Chapter 235: Surrounded and Desperate
The black-haired, red-eyed girl, or rather, Demon King Nobunaga, curled her lips into a successful arc. Her plan had been executed.
For this scheme, she had only informed Okada Izō, telling him to bring men and set up an ambush at the appointed time. She hadn't even told the lowest-ranking bandits the specific time the samurai would attack, only mentioning to their scouts to be wary of a night raid.
Thus, the bandits, who were once the unchallenged local tyrants of the mountain with no natural predators, wouldn't normally post any night watchmen. The ones arranged now were merely napping outside.
However, this level of preparedness was just right—not entirely undefended, but the lack of discipline among the bandits naturally meant some would slack off.
It was precisely because of this that Shirou, who inherited Senji Muramasa's rich battlefield experience, would take the bait and enter the stronghold after eliminating the two gatekeepers.
Torches! People holding torches ran over from all directions, surrounding Shirou and the others.
"As expected! They came! And killed two people! Damn it!"
"Those villagers are crazy, daring to defy us and even inviting samurai!"
"Hahaha, I've waited long enough! They've come! Powerful samurai! Someone who can be my opponent!" A man with a long, curly fringe covering half his face, dressed like a samurai, walked out from inside.
"A samurai! So he's the helper the other Demon King Nobunaga called in," Shirou said.
"The Assassin who impersonated Ryōma in the Imperial Capital!" Okita Souji exclaimed.
The man immediately raised his sword and charged, shouting, "My name is Okada Izō! Remember that, you bastards!"
Okita Souji instantly drew her sword and blocked his strike. With the blades locked, she asked with a cold smile, "Not calling yourself Ryōma this time?"
Okada Izō let out a maniacal, murderous laugh, shouting, "Ah! The Saber from the Imperial Capital! You came here too, as expected! Last time, I was killed and retreated by the old man Li Shuwen's fist, but this time I won't let you off! Let's settle this! Hahaha!!!"
"Then you listen carefully! I am Okita Souji! Captain of the Shinsengumi First Division! Heaven's Punishment! You counter-shogunate faction that twists black and white under the guise of righteousness! Die!" Okita Souji swung her sword.
Okita Souji and Okada Izō were contemporaries—one was one of the foremost genius swordsmen of the Shinsengumi, and the other was one of the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu era.
Okita Souji was a genius among geniuses, a swordsman who created her own ultimate killing moves within the Tennen Rishin-ryū style.
Okada Izō possessed the talent to steal and learn an opponent's sword technique just by seeing it. Although this learning ability was limited to skills below the level of a Noble Phantasm, in this world, among samurai, he was top-notch, and his learning ability could be considered truly supreme.
Both died in their twenties, less than three years apart. However, Okada Izō was arrested as a serious criminal for assassinating officials. Under torture, he revealed the location of his comrades and died full of regret.
But after the Sonnō Jōi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians) counter-shogunate faction succeeded, in word of mouth, he was also regarded as one of the few talented swordsmen produced during the Bakumatsu.
As a Servant, he merely enjoyed fighting strong opponents and taking their sword techniques. After coming to this world, he was initially enjoying the pleasure of dueling samurai, but restricted by the era, the powerful opponents here couldn't compare to those in a Holy Grail War.
When he heard that he could encounter true strength here, Okada Izō readily accepted Demon King Nobunaga's invitation and became one of the forty bandits.
At this moment, the black-haired, red-eyed girl was about to speak.
But just before she could, Shirou shouted.
"Souji! Nobu! Find a way to escape!" Shirou, having already untied the bundle from behind him, pulled out some kind of tool and yelled loudly.
Although, Shirou, who was prepared for a fight to the death, threw the tool in his hand hard onto the ground. With a bang, clouds of white smoke billowed out.
"Now! Fight your way out!" Shirou shouted, throwing several shuriken towards the torches surrounding the white smoke. The bandits gathered there became clustered, living targets, impossible to dodge or avoid.
One by one, as they stared blankly at the white smoke, they were struck by the concealed weapons Shirou continuously threw.
Kunai, senbon, and various shuriken were continuously hurled by Shirou's agile and powerful hands.
The bandits at the very front who were unlucky were struck directly in vital points, instantly dying. Those who were luckier still had senbon or kunai deeply embedded in their bodies.
The whirling manji shuriken flew through the air in sharp, swift arcs, bypassing the front rows and flying towards the bandits in the rows behind.
The ninja tools crafted by Senji Muramasa possessed unique grooves that contained specially treated serrations. They did not hinder insertion, but upon attempted removal, the hook-shaped serrations would ruthlessly tear the wound, causing massive bleeding.
Essentially, any bandit struck by the concealed weapons, once they pulled them out, would be incapacitated.
Senji Muramasa was a samurai and a swordsmith. With the same personality as the Shirou he was possessing, he had no complicated deceitful tactics. He wished to realize justice, yearned to bring peace to people, and sought a way to free the whole world from the fate of suffering.
Such a man, once resolved, had no further confusion. The weapons he forged were instruments of killing made to end killing, so they would never be shoddy; they were always the best and sharpest.
Even when compared to weapons of similar forging craftsmanship and sharpness, his were the most durable.
Perhaps compared to other master craftsmen, Muramasa's swords lacked the essence of a 'Way,' but they were always the most practical, a synonym for quality assurance.
If it meant using killing to stop killing, then Shirou would not waver! Although he did not truly believe this was correct, it was what he had to do to protect the villagers, so every attack he made was a lethal move designed to take a life.
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Seizing the opportunity provided by Shirou disrupting the encircling formation, Okita Souji took a step, dashed outwards, cut down a bandit blocking her way, and fled to one side!
"Tch! Don't think you can run!" Okada Izō ground his teeth fiercely and pursued her.
Demon King Nobunaga also hadn't expected Shirou to suddenly unleash such destructive power. She stomped her foot and chased after Okita.
Shirou tucked the few remaining ninja tools from his bundle into his clothes, drew his sharp katana, and, using the white smoke to obscure the bandits' eyes, swung his sword at a torch-wielding bandit.
"Kōga-ryū Ninjutsu - Great Storm!" On the eaves of a roof, the high-vantage Mochizuki Chiyome appeared. Behind her, the phantom of a malevolent giant snake emerged. The snake opened its mouth and roared, generating a strong wind that blew away all the white smoke.
Shirou's figure was exposed, but he didn't hesitate, swinging his sword forward, then turning and striking backwards. Two more souls perished under the blade he wielded.
The bandits, whose heads were adorned with Oni horns, were terrified and retreated. In their eyes, the man under the moonlight was more like a true demon.
"You've come out too, Ninja," Shirou said coldly, looking at Mochizuki Chiyome standing on the eaves.
"You won't be so lucky this time! I have recovered my power!" Mochizuki Chiyome fired a rocket into the high sky. Then, holding kunai in both hands, she leaped down from the height, using the force of the fall to strike at Shirou.
"Don't just stand there, attack! If he's injured, we win!" Mochizuki Chiyome commanded.
"Yes!" The bandits gritted their teeth, raised their swords and spears, and once again surrounded Shirou.
Shirou used the weapons he carried to repel the sword-wielding bandits. But the rocket Mochizuki Chiyome fired into the air emitted a bright light—it was a flare. The archer bandits could now clearly see Shirou's location. They rushed to high ground, aimed at the man who looked like an Asura, and drew their bows...
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The fight between the samurai flashed with sparks of light from violent collisions, drawing Souji further and further away, completely cutting off communication with the surrounded Shirou.
Souji and Shirou had been separated. Souji was forced to the edge of the mountain cliff by Okada Izō, who was using the power amplification from the Holy Grail. The executioner's hair had turned an eerie blue-gray, and the madness in his eyes intensified.
"Izō, stop! Let me talk to her." At this moment, the authoritative voice of a young girl arrived.
"Tch! Boss, don't interrupt my fun!" Okada Izō complained, retracting his sword unhappily.
"Don't be impatient. Aren't there still four of them down the mountain?" the black-haired, red-eyed girl walked out with a cold smile.
A gust of wind blew across the high mountain cliff, lifting the black-haired, red-eyed girl's cloak. Thousands of matchlock guns materialized behind her, firing directly at Souji.
"You! So you're the bad Nobu!" Souji's eyes widened. She finally understood what was happening, raised her katana, and pointed it at the black-haired, red-eyed girl, shouting.
"The other Nobu wanders around the mountain all day and is so weak, so I simply defeated her and tied her up on the mountain," Demon King Nobunaga said with a laugh.
"Wuwu... Nobu, how can the original self be defeated by the evil clone again and again!" Souji wailed, covering her face in distress. Then she glared at Demon King Nobunaga and shouted, "You deceived us! How despicable!"
Demon King Nobunaga laughed loudly: "Hahaha! Blame yourselves for not noticing! How foolish! Prepare yourself, Okita!"
"Nonsense! You were originally the same person! How were we supposed to know! And you are the one who needs to prepare, bad Nobu!" Souji used her Shukuchi (Reduced Earth) footwork. The moment the matchlock guns fired, she dashed in front of the girl and performed a thrust.
"Hmph!" Demon King Nobunaga also drew her long sword, blocking Souji's thrust.
Souji continuously closed the distance, preventing Demon King Nobunaga from having the chance to fire the matchlock guns behind her. Finally, she seized an opening, intending to land a killing blow.
"Ichi-no-tachi... [One Step, Zero Sound] Cough!"
Unexpectedly, in the midst of the fierce battle, the underlying illness Souji suppressed suddenly flared up. Her Secret Sword, Mumyō Sandan-Zuki (Three-Stage Thrust), failed to execute.
"Damn it! Why does it always flare up at this moment! Cough!" Souji shouted in despair, blood dripping from her mouth. She turned and leaped off the cliff.
"Ah! Why did she jump! If she had begged, I might not have killed her. Well... we'll probably meet again in the next battle soon enough. Forget it, I'll go greet Shirou!" Demon King Nobunaga muttered, raising her hand and sweeping her cloak, discarding the previous events from her mind.
What Demon King Nobunaga didn't expect was that Souji did not fall to the bottom of the cliff.
After the girl had dropped several meters from the cliff edge, there was a protruding cave entrance beneath the cliff. A hand reached out from there, grabbed the falling Souji, and pulled her up.
"Thank you... I almost thought I would fall to my death and retreat like that. Nobu! Are you the good Nobu!" Souji looked up and saw the girl who looked exactly like the person who had just cornered her.
"It's me, Okita! To be cornered by another me to this extent, you truly are weak. Luckily I was here to save you," Nobu said, covering her mouth and chuckling mischievously.
"No, I don't want to hear that from the person who went out to play and got kidnapped, causing the bad Nobu to infiltrate the group," Souji retorted.
"What! The bad Nobu went to the village? As expected of me, she's totally reckless!" Nobu exclaimed in surprise.
"Is this the time to praise yourself! That person betrayed us! We don't even know what's happening to Shirou now!" Souji said angrily.
"So that's why you were kicked off a cliff," Nobu said, suddenly realizing the situation.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Find a way to get out and help! You useless person!" Souji cried out impatiently.
"No, no, I was just momentarily careless! And I've already escaped through the tunnel now! Don't worry, if we go out the way we came, we'll immediately be spotted and surrounded. We need to find an escape exit first," Nobu countered, waving her hands.
"You don't know the exit?!" Souji shouted in exasperation.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'm looking for it now!" Nobu yelled, red-faced with annoyance.
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Meanwhile, outside, the surrounded Shirou continuously shifted his position to evade the archers' aims. He simultaneously parried Mochizuki Chiyome's attacks and defended against the closing bandits. Fortunately, because of the terrifying giant snake behind Mochizuki Chiyome and the deterrent effect of his earlier offensive, the bandits hadn't dared to charge forward.
This was how Shirou had managed to hold out until now, but at this rate, he would eventually succumb to exhaustion.
Shirou gritted his teeth, unleashed his maximum strength, and charged toward Mochizuki Chiyome. Every move he made was a lethal exchange, sacrificing injury for a life. He swung his sword, forcing the attacking female ninja to retreat, and then threw a flying knife, taking the life of a bandit who was closing in.
As long as Mochizuki Chiyome still sought revenge on Oda Nobunaga, she wouldn't risk her life against Shirou and had to dodge.
Shirou took this opportunity to plunge into the forest, quickly making his way inside, and hiding.
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