Togo looked at Yuhachiro's body, whose forehead was chopped off and whose face was covered in blood, with a look of pity on his face.
——What an idiot…
Dongxiang said in his heart.
——He didn't use his good musket and insisted on fighting hand-to-hand with Ogata Ittosai.
——But this idiot’s death was still worthwhile.
——At least he proved that Ogata Ittosai’s strength is far beyond our expectations.
In order to facilitate management and command, each unit participating in tonight's "Osaka Spring Campaign and Suppression Operation" has its own number, and the number name is "X Group".
The unit number led by Togo is Group 7.
Just now, after seeing the red fireworks, Togo hurriedly took his 7th unit to the location where the fireworks were set off.
As a result, after arriving at the scene, which was the bank of a canal, Togo saw the members of the 3rd Division.
Division 3 - A unit led by Uohachiro, who has no special skills other than swimming and killing people in the water.
When he met Uohachiro's 3rd team, Togo was stunned.
Because Yuhachiro was dead.
He was hit in the forehead with a knife and his head was chopped off. The members of Team 3 were not good at swimming, and they just pulled him out of the river.
Togo questioned the members of the 3rd Division in detail and found out how Uohachiro died.
Togo didn't know how to comment on the cause of Uohachiro's death.
Togo found it hard to understand why he didn't use his flintlock rifles or his many subordinates and insisted on fighting Ogata one-on-one.
Togo knew that Yuhachiro was a person who was keen on competing with others, but Togo did not expect Yuhachiro to be so keen.
The person is dead, and there is no point in blaming him for being stupid.
Togo, who was kneeling beside Uohachiro's body, quickly recited a few reincarnation spells in his mind, then slowly stood up.
As soon as he stood up——
laugh--!
In the northwest, red fireworks appeared in the sky somewhere downstream of the canal not far from here .
Dongxiang turned around and murmured, "Did Shura escape there... It's quite close to here."
"Hey, from Team 3."
Togo turned and shouted to Uohachiro's men.
"I order under the 'wartime command authority': you will temporarily follow my command."
Wartime command authority - an authority shared by commanders of all units.
This power includes: in case of war emergency, the commander may temporarily incorporate the remnants of the remaining troops according to the battle situation.
When Togo shouted out the words "wartime command authority", everyone in the 3rd Division straightened their expressions.
"You, you, you. The three of you are responsible for carrying Uohachiro's body back to the main camp."
"The rest of you, follow me! Let's go after Shura together!"
"We can't let Shura get away no matter what!"
The members of Group 3 had been worried about the loss of their backbone since Uohachiro's death . Togo's voice came like timely rain, which calmed all the members of Group 3.
"yes!"
After responding in unison, the three people who were just named by Togo to carry Yuhachiro's body back to the main camp, took turns to move Yuhachiro's body onto the cart they had just found, while the rest of the people lined up in a neat queue in front of Togo.
Looking at the almost intact 3rd unit in front of him, Togo nodded with satisfaction.
——The people in Group 3, plus the people in Group 7 of mine… a total of 89 people.
——Haha, with such combat power, there is no need to be afraid even if we encounter the shogunate army of thousands of people.
The corners of Dongxiang's mouth curled up in a proud arc.
"Everyone follow me!"
With a powerful wave of his hand, Togo led Team 3 and Team 7 and hurried towards the area where the red fireworks had just been set off.
…
…
Osaka, southwest of Osaka Castle——
"Oh... in that direction..."
Just now, after a gorgeous "red flower" bloomed in the northwest sky, Zuoemon captured this beautiful scene in time.
After watching the entire process of this "red flower" blooming and withering, Zuoemon felt both happy and annoyed.
Just after completing the mission of "clearing Osaka Castle" and walking out of Osaka Castle, preparing to launch "Plan B" against Ogata, he saw red fireworks at the standard Ogata position - this made Soemon very happy.
However, the location of the red fireworks was on the northwest horizon...quite far away from Soemon - much to Soemon's chagrin.
“How annoying… How come they are so far away from me…” Soemon scratched his head, “By the time I get there, Shura will have already escaped, or been killed by someone else…”
"Well, let's go over and take a look first."
…
…
Except for those troops that were so far away that they could not see the fireworks at all, the rest of the troops basically discovered the "red flower" that had just bloomed at the first opportunity.
All the troops have now almost completed their respective tasks of destroying various important facilities and places in Osaka.
In other words...all the troops have now been deployed to encircle and suppress Ogata.
They all saw the "red flower" almost at the same time, and rushed to the place where the "red flower" appeared from all directions.
Some of them were grinning smugly.
They thought that as hunters, they had successfully tightened the encirclement and would soon be able to catch and kill the prey.
But they don’t know that the identities of hunter and prey are often interchangeable.
…
…
“Is this where the poor live?”
Dongxiang, which is closest to the "red flower", was the fastest to reach the place where the "red flower" appeared.
He now has Group 3 and Group 7 under his command. He is frowning and looking around at the low, dilapidated houses in front of him.
From the condition of the houses, it is not difficult to tell that this is where the poor of Osaka live. The low, dilapidated houses are arranged tightly and densely. The overly dense arrangement of houses makes people feel uncomfortable when they see it.
There is not a single resident to be seen here now; they have probably all been frightened away by the fires that are now spreading all over Osaka and have fled for their lives.
——The fireworks just now were undoubtedly set off in this place.
——Did Ogata Ittosai escape to this place? This place is indeed suitable for hiding...
——By the way, where is the ninja who set off the fireworks just now? Isn't he here? Was he killed?
——Forget it, it’s more important to find Shura as soon as possible.
——The roads here are very narrow. If so many people move together, not only will the efficiency of movement and search be extremely low, but it will also be very easy for them to get in each other's way...
——We must act separately...
——If we form a group of 30 people... the fighting power should be enough. In this way, even if any group encounters Shura, they don’t need to be afraid of him...
After careful calculations and thinking through the situation in his mind, Togo made up his mind and gave a clear order to the 3rd and 7th squads, which he was now in charge of:
"Twenty-nine of you follow me. The remaining sixty will split into two groups of thirty each. Search this place!"
"Remember to cheer up!"
"Shura might be hiding somewhere in this place right now!"
"Hold your guns tight!"
"Once you find someone who looks like Shura, shoot them dead immediately."
Under Togo's orders, the members of Units 3 and 7 quickly divided into groups and rushed towards the "slum area" in front of them from all directions.
…
…
The team led by Dongxiang himself conducted the search very quickly.
In a short while, they advanced deep into the neighborhood.
They were now walking on a long, narrow path.
This is a long and extremely narrow path that can only accommodate 4 people walking side by side.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, each of them looking in a different direction as they slowly moved forward, searching every dark alley and house along the way.
The streets are too quiet...
The target of pursuit is very likely lurking somewhere here...
I had to raise my spirits and scan every corner around me...
All of these things have increased everyone's psychological pressure and made them nervous.
At a time when everyone's nerves were already tense——
Ding!
In a dark alley behind the team, there was a crisp sound of something falling.
Everyone was startled by the noise.
Dongxiang quickly signaled the entire team to stop immediately.
The soldiers walking at the end of the team were startled by the sudden noise. They quickly turned around and pointed their guns in the direction where the strange noise came from.
The black holes of the gun muzzles looked like grinning jackals.
Under the watchful eyes of these "jackals"——
Squeak, squeak, squeak…
A rat jumped out from the dark alley where the strange noise came from.
The mouse ran to the center of the long aisle behind the queue, glanced at the soldiers who were pointing their flintlock muskets at it, then spread out its four little paws and fled into the darkness beside it.
"What... it's a mouse..."
"It was just a false alarm..."
"My gun almost went off."
…
The soldiers at the back of the line put away their guns and criticized or teased the mouse that had scared them just now, either complaining or jokingly.
"It would be great if the rat just now was Shura." A broad-headed soldier standing at the side and back of the team whispered to his companions in a joking tone, "In this way, we can kill him quickly and complete our mission..."
bass--!
A cold light suddenly shone from the chest of this broad-headed warrior.
It's a katana.
Behind the broad-foreheaded soldier was a short and old house.
At this moment, a katana stabbed out from the room of this private house.
Pierce the door and connect it to the heart of the broad-foreheaded warrior who has his back to the house!
"Puff...!" The words that Kuantoumen hadn't finished saying turned into a sound of spitting blood.
Handfuls of blood spurted out from Kuantou's mouth and the wound on his chest, splashing all over the companion he had just been talking to.
After piercing Kuantoumen's chest, the sword was suddenly pulled back and taken into the house.
Under the effect of inertia, the man with the broad forehead flew backwards, smashing the dilapidated door and crashing heavily into the house, splashing up a cloud of dust.
The sudden change scared the surrounding soldiers.
The four soldiers closest to the broad-headed soldier all held their guns and rushed into the civilian house where the katana had suddenly "grown" out and pierced the broad-headed soldier's chest, and then "swallowed" the broad-headed soldier.
Although their vision was obscured by the flying dust, the four soldiers who rushed into the room first could still barely see the scene inside.
This was an extremely shabby house, and the number of decent pieces of furniture in it could be counted on one hand.
The wide-headed man who had just been "swallowed" into the house was now lying on the ground in a "big" shape, with broken pieces of the wooden door under him.
His pupils were dilated, he was breathing out more air than he was breathing in, and it was obvious that he was beyond help.
The four soldiers who rushed into the house looked around the house - there was nothing else in the house except those broken furniture, and no one was there...
"What's going on? What's going on?"
"Kotaro was killed!"
"Was he killed by Shura?"
"No, I don't know. There's no one in the house."
"Did he escape?"
Dongxiang was the first to learn the whole story of Kuantoumen's murder.
As soon as Dongxiang finished listening to the report, a soldier next to him stammered:
"Hey, hey, could it be that he was killed by some unclean creature? I was born in Osaka, and I heard that in Osaka, at night, a kind of monster that feeds on human flesh will walk the streets..."
Before the soldier could finish his words, Dongxiang immediately rebuked him:
"Don't talk nonsense. Even if there really are monsters, what's there to be afraid of? We have Western firearms! Even if big monsters like Otakemaru, Shuten-doji, and the Nine-tailed Demon Fox come, we can blow them into pieces."
The inexplicable death of Broad Forehead caused the remaining 29 people in the group to have more or less panic on their faces.
Death is often not the scariest thing.
The most chilling thing is the inexplicable death.
"Be alert! Be alert!" Dongxiang shouted, "The murderer is undoubtedly Shura! Everyone..."
He hadn't finished speaking yet -
laugh!
The exact same scene as what just happened happened again.
Another house "spit out" a katana, which pierced the chest of a warrior closest to this house.
The house is like the mouth of a giant beast.
The katana was like the tongue of this giant beast.
After successfully catching its prey, the predatory tongue suddenly retracted into the mouth, and the warrior flew backwards like the wide forehead just now and was "swallowed" into the mouth.
The scene was so horrifying that a certain soldier screamed subconsciously.
"Quick! Get in there! Shoot if you see Shura!"
Togo quickly ordered the soldiers closest to the house to rush into the house and capture Ogata.
The low firing rate of the flintlock meant that every shot was precious, and one could not fire indiscriminately before seeing the enemy.
The five soldiers closest to the house entered one after another with flintlock rifles.
The soldier who ran the fastest and rushed into the house first had just stepped into the house when he saw a black shadow descending from the top of the door frame inside the house and landing on his head.
Ka La!
The soldier heard the sound of bones being crushed.
And this cracking sound... came from his neck.
He saw the world in front of him turn upside down, and for the first time in his life, he saw the scene behind him from a straight perspective.
And then... nothing happened.
The darkness invaded my vision at an astonishing speed, and my body quickly lost consciousness.
…
…
[Ding! Use Shiranui Style Ninjutsu and Shiranui Style Jujutsu to kill the enemy.]
[Gain 80 personal experience points, 80 experience points for Ninjutsu "Shiranui Style Ninjutsu"]
[Current personal level: Lv40 (3810/6400)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 8th Stage (7280/7500)]
Falling from the door frame, Ogata clamped the head of the soldier who entered the room first with his legs, then turned his head 180 degrees, and landed back to the ground steadily with a neat movement.
His body was in extremely bad condition due to the "Immortal Poison".
My body aches all over, my temperature is still rising, and my head hurts and feels swollen.
Although his body was in great pain, Ogata felt that his spirit was refreshed.
Because he could finally give a good response to these unidentified enemies.
Tonight, I was inexplicably attacked by this guy over and over again.
Thanks to these bastards, not only did he not get his sword back, he couldn't return to Ating, and he also had a wound on his leg that still hurts today.
There are almost no extraneous thoughts in Ogata's mind now.
He now had only one thought.
revenge.
A satisfying revenge.
After Ogata used Shiranui-ryu Jutsu to kill the first warrior who entered the house, the other four warriors walking behind this warrior who were about to enter the house were subconsciously startled.
At this time, Ogata's attack had already been launched.
Ogata did not draw his sword.
But punch.
Ogata, holding a sword in his right hand, clenched his left hand into a fist and punched the chest of the second soldier to enter the room.
Use your strength!
Bang!
The fist, empowered by his strength, hit the man's chest directly.
Even though he is in poor condition now, Ogata's strength is far beyond the level of ordinary people.
Strength + a level that is far beyond that of ordinary people = this person cannot die any more.
The feeling of broken bones spread to Ogata's fist.
The soldier, with a large dent in his chest, flew backwards like a cannonball, and hit three other soldiers behind him like dominoes. The four of them lined up in a neat row, flew out of the door, and fell heavily in the middle of the road.
[Ding! Use the unarmed combat technique, Iga-ryu forbidden technique, to kill the enemy.]
[Gain 70 points of personal experience and 60 points of unarmed combat "Iga-ryu forbidden technique" experience]
[Current personal level: Lv40 (3880/6400)]
[Iga-ryu forbidden technique level: 3rd stage (60/800)]
Flying out with them was Ogata.
In his right hand, Ogata held the brand new katana he had just exchanged from Ishikawa, and in his left hand he held the flintlock rifle he had taken from the warrior he had killed with his Shiranui-ryu jutsu.
Ogata "flew" out of the house at a speed as if flying at low altitude, and "landed" in front of a certain soldier.
While landing, Ogata did not forget to use the potential energy of gravity to strike the soldier's forehead hard, directly smashing his forehead.
He swung the knife with his right hand to smash the head of the enemy in front of him, and with his left hand, he aimed the muzzle of the flintlock in his hand at the chest of an enemy beside him.
Bang!
Without even looking at the man who had been shot, Ogata turned the flintlock in his left hand and pointed the muzzle at the other soldier.
Although these enemies now carry no weapons other than muskets, making it impossible for Ogata to change his sword, he has now changed his mind.
Since there are no knives to steal, let’s steal their guns!
In addition to shooting, muskets have many other uses.
For example, it can be used directly as a pistol.
Ogata thrust the muzzle of the empty flintlock rifle in his hand into the mouth of an enemy beside him with brute force.
The muzzle of the gun directly poked the man's lips, knocked off several teeth including his front teeth, and went deep into the man's throat, and then left the gun in the man's mouth.
The soldier who was unfortunate enough to have his mouth pierced by a musket rolled his eyes and was only breathing out but no breathing in.
There is no terrain that would be more restrictive for the musketeers than this narrow road.
The soldiers tried to distance themselves from Ogata so that they could shoot at him.
But they have legs, and Ogata also has legs.
Ogata dodged to the side of another warrior, then pulled out the wakizashi with his left hand and pierced the man's chest.
Ogata stabbed the man's chest with his wakizashi, used him as a shield, and launched a shield charge at the enemy in front of him.
Ogata's "Shield Charge" was a sharp blow that poured all his strength into it, and the enemies standing in front of him were knocked down or flew away one by one.
Because he was striking with all his strength, Ogata's impact speed was extremely fast.
In just a moment, Obe rushed to Togo with the soldier.
Togo's face was now filled with fear.
When he saw Ogata staring at this human shield and rushing towards him, he subconsciously wanted to escape.
But Ogata's speed was much faster than his.
He had just taken two steps back when Ogata had already rushed to the position where his katana could chop him down.
The sword light shot up into the sky.
The tip of the katana chopped from Dongxiang's chin all the way to the top of his head.
The last scene that Togo saw in his life was Ogata's cold eyes.
Looking at these chilling eyes, Togo couldn't help but recall that he had never seen Ogata's strength before, so he thought that each group of 30 people would be strong enough to deal with Ogata, so he confidently divided his troops into three groups...