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Volume 1 Chapter 6 Part 10

Yoshiharu jumped up and ran away with all his might, but Hattori Hanzo’s was abnormally fast. Before he noticed it, he has already stopped in front of Yoshiharu once more.

「Damn it! Is this fellow still human?! He is totally an imbalanced character! I have no more places to run! 」

「Die! 」

The shurikens start flying over towards him once more. In order to escape from them, Yoshiharu jumped, but then, much to his surprise, the shurikens beneath his feet suddenly changed direction and flew straight for Yoshiharu’s throat.

「Wh…wh…wh…what the hell is with those shurikens!? 」

「Iga Style Shuriken Throwing Technique 「Kazeana 」. There is no one in existence who was able to avoid all of these and lived to tell the tale! 」

Using a special way of throwing combined with the air currents on the mountains allowed the trajectory of the shurikens to change, and while the enemy is concentrating their entire attention on dodging the shurikens coming from one direction, they’d never expect that they’d start coming for their throat from another one, taking them completely by surprise. That is the essence of Hattori Hanzo’s sure-kill technique.

「Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!? 」

Yoshiharu reflexively bent his body, bending the joints in his neck to their utmost limits until he managed to dodge all of the shurikens coming towards him. But even though he avoided them, the skin near his throat and chin area was cut and blood was flowing out of them.

「Ou….Ouch!!!!! 」

「Hehehe, to think you’d be able to dodge my one sure-kill technique! Looks like there is going to be worth in killing you after all! 」
「Stop joking around like that! I just want to return to Nobuna’s side and then tell her the enemy is at Okehazama! Before I do that, I will definitely not die! 」

「And I thought you had some backbone. But in the end you just planned to run… hmph. If this is what you want to do there, is no way you can survive in this Sengoku era. 」

「Shut up! I won’t die from something like this! I will dodge your attacks non-stop until you get tired! 」

Yoshiharu then started to run as fast as a train thanks to the unthinkable amount of strength that was still flowing through his body. After all, he is running for his life here. Coupled with his strength of will, he managed to surpass the physical prowess of even the experienced ninja Hattori Hanzo as he continued to run away from him for a minute… two minutes… three minutes… however, after a while, no matter if it’s his hands, legs, or back, they were all cut by the numerous shurikens, and his lack of stamina was starting to show.

But never once did a shuriken hit him directly.

「You bastard…… why, why can’t I hit you?! 」

(To what extent can I dodge the shurikens from Hanzo?)

Yoshiharu did not know that, but slowly, his vision was starting to blur. But even with that, he still continued to sprint down the mountain.

「This isn’t good! 」

This time Hanzo himself was starting to panic.

「Though doing this goes against my philosophy… I will now use shurikens smeared with Cantharidin to send you to heaven for sure! 」

「Poison? You’re really going to use poison against a lowly foot soldier?! 」
「Yes, I will! You will die even if it grazes you! Now go to hell! 」

His legs had already started to cramp. Blood is flowing out from several parts of his body and his strength was beginning to wane too. All the while, the poison shurikens flew over his head like the droplets of rain and were just about to cover him entirely…

「Y-You bastard!!! 」

… but an instant before they had almost pierced themselves into Yoshiharu’s body, they
were all struck down with a series of metallic sounds by someone who was holding a long spear.

「Who…Who is it? 」

「……Yoshiharu-san, I’m here to save you. 」

「You? Who are you? 」

The one who saved Yoshiharu…

「……Knowing that Nobuna-sama is in danger, I have come here as fast as I could. I am her retainer, after all. 」

… was a small girl equipped with a bamboo spear covered with tiger skin from head to toe and wearing a helmet that was shaped like a tiger’s head. Her lower body’s attire wasn’t the usual dress but namban styled pants, which revealed her snow white thighs. Besides that, the clean and neat small face of hers was covered with red paint, which made her look like those street performers you’d often see in entertainment districts.

「That’s why I asked… who are you? 」

Seemingly annoyed, the small girl pouted her cheeks like a small duck.

「……Inuchiyo. 」

「Ah, so it is you, Inuchiyo…. Oi, when did your character change this much!? What the hell happened to you after you absconded from the Kiyosu castle?! 」

「….I’ve fallen… 」

「You’ve Fallen? 」

「…..and I’ve been reborn. 」

「Reborn? 」

「… as a Basara. 」

「Isn’t that too big of a change for someone like you?! 」

「During my travels to find my way of life, I actually lost my way. 」

「What an extraordinary but fitting reason! 」

But now wasn’t the time to be feeling happy about the reunion with an old friend.

「The result is going to be the same even with one extra person on your side! Just go to hell quietly already! 」

While rushing over to them, Hattori Hanzo said while grabbing hold of his ninja sword.

「Wait, Inuchiyo, this fellow is very strong! 」
「…….Inuchiyo is very strong too. 」

Inuchiyo. real name: Maeda Toshiie.

In the various Sengoku era games or Sengoku era dramas he is always portrayed an old but kind fellow. It’s all because of his capable wife that he was able to succeed in life, though he was said to often fooled by his own nephew, Maeda Toshimasu, into getting colds by taking a cold water baths. Such a muddle-headed character is exceedingly rare, even across the entire history of Japan.

But the Maeda Toshiie of history had the name of Spear of Mataza, given to him to honor his high competence in martial arts. According to legends his right eye was shot by someone with an arrow, but he remained unnerved and continued to battle on. That is how much of a brave warrior he was.

「Hmph. Looks like in the face of your spear my shuriken tricks are going to be useless….. If so, then let us do battle by using our swords! 」

Hanzo’s ninja sword and Inuchiyo’s spear ignited a series of sparks in the air from the fierce battle between them. They were both moving so fast that Yoshiharu’s eyes couldn’t even catch up to the trajectories they were tracing in midair. Both of their expressions did not change as they swung their weapons at one another like sophisticated machines. Even if he wanted to help Inuchiyo, there was no place for him to jump into the battle at all.

But at the very least, he finally understood one thing.

Both of their skills were comparable to one another.

But…

「The difference between the body size is too obvious. If this goes on, Inuchiyo will be the one who’s going to lose. 」

However, Hattori Hanzo felt troubled because of Inuchiyo’s unexpected strength.

「*Tsk!*….. You, don’t tell me you want to stall for time while only defending against my attacks?! 」

「……That’s right! 」

「But in the end you are just a weak brat. Once you lose your breath for just a second, I will kill you, and then that guy behind you! 」

「……Will not allow you to kill Yoshiharu-san. If Inuchiyo dies, you will too! 」

「The resolve to die together with your opponent, huh? Interesting! Let me see this to the end! 」

「What the hell are you saying, Inuchiyo? 」

Yoshiharu couldn’t help it but speak out. Coming to his senses, Inuchiyo noticed that her body has been dyed red by the numerous wounds from the battle. It seems like her strength has run out, because her legs were already trembling slightly.

「……Leave this to me. Hurry and go to Nobuna-sama’s side. 」

「How can I leave you alone here?! 」
「…….Hurry. I won’t… be able to last long… 」

Yoshiharu launched an attack at Hanzou with a loud 「Ahhhhhh! 」istead, but he was kicked aside by Hanzo. During this, his battle with Inuchiyo did not slow down one bit.

(This fellow is just too strong!)

「With just my terrible attack it’s not possible to divert his attention. 」