—Everyone has a flintlock rifle... Who are these people...
Just now, when Baixiang broke into the house, he happened to see Ating hiding behind the closet.
At the same time, Atachi also saw the appearance of Baixiang and others who broke in.
Although he only took a quick glance, with his strong eyesight, Ating still clearly saw who broke into the house.
There were five people in total, and except for the leader Bai Xiang, the other four were all holding flintlock rifles.
A-machi knew better than Ogata how rare and difficult it was to get a flintlock rifle in this country.
There were five enemies who broke into the house, four of whom were carrying flintlock rifles. The situation outside the house was unclear, and it was very likely that a large number of enemies were lying in ambush outside the house.
After briefly analyzing his current situation, beads of cold sweat immediately appeared on Ating's forehead.
The palms of his hands were also sweating, slightly soaking the handles of the guns Suying and Feiying were holding.
The fear that emerged from Ating's heart was like a big claw with sharp nails, tightly gripping Ating's heart.
——Ayi is not around... What should I do now...
Since reuniting with Ogata in Kyoto last summer, A-Machi has been following Ogata, moving around with him and being inseparable.
Although the time she spent traveling around the country with Ogata was not long, A-Machi had unknowingly gotten used to this kind of life with Ogata always by her side.
At the same time, he also became accustomed to and...dependent on Ogata's strength.
No matter what difficulties she encountered, Ogata could protect her well with his sword.
And now…Ogata was not by her side.
There are no companions around.
She can only rely on herself to fight against these sudden enemies!
The last time I encountered a situation where I had to rely on myself was when I was still traveling in Ezo.
That was the battle where he accidentally encountered Mogami, one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou" in the wild.
But in terms of danger, this battle is obviously not as dangerous as the one Atachi is facing now - in the battle with Mogami, Atachi at least knew that Ogata was nearby, and as long as he delayed time, he could wait for Ogata to come.
And now...A-Machi doesn't even know where Ogata is...
——Ogata-cho...Calm down...
Ating took a deep breath.
——It’s just that I have to rely on myself to break through this dangerous situation.
— —Before you met Ayi, weren’t you living a good life and overcoming many difficulties and obstacles on your own?
Ating encouraged himself in his heart.
However...even so, Ating still felt the fear in his heart growing.
Just when Ah-Ming was worried that she couldn't suppress the fear in her heart -
(Being afraid isn't a bad thing.)
A sentence that had left a deep impression on him before echoed in his mind...
…
…
A few months ago——
"...Ayi, don't you feel scared when facing those powerful enemies?"
Ogata, who successfully repelled the shogunate's 10,000-strong army and paid the price of being "wrapped in sackcloth like a dumpling again", was sitting obediently on the bed.
And A-machi sat behind Ogata and helped him change the medicine.
While changing Ogata's dressing, Atachi suddenly asked Ogata this question.
"Hmm?" Ogata turned his head and looked at Ating who was sitting behind him and changing his medicine with skillful hands. "Why are you asking this suddenly?"
"Just... a little curious. Because I think you're incredible."
"You fought in the battle of killing hundreds of people in Hirose Domain, the battle of Nijo Castle in Kyoto, and the recent battle with the shogunate army... You fought in these tough battles that ordinary people dare not even imagine."
"If it were me, I would be so scared that I would faint just facing a tyrant with hundreds of guards, let alone the 10,000 troops of the shogunate."
"To face hundreds of enemies without breaking a sweat - I call that extraordinary courage."
"But someone like you who can face the shogunate's 10,000-man army without fear... I think it's more than just 'extraordinary courage'."
"Ayi, you are not the kind of person who has never known what 'fear' is since childhood, right?"
"Or do you have any method to overcome fear?"
After listening to what Atachi said quietly, Ogata burst out laughing.
"Ha... Ating, you seem to have a lot of misunderstandings about me..."
"When did you get the illusion that I never felt fear when facing these powerful enemies?"
"Ah?" Ating's beautiful eyes widened in confusion, and the pair of bare hands that were helping Ogata change the bandages also stopped.
"Whether it was the battle against Matsudaira Gennai's hundreds of guards in Hirose Domain, the attack on Nijo Castle in Kyoto, or the attack on the shogunate's army not long ago, I felt fear in all these battles."
“Fear is not something to be overcome because it is not a bad emotion.”
Atachi, who didn't understand what Ogata meant by this, tilted her head.
Ogata was amused by Atachi's "I am thinking seriously" look, chuckled a few times, and said slowly:
"At the beginning, I also felt that it was shameful to be afraid when facing a strong enemy, and I seriously thought about whether there was any way to overcome fear."
"But as I experienced more and more things, and fought more and more battles, big and small, my perspective gradually changed."
"It was probably during the attack on Nijo Castle that I realized that fear does not need to be overcome. It is not a bad thing to be afraid."
“Fear allows you to face the danger you are facing with a more cautious attitude.”
“So instead of trying to overcome fear, it’s better to embrace it.”
"I have always relied on my tolerance of fear to defeat powerful enemies one after another and get to where I am today."
…
…
—Tolerance…Fear…
Ating's breathing slowly slowed down.
No more deep breathing.
I no longer cheer myself up or encourage myself in my heart.
Just let the fear continue in her heart.
After adopting an attitude of "ignoring" the fear in her heart, Atachi looked around, observing the environment she was in, and racked her brains to think of a way to escape from here.
A wonderful thing is happening at this moment.
Although Ating had just kept telling herself "Don't be afraid", the fear kept growing in her heart.
Now he no longer paid attention to the fear in his heart. Although his heart was still beating very fast and his palms were still sweating, his thinking had become much quicker.
——The weapons I carry with me now are... only two pistols, Suying and Feiying, a wakizashi that I modified and filled the handle with a lot of hemostatic drugs, and three kunai...
In addition to the two pistols, Suying and Feiying, Atachi also carries with him three of the most commonly used throwing weapons by ninjas: kunai.
This has always been her habit as a female ninja. No matter where she is or when, she always carries at least three kunai with her.
——We don’t know the total number of enemies yet, so the best strategy is to escape from here as soon as possible…
——The nearest exit to me right now... is there...
Ah-Ming turned her head and looked at a tightly closed paper window directly west of her.
While checking her current environment, Ating soon made a big discovery - there was a puddle of water on the ground between her and the west window, and next to the puddle was a small basin that had fallen on the ground.
This basin of water was probably accidentally spilled on the ground by the group of people who killed Master Yu Er and turned his house upside down.
Behind Baixiang and the others was the door of the house that they had just broken open.
A lot of bright moonlight shone into the house through the broken door.
This large pool of water located to the west of A-Ming was also shrouded in moonlight.
The stagnant water reflected a sparkling light.
At the same time... five extremely blurry figures standing in front of the cabinet where she was hiding were also reflected.
A thoughtful look slowly emerged in Ating's eyes.
She looked out the west window.
Then he looked at a big hammer thrown not far away.
…
…
After he issued the naked threat, Ating, who was hiding behind the cabinet, did not respond.
Bai Xiangben is a man with little patience.
Being ignored by Ating, Baixiang's limited patience was quickly exhausted.
Just as Bai Xiang, who had run out of patience, was about to signal his subordinates to rush in and arrest the man—
"If I just surrender and follow you, will you not do anything to me?"
Ating's voice finally came from behind the counter.
Hearing what Atachi said, Baixiang raised his eyebrows, then put down his hand that was about to signal his subordinates to rush over and catch the person.
"Of course! If I wanted to kill you, or do something to you, I wouldn't negotiate with you so amicably!"
"...I understand. I'll be right out."
Bai Xiang looked delighted.
Capturing this woman who was suspected to be Shura's wife by peaceful means - this was naturally the result that Bai Xiang wanted most.
However... the joy on his face did not last long, and his expression froze.
He didn't see Ating come out from behind the fallen cabinet.
He only saw two black, tubular objects suddenly protruding from behind the cabinet.
The moment these two tubes suddenly protruded from behind the cabinet -
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tongues of fire poured out.
These two tubular objects are the gun barrels of Suying and Feiying.
Ating emptied the bullets from both pistols in one breath.
The five bullets that poured out pierced the vital parts of the five people in the house, led by Bai Xiang.
Bai Xiang hit the jackpot - he was hit by the most powerful bullet of Feiying.
Feiying's bullet hit him right in the head.
He didn't even have time to scream before his body's strength rapidly drained away and he fell to the ground, his vision enveloped by darkness at a terrifying speed.
At the end of his life, three sentences came into Baixiang's mind.
The first sentence was Sakuma's answer to him when he asked him why he didn't give him some interesting tasks:
(You are impulsive and reckless. When you learn to think calmly, interesting tasks will naturally be assigned to you.)
The second sentence is what Naganosuke said to him when he learned that he was going to personally lead people into the house to capture Atachi:
(You want to bring people in yourself? To be cautious, I think it would be better to surround the room and force the woman to come out.)
The third sentence is his response to Naganosuke when he heard Naganosuke urging him to surround the house and force Atachi out:
(Don’t bother with that! Why would a woman like me need to bother with that?)
After quickly going through these three sentences in his mind, the last bit of light in Bai Xiang’s eyes disappeared.
When the spirit faded, what remained in Baixiang's eyes was... a faint regret...
…
…
Sakuma sent 10 men to help Baigo collect the bodies.
Two of them were ordered to push the carts full of corpses back to their main camp. Therefore, there were only eight people left under Baixiang.
Four of the eight people followed Baixiang into the house to arrest people, while the other four surrounded Master Yoji's house together with Naganosuke.
Naganosuke participated in the "Take Shura's Sword" operation two days ago, so he knew the structure of Master Yoji's house very well.
The main door of this house faces north, and there are windows on the east and west sides for adults to enter and exit freely. Only the south side has no doors or windows.
Therefore, Naganosuke divided the four musketeers who were in charge of surrounding the house with him into two teams of two people each, with two people guarding the east and west sides of the house respectively. He guarded the main door of the house alone.
——It’s so slow… What is Baixiang doing?
Naganosuke was squatting in an inconspicuous dark alley to the north of the house, yawning out of boredom.
--Oh……
Naganosuke sneered, and then continued in his heart in a joking tone:
——Could it be that Bai Xiang has been killed by that woman?
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just as he finished saying this joke in his mind, the sound of Suying and Feiying firing bullets was heard in the house.
The sudden gunshot startled Naganosuke and the musketeers who were guarding the east and west sides of the house.
Before the musketeer guarding the west side of the house could calm himself, a new strange noise was heard - a window on the west side of the house suddenly shattered from the inside.
Something hit the window from inside the house, shattering it and sending it flying outside.
The two musketeers, who were still frightened by the gunshot, quickly raised their guns and pointed them at the object that had just broken the window and flew out of the house.
Then, the two musketeers both looked surprised.
Because the object that broke the window and flew out of the house was a blacksmith's hammer.
When the two people's attention was drawn by the hammer, a figure flew out through the window where the paper window had just been broken by the hammer.
This figure was none other than Ating, who was holding two guns.
…
…
The reason why Atachi asked Baixiang "whether she would be treated kindly if she surrendered" was simply to delay time.
He bought time to identify the positions of Bai Xiang and others based on the puddle of water next to him.
The puddle of water reflected the figures of the five people from Baixiang.
Although it was very blurry, I could still make out the positions of the five people pretty clearly.
With the help of the puddle of water and his own luck, Ating determined the location of Baixiang and the other five people, and then shot them all with Suying and Feiying.
Baixiang and his men probably never dreamed that they would be defeated by an insignificant puddle of water.
After killing Baixiang and the others, Ating immediately ran out from behind the cabinet where he was hiding.
He ran straight towards the big hammer thrown on the ground not far away.
There was a high possibility that there were still enemies outside the house. He picked up a sledgehammer and threw it out of the window to attract the attention of the enemies outside - this was Ating's second plan.
Ah-Ming is lucky.
This second plan of hers also worked.
Ating had been to Master Yuer's house once before and still had an impression of the surrounding environment of the house.
She remembered that there were not many suitable hiding places on the west side of the house.
Therefore, when she jumped out of the house right after the hammer, Ah-Ming immediately used her amazing dynamic vision to quickly scan every place on the west side of the house that was suitable for hiding.
Soon, she found the two musketeers whose attention was distracted by the hammer.
Feiying can't reload quickly, but Suying can.
Before jumping out of the window, Ating quickly and skillfully loaded Suying's gun with bullets.
After discovering the two musketeers on the west side of the house, Ating raised his gun and started shooting without saying a word.
You can always trust Ating's shooting skills!
Two bullets flew out of the gun barrel and accurately blew up the heads of the two musketeers.
Ah-Ming did not forget that her goal was to escape.
Therefore, after killing the two musketeers, Atachi did not linger in the fight. He used the Shiranui-ryu's stealth skills and jumped onto the roof of the abandoned mobile house next to him. In just a few breaths, he disappeared into the night.
…
…
After hearing the sound of a broken window coming from the west side of the house, Naganosuke hurried over to the source of the sound.
As soon as they arrived at the west side of the house, the two musketeers who were responsible for monitoring the west side of the house had been killed by Ating.
But the silver lining in this unfortunate situation was that he clearly saw Ating's back.
He saw how Ating jumped onto the rooftop next to him and in which direction he ran away.
——What is this body movement?!
Naganosuke's pupils shrank slightly.
"Sir!" At this time, the two musketeers who were responsible for monitoring the east side of the house rushed over.
"...What a terrible woman." Naganosuke laughed sinisterly, "That woman ran in that direction, you two follow me!"
"Yes!" The two musketeers who survived shouted in unison.
…
…
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Ah-Ming ran as fast as she could.
She ran almost 2 kilometers in one breath at the speed of a 100-meter sprint.
He kept running until he was about to get a stitch in the side and had to stop to regulate his breathing. Then Ating finally stopped, held onto the mud wall next to him, and slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm.
——Wearing a Gofu dress and no shoes... It's really hard to move around in this outfit...
Ating smiled bitterly and looked down at his feet that were not wearing any shoes or socks.
She had just escaped from Master Yu Er's house barefoot and ran here in one breath.
The only difference between the clogs of this era and modern flip-flops is that the clogs were made of wood and had thicker soles.
Wearing flip-flops... ah, no, wearing flat-soled wooden clogs to run, it is better to run barefoot. So when she escaped from Master Yoji's house just now, Atachi kicked off her pair of flat-soled wooden clogs in a very generous manner.
Ah-Ming has now fled to the sidewalk in a residential area.
There are residential houses all around, and almost all the people walking on the sidewalk are residents of this residential area.
The pedestrians passing by Ating looked at her with puzzled eyes as she was barefoot, holding onto the wall, and regulating her breathing.
Facing the gazes from passers-by around him, Ating turned a blind eye.
He concentrated on regulating his breathing and glanced around vigilantly, checking for pursuers.
Although Ah Ting thought he had run far enough, he was still worried.
So after his breathing rhythm returned to normal, A-Ming raised his hands and patted his cheeks on both sides.
——Okay, let’s run a little further…
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Without any warning... a strange sound suddenly came from behind Ating.
A-Ming was very familiar with this voice.
This is the sound of running fast on a wooden roof!
Ating's pupils suddenly shrank, and he quickly jumped away from where he was standing. He reached into his arms and took out Suying.
The Feiying, which is quite troublesome to load, has not been loaded yet, so currently only the Suying can be used.
Just as Ating jumped away from where she had just stood, a black figure jumped down from the roof of a nearby house and landed where Ating had just stood.
He was a young man dressed in black.
After the black figure landed, Ating quickly raised Suying and aimed it at the uninvited guest.
However, as soon as Ating raised the gun, she felt a sharp pain in her right hand holding the gun - the young man in black seemed to have expected that Ating would take out the pistol and point it at her, so he used a sharp whip kick and kicked Ating's right hand.
Feeling the pain, Ating subconsciously loosened her right hand, and Suying flew out of her right palm and fell far away.
Suying let go, and Ating, with a gloomy face, jumped back, putting some distance between himself and the young man in black, and at the same time pulled out the wakizashi hanging on his waist.
"Just as I expected..." The young man in black slowly retracted the kick he had just thrown out and said in a joking tone, "You really do have a pistol on you. Otherwise, there's no way to explain the gunshots that just happened in the house."
This young man in black is none other than Naganosuke.
The sudden appearance of Naganosuke and the sword-drawing of Atachi startled the passers-by, who screamed and fled in all directions.
——Is this guy... a pursuer...
Holding the wakizashi tightly, Atachi kept a vigilant eye on Naganosuke in front of him while looking around to see if there were any other pursuers.
This little movement of Atachi was accurately captured by Naganosuke.
"No need to look, I'm the only one who has arrived here so far." Naganosuke shrugged, "Haigo's two subordinates are too slow, so I asked them to come here slowly, and I will go ahead to catch them."
"You were able to kill Bai Xiang and the others, and you were able to run so fast while wearing Wufu and barefoot. I am really surprised by your skills."
When he said the words "They killed Baixiang and the others", Naganosuke's tone was flat, as if he was talking about the death of a stranger who had nothing to do with him.
And in fact - Naganosuke really didn't care about Baixiang's death.
Naganosuke has always considered Baigo as just "someone he knows".
Rather... Naganosuke is actually happier now that Baigo is dead.
Because in this way, he can take all the credit for "capturing Shura's wife alive"!
"Let me ask you this - you are the female ninja from Shiranui, right?"
"I'm not mistaken. The movement you just used was the stealth technique of the Shiranui style."
"I've had some interactions with ninjas from Shiranui before, so I remember your ninjutsu."
"So what if I'm a female ninja from Shiranui? So what if I'm not?" Atachi said coldly.
"Nothing." Naganosuke shrugged, "I'm just asking out of curiosity. After all, I've never seen a female ninja from Shiranui."
"I thought that when I was destroyed in Shiranui, I had no hope of ever seeing a ninja in Shiranui again."
"Okay, that's enough of the small talk."
"Just surrender."
Naganosuke smiled meaningfully and spread his hands.
"The short gun that I kicked away just now should be your strongest weapon, right?"
"Even if you have other short guns, I won't refuse them."
"The distance between you and me is only four steps. At such a short distance, I am absolutely sure that I can kick your short gun away before you shoot."
"Humph." Ating sneered, "Anyone can say such big words."
"Haha, if you don't believe it, you can try it as much as you want."
The smile on Naganosuke's face had a hint of sarcasm.
"Anyway, let me be frank with you - I'm very strong. There's no way you can be my opponent. I'm not a piece of trash like Bai Xiang who has poor fighting skills and only has passable command ability."
"If you think you can defeat me with your weak body, just come on."
After Naganosuke finished speaking, the street, which had already been deserted by pedestrians, suddenly became quiet.
Atachi said nothing, but just held the knife tightly and stared at Naganosuke without blinking.
Naganosuke had a confident smile on his face.
He gave Atachi a look of blatant contempt.
Neither A-machi nor Naganosuke spoke.
The two of them remained silent for a long time, and finally someone spoke up to break the oppressive silence.
"…I understand. I surrender."
As Atachi said this, he threw the wakizashi in his hand to his feet and raised his hands.
Looking at Atachi who had dropped her sword, Naganosuke grinned, "Smart woman. Wise choice! Your wise choice has saved you a lot of physical pain."
After saying that, Naganosuke took out a hemp rope from his lower back.
"Since you are so smart, I will take care of you. I will try to be gentle when I tie you up with the hemp rope later."
After saying that, Naganosuke walked towards Atachi holding the hemp rope.
After taking two steps forward and coming to a distance of just over one step from Atsumi, Atsumi suddenly... smiled.
"The strongest weapon of a female kunoichi...it's really useful..."
After muttering this in a voice that only he could hear, Atachi's right foot shook violently!
A kunai fell out of Atachi's kimono and landed next to Atachi's right foot.
Then, Atachi clamped the hilt of the kunai with the big toe and second toe of his right foot, and turned his right leg into a long whip, swinging it from bottom to top towards Naganosuke's face.
The sudden change made Naganosuke's face change drastically and he jumped back subconsciously.
But... it's too late.
Because he looked down on Ating, he didn't pay any attention to Ating's feet from beginning to end.
He had just time to step back half a step when the shuriken caught by Ating's toes pierced his right eye.
“Aaaaaaaaaaa——!”
Naganosuke screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
After blinding one of Naganosuke's eyes, Atachi retracted his kicking foot without any pause, shook off the kunai stuck between his toes, picked up the wakizashi on the ground, and used all his strength to stab the wakizashi in his hand into the vital part of Naganosuke's abdomen.
“Cough… cough… cough cough…!”
Naganosuke vomited a large amount of blood and collapsed to the ground.
He tried to stop the blood gushing out from the wound in his abdomen.
But it was futile for him to do so. With such severe damage to his vital parts, there was no way to save him given the medical standards of that era.
"Your inference just now was correct. I am indeed a female kunoichi from Shiranui."
Atachi pulled out another kunai hidden in the "kimono waist bag" on her lower back.
"Do you know what our female ninja's most powerful weapon is?"
A-Ming smiled and patted his chest gently.
"Many people always think that the most powerful weapon of a female ninja like me is our body that can disturb other people's minds."
"But in fact - beauty is not our strongest weapon as female ninjas."
"Our strongest weapon...is the world's arrogance towards women."
After saying that, Atachi stabbed the kunai in his hand towards Naganosuke's neck.
With fear in his eyes, Naganosuke begged for mercy:
"Wait a minute..."
laugh!
Before he could even finish a complete sentence, the kunai in A-Machi's hand pierced his throat.
"Don't... underestimate the female kunoichi...!"
Atachi twisted the shuriken that had pierced Naganosuke's throat with force, making Naganosuke die without being able to die.