Time goes back to not long ago——
In a forest on the outskirts of Osaka——
Ka La, Ka La...
In the woods, a large rock suddenly shook unnaturally.
If there were a passerby here now, and saw this stone suddenly moving on its own, he would definitely be scared out of his wits, and would mistakenly think that it was haunted.
But in fact, the reason why this stone "moves by itself" is purely because there is someone underneath the big stone, pushing it.
With a "click" sound, the big stone was pushed upwards to create a slight gap.
A pair of sharp eyes looked around through the gap.
After confirming that there was no danger outside, the owner of these eyes, a shorter warrior, pushed away the huge rock above his head.
It turns out that there is a secret passage under the big rock, and this big rock is used to cover this secret passage.
The short warrior pushed away the stone blocking the secret passage, jumped out of the secret passage with a neat figure, and then shouted into the secret passage:
"It's safe outside, come out quickly."
As soon as he finished speaking, people led by Matsudaira Sadanobu filed out of the secret passage.
"We should be safe if we escape here..." Osaka Castle Lord Masahiro Horita looked at Osaka Castle in the distance with a pale face.
Building secret passages was very popular during the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago. Even now, 200 years later, the Edo Shogunate is still keen on building secret passages for escape in various important places.
Osaka Castle was a fortress built at great expense to the shogunate, so it was natural that it would have secret passages.
Upon learning that an enemy with an absolute numerical advantage was attacking Osaka Castle and that it would fall soon, Horida Masahiro immediately led Matsudaira Sadanobu and some guards into a secret passage inside Osaka Castle that led directly to the outskirts of Osaka.
The whole process of leaving Osaka Castle through the secret passage was safe and sound.
After walking through this long secret passage and arriving at the outskirts of Osaka, Horida Masatsugu finally let go of his anxious heart.
When Horita Masatsugu was looking at the Osaka Castle they had just escaped from, Matsudaira Sadanobu was also looking at the towering fortress. Then he looked at the city of Osaka where fires were blazing everywhere.
"...Horita Masahiro," he said, "How did you manage to be the Lord Mayor of Osaka? The traitors came with artillery to bombard Osaka Castle, and you didn't even get any relevant information before the incident."
Matsudaira Sadanobu's tone was very flat, as if he was talking about insignificant trivial matters.
But after he finished speaking, Horida Masahiro immediately turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat, as if he had heard the harshest and most vicious criticism in the world.
"Please, please forgive me, Lord Ryouchu..." Horida Masahiro, whose mind went blank from fear, fell to his knees, his body shaking at an exaggerated frequency.
Matsudaira Sadanobu ignored Horita Masahiro who was kneeling down to apologize.
He turned his head again and looked at Osaka and Osaka Castle in the distance.
There was a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
At this time, his nickname Tachibana said to him in a deep voice:
"Master, although we are now in the suburbs of Osaka, I still don't think this place is absolutely safe."
"How about we head to the military camp northeast of Osaka right now and join the 500 soldiers currently gathered there?"
"With the support of those 500 soldiers, our safety will be greatly guaranteed."
"...Yeah." As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded gently, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
"But we can't just leave like this without doing anything."
"We now need to gather intelligence on the enemy as quickly as possible ."
"At the very least, we need to know who is attacking Osaka."
After saying that, he turned his head and looked at the four guards beside him.
"Kawaai, Fujita, Niimi, Saeki. The four of you will enter Osaka now and gather as much information as possible about the enemy. Remember to protect yourself and meet up with us at the military camp northeast of Osaka before daybreak."
The four people selected by Matsudaira Sadanobu were his four personal guards. They were not only highly skilled, but also extremely loyal to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu gave the order, the four people immediately responded in unison with a "yes" without saying a word, and then turned around and ran towards Osaka without any hesitation.
"Tamoki, Miyagawa. The two of you will go to Kyoto immediately and tell the Kyoto governor, Ota Sukeai, about our situation. Have him organize the army immediately, prepare for the defense of Kyoto, and be ready to lead the army south to support Osaka at any time."
"Yes!"*2
"Mizuguchi, Sanpin, Soma." Matsudaira Sadanobu named three more people, "You three are responsible for returning to Edo and telling the young men about our situation. Have them immediately start mobilizing for war and strengthen the security in Edo City to prevent Edo from repeating the mistake that happened to Osaka tonight."
[Note: Wakatoyoshi: A high-ranking official in the shogunate, second only to the rochu, who was responsible for assisting the rochu in handling national affairs]
"Yes!"*3
After arranging this series of tasks, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned around and faced the northeast of Osaka, towards the direction where the 500 soldiers were stationed.
"The rest of you follow me."
…
…
Time goes back to the present——
In the military camp of 500 soldiers, inside the commander's tent -
At this moment, all the generals, headed by Ma Chang, gathered in the commander-in-chief's tent.
The person sitting on the main seat in the big tent was none other than Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Tachibana sat next to Matsudaira Sadanobu and told Baba and others about what happened to them in Osaka tonight.
After learning that Osaka and Osaka Castle were under attack, and that this group of unidentified enemies had an astonishing number of firearms, even cannons, Baba and the others immediately opened their mouths wide, looking completely dumbfounded.
"Could it be that the people from Satsuma and Choshu domains rebelled?" Baba raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat from his head.
The only enemies that Baba could think of that possessed a large number of firearms were powerful clans such as Satsuma and Choshu, which had sufficient reasons to start a rebellion.
The western feudal domains, led by Satsuma and Choshu, were forced to submit to the Edo Shogunate due to its tyranny two hundred years ago. It would not be surprising if they rebelled at any time.
However, just as Baba proposed this conjecture, he was ruthlessly refuted by Matsudaira Sadanobu:
"If Satsuma, Choshu, or other clans rebelled against the shogunate, it would be impossible for us to not get any information in advance."
"That's true..." Ma Chang stammered.
Ma Chang is a typical military commander who is used to a peaceful life and has his senses numbed by it. He has no ability to deal with emergencies at all.
He was completely frightened by the shocking news of the "Osaka attack" and asked Matsudaira Sadanobu stupidly:
"Then... Mr. Laozhong, what should we do now?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu glanced at Baba with displeasure for asking such a stupid question, and said:
"Now let's wait for the guards I sent to gather intelligence to come back. Once we have gathered enough intelligence, we can make plans."
Matsudaira Sadanobu had just finished speaking when the curtain at the entrance of the commander-in-chief's tent was suddenly pulled open.
"Lord Rochu." The person who lifted the curtain and entered the tent was one of Matsudaira Sadanobu's personal guards. "Kawai is back."
Kawai - Matsudaira Sadanobu remembered that this man was one of the people he had just sent to Osaka to gather intelligence.
"Kawai is back? Is he the only one back?" Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned slightly.
"Yes!"
"...Hurry and get him over here."
"Yes." The guard who came to report the news retreated outside the tent.
Then, after a while, he returned to Matsudaira Sadanobu's sight with Kawai with an unconcealable look of fatigue on his face.
"Lord Rochu..." Kawai knelt down and saluted, greeting Matsudaira Sadanobu in a tired and weak voice.
"Are you hurt?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked first.
"I'm fine...but...the others have unfortunately died..."
"What happened?"
Kawai reported to Matsudaira Sadanobu the entire process of their entry into Osaka to gather information.
After entering Osaka on the orders of Matsudaira Sadanobu, the four of them immediately and conscientiously carried out their mission of gathering intelligence.
At the beginning, their "Osaka infiltration" went smoothly and they did not encounter any enemies.
Until... they came to Osaka Port by chance...
After they arrived at Osaka Port, they heard a strange "woooo" sound.
Before they could react, they saw shells falling one after another...
Two of them were blown to pieces on the spot, another was seriously injured, and only Kawai was lucky enough to escape the explosion.
Kawai dragged his companion who was seriously injured in the explosion and fled from Osaka Port.
As soon as he escaped from the bombing area, his severely injured companion also died, and Kawai became the only survivor.
"Osaka Port and all the ships in it were destroyed?" Matsudaira Sadanobu's pupils shrank slightly.
"Yes..." Kawai nodded vigorously with a lingering fear, "What destroyed Osaka Port and the ships in the port were two extremely large ships on the sea outside the port."
"The two warships unleashed a massive amount of shells, and in just a few moments, Osaka Harbor was turned into a sea of ​​fire..."
"Because the distance was too far, I couldn't tell exactly how big the two warships were, but I saw them heading east after bombing the Osaka port."
"Head east..." Matsudaira Sadanobu muttered, his brows slowly furrowed.
"I feel that the information related to those two warships must be of great significance, so I hurried back to report this to you."
"... Kawai, thank you for your hard work. Your judgment is correct. This information is indeed of great significance. You should go down and rest."
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Laozhong."
After Kawai bowed and expressed his gratitude, he slowly left the military tent.
"Two warships... heading east..." Matsudaira Sadanobu had a serious face and chewed over the words that Kawai had just mentioned in a low voice.
Although I didn't get the information I wanted to know most, such as "Who are the enemies?", I did get some unexpected and significant gains.
"Lord Rochu..." Baba, who was already frightened by the current situation of "Osaka being attacked", swallowed hard for the umpteenth time after listening to the intelligence just reported by Kawai, "How about we... lead the troops eastward first?"
"The only troops we can mobilize right now are the 500 soldiers here."
"With such a small number of people, nothing can be done."
"Why not head east to Edo first, and then join up with the army in Edo..."
Before Ma Chang finished speaking——
"So what if we have only 500 soldiers?" Matsudaira Sadanobu said.
He continued with an expression that left no room for doubt:
"Even if there are only 500 soldiers, there are many things that can be done with only 500 soldiers."
…
…
Osaka, the Buddhist temple where Ogata and his friends are currently hiding.
"Ayi, what are you doing there? The people in the Buddhist hall are about to start questioning Chuguang and the others." A-Ming cast a puzzled look at Ogata, who was sitting on the ground not far away, stroking his left thigh with his hand.
Just now, Genichirō and his companions took Hatsumitsu, Shibata, and other captives including Soemon out of this slightly cramped room, preparing to go to the spacious Buddhist hall outside to interrogate Hatsumitsu and Shibata.
Everyone left, but Ogata remained in the room without moving.
"It's nothing... I just wanted to... take a look at the wound on my leg now that I finally have some free time." As Ogata spoke, he pulled up the left leg of his hakama, revealing a thick circle of linen wrapped around his left thigh.
His left thigh was accidentally scratched by a sniper's bullet tonight. This piece of linen was bandaged by Master Ishikawa after they met by chance.
Looking at the sackcloth on Ogata's left leg, Atachi let out a low cry of surprise and walked quickly to Ogata's side in two steps.
"What happened to your leg? Was it shot? Or was it cut by a sharp weapon?"
"There was indeed an injury here before, but now... it should be healed." After saying that, Ogata raised his hand to untie the linen cloth on his leg.
When he heard the words "The host has completely absorbed the 'power of immortality'" in his mind, the wound on his leg, which had been aching slightly, stopped hurting.
Also no longer hurting was... the small knife wound on his right shoulder left by Yuhachiro, who was good at fighting in the water.
After waking up, Ogata immediately raised his hand and touched his right shoulder - he could no longer feel any wound...
At that time... thinking of the system sound in his mind, Ogata had already vaguely guessed why the injuries on his body no longer hurt...
Because he had just woken up and had to engage in a decisive battle with Soemon and others, Ogata finally had the chance to see the wound on his leg with his own eyes until now.
"What do you mean he was injured before but not now?" A-Cheng asked puzzledly.
While Atachi was asking the question in confusion, Ogata had already completely untied the sackcloth on his legs - under the sackcloth was a smooth skin without even a scar.
"What..." Ating curled his lips, "You are not injured anywhere, why are you wrapped in sackcloth?"
"...About this...I'll explain it to you slowly later." Ogata gave a weird bitter smile, patted his butt and stood up, "Let's go, Ating, let's go to the Buddhist temple."
"Um."
Ogata and Atachi walked side by side toward the Buddhist temple outside.
The Buddhist hall of this temple is now extremely bustling.
Fuma, Azhu, the group from Huluya, Hatsumitsu and Shibata... everyone is now gathered in the Buddhist hall of this Buddhist temple.
Only a spacious Buddhist temple can accommodate so many people.
Also gathered in the temple were the captives captured by Ogata and his men.
Soemon, who was captured by Ogata, Jie Zheng, who was previously captured by Atachi, Genichi and others, and an Iga female ninja named Aqing, the three of them were thrown into the corner of the Buddhist temple by Ogata and his friends.
Soemon hasn't woken up yet.
Before going to Ryushui Temple, Atachi and his companions knocked Jie Zheng and Aqing unconscious and tied them to a wooden pillar with hemp ropes to prevent them from escaping. However, because the force used when knocking them unconscious was a little too great, the two have not woken up yet.
In other words, these three prisoners are all in a coma.
Ogata and the others were not in a hurry to wake the three of them up immediately.
Because - they now wanted to concentrate on asking Chu Guang, who was obviously friendly to them, everything they wanted to know.
Seeing that Ogata and Atachi had finally arrived, Genichi said unhappily:
"Ogata-kun, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
"Sorry, sorry." Ogata gave Genichi an apologetic smile.
"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's... get started."
Yuanyi walked quickly to the man and woman who were kneeling in the middle of the Buddhist hall, and then sat down cross-legged without any hesitation.
"You two are called Hatsumitsu and Shibata, right?" Genichi asked the man and woman sitting in front of him - Hatsumitsu and Shibata.
As soon as Genichi finished his question, Chuguang nodded.
"That's right. Just call me Chu Guang."
"Just call me Shibata..."
The hemp ropes that were originally tied around the wrists and ankles of Hatsumitsu and Shibata have now been untied, and the two of them are kneeling on the ground side by side.
Shibata's face was full of obvious nervousness. His shoulders were hunched together, his lips were tightly pursed, and his eyes were looking around anxiously.
Compared to Shibata, Hatsumitsu's posture and movements are much more graceful.
She knelt quietly, her expression natural, as if she was sitting in the living room of her own home.
"Then - Chu Guang." Yuan Yi, who was sitting face to face with the two of them, turned his eyes and met Chu Guang's eyes. "Before we talk about important things, please allow me to thank you first."
"Thank you so much for what you did just now. If you hadn't told us the weaknesses of that old man and that crazy woman in time, we would have been tricked by those two in the previous battle due to the lack of intelligence."
“You’re welcome.” Chu Guang said calmly, “I was just helping myself at that time. At that time, you were my only hope for survival. If you hadn’t defeated Ji Jiu and Lao Furen, I would definitely not be able to save myself afterwards.”
"Yoshihisa, Lao Furen...are these the names of the two people just now?" Genichi asked.
"That's right. The old guy's name is Jijiu, and the crazy woman who died is the branded woman."
After simply thanking Chu Guang, Yuan Yi changed the subject.
"Hatsumitsu, Shibata. I won't go into too much detail and will just tell you two straight away - how about making a deal with us?"
"We have many questions for you right now."
"As long as you can answer these questions honestly, we will set you free."
"Okay." Chu Guang nodded.
As soon as Genichi finished speaking, Chuguang immediately nodded - the speed of his response was so fast that many people present couldn't help but show surprise.
"I have no other choice now except to cooperate with you, right?" Chu Guang said helplessly after looking up at those people who had surprised expressions.
The corners of Genichi's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile: "It's really rare to find a female hero like you who acts straightforwardly. Well, without further ado - could you please introduce yourselves first?"
"I see that you and the Shibata next to you are both wearing Iga ninja uniforms. You both look like members of the Iga ninja. Why were you tied up and thrown to the ground when I first saw you?"
"...It seems that you know a lot. You can even tell that the clothes Shibata and I are wearing are the uniforms of Iga ninjas." Hatsukuni paused, "You are right, Shibata and I are both members of the Iga ninjas."
"But Shibata and I both dislike Iga."
"In order to ensure that there is enough fresh blood, Iga has been filling the gap with newcomers in an extremely inhumane way."
"They searched for children with good qualifications, captured them, and used almost abusive methods to brainwash and train them into new ninjas."
"That's how Shibata and I became Iga ninjas."
"Iga's training method has successfully trained many loyal people."
"But at the same time, some fighters were trained who had a bitter hatred for the cruel Iga."
"Shibata and I belong to the latter."
"We have both been racking our brains to think of a way to completely destroy Iga."
"The Yoshihisa you just faced is the current ruler of Iga no Sato, and the person I want to kill the most."
"It was this bastard who came up with the evil idea of ​​capturing children to replenish fresh blood."
"Tonight, I plan to sneak into the Ryushui Temple, ignite the gunpowder stored in the temple, and blow Jijiu and the others up into the sky."
"But I didn't expect that Ji Jiu had known that I had treasonous intentions. He predicted that I might come to the bomb storage tonight, so he waited for me and captured me."
"When I was about to send me to a temporary cell and then slowly deal with me, you guys came."
"I see..." Genichi muttered "I see", and then threw out a series of new questions, "I have just talked to the girl named Isshiki Hana, and she said: Have you mentioned to her that the troops wreaking havoc in Osaka tonight are from the Toyotomi clan? The one who leads the Toyotomi clan... is it a young man named Toyotomi Nobuhide or Kinoshita Nobuhide?"
When the name "Toyotomi Nobuhide" was mentioned, Genichi's face couldn't help but darken slightly.
Just now, Chu Guang's expression remained calm from beginning to end.
However, after hearing the question that Genichi just asked... or to be more precise, after hearing Genichi say the name "Toyotomi Nobuhide", Hatsukimi's expression wavered for the first time.
"...It seems like you guys really know a lot of things. You even know the name Toyotomi Nobuhide."
"You are right. The name of the leader of the Toyotomi clan is indeed Toyotomi Nobuhide."
As soon as Chu Guang said this, the expressions of everyone on the scene, especially those in Hulu House, changed immediately.