Kill one person in ten steps and leave no trace in a thousand miles.

——Li Bai·"Xia Ke Xing"

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While Matsudaira Sadanobu and the others were still having a meeting in the camp——

Outside the First Army Camp——

The falling snow still doesn’t stop.

The weak sunlight poured into the white snowfield from the gaps in the clouds. Under the slightly gray sky, everything was very quiet, with only scattered snowflakes falling.

It was snowing as if there was no one around, and the snow mixed with the evening mist and spread. Looking around, the field of vision was filled with gray light.

"...Is that your military camp?"

"Yes, yes! That is our army's military camp!"

Ogata slightly raised the bamboo hat on his head and looked down the hillside.

Ogata is now standing on a hillside.

Although the visibility was somewhat low due to the early morning evening mist, one could still clearly see through the layers of evening mist - under the hillside, flags with various family crests were fluttering in the wind.

The radish was now tied to a tree not far behind Ogata. While snoring in boredom, he scratched the ground under his feet with his hooves.

While Ogata looked at the military camp at the bottom of the hillside expressionlessly, Sakaguchi stood behind him tremblingly.

Last night, after letting him mount his horse, Oban gave Sakaguchi a straightforward order: "Show the way. Take me to your army's camp."

Facing Ogata, Sakaguchi, who had no intention of resisting at all, silently led Ogata to the camp of their first army.

Looking at Ogata who was standing on the hillside in front of him and looking at the military camp below, Sakaguchi now felt that his heart was full of shock and astonishment.

After hearing Ogata ask him to take him to their army's camp, Sakaguchi roughly guessed what Ogata planned to do.

Although he vaguely guessed what Ogata planned to do, he couldn't believe that Ogata really planned to put this matter into practice...

It wasn't until Ogata followed his directions without hesitation and came to the back and forth of their First Army's camp that Sakaguchi dared to believe that the man in front of him really planned to practice it. He felt like he was sweating just by imagining it.

The upright thing…

——This man... is he serious... is he really planning to break into the military camp and kill Mogami-sama...

While Sakaguchi was thinking this secretly in his mind, a few drops of cold sweat broke out from his forehead, and then slowly dripped down...

Sakaguchi didn't dare to speak.

Ogata didn't say anything, and just silently looked at the military camp at the foot of the hillside.

The surrounding air fell directly into a dead atmosphere.

It wasn't until a moment passed that Ogata, who placed his hands on the hilt of Daeshukten's sword, whispered to himself in a voice that only he could hear clearly:

"...It is indeed a military camp."

Although the visibility was somewhat poor, Ogata could barely see that there were many soldiers standing guard and patrolling in the camp.

It is different from the lame sentry and patrol methods of the bandits that we have dealt with before. Even a person like Ogata who does not know much about military law can see that the sentry and patrol methods of these soldiers are different from those that Ogata used to deal with them.

Compared to the bandits I had passed, they were nothing like clouds and mud.

Sakaguchi, who was standing behind Ogata, had been looking at Ogata in front of him with hesitant eyes from time to time.

Until this moment, the hesitation in Sakaguchi's eyes finally slowly dissipated and turned into a look of determination.

"Then, that...please, please let go...of me..."

Sakaguchi, who finally plucked up the courage, stammered.

"I have brought you to the military camp..."

"Please have mercy on me...spare my life..."

After saying that, Sakaguchi knelt down directly on the ground and performed the heaviest gift in Japan to Ogata in front of him - he knelt on the ground and put his palms and forehead on the soil seat on the ground.

Sakaguchi no longer wants any "samurai dignity", he just wants to survive now.

Ogata listened silently to Sakaguchi's prayer for mercy, and did not look back at Sakaguchi during the whole process.

It wasn't until Sakaguchi's words fell that Ogata said in a calm tone:

"If you do one last thing for me, I will spare your life."

"Wha, what's the matter...?" Sakaguchi raised his head and asked in a cautious tone without having time to wipe the snow on his forehead.

For some reason, Sakaguchi felt an ominous premonition arise in his mind at this moment.

"I need you to help me get the head of Mogami Yoshihisa."

"Are you asking me to help you assassinate Mogami-sama? No, no!" Sakaguchi said without hesitation, "I can't help you with this kind of work! I don't know where Mogami-sama is in the camp now. I

He’s not someone who is good at stealth, so he can’t help you assassinate Mogami-sama!”

"...You seem to have some misunderstanding of what I just said."

"When did I say I was going to assassinate Mogami?"

When Ogata said these words, a few snowflakes happened to slide close to the edge of Ogata's bamboo hat and fell on the handles of the two swords at Ogata's waist.

Ogata raised his right hand and brushed off the snow on the handle of the knife bit by bit.

"...Huh?" Sakaguchi cast a confused look at Ogata in front of him.

"There are not many buildings in the camp, only tents. There is nowhere to hide. I am afraid that only those ninjas who have reached the pinnacle of their skills can sneak into such a camp quietly without being discovered."

"And it's still early in the morning, not a night with poor visibility. This kind of weather is not suitable for infiltration or assassination."

After saying that, Ogata's right hand, which was brushing off the snow on the handle of the knife, suddenly grasped the handle of Da Shiten's knife and pulled the blade out of the sheath inch by inch.

The blade of the sword shines with a clear blue light under the light.

"There are no conditions for infiltration and assassination."

"So I decided to try another method."

Hearing this, Sakaguchi felt an ominous premonition in his heart to the extreme...

…

…

First Army Camp, Xiyingkou——

"Ha..." A soldier holding a long gun and standing guard at Xiyingkou yawned greatly.

He was responsible for the "morning shift" and got up before dawn. He was already a little sleepy and had to perform such a boring "post guard" task, which made him even more sleepy.

In order to pass the boring task of standing guard, he wanted to chat with his companions. However, military regulations clearly stipulated that chatting while standing guard was strictly prohibited. Once found, he would be severely punished. This soldier did not violate military regulations.

courage.

Just as the soldier was desperately fighting against the Sandman, he suddenly saw something black at the end of the sunset outside the camp...

The soldier frowned slightly and looked intently at the "black thing."

The sunset haze has not dissipated until now, and looking around, the field of vision is still gray.

After looking carefully for a while, the soldier finally identified the black thing as a human figure.

As soon as the soldier recognized this figure, the figure appeared from the depths of the dusk - a young samurai wearing a bamboo hat and a thin kimono.

The young warrior held a sword in his right hand and walked slowly through the sunset toward the Xiyingkou of the camp.

After his figure slowly emerged from the dusk, the young warrior suddenly accelerated his speed.

He originally just walked slowly.

Then the walk turned into a brisk walk, then into a trot, and finally into a gallop.

When the young warrior changed from walking to jogging, the soldier who first spotted the young warrior suddenly widened his eyes.

At this moment, the other soldiers at Xiyingkou also discovered the young warrior and looked at him with shocked eyes.

The soldier who first spotted the young warrior opened his mouth:

"Enemy attack..."

Before the soldier could shout out the last syllable of the "enemy attack" sentence, he saw the young warrior who had already arrived ten steps away from their Xiyingkou leaping up and leaping towards him...

…

…

While standing on the hillside observing the camp, Ogata realized that he did not have the conditions to carry out "infiltration and assassination". His "advanced" Shiranui-ryu stealth technique was not enough to sneak into a camp garrisoned by 3,000 soldiers.

So Ogata decided to activate another strategy.

This new strategy is quite simple and crude, without too many twists and turns, just four words - direct attack.

With the help of a run-up, Ogata leaped high towards a soldier in Xiyingkou who was about 10 steps away from him.
To be continued...