Unparalleled Double Harmony

There is no moon in the gods, the branches are dyed with light frost, and the winter is getting stronger.

In this cold season, the daimyos from all over the world 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 sound their golden drums, preparing 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, there may be more soldiers who died of cold and hunger than those who were killed. The big names will still settle the account.

However, not fighting on the frontal battlefield does not mean that the war is suspended.

Those ninjas on the intelligence battlefield have no time to rest.

In the afternoon of this day, four people gathered in a deserted house outside the village of Hasumi Village (an ancient place name, probably located in the southwestern part of today's Shimane Prefecture, which has now been merged into part of Onan Town).

Among them, the one who is obviously in charge looks about 36 years old, with a medium height and a plain appearance; his clothes are very simple, his tanned skin and slightly sloppy beard are also ordinary people at that time normality.

But it is such a very inconspicuous person, whose real identity is a ninja leader named Ma Sugi Shigezo of the Ueda Clan of the Shinano Kingdom.

Shigezo is a master from the Koga-ryu. He was originally sent by the Rokaku clan to serve as a spy under Takeda Shingen, but after a while, he rebelled against his original master because he believed that Takeda was a wise master who could be entrusted to him. , and turned to Takeda.

And Takeda Shingen, known as the "Tiger of Kai", is undoubtedly a wily man.

Takeda thought about this matter: Although Shigezo said he was moved by my magnanimity and wanted to abandon the dark and turn to the bright, I am not sure that his surrender is sincere, because it may also be a strategy for him to gain my trust; Taking a step back, even if his surrender is sincere, if he can betray others today, can't he betray 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, this will make other people with different hearts lurking around me It is also not good for me to completely cut off the illusion of saving my life after confessing.

After Takeda Shingen had settled the account in his mind, he struggled for a while, and finally gave Shigeno a trick - real job and empty work.

What does that mean?

That is, Takeda actually gave Shigeno a position of considerable power, and let Shigeno serve 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 in Shikoku and Kyushu , Their mission is to collect intelligence from various forces in these areas, and then regularly hand it over to Zhongzang, who then collects and reports the information.

However, for the current Takeda Shingen, the information in these places...is all "fictitious".

Because his territory is in Kanto, and there is 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 to be able to live by yourself.

That is to say, Takeda just listened to these things reported by Chongzang, and if you want to report the truth, you can report the truth, and he doesn't care if the report is false.

In this way, Takeda can be regarded as "properly placed" Shizou.

As for Shigezo, he somewhat understood Takeda's intentions, but he also understood Takeda's difficulties, so he didn't resent him.

Shigezo believes that as long as he works diligently to perform the duties assigned to him by Takeda, in the future Takeda will deal with the enemies in Kanto, and sooner or later he will expand westward. At that time, his intelligence value will be different. Huiyan will definitely give back to his loyalty and ability accordingly.

Right now, Shigezo is in contact with a three-member team responsible for collecting intelligence in the Kyushu region under his command.

You must have guessed that these three people are exactly the "family of three" who were rescued by Shuangxie and Keijiro at the port of Shimonoseki in the previous document.

The one who plays the role of "father" is Gengoro, who is a few years younger than Shizo, but his strength is much worse. He is only a ninja.

The little boy who plays the role of "son" is named Xiaosuke. Although he is still young, he can be regarded as a ninja just like Gengoro.

And Azhi, who plays the role of "mother", that is, the female ninja who briefly fought against Sun Yixie and successfully escaped, is the strongest of the three ninjas and their team leader.

The deserted house where the four of them joined is located near the boundary between the Mori and Nizi lands. As the saying goes, "the most dangerous place is the safest place", such a place that could become a battlefield at any time, but neither side People are in charge.

Therefore, the two sides also successfully completed the transfer of information.

After finishing talking about the "inside the mission", Shigezo chatted with three of his subordinates.

Some people may say, shouldn't every second count against espionage work, be vigilant at all times, and everyone go their own way immediately after delivering the intelligence?
That actually depends on the situation... Not all occasions need to do that.

As far as conditions permit, the boss and subordinates can establish a certain degree of friendship, or at least create an atmosphere of "sympathy for subordinates" on the surface, which has a miraculous effect on maintaining the loyalty of subordinates.

Because no matter what kind of training you undergo, people are people after all, and there are only a very small number of people who are born with anti-social tendencies. The emotional needs of the vast majority of people cannot be completely wiped out.

If you want to employ people, you must first understand them; using human nature is far better than obliterating human nature.

In many cases, compared with the coercion of the so-called "righteousness" that is fake and empty, perhaps a seemingly unintentional greeting in a certain year and a certain month can make people work harder for you.

As a veteran ninja who has already betrayed himself, Shigeno knows this well...

He knew that each of these people who have been engaged in espionage work outside the country for many years has wavered, but there is something deeply buried in their minds or hearts that allows them to persuade themselves when they waver and regain their firmness.

So for Shigezo, this kind of "chatting" is part of his job. He is quietly planting more seeds of loyalty in the hearts of his subordinates.

But today, he didn't expect that, chatting...something happened.

"Oh? How could anyone survive your surprise attack under such circumstances?" Chongzang couldn't help feeling a little bit surprised after hearing A Zhi's brief confrontation with Sun Yixie.

"Yes." Azhi replied, "The moment my sickle blade hit his body, it was like cutting on a hard turtle shell, but it made my hands numb from the shock, which is why people are so weird. , I judged that it was not appropriate to fight with him, so I chose to retreat..."

"That's not all." Xiaosuke interjected at this moment, "The other two are also very powerful!" He said, turning his head to look at Gengoro, "Mr. Gengoro, isn't that right?"

"Hmm..." Gengoro responded, and then followed Xiaosuke's words, and said to Shigezo, "Master Shigezo, as Xiaosuke said, those two people who made a fuss on the coast are also rare masters." ..." He paused, as if recalling the scene at that time, and then said, "The one who calls himself Keijiro, according to the observations of his subordinates, his spear skills may not be inferior to Sanada-sama; and the other one with a short neck Weird man, he just picks up stones on the ground and throws them out, and he can cause damage not inferior to that of a firecracker... This subordinate has practiced shuriken skills for many years, but compared to his ability, I can only do it myself. Sigh."

"HO~" Hearing this, Chongzang uttered such a sound from his mouth, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Seeing this, Ah Zhi and the other three didn't dare to interrupt their train of thought, they just waited silently.

After a moment of silence, Chongzang spoke again: "I heard... those big warriors on the other side of the sea are good at practicing internal skills. Use internal force to push the hidden weapon, change its speed and even the flight trajectory..."

If it weren't for the fact that Ma Shan Shigezo could be the leader of this gang 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 showed surprise.

"What?" Gengoro exclaimed, "Is internal strength really so magical? It's unbelievable...it's simply a black art."

"Could it be... some kind of trick?" Azhi's reaction was calmer, she calmed down a little, and after thinking for a few seconds, she speculated, "For example... a person who looks invulnerable is actually wearing a The 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 technique beyond your ability and cognition, don't immediately go looking for some To make far-fetched interpretations of things that are familiar to you, because the cost of being wrong in your assumptions will be very costly."

"Yes." Ah Zhi hurriedly lowered his head, and said shamelessly, "Ah Zhi will definitely remember Master Chongzang's teachings."

Zhongzang saw that the other party was being educated humbly, and nodded with satisfaction: "Well... Anyway, it seems that there is a story behind this accidental encounter on the way back... It seems that I need to confirm it myself."

"My lord, we can go with you at any time." Gengoro immediately bowed his head and begged for orders.

But Azhi didn't move, because she had heard that Shigezo's implication was to go alone.

"Hey~ You guys just finished a long-term mission, and you're tired on the road. You'd better lie down and rest for a while. When I come back, I'll leave a code at the old place to contact you." Chongzang said, standing up , "Exactly, I also want to go to activities."

When the words fell, his figure had rushed upwards like a bolt of lightning (most of the roof of this barren house had been broken long ago, so he could jump in and out at will), and disappeared in front of the three of them.

"Master Shigezo...is it alright?" Xiaosuke was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at the two people around him and asked.

"Heh..." Ah Zhi replied confidently, "My lord is just taking care of our face. To put it bluntly, it's much easier for him to act alone than to bring us..."