I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"It's perfect. It's neither too tight nor too loose." Ogata raised his hand and caressed the thick circle of sackcloth covering his wound, then changed into a joking tone, "By the way, Master Ishikawa, your heart It's really big enough."

"Don't ask me what happened to me just now, don't ask me how I got this injury, just help me bandage the wound and give me clothes."

"Because I think these are stupid questions." Ishikawa Okio smiled, "It's just a normal thing for someone of your status to be attacked and chased by others suddenly, isn't it?"

"Haha, that's true. There is really no need to ask why a most wanted criminal in the country is so scarred."

Ogata stood up slowly, leaning on the wall of the house.

"Master Ishikawa, thank you very much for your help. I will never forget your help."

He once again thanked Ishikawa in a sincere tone.

"you are welcome."

Ishikawa stood up with Ogata with a smile on his face.

"The reason why I extended a helping hand to you is to make amends."

A faint feeling of guilt emerged in Ishikawa's eyes.

"Ogata-kun, I have always been guilty of you and Yuanshan."

"If I were a qualified teacher, if I could discipline Yuanshan and the others well, perhaps the series of tragedies at the beginning would not have happened."

"The second is to thank you."

Ishikawa stretched out his finger and pointed at himself.

"I'm also one of the people who was moved by your act of killing the tyrant."

"I also hate that bastard in Matsudaira Gennai."

"It's just that I don't have your courage and strength."

"The third time is also to allow you to continue to live well."

Ogata was taken aback: "Let me continue to live?"

Ogata can still understand the first two reasons for extending a helping hand that Ishikawa just said.

But for the third reason, Ogata is a bit confused.

Ishikawa chuckled: "The news that you broke Nijo Castle in Kyoto was brought to the Hirose Domain at the end of last summer."

"I didn't understand you at the time."

"The killing of Matsudaira Gennai is an unquestionable act of righteousness in my eyes."

"But to break Ertiao City, I can't link this matter with righteous deeds no matter what."

"I thought you had depraved and become a violent thug."

"But after I left the Hirose Domain to find Itagaki and others, my mind changed."

"This is the first time in my life that I have traveled far."

"After leaving the Hirose Domain, I witnessed with my own eyes how miserable the common people were under the rule of the Edo Shogunate."

"I can only say this to you Ogata-kun: After witnessing this tragic scene, I began to doubt whether the current Edo shogunate is worth our following."

"It also changed my original idea of ​​seeing you as a depraved thug."

"After witnessing the incompetence of the Edo shogunate's rule, I began to feel that your attack on Nijo Castle in Kyoto and the defeat of the shogunate army in Ezo were all acts of righteousness."

"At my age, I am doomed to die without any great achievements."

"And you, Ogata-kun, are different."

"You are still young, and you have power. And it is the kind of power that might change the world."

"Your various deeds may be able to force some new changes in this world."

Ishikawa's eyes gradually became sharper, and his tone became firmer.

"So I don't want you to be killed by some unknown cat or dog, I hope you can live."

Ishikawa raised his hand and pressed Ogata's shoulders who were much taller than him.

"I don't know whether your existence will make the future world better or worse."

"But I'm happy to wait and see for myself."

Qiang Qiang forcefully used this idiom to describe what Ishikawa said just now, probably it couldn't be more suitable.

Looking at Ishikawa who was pressing his shoulders in front of him, Ogata showed surprise at first.

Then the surprise on his face turned into a helpless smile.

"Master Ishikawa, thank you for your love."

"But I'm actually not interested in changing the world."

"What I have been doing has not changed. I will swing a knife at whoever swings a knife at me and the people around me."

"The only thing I can assure you is"

Ogata changed into a firm tone like Ishikawa's just now.

"Even if it is a disease, I will not let it easily take my life."

"As for whether the world will change because of my existence, let it be. Anyway, I will not take the initiative to get involved in such troublesome things as changing the world."

Listening to Ogata's words, Ishikawa didn't show any dissatisfaction, displeasure or embarrassment on his face.

He just smiled and patted Ogata's shoulders.

Ogata, who smiled along with Ishikawa, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled the air in his lungs.

"Master Ishikawa, can you make a deal with me?"

While talking, Ogata put his hand into his bosom.

After fumbling for a while, I took out 5 taels of gold.

This is all the money that Ogata is currently carrying.

"I want to use these 5 taels of gold and my present Dao to exchange for your Dao."

"Although my current knife is a bit tattered, if I sell it, I can still sell it for some money."

After saying that, Ogata gently pulled out the sword from his waist, revealing its notched blade.

The wakizawa that Ogata is wearing on his waist is the wakizawa he took from Yuhachiro just after beheading Yuhachiro to death.

The weapons Uohachiro used were two wakizashis, so although the wakizashis were successfully replaced with new ones, Ogata's sword is still the old tattered one.

Ishikawa raised his eyebrows, looked at the five taels of gold in Ogata's hand, and the tattered knife at his waist, and laughed dumbfoundedly:

"Although my Dao is not a famous or treasured sword, it is not cheap either."

After finishing speaking, Ishikawa pursed his lips and looked at Ogata's face with a thoughtful look on his face.

"But that's all. Just change it."

Ishikawa shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile, then took off the sword on his left waist and handed it to Ogata.

"Thank you very much." Ogata took Ishikawa's knife, then handed the money and the knife at his waist to Ishikawa, and said seriously, "Master Ishikawa, there are some unknown guys who are destroying Osaka everywhere."

"If conditions permit, you should leave Osaka now."

"At least get off the block."

Ogata changed into a joking tone at this moment.

"After tonight, this block may become one of the famous ancient battlefields in the future. So you should leave here as soon as possible, as far as you can."

Ishikawa didn't quite understand what Ogata said just now, but he nodded vigorously:

"I see. Then Ogata-kun, let's just say goodbye. I hope we will meet again in the future, and I wish you prosperity in martial arts."

After speaking, Ishikawa bowed lightly to Ogata, turned and left.

But as soon as he turned around, Ishikawa's figure suddenly paused.

"Ogata-kun, can you do me a favor?"

Ishikawa turned his body back.

"If you meet Itagaki and the others in the future, please help me give them a message."

"You tell them: I am a master, regardless of my age, I left my hometown alone just to find them back, and I have suffered a lot for this, even if it is for the sake of being a teacher, Hurry up and go back to the Hirose Domain."

"If they don't listen to you and still insist on taking your life"

Ishikawa pursed his lips tightly.

"Leave it to you."

Ogata: "Understood. If I meet Itagaki and the others in the future, I will bring your words to them."

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you"

After Ishikawa bowed lightly to Ogata again, he quickly left.

After watching the old man leave, Ogata closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, resisting the discomfort in his body, he looked around with a scrutinizing gaze.

“This is really a good place”

Ogata murmured.

"Every house is closely arranged, the roads are all narrow, and there is a lack of commanding heights, making it difficult for people to find me. There is no more suitable battlefield for me than this"

Ogata held the sword he bought from Ishikawa just now, and while walking in this "poor settlement", he looked at every street and every house.

After Ogata walked nearly half of the streets in this "poor settlement"

cha cha cha

The sound of extremely light footsteps suddenly sounded from a place not too far away.

Ogata, who caught the sound of footsteps in time, immediately turned his head to follow the sound

"Is someone finally here?"

Damn, the houses here are too dense, how can I find them?

Kagenosuke, who was squatting on the roof of a private house, frowned and looked around.

In order to get Ogata out smoothly, most of the Iga ninjas were sent out to serve as the "eyes" of the entire army.

Kagenosuke is one of the ninjas sent to act as "eyes".

Just now, he saw red fireworks appearing in the sky.

After rushing to the scene, he met Yu Hachiro's subordinates on the river bank who were struggling to fish up U Hachiro's body.

After inquiring in detail, they learned that they had successfully encountered Ogata, but they let Ogata dive and escape.

I don't know which direction Ogata escaped along the river, so Kagenosuke relied on his intuition, followed the flow of the river, and looked for the downstream of the canal.

After a while, he found an area in the lower reaches of the canal that was obviously a "poor settlement".

The houses in this area are all dilapidated and old, and the houses are next to each other. If you look down from the sky, the denseness of the houses in this area can make the scalp of dense phobia suffer from numbness.

This kind of place where the houses are closely arranged is most suitable for Tibetans.

So Kagenosuke walked into this neighborhood with the mentality of "trying his luck".

Before entering this neighborhood, Kagenosuke knew that it would be difficult to find someone in such a densely packed place, but he didn't expect it to be so difficult.

It's like trying to find a copper coin in a utility room full of all kinds of sundries.

Isn't there any high place here?

Kagenosuke raised his head and looked around with a hint of impatience.

just when he raised his head

chap!

A black shadow flashed behind Kagenosuke at a speed so fast that even Kagenosuke couldn't react.

Kagenosuke just noticed that someone appeared behind him, and before he had time to react, a sharp pain suddenly came from his side, and the bottom of the sheath of a knife hit his side hard.

"Puff!"