I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Page 814

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, Fengshang, an old man who is no longer useful, is not as good as a toe of this granddaughter of hers."

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.

……

……

Time goes back 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 his ninja uniform.

"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 leadership, 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 'Lucky 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' training 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 moment.

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

The stern look on Azhu's face was already so intense that it couldn't be added.

"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."

Azhu 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 chances 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 was not as confused as A-Machi.

He looked solemn.

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."

……

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