The bamboo hat on Ogata's head and the mask on his face had been washed away by the current when he was dueling with Uohachiro in the water just now.
Therefore, Ogata is now in a "purely bare-faced" state.
Ogata, who was in a "purely bare-faced" state, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and then looked fixedly at the old friend in front of him.
"Ishikawa...sama...?"
…
…
Osaka, Osaka Castle——
The current state of the once majestic Osaka Castle is... extremely bleak.
The four entrances and exits were blasted open by cannons, and the Toyotomi soldiers rushed into Osaka Castle from all directions , wantonly slaughtering every Tokugawa samurai who appeared in their sight.
Attack the unprepared with the prepared.
Use the majority to defeat the minority.
A battle where the outcome is no doubt.
Although the resistance of the Tokugawa samurai who were responsible for guarding Osaka Castle was heroic, facing the flintlock rifles of the Toyotomi samurai, their resistance was only brave but not effective.
But even so, it still took the Toyotomi army a long time to completely clear Osaka Castle.
After all, Osaka Castle is so large that it would take a lot of time just to walk around it.
"Hey, have you found the 'senior councilor' Matsudaira Sadanobu and the 'Osaka castle lord' Horita Masahiro?"
In a corridor of Osaka Castle, Saemon Uemon, who was in charge of leading the troops to attack Osaka, was carrying his large naginata and asked this to a subordinate in front of him who was covered in blood.
"No." The subordinate replied, "We have searched every corner of Osaka Castle, but we can't find any trace of Matsudaira Sadanobu and Horita Masahiro, nor can we find any secret passages."
Soemon curled his lips and said, "Did they still get away? Never mind. They are not important. Toyotomi-sama gave me the order to catch them. It would be best if I could catch them. It doesn't matter if I can't."
"Send a message to everyone - withdraw the troops. Withdraw from Osaka Castle and assemble in the southwest of Osaka Castle."
"yes!"
"Also - tell everyone not to let their guard down just because Osaka Castle has fallen."
Zuoemon raised his eyebrows and smiled.
"We still have a big battle to fight next, 'Exterminate Shura'."
"Shura might be even harder to deal with than Osaka Castle."
Just now, Soemon also received an order: to launch "Plan B" to encircle and suppress Ogata.
When Zuoemon received the message just now, he was extremely excited.
"Capture Osaka Castle", this task is much easier and more boring than Soemon imagined.
Therefore, when he learned that "Plan B" had been launched, Zuoemon quickly issued orders: speed up the cleansing of Osaka Castle, and anyone who dares to slack off will be executed on the spot.
He couldn't wait to join the encirclement and suppression operation against Ogata.
After watching his subordinate leave, Soemon raised his large palm-leaf fan-like hand and scratched the back of his head, then muttered in a voice that only he could hear:
"Lord Toyotomi is really strange... He requested that all facilities and places related to the Edo Shogunate, such as the Osaka Magistrate's Office and the Dojima Rice Market, be burned down, but he only asked to leave this Osaka Castle, and ordered me to keep Osaka Castle intact as much as possible."
"I really want to set fire to this Osaka Castle... It would be a spectacular sight to burn down such a majestic castle...!"
Soemon smacked his lips, a look of deep regret on his face.
Suddenly, very abruptly——
"Saemon Uemon Saemon-sama."
A cold female voice that reminded one of ice sounded behind Soemon.
Hearing the sudden female voice coming from behind him, Soemon remained calm.
It was as if he had known that there was someone behind him.
Zuoemon turned his head and looked at the woman who had appeared behind him at some point and was now kneeling on one knee on the ground.
To be more precise, it was a beautiful woman wearing an Iga kunoichi uniform.
"Master Jiku sent me to warn you."
Not only was there no emotion in the voice of this female ninja, there was also no emotion on her beautiful face. She spoke slowly and expressionlessly in her cold voice.
"After the fall of Osaka Castle, every cannon must be returned to the main camp intact."
"Ah... you're here to remind me to return the cannon..." Soemon pulled the corners of his mouth downward and stretched out his fingers to pick at his ears. "Yoshihisa is as nagging as ever..."
"I know these cannons are valuable, but is it necessary to send someone to remind me to return the cannons intact to the main camp?..."
"Hey, Kunoichi, you've arrived just in time. I've just cleared out Osaka Castle."
"Go back to the main camp and tell Yoshihisa: I, Saemon, Uemon, and Soemon, have been informed of your reminder. Osaka Castle has been cleared, and I will immediately send people to transport all these cannons back to the main camp by horse."
After he finished speaking, Zuoemon waved his hand, indicating that the female ninja could leave.
The kunoichi lowered her head, bowed to Soemon, and slowly stood up.
But just as she was about to turn and leave, Zuoemon suddenly raised his eyebrows.
"Hmm? Wait a minute."
The female ninja turned her body back after turning halfway.
After examining the face of the kunoichi in front of him for a while with the eyes of an archaeologist examining archaeological relics, Soemon smiled with his eyes narrowed into slits.
"No wonder you look so familiar."
"I remember you."
"You are the First Light, right?"
"The child who was picked up and adopted by that guy Jijiu because he was too talented."
"I am truly humbled that you actually remember me, sir." The female kunoichi... or rather, the first light, said calmly.
If there were any "fans" of Chu Guang here now, they would definitely be shocked.
The "No. 1 Geisha in Osaka" who was sacred and unattainable in their eyes was now dressed in such a shameless manner.
The upper body is like a sleeveless kimono, revealing all the skin on the arms, and the lower body is like a short skirt, covering only about half of the thighs, with black leggings that wrap around the entire calves, and black socks and black straw sandals on the feet - this is the style of Iga's female ninja uniform, and it is also what Chuguang is wearing now.
Although the exposure of Iga's kunoichi uniforms is not as good as the Shiranui kunoichi uniforms that expose the entire back and the skin of both arms, they are still far better than ordinary women's clothing of this era.
"The reason why I was so impressed by you is because I remember that Jijiu always had a preference for you."
Soemon shrugged.
"If I remember correctly, until tonight, you have been hiding in Shinmachi, Osaka, as a musician, collecting intelligence for the Toyotomi clan, right?"
"In fact, with your appearance, the most suitable disguise and hiding place for you is a prostitute or a prostitute."
"With your looks and temperament, you can easily become the most popular headliner in any entertainment venue."
"From the perspective of efficiency in gathering intelligence, it is easier to gather useful intelligence by disguising yourself as a popular prostitute."
"But Jiku didn't do that."
"He didn't ask you to disguise yourself as a prostitute. Instead, he asked you to disguise yourself as a prostitute who doesn't need to sell her body and has an easier life."
"From the current situation, in this grand battle tonight, Jijiu still favors you."
"Since you are here to deliver a message to me, that means your mission tonight is to serve as a 'messenger'."
"Instead of sending you to such a dangerous mission, you were sent to be a 'messenger' which is relatively safer. This shows how much Yoshihisa likes you."
"With your status, it's obviously a waste of your talent to use you as a 'messenger'."
In response to Soemon's words, Hatsumitsu kept a blank expression.
She listened expressionlessly.
There was a hint of... impatience hidden between his brows.
"Oh? You don't like this topic?" After noticing that Hatsumitsu had a blank expression on his face, Zuoemon laughed a few times. "Since you don't like it, I won't talk about it anymore."
Then, Soemon waved to Hatsumitsu.
"Okay, go back to the main camp and convey everything I just said to Yoshihisa."
Chu Guang responded with a low "yes", then lowered his center of gravity and ran to the end of the corridor behind her.
In the blink of an eye, she completely disappeared from Soemon's sight.
"Alright..." Zuoemon stretched his body vigorously, "I should leave Osaka Castle soon..."
Soemon carried his large naginata and walked leisurely towards the southwest exit of Osaka Castle.
After passing through several corridors, Zuoemon came to a place...the "Bloody Mill".
This is a corridor filled with dead bodies.
There were 10 bodies lying in this not-so-long corridor.
A small-scale battle just broke out here.
The Tokugawa samurai who were responsible for guarding Osaka Castle met the Toyotomi samurai who were attacking Osaka Castle in this corridor.
The battle...or rather the one-sided massacre, began.
This unavoidable corridor is the most advantageous terrain for the musketeers.
Without exception, the 10 bodies in the corridor were all samurai responsible for guarding Osaka Castle.
The air was still filled with a faint smell of gunpowder and gunpowder smoke.
The blood flowing from their bodies dyed the floor of the corridor dark red.
Ignoring the corpses in the corridor and the bloodstains on the ground, Zuoemon continued walking leisurely along the corridor.
Just at this moment!
Just as Soemon reached the middle of the bloody corridor, a pile of corpses behind him moved.
Immediately afterwards, a blood-stained corpse was gently carried away.
A pair of eyes filled with deep hatred appeared from the shadows between this corpse and the one below him.
He stared at Soemon who was still walking leisurely.
—He didn’t notice me…
——This is a good opportunity...
——Even if I die, I will drag a thief down with me...!
A young warrior who had been shot in the abdomen and whose cheeks had turned extremely pale due to severe blood loss crept out from the pile of corpses.
The young samurai's name was "Ichiro Ari" and he was one of the guards responsible for guarding Osaka.
In the encounter that just happened in this corridor, he was unfortunately shot through the abdomen.
But he was very lucky - the bullet did not hit his vital parts, so he did not die immediately.
He remained in a coma.
He has been in a coma until now.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Soemon strolling in the corridor.
Although he did not die instantly like his other companions, You Jing knew that he was only barely alive now. He had lost too much blood and would not live long.
Knowing that his death was near, Arii looked at Soemon with hatred.
Just die! Even if I die, I have to drag someone down with me—this was the only thought left in Youjing's mind.
Soemon didn't seem to notice Arii, who was now tiptoeing out from the pile of corpses behind him, and continued walking forward on his own.
Seeing that Zuoemon didn't notice him, Youjing felt more confident.
Slow down your breathing.
Clenching the knife in hand.
With steps that made no sound, she slowly approached Soemon from behind.
——8 steps...7 steps...6 steps...
As he approached Soemon, he counted the distance between him and Soemon.
With every step he took towards Soemon, Arisui's breathing became heavier.
——5 steps...4 steps...3 steps...!
Youjing's feet paused.
The resentment, fear, and tension that are suppressed in my heart burst out at this moment!
"Thief! Die!"
Arisui put all his remaining strength into his hind legs, pushed off the ground hard, and flew over the remaining three steps between him and Soemon in one breath.
laugh!
The feeling of the blade piercing the flesh was transmitted to Youjing's palms.
——Success!
His knife pierced Soemon's back accurately, piercing his vitals, and then came out from his chest.
A happy smile blossomed on Youjing's cheeks - but this happy smile only lasted for a moment before it froze and slowly dissipated.
Because he saw... Zuoemon slowly turned his head with an expressionless face and looked at him with admiration.
"Even if I die, I will drag another enemy down with me."
"I admire your courage."
"It's worth it that I've been waiting for you to rush over."
"Since you have such courage, I will leave your body intact."
Youjing's mouth opened uncontrollably.
His face turned even paler than before.
"No... impossible..." Youjing murmured, "I should... have pierced your vitals... "
You Jing probably didn't expect that these words would be his last words.
call!
The last image Arisui saw in his life... was a giant naginata falling from the sky.
Phew!
Like cutting a watermelon, Soemon used his large naginata to chop off Aoi's head.
Youjing's head split from forehead to throat, split into two neat halves.
"Hmm... having a knife pierce my body, it really hurts..."
While shaking off the blood remaining on the large naginata, Soemon pulled out the sword that pierced his body.
The moment the knife was pulled out of his body, a strange and chilling scene appeared on Zuoemon's body.
I saw many red blood threads "growing" on Zuoemon's wound.
These red blood threads intertwined with each other, and in a short while, the huge penetrating wound on Soemon's body was healed to its original state.
"Didn't expect that?"
Zuoemon threw the drawn knife aside and spoke to Arisui's body in a joking tone.
"Just piercing my abdomen is not enough to kill me."
…
…
Osaka, somewhere——
"The wound on your leg is not deep, but it is not shallow either." The old man kneeling beside Ogata carefully examined the wound on Ogata's leg. "I don't have any medicine with me now, only some linen cloth..."
"Anyway, let me bandage your wound with linen to stop the bleeding."
After saying that, the old man opened a large package beside him and took out a roll of linen from it.
"You need to find a skilled doctor to treat your injury, otherwise you will be left with an ugly scar on your leg."
"Haha, it doesn't matter. I have so many scars on my body anyway." Ogata said half-jokingly, "One more scar or one less scar, it doesn't matter to me."
Ogata had already taken off his original clothes that were soaked with river water.
He has now changed into a set of clean and dry clothes, but they are a little too small for him.
The set of dry clothes he was wearing was provided to him by the old man in front of him.
"...Thank you very much, Lord Ishikawa." Ogata expressed his sincere gratitude to the old man in front of him who was bandaging his wound.
"Hahaha." The old man laughed.
In response to Ogata's thanks, the old man smiled and nodded without saying much.
Looking at the old man, Ou Fang asked slowly with doubt:
"Lord Ishikawa, why are you here?"
This old man was none other than Ishikawa Heima, the owner of Ishikawa Sword Hall, which was a competitor of Sakakibara Sword Hall when Sakakibara Sword Hall was still in existence.
This was the first time Ogata had met someone from his hometown since leaving the Hirose Domain.
Although Ogata had some unpleasant experiences with Toyama and others from Ishikawa Sword Hall, he had no ill feelings towards the owner of Ishikawa Sword Hall.
Not only did he not have any ill feelings towards Ishikawa Heima, he even had some respect for him.
All the troubles that Yuanshan caused were done without the knowledge of Ishikawa Heima.
Ishikawa, who didn't want to make a big deal out of it or cause trouble, tried his best to dissuade and scold Toyama and others from looking for trouble, but he was completely unable to control Toyama and others.
"Hehe..." Ishikawa laughed awkwardly, "Ogata-kun, before that, can you tell me first - have you ever seen Itagaki? That Itagaki Shichigoro, do you remember him?"
Ogata: "Shichigoro Itagaki?"
When Ogata heard the name "Itagaki Shichigoro", his expression was immediately stunned.
Ogata naturally remembered who Itagaki was.
The first person Ogata killed after arriving in the Edo period - one of Toyama's younger brothers.
When Toyama and others went to Sakakibara Sword Hall and the izakaya where Ogata worked to cause trouble for Ogata, Itagaki was the one who led the team to the izakaya where Ogata worked.
After failing to find Ogata in the pub, Itagaki shamelessly beat up Asaki and Afuku, mother and daughter .
Later, when Ogata attacked Ishikawa Swordsman to avenge his fellow apprentices in the swordsmanship hall and the mother and daughter Asaki and Afuku in the izakaya, Ogata specifically took care of Itagaki and beat him half to death.
Since then, the seriously injured Itagaki has been recuperating at home. Because of this, after beating Itagaki half to death, Ogata never saw him again.
"No." Ogata shook his head. "After I beat him severely, I never saw him again."
"I see... so he hasn't found you yet..."
Ishikawa's face showed an expression that seemed to be both regretful and fortunate.
"Ogata-kun, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me... I left Hirose Domain this time just to find Itagaki and the others."
"Not long after you escaped from the clan, Itagaki escaped from the clan along with several other people from my sword hall who also respected Toyama."
"Before they escaped from the clan, they sent a letter to the sword hall. The letter said: We are going to find Ogata Yisei to avenge Senior Brother Yuanshan. We will never return home until we get the head of this thief."
"When I first received the letter from Itagaki and his team... I was very upset..."
Ishikawa gave a wry smile.
"I had only one thought at the time: I am a complete failure as a teacher."
"Tell Yuanshan not to escalate the dispute - Yuanshan didn't listen to me."
"After Toyama lost his life in the Shinto martial arts performance because he didn't listen to my advice, I advised Itagaki and others to stop doing stupid things - but Itagaki and others didn't listen to me either."
"If I were a master who could discipline my students well... perhaps this series of disputes and tragedies would not have happened."
"From the source, the disputes between you and Yuanshan were all caused by Yuanshan's fault."
"Because of Yuanshan's mistake, one tragedy after another has occurred like a chain reaction."
"I don't want any more people to get hurt or even die because of this dispute where Yuanshan was at fault first."
"If I just let Itagaki and the others continue to be stubborn, then I will have failed miserably as their master."
"So I closed my Ishikawa Sword Hall, left the Hirose Domain, and went looking for Itagaki and the others."
"I don't know where Itagaki and the others went to find you, so I can only look for you aimlessly."
"I came to Osaka about a month ago."
"This place is one of the places where poor people in Osaka live."
Ishikawa stretched out his finger and pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
"There is a very cheap inn here. Here, that house, do you see it? That house is the inn where I have been staying lately."
Ishikawa nodded towards a two-story wooden house not far away that looked like a dangerous building.
"Because I don't have much money left, I have been living in that cheap hotel for a while."
"Now there are fires and gunfires everywhere in Osaka for unknown reasons, so the residents here are all scared and running away."
"I didn't plan to flee with the people here because I observed the location of the fires. Each fire was quite far away from here and the fire might not necessarily burn here, so I didn't leave here with the residents here."
"But just now, I realized I had to run."
"The speed and scope of the fire's spread far exceeded my imagination."
"A neighborhood not too far from here has been affected by the fire."
"It would be dangerous to stay here any longer, so I quickly left the hotel and prepared to escape to a safe place."
"As a result, I just left the hotel and ran into you, all wet."
"Fate is such a strange thing... I never thought I would meet you before Itagaki and the others."