Fujitora's Acquaintance

On the road not far away, several passersby suddenly stopped. The man in the lead turned around and looked at Fujitora: "I think I heard a very familiar voice... Is that you, Senior Brother Ichisho?"

"You..."

A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Fujitora's face. Although he could no longer see the other person's face, he could clearly hear that familiar voice and asked, "You are... Heihachiro?!"

"It really is you, Senior Brother Ikkō..." The man known as Heihachiro walked over.

Sengoku stopped chewing and asked, "Is this someone you know?"

Fujitora paused for a moment before replying, "You could say that... He and I both trained at our teacher's dojo. Back then, our teacher named us according to our age; I was the oldest, so I was [Ichi], and he was [Hachi]."

"Since you're fellow disciples," Sengoku looked at Fujitora and put away the half-eaten bag of senbei, "I can't see any close relationship between you two on your face."

"I don't remember ever saying he was my friend..."

Fujitora looked up in the direction the man was coming from. "He is my enemy."

"Oh..." Sengoku said, "It seems there's some story behind this."

"Senior Brother Yixiao, I never imagined that after so many years, we would meet again... Hehe, what happened to your eyes? I never thought someone could hurt your eyes..."

"Heihachiro, I never expected to run into you again..."

"Wait a moment."

Before Fujitora could finish speaking, the man called Heihachiro interrupted him, taking out a mask and slowly putting it on. "I abandoned the name Heihachiro a long time ago, so please call me by my other name... My name is Great Tengu."

Fujitora's expression turned grave. "You've even abandoned your own name... It seems you have no remorse what you did back then, the one who killed your mentor..."

The Great Tengu showed no emotion whatsoever. "This is merely my pursuit of the strongest path. If I cannot overcome the obstacle of my teacher, I will never improve, never learn to grow, and will forever live in his shadow."

The wind blew their robes, making them flutter loudly.

Seemingly lost in memories, Fujitora said, "Our master spared you out of consideration for our teacher-student relationship, yet you didn't hesitate to plunge the knife into his heart..."

"This proves that emotions are stumbling blocks on the path to strength. The teacher didn't see this, so he lost, and I became the victor."

"Is this what you've come to understand all these years...?"

"Yes, Issho-senpai, who left Wano Country after our teacher's death, probably doesn't know what happened to me all these years."

The Great Tengu calmly recounted, "After all, my teacher died by my hand, so I went into hiding, constantly fleeing from my vengeful fellow disciples. During this period of hiding, my swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds. Concepts I couldn't understand before gradually became clear. After several years of silence, I began searching for my former disciples, defeating them one by one and ending their unambitious lives. Each time I killed someone, my strength increased tangibly, and my swordsmanship became more integrated and fluid. However, I later stopped killing, because their deaths could no longer strengthen my swordsmanship, which had reached its bottleneck..."

"Besides my Koshiro, who fought me to a draw and seems to have left Wano Country, the only other senior brother I haven't fought is my senior brother Issho, who left the earliest. I suppose he must be even stronger now. If..." Great Tengu looked at Fujitora, his words abruptly ending.

Fujitora Great Tengu, "If you can kill me, you'll be able to break through the bottleneck in swordsmanship... Is that right?"

"That's right. For so many years, I've been thinking day and night about using your blood, Senior Brother Yixiao, to consecrate my swordsmanship, surpass my bottleneck, and become the strongest. Today, I'm finally able to achieve my wish." Great Tengu's tone became slightly excited.

Fujitora suddenly asked, "And then?"

The Great Tengu had never thought about this question before, and upon hearing it, he was taken aback and didn't know how to answer.

Fujitora said, "Even if you are strong, choosing to abandon your emotions makes you nothing more than a weakling... Just like this country, which shuts down things it dares not face out of fear, dreading the disruption of its existing order... Unable to confront its own heart, your swordsmanship is ultimately the path of the weak."

Upon hearing Fujitora deny everything he had done, Great Tengu flew into a rage. "You were only born a few years before me, what right do you have to lecture me! Enough with the nonsense, you're going to die right here today!"

"Perhaps you should also see the vastness of the sea..." Fujitora slowly placed his hand on the hilt of his Cane Sword, "If you still have the chance..."

Seeing this, Sengoku led the remaining civilian-clad naval soldiers to retreat, knowing that he could not interfere in this battle.

Without another word, Great Tengu and Fujitora moved together.

The next instant, the knives in their hands clashed violently!

North of Yamatai, near the main camp of the Genji clan at Peace-War Pass.

Genji sat in his chair, looking at the casualty reports compiled by specialists after the Battle of Yamatai, his expression growing increasingly grim.

The Battle of Yamatai has now entered its fourth day. With the help of Kozuki Oden, the outcome of this battle has spread like wildfire throughout Wano Country, shocking the entire nation.

The shogun Genji held the title of the highest samurai in Wano Country, was defeated by Kozuki Oden, who always kept a low profile.

More than the news itself, Genji was troubled by the loss of his troops. The highest-ranking Daimyo Asakura, had died in the Yamatai, and even his body was mixed in with the rabble and had probably been piled up and cremated long ago.

Among his sons were a few hot-blooded young men who, in a moment of impulsiveness, launched a night raid on the Kozuki Army single-handedly. After that, they disappeared without a trace, and their fate remains unknown.

Moreover, the Asakura suffered far greater military losses than other daimyo, which destined them to decline regardless of how the war unfolded.

Besides the Asakura clan, the Takeda and Shimazu also suffered heavy losses. The former's strongest warrior, [Wind, Fire, Mountain, Forest Four Generals], is now reduced to only Kaze and Rin. The latter's strongest warrior, [Shishoku Tenten], lost the Southern Guardian and the Northern Guardian. As for the surviving Western Guardian, Shimazu Nobukuma, he has been recovering from his injuries.

The average casualties of the five daimyo— Uesugi, Hojo, Yamamoto, Imagawa, and Mori— exceeded 30%.

It can be said that the Yamatai Genji suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Yamatai...

If it weren't for the Izumo Society's intervention at the last moment, giving him a chance to regroup, Kozuki Oden would likely have advanced triumphantly northwards, conquering Kyoto...

At this thought, Genji couldn't help but glance at Kaguya, who was wearing a white priestess robe.