I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

—Standing still...are you trying to figure out where I am?

--Ah! Innocent! If my position is so easy to distinguish, not so many people will become my defeated opponents!

Morimaru has also fought countless times in this kind of battle where he drags the enemy into the dark environment that is most beneficial to him, and then fights against him.

Morimaru had encountered many opponents who suddenly stood still in the dark like Ogata at this time.

According to Morimaru's experience - the opponents who do this are basically for meditation, to distinguish Morimaru's position by sound or smell.

And these were without exception: all failed.

Because of this, Mori Maru called Ogata innocent.

He is quite confident in the method of hiding his breath and the "silent steps" he has practiced so hard.

In his mind, he had imagined himself standing in front of Ogata, but Ogata still didn't know it, and was still trying to identify his position.

——This time... the enemy must be defeated with one blow!

Morimaru tightened his grip on the sword held high in the above posture.

From the above stance, he swings a powerful downward chop—this is the most suitable sword technique for a blind man like him, which Morimaru has researched since he became blind.

Because if you swing the knife horizontally, the knife is easily blocked by various obstacles on your side.

For example, if you swing a knife horizontally in the woods, the knife can easily be blocked by the trees around you.

But swinging the knife vertically, such as swinging the knife from top to bottom, or swinging the knife from bottom to top, is not easy to be blocked by obstacles.

If you are fighting with people in the wild, it is almost impossible for you to swing the knife vertically so that something will block the blade.

Only when fighting indoors, swinging a knife vertically may cut ceilings, wooden beams, etc.

But Morimaru had already checked the ceiling of the cabin before—it was high enough for him to swing his sword freely.

Compared with swinging the knife from the bottom up, it is naturally easier to swing the knife from the top down, and it is easier to deliver amazingly powerful slashes.

Therefore, it can be said that Morimaru's seemingly ordinary upper stance and vertical slashing contain a lot of wisdom, and it is undoubtedly the most suitable sword technique for a blind man like him.

Morimaru used his "silent steps" to approach Ogata bit by bit...

...

...

After confirming that his eyes were completely useless now, Okai closed his eyes and tried to use his ears to hear the sound and recognize Morimaru's position.

But apart from his own breathing, he couldn't hear anything.

After finding that his ears were not working, Ogata could only open his eyes helplessly.

——It would be great if I could know what he relies on to identify the location... Then I can try to interfere with his location identification, so that he can't find me either.

Since traveling to the Edo period, Ogata has basically been doing the two things of "fighting" and "healing" in a continuous cycle.

The extremely rich combat experience not only made Ogata's sword swing more and more fierce, but also gradually gave Ogata a big heart.

If other people were on the battlefield where Ogata was now, and found that the sight and hearing that they were used to usually didn't work, they would probably be so panicked that they couldn't even calm down.

But Ogata didn't even increase his heart rate much faster, calmly thinking about the strategy to defeat the enemy.

——As long as I can see it with my eyes, I can say anything...

The easiest and most direct way to defeat that blind man is to allow Ogata's eyes to see.

But there are only two ways to see things in such darkness.

The first method is to drag. It dragged on until Ogata's eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The second method is to create a light source.

Naturally, it was impossible for Morimaru to simply wait for Ogata's eyes to slowly adapt to the darkness.

Ogata dared to conclude that - it won't be long before Morimaru's attack, which is eager for a quick victory, is coming.

In such a situation where he didn't even know the enemy's position, Ogata couldn't guarantee that he could react in time and block the enemy's attack every time.

So now the most suitable method for Ogata to restore eyesight is to create a light source.

But the difficulty of implementing this method... can be said to be even more difficult than dragging one's eyes to adapt to the darkness.

After all, Ogata, who never smoked, did not carry anything that could ignite a fire.

——For the first time, I feel sorry for not being able to smoke...

— Is there anything else around here that could make a fire... eh?

After chanting the word "fire" in his mind, Ogata paused.

Then...

Ogata silently put Da Zizai back into the sheath.

...

...

Morimaru was listening to Ogata's voice all the time, confirming Ogata's position and movements.

After Ogata took Ozizai back into the sheath, Morimaru immediately heard the movement.

Morimaru frowned when he heard Ogata putting away a knife.

——What does he want to do...?

——As a dual swordsman, why do you put away a sword?

—Could it be that... is he planning some secret strategy...

——Forget it! No matter what he wants to do, what I have to do remains the same!

Morimaru, who silently raised his guard against Ogata to the extreme, continued to approach Ogata with unhurried and silent steps.

The distance between him and Ogata—only 7 steps left!

...

...

——That's right... How could I have forgotten it... Although the flames created by this thing can only last for a moment.

——Use that moment...to decide the outcome!

After retracting Ozizai into the sheath, Ogata suddenly put his free left hand into his bosom, and took out his flintlock - Meiran from his bosom.

Ogata pointed Umeran's muzzle up at the ceiling above his head.

boom!

Although Meiran can only hit a single shot, it is very powerful.

It is also because of its great power that the moment the bullet is ejected from the chamber, the flame from the muzzle of the gun is the largest and most dazzling.

The flames that bloomed from the muzzle of the gun were fleeting.

But at this moment, the fire light illuminated Ogata's face.

At the same time, it also illuminates... the "shadow" in front of Ogata is vague, but still barely recognizable as a human figure.

--there!

Before it was too late to slowly put Meiran into his arms, Ogata let go of his left hand and let Meiran fall freely, holding the big Shitian tightly with both hands, posing in the posture of "the lower right part of the body", his body was like a stick that was suddenly released Tighten the spring and "bounce" Mukomori Maru!

Sakakibara's one-sword style, Yun Jin Dragon's Tail!

--Oops! This guy is actually carrying a short gun!

Mori Maru's complexion changed drastically, and his entire face became bloodless.

He could already hear Ogata running towards him quickly.

Morimaru, realizing that he was inevitable, gritted his teeth and decided to go head-to-head with Ogata.

Morimaru's sword slashed vertically.

Ogata's sword cut horizontally.

The two passed by—

...

...

Although both eyes are blind, Morimaru's behavior occasionally still has the habit of when he was not blind.

Just like now - obviously he couldn't see anything with his eyes, but he subconsciously lowered his head and looked at his belly.

His belly was chopped off.

Ogata concluded that Morimaru was not wearing chain mail. After all, no matter how powerful a person is, it is impossible for him to be silent while wearing a rattling chain mail.

But just to be on the safe side, Ogata still added the power of luck to the knife just now.

Using a slashing attack blessed by luck to slash a person without any armor - the result can be imagined.

When passing by Morimaru, Ogata slid behind him from his right armpit holding the sword in the above stance.

The moment he passed by Morimaru, Ogata cut his Dashiten into Morimaru's belly, and while sliding behind Morimaru, the blade of the sword cut in from the belly and out from the back.

Like cutting a piece of paper, Ogata cut off most of Morimaru's waist with ease, and Morimaru's upper body and lower body were only connected by a little flesh.

And Morimaru's sword - one step behind Ogata's sword.

Ogata had already slashed at Morimaru, but Morimaru's sword was still waving in the air.

At this time, he was subconsciously "looking" at Mori Maru, who had only a waist and abdomen connected by flesh and blood, and was surprised to find that he couldn't feel any pain.

He just felt that his strength was passing away from his body at a rapid speed. In just one or two breaths, he lost the strength to hold the knife and stand up.

Unable to stand up again, his knees softened and he fell to his knees.

For some reason... Memories from 25 years ago emerged one by one in Morimaru's mind...

"Ah... together..."

...

...

Mori Marumoto is a not-so-low-status vassal of the Ichinoseki clan.

When he was young, he was appreciated for his superb swordsmanship, and was promoted by the feudal lord as his personal surname.

Not everyone is qualified to be the surname of the feudal lord, and Morimaru, who is lucky enough to be the surname of the feudal lord, has a bright future.

Morimaru has always been proud of being able to serve the feudal lord, and has been meticulously fulfilling his surname's job and serving the public seriously.

At the age of 16, Mori Maru successfully married a beautiful wife named Ahe.

A successful career, a promising future, a beautiful wife in the house, and a harmonious family—all these things Morimaru has are enough to envy others!

But all these happiness came to an abrupt end when Mori Maru was 17 years old.

One day in the year when Morimaru was 17 years old, he and the other surnames of the feudal lord went out hunting with the feudal lord.

But halfway to the hunting ground, they were attacked.

They were attacked by a peasant rebel army.

This peasant uprising army, who hated the exorbitant taxes and heavy labor and decided to revolt, ambushed the feudal lord on the only way to go hunting, trying to attack and kill the feudal lord.

Facing the insurgents pouring in from all directions, Morimaru and the rest of his companions fought desperately to escort the feudal lord to break through.

Morimaru's eyes were missing in this tragic breakout battle - after he suppressed an insurgent to the ground, this fearless insurgent raised his right hand suddenly, stretched out his index finger and middle finger to poke Mukomori Maru's eyes.

If Morimaru was in full bloom, avoiding such an attack would be nothing more than an easy task.

But at that time, Mori Maru was exhausted from fighting, so he couldn't escape the sneak attack.

His eyes were firmly stabbed, and blood flowed from his eye sockets, covering his entire face...

Under the hard work of Mori Maru and others, they successfully escorted the feudal lord out of the siege, and after returning to the city, Mori Maru was immediately carried away for treatment.

In the end, under the doctor's hard work, Mori Maru saved his life.

The only shortcoming is... the price paid was a bit heavy.

Morimaru's two eyeballs had been punctured. In order to avoid infection, the doctor could only dig out his 2 punctured eyeballs.

Since then, Mori Maru has become completely blind.

What Morimaru is most proud of is his swordsmanship.

Losing his eyes means that he will no longer be able to use swordsmanship. It is conceivable how much this will deal a blow to Morimaru.

At one point, Mori Maru was in pain and contemplated suicide.

But fortunately—the feudal lord was kind enough to allow Morimaru to "retire" early, and the salary was paid as usual.

The kindness of the feudal lord is like Morimaru's life-saving straw, making Mori Maru feel that his sacrifices are all worthwhile, and that he was right in trying to save the feudal lord.

But it's a pity... the kindness of the feudal lord quickly disappeared...

In the year following Morimaru's blindness, a severe grain harvest failure broke out in the Ichinoseki Domain.

Yiguan Fan was originally a small fan with no solid background.

This sudden crop failure brought Yiguanfan's finances to the brink of collapse.

In order to survive this crisis, Yiguanfan made two-handed preparations from the two aspects of "open source" and "reduction of expenditure".

First, borrow money and food from the giant businessmen in Osaka to "open source".

Then just find some reason to stop the salaries of some unimportant feudal vassals in the vassal state. Those vassals who cannot stop their salaries will have their salaries halved.

Morimaru is one of the feudal vassals whose salary has been suspended...

Morimaru, who is blind and has no other specialties except swordsmanship, naturally has no ability to work or make money.

The suspension of the salary means that the only source of income for their family is gone.

Mori Maru and his wife immediately fell into a predicament where they could only sit and eat...

Mori Maru also tried to make some money-making livelihood.

But what can the blind Morimaru do?

Three months after the salary was suspended, Morimaru's family had no money left, and nothing to sell.

Junjie, who had a bright future and was envied by everyone, has fallen so low that he can't even afford to eat after just over a year...

And the blow to Mori Maru is far more than that...

After Morimaru became a poor ghost whose salary was suspended, his beautiful wife Ahe also gradually changed her mind.

Until Mori Maru really fell into a predicament where he didn't even have enough food money for tomorrow, Ah He could no longer bear this kind of poor life, so he left Mori Maru.

Ah He did not return to her mother's house.

Instead, she was thrown into the arms of others—— into the arms of a potbellied businessman in the domain, and became the businessman's concubine.

It was not until after his wife left him that Morimaru knew that the businessman had taken a fancy to his wife for a long time.

Immediately after his salary was suspended, the businessman came to seduce Morimaru's wife frequently like a cat smelling fish.

The merchant's astonishing wealth was too tempting for Ahe who was living a poor life, so in the end——Ahe abandoned Morimaru.

His career was completely ruined, he became useless, and his wife abandoned him. That time was the darkest time in Morimaru's life.

During those days, Mori Maru kept asking himself "why".

Ask yourself why you got to where you are. Ask yourself if you are doing something wrong.

After being puzzled, what came to Morimaru's heart...was anger.

He hated the businessman who robbed his wife, hated his wife who would only share wealth with him, but was unwilling to share troubles with him.

This hatred turned into the driving force for Morimaru's revenge.

He wants revenge.

He wants to develop the "Blind Swordsmanship" for revenge!

Morimaru sold the ancestral home that his family had lived in for generations, in exchange for enough money to last him alone for a long time.

Then he lived alone in the deep mountains, where he practiced "blind swordsmanship". Only after a long period of time would I go down the mountain and use the money from selling my ancestral house to buy some food necessary for survival.

In order to practice the ability of "listening to the sound and distinguishing the position", he stood in the woods and swung his knife desperately.

He listened to the sound of falling leaves, and then swung his knife to chop them.

The huge power erupted from the resentment fully stimulated Morimaru's swordsmanship talent.

In only 3 years, Mori Maru developed a strong ear that could hear the sound of falling leaves clearly, and developed the "Blind Swordsmanship".

On the day when the "Blind Sword" was completed, Morimaru took his sword and broke into the house of the merchant who stole his wife...

Mori Maru killed everyone in that house.

The merchant, the merchant's servant, and... his wife.

Even though it was 25 years ago, Morimaru was concerned about Ah He's heart-piercing crying and begging for mercy the moment before he swung his knife at Ah He.

Morimaru thought that after killing the businessman and abandoning his wife, he would be very happy.

But the strange thing is...after the bloodbath of the businessman's house, Morimaru didn't feel happy at all...

There is a feeling... that I have mistaken the target of revenge...

And Morimaru didn't know why he felt this way.

Until now, Morimaru doesn't know why he had the feeling of "mistaking the target of revenge" when he killed his wife and the businessman... This question can be said to have been bothering Morimaru, and Morimaru has been unable to find it for a long time. to the answer to this question.

After the bloodbath washed the merchant's house, Mori Maru began his long escape with the mentality of "live as long as you can".

It wasn't until being taken in by "that lord" that he finally lived a stable life...

Morimaru feels very strange now... When his life was about to end, he thought of the wife who had brought him great pain.

He remembered that he had cut his wife in half—from the right shoulder, from the left belly, and cut her in half diagonally.

The way I look now... Is quite similar to the way my wife died... Both of my bodies were cut in half...

——It turns out that when the body suffers such a serious injury, doesn't it feel pain...

Morimaru gradually felt the need to sleep...

When he was about to fall asleep, Mori Maru pulled up the last bit of energy and said in his heart——

——Ahe...did you feel any pain when you were cut by me...?

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【Ding! Use Sakakibara Ichidou Ryuo to defeat the enemy]

[Gain 350 personal experience points, 300 experience points for swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ichidou", and 50 experience points for "Iga-ryu forbidden art\