The group left the lord's residence and was temporarily accommodated at Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi's house.
"I used to live here, you know. Uncle Mata took care of me."
In Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi's small courtyard, Nohara Shinnosuke introduced this to Nohara Hiroshi and Nohara Misae.
Although this fellow was usually unreliable and often did things that made people laugh and cry.
But sometimes, he was also very sensible.
"Thank you so much."
Nohara Misae quickly said, expressing her gratitude.
Nohara Hiroshi next to her also did the same.
"It's nothing, these are just trivial matters."
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi waved his hand, speaking with a hint of worry on his face.
"Uncle Mata, why are you looking so troubled?"
Seeing his expression, Nohara Shinnosuke asked.
"Lord Kasuga rejected the marriage alliance with the Okurai clan. They will undoubtedly harbor resentment, and now the Okurai clan's army is not far from our Kasuga Castle. They might even use this as an excuse to launch an attack on us."
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi sat on the tatami, his voice somewhat low.
As a skilled general leading troops, from his perspective, Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi was very clear about how powerful the Okurai clan's army was.
Not only that, but he was also aware of their current strength.
Even if they sought help from other neighboring countries, no one would dare to assist at this time.
Isolated and helpless.
The entire Kasuga Castle was now like an isolated island in the vast sea.
"Are we going to war?"
Hearing his words, Nohara Misae couldn't help but exclaim.
As modern people, hearing about war naturally filled them with fear.
"Most likely."
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi didn't hide anything and nodded.
"If you want to leave, it's best to do so tomorrow morning. Otherwise, if you wait past tomorrow, it will be difficult to leave once the Okurai clan's army surrounds us."
Upon hearing this, Nohara Hiroshi and his wife's expressions changed slightly.
Ohara Nanako's expression also became a bit tense.
"Sister Nanako, don't be scared, I'll protect you!"
Nohara Shinnosuke was very sensitive. Seeing this, he immediately ran eagerly to Ohara Nanako's side, puffing out his chest and declaring confidently.
"Thank you, Shin-chan, you're a real man."
Ohara Nanako looked at Nohara Shinnosuke's cute appearance, smiled gently, and thanked him.
"Hehe, it's not that great, actually."
Nohara Shinnosuke scratched his head, chuckling.
As he was speaking, Ohara Nanako turned to look at Kobayashi Itsuki, who had a calm expression.
"Teacher Kobayashi, aren't you nervous?"
"Not really, being nervous doesn't help, does it?"
Kobayashi Itsuki shrugged and said to Ohara Nanako, "If we can leave tomorrow morning, that would be for the best. If not, it's better to think of a way to stop the Okurai clan's attack."
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi looked at Kobayashi Itsuki and nodded in agreement, "Kobayashi-kun is right."
"Oh~ As expected of Teacher Kobayashi."
Nohara Shinnosuke clapped his hands from the side.
Ohara Nanako curiously asked Kobayashi Itsuki, "Teacher Kobayashi, I heard Shin-chan say something about you taking down dozens of people and not even being afraid of handguns. What was that about?"
Kobayashi Itsuki had never really talked to Ohara Nanako about his act of bravery, so she didn't know.
Hearing this topic brought up, the Nohara couple also cast curious glances.
"It's nothing much, I have a friend who's a police officer, right? Some time ago, I encountered something and acted heroically…"
Kobayashi Itsuki briefly told them about his incident with Higashimatsuyama Yone.
Listening to Kobayashi Itsuki's words, Ohara Nanako couldn't help but widen her eyes.
When she heard Nohara Shinnosuke mention it before, she just thought it was Kobayashi Itsuki joking with the children at Kindergarten.
It turned out that this wasn't a joke at all, it was all true?!
This truly surprised Ohara Nanako, because in her eyes, Kobayashi Itsuki was just a light novel author.
She somewhat held preconceived notions, like him being a recluse and so on.
Although Kobayashi Itsuki didn't act overly dramatically, what he accomplished was still somewhat difficult for people to immediately accept.
"Wait, let me process this, Teacher Kobayashi. Are you saying you subdued over ten yakuza members barehanded, dealt with an armed international criminal, and weren't injured even after a whole clip of bullets was fired?"
"Mhm, something like that."
Kobayashi Itsuki nodded, omitting the detail that all of this was accomplished while holding Higashimatsuyama Yone in his arms.
"Hiss..."
Nohara Hiroshi gasped, looking at Kobayashi Itsuki with a face full of admiration.
As a man, besides admiration for Kobayashi Itsuki's achievements, he didn't know what else to say.
"What do you think, Uncle Mata? Isn't Teacher Kobayashi amazing!"
Nohara Shinnosuke said this to Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi, who was standing beside him.
"Very impressive, but didn't you say there are no more Samurai in the future? How can your teacher still possess such powerful skill?"
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi looked at Kobayashi Itsuki with curiosity and a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
"Just some hobbies, really. Compared to a general like Ijiri-kun who actually leads armies into battle, I'm certainly far behind."
Kobayashi Itsuki smiled at Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi and spoke modestly.
"Kobayashi-kun is too modest. Speaking of which, I wonder if I could spar with you, Kobayashi-kun?"
Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi spoke sincerely, looking at Kobayashi Itsuki expectantly.
During this period, Samurai, as the middle stratum of the nation, held considerable power.
They not only needed a certain level of personal strength and martial arts but also the ability to lead troops into battle.
In both of these aspects, Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi was among the best of the best.
Leading troops into battle goes without saying.
He had also never stopped honing his personal martial arts skill.
Every day, he continuously refined his martial arts.
Now that he had encountered a young "expert" from the future, Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi, who possessed a touch of martial arts fanaticism, naturally felt excited to see a worthy opponent.
It wasn't that he wanted to determine who was superior or anything.
Rather, he wanted to use the spar to see the difference between the future and the present.
What advancements had been made in techniques, what he could learn, and whether he could further improve his own martial arts.
Hearing this request, Kobayashi Itsuki was stunned, then felt somewhat troubled.
He knew his own strength best.
If they were to fight to the death, forget just one of him—even a few more wouldn't be his opponent.
The Invisible Hand would instantly kill Ijiri Matabei Yoshitoshi before he even figured out what was happening.
But if it was just a spar, what could he use to spar?
************
[PS: I've released so many chapters, isn't it reasonable to ask for some power stones!]