clang--!
The upright Yoshimitsu Boneshaku blocked the horizontal slash from Ogata.
After successfully defending, Toyotomi jumped two steps to the right rear.
Ogata stared at Toyotomi's face - at this moment, there was no smile on Toyotomi's face anymore.
——Did I see it wrong just now?
This thought first popped into Ogata's mind.
But as soon as this thought came to mind, Ogata rejected it himself.
He was sure that he had not seen it wrong.
Just now, there was indeed a hint of a smile on Toyotomi's face.
Toyotomi...what are you laughing at...?
He was clearly in deep adversity, but he still smiled... Toyotomi's smile just now made Ogata feel a little creepy.
While feeling creepy, the ominous feeling in my heart became stronger...
Only by intensifying the attack on Toyotomi can Ogata feel a little more at ease.
When Ogata raised his vigilance to the highest level and continued to suppress Toyotomi unilaterally——
Plop, plop, plop, plop…
The sound of heavy objects falling into the water reached their ears.
The two of them were now standing at the side of the ship.
Almost at the same time, they both used the corner of their eyes to look at what the sounds of falling into the water were - it turned out that heavy objects were being pushed out of the cabin and into the sea.
After noticing that the crew in the cabin were throwing heavy objects into the sea -
——What is that…! *2
Ogata and Toyotomi uttered exactly the same exclamation in their hearts.
The two had been busy fighting just now, so they didn't notice until now that the Hulumaru, located behind the Hikari Maru, was heading straight towards the Hikari Maru... The distance between the two ships was only more than 10 meters.
Looking at the warships crashing towards them, both Ogata and Toyotomi were stunned.
Toyotomi was surprised as to why Hurushimaru suddenly collided with Asahi Kagumaru.
As for Ogata...the reason for his astonishment was slightly different.
For no apparent reason, he suddenly recalled... what Mamiya had said to him when they had separated from him and the others:
(Ogata-kun, you should go ahead and support Genichi and the others. Makimura and I will come over later and meet you on the Hikari Maru)
However, although the two were stunned, they were only stunned for a moment.
With a powerful enemy before them, no one dares to distract their attention casually.
What on earth had happened? Why did Huluwan suddenly crash into this place? The two of them didn't even have time to think about these questions.
After glancing at the approaching Hulucamaru from the corner of their eyes and being stunned for a moment, Ogata and Toyotomi both withdrew all their attention and continued to focus their whole body and mind on the powerful enemy in front of them.
——I don’t have time to care about these things! *2
They both shouted this in their hearts at the same time.
In order to inflict the greatest damage on Toyotomi, Ogata has always adopted the tactic of "attacking Toyotomi's two important parts with two swords respectively", making Toyotomi unable to defend himself and unable to focus on one thing while neglecting the other.
The effect of Ogata's tactics is obvious.
Toyotomi, who could often only dodge one of Ogata's swords but not the other, was beaten by Ogata like a sandbag.
If the fight continues like this, it is only a matter of time before Ogata achieves complete victory.
However, that's how combat works - no matter what happens, it's not surprising.
The change came so quietly.
After forcing Toyotomi to dodge backwards once again, Ogata turned around and slashed at Toyotomi who had just managed to stand firm.
Toyotomi raised his eyes expressionlessly and looked at the blade that was coming straight towards him.
This time, Toyotomi neither dodged in a hurry nor raised his sword immediately to defend himself.
Instead... he showed a meaningful smile that was exactly the same as the one Ogata had just seen.
The ominous premonition in Ogata's heart, which had just been suppressed, surged out again...
The moment a meaningful smile appeared on Toyotomi's lips,
"puff!"
Toyotomi opened his mouth and a large amount of water flew out of his mouth and splashed towards Ogata's face.
Looking at the large cloud of mist coming towards him, Ogata's pupils couldn't help but shrink.
--rainwater……!
If it was saliva, Toyotomi would not have been able to accumulate such a large amount in such a short time.
The only explanation Ogata could think of was that while Toyotomi was fighting him, he had taken advantage of the "weather" and had been quietly accumulating raindrops in his mouth.
The current rain is so heavy that it only takes a moment to fill a mouth with rainwater.
The distance between him and Ogata was only a few inches.
Even if he now possesses the "immortal power" in his body and has entered the "selfless state", some of the human body's instinctive reactions cannot be eliminated.
In order to avoid the raindrops spit out by Toyotomi from dripping into his eyes, Ogata subconsciously turned his head to the side, so that most of the rain only hit the air behind Ogata.
Ogata's movements... paused uncontrollably because of this...
The spitted rain water did not cause any serious harm to Ogata - but Toyotomi's goal had been achieved.
Ogata was disturbed by the rain that he suddenly spit out. Toyotomi, who had achieved his goal, took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and exerted all his strength to quickly step back and avoid Ogata's knife. In just a moment, he had opened up a distance of nearly 5 steps between him and Ogata.
——Oh no…!
After shouting "Oh no" in his heart, Ogata hurriedly chased after Toyotomi who was getting away from him.
Even though the distance between him and Toyotomi was only about 5 steps.
But such a distance... for these two extraordinary guys, it is a distance that is enough to greatly change the situation of the battle.
Toyotomi threw himself at... Genichi who was not far away, like a hungry tiger that had been hungry for a long time!
Seeing Toyotomi rushing towards him, Genichi wanted to raise his sword to fight him, but for Genichi who couldn't even stand up now, continuing to raise his sword to fight... was too much of a luxury...
"Stop! Ogata Ittosai!"
Ogata has tried his best to pursue Toyotomi, but... the time left for Ogata to pursue Toyotomi is too short...
From Toyotomi to Genichi - the distance is less than 10 steps.
Such a short distance... for both Ogata and Toyotomi, it only takes the blink of an eye and they can fly over it in one breath.
Even though Ogata pursued at the fastest speed, Toyotomi, who had the upper hand, still succeeded in his evil plan.
Toyotomi pounced on the exhausted Genichir, covered his mouth with his left hand, and held the knife against his neck with his right hand.
Seeing this, Ogata's expression changed slightly uncontrollably, and then he stopped chasing.
"...Before, you used Miss Lin as a hostage and severely injured Master Genichi." Ogata said in a deep voice, "Now you are using Master Genichi to threaten me again..."
Looking at Genichi who was now being held hostage by Toyotomi, Ogata could not help but curse inwardly, and then said in his heart:
——I see…Since just now…this guy’s goal is to take Genichirō hostage…
At this moment, after seeing Genichi being held hostage, Ogata realized belatedly that since just now, Toyotomi had been dodging his attacks in the direction of Genichi.
"I have thought of many ways to defeat you." Toyotomi grinned, "but after thinking about it, I think this method of 'taking people as hostages' is the most convenient and reliable."
With his mouth covered by Toyotomi, Genichi struggled violently, trying to break free from Toyotomi's control.
But now he is in a state where he is only half alive...his struggle is so weak.
With his mouth tightly covered and unable to break free, Genichi could only utter meaningless words like "Mmm".
Toyotomi covered Genichi's mouth mainly for two reasons.
1. Worried that Genichirō would say something unnecessary to Ogata.
Second: I was worried that Genichi would hit his neck against his knife because he didn’t want to burden Ogata…
Although it was only just now that Toyotomi met his great-uncle for the first time.
But through the life-and-death battle with his uncle just now, Toyotomi has roughly understood the character of his uncle.
He felt that this old man might actually be able to do something like "voluntarily bumping his neck against a knife blade"...
So in order to avoid these things from happening, Toyotomi covered Genichi's mouth and controlled Genichi's head, preventing him from speaking or moving around.
"When we first started fighting, I discovered that your two-sword swordsmanship is almost exactly the same as the two-sword swordsmanship used by me, the great-grandfather."
"You and my great uncle...even if we are not master and disciple, our relationship must be special, right?"
Toyotomi gave Ogata a slightly ferocious smile and shouted:
"If you don't want Kinoshita Genichi to die like this, then retreat! Throw the knife in your hand into the sea!"
If they dragged Minamoto backwards in order to increase the distance between them and Ogata, they might reveal some flaws that Ogata could exploit, so to be on the safe side, Toyotomi asked Ogata to retreat on his own initiative.
"…Step back and throw away the knife? If I really do as you say, you will probably kill Master Genichi right away, right?" Ogata, whose brows had been furrowed since just now, said this to Toyotomi in a tone without any sadness or joy.
"Heh." Toyotomi sneered with a hint of sarcasm, "Then you don't have to obey me."
With that, Toyotomi moved the blade of Yoshimitsu Boneshoku closer to Genichi's neck.
"Anyway, Kinoshita Genichi is in this state now, so he is no longer a threat to me." Toyotomi continued, "If you are willing to step back and throw away the knife as I just asked, I can move the knife away from Kinoshita Genichi's neck."
"How do I know if you will keep your promise?" Ogata asked.
"Oh, believe it or not." Toyotomi sneered again, "Alright! Stop talking nonsense! Back off quickly and throw away the knife!"
"I advise you not to make any strange plans."
"At this distance, even if you rush over to save him, I can cut Kinoshita Genichi's throat before your knife can hit me, and then dodge to the side to avoid your attack!"
“……”Ogata stood there.
He neither spoke any more nor did he step back and throw away the knife in his palm as Toyotomi had just ordered.
He just silently estimated the distance between him and Toyotomi again.
——The distance... is about 2 and a half steps...
Ogata just now talked so much to Toyotomi about things that were and were not, purely to delay time.
Calculate the distance between him and Toyotomi, and formulate a response strategy to delay time.
Ogata didn't believe a word of what Toyotomi said.
Blindly believing the enemy's words, throwing away weapons and surrendering was never an option for Ogata.
From the very beginning, he had no intention of paying attention to Toyotomi's requests to him.
He flashed in front of Toyotomi and attacked him who was hiding behind Genichi - this was not difficult, Ogata could easily cross the distance of 2 and a half steps.
The difficulty is how to ensure Genichi's safety while forcing Toyotomi to retreat or kill him...
2 and a half steps... that's a pretty awkward distance.
At this distance, even with the "selflessness state" he now possesses, Ogata cannot guarantee that he can definitely get rid of Toyotomi before Genichi is hurt.
Genichi, who has taken good care of Ogata, can be considered half of Ogata's master.
Ignoring Genichi's life or death - Ogata could never do such a thing.
——2 and a half steps... Is there any way to kill this bastard before Toyotomi can kill Master Genichi...?
Ogata asked himself this in his heart.
The expression on his face became more and more solemn as the question was asked to him.
But at this moment——Ogata suddenly noticed... the gaze that Genichi was casting towards him.
Genichi also realized that he was in an extremely weak state and was completely unable to break free from Toyotomi's control.
So, at this moment, he had stopped struggling.
At this moment, he raised his eyes and gave Ogata a calm look.
Genichi's eyes, which were staring straight at Ogata, seemed to be able to speak.
Take action—this is what Genichi's eyes "said" to Ogata.
Looking at Genichirō's eyes that were "talking" to him... Ogata was stunned at first, and then he saw a smile slowly appearing on his cheeks.
I knew you would say that—Ogata said this to Genichi with his expression.
No need to say more——
Clank, clank, clank…
Ogata let out a long sigh, put the Daijizai in his left hand back into the scabbard, then tightly grasped the Daishikuten with both hands, assuming the "Daxia" stance, with the tip of the sword pointing directly at Toyotomi behind Genichi.
[Note: Daxia: One of the sword stances. Hold the sword with both hands, place the sword on the upper right part of the body, with the blade pointing to the sky and the tip of the sword pointing to the enemy.]
"...It seems that you don't want to do what I say." Seeing Ogata taking this posture that would be beneficial for the attack, Toyotomi's expression darkened slightly.
"Only people whose brains are not fully developed will believe what you say."
Ogata chuckled softly and then said sternly, "Keep your nerves tight, Toyotomi Nobuhide."
"Let's see whose sword is faster, you or me."
"...Heh, if you want to compete, then go ahead." Toyotomi returned to his usual expression - sneering, "Anyway, for me, even if I can't force you to throw away the knife, I can still count it as a profit if I can kill this old guy who has caused me so much trouble."
After sneering, he pressed the blade of the knife in his hand against Yuanyi's neck.
The sharp blade of Ji Guang Gu Shi had slightly scratched the skin on Yuan Yi's neck, and a few drops of bright red blood flowed down the blade.
The nerves of both sides... were tense at this moment.
They both held their knives tightly and stared at each other.
Always be ready to take the lead over the enemy and swing the knife in your hand.
The atmosphere around them became heavy and depressing because of the confrontation between the two.
Ogata methodically breathed in and out the air around him, which had become extremely cold due to the heavy rain, in the rhythm of "Source's Breathing".
After breathing in and out several times at a very rhythmic frequency, Ogata's breathing suddenly stopped.
Then, he was seen breathing in slowly at a very slow rhythm.
Ogata's chest gradually swelled as he inhaled the cool air.
Let your attention slowly focus on your breathing.
In an instant, Ogata's mind was focused to the extreme - but he was still hesitant to launch an attack immediately.
He is waiting.
He was waiting for the best time to attack.
He was waiting for the moment when Toyotomi would relax, or...something unexpected would happen.
Toyotomi was not impatient either. He just stared silently at Ogata's movements, ready to push the knife to cut Kaiichi's throat as soon as Ogata's knife moved, and then jump to the side to avoid Ogata's attack.
This was a duel where any discerning person could tell who had the greater advantage... one was standing two and a half steps away, while the other had his knife directly in front of the target's neck... it was obvious at a glance whose knife had the greater advantage.
It is for this reason that Toyotomi's face always showed a hint of calmness, while Ogata's face was full of seriousness.
——Calm down...Calm down...Wait a little longer...
Ogata kept telling himself "calm down" in his heart.
He forced himself to remain calm and continued to wait for... the best moment to launch an attack.
The situation on the battlefield...is often so ever-changing.
When Toyotomi looked calm and Ogata looked solemn, the atmosphere between the two of them had become extremely tense.
whoosh!
A thick and long crossbow arrow suddenly flew out from Toyotomi's right and penetrated deeply into Toyotomi's right shoulder.
Ogata and Toyotomi were both focusing their attention on each other, so neither of them noticed the sudden appearance of the crossbow arrow.
The sudden flying crossbow arrow and the severe pain in his right shoulder instantly made Toyotomi's face full of shock.
The movements of his hands... paused for a moment because of this sudden change.
--not good!
Although Toyotomi reacted instantly, the moment when his hand paused had already decided the outcome.
When the crossbow arrow suddenly appeared and pierced Toyotomi's neck, Ogata's eyes immediately flashed with brilliance.
——Right now!
Bang!
There was a sound of footsteps on the deck.
Ogata bent down slightly and rushed towards Toyotomi like an arrow!
The tip of Dashitian's sword, with its indomitable momentum, pushed aside the rain curtain and the solemn atmosphere!
The tip of Daishikatsu's sword rapidly enlarged within Toyotomi's field of vision!
--Oh shit!
Toyotomi cursed in his heart.
The rapidly enlarging tip of the knife in his eyes told him a cruel reality: it was completely too late to kill Genichi first and then jump to the side.
If he continued to choose to cut Kaiichi's neck, his head would be pierced by Ogata in the next moment.
Die together with Minamoto - Toyotomi is not interested in exchanging his life with this old guy!
So, he quickly made a plan - after gritting his teeth in anger, he pushed Genichi in his arms towards Ogata, then rolled to the side to avoid Ogata's knife.
Ogata did not chase after Toyotomi who had dodged to the side. The most important thing now was to confirm Genichir's safety.
He used his free left hand to pull Yuan Yi into his arms.
At the same time, he looked sideways in the direction where the crossbow arrow had just flown.
More than ten meters away from the side of the battlefield between him and Toyotomi, a man with glasses stood on the deck.
In his hands he was holding a crossbow which, according to Makimura, was used to hunt whales.
Behind the man with glasses was Hulumaru... to be more precise, it was Hulumaru whose bow was about to collide with Hikarimaru.
Although the distance was a little far, Ogata could barely hear the low sigh of Glasses who was slowly putting down the crossbow in his hand:
"Didn't you hit the head?... The crossbow used for whale hunting is much more difficult to use than the ordinary crossbow. I need to find an opportunity to learn more about precision shooting in the future."
BANG——!!!
As Yan Jing's words came to his mind, the gourd pill behind him hit the Hikari pill heavily!
The impact of the ship collision caused the hull of the Hikari Maru to shake violently and generated an extremely strong wind pressure.
The huge wind pressure blew on Yan Jing, who was facing away from Hulumaru, causing the feather robe on his body to rustle.