I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Just hearing the name "Yamada Asemon" from Hasegawa's mouth, Sakura shook her head violently.

"No, no matter what, I don't want Yamada Asemon to help me."

Hasegawa seemed to have expected Sakura to say that, with only a slight bitterness on his face.

"Master Sakura, since you don't want Yamada Asemon to help, I can't think of any other suitable candidates for a while."

"Master Hasegawa." Sakura tapped his knee rhythmically with the fingers of his right hand placed on his right knee, "Don't you know other people with good skills in Edo besides Yamada Senemon? ?"

"" Hasegawa shook his head, "Except for Yamada Asemon, I still know some people who are also very skilled."

"It's just that I can't think of which of these people are reliable and which ones can be trusted."

"Then let's stop here for today's conversation." Sakura nodded slightly, "Master Hasegawa, after you go back, slowly think about who can entrust this important task."

"I'll give you 2 days, is that enough?"

"2 days is enough." Hasegawa nodded.

"Then" Sakura picked up the sword placed by his side, "I will wait for your good news in my residence."

As soon as Sakura stood up, as if remembering something, she lowered her head and said to Hasegawa who was still sitting on the tatami.

"Master Hasegawa, although I know you should know it too, but let me remind you for now."

"If I can't prevent Ji Taro from winning the first place in the Yuqian Trial, I won't help you maintain the Renzujichang together."

"I hope you understand."

"I can understand." Hasegawa nodded.

Sakura and Hasegawa stepped out of the teahouse one after the other.

Sakura's mansion and Huofu Thief Kai's headquarters are located in opposite directions, so the two bid farewell after leaving the tea house and went their separate ways.

"Master Hasegawa." After Sakura completely left the field of vision, Imai, who was walking in front and leading the way with a lantern, turned his head and asked Hasegawa behind him, "How is the talk going?"

"I promise Master Sakura." Hasegawa smiled helplessly.

"Have you promised him?" Imai said in a deep voice.

As early as a few days ago, Sakura approached Hasegawa, and mentioned to Hasegawa that Shiranui had "will send their masters to participate in the imperial trial, in an attempt to win the first place in the imperial trial, so as to restore the image "Attempt.

That is to say, as early as the first meeting a few days ago, Sakura tried to recruit Hasegawa into the group.

The first meeting between the two ended without a problem.

Because Hasegawa couldn't make up his mind whether to cooperate with Sakura, he used the word "drag" and asked Sakura to give him some time to think about it after returning.

And Sakura also agreed to Hasegawa and gave Hasegawa a few days.

So there was the second meeting between the two tonight.

Imai is Hasegawa's right-hand man.

In Huofu Thief Kai, the status is second only to Hasegawa.

As Hasegawa's confidant and possessing a high status, Imai naturally knew that Sakura and Hasegawa had a secret meeting and what the content of the meeting was.

Imai, who was very concerned about whether Hasegawa agreed to Sakura's cooperation invitation, couldn't help asking him about the outcome of the meeting immediately after Hasegawa came out and Sakura left.

After learning from Hasegawa that Hasegawa actually agreed to cooperate with Sakura, Imai's face darkened.

"Master Hasegawa." Imai smiled wryly, "I thought you would reject Master Sakura, haven't you always kept a respectful distance from this kind of political struggle?"

"I originally wanted to reject Sakura." Hasegawa followed Imai with a bitter expression on his face, "But Master Sakura offered me too much money."

"Master Sakura promised me that if he can successfully prevent Ji Taro from winning the first place in the imperial trial, he will help me maintain the Renzu Yoyojo together."

"Really?" As soon as Hasegawa's voice fell, Imai showed excitement.

"Of course, the premise is to successfully prevent Geutaro from winning the first place in the imperial trial." Hasegawa shrugged with a wry smile.

"This condition is indeed very generous." Imai shook his head helplessly, "I can understand why Hasegawa-sama agreed to cooperate with Sakura-sama."

"We really lack allies right now."

Speaking of this, Imai Nagao sighed.

"Many officials in the shogunate, including the old middle-aged adults, feel that our Renzuojima is of no use other than a waste of money"

"I don't think money should be wasted teaching those prisoners to have a skill."

"Why don't they understand?"

Imai showed a look of indignation.

"Giving skills to offenders who have committed minor crimes can greatly reduce their chances of reoffending."

"Why do they all think that our foot deposit is a waste of money?"

"Some of them understand." Hasegawa sighed softly, "At least Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu, who is in the high position of the old middle school, must know the benefits of establishing a foot camp."

"Sir Matsudaira Sadanobu, he is now in full swing carrying out the shogunate reform."

"There are a lot of places that are in dire need of money."

"So Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu, what he dislikes most now is people who waste money."

"The reason why Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu changed his ways to put pressure on me and forced me to shut down the Renzujiao is because he thinks that there are still many things that are prioritized over the operation of the Renzujiao."

After all, Hasegawa let out a burst of anger.

"But no matter what Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu says, I will not shut down the Renzujiu."

Imai nodded solemnly and said:

"If we can have the support of Master Sakura, our pressure will be much less."

"That also succeeds in preventing Shiranui's people from taking the first place in the military test of the Yuqian Trial. Only then will Sakura-sama be willing to help us maintain the Renzujichang together."

"Master Hasegawa." Imai asked, "Since you have already cooperated with Master Sakura, what specific work will you do?"

"The work I have to do is also very simple."

"Sir Matsudaira Jonobu personally organizes the imperial trial, even Sakura-sama cannot tamper with the imperial trial."

"So if you want to prevent the people from Shiranui from winning the first place in the imperial trial, the only way you can use it is to send a person who is strong enough to defeat the person from Shiranui in the imperial trial."

"So the task Master Sakura assigned me is very simple."

"Let me send out the most elite subordinates under my command, or use my network of contacts, and let some friends with good skills participate in the imperial trial. Defeat the people in Shiranui in the imperial trial."

"Then it's very simple!" Imai shouted with a look of enthusiasm, "We have a lot of talented people who can be transformed into thieves, and there are no less than ten people who can count one as ten."

"Master Sakura knows how to find someone."

"If you're looking for someone with high strength, Hasegawa-sama who owns the Huofu Thief Kai, you are indeed the best candidate."

A wry smile appeared on Hasegawa's face again.

"Imai, do you know who Shiranui sent to participate in the imperial trial?"

"do not know."

"They sent Kyutaro."

"One of the Four Heavenly Kings, Jitaro?"

"You actually know him."

"Master Hasegawa, I am also the deputy chief of Huofu Thief Kai. I also know these things."

"That's right, it's Ji Taro, one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui, and one of the four strongest Jōnin in Shiranui."

"Although I haven't seen him with my own eyes. But I have also heard about his strength."

"Most of our Huofu Thief Kai's elites have been transferred to the northeast to capture Aoi Ichiro."

"I don't think any of these people who are staying in Edo now have the ability to defeat Kyutaro"

"Then I can only ask some friends with good skills." Imai said in a deep voice.

"I just recommended Yamada Asemon to Sakura-sama."

Hasegawa shrugged.

"It's a pity that Master Sakura rejected it without hesitation."

After hearing the name "Yamada Asemon", Imai's face changed slightly, and he shrank his neck.

Looking at Imai who showed such a reaction, Hasegawa said to Imai in a joking tone:

"What? Imai, are you also afraid of the Yamada Asemon family?"

"Of course." Imai admitted directly, "Normal people would be afraid of the Yamada Asemon family."

"I once went to the residence of the Yamada Asemon family for some things."

"As soon as I stepped into their mansion, I smelled a faint smell of corpses"

"Not only that, but I also happened to see their family's servants moving a somewhat decomposed corpse into the backyard of their mansion."

"It is said that the corpse was used by the young people of their family to train and misuse it."

"I think that family is abnormal. If possible, I don't want to have any contact with people from that family for the rest of my life."

"Maybe Sakura-sama, like me, didn't want to have any contact with the Yamada Asemon family, so he refused."

"Maybe." Hasegawa shrugged, "Master Sakura has always been rigid."

"He has always felt that even if the executioners who plunder other people's names are members of the Yamada Senemon family, they are still unclean."

"If you have contacts with such unclean people, you will also be unlucky."

"That's probably why Sakura-sama didn't want people from the Yamada Asemon family to help."

"Also, I heard that Sakura-sama has always been quite critical of the Yamada Asemon family's behavior of using people's guts to make adult bile balls."

"This may be one of the reasons why Sakura-sama doesn't want people from the Yamada Asemon family to help."

"I think it's okay for the Yamada Asemon family to use human gallbladders to make medicine." Imai muttered, "Anyway, the gallbladder they use is the gallbladder of dead people."

"Using the guts of a dead person to make medicine to save people, I think it's a good thing."

"It would be better if the price of human gallbladder pills could be lower"

"In short." Hasegawa sighed, "Since Sakura-sama doesn't want the Yamada Asemon family to help, I can only find someone else."

"But among the people I know who are still capable, it seems that there is no one who has a great hope of defeating Ji Taro."

Hasegawa looked at Imai.

"Imai, do you know anyone who is very skilled?"

Imai shook his head with a bitter face.

"Forget it." Hasegawa shook his head with a helpless look on his face, "Let's think about the right candidate slowly later."

"If possible, I really want to fight against the ninjas in Shiranui." Imai smiled, "I have never fought against ninjas before."

"Speaking of which, the shogunate used to be like this before, recruiting ninjas as imperial ninjas."

"You're talking about Iga no Sato, right?" Hasegawa smiled, "You're right. Ieyasu established the Edo Shogunate, and indeed he incorporated Iga no Sato as the royal ninja troop of the shogunate."

"It's a pity that Iga no Sato died due to civil strife 40 years ago."

"Now that I think about it carefully, I'm really emotional."

"200 years ago, the five great ninjas of the Warring States Period, Iga no Sato, Koka no Sato, Fuma no Sato, Manten no Sato, and Togakushi no Sato, are all extinct now."

"Currently in the whole country, only the Shiranui family of ninjas is left."

"And when Shiranui was in the Warring States Period, he was just a little-known ninja who relied on Lord Taiko to survive."

"The little-known Shiranui in the past has now become the only remaining ninja family, and now it is still the royal ninja of the shogunate just like Iga no Sato."

"The changes in the world are really unpredictable."

"From a certain point of view, Master Taiko is Shiranui's benefactor."

"Without Taiko-sama's help, Shiranui, who was weak at that time, might have perished long ago."

"Master Taiko?" Imai seemed to have remembered something, with a thoughtful look on his face, "I have heard of many anecdotes between Master Taiko and Shiranui."

"I heard that Shiranui also participated in the two decisive battles of Ieyasu's attack on Toyotomi's house in the Osaka Winter Battle and the Osaka Summer Battle."

"I have also heard such rumors." Hasegawa said, "But these are just rumors after all. No one knows whether there is such a thing."