Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 178, Section 176: Strange Tales at the Tomb
Good news: This game offers a wide range of options.

The bad news: It puts you to the ultimate test of interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence.

Moreover, it reflects the way people conduct themselves during the Edo period.

Players must adjust their habits accordingly and learn the etiquette of that era. To enter the city, simply showing the correct hand gestures isn't enough; they must also face extortion and baggage checks.

If you don't go into towns or cities, there's a high chance you'll encounter bandits in the wild. The protagonist you're controlling is just an ordinary ninja, a little faster than the average person, but only to a limited extent. He'll easily get surrounded and die in battle.

Therefore, we can deduce two strategies from this: one is to make good use of one's interpersonal skills to figure out how other merchants at the time hid valuables, and then proceed along the streets and towns, which is relatively safe.

Secondly, find a weapon that suits you, use your skills to adventure through the wilderness, and enjoy the thrill of battle along the way.

The second one chosen by Iwasaki.

Inside the gold storage room, there is actually a weapon stored by the lamp. You need to talk to it to find out what it is, and then pay a silver bean as a storage fee before you can take it out. You can also buy a set of women's clothing while you're at it.

After obtaining it, go to the Koga ninja village immediately, change into women's clothing, introduce yourself as Banto, the daughter of Banso En, and show her the weapon in your hand, a kusarigama with special patterns on it.

Once the inspection is completed, you can enter the village.

“You ran away for over ten years back then, and your uncles and aunts were furious. They no longer recognize you as their niece. But now that you're back, go and pay respects to your parents. I'll help you prepare some things.”

An old man from the village led Iwasaki, carrying some offerings, to the village cemetery.

"This area is where people who died in that incident are buried. It's the first month of the lunar year now, so usually no one comes here. If you need to stay overnight, just go to that house, knock on the door and say you're looking for Old Man Ji. His house is spacious."

"Oh, right. No one can stay here at night," the old man reminded him with a serious expression, as if he had just remembered something. "Do you remember Master Facheng? There is a seal he set up here to quell the three adults with the heart of forbearance who were infected by the evil energy of the demon sword."

Iwasaki asked, "Old man, can you tell me how Master Hosei dealt with the demon sword back then?"

“No, you weren’t. You were less than ten years old then, and it was such a tragic event. It’s normal that you don’t remember.” The old man sighed deeply, his eyes fixed on the graveyard, with an indelible fear deep within them. “I only found out later that the swordsmith named Masakiyo was actually a descendant of the Muramasa family.”

"I still remember him. He was a serious and unsmiling person. He was very good at knife work, which is why we took him into the village. He settled down here, but he never mentioned his background."

"One day, he said he had received a special commission and had to go on a long trip, and he didn't return for more than a month."

"According to Master Facheng, during this period, Zhengqing had actually obtained the demon sword and had been carrying out killings to consecrate the sword in many remote places in Shanyang Road."

"Master Facheng sensed the birth of the demon sword because of this, and followed the trail all the way here, but he was still a step too late."

"On the second night after Zhengqing returned, the demon sword went berserk, and all the combat ninjas and adult men took up weapons to fight. With our four remaining ninja masters as the main force, and with the help of the arriving monk Facheng, we paid a heavy price, losing three ninja masters and hundreds of ninjas, before we could barely suppress the demon sword."

"After this battle, our already declining Koga clan was almost completely destroyed, and many ninja families chose to relocate and abandon their identity as ninjas."

The old man took out a cloth, squatted down and wiped several stone tablets. After a while, he stood up, rubbing his back, and sighed that his back was just too weak for him as he got older.

Seeing that the old man seemed eager to talk, Iwasaki took his rag and wiped the other tombstones for him, while continuing to ask, "What exactly is the heart of forbearance?"

The old man fell silent, as if deep in thought.

"All things in nature can serve as a means of ninjutsu. Coupled with a fearless willingness to die for life, one can awaken the ninja's heart. That is the theory, but in the past few decades, not a single ninja in the village has awakened the ninja's heart."

"Logically speaking, when a ninja with a heart of forbearance dies, that heart of forbearance will return to nature. However, the hearts of the three masters were tainted by the demon sword. If they were allowed to return, they would only bring disaster to the world. Since this heart of forbearance is naturally formed, it is difficult to destroy. Therefore, Master Hosei could only choose to seal it, saying that he would continue to think of a way to completely solve the problem."

"So much time has passed now, there must be no better way."

"However, it doesn't affect us much. It's just that if people with weak wills stay here at night, they might hear some nonsense and do something irrational. So we just need to keep people out at night."

Iwasaki looked around, memorizing the surroundings, thinking he might need them later.

The old man left, leaving Iwasaki alone here.

Standing in front of the character's parents' graves, he cleaned them.

He seems to have gathered enough information, but he doesn't know if he can make use of the three hidden hearts buried here.

Perhaps I should add something.

An idea came to mind.

"What should I put in?"

Iwasaki took out all his belongings; the only suitable item to place here was the wooden box containing the Rokuga Secret Blessing. But shouldn't this be a crucial item, meant to be used in a critical moment?

After thinking for a few minutes, considering that he had saved the data before he came, he decided to follow the instructions and leave the wooden box in front of his parents' graves.

The character suddenly seemed much more relaxed.

Won't someone pick it up if I just leave it there?
Iwasaki ultimately decided against it. After spending some time at the cemetery, he didn't bother the old man, whom the old man had mentioned. Instead, he left the ninja village and headed to a nearby post town, where he found a reasonably cheap inn and slept there for the night.

The next day, as soon as he woke up, he was back on the route selection screen.

Now that we have weapons, then... um?
Perhaps I should go back to the cemetery again.

The character has the idea of ​​having a companion lamp.

Do we have to go back?

Iwasaki conserved his energy, selected a target location, left the lodge, and headed in the direction of the ninja village from yesterday.

The guard recognized her and, after checking her weapons, let her pass.

"Isn't that old man from yesterday here?" Iwasaki felt that since he was here again, it would be worthwhile to ask a few more questions.

"What old man?" The guard was a little confused.

Iwasaki had a strange feeling: "It's that old man I ran into not long after I went in yesterday."

"Don't joke around. Yesterday, you went straight to the cemetery after you went in." The guard waved his hand.

"."

Iwasaki was silent.

So who was that old man he met yesterday?
I remembered him saying that if I wanted to stay overnight, I could find a man named Old Man Ji.

Following his memory of yesterday, Iwasaki found the house that the old man had pointed to.

But no one answered the door when he knocked. When he opened it, he found that it was an abandoned house.

Iwasaki then went to a nearby house and learned that an old man named Yoshi did indeed live there, but he had passed away a few years earlier.

Could it be that he really encountered a ghost yesterday?
Iwasaki arrived at the cemetery with doubts and found the graves of Banto's parents. He noticed that the box that had been placed there yesterday was gone, replaced by a katana.

【Breaking Fire Pills】

Iwasaki remembered that this was the weapon that Ban-dō's father used in the prologue.

Who left this here?
Judging from the situation, they probably took away the Six Jia Secret Blessing and left behind some belongings, as if they knew she would come back again.

Could it be that old man?

Regardless, this should be given to him.

I picked up the katana, drew it from its sheath, and it was in excellent condition.

Iwasaki wanted to know who the old man was, but he had lost his roots in this ninja village, and asking around would only arouse suspicion.

"Don't wander into towns and cities with a katana like that, or you'll get arrested," the guarding ninja kindly warned.

"Thank you."

This was exactly what he planned: to take a route with fewer people.

However, these routes also attracted many caravans seeking to evade taxes, which led to the rise of bandits and robbers, making them quite dangerous.

The advantage is that there are few inspections and you don't need to worry about greasegue.

Next comes the game's actual difficulty level.

(End of this chapter)