"Looking for...Ogata Ittosai?" Chu Guang was stunned.
"Ogata Ittosai is a person that Lord Toyotomi personally ordered to be killed."
Jijiu withdrew his gaze from Hatsumitsu and looked back out the window.
"However, the current campaign against Ogata Ittosai is not going well."
"Ogata Ittosai's strength far exceeds our expectations."
"Soemon and his men have searched all along the river where Ogata Ittosai fell, but they haven't found any trace of him yet."
"If he escapes from Osaka, it will be troublesome. We won't know where to look for him again."
"So I decided to mobilize some ninjas to join the search for Ogata Ittosai."
"And Chu Guang, you are one of the new members."
"Good job, Chuguang."
"If possible, try to achieve some results."
Jijiu paused at this point, then turned his gaze from the window to Hatsumitsu.
"Recently, many people have been critical of you."
"He said, 'Hatsumitsu was raised by Yoshikyu-sama and was personally taught by Yoshikyu-sama, but he hasn't achieved anything great until now.'"
"Although such gossip is very offensive to me, I have to admit that what they say does make sense."
"Since you officially joined the organization a year ago, you haven't achieved anything significant."
"You were disguised as a musician and lurking in Osaka, but you never obtained any valuable intelligence for the organization."
"You are my closed-door disciple. It would be really unworthy if you didn't have any achievements to show for yourself."
"So you have to give me your all tonight and do your best to achieve something."
"This way, those idle people who like to gossip can be a little quieter."
"Try to prove to these idle people that you are not just a pretty face."
Yoshihisa, who had always had a cold and expressionless face, now had the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and a hint of smile appeared in Yoshihisa's pupils as the corners of his mouth raised.
"yes!"
Chu Guang lowered his head and spoke respectfully.
"I will definitely fulfill my mission!"
Yoshihisa waved at Hatsumitsu.
"Okay, go down and do something to help search for Ogata Ittosai."
Chu Guang shouted "Yes" again and stood up and left.
As a result, when she had just taken a few steps back, Jijiu seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly called out to Chuguang.
"Hatsugumi, wait."
Chu Guang, not knowing what was going on, knelt on one knee again.
"Don't let that crazy woman Lao know that I have transferred some ninjas to join the search for Ogata Ittosai."
Jijiu raised his hand and rubbed his brow.
"That crazy woman just came to my place to make trouble..."
"He said he wanted to join the search for Ogata Ittosai and that he wanted to serve Lord Toyotomi as soon as possible."
"It's hilarious... She's a lunatic who can do nothing but kill people. If she were to go look for Ogata Ittosai, the only help she could provide would be to make things worse."
"Anyway, don't let her know that I've sent more people to search for Ogata Ittosai. If she knew, she would definitely come to nag me again. "
After listening to what Yoshihisa said, a slight smile appeared on Chuguang's face.
"Yes. I understand."
"Yeah." Jijiu nodded gently, then waved to Chuguang again.
This time, Chu Guang was not stopped suddenly by Yoshijiu again, and walked out of the room where Yoshijiu was very smoothly.
After Hatsumi left the room where Yoshihisa was, a dramatic scene occurred.
Chu Guang, who had been smiling just now, now had the smile fade away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Returning to his original expressionless look.
…
…
After leaving Yoshihisa's room, Hatsumi walked quickly in the direction away from Ryusuji Temple.
When turning into the only way to leave Longshui Temple, Chu Guang's eyes suddenly lit up.
Because at the end of the road ahead, she saw her old partner: Shibata.
At this time, Shibata was dressed like an Iga ninja.
And this is what he really looks like.
Shibata was originally a member of the Iga Ninja. When Hatsumitsu was lurking in Osaka disguised as a musician, he had been playing the role of "the bodyguard of Osaka's number one geisha" and assisted Hatsumitsu from the side.
He is Chuguang's true partner - both on the surface and in reality.
At this moment, Shibata was talking to a middle-aged man and a person with his right arm hanging on his chest.
The two people who were talking to Shibata were also known to Hatsumitsu.
The former is the owner of Osaka Motomeikan: Yagi Matahachiro.
The latter is a very capable young swordsman named Anyin.
They both have one thing in common: they are both members of the Toyotomi army.
Probably no one would have thought that the famous sword hall Yuanmeikan in Osaka was the base camp of their Toyotomi army's spies.
A large number of Toyotomi army spies disguised themselves as apprentices of Yuanmingguan and lurked in Osaka.
As for these two people, Chu Guang had heard about the embarrassing things they had encountered a few days ago. They received a mission a few days ago - to humiliate the people of Zenmeikan and Shimurakan in the "Grand Test" jointly organized by the four major sword halls in Osaka, namely Genmeikan, Zenhyokan, Shimurakan, and Isshikikan.
This task was personally issued by the commander-in-chief of their Toyotomi army: Toyotomi Nobuhide.
The reason for issuing such a task is very simple.
The first master of Zenhyo-kan had once added insult to injury when the Toyotomi clan was in trouble 200 years ago.
The current owner of Shimura-kan frequently speaks disrespectfully in public and private to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who created the "Toyotomi World" two hundred years ago.
Toyotomi Nobuhide was unhappy with these two sword schools, so he decided to humiliate them in a large-scale event called "Daishihe".
The reason is that simple.
In Chuguang's eyes, such tasks were full of the style of Toyotomi Nobuhide, the madman - doing things at will. Some tasks were completely based on one's own temperament and mood.
Shibata was also involved in this mission at the time.
During the time when he was hiding in Osaka with Hatsumitsu , Shibata had been performing two duties: he was responsible for pretending to be Hatsumitsu's bodyguard and assisting Hatsumitsu, and he was also responsible for pretending to be a disciple of Yuanmingguan and providing assistance to Anyi and others.
Since Shibata was present on the day of the mission, Hatsumitsu later heard the details of the mission from Shibata.
Judging from the results, An Yun and his team's mission was a success - but the price they paid was a little high.
Relying on her super strength, Anyi successfully humiliated both Zenhyokan and Shimurakan in public, but her right clavicle was broken due to various accidents afterwards.
Hatsutsu had heard that Aki had a mission to "find a way to sneak into the prison, and when the battle starts tonight, cooperate with other companions to break into the Osaka prison."
In terms of importance, it is obvious that this mission is far more important than the mission of "humiliating Zenhyokan and Shimurakan".
An Yi's superior seemed to have told An Yi: The task of humiliating Quan and Zhikenkan is important, but it must be ensured that it will not delay the task of "starting an uprising in the prison later."
As a result... because of a broken right clavicle, Anyin's mission to "lurk into the prison" was declared a failure in advance...
After meeting Shibata, some thoughtful gleams appeared in Hatsumitsu's eyes.
These rays of thought flashed in Chu Guang's eyes for a while, and then slowly turned into a firm look.
"Shibata, you showed up at just the right time..."
After mumbling this quietly, Hatsumitsu quickly ran towards Shibata.
As the distance between him and Shibata gradually shortened, Hatsumitsu, with his excellent hearing, slowly heard the conversation between Shibata and Aki and others.
"Mr. Aki, when I heard you say you wanted to challenge Isshikika at the 'Big Test', I was shocked."
Shibata smiled bitterly.
"I was thinking: Is it because the information of the mission I received was incomplete? Our mission should not include humiliating Isshiki Sword Hall."
"Oh, don't mention it."
An Yun curled her lips.
"I have been through many battles, but the number of times I have fought against a 'female swordsman' is very few."
"So after coming to Osaka, I have always wanted to compete with the famous Isshikika."
"And at that time, I happened to have a mission to 'lurk into Osaka Prison and prepare to attack Osaka Prison tonight with the help of internal and external forces.'"
"So I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone: challenge Isshikika and then injure her."
"This way, I can have a good fight with Isshikika, and after injuring her, I can be sent to prison for wounding someone."
"I didn't expect that..."
An Yun glanced at her chest wrapped thickly in sackcloth and her right arm hanging in front of her chest, and her lips twitched.
"...Okay, let's stop chatting." An Yun, looking annoyed, scratched her hair vigorously with her only remaining left hand, "Shibata, I still have things to do, so I'll leave first."
Shibata: "Yeah, see you later."
After saying goodbye to each other, Aki and others left quickly, and Shibata also turned around and was about to leave.
As soon as he turned around, he saw Chu Guang running towards him.
"Ah, Miss Hatsumitsu." After seeing Hatsumitsu, Shibata immediately greeted her with a smile on his face.
"Shibata. Why are you here?" Hatsumitsu asked Shibata, "Shouldn't you be running around the streets of Osaka right now?"
Hatsukimi remembered exactly what Shibata was responsible for tonight - he was responsible for searching for Ogata.
Shibata was one of the "eyes" of the Toyotomi army scattered throughout Osaka.
After the announcement of the launch of "Plan B" to encircle and suppress Ogata, Shibata was the first ninja sent out to find Ogata.
"I got hurt accidentally..." Shibata laughed dryly in shame, then lifted the clothes on his left forearm, revealing the linen cloth that wrapped his left forearm tightly, "I was just searching for Ogata Ittosai in the southwest of Osaka."
"In the end, instead of finding Ogata Ittosai, we encountered a group of ronin."
"Osaka is in chaos right now, and it has given many bad guys opportunities to take advantage of it."
"The ronin I encountered were just that kind of rotten people."
"Now many residents are scared by the fires in Osaka and are fleeing everywhere. They saw this golden opportunity to commit evil and broke into various shops to loot property."
"I couldn't stand their evil deeds, so I went to teach them a lesson."
"You know, my fighting ability is not that good."
"Although I succeeded in teaching them a lesson, I also accidentally injured my left arm."
"So I came back to the main camp to heal my wounds. I just bandaged them."
"So that's how it is... Shibata, you came back at the right time." Chuguang raised his hands and patted Shibata's shoulders hard.
Afterwards, Hatsumitsu looked around and confirmed that there were no outsiders around. She lowered her voice, in a volume that only she and Shibata could hear, and briefly told Shibata the whole process of how she had just been transferred by Yoshihisa to join the search for Ogata.
"Shibata, listen carefully. You and I will act separately now."
Chu Guang spoke in a deep voice, as if chanting some magic spell.
"I will now pretend to follow Yoshihisa's orders and leave this Ryusui Temple to look for Ogata Ittosai."
"And you will leave here one stick of incense later than I do."
"We'll meet up at Miss Isshikika's place later."
…
…
——Hmm…
Ogata, who was resting against the wall, slowly opened his eyelids which were as heavy as rocks.
The first thing that caught his eye was a wooden Buddha statue that had been wiped clean.
The Buddha statue sat quietly on the altar, gazing at Ogata with calm eyes.
After staring at the Buddha statue for a while, Ogata closed his eyes again and said to himself in a joking tone:
——I always feel that... I seem to have a good connection with Buddha...
Ogata is now in an abandoned Buddhist temple.
An abandoned Buddhist temple that he had visited a while ago.
After his battle with Soemon was interrupted when the wooden bridge beneath his feet broke apart, he fell into the turbulent water below the bridge.
To make matters worse, when he fell into the turbulent water, his head accidentally hit a bridge pier.
Ogata's condition was already bad, and after suffering a heavy blow to the head, his body finally couldn't bear the burden and forced him to "take a nap" temporarily.
His sleep was not long.
When he was about to drift to the lower reaches of the river, he finally woke up.
Even when he fell asleep, Ogata's hand was still tightly grasping the knife.
Ogata inserted the only damaged katana in his hand into the river bank nearby and used it as a fulcrum to pull himself ashore.
After getting ashore, the first word that came to Ogata's mind was - heavy.
My body felt so heavy that even standing up was difficult.
To give a more vivid example... it feels like every muscle in the body has become several times heavier...
If Ogata's physical condition was -30 before falling into the turbulence, then his current physical condition is -80.
Even the fatigue after a war would not cause the physical condition to deteriorate so much in one go.
The only reason Ogata could think of was that the "Immortal Poison" was at work.
This outbreak of the "Immortal Poison" is different from all previous outbreaks in every way.
Looking back at every previous outbreak of the "Immortal Poison", there has never been a situation like this where it exploded all at once and caused Ogata's physical condition to deteriorate so much in an instant.
Ogata opened his shirt and looked at his upper body.
He had thought for sure that more of his skin had turned purple.
But the result was beyond Ogata's expectations.
The purple skin did not increase, but decreased.
The area has been reduced by about one-fifth.
However, although the area has become smaller, the color seems to have become slightly darker.
Ogata no longer had any idea what was happening to his body.
The pain and swelling that kept coming out from deep inside his head made it extremely difficult for Ogata to think seriously.
The situation he was in right now also left Ogata with no time to think.
He was in such a state that he could hardly even stand up, and there was no way he could fight against the strong enemy no matter what.
Right now, the only way Ogata could think of to break the impasse was to find a place to hide first, and then take action after the "Immortal Poison" had not eroded his body so severely.
He used his sword as a crutch and dragged his heavy body away from the river bank.
After walking for an unknown distance, Ogata suddenly felt that the surrounding scenery looked strangely familiar...
He turned his eyes, looked around, and tried hard to recall.
After several efforts, he finally remembered when he had been here.
On the day when the "big test" ended, in order to thank Ogata for all his help, Isshikika introduced her "secret base" - an abandoned Buddhist temple - to Ogata.
And this place happens to be near Isshikika's "secret base".
A perfect hiding place—found it.
The remote geographical location of the Buddhist temple left a deep impression on Ogata, and it was an ideal hiding place.
Ogata was already very tired at that time. If he continued to walk forward, he probably wouldn't find a better place to hide than the abandoned temple. So he didn't think too much and headed straight for the abandoned temple.
He is very lucky.
On the two sections of the journey from the river bank to the abandoned Buddhist temple, Ogata did not encounter a single enemy.
He climbed over the window very smoothly, entered the Buddhist hall, and began to rest while leaning against the wall.
He originally wanted to take a rest to recover his physical condition, but he had been resting until now and there was no sign of improvement.
Ogata raised his hand and rubbed his brows vigorously, trying to cheer up his already somewhat dazed spirit.
Although his current situation was extremely bad from any perspective, Ogata's face did not show much negative emotions such as annoyance or boredom.
At this time, Ogata, with a smile on his face, said in his heart in a joking tone:
——Thinking carefully... I have had this feeling of discomfort all over my body before...
——On New Year’s Day this year, when I was making noises with Atachi in the hotel room until dawn, I felt uncomfortable all over my body.
The Buddhist temple where Ogata is hiding now is particularly quiet because of its remote location.
But this silence... was broken by a sudden sound of footsteps.
Snap, snap, snap…
Outside the Buddhist temple, the sound of footsteps approaching the temple at a leisurely pace was heard.
Ogata's expression suddenly became serious and he quickly grabbed the katana beside him.
As soon as he picked up the katana, the only window that could not be locked, located diagonally opposite Ogata, was gently opened at the same time.
A graceful figure walked into the Buddhist hall through the window.
Looking at the beautiful figure climbing in through the window, Ogata, who had originally looked as if he was facing a formidable enemy, was immediately stunned.
The owner of the beautiful figure was also stunned.
A look of surprise first appeared on Ogata's face, and then the surprise quickly turned into astonishment.
"Miss Isshiki...?"
"Ittosai...sir..."
Ogata opened his mouth and was about to say something else.
Plop.
The owner of the beautiful figure... Isshiki Hana threw away the small package in her arms and jumped into Ogata's arms.
"Lord Ittosai..." Isshikika buried her face deeply in Ogata's chest, regardless of his wet clothes.
Ogata clearly felt that the clothes on his chest were being wet by the warm tears.