There is no moon in the sky, light frost stains the branches, and the feeling of winter is getting stronger.
In this cold season, the daimyo from all over the country seem to have reached a tacit understanding, and no one chooses to attack others during this time.
Those forces that are at war or friction have also begun to give up and prepare to go home, pack up and wait for the next spring to fight again.
After all, people consume more calories in winter. With the logistics capabilities of ancient wars, if we choose to fight in this season, more soldiers may die of cold and starvation than are killed. The famous names will still settle this account.
However, just because the frontal battlefield is not fought does not mean that the war has been suspended.
Those ninjas on the intelligence battlefield never have time to rest.
In the afternoon of this day, four people gathered in an abandoned house outside Haxumi Village (an ancient place name, roughly located in the southwest of today's Shimane Prefecture, now merged into part of the town of Okinan).
The one who is obviously in the leading position among them seems to be about thirty-six or seventeen years old, of medium height and plain appearance. His clothes are very simple, and his tanned skin and slightly slovenly beard are also from that time. The normal state of ordinary people.
But for such an inconspicuous person, his true identity is a ninja leader of the Ueda Domain in Shinano Province, named Masugi Juzo.
Juzo is a master from the Koka sect. He was originally sent by the Rokkaku clan to serve as a spy for Takeda Shingen. However, after a period of time, he rebelled against his original master because he believed that Takeda was a wise master who could be entrusted to him. , and surrendered to Takeda.
And Takeda Shingen, known as the "Tiger of Kai", is undoubtedly a scheming person.
Takeda thought about this matter: Although Juzo said that he was moved by my magnanimity and wanted to abandon the dark side and surrender to the light, I am not sure that his surrender is sincere, because this may also be a ploy for him to gain my trust; To take a step back, even if his surrender is sincere, can he betray others today but not me tomorrow? Therefore, it is impossible for me to truly trust him and entrust him with important tasks. But if I kill him or abandon him from now on, it will make other people with different intentions lurking around me It would also be detrimental to me to completely give up the illusion that I could save my life by confessing.
After Takeda Shingen settled the account in his mind, he also struggled for a while, and finally gave Juzo a trick - to perform actual duties in lieu of duty.
What does that mean?
It was Takeda who actually gave Juzo a position of considerable power, and asked Juzo as the leader to manage more than a dozen ninja teams operating in Kansai; these teams are scattered throughout Honshu Island west of Kyoto, as well as Shikoku and Kyushu. , their mission is to collect intelligence on various forces in these areas, and then hand it over to Chongzang regularly, who will then summarize and report this information.
However, for the current Takeda Shingen, the information in these places... is all "false".
Because his territory is in Kanto, with Oda Asakura in the west and Uesugi Hojo in the east. Literally "surrounded by enemies", how can he have the time to take care of the shit in the west? It's good if you can survive on your own.
In other words, Takeda just listens to the things reported by Juzo. If you want to report the truth, you can report it true. He doesn't care if the report is false.
In this way, Takeda has "properly arranged" Juzo.
As for Juzo, he understood Takeda's intentions to some extent, but he also understood Takeda's difficulties, so he did not resent him.
Juzo believes that as long as he conscientiously performs the duties assigned to him by Takeda, sooner or later Takeda will expand westward after taking care of its enemies in Kanto. At that time, his intelligence value will be different. With a keen eye, he will definitely respond accordingly to his loyalty and ability.
At the moment, Juzo is communicating with his three-person team responsible for collecting intelligence in the Kyushu region.
You must have guessed that these three people are exactly the "family of three" who were rescued by Shuanghe and Keijiro at the port of Shimonoseki in the previous document.
The one who plays the "father" is named Gengoro. He is a few years younger than Juzo, but his strength is much lower. He is only a genin.
The little boy who plays the role of "son" is named Kosuke. Although he is still young, he is also considered a genin like Gengoro.
Azhi, who plays "mother", is the female ninja who briefly fought with Sun Yixie and successfully escaped. She is the strongest among the three ninjas and is also their team leader.
The deserted house where the four of them met was located near the junction of the territories of the Mori clan and the Nizi clan. As the saying goes, "the most dangerous place is the safest place." Such a place that could become a battlefield at any time, on the contrary, there was no place on either side. People are in charge.
Therefore, both parties successfully completed the transmission of information.
After finishing talking about the "mission" matters, Juzo started chatting with his three subordinates.
Some people may say that when engaging in espionage work, shouldn’t we race against time, be serious and vigilant at all times, and go our separate ways as soon as the intelligence is delivered?
In fact, it depends on the situation... not all situations need to be like that.
Within the scope of conditions permitting, bosses and subordinates establish a certain degree of friendship, or at least create an atmosphere of "sympathy for subordinates" on the surface, which is very effective in maintaining the loyalty of subordinates.
Because no matter what kind of training they have undergone, people are still human after all. After all, there are only a very small number of people who are born with antisocial tendencies. The emotional needs of the vast majority of people cannot be completely eliminated.
If you want to employ people, you must first understand them; utilizing human nature is far smarter than erasing human nature.
Many times, compared to those false and empty so-called "righteousness" coercion, perhaps a seemingly unintentional greeting in a certain year or month can make someone work for you wholeheartedly.
As a veteran ninja who has rebelled, Juzo himself knows this well...
He knew that every one of these people who had been engaged in espionage work outside for many years had been shaken before, but they had something buried deep in their minds or hearts that allowed them to convince themselves and become firm again when they were shaken.
Therefore, for Juzo, this kind of "small talk" is also part of the job. He is quietly planting more seeds of loyalty in the hearts of these subordinates.
But today, he didn't expect that something would happen while they were chatting...
"Oh? How could anyone escape from your sneak attack in that kind of environment?" Chongzang couldn't help but feel a little surprised after listening to Ah Zhi's story about the brief confrontation with Sun Yixie.
"Yes." Ah Zhi replied, "The moment my sickle blade hit his body, it was like cutting on a hard turtle shell. Instead, it made my hand numb. That's why this person is so weird. , I judged that it was not appropriate to fight with him and chose to retreat..."
"That's not all." Xiaosuke interrupted at this time, "The other two are also very powerful!" He said, turning to look at Gengoro, "Mr. Gengoro, is that right?"
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"Hmm..." Gengoro responded, and then followed Xiaosuke's words and said to Juzo, "Jouzo-sama, as Xiaosuke said, the two people making trouble on the coast are also rare masters. ..." He paused, as if recalling the scene at that time, and then continued, "The one who calls himself Keijiro, according to the observations of his subordinates, his spear skills are probably not inferior to Sanada-sama; and the other one has a very short neck. Weird man, he just picks up stones on the ground and throws them out, and he can cause damage that is not inferior to that of a firecracker... My subordinate has been practicing shuriken skills for many years, but compared with his ability, I can only do it myself. Sigh."
"Ho~" Chongzang heard this and made such a sound in his mouth, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
When A Zhi and the other three people saw this, they didn't dare to interrupt his thoughts. They just waited silently.
After a moment of silence, Chongzang spoke again: "I heard... the warriors from Da Zha across the sea are good at practicing internal energy. Some of them are masters who can practice to the point where they can become invulnerable to all weapons and weapons. Use internal force to push the hidden weapon, changing its speed and even its flight trajectory..."
If not for saying that Masugi Juzo could be the leader of this group of ninjas, he would indeed have more knowledge.
The three people who heard his words at this moment obviously didn't know these things, so they all looked surprised.
"What?" Gengoro exclaimed, "Is the inner strength really so magical? It's unbelievable... It's simply a magic."
"Could there be... some kind of trick in it?" A-Zhi's reaction was more calm. She calmed down a little, and after thinking for a few seconds, she speculated, "For example... a person who looks invulnerable is actually invulnerable. A person who wears hidden armor and can throw hidden weapons with great power has an auxiliary mechanism similar to a slingshot hidden in his sleeve?"
Not to mention, she was half right.
But Chongzang waved his hand at this time and said earnestly: "Azhi, never underestimate your opponent... When someone shows a certain technique that is beyond your ability and knowledge, don't immediately look for some Make far-fetched explanations of things you are familiar with, because if your assumptions are wrong, the cost will be very painful.”
"Yes." A-Zhi quickly lowered his head and said with shame, "A-Zhi will definitely remember Master Chongzang's teachings."
Seeing that the other party accepted the instruction humbly, Juzo nodded with satisfaction: "Well... In short, there seems to be something behind this accidental encounter on your way back... It seems that I need to confirm it myself."
"Sir, we can go with you at any time." Gengoro immediately bowed his head and asked for orders.
However, A-Zhi didn't move because she had already heard that Chongzang meant to go alone.
"Hey~ You have just completed a long-term mission. You are tired from the journey, so you should hibernate for a while. When I come back, I will leave a secret code at the old place to contact you." Chongzang said and stood up. , "Just in time, I also want to do some activities."
When he finished speaking, his figure had already shot up like a bolt of lightning (most of the roof of this deserted house had already been broken, so you could jump in and out at will) and disappeared in front of the three people.
"Master Juzo... doesn't matter, right?" Xiaosuke was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at the two people around him and said.
"Ha..." A-Zhi replied with confidence, "Master is just taking care of our face. To put it bluntly, it is much easier for him to act alone than to take us with him..."
