Chapter 81

However, the young monk did not feel fear at this moment, because he had personally compared and confirmed it.

Compared to Kamiizumi Nobutsuna and Tsukahara Bokuden... Hebe is far more terrifying.

"I will enter the inner city of Kyoto, all the way to the Flower Palace in the deepest part." Hebe said calmly, holding the Tsuchinoko Snake A-Long. "The Ritual of the Full Moon will end here. You may now return to the surface."

"Go back to the ground!" Miss A-Long puffed out her cheeks and made a show of it.

The swordsmen looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yagyu Munenori spoke in a deep voice, "Great Deity, are you trying to insult us?"

"This is not an insult." Hebe looked at these founders of later sword styles. "You are the backbone of the sword system. If you all die here, the lineage will be cut off."

Throughout the thousand-year history of the Higashi, the creation and inheritance of the Kendo system has been an indispensable pillar.

Ito Ittosai let out his signature strange laugh, "Great Deity, you are wrong."

"As Chiyome said, then the Higashi is on the verge of destruction, even more dangerous than during the Heian period."

"In the past, you and the General protected this country. Now, it is our turn to draw our swords to protect the Higashi." Ittosai laughed. "If we don't even have the courage to draw our swords, how will the younger generation view us?"

"Could it be that the founder of our school was such a scoundrel who abandoned his father, his ruler, his country, and his family?"

Ito Ittosai stroked the hilt of his sword, his eyes behind his glasses gradually sharpening. "If I were to encounter such a founder, I would probably be so ashamed and indignant that I would draw my sword and commit suicide."

Yagyu Munenori turned around more directly and looked at the crowd.

—All the remaining swordsmen in the entire Heavenly Capital are here.

Yagyu Munenori, dressed more like a general on the battlefield, spoke in a deep voice, "If anyone has any objections, they can speak up now."

Naturally, no one would object.

Rather, it would be more accurate to say that among the swordsmen who have survived tonight, who doesn't have a heart set on drawing their sword against an even stronger opponent?

"You may die in vain," Hebe said, staring at the group.

"To die for one's country is a worthy death." A man carrying a long sword on his back smiled and said, "Moreover, we have encountered an unprecedentedly powerful enemy. It's more like we've gained a lot."

Upon hearing Sasaki Kojiro's witty remark, the swordsmen burst into laughter.

Even the rigid Yagyu Munenori couldn't help but smile on his serious face.

Hebe woke up Hayashizaki Jinsuke and removed the sword energy from Miyamoto Musashi.

Miyamoto Musashi's first words were. "Tamamo-no-Mae, I've already figured out how to counter your swordsmanship!"

Hebe raised an eyebrow and ignored her.

After figuring out what was going on, Hayashizaki Jinsuke decisively decided to travel with the other swordsmen.

Mochizuki Chiyome leaped up and jumped onto the roof. "I am willing to lead the way for you."

Her tongue has grown back.

Hozoin Inshun picked up his gun and started walking forward, but Miss A-Long pressed his shoulder down with her tail.

"You're only eleven years old, what kind of battlefield is a child going to?" Tsuchinoko Snake glared.

The young monk stared wide-eyed, looking very aggrieved. "Why can't I go? Which of you here dares to say you can easily defeat me? Why can you die for honor, but I can't?"

Unexpectedly, Yagyu Munenori, who was at the very front of the group, stopped and said, "If you were my child, I wouldn't even let you come to the Ritual of the Full Moon. The Hōzōin Style is truly heartless in this matter."

The little monk looked at Hebe with a wronged expression, hoping she could say something.

But the fox demon simply patted his shoulder and said softly, "Stay, live on. Then tell the younger generation how their ancestor died a heroic and stirring death."

The young monk was struck dumb, and the fox spirit carried Miss A-Long away.

Under the moonlight, more than a dozen figures appeared with an indescribable sense of tragedy, yet also with an extremely free and easy demeanor.

Hebe walked at the front of the procession, watching the city walls gradually rise from the horizon.

"Minamoto no Raikō," Hebe murmured to herself, "Your teacher is coming to save you now."

124 City of Change, People of the Swarm; Shadow of the General, My Style Saint

The city walls stand at the edge of the horizon, their massive outline already visible from a great distance.

When the swordsmen arrived at the foot of the city wall, this unspoken shock became even more intense.

Standing beneath the city wall, the swordsmen realized that no matter which way they looked—up, down, left, or right—the wall offered virtually no end in sight. Especially the height; it was a sheer cliff so high that even flying up would be exhausting.

Vast, magnificent, boundless... these adjectives are all perfectly suited to describe this section of the city wall.

This heavenly Kyoto has long surpassed the other half on earth.

"The two sword saints entered from here," Mochizuki Chiyome, pointing.

Following her finger, everyone saw that a crack several meters long had been split open in the city wall, through which faint sunlight seeped out.

There was no road here, but the two sword saints cleaved a door open.

The swordsmen now wear Hebe's fox mark above their heads.

These markings have no extra power; they are simply meant to help Hebe sense their location.

In other words, the swordsmen risked their lives to explore the inner city of Kyoto for Hebe.

This was undoubtedly a sacrifice, but the swordsmen were already eager to make it happen.

Hebe carried little A-Long through a narrow passage that could only accommodate one person at a time. Sure enough, the moment she passed through the gap, everything around her turned upside down.

The swordsmen who had gathered around her were now all gone.

Inner Kyoto and Outer Kyoto are almost identical, but the most distinctive feature is that there are people there.

As the main battlefield of the Ritual of the Full Moon, Outer Kyoto was actually only occupied by the invited swordsmen, making it a veritable ghost town.

Inside the city, the common people seemed completely unaffected, some traveling together, others drinking and making merry, some performing in the streets, and others watching rare animals fight—a scene of prosperity and harmony.

Before Hebe could even sense the lost swordsmen through the mark, the commoners turned around, their eyes wide, their brows furrowed, and exaggerated lines appeared on their foreheads. At the same time, the corners of their mouths turned up, revealing a chilling smile.

"Oh dear! Oh dear!"

The civilians laughed and clapped their hands, neither attacking nor blocking Hebe's path.

They simply stood in their positions, all looking the same, and laughed in unison, "You've come!"

These commoners' faces were covered in fine, dense scales and markings, and when they opened their mouths, there was no tongue, but rather a thin, folded moth. Its body was covered in yellow, red, and brown colors, and its two wet wings were pure white with nauseating, dizzying patterns.

As they speak, the Eyeless Moth that live in their mouths raise their heads high, their limbs, deeply embedded in their mouths, pull out and wave in the air.

If Hebe hadn't stopped Mochizuki Chiyome in time, and she had decisively bit off her tongue and spat it out, Mochizuki Chiyome would have ended up like these commoners.

They are already "Eris".

There is no doubt that the general's condition is worse Hebe had imagined.

"That's disgusting..."

Almost all the sword masters had similar thoughts in their minds.

The smile on Ito Ittosai's face vanished completely. He silently drew his sword and precisely severed the heads of the infected.

He didn't seem like he was killing someone; he was more like he was performing a delicate surgery.

Speed and precision are the hallmarks of the "one-cut style".

But as the killing continued, Ito Ittosai sensed something was amiss.

He was clearly moving forward, so why is he still stuck in the same place after going around in circles?

Thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, Ito Ittosai roared from his chest, "This city is alive!"

As if a switch had been flipped, the moment he uttered those words, the numb, smiling civilians around him suddenly seemed to come "alive."

They all picked up the weapons at hand and attacked Ito Ittosai —they were just wooden sticks and pitchforks, but the pressure they brought on the latter suddenly increased.

The streets and alleys in the distance began to turn.

Most of the swordsmen were caught in a fierce battle due to the sheer number of people they faced and the rapidly changing terrain.

However, for Miyamoto Musashi, who had already mastered the Miyamoto Musashi of swordsmanship, and Sasaki Kojiro, the number of people was actually meaningless.

Therefore, they successfully broke through the encirclement and reunited.

However.

At the same time.

At the end of the long street, it seemed as if thousands of low murmurs rose up at the same time.

Lightning bolts rained down from the clouds, striking the two sword saints nearby without any discernible pattern.

A soft sound of swords being drawn came from beside Musashi and Kojiro, even though the two sword saints already had their swords in their hands.

They began to use their sword intent.

"As expected, this isn't over yet. They can't just let us storm straight from the inner city to the Flower Palace like this. And then..." Kojiro, who sounded exactly like a farmer, said, "Who's showing up this time?"

"I guess it's Ashiya Dōman," Miyamoto Musashi said. "It could also be Ashiya Dōman who looks like a shogun."

Kojiro nodded, seemingly unsurprised. The distant sword light floated around him like a swallow flying freely in the clouds and water.

"I guessed so," he said.

After a fierce battle, both sword saints were exhausted. However, as sword saints, their "sword intent" remained intact. Since it was possible that Ashiya Dōman, or Ashiya Dōman in person, they would simply treat each other with the courtesy due to swordsmen.

—We certainly can't win a war, but the outcome is the same regardless of whether we win or lose. There is still a huge difference between dying with dignity and dying without dignity.

The latter would never be the choice of any swordsman, and naturally, it would not be considered by either of the two sword saints.

In fact, even if they were full of sword intent and in good physical condition, they would make the same choice: they would also believe that they could not win... and they would also believe that they should fight fairly and squarely.

This is not because they lack confidence in their swordsmanship; on the contrary, being able to duel with a god-like powerhouse as mere swordsmen is something to be proud of.

The buzzing gradually subsided.

The crowd dispersed like sand on the sea, and from among them emerged a general with gleaming eyes.

"No, it's not Ashiya Dōman." Miyamoto Musashi frowned slightly.

"But it's not the General either." Kojiro concluded. "It seems that our General is not simply meditating. She must be constantly fighting against something within the Flower Palace ... This is the 'Shadow of Self' that the General severed."

They met her.

Instead of wearing the deep purple ceremonial robes symbolizing Imperial Monarch, she was clad in armor. Feathers, a symbol of the "samurai" class, extended upwards from either side of her ears, while the katana in her hand resembled a scepter of rule rather than a weapon of slaughter.

This seemingly contradictory pairing put pressure on the two sword saints while also revealing their weakness.

Now that they've been identified as enemies, there's no need to hold back any longer.

Kojiro drew his sword first.

His swordsmanship was not refined; in fact, it could be described as brutal and merciless.

That is not the "Genryū" inherited from Kanemaki Jisai and Tomita Seigen, but "My Style".

125 Copy and Paste vs. Forceful Deletion

Kojiro's sword is extremely long; it can be said that it is a weapon whose length is comparable even to that of the Tonbokiri.

However, its quality was too mediocre, and it would be damaged if it collided with any precious sword, let alone the legendary divine weapon in the general's hands, which was said to have been forged by a master craftsman and sublimated in battle.

Therefore, he had no intention of letting his sword come into contact with the katana in the general's hand—even if it was just an old shadow cut off by the real general.

Kojiro's sword suddenly became clear and bright, like a crystal that could reflect a variety of colors, and it did indeed become a mirror.

The second, the third... and countless sword lights appeared at impossible angles, moving like star trails, locking onto Kojiro's target.

As soon as Kojiro swings his real sword, the sword light will sweep up the shogun's shadow like a whirlpool in the sea.

Kojiro wasn't always "Sasaki Kojiro".

As a farmer who tills the land, he has no surname at all; therefore, when he was given the name "Sasaki Kojiro", Kojiro did not object.

Wow, even surnames can be picked up... That's probably what Kojiro was thinking back then.