Winter passed and spring came.
Mount Yatsurayama’s Tomomaru was constantly expanding, with surrounding fields being cultivated, and its reputation continuously spreading outward.
Because of the strong protection offered by the clan leader and his samurai, the territory rarely suffered from the ravages of demons and bandits, thus attracting more and more wild folk to join.
Although these people were fierce and defiant, if properly trained, they could become excellent fighting forces capable of serving as ashigaru. Wu Ming accepted them gladly.
Now, the entire Tomomaru had grown to include one hundred households, capable of mobilizing a hundred ashigaru and more than a dozen samurai. This not only alarmed the Iizushi District but even reached the ears of the lord of Izumo Province, the Iu family, who heard of the powerful local clan known as the Oni Ichikazoku.
As the head of the Oni Ichikazoku, Oniichi Hōgan’s reputation for defeating the demon Shuten-dōji, as well as his mastery of swordsmanship and Yin-Yang techniques, was also spreading further.
What followed this, aside from more followers, was the interest of ninja.
In this regard, Matsushita Shōta and Matsushita Kenichi diligently fulfilled their roles as loyal hounds of the Oni Ichikazoku, engaging in numerous battles against many unknown ninja, burying many corpses, and earning an increasingly fearsome reputation in the underworld as demons.
At this moment, the sky had not yet brightened.
Inside the Hōnnō-ji temple, Onimaru Take held a bamboo sword and exchanged blows with Amakusa Shisō, his face filled with determination and sweat.
“I must become stronger! Much stronger! Only then can I have the power to avenge my clan against the Genpei family!”
Inside his heart, Onimaru shouted as he swung his bamboo sword with both hands, sending Amakusa flying.
“Ah!”
Amakusa cried out in pain, dropping his bamboo sword and falling to his knees. “No wonder you’re the young master Onimaru! This strength must already be at the first level of Earth Scroll, right?”
“Not enough! This is still far from enough!”
The young Onimaru frowned.
In reality, he had not only mastered the first level of the Earth Scroll, but also studied the Water Scroll’s Yin-Yang techniques and ninja arts, achieving the same first-level rank.
Moreover, he actively learned from the Wind and Fire Scrolls. One could say that, aside from the Sky Scroll, he was now the equivalent of an ordinary samurai, both in terms of knowledge and martial prowess.
For a child, this was something very commendable, yet Onimaru was still not satisfied.
“It’s Onimaru… getting up so early to train, how diligent…”
The sliding door opened, and Wu Ming yawned lazily, “Still, you should occasionally remember to rest properly! Especially early in the morning, disturbing someone’s sleep will surely bring divine retribution!”
“We are deeply sorry, Lord Sōjō!”
Although Wu Ming was smiling, his expression was very gentle, but Onimaru and Amakusa still immediately apologized.
“Never mind… Ah ha…”
Wu Ming stretched lazily. In fact, he had spent the previous night dealing with a pile of miscellaneous affairs in Tomomaru and had just sneaked in.
However, with Onimaru and Amakusa’s level, they naturally couldn’t detect anything unusual.
“Hmm… As for this Onimaru, should I say he is a destined dragon? He’s only ten years old, yet already at the first level in both martial arts and Yin-Yang techniques. This talent is truly terrifying… Hmm, Amakusa is also quite good. In a while, he should be able to touch the threshold of the rank…”
Wu Ming gazed at the sky. It was still early morning, the first streaks of purple light had not yet appeared, the sky was dark, and the world was on the verge of dawn, a time when people were most relaxed and lazy.
Suddenly, his Heavenly Eye detected something.
Over a hundred streaks of black qi surged forth, fierce and hideous. The fortune of the main Tomomaru estate was affected and seemed to waver precariously!
“Enemy attack? And the invading force is quite formidable!”
In an instant, Wu Ming understood clearly: “Such stealth, breaking through three layers of outer perimeter security without a sound—could it be ninja?”
“Just your bad luck, happening to meet me when my Heavenly Eye is open…”
Qi precedes events; in major incidents like this, the overall fortune of Tomomaru would surely show signs, and they would be very obvious, naturally not escaping Wu Ming’s notice. This was simply a matter of timing!
“With the martial fortune of our clan alone, it seems insufficient to warn of such a calamity. Therefore…”
Wu Ming looked at the dazed Onimaru beside him and nodded inwardly: “Indeed, the fortune of a latent dragon—so strong even before it fully emerges?”
“Onimaru!”
“Disciple here!”
“You immediately go to the temple. Remember that secret room? Hide inside and do not come out! Amakusa, the safety of Onimaru is entrusted to you!”
“Yes, sir!”
Amakusa knelt: “I will protect young master Onimaru with my life!”
“Enemy attack?”
Onimaru finally realized what was happening: “I want to fight too!”
“Fight? Haha… with just that bamboo sword in your hand?”
Wu Ming waved his hand: “Onimaru! Fighting is the business of adults. You can talk like this after your coming-of-age ceremony!”
After dismissing the two boys, he focused his power into his eyes and could now see dozens of dark figures approaching the foot of Tomomaru Castle.
They were agile, dressed in black or deep blue, climbing the walls like nimble raccoon dogs without attracting the guards’ attention.
“Indeed, it’s the ninja… over a hundred strong, which must be most of a ninja unit’s strength. Are they here for a decapitation mission?”
Watching two guards silently eliminated by the ninja, Wu Ming’s gaze turned even colder: “Kōga? Iga? Or maybe Saika? Or a coalition from other ninja villages?”
In the Fusō world, the most famous ninja clans were these three. Although there were other scattered ninja organizations, most were groups of failed lower ninja, rarely having even mid-level ninja.
For some reason, Wu Ming silently watched the ninja’s movements, neither intervening nor raising the alarm.
The ninja army advanced deeper, heading straight for the main keep of the Oni Clan.
“Who goes there?”
Finally, they were discovered at that location. A samurai shouted loudly, his piercing voice enough to tear through the sky.
“Curses! Charge in directly!”
In the next moment, the loyal samurai was overwhelmed by shuriken and kunai. The leading black-clothed ninja’s eyes gleamed with a vulture-like coldness as he shouted orders: “Group One and Two, go after the head of the Oni Clan. The rest of you create chaos!”
“Yes, sir!”
For the ninja, this kind of task was second nature. Soon, some hastily summoned samurai were ambushed with hidden arrows in the streets and alleys.
Some ninja even created thick smoke, laced with toxins.
If they weren’t already in the city themselves, they might have even set fires, but that would be too dangerous, a mutual destruction tactic.
“Damn it! Daring to attack our clan is the greatest insult to us! You will all die!”
Matsushita Shōta arrived hastily wearing only light clothing. Seeing the scene, his eyes turned red: “Follow me and cut them down!”
At this time, his training as a ninja-sword practitioner had steadily reached the second level. The enhanced perception granted by the demon’s power rendered the invisibility and hiding techniques of ordinary lower and mid-level ninja useless.
Hiss!
With a single slash of his blade, several unprepared ninja were cut in two.
Bang!
“You… will all die!”
Matsushita Shōta stomped his foot, crushing a crawling ninja beneath it, his chest caving in. At the same time, dark-blue demon markings appeared on his face, waves of demonic power assaulting his mind, pushing him toward the abyss while continuously amplifying his strength.
“A warrior capable of matching a mid-level ninja! Fujibayashi, Momochi, please take action!”
The ninja leader’s eyes flashed coldly as he ordered the two ninja behind him.
“Yes, sir!”
Behind him, two ninjas knelt on one knee, their figures vanishing and instantly appearing on the battlefield.
“Earth Release: Earth Wall!”
“Wood Release: Binding Vine!”
The two mid-level ninja quickly formed hand seals, and several thick earthen walls instantly appeared, blocking Matsushita Shōta’s path.
Bang! Bang!
Green vines sprouted from the earth walls, spreading like a spider web and enveloping Matsushita Shōta.
“Curses! Damn it!”
Matsushita Shōta roared, bound by the vines: “Letting these insects disturb our lord is my greatest failure, an unforgivable disgrace!”
Boom!
A sudden surge of dark green flames erupted, burning the vines to ash and revealing Matsushita Shōta behind them.
Behind him, a colossal, red-haired, broad-shouldered, horned figure of a Shuten-dōji, several meters tall, also appeared, exuding a fierce demonic aura.
“Die!”
With a single slash of his blade, the earth wall was cleaved apart, revealing the terrified gazes of the two mid-level ninja behind it.
…
Inside the main keep of the Oni Clan.
“Haha… Daring to disturb our lord’s rest with your lowly existence?”
Matsushita Ken’ichi’s face bore dark-blue markings, and behind him loomed the shadow of an evil spirit.
Before him lay a mid-level ninja cut in two. Around him, Sword One to Sword Five, along with a dozen newly recruited ronin samurai, were grinning fiercely, unleashing terrifying power as they battled the ninja.
It must be said that the strengths of ninja lay more in stealth, assassination, and intelligence gathering. Once engaging in open combat, they were somewhat inferior to samurai, not to mention they were facing the elite of the “Ghost Unit,” a group of ninja-swordsmen recently organized by Wu Ming under Matsushita Ken’ichi’s leadership!
“So many swordsmen and samurai…”
The ninja leader entered and was completely stunned by the scene: “The Oni Clan is merely a minor clan with a thousand koku of rice…”
But thinking of the mission and the reward, the ninja leader’s eyes flickered with reluctance before he sent out a secret signal.
“Forbidden Technique: Secret Binding Arts!”
Several mid-level ninja quickly retreated, while the remaining ninja, with resolute expressions, performed a certain ninja art, their bodies exploding into clouds of blood.
The blood clouds even formed cocoons, enveloping most of the Ghost Unit members.
“Ahh…”
Matsushita Ken’ichi and Matsushita Shōta roared, seemingly on the verge of breaking free.
“This… is this the power near the upper ninja limit?!”
Seeing this, the ninja leader no longer hesitated. He took a blood-red talisman from his robe and smashed it into the center.
Puff!
The bead shattered, releasing a powerful binding force that instantly stabilized the uneven blood cocoon.
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