Howling faces, faces distorted in fear or pain, gleaming guns, blood foam scattered in the air - these scenes mixed together and flashed through Ogata's field of vision.
There were enemies all around, and there were also agile Iga ninjas wandering around, so Ogata didn't dare to put Isshiki Hana down and could only hold her in his arms.
He had to hold Isshikika with his left hand, leaving only his right hand to grab the knife.
But he relied on this one knife to produce the effect of six knives.
In front, on the left, on the right, behind... no matter in which direction the enemy is from, it is difficult to avoid Ogata's sword.
The musketeers were unable to do anything to Ogata when they launched long-range shooting at him just now, let alone being attacked by Ogata at close range now.
The forehead was opened.
The neck was broken.
The chest cavity was pierced.
Ogata rushed left and right among the enemy, his long sword flashing and his feet moving fast.
He held his head high and chest out, tearing through the cloud-like enemy horde from one end, and no one could stop him.
In just a few moments, 30 people fell to the ground and could not move.
Being slaughtered like cattle and sheep - even though these musketeers were well-trained elite soldiers, they could hardly resist the overwhelming feeling of despair and powerlessness.
The Musketeers began to panic.
Some are running away.
Some of them glared at Ogata with ferocious eyes, pointing their guns, ready to fight.
Ogata caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye that not far to his right, a musketeer pulled the trigger at him.
Ogata saw clearly the moment the bullet left the gun and the trajectory of the bullet in the air.
And this is also the reason why these musketeers' guns have not been able to hit Ogata until now.
In the past, even if one had reached the "selfless state", it was difficult to see the trajectory of bullets clearly, but now in Ogata's eyes, nothing can escape his sight.
Who is shooting and where the bullets are flying, none of this escapes Ogata's eyes and ears.
Ogata's current quick reaction and agility allow him to immediately take evasive or defensive action the moment he discovers the trajectory of the bullet.
For example, now - Ogata moved his body back slightly and dodged the bullet shot by the musketeer on his right. While dodging, he swung out the knife in his hand and knocked down someone next to him. Then he swept to the right and made close contact with another person's face with his right elbow.
The right elbow felt the bone breaking - the guy's nose was completely smashed into his face. With the root of his nose as the center, his entire face was sunken in the middle, and his facial features were all blurred together.
His arms, legs and feet could easily exert far greater strength than before, and the power he currently possessed in his body made Ogata feel a little scared.
Such a powerful force naturally makes every part of Ogata's body an efficient killing weapon.
A simple punch or kick can kill someone, and the death is very tragic.
"Hurry up! Hurry up! Kill him! Kill him!"
Ogata raised his eyes and glanced at the man who was shouting "Hurry up, hurry up" - it was obvious at first glance that this man was a commander-level figure.
No matter when, you must capture the leader first - after fighting countless battles where one was against many, this principle was deeply engraved in Ogata's blood and DNA.
From the very beginning, Ogata did not rush around and kill aimlessly.
He had been consciously moving closer to the man who looked like the commander.
The commander who had just shouted "Hurry up, hurry up" was now about ten steps away from Ogata.
After confirming this person's location, Ogata immediately turned into a hurricane, "crushing" the enemies blocking his way while rapidly approaching the commander.
This commander is also a man of blood.
He did not turn around and run away. Instead, he stared with fierce eyes and shouted orders in an orderly manner to the dozen or so musketeers who were still willing to fight and who had just been gathered by him in front of him:
"open……"
At the moment when he was about to utter the last syllable of "fire", the flash of the knife came.
The sleeves of Ogata and Isshikika fluttered.
A semi-arc of knife light was drawn, cutting through the air.
When the cut-off air was reconnected, the dozen or so musketeers who were blocking the commander all fell to the ground, and either stopped moving or would not move after a while.
"……fire."
The commander, who was still conscious, uttered the last syllable of "fire".
At the same moment when the words fell, a knife light slashed his chin from bottom to top.
Ogata's original intention was to chop the man's head into two halves from bottom to top.
But after the blade made it all the way to the bridge of his nose, the blade stopped cutting.
It’s not that Ogata has no strength left.
But the blade is no longer sharp.
The katana that Ishikawa gave him in exchange had accompanied Ogata all the way from the dilapidated neighborhood to the present. The blade had been severely damaged, and now it was covered with a thick layer of blood and fat, and its sharpness was greatly reduced.
No matter how strong a person is, he cannot cut through thick flesh with a ruler.
Seeing that he could not successfully cut the man's head in half, Ogata frowned slightly, then changed his upward thrust to a forward stab, stabbing from the bridge of the nose to his forehead before pulling the knife back.
The commander's death had an immediate effect - the order of the surrounding musketeers collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye due to the loss of the commander's control.
The number of people fleeing in all directions increased rapidly.
Those who still wanted to fight fought on their own because there was no commander. They fired their guns randomly and not only did they not hit Ogata, but they also accidentally injured many of their own people.
A large number of people were accidentally injured, which further deteriorated the order.
Soemon, who had been watching the battle situation carefully, now looked completely restless.
He clenched the large naginata in his hand tightly, and then quickly said to the commander of the 2nd Division beside him:
"I will go and hold back Ogata Ittosai. You and other commanders will quickly take this opportunity to reorganize the troops!"
Soemon had already seen clearly - if they let Ogata continue to make trouble like this, their musketeer troops would collapse.
After the battle in the "dilapidated neighborhood" just now, not to mention those crews that had faced Ogata before, even those who had not fought against Ogata had an indelible fear of this monster that had caused them serious casualties.
And now, Ogata's easy dodging of bullets and the horror of being able to blow a person's brains out with just one punch made the musketeers' fear increase exponentially.
If they let the troops collapse, they would surely lose.
There is only one way that Soemon can think of to get out of this dangerous situation - try to tie up Ogata, and then let the various teams take the opportunity to reorganize their formations and regroup.
Only by doing this can we have a chance to turn the tide.
Otherwise, if Ogata continues to wreak havoc like this, the collapse of the army will only be a matter of time.
And currently, the only person who has the ability to entangle Ogata is... Soemon.
The commander of the 2nd Division was not a fussy person. He had the same judgment as Soemon: if they didn't quickly try to reorganize the team, they would definitely lose.
So after Zuoemon finished speaking, the commander of the 2nd Division nodded vigorously and responded with a "hmm".
Then, Zuoemon said in a deep voice:
"At all times, completing the mission assigned by Lord Toyotomi must be the top priority."
"As long as I can complete the mission given by Lord Toyotomi, I will do it even if it means sacrificing my life."
"So, when I go to entangle Ogata later, I will try my best to create the best shooting opportunity."
"When you hear me say 'fire', no matter what happens, even if I am standing next to Ogata Ittosai, you must immediately fire at Ogata."
The 2nd Division Commander's expression changed slightly. He turned his head and looked at Soemon with a complicated look, then nodded: "Yes. I understand."
After explaining all this, Zuoemon raised his large naginata high up and said, "Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way!"
After ordering away all his subordinates who were blocking his way, Soemon's huge body immediately pressed towards Ogata like a mountain.
As Soemon attacked Ogata, the commander of the 2nd Division waved his hand and said, "Everyone, listen up! Center around me and form a team! Anyone who disobeys will be killed!"
After seeing his acquaintance Soemon rushing towards him and the commander of the 2nd Division ordering the troops to form up, Ogata immediately understood what they were going to do.
Of course, he would not just sit there and watch the order among the musketeers be restored, but he also couldn't abandon Soemon.
Therefore, after slightly tightening his left hand that was holding Isshikika's fleshy left thigh, holding Isshikika more steadily, and saying "Hold me tight" again in Isshikika's ear, Ogata lowered his body's center of gravity and actively moved towards Soemon with a movement as if he was sliding on the ground.
Isshikika has been feeling like vomiting since a while ago.
Ogata held her in his arms, rushing left and right, jumping up and down, until her head felt dizzy.
But even though she felt very uncomfortable, she did not complain to Ogata, and she didn't even say a word to him. She kept her mouth shut, fearing that if she spoke, it would distract Ogata.
She pressed her legs together, clenched her feet, and wrapped her arms around Ogata's neck, trying her best to shrink her body into Ogata's arms so as not to put too much burden on him.
At the same time, she arched her back as much as possible, with her right cheek pressed against Ogata's left shoulder. Even though her back was very sore, she did not dare to stretch her waist, fearing that two semicircular objects would block Ogata's vision again.
Being tall and with long arms, and holding a long weapon like a large naginata, Soemon was naturally the first to attack Ogata.
“Drink—!”
Soemon used his left foot as the axis, turned his body, and moved the large naginata in his hand from the lower right to the upper left to slash at Ogata's left half of the body, preparing to cut both of them in half along with Isshikika.
At the beginning of the war, Soemon saw Ogata's two major weaknesses - the sword in his hand was no longer usable, and he was holding Isshiki Hana in his arms.
Soemon just didn't believe it - with his left hand hugging a living person, the movements of Ogata's left half of the body would not be affected at all.
So when he rushed towards Ogata with his naginata raised high, Soemon had already formulated a battle strategy - to attack Ogata's left half of the body as the main direction and try to destroy Ogata's sword.
Soemon's idea was a brilliant one.
In fact, his judgment was not wrong. No matter how strong Ogata became now, if he used his left hand to hug a tall adult woman, his movements would definitely be affected.
But... he miscalculated a little.
He miscalculated Ogata's current physical condition...
The huge naginata swung out, creating a cloud of dust and a whirlwind; it was an extremely vicious blow.
Ogata dodged it easily by jumping to the side with both feet as if he was skipping rope.
While Ogata had not yet advanced to the position where his katana could hit Soemon, Soemon turned his great naginata again and slashed at Ogata in another direction.
Ogata once again dodged easily with movements like skipping rope.
The process of dodging Soemon's attack - there is nothing worth describing in detail.
He saw the trajectory of Soemon's sword and dodged where the sword couldn't reach him - it was that simple.
Before this, in Ogata's eyes, Soemon's attack was still a fierce attack that required great concentration to deal with.
And now... no matter how fast Soemon swings his sword, can it be faster than the speed of a bullet?
Dodging two of Soemon's slashes in succession, Ogata approached Soemon.
Sakakibara Ittoryu·Ryubi!
The blade slashed towards Soemon's neck.
Having suffered the loss of failing to kill Soemon by piercing his neck and heart before, Ogata naturally would not suffer the a second time.
He didn't know if Soemon had any weaknesses.
So he decided to try every possible weakness.
Let's start by chopping off his head.
How fast was Ogata's sword? The air that was cut by the blade made a sharp hum.
Looking at the blade heading straight for his neck, Soemon's pupils shrank sharply, and then he dodged backwards in a very awkward movement, narrowly avoiding Ogata's attack. The blade of the katana only cut the flesh on his chest.
Seeing Soemon running away in panic, Ogata's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Are you afraid of having your head chopped off?"
Muttering to himself, Osamu took a step forward, approached Soemon again, and swung his sword at the "giant" once again.
The katana was raised high, blocking out the moonlight, and a long shadow was cast on Soemon's eyes, which were filled with increasingly intense fear.
——Look at me breaking your knife!
Soemon gritted his teeth, took a half step back, and then used all his strength to use the iron handle of his sword to smash the sword that Ogata was chopping at him.
Soemon had enough confidence - if his attack hit, he would be able to break the tattered sword in Ogata's hand!
He believed this with full confidence.
However - he knew that his attack could break Ogata's sword, would Ogata himself not know that?
When the two weapons were about to collide, Ogata used brute force to stop the knife in his hand, and then used superb skills to turn the knife, bypassing the knife handle that was thrown by Soemon, and slashed at Soemon's right arm holding the knife.
With fear in his eyes suddenly increasing, Soemon quickly retreated again, narrowly avoiding Ogata's attack once again, preventing his right arm from being cut off, with only some flesh on his right arm being cut.
Ogata's combos followed one after another.
Unconvinced, Soemon swung his sword again, trying to break Ogata's sword.
But a scene very similar to the previous one appeared again - when the two weapons were about to collide, Ogata, relying on his current amazing strength and outstanding skills, forcibly changed the direction of the knife, avoiding a head-on collision with Soemon and hitting his torso.
There was another wound on Zuoemon's body.
Ogata's attacks continued one after another.
Apart from the two swings of the sword at Ogata at the beginning, Soemon had no other chance to attack Ogata.
He also tried to find an opportunity to strike back at Ogata.
But before he could launch an attack, Ogata's sword came again.
He could only defend himself but had no power to fight back - this sentence was the most appropriate to describe the current Soemon.
He put all his energy into protecting his head - if he hadn't done that, he might have died countless times just now.
But because he focused all his energy on protecting his head, he had no time to take care of the rest of his body.
Wounds were all over Soemon's body.
Although the "immortal power" in his body has been diligently repairing his body, the speed of repair can no longer keep up with the speed of injury.
As soon as one wound was repaired, two more wounds appeared.
Before, he could fight back and forth with Ogata, but now, after less than an hour, he was being beaten one-sidedly and was completely at a disadvantage.
——Ah…ah…ah…ah…!
Fear, confusion, and shock made Soemon groan meaninglessly in his heart uncontrollably.
At this moment, Zuoemon suddenly realized that Ogata's current abnormal physical fitness was not something that a human could achieve, and it was very similar to that of a certain person...
"Lord Toyotomi..."
Soemon couldn't help but whisper the man's name in a low voice that only he could hear.
…
…
At the end of the queue -
"Hurry up! Hurry up and regroup! Have you forgotten what you learned on the training ground?"
The commander of the 8th Division roughly instructed his subordinates to reorganize the formation.
Under normal circumstances, the musketeers would be able to rearrange their guns in a blink of an eye.
Then at this moment, with morale at a very low level, their movements and thinking abilities became slow.
Until now, the 8th Division under his command has not been able to form anything that can be called a "formation".
The extremely bad battle situation has made the commander of Division 8 very anxious.
"I'll give you five breaths! Quickly line up your guns in three neat rows!" The commander of the 8th Division yelled hysterically, "Otherwise, I'll punish you by military law..."
“Aaaaaaaaa——!”
The sudden scream from the rear interrupted the commander of the 8th Division.
——What happened again?
Thinking this in his heart, he turned his head and looked behind him.
However, just as he turned his head, he saw a purple blade light filling his vision.
…
…
Soemon kept defending and dodging.
After once again bypassing the large naginata that Soemon held across his chest for defense, Ogata's target of attack was Soemon's abdomen.
Ogata planned to cut Soemon in half.
He wanted to see if this big guy could grow a new lower body after cutting him in half.
Soemon subconsciously wanted to dodge backwards as usual.
But if you hold on for too long, you will lose it, which is an eternal truth.
This time, Zuoemon failed.
Just as his right leg pulled back half a step, the severe pain from the base of his leg made Soemon's body uncontrollably sluggish for a moment - just now, Ogata had cut a very deep wound at the base of his right leg, and it had not yet recovered.
In a battle of this level, even a momentary mistake can be fatal.
laugh!
The blade penetrated deeply into Soemon's right abdomen, and the blade pushed towards Soemon's left abdomen with an unstoppable momentum.
However, the blade stopped when it reached approximately the position of Soemon's belly button.
The reason was the same as why he hadn’t been able to chop the commander’s head in half just now—the knife wasn’t working anymore.
The blunt blade was entangled by the skin and tough muscles.
His stomach was cut in half - the severe pain almost made Soemon lose consciousness.
But this severe pain also aroused Zuoemon's bloodiness.
He knew that with his current abilities, he would not be able to catch Ogata, whose physical fitness was extremely abnormal.
So - he chose to grab something else that he had a better chance of grabbing.
He threw the large naginata aside, and with all his strength, he stretched out his large hands like palm leaves, and grabbed the blade of the katana that was currently inserted into his body, preventing it from leaving his body. Then, he shouted at the highest volume he could:
"Fire!"
Completing Toyotomi Nobuhide's mission was the top priority no matter what - he had already said this to the commander of the 2nd Division.
Soemon, prepared for the possibility of his head being accidentally shattered by a stray bullet, has made up his mind - at the very least, he must make sure Ogata lose his katana!
The commander of Division 2 has been paying close attention to Soemon's orders.
At present, nearly half of the troops have not been able to regroup.
After hearing Soemon's order to fire, the commander of the 2nd Division immediately and without hesitation ordered the musketeers who had already formed their guns:
"Aim at Shura! Fire!"
Click, click, click, click…
Flintlock rifles were pointed at Ogata, who was still in the posture of stabbing Soemon's stomach with his knife.
--bring it on!
Soemon yelled viciously in his heart.
——Should I abandon this knife and quickly take the woman to avoid the incoming bullet, or should I just stand here stupidly and be riddled with bullets!
After yelling like this in his heart, Soemon put all his body weight on the katana that was still in his stomach, trying his best to prevent Ogata from pulling back his katana.
Soemon was full of anticipation, ready to watch Ogata discard the katana and take Isshikihana to dodge the incoming barrage of bullets.
However……
"Ayi! Go on!"
He suddenly heard a loud and delicate cry.
Then, he saw two slender objects, one long and one short, thrown from not far away, drawing two low parabolas and falling towards Ogata's head.
As the two slender objects fell towards Ogata's head, Soemon finally saw what they were - two blue and gold swords.
Ogata and Soemon showed the same expression - shock.
Then the expressions on their faces changed drastically - Ogata's shock turned into joy, and Soemon's shock turned into fear.
At the same moment when the two swords were about to hit Ogata's head——
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
The sound of gunfire was as intense as popping beans.
Countless bullets, forming a barrage, whizzed towards Ogata.
A large number of bullets hit the ground, stirring up clouds of dust that covered the figures of Ogata and others.
The subsequent bullets sank into the dust and all headed towards the place where Ogata had just stood.
The imaginary sound of a bullet hitting flesh... could only be heard from the direction where Soemon was standing.
What came from Ogata... was the sound of metal hitting each other, and the strange sound of something being hit.
All the bullets that could be fired have been fired at once.
Everyone, led by Team 2, waited anxiously for the dust to clear with a mixture of anticipation and fear.
Before the dust had settled, they had already arrived... a sigh with mixed emotions:
"A-Ming, thank you... for bringing me the knife again."
call--!
I saw a flash of white light in the dust!
The flashing white light created a strong wind pressure that blew away all the dust around it.
In the dispersed dust, two swords, one long and one short, emitted a sharp and dazzling light as if to attract all the darkness around them!