I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

As he spoke, he turned his head and pierced his eagle-like gaze behind him.

"Show yourself."

"I advise you to show up obediently by yourself. I don't have to go to catch you. You can also suffer less physical pain. It's good for you and me."

When the one-eyed old man turned his face away, Yuan Yi hurriedly hid in a nearby alley.

But as soon as he hid in the alley next to him, he heard the words of the one-eyed old man.

Have you been found?

A bit of helplessness appeared on Yuan Yi's face involuntarily.

There is a world of difference between the difficulty of stalking someone in a busy city and the difficulty of stalking someone in a quiet place where no one is around.

There is a huge difference in the difficulty between following a mediocre ninja and following a top ninja in the world.

If it is in a noisy place such as Yoshihara in the evening, Genichi still has some confidence that he will not be discovered by the old man when he is following the old man.

It's a pity that there is not even half a person here, so Yuan Yi has long been mentally prepared that he will be discovered.

Seeing that he was discovered, Yuan Yi walked out of this alley frankly because he had already prepared himself mentally.

At this time, the tengu mask on Yuanyi's face was still on.

Looking at Genichi walking slowly out of the alley, the one-eyed old man frowned, staring at Genichi's face still wearing the tengu mask.

Before the one-eyed old man asked Yuan Yi's identity, Yuan Yi raised his hand a step ahead and reached for the mask on his face.

"Long time no see, Balrog." Yuan Yi took off his mask, revealing his wrinkled face like this one-eyed old man.

"Yuanyi!" The one-eyed old man's pupils instantly shrank like pinholes.

While the one-eyed old man was staring at Yuan Yi's face, Yuan Yi was also staring at the one-eyed old man's face.

After bumping into the one-eyed old man coming out of the Kasa teahouse outside Yoshiwara just now, Genichi instantly recognized that it was the 12th generation Balrog of Shiranui who had a lot of grievances with him.

Just now I had time to take a closer look, and now after looking at Balrog carefully for a while, Yuan Yi couldn't help but sigh with emotion: Balrog is as old as me

The last time I met Balrog was already 10 years ago when Genichi boarded Shiranui by himself to mediate the dispute between Shiranui and Fuma no Sato.

Ten years ago, Genichi was 10 years old and Balrog was 54 years old.

Compared with 10 years ago, the two have the same appearance change now, with more wrinkles on the face, no matter the hair or the beard on the chin, there is no black in the slightest.

However, the overall appearance did not change much, so Yuan Yi was able to recognize the Balrog at a glance.

"It's been a long time, Yuan Yi." Balrog looked Yuan Yi up and down several times with complicated eyes, and then sneered, "Compared to 10 years ago, you seem to be much older."

Source [-]: "Each to each other."

"We really have an incredible relationship, and we were able to meet here by chance. I didn't expect you to be in Edo now."

"As soon as I saw you, I felt the pain in my left eye." Balrog raised his right hand and stroked the vertical scar on his left eye, "Even though it has been more than 40 years, you cut me blind I still remember the knife in the left eye until now."

"Although my left eye was lost because of your knife, I still have to praise you that that knife was really beautiful, and it was a knife that I couldn't handle no matter what at that time."

"You seem very calm." Yuan Yi said in a calm tone, "I thought that after seeing me, you would definitely rush up and chop me with anger."

Yuan Yi very much agrees with what Balrog said just now, "The two of them have a terrible fate".

Although on the surface, Yuan Yi was casually chatting with the Balrog, but after appearing from the alley, the muscles of Yuan Yi's whole body were actually tense the whole time, ready to fight at any time Prepare.It's like a carnivore that will jump up at any time to kill its prey.

If Yuan Yi were asked to make a list and write the names of all the powerful enemies he had encountered in his life, Yuan Yi would definitely write the name of Balrog on it.

More than 40 years ago, when the two were still young people in their early 20s, the two began to feud.

From knowing Balrog to the present, Yuan Yi has forged two major hatreds with him.

The first major hatred was more than 1 years ago, when a death fight broke out with Balrog, he cut off Balrog's left eye with a single knife. This battle was very dangerous, Yuan Yi almost died, and entered "" "No-Self Realm", Yuan Yicai turned the tide of the battle in one breath and blinded the Balrog's left eye with a single blow.

It's a pity that after beheading Balrog's left eye, Balrog was rescued by his companions who arrived later, and Yuan Yi at that time didn't have the strength to pursue him.

That was the first time Yuan Yi entered the "Non-Self Realm". Because this battle was very meaningful, Yuan Yi recorded this battle in every cheat book of the Wu-Seo Two Swords style written by him.

The second biggest hatred is that 2 years ago, Genichi forcibly intervened in the dispute between Shiranui and Fuma no Sato, causing Shiranui to miss the opportunity to kill Fuma who caused them Shiranui to suffer huge losses.

These two hatreds are picked out at random, and they are enough for Balrog to draw his sword recklessly and rush forward to chop Yuanyi's great hatred.

Balrog's appearance at this time was unexpectedly calm, which surprised Yuan Yi.

"You know me very well. If I had met you a few hours ago, I would definitely not be able to talk to you so calmly."

"but now"

Speaking of this, the Balrog became silent.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

After being silent for a while, the Balrog pouted towards a dark alley next to him.

"Genichi, this may be the last time the two of us see each other."

"I don't know why, but now I really want to find someone I know to say something that I have been holding back in my heart."

"Come and chat with me."

Before Yuan Yi could respond, Balrog took the bag of sweet potatoes in his hand and stepped into the dark alley.

Looking at the Balrog who turned around and walked towards the alley, Yuan Yi frowned.

His eyebrows and eyes were full of surprise and doubt.

Yuan Yi only hesitated for a moment, then followed closely.

After following the Balrog into this dark alley, Yuan Yi maintained his vigilance the whole time, in case of a possible sneak attack by the Balrog.

After the Balrog entered the alley, he walked all the way to about the middle of the alley, and then sat down on the ground with his back against the earth wall.

When Yuan Yi also entered the alley, Balrog said to Yuan Yi in a half-joking tone:

"What a surprise, I thought you wouldn't come over. After all, you didn't have a reason to come here to listen to me."

"I'm also very surprised now." Yuan Yi said softly, "The leader of the dignified Shiranui would go out to drink in such a late night. And he would even invite me, a deadly enemy, to chat."

Just now, Yuan Yi had already smelled a faint smell of alcohol on Balrog's body.

"To each other." Balrog sneered, "I didn't expect you, Genichi, to be in Edo right now."

"What are you doing in Edo?"

"Are you here to watch the imperial trial match?"

"Or just for fun?"

"Or are you here to trouble us again in Shiranui?"

"Come to trouble you Shiranui?" Yuan Yi remained calm, "Why do you say that?"

"Because every time I see you, you basically come to trouble us in Shiranui."

"The last time I saw you, you came to mediate our war with Fuma no Sato, causing us to miss the chance to kill that bastard Fuma."

"We Shiranui just moved our base to Edo, and you showed up in Edo. It's hard for me not to suspect that you're here for trouble."

After that, Balrog untied the package of dried sweet potatoes in his hand, picked up a sweet potato, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed.

"If you're here to trouble us again in Shiranui, you're really lucky."

"Now Shiranui is weak like never before."

"Tomorrow sooner, or a few days later, there should be news that the 12th Balrog in Shiranui has passed away, and someone will succeed him as the 13th Balrog."

"The 12th Balrog passed away?" Yuan Yi raised his eyebrows, "Isn't the 12th Balrog talking to me very energetically now?"

Balrog smiled.

"About a month ago."

"I just found out that one of my capable subordinates is a little weird."

"As for which of my subordinates, I won't say."

"After discovering the strangeness of this subordinate, I became more careful. For more than a month, I have been using Shadow Warrior frequently."

"Kage warrior?" Yuan Yi exclaimed in a low voice, "Do you still have shadow warriors?"

Shadow warriors were very popular in the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago.

Every big name will look for someone with a similar appearance to serve as their own substitute to ensure their own safety.This kind of lord substitute is called a shadow warrior.

It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu has several shadow warriors.

After entering the peaceful Edo period, there is still a lingering custom of using shadow warriors.

Not only daimyo would look for Kagemusha, but even some wealthy businessmen would look for Kagemusha as well.

"I have always had a shadow warrior. I just never told anyone. After all, once people know that I have a shadow warrior, the shadow warrior will be useless."

The Balrog said softly.

"It took me a lot of effort to train my shadow warrior."

"It took me almost a year just to find someone who looked exactly the same."

"After finding someone who looks similar to me, it took me a lot of energy to train him."

"He has to have the same scars as mine first, and he has to practice ninjutsu so that he can have muscles that are shaped like mine."

"However, it's worth the effort. The shadow fighters I cultivated are almost exactly the same as me, regardless of their appearance or temperament."

"In the whole Shiranui, no one knows that I have a shadow warrior, and no one can distinguish me from that shadow warrior."

"For more than a month, except for very few occasions, most of the time, my shadow fighters showed up in front of everyone."

"My true self has been lurking, waiting for my subordinates to reveal themselves."

"Just tonight, my subordinate finally showed his feet."

"He poisoned my meal tonight."

"But the person who ate the poisonous food is naturally not me, but my shadow warrior."

"And now everyone in Shiranui thinks I'm dead."

"Right now, my body is probably placed somewhere in Shiranui."

Yuanyi had been listening quietly.

Hearing this, Yuan Yi couldn't help but interject.

"Since that subordinate of yours has already shown his feet, why don't you show up and arrest him immediately?"

"That's what I intended."

The smile on Balrog's face became more and more weird.

"I originally planned to show up after he showed his feet, as you just said, and then drag him and his accomplices who were trying to poison me to death."

"But after my Shadow Warrior was poisoned and I was nominally dead, I suddenly changed my mind."

"I think it's not bad to let me die in name like this!"

The Balrog's tone gradually became excited.

"In this way, I can justifiably leave Shiranui!"

"Don't be a Balrog anymore!"

"Stop worrying about Shiranui!"

Of the three sentences of the Balrog, one sentence is louder than the other.

When he said the words "Don't worry about Shiranui", the corners of his mouth could not stop rising.

And Yuan Yi frowned tightly at this moment.

At this time, the Balrog, like a child showing his new toy to a friend, continued to say excitedly:

"30 years ago, the former Balrog held my hand and told me that Shiranui will be handed over to you."

"In addition to the previous Balrog, there are many people who had a good relationship with me at that time, and they all said similar things to me."

"The former Balrog has been kind to me in nurturing me."

"I don't want the former Balrog to be disappointed."

"I don't want my friends to be disappointed either."