I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Perhaps the eight hundred nuns were based on real people, and there was indeed a very long-lived nun, but she was just an ordinary person.

She may have just lived a long life, perhaps eighty or ninety years old, or even a hundred years old, which gives people the illusion that "she will not die".

Due to backwardness in medical care and diet, the average lifespan in ancient Japan was not high, only twenty or thirty years.

That's why there's the saying "life is fifty years," which suggests that a normal person can only live to be fifty.

For this reason, coupled with ignorant thinking, people generally regard elderly people who have lived to be eighty or ninety years old as gods.

The nun had lived since he was a child, for several generations, and had never died. Therefore, he believed that she was a "divine person" with divine power who would never die.

As the story spread by word of mouth, it became increasingly outlandish, eventually evolving into the "Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis" that is now widely known.

After Katsura Kogoro revealed that he knew Yaobikuni, he immediately switched to a mocking tone:

"Shuten-dōji, you're not trying to tell me that Yaobikuni really existed, and that she was an 'immortal' who never ages or dies."

"..."

Shuten-dōji did not speak immediately.

He curled the corners of his mouth into a meaningful smile.

Katsura Kogoro noticed his strange facial expression and was taken aback.

"...Could it be that I was right?"

Shuten-dōji laughed heartily:

"That's right, exactly!"

“‘Eight Hundred Bhikkhuni’ is indeed a real person.”

"She is indeed an 'immortal' who has lived for over eight hundred years!"

"How exactly did Yaobikuni obtain the power of immortality is now impossible to ascertain."

"Maybe she really did eat a fish from another world."

"In short, she is a genuine 'immortal'!"

At this point, Shuten-dōji held up three fingers.

“‘Undead’ have three characteristics.”

"Firstly, youth will last forever, and appearance will remain unchanged."

"Secondly, physical functions far exceed the limits of ordinary people."

"Thirdly, and most terrifyingly, is its extremely frightening regenerative ability."

"No matter how terrible the injury she suffers, even if her head is cut off or her heart is pierced, she will not die, and she can recover completely from even the most severe injuries."

"In short, nothing in this mortal world, including time itself, can kill her!"

"What a pity... 'Immortality' and 'loneliness' are inseparable twins."

"Familiar faces turn to dust, familiar landscapes become unfamiliar, yet one remains unchanged... The loneliness one feels is something we mortals can never imagine."

"Gradually, Yaobikuni grew tired of 'living'."

"Although mortal things cannot kill the 'undead,' the 'undead' can kill themselves."

"She hid in a secluded, remote mountain cave and then ended her life in some unknown way."

"Although Yaobikuni committed suicide, her body was affected by the power of immortality and will never decay."

"Logically speaking, her body and immortality should have been buried by time and she should have left this world forever."

"However... about 70 years ago, a group of people learned of the existence of the 'Undead' by chance and began to covet their power."

"And this group of people are the remnants of the Toyotomi family."

Shuten-dōji paused, cleared his throat, and was about to continue speaking when Katsura Kogoro stopped him.

"Stop, stop for a second!"

Katsura Kogoro massaged his temples with one hand and made a "pause" gesture with the other.

From the moment he started, his brain was working at high speed, overwhelmed, and almost crashed.

First there was the "immortal," then the nun Yaobikuni, and now a remnant of the Toyotomi clan has emerged...

The remnants of the Toyotomi clan—this was a widely circulated urban legend during the Edo period.

Two hundred and sixty years ago, Tokugawa Ieyasu launched two battles of Osaka (the Siege of Osaka in Winter and the Siege of Osaka in Summer), completely annihilating the Toyotomi family, forcing Toyotomi Hideyori, the head of the Toyotomi family, to commit suicide, and even the magnificent Osaka Castle was reduced to ashes.

Toyotomi Hideyori had a son named Toyotomi Kunimatsu, who was only 8 years old when the Toyotomi family was destroyed.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was determined to eliminate the Toyotomi family, so naturally he would not spare any of the Toyotomi family's bloodline.

After the Toyotomi clan's defeat in the Siege of Osaka, Toyotomi Kunimatsu and his wet nurse were beheaded at Rokujo Kawara in Kyoto and later buried at Shiganji Temple in Kyoto—this is the "orthodox content" written in history books.

There are completely different accounts among the people regarding the whereabouts of Toyotomi Kunimatsu.

One of them is that the person who died at Rokujogahara was his shadow warrior. His real body successfully escaped to the Satsuma Domain and became the ancestor of the Kinoshita family, a branch family of the Hijikata Domain in Bungo Province, and the founder of the Kinoshita family.

As for the second one... it's much more mysterious—a group of loyal ninjas risked their lives to rescue Toyotomi Kunimatsu from the burning Osaka Castle, and the bloodline of the Toyotomi family thus spread among the common people.

No matter how the Tokugawa family tries to cover it up, they cannot change the fact that they bullied the orphaned widow and her son (Toyotomi Hideyori and Chacha) and usurped the throne from their lord as subjects.

In order to overthrow the disloyal and unfilial vassals and reclaim the land that rightfully belonged to the Toyotomi family, the remnants of the Toyotomi family have never forgotten their hatred for the Tokugawa family. They have been secretly accumulating strength, ready to overthrow the Edo Shogunate and restore the Toyotomi dynasty.

Katsura Kogoro had heard far too many urban legends like this.

Seven hundred years ago, after the Genpei War, when the Minamoto clan destroyed the Taira clan, rumors circulated that the Taira clan had not ended and that their descendants were accumulating strength in an attempt to reclaim the land.

Five hundred years ago, during the chaos of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, after the Northern Dynasty annexed the Southern Dynasty, there were rumors that the remnants of the Southern Dynasty had not given up and were always ready to eliminate the Northern puppets and rebuild the Southern Dynasty's legitimacy.

Katsura Kogoro has always held a contemptuous attitude towards this kind of old story of "remnants of the regime making a comeback".

Shuten-dōji saw through Katsura Kogoro's doubts and said calmly:

"You may not believe it, but these are all true."

"The remnants of the Toyotomi family are indeed living among the common people."

"They did indeed see 'reclaiming the world' as their goal, and they really worked hard for it, achieving remarkable results."

"Without territory and the support of the people, it is utterly absurd to talk about rebuilding the Toyotomi Empire."

"Even if they spent ten lifetimes, they would never be able to shake the rule of the Tokugawa family."

"So they set their sights on 'extraordinary power,' namely, the power of immortality."

"They went to great lengths to find the body of the eight hundred nuns, and in the end they actually found it."

"In order to study and control the power of immortality, they gathered a large number of highly skilled medical scientists and pharmacists, and using the corpses of the eight hundred nuns as materials, they successfully developed a drug containing the 'power of immortality' that could turn the user into a monster."

"With such terrifying power in hand... 'Destroying the Tokugawa family and rebuilding the Toyotomi dynasty' is no longer an unattainable dream."

"What a pity...they ran into Ogata Ittosai."

"As it turns out, 'humor' really is an important underlying element of history."

"When the remnants of Toyotomi were only one step away from success, Ogata Ittosai suddenly appeared."

"It was as if Heaven had specially sent him to deal with the remnants of Toyotomi's faction."

I'll leave out the specific reasons and details for now, and I'll tell you about them later when I have the chance.

"Simply put, Ogata Ittosai and the Toyotomi family became mortal enemies."

"Ogata Ittosai truly lives up to his reputation as the eternal sword saint who 'builds an army all by himself'."

"Even the remnants of Toyotomi, who possessed immortality, were no match for his sword."

"And so, Ogata Ittosai defeated the remnants of Toyotomi's forces."

"It must be said that the resilience of the Toyotomi remnants is quite tenacious."

“Under Ogata Ittosai’s relentless pursuit, they held on for a long time—until they finally perished 60 years ago.”

"However, although the remnants of Toyotomi have completely faded into the dust of history, the 'research team' they cultivated to master the power of immortality has not been completely wiped out."

"Twenty years ago, by sheer chance, we met an old doctor who had served the remnants of Toyotomi's faction."

"This old doctor had absolutely no interest in the so-called 'reconstruction of the Toyotomi regime'."

"He was a pure scholar, single-mindedly devoted to his studies."

"The reason he served the remnants of Toyotomi was entirely for the purpose of researching the power of immortality."

"With his outstanding talent, he successfully rose to become one of the core researchers of the power of immortality, and thus mastered many secrets."

Even after Toyotomi Yoshimi died, he did not give up his research on the power of immortality.

"It was thanks to his explanation that we learned about the existence of the 'power of immortality' and, in turn, about the secret of Ogata Ittosai."

"According to him, Ogata Ittosai was no ordinary man."

"The power of immortality is a violent force that transcends the laws of the world."

"Those who allow the power of immortality to invade their bodies all die suddenly without exception."

"The drug developed by the remnants of Toyotomi that turns people into monsters contains only a tiny bit of immortality."

"Even so, many people still die tragically because they cannot adapt to this tiny bit of immortality."

"Due to the influence of a certain event—the specific event is now difficult to verify—Ogata Ittosai was corrupted by an extremely high concentration of immortal power."

"Logically speaking, he should have died suddenly."

"But with his astonishing physique and unwavering perseverance, he successfully subdued the immortal power within him, merging it into himself and becoming a non-human being like Yaobikuni!"

Upon hearing this, Katsura Kogoro could no longer contain his shock, and his facial expression underwent a remarkable change.

After a while, finally calming down, he said softly with a strange expression:

"So, according to you... Ogata Ittosai, like Yaobikuni, has become immortal?"

Not only is Ogata Ittosai still alive, but he also retains his youthful appearance and remains at his peak... Thinking of this, Katsura Kogoro couldn't help but swallow.

However, Shuten-dōji shrugged and shook his head.

"No, that's not it."

"The immortal power that invaded its body was incomplete to begin with."