The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 106 Taking Yagyu Muneyoshi Without a Sword

"Clang!" Relying on the senses behind his back through the Eye of Death, Zhang Chang'an blocked Takeda's spear with his sword, took a step back, and pushed it away with his backhand.

Takeda retreated, but he couldn't create any distance. Zhang Chang'an's sword was too fast, so fast that he had no chance to counterattack.

"Clang clang clang clang"

With three swift strikes, Takeda staggered back three steps. The final strike landed on the spear shaft, the impact numbing his hands and fingers.

At that moment, he decisively chose to sheathe his gun, sidestepped, and his kimono swayed in the wind as he slid down from the edge of the roof.

Without hesitation, Zhang Chang'an followed suit and flipped down, landing one after the other on the dusty road.

This place is much more open than the rooftop, but it's not much better. The streets in Japan are generally quite narrow, and the collapse of the Ikeda-ya house not far away has added many more house ruins, scattered wooden boxes, and overturned stalls to this area.

A few remaining embers illuminated the street where Takeda landed. He immediately retreated to create distance between himself and Zhang Chang'an, then spun his spear and struck at Zhang Chang'an once more.

"Whoosh!" Zhang Chang'an spotted the direction and charged forward with his sword, but then he turned his spear shaft and swept the spear in his hand back at a pile of scattered wooden planks.

The damaged wood chip was hit head-on, flew up with a crash, and came crashing down on Zhang Chang'an.

Zhang Chang'an dodged to the side, and Wu Tian took the opportunity to pull out a flag from behind him.

The large flag bearing the words "Feng Lin" was instantly whipped around by him, creating a whooshing sound, before he flung it away with a backhand.

Zhang Chang'an then noticed that the flagpole clearly had large blades, making it look like a giant axe.

In his haste, he turned and kicked, landing a direct kick on the side of the large flag.

The enormous banner flew out and smashed into the surrounding wooden crates, shattering them into pieces and sending wood chips flying.

Before Zhang Chang'an could even finish his kick and regain his footing, Wu Tian's spear swung from side to side, the tip of the spear flicking away pebbles and tiles from the ground before raining down on Zhang Chang'an.

Zhang Chang'an decisively chose to sheath his sword, crouching slightly, his entire body compressed like a taut bow.

"boom""

A burst of fire erupted from the scabbard, and the Bingzi Jiaolin sword shot out at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye, its blade flashing across the battlefield.

The planks, crates, and rubble that stood between the two were all shattered by this single strike, and the debris flew to both sides like a torrential rain.

Takeda only had time to raise his spear to parry before the impact of the blow sent him flying backward, crashing into a broken wall. Despite wearing armor, the impact was quite severe, and he nearly coughed up blood.

Zhang Chang'an immediately prepared to draw his sword and step forward, but at that moment, the moonlight in front of him suddenly disappeared in large swaths.

A dark figure leaped down from a distance, landing precisely between Zhang Chang'an and Wu Tian. There was no sound when it landed, and not even a speck of dust was kicked up.

Without any hesitation, he raised the wooden sword in his hand.

"Bang!" This wooden sword looked extremely simple, but it was surprisingly hard.

Perhaps due to the special nature of the material itself, and the fact that the wooden knife is different from a real knife in shape, with its thick blade resembling a blunt weapon, Zhang Chang'an's strike on it showed no sign of breaking it.

Faced with the sudden appearance of his opponent, Zhang Chang'an's pupils shrank sharply, and his killing intent instantly surged.

The trajectory of the long sword in front of him slowed down instantly. He immediately dodged to the side and Bingzi Jiaolin slashed at the man's waist with his backhand.

But the man's speed was astonishing. Just like Okita Souji before him, he was incredibly swift in the eyes of the Grim Reaper. He switched from a stab to a sweeping attack, which just blocked Zhang Chang'an's backhand knife.

clang!

The wooden sword struck the pepper grove of Bingzi with a dull thud.

Before he could change his move, the man's other hand reached out, its five fingers like hooks, aiming straight for his wrist holding the knife.

Zhang Chang'an immediately swung his longsword to block his hand, while simultaneously taking three steps back.

The man didn't chase after him. He simply stood there, calmly watching Zhang Chang'an.

Under the moonlight, the man in front of me had gray hair, a thin face, and deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, making him look exceptionally old.

"Yagyu Kazuma".

"Rank: New Burning Level 15.63%"

Zhang Chang'an suddenly realized that it was exactly what he had thought: "It corresponds to Yagyu Muneyoshi. Sure enough, this group includes not only daimyo, but also famous figures of ancient martial arts like Ittosai."

This person's full name is Yagyu Tajima-no-kami Muneyoshi, who is naturally the swordsman Ito Ittosai mentioned earlier, a contemporary of him.

The difference lies in the fact that his Yagyu Shinkage-ryu emphasizes winning without killing, and its biggest characteristic is the so-called "no-sword technique," which is why he uses a wooden sword. This is because their school uses the name of swordsmanship to practice physical techniques.

"It was you," the old man Yagyu said, his voice aged yet steady, "who killed Ito Ittōsai?"

Zhang Chang'an didn't speak, but silently adjusted his exoskeleton.

Yagyu nodded slightly: "Indeed impressive."

As he spoke, he quickly turned to the side, "Whoosh!"

The sound of something cutting through the air came from beside him.

Zhang Chang'an turned his head, and a shuriken flew past his cheek.

Takeda had already stood up from the broken wall, the steam emitter on his hand still emitting white smoke.

Zhang Chang'an immediately frowned.

As the hidden weapon missed its target, Yagyu decisively stepped to the side, raised his wooden sword and struck at Zhang Chang'an, blocking Zhang Chang'an's view of Takeda.

"Clang!" Zhang Chang'an blocked the wooden sword that came at him, and an iron spear suddenly appeared next to Liu Sheng.

Zhang Chang'an kicked him away with a backhand shove, and Liu Sheng had already lowered his body and swung his wooden sword at Zhang's lower body.

Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, Jizo-giri.

Zhang Chang'an immediately stepped on it, but had to turn his long sword in another direction because Takeda's spear had already been swung back.

"clang!"

Just as he deflected it, Yagyu had already drawn his sword and then slashed upwards, aiming straight for his chest and abdomen.

Yagyu Shinkage-ryu: Gyōrin!

Zhang Chang'an blocked the attack with his sword; the wooden sword rubbed against the steel blade, producing a piercing sound.

He tried to shake the wooden sword away, but found that the sword seemed to be stuck to his own, and with his force, it pulled him forward a step.

This is their school's movement technique, called "Ape Return".

Zhang Chang'an could only take a deep breath, then slowly withdraw his hand and clench his fist: "You cooperated quite well—"

"Wow, you really know how to have fun!"

"Hmph!" Zhang Chang'an's steam exoskeleton suddenly spewed out a burst of scalding white steam.

At the same time, Bingzi Jiaolin was pulled back, and in his place, he lowered his stance, twisted his waist and hips, and suddenly swept out with his left fist.

"Bang!!" Just as Yagyu was about to free his hand to use his sword-less attack on him who was holding a knife in one hand, he saw that the fist, which was the size of a sandbag, was carrying an extremely astonishing speed and power.

"Whoosh!" Liu Sheng grabbed his wooden sword and tried to parry, but he was instead sent flying by the punch.

The steam exoskeleton on his back hummed, and the newly added steam boiler gradually returned to a stable operating state.

This was an improvement he made using the new equipment from Tie Zhou Gong's workshop. He came here to help treat patients, and he couldn't work for free, so he specially added this function for himself.

Once the battle has progressed to a certain point, a sudden burst of pressure can be released, triggering a battle eruption.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Chang'an immediately twisted his waist and turned around, then stepped on the ground, directly stomping the spear that Wu Tian had thrust out into the dirt road.

Then, the blade in her hand instantly slashed towards his face.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"