Yashiro the Blind

"Yes... what's wrong?"

“But his movements don’t feel like those of the Iga style.” Yashiro frowned, thought for a while, and finally concluded, “It’s probably because his skill level is too low.”

"Forehead……"

Fortunately, Hikogoro himself wasn't present; otherwise, hearing such a harsh assessment would have brought him to tears. However, by now, Tenji Buru finally understood why the girl had suddenly erupted: "You were...testing my strength?"

"Yes, words are no proof," the girl replied matter-of-factly.

"There's no need for that..." Wu Liu wanted to complain, but reason told him that complaining or criticizing would be meaningless to the person in front of him.

Not long ago, when Jiro talked about his first encounter with this little girl, he was still somewhat skeptical. Even though he already knew that she was Tenfu Goro's daughter and possessed extraordinary martial arts skills at such a young age, he couldn't help but have doubts when he actually saw her thin and weak appearance.

In particular, he had actually met Mishima Doppo in person. Knowing that he was no match for him in terms of strength, Tenji Buru turned his hopes to Jiro or Nankei. If it were one of them, they would probably have a way to deal with this hot-tempered ronin.

Who would have thought that the one who would ultimately kill Mishima Doppo would be a blind boy of only fifteen years old.

Even worse, it wasn't a mutually destructive outcome. He looked the figure in front of him up and down, from head to toe, but couldn't find a single trace of injury. In other words, in the battle a few days ago, Mishima Doppo hadn't managed to injure his opponent until his death.

Even though Tian Fengliu was known for his unpredictable and divine abilities, this record was still too frightening. In his original estimation, he could probably only last less than ten moves against his opponent. But just now, in those two quick and swift exchanges, not only was his chest stabbed, but his eyes were almost gouged out.

If Mishima Doppo is a ferocious beast with high killing intent, clearly not someone to be trifled with, then this girl named Yashiro is the other extreme.

With great difficulty suppressing the tremor in his heart, he swallowed hard and looked at Yashiro deep in thought, looking extremely conflicted. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "What...are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about something."

Realizing she had just said something pointless, the girl paused and added, "You may not know this, but although both Iga and Koga are famous for their ninjutsu, their customs are quite different—the fifty-three families of Koga are equal, exchange goods and resources, and there is not a strict distinction between them."

"The Iga clan, led by the three Jonin families of Hattori, Momochi, and Fujibayashi, has strict rules regarding the transmission of ninjutsu. Momochi Tanba, who rules southern Iga, is particularly strict about this. Even his own children are not allowed to be taught ninjutsu without his permission... let alone privately passing on ninjutsu to people outside of Iga. This is a major taboo, and once exposed, one will inevitably be killed."

"What…" Realizing what the girl meant, Tenji Muryu was suddenly stunned. "You mean, the reason Lord Tenfu died was because… he taught us Iga ninjutsu?"

"It's just a guess for now... but there are still some things that don't make sense."

Yashiro shook his head. "If Father was really killed for breaking the rules by secretly teaching ninjutsu, then logically speaking, our family who stayed in Iga would not have escaped either. Whether we kill him as a warning to others or use him as a hostage to force Father to submit, it would be a reasonable decision... And you too. If the matter of secretly learning ninjutsu is exposed, you will also be hunted down by Momochi Tanba."

In fact, until Tenfu Goro returned home covered in injuries, she, her brother, sister, and mother continued their peaceful lives as always, completely unaware of the impending storm. Now, when the matter is mentioned, Tenji Buru looks completely bewildered, clearly having never encountered Iga ninjas before.

In her understanding, Momochi Tanba was neither soft-hearted nor one who would leave a trail of enemies unpunished. The fact that he hadn't attacked the Tenjibu-ryu group of "petty thieves" who were secretly learning Iga ninjutsu meant either he couldn't act for some reason, or he simply didn't know about it. So, who was responsible for Tenfu Goro's death, and why?

The girl had been reluctant to think about this issue in detail because she had too little information and too many mysteries. The more she delved into it, the more tangled it seemed. However, the shadow of this matter had already fallen upon her. Given her status, she certainly couldn't bury her head in the sand. It would be better to take the initiative, find the center of the mess, and cut it off with a single sword, so as not to be constantly targeted by others.

"If Lord Tianfeng was truly murdered because of us—"

As she silently pondered this, a sudden aura drew near. Tianzhi Wuliu charged forward with tremendous force, his hands braced on the ground, his eyes gleaming as he stared at her—well, she guessed it was his eyes—and said spiritedly, "If you need any help, just ask. We will spare no effort, no matter who the enemy is, to help you avenge Lord Tianfeng!"

"...Thank you so much?"

This enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming for Yashiro, so she moved back a little to create some distance between herself and the young man. He seemed to realize what was happening and hurriedly retreated back to his original position, raising his hand to tug at his half-open collar.

"Don't worry, there's no need to cover it up, I didn't see anything."

"That's good... Huh?" Tenji Muryu blinked, feeling like something was off.

But Yashiro had already stood up: "You seem to be in pretty good shape, so I won't stay any longer... Go see Hatsume as soon as possible, so she can put her mind at ease."

"oh oh……"

"Also, it's not good for your health to be wrapped up too tightly there, so you can loosen it up a bit."

"What do you mean by 'wrapped up too tightly'? What are you talking about—"

Hearing the urgent voice trying to explain behind her, the girl, who had already placed her hand on the door, turned around, her face full of confusion: "Of course I'm talking about the bandage on your arm, what else?"

"..."

The sound suddenly fell silent.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, she slammed the door open, walked out, and then closed it again, leaving a large shadow behind her. As she walked out, she muttered to herself, "So that's how it is... As expected, this kind of thing happens in this day and age... No wonder, no wonder."

She moved her fingers slightly, seemingly recalling the unexpected feeling she had just experienced. After a while, Yashiro nodded thoughtfully.

Soft...

……

The little incident was quickly forgotten. Every family has its own troubles, and she was unwilling to pry unless absolutely necessary, especially since she hadn't even finished dealing with her own problems yet.

I have no idea what kind of trouble her cheapskate father got into. He died, and now this mess has spread... He was secretly teaching ninjutsu to outsiders, and then he inexplicably became a notorious bandit, stealing a bunch of treasures that I don't know where he's hiding...

Wait, the treasure, which is money, and the support from outside Iga... could it be...?

As he pondered, he tapped his cane on the ground as he walked, but Yashiro's brows gradually furrowed.

It was around morning, the weather was fine and sunny, and the sound of children reading aloud could be heard from not far away.

Today it seemed to be Jiro's turn to give a lecture. His gentle and pleasant voice could be heard from time to time, either correcting someone's mispronunciation or encouraging and praising others. Yashiro strolled along, past the corridor, into the courtyard, and walked towards a more secluded corner.

A somewhat vague thought welled up from the bottom of her heart, becoming clearer and clearer. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, flicked the end of her cane, and struck the trunk of a tree next to her.

It didn't take much force, but the whole tree shook violently. Amidst the falling leaves, a figure, headfirst and feet up, hooked on a branch, suddenly fell down, swaying precariously like a bat, with a pair of cloudy old eyes staring straight at the girl.

The scene was truly terrifying, but unfortunately, the only audience member present destined it to be a futile exercise.

"I thought you would have arrived earlier. What happened? Did you twist your back on the way?" Having already smelled the signature tobacco scent, the girl was not surprised by Kato Danzo's appearance.

It should be noted that although tobacco has been brought to this country by Western missionaries and merchants, it has not yet become widespread. For the time being, it is still a luxury that only a few wealthy merchants and famous people can afford. Of course, it is obvious that the other party did not honestly spend money to buy tobacco.

Maybe even the pipe was "borrowed".

"Hehe, it's like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a kind heart."

Kato Danzo chuckled a few times, maintaining his strange posture of hanging upside down from a southeast branch, his body swaying. A metal pipe still dangled from his mouth, and as he grinned, smoke leaked from between his bright yellow teeth. "This old man has found out some interesting things. I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, so I made a special trip to Suruga to confirm it before coming to share it with you. You brat, not only are you not grateful, but you also have the audacity to speak ill of me. It's truly heartbreaking."

"Something interesting?"

"Stand still first, or I'm afraid the next thing I say will scare you so much you'll tumble over."

"If you keep me in suspense any longer, I'll hit you on the head with my cane." Yashiro showed no mercy.

The old man rolled his eyes, held his pipe in the back of his hand, and with a "whoosh," actually blew a large puff of smoke into the girl's face. Then, he swung his body and flipped onto a tree, dodging the menacing blow that followed.

"Killing, killing!"

"I kill you--"

Fanning herself incessantly in front of her, Yashiro coughed repeatedly, seething with anger, ready to knock the other person down from the tree like a date. However, before she could make a move, Kato Danzo, hanging from the treetop, suddenly straightened his expression: "These people are related to Jibu Daisuke."

The girl's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately stopped what she was doing.

Jibu Daisuke refers to Imagawa Yoshimoto, who now controls the three provinces of Mikawa, Tōtōmi, and Suruga and is known as the greatest archer of the Tōkaidō.

Although in many people's minds, the most famous thing about this Tokaido daimyo is probably that he was Oda Nobunaga's stepping stone and experience pack at Okehazama, that surprise attack was actually a combination of various coincidences, a stroke of luck from heaven, and a miracle that is hard to replicate. It is difficult to use this as a standard to judge his posthumous fame.

It's obvious that a Sengoku hero who could fight against the two major powers of Takeda and Hojo for a long time, subdue Matsudaira of Mikawa, and defeat Oda of Owari could not possibly be the useless, comical fat man in later works.

Moreover, there are still six years until Okehazama. Even if everything goes according to the original historical trajectory, for the lone young girl, this daimyo of the East Blue is like an elephant compared to a mouse during these six years...

But she immediately realized something: these people were mainly targeting the Tenji siblings. According to Mishima Doppo, their main target was also the stolen goods that her father and the other two had hidden somewhere... If they were really acting on the orders of Imagawa Yoshimoto, why would they go to such lengths and roundabout ways?

Seeing the girl's expression, Kato Danzo knew she had already figured it out. He curled his lip, feeling bored, but still continued, "Alright, alright, to put it bluntly, all I found out was that this rabble was gathered up by someone to do things under the orders of a certain lord in Sunpu Castle. I don't know who it is, but their status should be quite high."

This makes sense.

The difference between giving instructions directly to Imagawa Yoshimoto and giving instructions directly to his subordinates is like night and day.

To put it bluntly, although she has only met two of them so far, if we remove Mishima Doppo as an outsider, the guy who was kidnapped by Kato Danzo doesn't seem like a big shot at all. Moreover, the fact that Hikogoro and the others could fight them to a standstill suggests that their employers can't be that powerful either... right?

"Anything else? This news isn't exactly a small matter, but it probably doesn't qualify as 'interesting' in your opinion, does it?"

Based on past experience, Yashiro knew that the "interesting" Kato Danzo mentioned often meant ten or even nine points of trouble, but even though she thought she had made enough mental preparations, she was still surprised when the other party actually spoke.

"Of course, the old man made a special trip to Suruga to confirm the identity of someone."

"You mean... the one who gathered this group of guys, trying to capture the Tianzhi siblings and find out where the treasure is?"

“That’s right, and you’ll never guess this person’s name.” Kato Danzo sat on a tree branch, puffing on his pipe. His words were a little unclear, as if he had a mouthful of phlegm stuck in his throat. Sunlight shone through the leaves above him.

"……who is it?"

Amidst the flickering light and shadow, Yashiro seemed to have some kind of premonition and asked a question.

The old man was silent for a moment.

"Tianfeng Goro."

The name came into view amidst a cloud of choking smoke.

……

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A New Journey

Rinzai-ji Temple in Suruga Province.

This temple was originally named Zentoku-in, and it was built by Imagawa Yoshichika specifically for his son Yoshimoto to become a monk. Later, after Yoshimoto returned to secular life and succeeded as head of the family, he buried his father's remains here and renamed it Rinzai-ji. The current abbot of this temple is Taigen Sessai, Yoshimoto's most trusted advisor, mentor, and friend.

Among Imagawa's retainers, no one could surpass him in status—the samurai were wholeheartedly devoted to Zen Master Sessai, while the common people called him the "Lord of Suruga," praising him and saying that as long as Zen Master Sessai was still alive, the Imagawa family would be as secure as Mount Tai.

But in recent years, this highly respected Zen master seems to have appeared in public less and less.

"Cough...cough..."

This is a newly built secluded cottage. Since the end of last year, Xuezhai has moved out of his original residence and lived in seclusion here alone. Apart from his disciple Zhuqiandai and the young servant boy, he rarely sees anyone else. But now the house is empty, with only a slightly hunched figure sitting behind the screen.

A low cough was heard.

"This monk's body... haha, it's getting worse and worse." He laughed weakly, seemingly talking to himself. "Perhaps my time is coming to an end, and the many spirits I killed in the past are eager to drag me to hell to suffer."

"..."

The doors and windows of the small house were tightly closed, but a warm fire burned in the stove, even though it was early spring. Even so, Zen Master Xuezhai was still wearing several layers of clothing and covered with a snow-white cotton quilt. His deep-set eyes glanced at a corner of the room as if by chance.

There was only shadow there.

"I heard... Mishima Doppo is dead? It's not surprising that a lone beast seeking death would die at any time. It's a pity I couldn't use him to lure out the information I wanted."

He sighed.

"Suruga, Tōtōmi, and Mikawa... Of these three territories under your control, Suruga is the foundation of Imagawa's power. As for Mikawa, as long as Takechiyo remains loyal, Matsudaira's retainers won't do anything rash. Only Tōtōmi... Asahina Yasunori and his son Yasutomo are utterly loyal. Amano may have rebellious intentions, but his abilities are limited, so he's not a threat. As for Ii-dani..."

"..."

"You know, I've been having this vague feeling lately... The world has been in chaos for almost a hundred years. If I think about it, the person who can unify the world again and restore order should be appearing soon. But when I think about it, I don't know who it could be. Saito, Takeda, Hojo, Miyoshi... Is it Nagao from the north, or Mori from the west? Both are possible, but neither quite quite quite right..."

"Our lord was originally one of the possible candidates, but alas, his ambitions lay elsewhere. An eagle spreading its wings can certainly shelter a region, but to truly protect the world, only a phoenix can do it. As for Ryujinmaru... well, let's not talk about it." Xuezhai said, his tone full of regret.

Ryujinmaru was the childhood name of Yoshimoto's eldest son. He had come of age two years ago and was given the name Yoshimaru. However, as someone who had watched him grow up, the Zen master preferred to call him by his childhood name.

It's difficult to achieve great things.

Xuezhai made this assessment of the other party: though that's true, he's not entirely useless. With proper training, he could become a qualified ruler who can maintain the status quo... Unfortunately, in this turbulent world, a mediocre ruler cannot protect this vast empire from the wolves surrounding him.

Since that's the case, we can only place our hopes on Lord Yoshimoto and try our best to build an impregnable career for him while he's still alive. In this way, perhaps we can still retain some power in the coming storm.

His efforts over the past few years to promote the tripartite alliance with Takeda Harunobu and Hojo Ujiyasu were precisely for this purpose: as long as the threats from Kai and Kanto were temporarily suppressed, he could then expand towards Owari with peace of mind...

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Another weak cough.

The Zen master's face was gaunt, but his eyes were bright and piercing: "In order to advance into Owari and other parts of Kinki, we must first eliminate the hidden dangers both inside and outside. I originally wanted to use Mishima Doppo to test the strength of the Ii family and see if Nankei Zuibu was really injured and unable to take action. If we could take this opportunity to get rid of this troublesome strategist, that would be even better."

"To put it another way, the daughter of Ii Naomori, who took a nun's name under a male guise, seems to be called Jiro-hoshi... There are also many rumors about her. If she is a problem, she needs to be eliminated as soon as possible, but we can't anger the Ii family. We need to weigh the pros and cons... It's a pity that after all the twists and turns, that ferocious beast was easily killed by an outsider... Speaking of which, I heard that the person who killed him was the orphan of Iga Tenfu who disappeared back then. Is that true?"

"That's true."

A response finally came from the shadows. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there was a figure dressed in black sitting cross-legged in the deep shadows, with his back straight as a spear. His face was also completely covered with a black cloth, with only his eyes showing.

"What a coincidence." Xuezhai smiled, then asked, "Do you think that orphan will become a threat to us?"

The man in black shook his head: "He's just a blind man who can't see, nothing to worry about."

"Since you put it that way, then there's no need to target her specifically." The Zen master smiled faintly again, his gaze drifting to the fire beside him. The flickering flames reflected in his eyes, adding a mysterious glint to his dark pupils.

"However... to be able to kill Mishima Doppo at such a young age, her strength should not be underestimated. If she doesn't come to Suruga, that's fine. But if she does come... Monk, first send someone over to test the waters and see if you can win her over. As long as the conditions aren't too outrageous, you can agree. If she really doesn't want to serve Imagawa, then I'll have to trouble you to go over there and kill her."

"..."

"How are things? Is there any difficulty?"

The man in black seemed to hesitate for a moment, but Xuezhai withdrew his gaze and quietly looked at him.

Finally, he answered, "No."

"So it's settled then?" the Zen master said with a smile.

"it is good."