Picking up a katana, Kiyosuke tapped his shoulder with the back of the blade and strode forward.
"How dare you break into the Daimyo's mansion at night! You've got a death wish, don't you?"
A man in armor held a cross - spear in his hand and had two swords hanging from his waist.
Wait, this appearance...
Damn it, wouldn't he just pull out a musket in the middle of the fight, shoot him, and say, "Hesitation is defeat!"
It's better to strike first!
Kiyosuke didn't answer. He charged forward with the katana and swung it. But the man held the cross - spear, twisted it, and blocked the katana, shouting, "Don't look down on samurai!"
The man pushed forward with the cross - spear against the katana, trying to repel Kiyosuke, but he found that the opponent didn't budge an inch.
How could his strength be so great?!
While he was in shock, Kiyosuke dodged the cross - spear, raised the katana, and chopped at the spear shaft, cutting it in two.
The man abandoned the cross - spear and drew the long and short swords from his waist. "Take this, Niten Ichi - ryu!"
"..."
Good grief, I'm really impressed!
This is amazing. He actually knows Niten Ichi - ryu!
Kiyosuke narrowed his eyes and showed a serious expression. Chakra emerged on the man's swords. Then he swung them forcefully, and the chakra formed sharp sword qi that crossed in the air and flew towards Kiyosuke rapidly.
Kiyosuke also swung his sword and deflected the two sword qi. He said softly, "This is getting interesting."
Without further ado, he charged forward. The man had excellent sword skills and was able to fight Kiyosuke evenly. The two swords gave Kiyosuke quite a bit of trouble.
When he blocked the long sword, the short sword would attack. When he blocked the short one, the long sword would come slashing. The two swords cooperated perfectly, leaving no weaknesses.
"It seems samurai still have their merits," Kiyosuke thought.
Although with the emergence of ninja villages, samurai were gradually being phased out by the times, one had to admit that their abilities were still decent. In terms of swordsmanship, this man had already gained the upper hand over Kiyosuke.
Although Kiyosuke hadn't specifically trained in swordsmanship, the foundation laid by Orochimaru, his years of combat experience, excellent reflexes, and great taijutsu allowed him to easily overpower ordinary samurai.
However, this guy in front of him was different. Without using his special abilities, Kiyosuke couldn't suppress him; instead, he was being suppressed.
"Name."
"Genichiro Kino!"
"Good name. Sorry, a sneaky guy living in the shadows can't reveal his name. But of course, I'll tell you when you die."
"You're so confident you can kill me? Right now, I'm the stronger one!" Genichiro Kino stood with his swords, exuding a powerful aura.
"Is that so? Seriously, such a small place unexpectly has a master like you. This mission is beyond the standard. But for the sake of the mission, I still have to take you down."
Kiyosuke grabbed the katana in his hand, wiped it with his hand, and flames ignited on the blade. "Take this, Zanka no Tachi - Ryujin Jakka!!!"
Bullshit, you're just enchanting the blade!
Genichiro Kino showed a solemn expression. "So this is how you ninjas fight? Truly impressive. Well then, I'll..." Hmm?
He suddenly saw the Zanka no Tachi in Kiyosuke's hand suddenly expand. The bright firelight illuminated Genichiro Kino's face, and the heat rushed towards him, roasting his armor.
"Take my, King's Limit Slash!!!"
Didn't you just say it was Zanka no Tachi?!
You despicable ninja!
The huge flaming greatsword came crashing down. Genichiro Kino quickly used his two swords to block the attack, but the intense heat on the swords was unbearable. His armor was so hot that it was torturous.
In an instant, the flames disappeared. With a sudden release of pressure on his hands, a figure charged forward and kicked him in the abdomen.
Bang!
Genichiro Kino was sent crashing into the wall. Kiyosuke glanced at him, then, holding the sword, walked towards Genichiro Kino, who was spitting blood.
Unlike those ordinary samurai, this guy was probably a retainer of that daimyo. If the daimyo died, this guy would probably commit seppuku. Instead of that, it's better to end his life decently.
"W, what was that move called?!" Genichiro Kino asked.
"King's Limit Slash was a name I made up. It's just a normal attack," Kiyosuke said.
"I see. The gap between us is really big." He coughed and asked, "Your name."
"Kiyosuke Asakawa."
"I'll remember it."
"Okay."
The katana stabbed into Genichiro Kino's heart.
Kiyosuke let go of the sword and charged towards the others with bare hands.
There were only a few people at Genichiro Kino's level. The rest were no match for Kiyosuke and were easily taken down.
The entire Daimyo's mansion was in chaos. Shouts of killing and screams filled the air. Anko groped her way to the room where the daimyo was. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Several venomous snakes slithered out of her sleeves and bit the throats of the sleeping daimyo and the beauty in his arms.
Suddenly feeling the pain, the daimyo opened his eyes and let out a painful scream.
"Daimyo - sama!"
Hearing his scream, a figure rushed in. Seeing the venomous snakes, he slashed them all to death with a sword. Looking at Anko, who was fleeing in a hurry, his eyes were filled with rage. "Bastard!"
"S, save me!"
The daimyo's voice came from behind. But then, with a mouthful of black blood spitting out, his head tilted to the side. He died of food poisoning.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the death of their lord, the samurai protecting the daimyo roared. Then a group of them rushed out, chasing Anko.
Tap - tap - tap - tap - tap!
Anko ran quickly on the roof tiles. Behind her, a group of samurai chased closely. Realizing the danger, Anko shouted, "Big brother, save me!!!!"
"Calling for help won't save you!!"
A samurai jumped up, raised his long sword, and chopped down at Anko.
"Big brother is here!"
A spear flew past Anko, piercing the samurai chasing her from behind and nailing him to the ground.
Kiyosuke jumped up, holding a spear he had taken from below.
Putting it on his shoulder, he said, "I'm here. Was I in time?"
Anko said angrily, "If you had come a little later, I would have been dead."
"You still need more training."
Kiyosuke said, looking at the group of people, and smiled. "Let's go. The mission is completed."
He grabbed Anko and was about to leave when he suddenly slipped and almost fell.
Looking at the spear in his hand as if he had seen a ghost, he said, "My god, does playing with a spear really bring bad luck? Is it true that lance - users are always unlucky?"
He threw away the spear in his hand and carried Anko away.
"Shoot! Shoot!!!"
Below, the samurai drew their bows, and a rain of arrows came flying.
"Erupting Flame!"
Kiyosuke opened his mouth and spat out a pillar of fire, burning all the arrows to ashes.
Two figures, one big and one small, quickly disappeared into the night.