Goose bumps popped up all over the body.
Cold sweat is oozing out.
The fingers that were originally reaching into his pocket for a lighter and fuse froze.
Then in the next moment, she suddenly turned around and looked at the old man sitting behind her with her pupils as small as pinholes.
The old man leaned on a short gun made of steel, which was only an inch longer than a katana, with both hands, and sat on a gunpowder barrel with his arms and legs spread out, looking at Chu Guang with a calm... or rather, indifferent gaze.
Although he was just sitting in a very ordinary posture, Chu Guang felt as if there was a mountain standing there.
Since when did... the figure of this old man make him feel like an insurmountable mountain.
Since when... the figure of this old man has engraved an indelible fear in me.
Ah, yes.
This old man is her adoptive father.
The old man is her teacher.
This old man was the person she hated most.
This old man was the person she feared most.
After meeting the old man's cold gaze, Chu Guang finally seemed to wake up from a dream. His pupils shrank back to normal size. He took two steps back, increasing the distance between himself and the old man, and pulled out the wakizashi from behind his waist.
"Yoshihisa...!" Chuguang squeezed out the old man's name from between his clenched teeth.
"Nice moves and posture." The old man... or rather, Jijiu, leaned on his pistol and slowly stood up. "As expected... you are the disciple I have devoted all my efforts to train."
Bang!
Yoshihisa stepped on the ground and his body turned into a long afterimage. In a flash, he appeared in front of Chuguang and then stabbed Chuguang with his spear.
As if Chuguang had anticipated Yoshiku's sudden attack, he jumped to the side with a gloomy face and avoided the tip of Yoshiku's spear.
"Wow... you dodged it... I thought your reaction would be slow after playing the role of a geisha for so long in Osaka."
Yoshihisa turned the gun and held it with one hand, launching a new, continuous attack on Hatsumi.
Wow!
The door of the ammunition depot was suddenly thrown open.
The four ninjas who were in charge of guarding the ammunition depot finally heard an unusual noise coming from the depot, and then they opened the door and checked the situation inside.
After seeing Yoshihisa and Hatsumi fighting with Yoshihisa, the four of them were shocked at first, and then they subconsciously wanted to rush over to help Yoshihisa, but Yoshihisa shouted at them:
"Everyone, get out! Get out of here!"
Under Yoshihisa's training, almost all the ninjas in Iga developed the instinct to obey Yoshihisa's orders.
After hearing Yoshihisa's shout, the four ninjas immediately retreated to the door of the ammunition depot like clockwork toys.
"Come on, Chu Guang. Let us, the master and the disciple... have a long-awaited showdown."
As soon as he finished speaking, the stabbing speed of Jijiu's spear tip suddenly increased by several levels.
Chu Guang, who had just been able to dodge Jijiu's attack with his footwork, now no longer had the strength to defend himself.
After more than ten rounds, Chu Guang's body was covered with several wounds, some shallow and some deep.
The severe pain from the wounds all over his body made Chu Guang's eyes slowly reveal a fierce look.
She clenched the knife in her hand and tried to fight back.
But after meeting Yoshihisa's gaze, the fierceness in Chuguang's eyes disappeared by a large margin.
Fragments of past memories flashed quickly before Yu Chuguang's eyes when his eyes met Jijiu's.
A cold face, ruthless words, merciless training, and a strength that is so strong that it is hard to imagine that it can be defeated by human power...
These fragments of memory together make up fear.
Fear of Yoshikyu.
A fear like a rabbit's instinctive fear of an eagle.
This fear made Chu Guang stop involuntarily and break out in a cold sweat every time he wanted to launch a counterattack against Jijiu.
call--!
Jijiu suddenly turned his gun into a whip and smashed the iron gun barrel heavily at Chuguang.
His attack was not powerful, but it was extremely fast, so fast that Chu Guang had no way to avoid it.
With no other options, Hatsumitsu could only raise the wakizashi in his hand.
clang!
The blade and the gun barrel collided heavily.
Strength is not Chu Guang's strong point as a girl.
So the result is naturally obvious.
Unable to withstand Yoshihisa's attack, Chuguang flew back several steps holding the sword that was blocked before falling back to the ground.
Her wakizashi had been bent into a strange shape, and her arms were shaking as if in spasm.
"Tsk..." Hatsumitsu threw away the wakizashi in his hand that was no longer usable, hugged his still trembling arms, struggled to stand up from the ground, and glared at Yoshihisa with vicious eyes.
Although the look that Chu Guang glared at Jijiu was quite ferocious, one could still vaguely see some fear in this strong ferocious look.
"I thought... that you had the guts to rebel against me because you had overcome your fear of me..."
Jijiu held his gun upside down and walked slowly towards Hatsumi.
"I didn't expect you to be the same as before... You get scared when you see me, how disappointing..."
"Okay, Chu Guang, the winner has been decided."
"Just surrender. This will be good for both you and me."
"From a personal perspective, I don't really want to fight you anymore."
"After all, you are like a daughter to me. It still makes me feel heavy to face off against my daughter."
"daughter……?"
The word "daughter" seemed to turn on a switch in Chu Guang, causing his expression to freeze at first.
Then, she clenched her teeth and squeezed out a sharp roar that sounded like metal friction.
"You regard me as your daughter? How dare you say such a thing?!"
Chu Guang suddenly reached his right hand into his arms and took out a fire starter.
While taking out a lighter from his arms with his right hand, Chu Guang pushed open the lid of a gunpowder barrel beside him with his left hand.
This series of actions by Hatsumitsu finally changed the expression of Yoshihisa, who had been calm and indifferent from the beginning.
He immediately changed his steps and flashed in front of Chu Guang at the fastest speed he could achieve.
Chuguang subconsciously wanted to stay away from Jijiu, but her speed was still far slower than Jijiu.
She had just time to take half a step back when she was pinned to the ground by Jijiu.
"Do you want to just detonate the gunpowder here and die with me... humph."
Jijiu let out a low laugh.
"Only your talent and your decisiveness can make me give you a very high evaluation..."
…
…
Yoshihisa dragged the now-tied-up Chuguang with hemp ropes like a puppy, with an expressionless face, towards his "command room", which was also the room where he would live tonight.
Chuguang tried to stand up several times, but because Yoshijiu's footsteps were too fast and he was dragging Chuguang extremely roughly, Chuguang was unable to stand up for a long time. He could only be dragged by Yoshijiu on his back, which rubbed the skin on his back so much that it hurt.
Naturally, he met many of his subordinates along the way.
Looking at Yoshihisa who was dragging Hatsumitsu like a puppy, all the subordinates looked confused and puzzled, but no one dared to step forward and ask "what happened".
After a while, Jijiu dragged Hatsumitsu back to the currently empty "command room".
"...Hatsumitsu." Yoshihisa threw Hatsumitsu to the center of the room, causing him to fall heavily to the ground. "I am detaining you for 'treason'. Do you have any objection?"
Hatsumitsu did not respond to Jiku's words.
Chu Guang at this moment was no longer the same as before, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes.
She just silently sat up from the floor and looked at Jijiu with calm eyes.
"…It seems there are no objections."
"Chu Guang, I have a lot of questions to ask you..."
Yoshihisa walked slowly towards Hatsumi, then squatted down in front of Hatsumi and stroked Hatsumi's hair gently.
"Hatsumitsu, why did you betray me? Was it to avenge me for forcibly separating you from your family and forcing you to become a member of Iga?"
Boom boom boom!
At this time, noisy footsteps were heard outside the "command room".
As the door was slammed open with a bang, the brandished woman with two swords on her waist walked quickly to Yoshihisa's side, shouting.
"Hey, Jiku, I've heard it just now! You dragged a kunoichi like a puppy! What did this kunoichi do?!"
"Lao Madam." Jijiu said slowly, "This is what I just told you, 'If you stay in the main camp, you might encounter interesting things' Oh..."
"One of my most trusted subordinates actually betrayed me and planned to ignite the gunpowder in the ammunition depot and blow us all to death."
"Hey, Jijiu, is this what you just said is interesting?" The branded woman's face sank, "My own subordinates betrayed me - how can this be interesting?"
"Hmm? Don't you find it interesting?" Yoshihisa said slowly, "He was betrayed by the disciple he carefully trained and the person who placed the hope of revitalizing Iga on."
"Huh? Are you crazy? You find this funny?"
While the branded woman was looking at Jijiu as if he were an idiot, Chuguang lowered his eyes to look at the hemp ropes that tied him up tightly, then raised his eyes to look at the two demons in front of him.
"...So you knew I had betrayed you a long time ago. So you set up a trap tonight to catch me."
“Hatsumitsu…” Yoshihisa turned his gaze back to Hatsumitsu, then raised his hand again and continued to stroke Hatsumitsu’s hair, “I really shouldn’t have expected you to listen to me…”
"Your inference is wrong."
"I didn't know you had betrayed me."
"It was only just now, when I saw you planning to blow up the entire Longshui Temple, that I was convinced that you had betrayed me."
"Before this, I only knew that you were acting suspiciously."
"Hatsumitsu, I am the current leader of Iga-no-Sato."
"Every move of everyone in Iga Village cannot escape my eyes."
Jijiu suddenly increased the force with which he stroked Chuguang's hair.
"I noticed your suspicious behavior a long time ago."
"After noticing your suspicious behavior, I immediately sent someone to investigate you."
"No matter how hard we searched, we couldn't find any strong evidence to prove that you had betrayed us."
"Generally speaking, when there is a situation where no problem can be found no matter how hard you check, there are only two possibilities."
"One: There is nothing wrong with this person. He is not a traitor."
"Second: This person is a good spy and is good at hiding himself."
"If we're just talking about personal feelings, I sincerely hope you're the former. I was just being overly suspicious. You didn't betray us."
Yoshihisa's touch of Hatsukuni's hair became gentle again, and his tone of voice also became softer.
"You are a perfect rough diamond with unparalleled talent."
"In order to prevent this unpolished gem from being buried in the dust, I have devoted all my energy to personally teach and train you."
"I believe that with your talent, as long as you are trained strictly, you will become a key figure in the revival of Iga in the future. Therefore, I will change your name to 'Hatsumi', which means 'the first light'."
"No matter what... I don't want you to betray Iga no Sato, betray me..."
Yoshihisa's touch on Hatsukuni's hair became rough again, and his tone became low again.
"My feelings for you make me not want to doubt you."
"But my intuition tells me that there is indeed something wrong with you."
"Since we can't find out the problem from you, let's try to make you reveal the truth."
"I didn't adopt you for so many years in vain."
"I know your character very well."
A warm smile like the sun slowly bloomed on Yoshihisa's face.
"You are a passionate, unrestrained and bold child."
"I'm reasoning from the premise that you've betrayed us and want us dead."
"If it were you, how would you kill us?"
"Then it occurred to me that if you had the chance tonight, you would probably use the gunpowder stored here."
At this moment, the gaze in her eyes, which had been staring at Jijiu, flickered slightly, and a hint of surprise appeared in the depths of her pupils.
"Ignite the gunpowder in the magazine and send us all into the sky - this kind of thing is completely in line with your character."
"So before the battle tonight officially begins, I decided to successfully complete all the tasks assigned by Toyotomi-sama , and at the same time find out 'whether you are loyal or treacherous'."
"After the task of 'paralyzing the administrative capacity of Osaka Prefecture' was basically completed, I began to set up the trap."
"When the 'messenger' has no mission, he can only stay in a few fixed places. It is far less free and convenient for him to move around than to go out and look for Ogata Ittosai."
"So the reason why I asked you, who was originally a 'messenger', to join the search for Ogata Ittosai was just to allow you to move more freely and more conveniently, so that you can be more easily exposed."
"...I see." Hatsumitsu gritted his teeth, "You transferred half of the reserve forces to search for Ogata Ittosai, is that also to lure me into a trap?"
"Oh, Chu Guang, you made the wrong deduction again."
Yoshihisa snorted with a teasing laugh.
"I did indeed transfer half of the personnel from the reserve force in order to strengthen the search team for Shura."
"After all, it is more important to complete the mission assigned by Lord Toyotomi than to confirm whether you are loyal or treacherous."
"Reducing the defensive strength of our main camp and increasing the chances of successfully luring you into the trap - this is just a matter of convenience."
"Tonight... I have been feeling very nervous."
Yoshihisa increased the force with which he stroked Hatami's hair again... In terms of strength, it could no longer be considered stroking the hair, it was more like "hard stroking the hair".
"While I am on guard against any possible attack from you, I am secretly praying in my heart that I will not see you do anything to betray us."
"I sincerely hope that...the reports against you, and my intuition, are wrong."
"But the final result that appeared before my eyes... was so disappointing..."
Jijiu suddenly jumped up, grabbed Chuguang's hair, and lifted him up!
"How could you betray me?!"
Yoshihisa, who usually appears calm, now has bloodshot eyes and lets out a low roar from his throat.
"You are my most prized possession! My most proud disciple! How could you betray me?! Why did you betray me too?!"
"I gave you everything I could give!! I gave you the best treatment you could ever imagine!! I wish I could give you all the knowledge in my mind! All the experience! All of it! Why would you betray me?!"
"Why did you betray me too?!"
The branded woman standing by looked at Ji Jiu with astonishment.
This was the first time she saw Jijiu look like this...
Click, click, click...
The sound of hair breaking was getting faster and faster.
The hair that Yoshijiu was pulling hard was broken one by one, and the small piece of scalp that was pulled was lifted up at a strange amplitude, as if the scalp would be torn off in the next moment.
The hair was pulled out forcefully - the severe pain made Chu Guang utter a low cry of pain, with tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.
However, even though it hurt so much that he felt his scalp was about to be torn apart, Chu Guang still endured the pain, opened his eyes wide, which were instinctively shedding tears, and stared at Jijiu without any fear.
"Ask me... why... I betrayed you...?"
The corners of Chu Guang's mouth curled up in a mocking arc.
Even though she couldn't speak fluently due to the severe pain, she still spoke with a firm tone, word by word:
"Such a simple question... still need to be asked?"
"Working under a disgusting old man like you... it's hard not to have rebellious thoughts...!"
"What do you mean by treating me as... your daughter...!"
"Your feelings for me...are nothing more than a morbid possessiveness!"
"...I have done so much for you, but you still regard me as an enemy..." At this moment, a look of... loneliness appeared on Yoshihisa's face.
At this moment - the last hair broke.
Chu Guang, with a missing piece of hair, fell back to the ground.
"…You must have an accomplice, right?"
Yoshihisa's face regained its composure at this moment.
He casually threw away the hair that he had pulled out from Chu Guang's head, and then continued:
Hatsumitsu ignored Yoshihisa.
"I guess even if you have an accomplice, you probably won't tell anyone." Jijiu put his hands behind his back, "Now I ask you to spend the night in a temporary prison."
"I will personally use the torture that has been passed down from generation to generation in Iga on you, and make you reveal all your accomplices."
“Ha.” Chu Guang raised his head and gave Ji Jiu a naked mocking look, “Then I am really scared.”
"Jijiu, the days when you can still be arrogant and complacent are probably only now."
"One day, you inhumane lunatics will be exterminated!"
“One day? I’m really scared.” Jijiu imitated the tone of Hatsukuni just now and shrugged, “Then I want to see how long this ‘one day’ will ‘end’…”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa——!”
Suddenly, there was a scream outside the room.
It wasn't a scream.
But there were screams one after another.
These screams made Jijiu and Mrs. Lao's faces change at the same time.
"What happened?" the branded woman exclaimed.
When Yoshihisa was about to step out of the room to check the situation outside, the door of the "command room" was suddenly opened.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
A male ninja rushed into the "command room" in a hurry.
"Master Jiku! Enemies are approaching!"
"Enemy?" Jijiu's face darkened. "How many enemies are there?"
“Here, here I come…”
The ninja hadn't finished speaking yet.
Bang!
The door behind him exploded open.
A ninja flew backwards from outside the room and hit the door, breaking it, then continued to fly into the room and hit the male ninja who was reporting the enemy situation to Yoshihisa. The two of them "flew" in the air together and stopped only after hitting the wall heavily.
Inside the "command room", Jijiu, the branded woman, and Hatsumitsu looked at the door that had been opened using a special method with different expressions.
"Oh... I finally found someone who looks important."
"Master Genichi, I'll be on the left and you on the right."
“It’s a very reasonable allocation.”
Two figures slowly emerged from the dust stirred up by the broken door.
The two figures are one old and one young.
A man who was over 60 years old, holding a wakizashi and a katana in each hand, both with dark red handles.
The other one was in his early 20s, wearing a pair of glasses, and the katana in his hand was flashing with purple light.
Although the two men were different in age and in how they held their swords, they had one thing in common.
There was a strange light in the eyes of both of them.