At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

At dusk.

In a secluded courtyard to the east of Chao'an, the capital of the Eastern Yi people.

An old man dressed in coarse cloth, with a full head of long hair and an unkempt appearance, was pruning the potted flowers and plants in the yard, watering them as he did so.

He murmured to himself, "You all have to grow up quickly, because my yard depends on you to decorate it."

Then, I scooped up a handful of soil and placed it in the flowerpot to fill in the missing corner.

Boom boom boom!

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The knocking sounded ordinary, but it was actually rhythmic, like a secret signal.

Upon hearing the sound, the old man put down the scissors, wiped the hem of his clothes with his hand, and then got up to open the door.

After the door opened, a mysterious person dressed in black, with a black hat covering his entire face, bowed slightly to the old man.

The old man didn't speak, but turned and walked towards the pavilion next to him with his hands behind his back.

The man strode in, then gently closed the door, and followed the old man into the pavilion.

A tea set was placed on the pavilion, and the tea in the teapot was still hot, steaming out.

"How is the situation?" The old man picked up two cups, placed them on the stone table, and filled them with tea. "Sit down and let's talk!"

At this moment, the man bowed slightly and then sat down.

As he sat down, he casually took off his hat, revealing his true appearance.

The visitor was none other than Shimazu Gennosuke!

Gennosuke cupped his hands in reply: "As the old gentleman instructed, we have facilitated an alliance between the Eastern Barbarians and the Kingdom of Ryukyu, and His Majesty the Emperor has agreed to send Takenaka Ryosuke as the Eastern Barbarian envoy to the Kingdom of Ryukyu to persuade them to form an alliance."

"Sir, you are truly a visionary!" Gennosuke exclaimed. "When I suggested that Takenaka Ryosuke go, Fujiwara Shigenobu immediately offered his assistance, which made the matter happen."

The old man listened while taking a sip of tea, his face expressionless, as if everything was under his control, without the slightest surprise.

"That's excellent, everything is proceeding according to plan."

"Next, we'll see how Takenaka Ryosuke persuades the king after he arrives in Ryutama."

Gennosuke smiled and replied, "Takenaka Ryosuke is Takenaka Eibei's younger brother. He has been learning strategy from Takenaka Eibei since he was a child. In addition, the Takenaka family has produced strategists for generations, making it a typical family of strategists with a long history of learning."

"In addition, Takenaka Ryosuke became famous at a young age, possessed extraordinary abilities, and had a silver tongue."

"I believe we can definitely forge an alliance between the two countries."

The old man nodded, stood up, sighed deeply, and said, "When the alliance between the two countries is established, it will be time for me to return to public life."

"From now on, proceed according to the plan without any mistakes."

Gennosuke stood up, bowed slightly to the old man, and respectfully replied, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"Alright, you can go back now!" The old man waved his hand, then walked out of the pavilion and came back to the flowerpot to continue trimming the flowers and plants.

Gennosuke put on his hat to cover his face and quickly walked out of the yard.

Then he got into a sedan chair and returned to his residence.

……

Halfway there, the sedan chair suddenly stopped.

Gennosuke, sitting in the palanquin, immediately sensed something was wrong and placed his hand on the samurai sword beside him.

"Who are you?"

"How dare you block my master's sedan chair? You're asking for trouble!"

The guards protecting the sedan chair shouted loudly, their voices carrying through the quiet alleyway and sounding extremely noisy.

Upon hearing this, Gennosuke lifted the curtain and saw the mysterious person he had met on his way to buy medicine.

At that moment, the mysterious man was standing in the middle of the alley, staring intently at Genjiro. His provocative gaze made Genjiro feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Did you hear me? Get out of the way!" the henchman shouted again, his katana already drawn, pointing at the mysterious man blocking the road.

But the mysterious man remained unmoved, his eyes still coldly fixed on the distance.

Those subordinates completely lost their patience.

"You're asking for it!" The leader gave a signal to his three henchmen. "Go, kill him!"

His men drew their swords and charged at the mysterious man.

The mysterious figure suddenly moved, leaving a blur, and in the blink of an eye, the three menacing henchmen stopped in their tracks.

A bloody gash appeared on the necks of the three people.

With a soft splatter, blood gushed out, and then his body collapsed to the ground, the blood spreading across the surface, a horrifying sight in the twilight.

The mysterious man held his katana lowered, and there wasn't a trace of blood on the blade.

It can be described as a true killing without shedding blood!

This scene terrified the rest of his men, who retreated to the side of the sedan chair and turned to look at Gennosuke as if pleading for help.

"My lord, this man's martial arts are truly formidable!"

"I...we!"

Before he could finish speaking, several whooshing sounds of hidden weapons being launched rang out. Several poisoned needles flew out from all around the alley, shooting into the bodies of his men at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Before they could finish speaking, they had already died and collapsed to the ground.

Gennosuke gasped; he knew he was surrounded by enemies.

There are many more than just this mysterious man in black.

He gripped his katana tightly, stepped out of the sedan chair, faced the mysterious man directly, and coldly asked, "Who exactly are you, and why are you targeting me?"

After hearing this, the mysterious man did not respond at all, but instead sneered and extended two fingers, making the same provocative gesture as before.

I've got my eye on you!

Enraged, Gennosuke drew his katana and charged at the mysterious man.

His strike was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, the blade appeared before the mysterious man.

To his surprise, when his slash struck the mysterious figure, the figure turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished from his katana.

He missed again with this strike!

This enraged him, and he slashed his katana wildly at the smoke in the air several times to vent his anger.

"Damn it, who are you, and what do you want?"

His voice echoed through the alley, but only deathly silence answered him.

Gennosuke turned his head and looked at the corpses lying around him, his anger growing even stronger.

He clenched his fists and muttered through gritted teeth, "I don't care who you are, I will find you and make you wish you were dead."

After saying that, he put away his katana and walked back home.

To everyone's surprise, Gennosuke had just arrived at the gate of the mansion when he found two guards lying on the ground, with bright red blood spreading down the steps.

Upon seeing this scene, even the usually composed Gennosuke completely broke down.

He felt a surge of panic. Had his home been ransacked?

Who is so bold?

So he drew his katana, kicked open the door, and rushed inside.

The loud thud of the door being kicked open startled the servants in the mansion. The steward rushed over and, seeing his master's bloodshot eyes, asked, "Master, what's wrong?"

"Why would he be carrying a knife...?"

The steward was surprised because he had never seen his master draw his sword in the mansion.

Seeing that nothing had happened at the manor, Gennosuke finally relaxed.

But what about the guards outside the door?

"Who are you?" a servant shouted towards the roof. "Master, there's someone there!"

Following the direction the servant pointed, the mysterious person reappeared.

The lingering, mysterious figure stirred up Gennosuke's recently calmed emotions once more, causing his anger to surge again.

The mysterious man then repeated his previous actions.

This time, however, the mysterious man laughed three times before turning into smoke and disappearing!

At this moment, Gennosuke could no longer hold back.

He went straight to his room, having already made up his mind that he would never again let this mysterious man play tricks on him like a clown.

He intends to use the power of the Eastern Secretariat to thoroughly investigate this mysterious person.

He must be torn to pieces!