"Snapped!"
There was another heavy sound of the whip, and the naked upper body Akao Kiyosuna had been tied to a wooden stake and beaten until he was bleeding, but he still refused to say a word. He knew that the longer he persisted, the more time he could buy for the Imakawa family who delivered the letter. Once Tsunachika Kaiboku's reinforcements arrive, there will be a chance for the situation to turn around - although this possibility is now slim.
"Oda Masaru next door has already recruited him." The samurai Morita Taro in charge of the interrogation walked into Akao Kiyosuna's torture room and said to another samurai Aoki Heita who was beating Akao Kiyosuna.
"Bastards, don't pull these tricks on me." Akao Kiyotsuna is also a veteran. What tricks have he never seen before? Naturally, they knew that the samurai of Tanaya Meimasa wanted to use the method of "your partner has confessed, it is pointless for you to hold on", "We are all heroes of the Asai family, and we are deeply affected by it." The late Lord has shown great kindness and will not hesitate even to the death, so how can he succumb to you?"
"We captured his old mother and daughter. No matter how tough a man is, he can't stand it." Taro Morita sneered twice, opened the door, and let the cries of the old mother and young daughter next door be heard in Akao Kiyosuna's room. . Also heard was the voice of a crying Oda Masaru and his intermittent confession.
Yes, they are all members of the Asai family. Everyone knows the details. It is extremely easy to find some excuse to threaten you.
"His Majesty Mimasakumomo is also an important minister of the Asai family, and we don't want to quarrel with each other. You don't want us to invite your parents, wife, and children, right?" Aoki Taira shook the whip in his hand and looked at Akao Kiyozuna with interest. , "It's better to abandon the darkness and turn to the light earlier, so that the territory of the Akao family can be preserved in the future."
Akao Kiyosuna took a deep breath, and then said calmly: "I won't do it, otherwise Jiuquanxia will be sorry for the former master. Anyway, if everyone else has done it, you should know what happened, right? Whatever, You can do whatever you want to me. My family will also understand me and my consciousness."
Morita Taro and Aoki Heita looked at each other, then they both shook their heads, closed the door, and did not embarrass Akao Kiyosuna anymore, but went to report to Taya Akimasa:
"The confession plan is the same as what was written in the request for help. They want to ask Kaiboku Zenemon, who is stationed at the important Kamama Castle, to return to Otani Castle to help Otani Castle. In addition to Akao Misaku, there are also a couple from the Imagawa family and a ninja. We went to Sickle City to deliver the message. We shouldn’t have gone very long. We can stop him by intercepting him on the official road now. There is also a strong man with one arm and a child who came to Xiaodani City for reconnaissance. We should find them out immediately.”
"Is it credible?" Tianya Akimasa held the secret letter between his two fingers and asked with a frown.
"It's credible. Although there are some discrepancies, the information confessed by the several samurai is the same." Taro Morita and Heita Aoki replied confidently. "They already set off separately last night, and they should be almost there now."
"Well, I also think that this information is exactly the same as what Mr. Nishina of the Takeda family said, and it cannot be false." After thinking about it for a moment, Tabiya Akimasa gave the order to the samurai, "Taro, take people to Kotani. When searching in the city, the targets are strong men, one-armed men and children. Pingtai, you can set up a traffic jam on the official road, and if you see a couple and a ninja passing by, stop them and detain them."
"yes!"
·
In the early morning of February 12, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), the south gate of Otani Castle was in the castle town.
"Although Omi is only a few miles away from Mino, the customs and customs are very different." Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo walked through the streets and alleys of the castle town of Odani Castle, while carrying out the task of finding out the enemy's situation. Look at the buildings and costumes in the castle town with great interest. There were only a few pedestrians on the street, coming and going in a hurry. It seemed that they had discovered the strange movements in Xiaogu City yesterday and were afraid of being affected by the military chaos.
"Why is this?" Ginkgo raised her head curiously.
"After all, Omi belongs to Kinki, while Ono belongs to Togoku. Historically, Omi and Ono were rarely in the hands of the same family, so the circulation of various cultures was relatively limited." Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled when he was a child Regarding his experience in Kinki, he explained with a smile, "And Omi people have always looked down on Ono, thinking they are country bumpkins who love miso. But Omi people themselves are also looked down upon by people in Yamato Yamato."
"Haha, just like you Suruga people look down on me, a mountain girl from Kai, but in the eyes of Kyoto people, you are also arty Eastern barbarians?" Ginkgo said in a row while insulting Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"There is really no way, everything can be said to me." Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head in confusion, and then continued to look around the castle town, "Judging from the situation in the castle town, Tianya is still far from controlling the situation. The number of patrolling soldiers is probably insufficient. We still need to go into the city to check the specific situation."
"Would they let strangers into the city at such a critical moment?" Ginkgo looked confused.
"Tsuchihara has already checked it out, everything is as planned, no problem." Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at a house in the distance, Tsuchihara quietly made a gesture, and walked quickly towards the south gate of Otani Castle with Ginkgo in his arms. . There are a few guards standing on the wall of the south gate, who are probably close relatives brought by the Tianya family. There are a few warriors at the door checking people entering and leaving the city - but at this critical moment, not many people dare to go back and forth in the city. outside the city.
"Hello, I am coming from Kyoto to Omi to visit the shogunate. I have sent a gift to Sannomaru. I will pick it up and return." Imagawa Yoshimoto put on a standard Kyoto accent and calmly said to the gatekeeper. Taro Morita said.
Taro Morita was stunned for a moment when he saw this - what he saw in front of him was clearly a suspicious couple. At this time, he saw that there were changes in Kotani City. Who would go to the city inexplicably? However, according to the information provided by Goro Nishina and the information they obtained from torture of Akao Kiyosuna and others - the Imagawa family sent a strong man, a one-armed man and a child to Odani Castle to scout, and sent a couple to deliver the message. What's going on now? Why did the couple come to Xiaodani City instead?
But looking at the temperament of the warrior in front of him, he is also pampered. If he is really a member of the public as he said, he probably has a high position in the public, or he has a prominent family background. At present, Tianya Meimasa's position is not right, and he needs the affirmation of the shogun to maintain his authority. It is best not to offend the shogun's family at will. If we just detain this couple without caring about anything, they will inevitably have some trouble in the future.
"Please." After hesitating for a long time, Taro Morita raised his hand and let go. "Please come back quickly. There is some unrest in the city now."
"Thank you." Imagawa Yoshimoto bowed his hand, and then he and Ginkgo walked quickly into Kotani Castle.
"Follow me." Taro Morita quietly gestured to several of his men, "Let's see what they are here to do."
·
"A rat is following." Ginkgo turned her head and pointed at the knots hanging on the eaves of the street houses. She glanced back with her peripheral vision, and then quietly warned Imagawa Yoshimoto like a woman sharing the beautiful scenery with her sweetheart: "It's well hidden though."
"How many people?" Imagawa Yoshimoto also looked at the knot with a smile and said to Ginkgo.
"Then how do I know? If I know, why don't I become a ninja?" Ginkgo choked Imagawa Yoshimoto angrily, "It's good if you can detect that someone is following you. Sir, are you asking about the number of people?"
"Haha, I have to look forward to Shu." Imagawa Yoshimoto laughed at himself and shook his head, then quickly combed the hair on his forehead twice, gave a secret signal to the Tu Atom Sutra who had sneaked in secretly, and then said to Ginkgo, "How is it? , are you ready?"
"No problem." Ginkgo then tied her long hair into a ponytail and then tied it into a bun.
"Okay." Imagawa Yoshimoto squinted and looked into the distance. After confirming the position of the soil atoms reflected by the copper mirror, he whispered: "Run!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo rushed along the streets in Sannomaru towards the west gate of Sannomaru. The barracks and samurai houses on both sides of the road came into view.
"They are all staying behind closed doors. It seems that they are currently holding a neutral position on the battle for the governor and have not chosen to support Tamaya Ishimi Mamoru." Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly analyzed the situation in front of him, and at the same time, his steps did not slow down for a moment. , "Everything is as the teacher expected."
At this time, behind Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo, the samurai and ninjas who were originally responsible for tracking saw these two people suddenly running. In order to avoid losing them, they had to chase after them quickly on the quiet street. It seems particularly eye-catching.
"Now the number of mice is much clearer." Ginkgo turned around and counted as he ran, "There are six in total."
"It seems that Tamaya Ishimi Mamoru is still far from winning the hearts of his family. At such a critical moment, only a few people can be sent to chase us, and they don't even have a horse." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked back. Looking at the chasing soldiers, they found that they had sent signals in the direction of the south gate and west gate of Sannomaru.
Not long after, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo had rushed to the west gate. The west gate is much further away from the south gate than the south gate, and the number of Tianya family soldiers guarding it is even rarer - there are only 8 samurai. After they saw Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo rushing towards them, they immediately blocked the door, with swords in their hands. They were about to stop them, but they saw a string of shurikens flying from the side of the house.
The samurai were caught off guard and many were knocked down at once. Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and took out Sosan Zuomon with a few prods, knocking away the sabers in the hands of the oncoming samurai. Ginkgo followed up with two sword blows and knocked the samurai to the ground who tried to fight back.
"You're so cruel, Ginkgo." Imagawa Yoshimoto pushed open the door, and rushed out of the west gate with Ginkgo and Tsuchizune before the other guards could react.
"I don't have mysophobia, the strange person is Mr." Ginkgo complained silently.
