I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Edo, Nihonbashi, Shinagawa-juku—

As the most important transportation route in Edo, Nihonbashi is naturally one of the most visited places in Edo.

In the afternoon, the flow of people in Nihonbashi is so high that it can be called "terror".

Now Nihonbashi is like a balloon filled with air. Add a little more air to it and it will burst.

People walking on the Japanese bridge can only squeeze me, I squeeze you, and when there is a little gap in front, they will go up to fill it. You can only squeeze, drill, and move forward bit by bit in this way.

In a room in Shinagawa-juku, a young man knelt down on the tatami mat, tidying up his clothes.

This young man can be regarded as handsome in appearance, he is about 25 years old, and he keeps his hair.

He clearly looked like a young man in his 20s, but there was not a trace of childishness on his face.

Although the scabbard of the knife placed on the tatami mat next to him is ordinary black, the handle is very beautiful purple.

From the hilt to the shank, this knife is extremely exquisite, and even people who don't understand swords at all can see that this knife is extraordinary.

An elderly person sitting next to the young man, who was about 50 years old, gave a small smile and said to the young man:

"Master Toyotomi, you are even more heroic when you put on a formal outfit."

"Iwakura." The young man who was called "Master Toyotomi" by the old man smiled. "Although this formal outfit is very handsome, it is also extremely uncomfortable to wear."

Young man...or Toyotomi, while talking, arguing about Jihaori again.

He doesn't like to wear formal clothes very much, and he forgot when he wore formal clothes last time.

The long-lost formal wear now makes Toyotomi feel uncomfortable, as if there are many ants crawling on him.

"Master Toyotomi." The old man who was just called "Iwakura" by Toyotomi continued, "You don't actually need to change into formal clothes. Lin Ziping is not the kind of person who pays attention to etiquette."

As soon as Iwakura's voice fell, Toyotomi immediately answered:

"That's not okay. Even if the other party is not the kind of person who pays attention to etiquette, he still needs to have the etiquette he should have."

After that, Toyotomi once again straightened Haori on his body.

"Iwakura, you and Lin Ziping are good friends. When Lin Ziping comes, remember to say a few more words for me."

"That's natural!" Iwakura responded without thinking, "I will definitely try to persuade Lin Ziping to join you!"

"Whether to invite Lin Ziping to my command or not, I have to wait until I have met him and tested what kind of person he is before making a decision." Toyotomi smiled.

"Master Toyotomi." Iwakura's face was full of confidence, "Lin Ziping, he will never let you down!"

"Although he has a weird behavior and personality, he is undoubtedly a great talent!"

"You are so confident in Lin Ziping, and I am looking forward to meeting Lin Ziping more and more." The smile on Toyotomi's face became stronger. "It seems that your relationship with Lin Ziping is really very good. Not bad, I have always highly recommended him."

"The reason why I strongly recommend him to you is actually mainly because I don't want his talents to be buried." Iwakura smiled bitterly, "He is a rare talent in a century. His talent may change this directly. country."

"If his talents are allowed to be buried, I really can't bear it."

"And let him join your command, you can also protect him in disguise."

"Counting this year, this is the third time he has been in jail."

"And the severity of these 3 imprisonments was higher than once..."

"If it wasn't because we rescued him in time this time, he might be executed in one or two months..."

After that, Iwakura let out a long sigh.

About a year ago, Toyotomi took a fancy to Iwakura's talent in building a castle, and sent an invitation to Iwakura, inviting him to come under his command and become his retainer.

At that time, Iwakura, who happened to be depressed and living a poor life, was naturally ecstatic after receiving Toyotomi's invitation. He accepted Toyotomi's invitation and became the new retainer of Toyotomi's family.

Not long after joining Toyotomi, Iwakura recommended the person "Lin Ziping" to Toyotomi.

When Iwakura recommended Lin Ziping to Toyotomi, he gave Toyotomi a book.

The book is called "A Guide to the Three Kingdoms",

It is an important geography that describes the hydrology, geography, and meteorology of North Korea, Ryukyu and Ezo.

Just turning over the first page of the "Three Kingdoms General Map", Toyotomi was full of interest in this military geography.

After presenting the book to Toyotomi, Iwakura immediately explained to Toyotomi that this book was compiled by Lin Ziping in the 5th year of Tenmei (1785 AD).

Because Iwakura and Lin Ziping had a good relationship, after successfully compiling the "Three Kingdoms Guide", Lin Ziping gave a copy of it to Iwakura.

After Iwakura showed Toyotomi Lin Ziping's military topography, Toyotomi immediately became interested in Lin Ziping, so he asked Iwakura to tell him more about Lin Ziping.

And Iwakura also told Toyotomi all the information he knew about Lin Ziping.

From Lin Ziping's weird character to his weird claims. Such as: opening the sea ban, reorganizing the military system, developing Ezo land, using force to curb Lucia’s attempts to invade Ezo land...

These ideas of Lin Ziping may be very strange and unreasonable in the eyes of others, but to Toyotomi, these ideas of Lin Ziping are very appetizing to him.

Toyotomi became interested in the person named Lin Ziping.

Want to meet this person and see if he meets his expectations.

So Toyotomi spent a lot of effort to investigate Lin Ziping's whereabouts.

It took more than two months for Toyotomi to finally find out where Lin Ziping was-eating his food in Joto Prison in Edo.

The reason for his imprisonment was that he proposed to the shogunate a political proposal that made the shogunate officials very angry, and severely criticized some of the shogunate's policies, which angered the shogunate officials.

Therefore, the officials of the shogunate imprisoned Lin Ziping in anger, and asked Lin Ziping to reflect on it.

According to Iwakura, this should be Lin Ziping's third imprisonment.

The reasons for his three times of imprisonment were exactly the same—because he made a claim to the shogunate that made the officials feel unreasonable, and severely criticized the shogunate’s various policies, including the national lock-in policy, and was then angry by officials They ordered to be detained in jail.

According to Toyotomi's investigation-Lin Ziping's third imprisonment was far more serious than the previous two.

Lin Ziping's imprisonment this time not only should not be able to get out, but also very likely to be executed.

Toyotomi didn't want this talented person who could be found hard to find and might be useful to be executed by the shogunate.

So Toyotomi gave the task of "rescuing Lin Ziping" to Shintaro, who was lurking in Shiranui.

If you want to rob the prison without making a big disturbance, you have to rely on these subordinates who know how to do ninjutsu.

However, Joto Prison is one of the few big prisons in Edo after all, and it is impossible to sneak into it easily without sufficient manpower.

So after receiving the task of "rescuing Lin Ziping" from Toyotomi, Shintaro has been waiting for the best time to save people.

Then, it was easy to wait for the best time this morning-Shun Taro was controlled by them.

If Shuntaro, the head of the "Four Heavenly Kings," helped him, he would get twice the result with half the effort if he went to Chengdong Prison to rob people.

So after controlling Shuntaro through the wind chime, Shintaro's first task to Shuntaro was to cooperate with Keitaro to rescue Lin Ziping from prison.

Although there were some accidents on the way to the robbery because of Lin Ziping's sudden yelling, the overall situation went smoothly. Lin Ziping was successfully rescued and brought to Shiranui.

After rescuing Lin Ziping, Shintaro immediately reported to Toyotomi, informed Toyotomi of the great news, and made an appointment with Toyotomi to bring Lin Ziping to see him—just this afternoon.

That's why Toyotomi will put on the long-lost formal wear now, just to meet Lin Ziping later.

Toyotomi turned his head and looked at the sky outside the window.

"...Why didn't Shintaro bring Lin Ziping here yet." Toyotomi frowned slightly.

Now it has passed the agreed time to send Lin Ziping over.

Shintaro has always been a powerful subordinate whom Toyotomi trusts very much, and he has always been used by Toyotomi.

He has always been a fairly punctual person, and he rarely acts out of punctuality as he does now.

"Maybe it's because there are too many people in Nihonbashi now," Iwakura said, "so it took more time on the road."

"…Probably."

Toyotomi retracted his gaze from the window.

When he retracted his gaze from the window, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of something placed in the corner of the room.

Toyotomi was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and looked directly at the thing he had placed in the corner of the room.

It is a Qiancheng gourd.

Looking at this Qiancheng gourd, a little tenderness appeared in Toyotomi's face and eyes.

It was like looking at his wife.

Toyotomi stood up, walked slowly to this Qiancheng gourd, and then sat down cross-legged.

After raising his hand and touching the Qiancheng gourd, his movements were as soft as touching a fragile object that would break at the touch of a touch.

Looking at Toyotomi who was stroking the Qiancheng gourd with gentle movements, Iwakura let out a sigh of relief, and then said with emotion:

"After 200 years, Toyotomi's'Sen Cheng Gourd' will finally be erected on the battlefield again, and the flag painted with'Taiko Tong' will finally fly in the wind again..."

Taikotong-the family pattern of the Toyotomi family.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the dominance of the world, the emperor not only bestowed the surname of Toyotomi Hideyoshi "Toyotomi", but also gave Toyotomi Hideyoshi "Kirimon", allowing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to use "Kiriman" as their wealth Chen's family pattern.

At that time, many big names were actually using'Torimon', so in order to show his dignity, Toyotomi Hideyoshi later transformed the'Torimon' he obtained from the emperor and transformed it into a new one. Tong Wen'.

And this new ‘Tong Wen’ is called ‘Taiko Tong’.

As soon as Iwakura's words fell, Toyotomi smiled:

"Yeah... the blood debt 200 years ago..." Toyotomi was stroking Chinseong Gourd's hand and slowly clenched it, "I want to get it back from the Tokugawa Shogunate one by one!"

Toyotomi's hand on Sencheng Gourd was tightly clenched, as if he was about to rip the flesh of his palm.

The face that was originally delicate is now hideous due to the upsurge of blood.

At this moment, a low notification sound suddenly sounded outside the room:

"My lord, it's me."

"Come in." Toyotomi said, sitting back where he was just now.

After Toyotomi was allowed to enter, a strong man slowly opened the door and walked quickly into the room.

"Gao Qing." Toyotomi asked the brawny man, "What happened?"

This brawny man was named Gao Qing. He was an old subordinate who had followed Toyotomi for many years, and he was also a trusted confidant of Toyotomi.

After Gao Qing walked slowly to Toyotomi and knelt down on one knee, he darkened his face and said in a deep voice:

"Master Toyotomi, there seems to be something wrong with Shiranui. An unknown person attacked Shiranui. Now Shintaro and Keitaro are unclear about their lives and deaths, and they cannot be contacted..."

"What?!" Toyotomi's eyes opened wide, his face full of consternation.

…

…

Edo, Shiranuiri—

People who have never tried to be exhausted by the "Selfless Realm" certainly can't imagine what it feels like to be drained of all their physical strength by the "Selfless Realm".

Ogata now feels that he doesn't even have the strength to stand up.

The combination of intense fatigue and dizziness caused by too much blood made Ogata dizzy and sleepy now.

Moreover—that magical state seems to have side effects like the "Selfless Realm".

The side effect of "Selfless Realm" is that the user's physical strength will be rapidly consumed.

And the side effect of that magical state seems to be extremely tired of the user's spirit.

When he retired from this magical state, Ogata still didn't feel any discomfort. Can speak and think normally.

But gradually, a strong sense of discomfort slowly appeared.

Ogata now feels like he hasn't slept for several days-his mind is so muddy that he is so tired that he can't think at all.

His head hurt as if there were two armies fighting in his head.

Ogata knelt on one knee, clutching his head that was getting dizzy and painful.

—The magical state really has side effects like "the state of no-self"...

Ogata sighed with emotion in a slightly bitter and helpless tone in his heart, and then began to concentrate on fighting the intense dizziness and pain that continued to emerge from the depths of his mind.

But this sense of pain and dizziness is getting stronger and stronger, and its intensity soon exceeds the category that human willpower can resist.

Finally-Ogata felt his head getting dizzy and painful, and his eyelids began to fight up and down uncontrollably.

Finally fell asleep unconsciously...

…

…

The body is shaking.

Someone shook his body gently.

"…fast."

There was a voice from afar.

"…wake."

The sound gradually approached.

"...One Dao Zhai."

It’s a voice I’ve heard.

"Iichizai! Wake up!"

The dark world is shot into white light.

"…Ok?"

As Ogata became conscious, he slowly opened his eyes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Okinawa saw the beautiful face of the husband.

At this time, Ogata was lying on the ground, and Taifu kneeled beside him regardless of the dirt on the ground.

—Did I fall asleep just now? How long have you slept...?

After taking a nap because he couldn't resist the strong side effects of that magical state, Ogata now felt that the dizziness and pain in his head were slightly reduced.

Ogata glanced at his body—some wounds on his body had been bandaged with cloth.

When Ogata looked at these simply bandaged wounds on his body, the dowager on the side said immediately:

"I tore some clean cloth from the **** who used the short gun to bandage you. I only have some superficial knowledge of healing, so maybe the bandage is not very good. Please forgive me."

The **** who used the short gun in Taifu's mouth was undoubtedly Keitaro.

"It's okay." Ogata shook his head lightly. "Taifu, thank you for healing me. How did you get out? Where are the twine ropes tied to you?"

"It's five or six...Ah, no, Shuntaro helped me untie it." Taifu answered without thinking.

"Shuntaro?" Ogata frowned slightly.

Ogata deflected his gaze and looked at the ground not far away.

Keitaro's body was still lying on the spot, and the blood was almost drained. The clothes on his body were torn in a mess, and the cloth that was not contaminated by blood and dust was torn off by the husband and used to dress Ogata.

But the place where Shuntaro was supposed to lay, but at this time Shuntaro's figure was not seen.

"Tafu, where's Shuntaro?"

"He ran away."

"Ran away?"

"Well, he still has a little strength left. After you fainted, Shuntaro got up, and after unbinding me, he ran away by himself."

Taifu's tone was calm, staring at Ogata's eyes all the way.

It doesn't seem to be lying.

But Ogata still squinted his eyes slightly, looking straight at Taifu with the gaze as if he was about to see through the body of Taifu.

Just when Ogata was about to say something to Taifu, Dao was very familiar to Ogata, and at the same time, the voice that Ogata wanted to hear most came from afar.

"A Yi! Ha... Ha... I finally found you..."

Ogata quickly turned his head to look around.

I saw Ah Ding limping and rushing towards him.

Lin, Mamiya and others followed behind her.

Without exception, they were all injured.

Except for the minor injuries on Mamiya and Amachi, the injuries on the others were quite serious.

"Are you injured?" Ogata quickly asked Amachi after seeing Amachi limping.

"It's okay, it's just a small injury." After rushing to Ogata's side and knelt down on one knee, Amachi looked up and down Ogata with complicated eyes. "Why did you hurt yourself again..."

"Although I look **** now, there is actually no fatal wound on my body." Ogata comforted.

Lin, who was slower than Amachi, came to Ogata's side with the help of Mamiya: "How is Shuntarou? Who is this woman?"

The "this woman" in Lin's mouth naturally refers to the wind chime Taifu, who does not know Lin.

Because he noticed that an outsider was present, Lin deliberately did not use her usual name for Ogata: Ichitosai to call Ogata.

"That's a long story..." Ogata smiled. "Let’s talk about your business first. How about the attack on Shiranui? If Shiranui is defeated smoothly, I think we should leave here soon. It's better. The shogunate might have received news of the accident in Shiranui."

…

…

night-

Edo, Nihonbashi, Shinagawa-juku—

At this moment, just as the moon rose, the heavy night became darker and darker with the appearance of the moon.

The shining lights all over Nihonbashi suddenly dimmed due to the appearance of the moon, but the surrounding scenery appeared vividly.

The rubble on the houses, the trees planted on the street, and the people walking on the Nihonbashi bridge were all smeared with a thin layer of silver frost.

There is no window closed in a room in Shinagawa-juku.

The bright moonlight shone like a blade of light down the open window into the room, shining on the face of a Toyotomi sitting by the window, illuminating the face of Toyotomi.

Sitting by the window, Toyotomi crossed his left leg, propped up his right leg, put his right hand on the propped right leg, and held a glass full of wine in his hand.

Toyotomi looked at the wine glass in his hand blankly.

Because there was no expression or expression on his face, it was unpredictable what he was thinking.

Gao Qing knelt down and respectfully sat not far from the young man, lowered his head slightly, not daring to let out the atmosphere.

Gao Qing has followed Toyotomi for many years, so he knows very well—if his lord puts on this appearance, it means that he is in a very bad mood right now.

Once he is in a bad mood, he will put on an expressionless and oppressive look like he is now.

At the same time, Gao Qing also knew how terrifying Toyotomi was when he started the fire.

That's why Gao Qing slowed down unconsciously as she is now, for fear that she would accidentally touch the mold of Toyotomi, who is in a bad mood now.

"...Gao Qing."

Toyotomi suddenly called the brawny man's name softly.

"Yes!" Gao Qing answered quickly, "Master Toyotomi, what's your order?"

"Help me ask." Toyotomi said with a little impatience, "How long will it take to find out what happened in Shiranui?"

"Tell the group of people who are in charge of the investigation-I'm already a little impatient."

"Yes!" Gao Qing answered without thinking, "the subordinates will do it right away!"

Gao Qing understands why Toyotomi is in a bad mood, and why he feels impatient now.

In order for Shiranuiri to return to the Toyotomi clan, Toyotomi started the layout six years ago.

First, two powerful subordinates under his command were mixed into Shiranui, so that these two subordinates were mixed in Shiranui little by little.

Those two people did not live up to Toyotomi's expectations, and soon became the top of Shiranui with their strong strength.

One of these two people became Shintaro, one of the "Four Heavenly Kings," and the other became Keitaro, who also had a good status in Shinnin.

In addition to these two capable subordinates, Toyotomi has also successively sent other subordinates to sneak into Shiranui in the past 6 years to fight for Shintaro and Keitaro.

In the past six years, including Shintaro and Keitaro, the number of people sent to sneak into Shiranui has totaled as many as nine.

It took so much time and energy to control Shiranuiri from the inside and let Shiranuiri return to Toyotomi's embrace.

After Shiranui returned to their Toyotomi command, Toyotomi had planned what to do with the ninjas in Shiranui.

Let Shiranuiri continue to be a “good baby” in front of the Tokugawa shogunate, in exchange for the trust of the Tokugawa shogunate, and then slowly steal some important information from the Tokugawa shogunate.

Suggested to Balrog to lead Shiranuiri to the shogunate-this was actually what Toyotomi instructed Shintaro to do.

The purpose is to make Shiranuiri become the spy of Toyotomi in the Tokugawa shogunate in the future, so that Toyotomi can obtain some important information through Shiranui in the future.

That's why Shintaro succeeded in persuading the Balrog to lead Shiranui to subordinate to the shogunate and move Shiranui's base to Edo last year.

After 6 years of long preparations, the seizure of Shiranui's power was finally officially started last night.

He poisoned the Balrog, killed Gokutaro, and controlled Shuntaro with Shuntaro's relatives-everything went so smoothly.

However... this smoothness lasted only a few hours.

In this afternoon, they received the news that for them is nothing short of a bolt from the blue-Shiranui was attacked by an unknown person, and Shintaro and Keitaro could not be contacted.

Upon receiving this news, Toyotomi hurriedly arranged people to find out what had happened.

The investigation lasted from this afternoon to the night, and there was still no new intelligence.

Not to mention Toyotomi, even Gao Qing felt a little impatient.

Just as Gao Qing was about to get up and walk outside the room, their long-awaited voice finally sounded outside the door:

"My lord, it's me."

"Come in!" Toyotomi hurriedly shouted.

Wow.

The door was opened and a middle-aged man walked quickly into the room.

This middle-aged man is also one of Toyotomi's close associates, and he is also the person who was sent by Toyotomi today to investigate what happened in Shiranui.

"Master Toyotomi, there is news." The middle-aged man said in a deep voice immediately after entering the house, "Shiranui was attacked by unknown people, and now Shiranui was destroyed. It has been confirmed that both Shintaro and Eitaro are dead. "

"The shogunate has sent an official messenger into Shiranui-ri to investigate this evening."

"Destroyed in Shiranui?" Toyotomi's tone became a little more angry.

It took a full 6 years to complete the layout, and finally it was about to completely control Shiranui, but Shiranui was ruined by a group of unknown people.

And Lin Ziping, who has been looking forward to meeting him, should also be missing because of Shiranui's attack now-how does this make Toyotomi not angry?

Because of his anger, Toyotomi tightened the glass in his hand.

The glass was crushed by Toyotomi because he couldn't bear the tremendous force.

The scraps of the wine glass cut out Toyotomi's palms with small holes.

"...Who is the one who destroyed Shiranui?"

"I don't know yet, the officials of the shogunate are also investigating..."

"Check it out for me!" Toyotomi shouted, "Find out which **** broke my good deeds!"

"Yes!" The middle-aged man with a cold sweat on his face nodded quickly to cater.

"Go down!" Toyotomi waved his hand.

"Yes!"

The middle-aged people hurriedly withdrew from the room. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com

Only Toyotomi and Koharu were left in the room again.

"Gao Qing." Toyotomi wiped away the **** from the wine glass on his right palm, and said to Gao Qing, "You also go to help, to find out who has broken our good deeds, and also check Lin Ziping's whereabouts. , See if he died in Shiranui or escaped while being attacked by Shiranui."

"Yes!" Gao Qing replied and hurried out of the room.

Toyotomi was left in the room.

Because there was only Toyotomi in the room, no one saw the next scene that was enough to make people round his eyes and scream: the small wounds in Toyotomi's right palm that were cut out by the **** of the wine glass. Recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But for a while, Toyotomi's right palm was as good as before, as if he had never been injured.

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