After confirming that Atachi, Fuma and others in the room were all fine, Genichi finally let go of the worry that had been weighing on his mind.
He was now only worried about the three people from Mucun who had been outside the room helping them block the enemy's reinforcements.
Judging from the direction of the explosion sound and shock wave, the explosion occurred outside the room, so the probability of Makura and the other three being injured was much greater than that of Yuan Yi and others who were staying in the room.
Because of the perspective, Genichi couldn't see the current situation of Makimura and the other two, and he didn't even know where they were.
And Genichi currently has no time to pay attention to Makimura and the others - because after finding Atachi and Fuma, he immediately found Yoshihisa.
At this time, Yoshihisa was running away.
He spread his legs, dragging his pistol, and ran towards the wall of a house not far away that had collapsed in the explosion.
Of course, it was impossible for Gengyi to just watch Yoshihisa escape successfully.
Why did they attack the Longshui Temple this time?
The purpose is to capture those who look like big shots alive so as to extract information from them.
One can tell from Yoshihisa's appearance that he must be of a high status, and there is no way Genichi would let him go no matter what.
Once you hold the sword, you cannot let go of it no matter what happens - for Genichi, this is just as natural as breathing.
Even though he was blown away by the blast just now, Genichi still held the sword tightly in his hand.
He resisted the dizziness and pain that kept pouring out of his head due to the explosion, stood up, raised his knife, and chased after Yoshihisa who was about to run out of the room.
Atachi discovered Yoshihisa who was trying to escape almost at the same time as Genichirō.
"My Lord, I'll pull you out later!"
After saying this loudly to Fengma, Atachi took off a Kentucky long rifle from his back that had never been fired, sat down on the ground, rested his left elbow on his bent left knee, pressed his right shoulder with his left palm, and used his hands and legs to form a simple shooting support. Then, Atachi rested the barrel of the rifle on his elbow and pointed the muzzle at Yoshihisa who was about to run out of the room.
There is no time to take aim slowly.
Anyway, this guy was not easy to kill, so Atachi pulled the trigger directly at Yoshihisa's waist and back.
Bang!
The scorching bullet flew out from the muzzle, drawing a straight line in the air and flying towards Yoshihisa's back.
However, in this split second, a young man dressed as an Iga ninja flew from outside the room and jumped between Danwan and Yoshihisa.
puff!
The bullet that was supposed to penetrate Yoshihisa's body sank deep into the ninja's chest.
The sudden appearance of this ninja who successfully blocked the bullet for Yoshihisa made Atachi and Genichi look surprised.
Then, just as this loyal ninja successfully blocked the bullet for Yoshihisa, dark shadows rushed into the room along the door or the collapsed walls.
These people were the ninjas who had been intercepted outside by Makimura and his men.
Those who have not fled due to morale collapse at this point are basically people with extremely strong wills and extremely sincere loyalty.
Kiyosumi's self-sacrificing attack just now successfully broke the defense line built by Makimura, Asai, and Shimada, allowing these remaining loyal men to finally have the opportunity to enter the room and support Yoshihisa.
After seeing Yoshihisa fleeing out of the room in panic and Genichi trying to catch up with Yoshihisa, these loyal men immediately understood the current situation and what they should do without any instructions or orders from anyone.
Without any hesitation, they pounced on Genichi like a pack of wolves, covering Yoshihisa's escape.
"Lord Yoshihisa! Go away!" After someone shouted like this, he took out the only remaining shuriken in his arms and threw it at Yuan.
"Tsk..." Genichi frowned slightly, raised the two swords in his hands, and slashed at the more than ten Iga ninjas who were blocking him.
Mamiya, who had just put on his glasses and was not far away, hurried over to support Genichi.
These dozen or so ninjas were naturally no match for Genichirō, Mamiya and the others.
Of course—they don’t need to defeat Genichi and the others.
Their purpose from beginning to end was only one: to cover Yoshikyu's escape.
No matter how powerful Genichi, Mamiya and the others are, it will still take time to break through the obstruction of more than ten ninjas.
The selfless protection provided by these loyal men successfully bought Yoshihisa time to escape.
Yoshihisa escaped from the house through a collapsed wall, then turned left and disappeared from the sight of Genichi and others.
As for Yoshihisa, who was fleeing, he never even looked back to see his subordinates who risked their lives to protect him from escaping.
After beheading the last ninja who blocked his way, Genichi quickly jumped out of the room along the wall where Yoshihisa had just escaped, and then looked in the direction where Yoshihisa had just escaped - Yoshihisa was no longer visible...
"Tsk..." Yuan Yi sighed with a look of deep shock on his face, "He escaped..."
…
…
Osaka, outside Ryusuido Temple——
“Hmph…! Hmph…! Hmph…!”
Yoshihisa, who fled from Ryushui Temple in a panic, turned his head to look at the silent temple behind him, then quickly retracted his gaze and continued to run for his life desperately.
There is no escape route.
There was no escape plan.
Just run forward regardless of everything.
He just ran away from Genichi regardless of everything.
Just now, when the branded woman was killed and Jijiu was about to fight four people alone, he felt that he had no hope of survival, so he was not afraid at all. He even had the determination to die. He planned to fight to the death with Yuanyi and the others at all costs. It would be best if we both died! At the very least, he would leave a little scar on their bodies!
He had really...determined to die.
But just as the sudden explosion collapsed the wall of the room and the gust of wind blew everyone including him and Genichi to the ground, Yoshihisa suddenly realized - the chance to escape had come!
The next moment he realized that he still had a chance of survival, all his thoughts of dying and fighting to the death with Genichi and the others and dying together disappeared.
Instead, the desire to survive has expanded exponentially.
Feeling the surging desire to survive in his chest, Yoshihisa laughed at himself silently:
——Ahh… Yoshihisa, you are truly a… qualified ninja…
The corners of Jijiu's mouth then curled up in a self-deprecating arc.
Just now he was so majestic and thinking that he would fight to the last moment, but when he found out that he still had a hope of survival, he ignored everything and just wanted to escape and stay alive.
Those subordinates who risked their lives to cover his escape?
No matter what! Save your life first!
The commander of the "Osaka Spring Campaign and Suppression Operation"?
Don't worry! Save your life first!
Saving your own life is the most important thing...
As long as there is a glimmer of hope, even if it means drinking muddy soup, even if it means enduring all the humiliation in the world, I must save my life...
Because as long as you are alive, you have everything.
Suddenly, Jijiu suddenly realized that his current actions were very similar to those 41 years ago...
…
41 years ago——
"Hey! Jiku! Where are you going?"
"Heal your wounds, eat, and take care of yourself."
"Asshole! Are you trying to run away? That Kinoshita Genichi must not have gone far! Now is the perfect time for us to gather all our strength and launch a counterattack against him!"
"Counterattack? How are you going to fight back? Just now, all of us were no match for that Kinoshita Genichi. Can we defeat him with just the few people we have now?"
"Even if we are no match for him, we must not flee in panic! We ninjas are also warriors! Now is the time to show our warrior spirit!"
"…Boring. Do whatever you want. Last night, when I was knocked down by Kinoshita Genichi, I figured it out: dying in vain and showing off one's martial spirit are two completely different things. If everyone were to die in vain like you, there would really be no hope for the reconstruction of Iga-no-Sato."
"What?!"
"Goodbye. I'm going to go heal my wounds, eat, and try to survive. If you want to die, go ahead and don't drag me along with you."
…
…
Osaka, Ryusuji Temple——
"Hey! Is anyone of you injured?"
Makimura, with blood on his forehead, supported Asai and Shimada with his left and right hands respectively, and limped into the room where all the fighting had ended.
"We are all fine, how about you three?" While putting Vairocana back into the sheath, Mamiya quickly walked towards Makimura and the other three.
"All three of us are fine. We only suffered minor injuries. Shimada's left leg was crushed by the collapsed beam, Asai's side was burned, and I was hit on the forehead by a flying piece of wood."
Having said this, Makimura grinned.
"Luckily, I reacted quickly and pulled Asai and Shimada back and laid down. Otherwise, the three of us would have been blown to pieces."
"I'm glad you're okay." Mamiya raised his hand and patted Makimura's shoulder, then took two deep breaths in a row, adjusting his breathing rhythm from the Source Breathing back to normal breathing rhythm.
As his breathing rhythm adjusted, Mamiya slowly exited the "state of no self".
As soon as he came out of the "selfless state", the feeling of exhaustion immediately wrapped around Mamiya's limbs like iron chains, causing Mamiya's face to reveal a weariness that could not be concealed.
"How was it?" Makimura then asked, "Did you succeed in capturing any important figures alive?"
Mamiya smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Failed. I had a chance to capture an important figure alive, but he just escaped."
"Ah? So what's going on here?" Asai, who always had a foul mouth and currently had one arm hanging around Makimura's neck, frowned and said, "We fought for a long time, but in the end, we didn't gain anything except killing a few people? In this case, what's the difference between us fighting in vain?"
"That's not to say we didn't gain anything."
After saying that, Mamiya turned his gaze and looked at a certain girl who was being held by Azuki and was tied up and had been huddled in the corner of the room with Azuki since a while ago.
"We found a girl who seems to know a lot of secrets about the enemy..."
"Hey! Mamiya! Makimura! Asai! Shimada! If you can still move, come and help!" At this time, Genichi's voice suddenly came.
Mamiya and the others looked in the direction of the sound.
I saw Genichi squatting on a light bulb...ah, no, he was lying next to Fuma, who was buried so deep that only his head was exposed, with a distressed look on his face.
"Come and help me dig out the tangerines..."
"Hurry up and dig me out!" Feng Mo also shouted at this time, "It seems that a bug has crawled into my clothes! I can't scratch it!"
…
…
"Hey, are you two okay?"
While Genichi, Mamiya and the others were trying hard to dig out the Fuma, Atsumi quickly ran towards Azuki and Hatsumitsu who were huddled in the corner of the room.
Just now, in order to avoid accidentally hurting Hatsumitsu, who provided them with valuable information about Yoshihisa and the brand woman's weaknesses, Genichi asked Azuki to drag Hatsumitsu to a safe place.
Azhu completed the task assigned to her by Genichi perfectly. She dragged the tied-up Hatsumi to the corner of the room, away from the battlefield where Genichi and the others were.
The two girls have been huddled in the corner of the room until now.
"She and I are fine." said Azhu.
"I'm glad you're okay." After saying that, Ating looked at Chuguang's face carefully with a scrutinizing gaze.
"...As expected, it's Miss Hatsumitsu."
A look of astonishment slowly emerged on Ating's face.
After she rushed into the room with Fuma and others to support Genichir and Mamiya, A-machi found that the girl who was tied up looked particularly familiar.
But because he was still fighting with Yoshihisa and the Lao woman at that time, Atachi didn't have the leisure to watch it carefully.
Now, after calming down and taking a closer look, Atachi was finally sure that this girl was none other than the "Number One Geisha in Osaka" whom she had met once before.
When Ating looked at Chuguang with astonishment, Chuguang was also looking at Ating with astonishment.
"Ms. Ating..."
"Do you... know each other?" Azhu looked at Ating with a blank look, and then looked at Chuguang.
At this moment, there was a sudden clamoring sound outside the room -
"Miss Chuguang! Miss Chuguang!"
A strong man appeared at the door.
The sudden appearance of this sturdy man caused Yuan Yi and others in the room, whose nerves had not yet completely relaxed, to immediately draw their swords as if by conditioned reflex.
"Ah!" The sound of the sword being drawn made the sturdy man's face change, and he hurriedly reached for the wakizashi hanging on his waist.
"Wait a minute!" When the atmosphere was tense, Chu Guang suddenly shouted, "This man is my companion! Not an enemy!"
"Shibata! I'm here!"
This sturdy man was none other than Shibata, who had been lurking outside Ryushui Temple under the orders of Hatsumitsu, ready to meet Hatsumitsu at any time after he successfully detonated Ryushui Temple.
Chu Guang's shout just now instantly eased the atmosphere.
Although Genichi and the others did not sheath their swords, they no longer looked at Shibata with murderous eyes.
"Ms. Hatsumitsu." Shibata kept his hand on the handle of the wakizashi sword, "What is the situation now?"
"I'm actually not sure either." Chu Guang said, "But one thing is certain - these people are not our enemies. They are companions who may be able to cooperate with us."
After saying that, Chu Guang turned his gaze and stared at Ating.
"I see... I understand..."
The "Mashima Goro" who was married to Atachi had been covering his face with a kerchief and a bamboo hat...
"Mashima Goro" has a very strong personal background, even Yukimura, who can call the shots in Osaka, has to respect him...
On the day of the "Big Test", Shibata, who happened to be present at the event, reported the situation to Hatsumitsu. "Mashima Goro" showed up at the "Big Test" and showed his extraordinary strength, killing Aki instantly...
Not long after the "Great Trial" ended, the Toyotomi Army knew that Ogata Ittosai had a connection with the Isshiki family...
At this moment, when Ogata was being hunted, A-machi, the wife of "Mashima Goro", appeared at the main camp of the Toyotomi army...
All the information that Chu Guang knew was connected together at this moment.
With his thoughts suddenly clearing up, Hatsumi shouted at Atachi:
"Ms. A-machi! It seems that Ogata Ittosai is currently in the suburbs of the northwest corner of Osaka!"
…
…
Osaka, somewhere in the suburbs of the northwest corner——
"ah!"
Isshikika accidentally hit her foot on a protruding stone and fell forward with a scream.
She fell to the ground, causing Ogata, who she had been supporting, to fall to the ground as well.
"I'm sorry..." Isshikika covered her scraped right palm and apologized to Ogata softly, "I made you fall to the ground too..."
"I'm fine... How's your hand...?"
"My hand is fine. It's just a little scrape, not even a wound. Come, let me help you up."
Isshikika helped Ogata stand up.
After her palms touched Ogata's body, Isshikika's brows immediately frowned slightly uncontrollably.
——His body temperature...seems to have risen a little...
"...Master Ittosai, why don't you take a rest now?" Isshiki bit her lower lip hard with her teeth and asked Ogata in a cautious tone, "We have left Osaka now, it should be safe here."
After saying that, Isshikika turned around and looked around.
She and Ogata have now left Osaka.
There are currently no buildings around the two of them, and there are only bushes and trees all around.
Isshikika, who was extremely worried about Ogata's current physical condition, felt that this place was safe and Ogata should stop and rest.
But as soon as Isshikika finished asking this question, Obe said in his weak voice:
"This place...is not far enough from Osaka..."
"We need to...go a little further..."
"But... your body is getting weaker and weaker." Isshiki bit her lip again, and then argued, "I think you need to rest now."
Isshikika had come up with a lot of arguments in her mind, ready to use them to convince Ogata to stop and rest now.
But before she could finish her prepared words, a strange noise was heard, leaving Isshiki no longer able to persuade Ogata to rest.
sough……
Isshiki heard the sound of leaves rustling unnaturally behind him.
Her expression suddenly changed, and she quickly turned her head to look behind her——
On a big tree behind her and Ogata, there was a man in black squatting, staring at her and Ogata with eyes as sharp as an eagle.