can't you just stay here? If the monks in the temple find you, it will be troublesome."
"Do you think it's possible for the monks of this temple to capture the current leader of Iga-no-Sato?" Yoshihisa shrugged.