I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Hu Che was pulled out of the sheath inch by inch.

The cold light reflected from the blade pierced the eyes of the Ezo wolf in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, causing the wolf to take a few steps back in one breath.

"Leave quickly!" Joshin Matsudaira yelled at the Ezo wolf in front of him while posing in a standard mid-section stance.

Even in the period when he was practicing swords diligently, Matsudaira Sadanobu did not have the confidence to deal with a wolf alone.

But now that he has been practicing for a long time, Matsudaira Sadanobu is even less sure to deal with a wolf at the same time and get out of it.

Now he only hoped that after showing his Huche, he could make the wolf feel threatened and retreat.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's idea was well thought out.

But the reality is often cruel.

After Matsudaira Sadanobu drew his sword, the wolf, which had already retreated a few steps, let out a low growl at Matsudaira Sadanobu again.

Afterwards, the wolf slowly walked towards Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's face instantly turned livid.

……

……

"Okay..." Ogata nodded lightly, "Finally, we have gathered enough firewood..."

Because of a snowstorm just now, many branches were blown to the ground, so it is not difficult to pick up branches suitable for burning fire.

Ogata tied up the collected firewood with a rattan that he picked up just now, and then prepared to carry the firewood back to the cave.

"Ugh..."

"Huh?" Ogata turned to look to his left.

Just now, Ogata seemed to hear a strange hissing sound.

His eyes turned to the direction where the voice came from just now, but he saw nothing.

He pricked up his ears to listen, but he didn't hear anything.

—Did you hear me wrong...

"Ugh..."

Just when the thought of "Did I hear it wrong?" was born in Ogata's mind, the strange hiss sounded again at a very good time.

This strange neighing sound did not seem to be very far away from Ogata.

Ogata looked towards the direction from which the strange hiss came from, his eyes narrowed slightly.

……

……

——what to do... what to do... what should I do now...

Grandfather Jiang, who was hiding in the bushes, was racking his brains and thinking about what he should do now while watching the "human-wolf war" between a man and a wolf 400 meters ahead.

Just now, I saw a middle-aged man with a knife hanging from his waist that looked very valuable. Before he had time to go and steal his knife, the man woke up directly.

Grandfather Jiang was just disappointed, but the scene that appeared in front of him almost jumped up in fright—an Ezo wolf suddenly appeared, and immediately began to attack the middle-aged man.

Based on the middle-aged man's skill, it is not difficult to see that he should also be a person who has practiced swordsmanship.

But his level of swordsmanship is not yet at the level of dealing with a wolf.

At the beginning of the battle, the middle-aged man had no choice but to parry, dodging the wolf's attack in a very embarrassing manner.

After seeing the wolf that suddenly appeared, his grandfather Jiang Ben thought of running away as far away as possible.

However, as soon as the thought of running away appeared, the greedy thought emerged immediately, and began to fight against the thinking of running away.

A bold plan came up in the mind of grandfather Jiang: After the middle-aged man was eaten by the wolf, he went to pick up the middle-aged man's knife.

This strong greed made grandfather Jiang Mingzhi know that if he stayed here, he might be in danger of being attacked by wolves, and he couldn't make up his mind to escape...

……

……

"Drink...drink...drink..."

Holding the knife tightly, Matsudaira Sadanobu gasped heavily, staring fixedly at the Ezo wolf that was approaching in front of him.

From just now, he was powerless to fight back and just dodged in embarrassment.

Matsudaira Sadanobu has been able to sustain himself to this day with the healthy body he developed through diligent exercise when he was young.

But now it is almost at the limit.

Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that his legs were weak now, and he didn't have enough strength to avoid the next pounce of the Ezo wolf.

——Wouldn’t you think that I, Matsudaira Takanobu, would die here in the end... Heh, falling in the snow country... It’s not bad.

Obviously he is currently in a dangerous situation where he may die at any time, but Matsudaira Sadanobu still maintains calmness and composure.

A ruthless look flashed in Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes.

Then - he knelt down slowly on the ground, continued to hold Hu Che with his right hand, and began to pull the skirt of his upper body clothes with his left hand.

Rather than being killed by an animal, Matsudaira Sadanobu preferred to cut through his stomach and die as a samurai.

Naturally, the Ezo wolf would not understand what Matsudaira Sadanobu was going to do next, it just continued to follow the instinct of the animal, slowly approaching Matsudaira Sadanobu, looking for the best attack position and timing.

Just when Matsudaira Sadanobu was about to stab Tiger Tetsu into his stomach, using his samurai way——

Just when that Ezo wolf had already started to lower its center of gravity, ready to pounce on Matsudaira Sadanobu at any time——

"Hey! You beast! Get out of here!"

A young male voice came to the ears of Matsudaira Takanobu, the wolf, and the grandfather Jiang who had been lurking in the distance.

It was a coincidence that Matsudaira Sadanobu and his grandfather Jiang stared wide-eyed after hearing the voice, and then shouted the same sentence in their hearts.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's grandfather Jiang: This voice...? !

When shouting this sentence in his heart, Matsudaira Sadanobu only had ordinary surprise on his face.

But grandfather Jiang was surprised and frightened.

Grandfather Jiang had heard this voice.

Last summer, as a bounty hunter, he rushed into Nijo Castle with the others in order to remove Ogata Itsze's head.

He heard this sound in the castle tower of Nijo Castle...

……

……

After hearing that strange hissing sound, Ogata had been paying attention to it all the time, so he decided to follow the sound and take a look.

Following the strange neighing sound through the dense woods, after only a moment, Xu Bian found the owner of the strange neighing sound - a wolf.

To be precise, it was a wolf attacking humans.

The human being is currently kneeling on the ground, holding a knife tightly in his hand. Judging from his clothes, he is still a friendly person.

Because of the angle, Ogata couldn't see the person's appearance clearly, and he didn't know if the person was injured now.

"Hey! You beast! Get out of here!"

Ogata growled at the wolf.

Ogata's words successfully attracted the Ezo wolf's attention.

Ezowolf turned his head to look at Ogata.

After Chong Xufang roared a few times, he spread his four claws and rushed towards Xufang.

Ogata's left hand continued to hold the firewood he had just picked up, and his right hand slowly pulled out the big Shitian from his waist.

"Ouch--!"

After rushing to only a few steps away from Ogata, the Ezo wolves let out their unique wolf howl of the "wolf clan", then jumped up and pounced on Ogata.

Ogata only held the knife in one hand, posing in an ordinary mid-section posture, and stared expressionlessly at the wolf in front of him that was rushing towards him.

One person, one wolf, staggered past.

And the moment they passed by, the light of the knife flickered.

Sakakibara Ichidou Ryu.

Ogata's Da Shitian directly cut open the wolf's belly, and the internal organs scattered all over the ground.

"Ugh..."

While screaming, the Ezo wolf fell to the ground along with its internal organs, following the inertia of its pounce just now.

……

……

At this moment-

Grandfather Jiang, who was crouching in the bushes, covered his mouth and nose with both hands, trying to suppress his breathing, not letting himself take even a slightly heavier gasp.

The reason why he did this was to avoid the young man who suddenly appeared just now from discovering him.

There was cold sweat all over his forehead and face.

——That, that swordsmanship...!That look...!

Grandfather Jiang let out a terrified cry in his heart.

Grandfather Jiang is very familiar with the swordsmanship used by the young man who suddenly appeared just now, and the look in his eyes when he swung the knife.

Grandfather Jiang still remembers the scenes he saw on the castle tower of Nijo City back then.I can't forget it even if I want to.

——It's Yidao Zhai...!

——It’s the executioner Yidao Zhai——!

——Why is the executioner Yidao Zhai here——? !

……

……

After killing the Ezo wolf with a single blow, Ogata wiped off the blood attached to Da Shitian's blade, and then quickly walked towards the Kazuto who was attacked by the Ezo wolf just now.

"You're fine..."

Ogata hadn't uttered the last word "bar" in the Hu "Are you okay", when his words suddenly froze.

The expression on his face froze at the same time.

Because now he finally saw the appearance of this Kazuto whom he saved just now.

"...It's been a long time." Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had no expression on his face, said to Ogata in a tone that was neither salty nor light, "You really made me wait, and we agreed that after the trial match in front of the imperial court is over , you will give me your answer, but I have been waiting for several months."

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Today, wolves in Hokkaido, Japan (also known as Ezo) are extinct.

There are many reasons why it became extinct.

1: In 1876, the Hokkaido Reclamation Commissioner expelled him by offering a "reward".

2: Farmers believe wolves are a threat to their livestock, poison them with strychnine and hunt them in large numbers.

3: In 1878, because of a heavy snowfall, a large number of deer were starved to death, causing many wolves to find no food, and then starved to death.

In addition, according to expert investigations, the reason why the Ezo wolf (Hokkaido wolf) became extinct may also be related to rabies and canine distemper.

[So the "decrease in the number of deer, wolves can't find food and become irritable" in this chapter is not the author's nonsense, it is based on reality. 】

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At the end of the previous chapter, the author saw that some readers were concerned about "What should I do if I meet a bear?" "The dictator, Nezaki, and others were shocked by the record of single-killing 40 bears. The author Jun here briefly tells you about this matter.

Nezaki and others did not say in the book why he likes to go hunting alone in the mountains, but the author guesses that this should be related to the hunting culture of the Ainu people.