As a branch family of the Ashina clan, with their family head called "uncle" by Genichiro Ashina, many Hirata family samurai had either studied or observed Ashina-style swordsmanship. Hirata Goro, as the family head's son, was intimately familiar with this sword technique. Even in his spiritual form, he took two panicked steps backward.
Bella drew her sword!
In terms of pure swordsmanship, she was inferior to Isshin Ashina, but her strength was greater—and strength was the foundation of all martial arts. She violently drew the blade from its sheath.
The blade vibrated intensely within the scabbard. At the instant of drawing, her power reached its peak.
Psychic energy clung to the blade. An energy slash more brilliant and more deadly than the sword light itself struck the Shura in an instant.
This demon was far from the point of rebirth. Even reaching its limit within Hirata Goro's body was merely a temporary transfer point. It would have waited for someone else to slay Hirata Goro before transforming into even more resentment and hatred to transfer over.
But Bella had disrupted its plan.
A horizontal slash, then a wrist rotation, quickly following with another strike—a perfect cross-shaped cut.
The blade didn't harm Hirata Goro's body, but instead followed the intense negative energy signature to strike the Shura's spirit form.
"Ahhh!—Ahhh—!" A piercing, ear-splitting sound burst forth instantly. All the survivors were knocked down by the invisible shockwave. The Shura's spirit form was cut into four pieces, then transformed into black smoke that rapidly dissipated from the scene.
Only after it completely vanished did Bella look down at the flames on the blade—the famous hellfire, left on the sword as spoils of her kill.
Without her suppression, Hirata Goro's soul was automatically pulled back into his body.
The instant he returned to his body, he knew the Shura he'd deliberately cultivated for Ashina had been slain.
"How dare you?!..." He wanted to roar in fury, but facing Bella's gaze, without that surging violent energy supporting him, his true nature took over, and he instantly became hesitant.
"What was that? Mumbling like that, and you wanted to raise Shura!" Bella spoke with utmost seriousness. "I'm keeping your sword. Go find another one later!"
Hirata Goro was still suppressed by her presence.
Before he could speak, Bella let out an exaggerated "Ah!" and collapsed dramatically to the ground.
An extremely quiet voice reached his ear: "Play along."
"Yes!"
Might makes right—that was the hard truth. Hirata Goro had seen her Ashina-style swordsmanship and assumed she had some secret mission, deliberately hiding among these "outsiders."
As someone utterly loyal to his family, he naturally wouldn't expose her. Instead, he cooperated with the act.
By the time everyone stood up, Bella had risen as well. From when she drew her sword, said a couple sentences, to when she collapsed, the entire sequence took at most fifteen seconds.
The many survivors had suffered the sonic impact of the Shura's death throes and were all in a dazed state. Combined with the language barrier, they simply couldn't discern the truth of what had happened in that split second.
Ten minutes later, everyone worked together to organize all necessary supplies and prepared to head to the Hirata Estate on the Dragonspring River side.
Bella maintained her core philosophy of acting like an ordinary person, but definitely not playing dumb. She now walked at the very front of the group under the pretext of teaching Hirata Goro English.
Following behind them were Kyujiro and Iwata, shouldering their spears, watching Bella's back with extremely complicated feelings.
They'd spent over a year in Ashina, exposed daily to Japan's hierarchical system, and hated it to their bones. Now Bella had instantly surpassed a year of their hard-fought struggles, jumping directly over their heads. They were dissatisfied, but dissatisfaction meant nothing—they could only endure it.
Behind them followed the main group, over a hundred people strong.
Those with suitcases carried suitcases. Those without grabbed pieces of plane wreckage—high-quality metal, extremely useful for forging weapons.
Many survivors hadn't yet recognized their dire circumstances. Most still clung to an ostrich mentality.
Seeing Bella receive VIP treatment, they relaxed as well. According to many people's thinking, they were still on Earth. These Japanese "friends" were preparing to take them back to eat, then contact the embassy.
The spears, the samurai, the dead Japanese people—none of that existed. Those Japanese were spies. They deceived themselves, stubbornly believing Hirata Goro and his group were a rescue team sent by Japan.
A few perceptive people felt their hearts filled with fear for the future, but for now could only take things one step at a time.
Bella ignored everyone else's thoughts, continuously asking questions. Hirata Goro assumed she was a female samurai sent by the main Ashina house. What he knew, he answered. What he didn't know, he shook his head.
Under the interference of numerous "transmigrators," the world's progression still differed somewhat from Bella's memories.
The Hirata family hadn't been massacred, the mountain bandits hadn't been slaughtered, and the ninja called Wolf had always been by Lord Kuro's side.
The "transmigrators" had brought many conceptual innovations.
The first two plane crashes, due to their landing locations, had provided both the Ashina clan and the Interior Ministry army with considerable quantities of high-strength alloys.
Lacking proper cutting tools, the forged swords and armor could only equip a minority of high-ranking individuals, but this still impacted both sides' combat capabilities.
Surveying and mapping, drilling pike formations, gathering archers for covering fire tactics, cavalry charge tactics—and combining the Ashina clan's Eagle Kite techniques with the "transmigrators'" knowledge, they'd actually created a hot air balloon for reconnaissance.
Now the Ashina clan, Hirata family, and Interior Ministry army—every high-ranking samurai had a watch.
According to the "transmigrators," watches could precisely tell time. The samurai thought it unnecessary—they could just look at the sun to know the time. Why wear this thing? But they discovered that when launching simultaneous attacks from multiple directions, having accurate watches was indeed more convenient.
For victory in war, humans could abandon any fixed notions. This minor habitual change of wearing watches was smoothly accepted.
Those who proposed building proper toilets were sent to build toilets. Those who wanted to improve matchlock guns became craftsmen.
The modern medicines carried by "transmigrators" even alleviated the serious illness of Ashina's lord, Isshin Ashina. Hearing this, Bella curled her lip. During their previous sparring match, she'd noticed—the old man was full of vigor, nowhere near death's door.
Seventy-three and eighty-four are said to be dangerous ages. The old man was seventy-two this year. If he made it past this year's hurdle, he might live several more years.
Bella sighed repeatedly. Her predecessors had done everything possible to show their worth. After thinking for ages, she couldn't think of anything to improve—they'd done everything that should and shouldn't have been done!
These people worked hard and tried their best, but their individual combat ability was too low. In this brutal age where might made right, they simply couldn't speak with the upper echelons.
In terms of details, they contributed greatly, but they'd made relatively few changes to the overall situation.