I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

"...Shuten-dōji, I really don't understand."

While gazing at the distant front lines, Katsura Kogoro suddenly spoke up.

Shuten-dōji, with his hands behind his back, asked indifferently:

"Hmm? What's wrong with you?"

Katsura Kogoro countered directly with the question:

"Shuten-dōji, why don't you let Ōtakemaru participate in this battle?"

"You are the commander-in-chief of the legion, so you must stay at the main camp and not leave casually, in order to prevent uncontrollable variables from occurring—I can understand that."

"If Ōtakemaru were here, you could send him to support the front lines while you are stationed at the main camp."

"Although I don't know exactly how capable Ōtakemaru is, since he is recognized by you as the 'strongest fighting force,' he must be more than capable of dealing with the likes of Hijikata Toshizo."

"I really don't understand how your 'top combat force,' your strongest trump card, could be absent from such a crucial battle?"

What happened to "betting everything"?

"What happened to the promise to 'use all available resources to eradicate the party in this battle'?"

"If Ōtakemaru were here, we might be able to break through Hachiōji today."

Katsura Kogoro was very dissatisfied with Ōtakemaru's absence.

After successfully landing in Nobi, Yamata no Orochi and the Frenchman named Mael left on a steam warship.

Katsura Kogoro could understand their absence.

The Yamata no Orochi is ill and relies solely on medicine to prolong his life. If this sickly man were to travel with the army, he might hinder the war effort.

As for Mael, needless to say, he was a purely civil official, and it would be too much of a stretch to ask him to participate in the battle.

In contrast, Katsura Kogoro simply couldn't understand Ōtakemaru's absence!

When Yamata no Orochi and Mael left by boat, Ōtakemaru and his sister also left.

At that moment, Katsura Kogoro was greatly shocked, but he couldn't help but think darkly: Could it be that the Fazhu Party wants to preserve its strength?

They make grand pronouncements, saying things like "we will use all our strength to punish the party in this battle," but in reality, they are hiding their strongest forces!

We in Changzhou have really staked everything!

Katsura Kogoro grew angrier the more he thought about it, and finally couldn't help but question Shuten-dōji at that moment.

After hearing Katsura Kogoro's question, Shuten-dōji laughed heartily:

"Gui Jun, you've misunderstood!"

"Your understanding of Ōtakemaru's position and status within our Fazhu Party is slightly flawed."

"How should I put it..."

Shuten-dōji paused, as if deep in thought.

After a short while, he slowly said:

"Simply put, Ōtakemaru is a very special person."

"Although he is also a member of the Fazhu Party, he is different from us. He will not blindly obey the Yamata no Orochi."

Upon hearing this, Katsura Kogoro was taken aback:

"Isn't he the adopted son of Yamata no Orochi?"

"Even biological sons aren't necessarily obedient to their biological fathers, let alone adopted sons?"

Shuten-dōji left Katsura Kogoro speechless with just one sentence.

He continued:

“Ootakemaru was born deaf, so his ‘world’ is very different from our ‘world’.”

"To put it bluntly, his way of thinking is very different from that of ordinary people and cannot be measured by common sense."

"Anyway, I don't understand what he's thinking on a daily basis. Maybe only Lord Orochi and his sister can understand his thoughts."

"However, one thing I am certain of is that he has no interest in overthrowing the shogunate."

“Almost every cadre of the Fazhu Party—including myself—had a blood feud with the shogunate.”

"We are willing to pay any price to defeat the Edo Shogunate."

“But Ōtakemaru is different.”

"He has no hatred towards the shogunate."

"He has one particular characteristic: he never does anything he's not interested in."

"He will never get involved in anything that he is not interested in."

"Even when Lord Orochi and his sister personally begged him, he remained unmoved."

"Unfortunately, overthrowing the shogunate was one of the things he wasn't interested in."

Therefore, he naturally would not participate in this battle.

"So, it's not that we intentionally concealed our strength, but rather that we simply couldn't control him."

"This guy has always been a lazybones, wandering around aimlessly every day, living in his own world, I wonder what he's thinking."

"In my memory, the only mission he ever took on voluntarily was 'finding Ogata Hayase'."

Searching for Ogata Itsuki—a sudden, strange remark left Katsura Kogoro stunned.

"Ogata Hayanari? Is this the Ogata Hayanari I know?"

Shuten-dōji shrugged:

Is there another Ogata Hayanari in this world?

Is Ogata Hayate still alive?

"Of course he's still alive, he's an 'immortal'."

"...Huh?"

*******

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Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

P.S.: I bought "Night X Ward" which was just released on a certain steam platform, and I got so engrossed in it that I'm completely exhausted and unable to write... I'll drink more goji berries and try to recover my health as soon as possible! (Lapll.jpg)

Chapter 930 The Remnants of Toyotomi's Rebels: The Undead and the Power of Immortality [6200]

"Immortal..."

Katsura Kogoro gently chewed on the word while casting a meaningful glance at Shuten-dōji.

Shuten-dōji noticed his gaze and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What? Gui Jun, do you think I'm talking nonsense?"

Katsura Kogoro said calmly:

"Any normal person would think you're talking nonsense, right?"

"Is Ogata Hayate an 'immortal'?"

"Why don't you just say he's the reincarnation of Hachiman Daimyojin?"

In response to Katsura Kogoro's mockery, Shuten-dōji shrugged:

"No wonder you feel this way."

"In fact, when I learned the whole story, I was just as incredulous."

"Let me think...where should I begin?"

He fell silent, pondering to himself.

After a short while, he slowly spoke:

"...Katsura-kun, do you know about 'Yabikuni'?"

Katsura Kogoro answered without hesitation:

"Of course I know. She's a nun who lived to be eight hundred years old."

Yaobikuni – a famous Japanese folk tale.

Legend has it that long ago, in a village called Kohama in Wakasa Prefecture, a man named Takahashi who looked like a fisherman moved there.

One day, the man invited the villagers to his house for dinner. Some of them discovered that a fish with a human-like head was being cooked in his kitchen, and they were so frightened that they immediately told the others.

When the cooked fish was served to everyone, everyone knew what was going on and pretended to enjoy it, but in reality, no one dared to eat it.

One of them secretly hid the fish in his sleeve and took it home for his wife to eat.

It is said that eating a mermaid's wife will grant one the ability to "remain forever young".

No matter how much time passes, her appearance will not change in the slightest.

Later, this long-lived woman became a nun and was revered as "Eight Hundred Bhikkhuni" because of her youthful appearance and lifespan of over eight hundred years.

The name "Yabikuni" began to appear in Japanese literature from the 15th century onwards.

Aside from remote areas like Ezo and Kyushu, legends about it circulate in other regions.

There are many different versions of the story of Yaobikuni, the original version of which is no longer known, but the content of the story is largely the same.

Some say that the mermaid was actually a so-called otherworldly place that the man went to, which is the ocean that the Japanese have always revered, and brought back from there.

There are other explanations, such as the woman eating food offered by the Dragon God, or receiving an elixir of immortality from the Dragon God.

Regardless of the version or content, Katsura Kogoro has always had only one attitude towards these folk tales: scoffing at them.

He categorized "Yabikuni" as a fantasy like "Momotaro" and "Princess Kaguya"—only suitable as a bedtime story for children and not to be taken seriously.

Katsura Kogoro always believed that many stories become increasingly distorted in the process of being passed down, eventually deviating completely from their original form and turning into absurd legends.