Yashiro the Blind

The priestess, however, had already shifted her gaze to the other group of ronin, clearly showing no interest in the topic.

This left Toyogoro feeling like he wanted to cry but couldn't. Looking at the blood-stained naginata and the figure that had just been sent flying, he could only swallow his words.

With a "smack," it was Xiaoqin who patted his shoulder earnestly, as if to comfort him.

A warm feeling of gratitude welled up in Toyogoro's heart. Just as he was about to express his thanks, he suddenly heard Kotori say, "You're so young, take care of your health."

"..."

Well, he's just being sentimental.

Ignoring the dejected Toyogoro, Kotori blinked her eyes, watching the two sides on the verge of war. Although there was fear in her eyes, there was more pure curiosity—like a child waking up and seeing the world for the first time with wonder.

"You talk too much!"

On the other side, after the priestess exposed his identity and background, the leader's expression finally darkened. "Mind your own business, or you'll bring trouble upon yourself. If you die in the wilderness one day, no one will collect your corpse!"

"Everyone dies. The question is, who will kill me?"

The priestess showed no fear, lightly tapping her forehead with her fingertips, and said with a smile, "At least, it won't be a bunch of sneaky villains like you who dare not duel openly and only plot in the shadows... But, you're lucky today, I won't kill you, so as not to dirty this fine blade. Quickly take that unlucky fellow and get as far away as possible with your tails between your legs."

She pointed casually, and the leader's expression shifted between light and dark. His hand had already placed on the hilt of his sword several times, but his gaze kept glancing at the shrine maiden's naginata. He hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth, raising his hand, and shouting, "Back off!"

Unlike when they came, they left without any hesitation. Without even needing their leader's orders, two people had already gone over and carried their unconscious companion away. In no time, they were all gone.

"Ha, some of them do know how to seize the moment."

The shrine maiden laughed happily, turned around, and walked up to Toyogoro and his companion.

Xiaoqin looked up at her, and she raised her hand and gently rubbed the little girl's head.

"whee."

Perhaps feeling a little itchy, Xiaoqin shrank her neck and stepped aside.

Seeing this, the priestess's smile became even brighter, but then she heard Toyogoro ask hesitantly, "If you don't kill them...aren't you afraid of their revenge later?"

"The Wan Gui Zhai entrusted me with finding people. Saving the two of you is already a losing proposition. If I kill a few more people, I'll be bankrupt. If they really dare to retaliate, we can deal with it then. But I think they probably don't have the guts. Otherwise, they wouldn't be hiding in the shadows and doing so many sneaky things."

The priestess smiled dismissively, her tone full of contempt. "Speaking of which, have you figured out why they want to kill you?"

"Hmm, probably..." Toyogoro nodded, looking somewhat dejected, as if he had suffered a major blow.

The same is true.

Even now, he still harbors a certain arrogance, and even after being defeated by Yashiro's sword and experiencing several setbacks, this arrogance has not been completely extinguished.

Regardless, Toyogoro was the son of a samurai, and his uncle was the famous Shinkage-ryu Kamiizumi Hidetsuna. He had been diligently practicing swordsmanship since childhood and was exceptionally talented. In the eyes of others, as long as he did not die unexpectedly, he would surely become a legendary swordsman.

So when he learned that someone wanted to kill him, Toyogoro's first reaction was that he had somehow made an enemy of someone, but no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure it out.

Needless to say, during his time in Ueno, this trip was ostensibly for martial arts training, but in reality, his food, clothing, lodging, and transportation were all taken care of perfectly by his family's old retainers. Almost everyone he passed through treated him with courtesy. The only conflict occurred when he offended Yashiro at the Matsushita residence.

However, he had already been poisoned long before that.

Who exactly was it, and why did they want to kill him? Toyogoro was completely baffled until just now, when the priestess revealed the origins of these people and mentioned that his uncle would soon be engaged in a life-or-death battle. Comparing the two, it was as if a missing piece of the puzzle in his mind had been put in place, and the cause and effect suddenly became clear.

"They want to...use my death to provoke my uncle." He used a lot of strength and determination to barely utter these words.

“That’s right. Ise no Kami has been famous for a long time and his swordsmanship is superb. It would be best to defeat him head-on, but if we are not confident in that, we will naturally have to think of some tricks and schemes.”

The shrine maiden pointed a finger at Toyogoro. "As everyone knows, you are Ise-no-kami's beloved nephew and his prized student. If you were to die suddenly, even if Ise-no-kami is resolute, he would inevitably feel grief. Once distracted, he would have a weakness and be more easily defeated."

"Just because...that's all?" Toyogoro looked somewhat bewildered.

"Isn't that enough? As the saying goes, people die for wealth and birds die for food. If we can defeat or even kill Ise no Kami in one fell swoop, we can become famous people all over the country. Even great daimyo like Hojo, Takeda and Imagawa would try their best to recruit us. Such a huge temptation is enough to make people risk their lives and even abandon their conscience."

The shrine maiden spoke casually, but Toyogoro gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and his left hand, which wasn't holding a sword, had somehow become clenched into a fist.

It turned out to be the case.

No wonder he couldn't figure out who wanted him dead; it turned out the other party wasn't targeting him at all.

Even in their eyes, he wasn't even Hikita Toyogoro, but merely the nephew of Kamiizumi Ise no Kami Hidetsuna, a pawn used to disrupt the sword saint's mind.

The realization that someone wanted to kill him filled Toyogoro with even more anger, and at the same time, a deep sense of humiliation welled up from the bottom of his heart...

But then he realized that his anger stemmed from being ignored and belittled; from feeling that his pride had been trampled underfoot. He had not only nearly died, but more importantly, he was about to die without any dignity, like a piece of worthless weed.

Wasn't he the same way when he was at Matsushita Kabei's residence?

When the old retainer in the family offered a solution, when Kotori refused the bag of copper coins he offered, when Hiyoshimaru rushed out and verbally pressured him into an awkward position, when Yashiro drew his sword and injured Yamazaki Genhachiro... At these times, when anger surged in his heart and he impulsively drew his sword, how were his thoughts and feelings any different from those of these people?

If I am not worthless, then what about Xiaoqin and the others?

His gaze involuntarily drifted to his side, meeting a pair of pure, innocent eyes. There was no cunning or scheming, no churning hatred within them; they were as clean as a mirror, reflecting Toyogoro's embarrassed face. He gasped, unable to bear looking any longer, and hastily turned his head away.

"What's wrong?" Xiaoqin asked, puzzled.

"No...no..." Toyogoro stammered, feeling a jumble of emotions. His anger and humiliation had vanished like smoke, leaving only a strange sense of shame that filled his heart, leaving him speechless.

"All right."

The priestess clapped her hands, breaking the strange atmosphere between the two. "Your companions are probably searching for you everywhere right now. Hurry back and let them know you're safe."

Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hideaki snapped out of his daze. Indeed, if only he were missing, it wouldn't be a problem. The real issue was that Koto was also gone. What if that short, ruthless man mistook him for someone else who had tricked Koto, and came storming over in a rage…

Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle; I'd better return the person as soon as possible.

"Then you should keep walking from here, and it should take about an hour to get back to the town where you're staying," the shrine maiden said, pointing with her hand.

Toyogoro was taken aback: "Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, there's someone I don't really want to see here. Meeting him would cause a lot of trouble..." As she spoke, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. Just as she was about to say something more, a dark shadow flashed in the air, and a sharp eagle's cry pierced the wind!

Feng Wulang and Xiaoqin were already used to this strange cry. When they looked up, they saw the majestic falcon spreading its wings and circling a few times before landing on the hands of a young woman dressed in southern barbarian attire.

……

"See, I told you they were here—oh, I forgot you can't see them."

Longzi met the eyes of the two and whistled happily.

"Lord Dragon Prince..."

Yashiro followed behind, speechless. "The same joke gets boring if it's repeated too many times."

"What do you mean? I wasn't joking." Longzi asked, puzzled.

"……All right."

The girl sighed, deciding not to stoop to his level. At the same time, she secretly remarked that finding people was indeed best left to professionals. She and Ryuko had spent half the day wandering the town without success, but after meeting up with Inosuke, they followed the falcon and easily found the person.

From afar, they could hear Kotomi and Toyogoro talking. They sounded a little weak, so they shouldn't be injured. But besides them, there was another unfamiliar female voice...

Suddenly, Inosuke behind him stopped in his tracks, and for some reason, his heart started beating much faster.

Yashiro turned around, about to ask about the other person, but only felt a gust of wind pass by him. It was hard to imagine that someone of Inosuke's size could burst out with such amazing speed in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he had passed the Ryuko in front of him and stopped in front of Toyogoro.

More accurately, he stood in front of the naginata-wielding shrine maiden.

Noticing that the atmosphere had changed, Yashiro quietly stopped and reached out to tug at the unsuspecting Ryuko, telling her not to come any closer.

For a moment, one tall and one short, one male and one female, Inosuke raised his head and stared straight at the shrine maiden.

The priestess frowned and met his gaze with an indescribable, complex expression.

"Finally... Over the past four years, I have traveled to every corner of the land and dug deep into the earth. Today, I have finally found you, Shizu." After a long while, Inosuke finally spoke.

Unlike his usual playful and comical manner, his words at this moment seemed to be uttered one by one from between his teeth.

"You finally found me, Senior Brother Qingtian..."

The priestess sighed, and before she could finish speaking, a flash of white light appeared!

"Varied……"

Toyogoro's eyes widened in disbelief. The katana he had been holding just moments before was gone, and Inosuke, whose hands had been empty, now held a sword, which he suddenly slashed at the shrine maiden—

when!

The shrine maiden seemed to have anticipated this, and with a swift movement of her naginata, she blocked the sudden attack, her face still bearing that complex expression.

In contrast, Inosuke was gritting his teeth and his hair stood on end in fury.

"How dare you call me senior brother—"

With a flash of light, the figure split in two. The sharp blade in his hand reflected the bright sunlight, and flames seemed to surge in the eyes of this short, stout ronin, revealing a ferocious side that none of the people present had ever seen before.

"The hatred for killing my master and the resentment for desecrating his corpse will be settled today!"

……

Chapter Forty-Seven: Four is four, ten is ten

Human emotions come in all shapes and sizes, but the strongest of them are love and hate.

The reasons that can sustain a person to abandon everything they have and leave their hometown for many years to search for another person are mostly one of these two: either love or hate.

Yashiro initially thought it was the former, which is why, after noticing the subtle atmosphere that arose when Inosuke bumped into the strange woman, she not only pulled back the oblivious Ryuko, ready to "watch" the show, but even thought of casually grabbing a handful of nuts to eat for fun...

The next second, Inosuke slashed with his sword.

Luckily, she hadn't had time to take out the snacks yet, otherwise it would have been awkward.

"How dare you call me senior brother!"

Unaware of the incident behind him, Inosuke roared angrily, taking two steps back, half-crouching and half-standing, his right hand on his shoulder and his left hand on the ground, transforming himself into a giant toad poised to pounce.

Upon seeing this peculiar posture, Toyogoro, standing nearby, understood why Ryuko had given him such a nickname.

"Back then, Master not only treated you like his own son, showering you with care and protection, but also imparted all his martial arts skills to you without reservation... And what did you do? Not only did you ambush and kill him while I was out, but you also secretly returned afterward to dig up his grave and steal his corpse—"

However, Inosuke's subsequent words of condemnation startled the few bystanders who were lost in thought.

Killing one's master is already a serious crime, let alone stealing the body afterwards. It should be known that the dead are the most important thing, and desecrating a corpse is an act that is despised no matter where you are. Therefore, when these words were spoken, and the shrine maiden Shizu did not refute them, the expressions of the people present changed.

Especially Toyogoro, who had just been saved by the other party, was filled with doubt and suspicion, staring at the shrine maiden and hoping she could give a reasonable explanation. As for Koto, although she didn't quite understand what Inosuke was saying, she realized that the atmosphere was somewhat unusual compared to before, and a hint of panic appeared on her face.

“After that day, I made up my mind that no matter the cost, I would find you, bring you back to my master’s grave, and apologize to him,” Inosuke said in a deep voice. He spread his left hand, his fingertips pressing hard against the soil, his eyes fixed intently on Shizu. “So, do you have anything to say in your defense?”

Ryuko and Toyogoro also looked at her.

The air flowed in silence.

As the sunlight shifted, a cold glint reflected off the naginata the shrine maiden was leaning on, its dazzling light causing the three of them to instinctively shield themselves from it.

Just then, Shizu sighed softly, "Sigh... Let's make our move."

"it is good!"

With a low roar that shook the heavens, Inosuke pushed off with his hands, and his large body suddenly leaped out. In mid-air, he gripped his sword with both hands and slashed down!

At the same time, Shizu drew her sword. Her weapon was much longer than the katana used by Inosuke. She struck first despite being behind, and the blood-stained blade, like a white ribbon, rolled up and went straight to meet the ronin!

"careful!"

Because of the conversation just now, and the fact that one of the two combatants was someone he had known for a long time while the other was a complete stranger, Longzi already had a preference. Seeing the dangerous trend of this move, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, but it was too late to help.

Just as his heart leaped into his throat, he saw the man and the naginata clash past each other. Inosuke suddenly launched a flying kick, slamming it hard into the blade—judging from the clanging of metal, he was standing on a pair of iron shoes—using the force, he twisted his body, landed with a thud, and bounced up like a ball, thrusting at the man and the naginata from a bizarre angle!

In a mere blink of an eye, the balance of power shifted dramatically. It seemed that if Inosuke's attack hit, it would immediately create a gaping hole in the priestess's body. Now it was Toyogoro's turn to be conflicted.

The life-saving grace was still fresh in his mind, yet he couldn't ignore what Inosuke had just said. He was torn between stopping him and not stopping him. It wouldn't be good to watch Inosuke kill someone, but it would be even worse if Inosuke were killed instead.

Toyogoro's mind was in turmoil, unable to make sense of things. But the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly. Just as he was about to hesitate, the words that came to his lips, whether "Stop" or "Wait," suddenly changed again!

The priestess slid her hand along the hilt of the naginata to the center, and pressed one of the easily overlooked mechanisms. With a "click," the entire naginata split in two. She held the broken half of the hilt in her left hand, using it as a short stick to block Inosuke's thrust. With a swift movement of her right hand, the remaining half of the naginata drew an arc, aiming straight for the ronin's head!

boom!

With a kick of his iron shoes and a flick of his sword, Inosuke unleashed a barrage of attacks at point-blank range. It wasn't just the sweeping of his sword; Inosuke used almost every part of his body for offense. Kicks, punches, elbows, knees, even headbutts and back strikes—all sorts of unbelievable angles and techniques came like a whirlwind, but Shizu blocked them all. His naginata split in two, and his defense became impenetrable.

If it weren't for the flashing blades and chilling aura before them, Ryuko, Toyogoro, and the others watching from the sidelines would have thought this wasn't a life-or-death battle, but rather a spectacular grand finale performance at a large festival.

After a fierce attack, Inosuke took advantage of the momentum to leap back and once again assumed that strange pose of a giant frog pouncing on the ground. The shrine maiden simply flipped her hands, reattached the naginata, wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, and exhaled a long breath.

Neither of them showed the slightest sign of injury, as if their brief but intense exchange had been nothing more than another perfectly coordinated sparring match. Their gazes met across the distance, one burning with rage, the other utterly indifferent.

"Why are you always on the defensive?!" Inosuke said angrily.

“Because if I attack, you won’t be able to withstand ten moves,” Zhijin replied calmly. “Four years ago, your martial arts were already inferior to mine. In the past few years, the gap between us has not only not narrowed, but has widened further… Senior Brother Qingtian, you still need to find a way to correct this old habit of being lazy.”

"Noisy!"

"You get agitated as soon as you start talking, and sure enough, you haven't made any progress..." She shook her head, then suddenly changed the subject, "So, are you feeling better now?"

"What do you mean, 'can you calm down'?" Inosuke frowned.