I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

After pausing for a while and clearing up his mood, Azhu continued to talk about the past 5 years ago...

...

...

5 years ago--

"Fengshang, it seems... the long-term peaceful life has really degraded your skills a lot... Fortunately, I brought so many subordinates here for the sake of stability."

An old man with a strange gray color in his left eye cast a stare of naked contempt at the old man in front of him who had been pinned down by several young strong men.

"Jijiu..." The old man who was suppressed on the ground cast a begging look at the gray-eyed old man in front of him, "You can ask me to do anything... Please... let my family go..."

The gray-eyed old man called "Ji Jiu" looked away as if he was too lazy to look at this person again.

"Although your current skill disappoints me greatly, but...you have gained unexpected rewards, so this trip is worthwhile."

Speaking of this, a little smile appeared on Ji Jiu's face.

Withdrawing his gaze from Feng Shang, he turned his head to look at the young girl beside him who was pinned to the ground by two strong men.

This is a girl who would feel guilty for belittling her by using the word "cute" to describe her.

Although the fear visible to the naked eye covered the pupils and cheeks of this cute girl, she still stared fiercely at Ji Jiu in front of her.

"At this age, I can defeat three of my subordinates...it's amazing..." Ji Jiu walked slowly towards the girl.

"Don't, don't touch my sister!" The immature voice unique to young girls pierced into Jijiu's ears—this was Azuki's cry.

A Zhu, who was also knocked to the ground by two strong men, glared at Ji Jiu angrily, while struggling hard, trying to break free from the shackles of the two on him.

But she is only a 10-year-old girl after all, how could she break free from the shackles of two grown men.

Behind A Zhu, are her father and mother—her parents were both in the scuffle just now, and they accidentally passed out, and they were all tied up with hemp rope at this time.

The father, who had no strength to restrain the chicken, passed out due to a heavy blow to the abdomen at the beginning of the scuffle.

And Azhu's mother followed closely behind.

Facing the siege from all directions, she was alone and unable to support her. She was accidentally slashed to the back of the neck with a hand knife, and she also passed out.

Ji Jiu ignored A Zhu's yelling, and didn't even look at A Zhu.

"Hello." Ji Jiu knelt on one knee in front of A Zhu's younger sister, A Jiu, looking down at her who was knocked to the ground, "What's your name? How old are you?"

Ajiu ignored Jijiu and continued to stare at Jijiu angrily.

Seeing that Ajiu ignored him, Jijiu was not annoyed, he just turned his head and glanced at Azhu who was not far away: "That person should be your sister, right?"

"I advise you to listen to me obediently, and answer whatever I ask you."

"Otherwise - I will reward your sister to my subordinates."

"Although your sister is still very young, I think my subordinates should still be able to have a good time."

After hearing Ji Jiu's blatant threat, Ajiu's face turned pale, and then said hastily:

"My name is Ajiu! I just passed my 9th birthday!"

"Ajiu... besides luck, what ninjutsu or techniques do you know?"

"I, I can also play the shamisen..."

Although the father of Azhu and Ajiu is only a small businessman who runs a grocery store, his business has always been good, so his family background is quite good.

In terms of raising their daughters, their father spared no effort. After the two reached the age where they could learn the piano, they spent a lot of money to hire teachers to tutor their daughters.

In the beginning, both of them studied pipa, but because Aku discovered that he was more interested in shamisen during the process of learning pipa, so their father asked Aku to learn shamisen instead, and Azuki continued to study lute.

"That is to say, you don't know anything except luck." Ji Jiu stood up slowly, "Feng Shang, you are really reckless."

Ji Jiu cast a mocking look at Feng Shang.

"With such a talented granddaughter, it's not easy to raise."

"Fortunately, I came here tonight and found this uncut jade early. Otherwise, such a good seedling would have been ruined by you."

"Jijiu..." Feng Shang cast a terrified look at Jijiu, "You...what do you want to do?"

Ji Jiu didn't even look at Feng Shang, just smiled and looked at Ajiu.

"I've decided—I'm going to take you as my apprentice. I'll train you to be the best ninja I've ever had in Iga."

As soon as Jijiu said this, not only Azhu and others, but Jijiu's subordinates also showed surprise.

Many of them were old subordinates who had followed Ji Jiu for many years, and it was the first time they heard that the proud Ji Jiu took the initiative to accept someone as a disciple.

Ajiu stared at Ji Jiu blankly with big bright eyes.

After a while, her lips moved, and it was not difficult to see from the movement of her lips—she wanted to say the words "I don't want".

However... She was just about to utter these words, as if suddenly thinking of something, she closed her lips tightly, and then turned her head to look at her parents and A Zhu who were not far away.

After a long silence—

"I... can worship you as my teacher."

Ajiu raised her head and shot a stubborn look at Jijiu.

"But you have to let my family members go! As long as you let all my family members go, I will worship you as my teacher!"

"Hello." Suddenly, Ji Jiu frowned, "You are not qualified to bargain with me."

"This is my only condition!" Ah Jiu did not back down, looking straight into Ji Jiu's eyes, "Otherwise, even if you force me to be your disciple, I will seek all means to commit suicide!"

"Ajiu!" Azuki shouted Ajiu's name with a sad face, hoping that Ajiu would not do such a stupid thing of "sacrificing himself to save his family".

Their grandfather Fengshang is also like this, advising Ah Jiu not to do stupid things.

However, Ajiu ignored their voices.

Jijiu looked at Ajiu coldly.

It took an unknown amount of time before Ji Jiu let out a few self-deprecating sneers.

"Heh... It seems that he is indeed a good seedling. At such a young age, he can meet my gaze without avoiding it. It seems that his temperament is quite good."

"Well, I'm in a good mood now. Just give half of your wish."

"I'll let go of half of your family. Your sister and grandfather can go, but I still want to take your parents away."

"No!" Ajiu screamed, "All my family members must be let go!"

"Hey." Jijiu's gaze was as sharp as a knife, cutting towards Ajiu, "I'm willing to let half of your family go, and I'm already showing mercy."

"Don't you know what's good or bad."

"I really appreciate your talent, and I really want to take you as an apprentice and train you well."

"But you're not important enough to be indispensable."

"If you make me unhappy... just imagine what the consequences will be!"

After all, Ajiu is a girl who is only 9 years old. Facing Ji Jiu's extremely oppressive gaze, she still can't help shrinking her neck in fear.

After Ji Jiu's words fell, Ajiu's eyes slowly showed tears visible to the naked eye.

After tears swirled in his eyes for a while, Ajiu nodded gently.

"I see……"

Seeing that Ajiu was subdued, a gentle smile slowly appeared on Jijiu's face: "Don't worry, I'm not an unkind evil ghost."

"As long as you obey me obediently, I will let your parents go according to your performance in the future."

After finishing speaking, Ji Jiu looked at the subordinates beside him, and ordered to the subordinates:

"Retreat. Let Feng Shang and that kid go. Take Ajiu and her parents away."

"My lord, didn't we come here just for Feng Shang? Just let him go like this?" The subordinate asked back.

"Heh." Ji Jiu sneered, "This guy is used to living a peaceful life, and his skills have regressed to the point where it's hard to look directly at him."

"I don't have any interest in this kind of old man with mediocre skills and maybe not a few years to live. Let him fend for himself."

"To me now, Feng Shang, an old man who is no longer useful, is not as good as a toe of her granddaughter."

Jijiu smiled triumphantly, while turning his head to look at Ajiu who was being slowly erected.

Ah Jiu lowered her head at this moment, making it difficult for people to see her current face and expression clearly.

"Don't be so rough with her." Ji Jiu yelled at the two strong men who held Ah Jiu up, "She is now my closed disciple."

After saying these words full of complacency, Yoshihisa issued a new order.

"Oh, by the way, remember to knock Feng Shang and that brat unconscious before letting go. I don't want to see these two rushing towards me like mad dogs as soon as I let them go."

"yes!"

A Zhu saw a hand knife slashing at the back of her neck.

Then...she felt a blackness before her eyes, and passed out.

...

...

Back in time to the present——

"——Just like that, after I woke up, my father, mother, and Ajiu all disappeared, and those guys who called themselves the Iga remnant party also disappeared. Only me and grandpa..."

Speaking of this, Azuki kept taking deep breaths as if he was trying to adjust his mood.

At this time, Ogata and A-Machi finally had a chance to intervene.

"Since then, have you never seen your parents and your sister?" Ogata asked.

"Yeah." A Zhu nodded, "It's been five years since they were taken away, and I haven't seen them again."

"My important parents and sister were forcibly taken away like this. I don't want to just pretend that nothing happened."

"I want to get them back."

"So after my parents and sister were taken away, I prayed to my grandfather, who was lucky enough not to be taken away at that time, to teach me the ninjutsu of Iga-ryu, so that I would have the ability to bring my parents and sister back."

"At the beginning, it took me a lot of effort to finally convince my grandfather who wanted to stop Iga ninjutsu in his generation."

"I just studied Iga Ninjutsu for 4 and a half years under my grandfather's command."

"Probably because of the eagerness to find my family back, my talent was inspired. My learning speed has increased a lot."

"I wanted to study hard for a few more years under my grandfather's command, but... time waits for no one."

"Grandpa was already very old, and his health was not particularly good. He died of illness about half a year ago."

A Zhu paused, showing a little sadness.

"Ah... please mourn..." Ogata said.

A-Ming followed closely behind, expressing his condolences.

A Zhu shook his head with a smile: "Grandpa passed away at such an old age, so it's a happy death. The only regret is probably that he didn't see my parents and sister come back until he passed away..."

"On the eve of my grandfather's illness, he gave me this female ninja uniform."

A Zhu raised his hand and touched the skirt of the ninja uniform on his body.

"Grandpa told me when he was still alive—this is the rule of Iga no Sato. When ninjas can start out as teachers, they can have their own ninja costumes and officially participate in missions."

"This is probably my grandfather's recognition of my four and a half years of penance. I think I have reached the level where I can barely become a teacher, so I gave this set of ninja uniforms to me..."

"Besides burying my grandfather, because I can no longer improve myself under my grandfather's command, I probably won't be able to practice anything by myself, so I embarked on a journey to find my family in advance."

"If you just look around aimlessly like this, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. I don't know how to find the year of the monkey."

"So I thought of a good way - to sell the 'Lucky Strength' cultivation method."

Ogata raised his eyebrows at this moment: "So that's it...is it used to lure out the remnants of Iga? No wonder you sold it so cheaply, and gave me a copy so generously back then. It turns out that you didn't do it for money at all. And they are selling the practice books of 'Luck Strength'..."

"That's right! You're right!" Azhu nodded his head vigorously a few times.

"If the remnants of Iga no Sato know that there is a young girl who is selling the cultivation method of 'Luck Strength' everywhere, they will definitely be attracted here."

"As long as I can find the remnants of Iga, I can follow the clues and find out the whereabouts of my parents and sister."

"So I searched aimlessly, and at the same time sold the 'Yunjin' cultivation method everywhere, trying to lure Iga's remnants out."

"I thought that even if I did this, it might take a long time to get something."

"But I didn't expect—I just got an important piece of information not long after I left the house."

"About 3 months ago, I was selling straw sandals and 'Lucky' practice books in an izakaya in Echizen."

"The owner of the izakaya told me after seeing the training book I compiled and my personal demonstration - he had seen the exact same martial arts from someone before."

"The owner of the izakaya said: At the end of the second year of Kanzheng (1790 AD), several people went to his izakaya to drink."

"Those people look like ordinary civilians, but they all have extraordinary skills."

"While they were drinking to their heart's content, several guests at the table next to them became drunk because they drank too much."

"For these drunk-crazed guys, those few people beat them all down with ease."

"And the martial skill used by one of them is very similar to Yun Jin."

"For the guests who helped drive away the drunkenness, the boss wanted to buy them a few more drinks."

"But those few people said that they don't want anything, as long as the boss helps to answer one of their questions-'Have you seen Ogata Yidaosai'."

Be it Ogata or A-Machi, their expressions changed slightly at this time.

"After the owner of the izakaya said that he hadn't seen it, those people drank for a while and then left."

The serious look on A Zhu's face was already too intense at this moment.

"Since one of those few people can use luck energy, it means that they are very likely to be part of the Iga remnant party."

"After the owner of the izakaya said that these people seemed to be going north, I went all the way north, trying to find those people."

"In the end, I went all the way to find Matsumae Fan, but I didn't find any trace of them."

"After the Matsumae clan failed to receive the goods, they had no choice but to take a stowaway boat and prepare to return to Japan, and then met you, Mr. Yidaosai."

Azuki raised his eyes and looked directly into Ogata's eyes.

"Although I couldn't find those people, it was a pleasant surprise to meet Mr. Yidao Zhai."

"Those people asked about your whereabouts in that izakaya in Echizen."

"So... I suspect that the remnants of Iga may be looking for you for some purpose now."

"In this way, as long as I follow you, the chance of encountering the Iga remnants should be greatly increased."

"That's why I said I wanted to travel with Ogata-sama."

So far, Ogata and A-Machi understood the reason why Azuku expressed his desire to travel with them.

A-Ming's face was full of doubts from just now, she looked at Ogata beside her with a look of doubt mixed with a little anxiety.

Needless to ask, Ogata also knew what A-Machi was wondering and worried about—if those people were really the remnants of Iga no Sato, why were they looking for Ogata?

The only connection they have with Iga no Sato is that in the decisive battle with Shiranui, Iga's ninjas helped Shiranui—but Ogata never saw those Iga ninjas.

Ogata didn't have a look of confusion on his face like A-Machi.

He looked serious.

After hearing that those suspected Iga remnants were looking for him, he couldn't help recalling a sentence that he heard from the palace department during the day that made him very concerned:

【My lord... He sent so many people to look for you... I didn't expect to meet you in this kind of place... It's really... a trick of luck...】

While Ogata and A-Machi were silent with various emotions, Azuki suddenly put his hands on the ground, and then used Dogeza on Ogata again with the momentum of a tiger descending the mountain.

"So--Master Yidaosai! After knowing my purpose and difficulties, please let me travel with you! I want to find my parents and my sister no matter what!"

"I promise I will never hold you back or trouble you!"

A Machi wanted to subconsciously say "No matter what, we can't take you with us, it's very dangerous to follow us".

But Ogata, who was beside her, took the lead and said:

"Give us a moment, I want to discuss it with my wife."

Both A-Machi and A-Chiku looked at Ogata with astonishment on their faces.

"My wife and I have shared honor and disgrace for a long time, and they are similar to my half body." Ogata smiled at Azhu, "I need to listen to her opinion on any major matter."

"In short - you wait here for a while, give us a little time to discuss."

...

...

Ogata and A-Machi came to a corridor in the hotel where no one passed by.

The two of them even checked the ceiling above their heads, and after confirming that there was no one around, Ogata lowered his voice and straight to the point:

"I plan to let Azhu go with us."

As soon as Ogata finished speaking, A-Machi was puzzled and stunned at first, but his expression soon returned to the original one.

It's not the first time for her to know Ogata, and when she heard what Ogata said, she immediately subconsciously thought——Ogata must have made such a decision for some reason.

Before A-Ming had time to ask back, Ozu began to talk eloquently.

He vomited out everything that happened on the pirate ship today to A-Ming one by one.

Since the gang of pirates were dealt with, Ogata has been unable to tell A-Ming in detail about the weird things he saw on the pirate ship today because he couldn't find the right time to confide.

A-Machi's expression changed several times as Ogata told about today's experience.

After confessing everything that happened on the pirate ship today, Ogata concluded:

"That guy wearing a handsome leather mask dropped out of Xuanzheng's master and apprentice's unique poison... Xuanzhi has long since left this faction, and Xuanzheng is very likely to remain in that faction. So all this means What, you should know?"

"...that guy wearing a handsome human leather mask and his subordinates are most likely members of the forces that study immortality." A-Ming replied in a deep voice.

Ogata nodded: "The forces that study immortality are looking for me. And Iga's remnants are also looking for me... If this is a coincidence, it would be too coincidental."

"That's why I suspect that the research on the power of immortality is in the same group as the remnants of Iga."

"The leader of the undead faction is looking for me for what purpose, so I sent the remnants of Iga to look for me—this way, it matches what the guy wearing the human skin mask said before committing suicide by taking poison. It's..."

"Honestly, I kind of wonder why they're looking for me."

"And—if the force that studies immortality can take the initiative to come to the door, it will save me a lot of time and energy, and I can directly confront them."

Ogata subconsciously raised his hand to caress his left neck.

"That's why I want to take the child Azuka."

"That kid's method of selling the 'Yunjin' training book is a bit stupid, but it is actually very effective. There is a great probability of attracting the remnants of Iga."

"As long as we can find the remnants of Iga's party, we can follow the clues to find out whether they have anything to do with the forces that study immortality."

"So I plan to let Azhu follow us. What we have to do now is the same. We will continue to Owari and entrust the friends of Gourd House to help find a powerful swordsmith who can restore Da Shitian and Da Zizai."

"On the way to Owari, let Azhu continue to sell her 'Lucky' practice book, trying to print out the remnants of Iga."

"It will neither delay us from finding someone to repair the knife, nor will it delay us from finding out why the Iga remnant party is looking for us, and whether the Iga remnant party has anything to do with the forces that study immortality."

"Amachi, what do you think?"

Ogata explained his plan in one breath.

After listening quietly, A-Ming pondered for a while, and then asked a question:

"If you want that child to follow us...do you want to explain to her that you have the power of immortality in your body and are looking for a way to avoid sudden death?"

"You can leave it alone for now," Ogata replied.

After the two asked and answered, Ah-cho fell silent again.

After a while, Machi looked up and down Ogata with a strange gaze.

Then Chao Ogata showed a "warm smile".

"...You don't plan to let that child follow us just to have another cute ninja by your side?"

"How is that possible..." Ogata couldn't help but let out a few awkward dry laughs, "I intend to let that child go with us purely for the sake of profit, without any personal feelings involved."

Ogata's words were justified.

But his words did not dissipate the strange look in Ah Ding's eyes and the "warm smile" on his face.

A-Machi still looked at him strangely.

After a while, A-Machi put away the strange look in his eyes and the "smile" on his face, sighed softly, and then said softly——

*****

*****

What I mentioned in this chapter that Iga ninjas can get their own ninja costumes when they can become a teacher is my nonsense.

Speaking of which, the book has over 600 chapters... so fast.