A samurai who doesn't want to be a daimyo is not a good onmyoji

Chapter 171 Intelligence and Sincerity

As soon as Terutora Uesugi left, Asai Nagamasa heard Inugami let out a low cry: "Master, he seems to have noticed something is wrong with me." "Oh? What basis do you have?"

Asai Nagamasa also felt the same way. It was really that the other person's eyes before leaving were too deliberate, as if he was telling himself clearly: I have seen through you!
"A swordsman's intuition." Inugami answered.

Although it is a shikigami, it considers itself a swordsman, because in its life, it has defeated many enemies and killed many monsters with the sword in its hands. It can even be said that except for the sparrow monster and its master, it has no one in its hands. His sword is his third most cherished thing.

"Intuition? This is really a good answer."

Intuition is often unreasonable, but it cannot be denied that it is accurate, but I also have a kind of perception.

In the history books of his previous life, Terutora Uesugi never got close to women or had any male favorites throughout his life. Apart from fighting and drinking, he only devoted himself to Zen practice.

The cause of his death is also confusing. There are several theories, one of which is recorded as "big bug disease", which is a lingo for "menstruation". Some even say that he died of hemorrhage.

This also makes his gender a mystery. After all, if he is a man, how could he die from "menstrual" pain or even hemorrhage?
Combining his various behaviors during his lifetime, many people have made a very bold guess.

Asai Nagamasa, who has now personally seen the other person's appearance and met with him twice, is more and more certain of this speculation. This Uesugi Teruhu, Uesugi Kenshin, who will later be called the "God of War", may be his Her real gender is female, she is actually Uesugi sister!

If in the original world, due to lack of evidence, this kind of speculation was once regarded as nonsense. After all, it is too incredible for a female daimyo to unify Echigo and fight on the battlefield for decades.

But after seeing the other party's various performances today, Asai Nagamasa felt that this possibility had greatly increased. It was because there were too many coincidences. Even Uesugi Teruhu's dress deliberately concealed his true identity.

Even when he visited the general, he did not take off his armor. He was still wearing the armor that covered his chest and throat tightly. He looked very rude, which in itself was the biggest suspicion.

But no matter what the other person's real gender is, Asai Nagamasa has no intention of exposing the other person, because that will only hurt others and not benefit himself, just like he didn't expose himself. This is a kind of tacit understanding between them.

With this tacit understanding, I believe it will be easier for them to reach consensus on many matters regarding the Yixiang Sect in the future.

It's just that Kawafuji Taka clearly said before that he would introduce himself to Uesugi Teruhu to meet formally, so why has he disappeared now?
Just as he was muttering this in his heart, Asai Nagamasa saw Hosokawa Fujitaka trotting over, not only his expression was not as calm as usual, but there were even some shining beads of sweat on his forehead.

As soon as he saw his appearance, Asai Nagamasa's heart suddenly sank. He knew that an accident must have happened, and it was probably about a ship.

Sure enough, when we returned to Hosokawa Fujitaka's house, he said in a slight panic: "Sir Asai, I am very sorry. I have failed to fulfill your trust, and I am afraid that I will not be able to collect enough ships."

Asai Nagamasa didn't show any impatience. He still said in a gentle tone: "Futaka-sama, don't be anxious. Speak slowly. What is going on?"

If this path doesn't work, then it seems that I can only go to the wealthy merchants in Jiezhen and the Argot Chamber of Commerce for help, but in that case, I will definitely owe the other party a favor.

Seeing that Asai Nagamasa was not angry, Hosokawa Fujitaka finally took a breath: "Many people woke up early this morning and found that their ships had been damaged."

"There are rumors that there are monsters causing trouble in Lake Biwa. This time is just the beginning. It may be their turn next time. There are only a dozen intact boats left, and they can only transport less than 200 people at a time."

Asai Nagamasa suddenly felt a little strange: "There are monsters in Lake Biwa, how come I don't know about it? And what kind of monster only destroys ships but doesn't kill people?"

Hosokawa Fujitaka was stunned for a moment, and then he seemed to understand what Asai Nagamasa meant. He looked like he suddenly realized: "Asai-sama, you are saying that someone is acting under the guise of a monster? It is indeed possible. I used to I’ve never heard of anything unusual in Lake Biwa!”

Asai Nagamasa snorted: "If you carefully examine the traces of damage, you will know that humans use various tools, while ordinary monsters usually only use claws and teeth. It is easy to distinguish between the two."

He didn't believe that the other party couldn't see such a simple thing. This guy was probably pretending to be stupid. On the one hand, he was taking the opportunity to beat around the bush and flatter himself. On the other hand, he was probably aware of the hidden danger behind this, so he didn't want to go through with it. Mix more.

After all, he contacted dozens of families and wanted to borrow their boats, but after just one night, most of their boats were destroyed. This was obviously not something ordinary people could do.

For him who has no strength now, protecting his own safety is the most important thing. After all, he is a minister of the general. He only gets some money to do things for him. There is no need to risk his life.

"Ah, yes, Lord Asai, I'm going to check it out right now. In addition, a lot of the gold and silver you gave me before have been used. I'll go find them right away and get it back."

While speaking, Hosokawa Fujitaka actually blushed a little, because he really did such a bad job on this matter.

It would be nice to give myself a few more days. I just spent most of the day running around yesterday and finally managed to get this thing done. Unexpectedly, someone took advantage of the darkness to take advantage of my matter. Screwed!
Asai Nagamasa waved his hand: "Those are considered to be the hard work of Mr. Hosokawa. We spent a lot of money staying in your mansion. Besides, we may have to bother you a lot in the future."

Although the other party is playing tricks on him, he is not a loser after all, and his personal abilities are also very good. He also maintains a good relationship with the general, and there will be many places where he can be used in the future.

Hosokawa Fujitaka suddenly looked very moved, and then ignored the etiquette he usually abided by and ran off to do things. However, how much of it was real and how much was disguise was something that only he himself could do. knew.

Gently pinching his eyebrows and thinking about what to do next, Asai Nagamasa suddenly felt something strange. When he looked up, he found that Axiu was also looking at a certain location in the south. Obviously, she was also looking at a certain location in the south. Found something not quite right.

There is no doubt that there are peepers in the dark.

Asai Nagamasa suddenly felt a little bored. Really, whether it was the Ishiyama Gobo Honganji Temple, the Miyoshi Family, or any other force, if they dared to provoke him at this time, they would have to pay a price!

He reached out and took out a stack of paper talismans. With a shake of his hand, the talisman with mana immediately flew out against the wind for dozens of meters. Just when he was about to activate the mana, a black figure jumped out first.

"Wait, Master Asai, please don't get me wrong!"

Listening to this voice, Asai Nagamasa felt that it sounded a little familiar, and he paused his movements: "It turns out to be a ninja from Iga. Why are you lurking in secret to spy on us?"

Without any hesitation, the black-clothed ninja took off the mask that covered his face, revealing the face below that was not completely unfamiliar. As soon as he opened his mouth, he gave a very surprising message: "Master Asai, I brought my The boss, that is, the friendship of Mr. Bai Di San Taifu."

Asai Nagamasa suddenly became interested: "Oh, why did Ishikawa Goemon-sama say that?"

He remembered that he had met each other last time in the mountains. They were hunting some giant wolves that were obviously starting to become demonic.

But as the leader of the Iga ninjas, why did Momochi Santao come to him so proactively?

Did he fully see his potential, or did he see something else?

Probably because he had been told beforehand, Ishikawa Goemon didn't waste much words and went straight to the point.

"The boss recognizes your ability, Mr. Asai, and thinks that you are someone who can really achieve great things, so he wants to cooperate with you. In order to show our sincerity, we are willing to disclose some very valuable information to you for free."

In addition to undertaking tasks such as assassination and espionage, ninjas also sell various intelligences. In fact, this is also an important source of income for them.

"Oh? Thanks to the respect of Mr. Momochi Santafu, if possible, I would also like the Iga ninja to become my ally."

Although there are many ninja forces in Nippon, and almost all famous people will raise some ninjas, there are only a dozen or so that are really famous, and basically all of them have been loyal to the major forces early on.

The only ones who are strong enough and have no masters are the Iga ninjas now. If they can cooperate with me, that would be great. After all, the quality and quantity of the Asai family's own ninjas should not be mentioned.

"First of all, the information about the Owari Oda family. Since the previous civil strife in Qingsu Castle, Lord Asai, you defeated the evil demons, Oda Nobunaga began to officially pacify Owari."

"Oda Nobuhiro, the lord of Iwakura Castle who previously supported Oda Nobuyuki's rebellion, fled to Mino with his son and took shelter in the Saito family. Nobunaga's concubine brother Oda Nobuhiro surrendered. In the end, he was the mastermind of the rebellion. Oda Nobuyuki was afraid of the possible punishment. , therefore, committed suicide.”

The Oda family has a large population, and Oda Nobunaga's previous performance was too outrageous, so it is not only his younger brother who opposed him, but his uncle and elder brother also opposed and participated in this rebellion, but they did not have the right to inherit, so It's just without this head.

But when he heard the news that Oda Nobuyuki committed suicide, Asai Nagamasa still felt very surprised.

That guy was greedy for life and fearful of death, and had great ambitions but little talent. Apart from being a direct descendant of the Oda family and possessing a good skin, which earned him his mother's favor, he was a complete waste.

Normally, the more trash he is, the more he fears death. How could he commit suicide because of his so-called "fear"?I'm afraid he doesn't even have the courage to commit suicide!

But Asai Nagamasa thought about it again, and felt that this was probably the work of Oda Nobunaga.

Of course he knew how restless his younger brother was. Last time he knelt down and begged for mercy, and made a promise not to betray again, but the second rebellion still broke out. If there is a chance in the future, the third A fourth rebellion is not out of the question.

So he first spared the other party's life in public, then killed the other party in private to avoid future troubles, and then fabricated such a "suicide out of fear of crime", which was very consistent with his character.

Oda Nobunaga is not a truly heartless person, but his feelings will only be placed on a very few people, such as his sister Aichi, and his wife Nohime, but this is definitely not included in this Oda Nobuyuki .

"What do the rest of the Oda family think? Are there any rumors in Qingzhou City?"

"Everyone in the Oda family thinks that Nobuyuki is too cowardly, so he scared himself to death. Otherwise, the many bloodlines of the Oda family will join forces to revive the prestige of the Oda family and regain the lost land from the Imagawa family. The Qingzhou City is also It’s almost the same voice.”

"Oh, the same voice? Is it because he is afraid of Oda Nobunaga, or is this just what Nobunaga wants to hear?"

Sure enough, not only does he possess powerful power, but Oda Nobunaga's wisdom and political strategy are also extraordinary.But the more the other party acted like this, the more interested Asai Nagamasa became.

On your way to the world, what role will the other party play?friend?enemy?Or a competitor who is also a friend and foe?
Ishikawa Goemon shook his head. Although he was very powerful, he was not a wise nin. He could not understand the twists and turns. He was just delivering information from the leader.

"Very good, I'm very satisfied with this information, is there anything else?"

Ishikawa Goemon's face immediately became serious: "The second one is about monsters."

"I don't know why, but ninjas all over Nippon have discovered that the number and frequency of monsters have begun to increase significantly. Ancient battlefields, rivers where people drowned, places where thieves abandoned their bodies, and even various animals in the wild, There is a possibility that monsters that can kill people and eat people will suddenly appear."

"If we were just like those wolf demons before, we could still cope with it at some cost, but gradually some legendary ghosts appeared, and they were not even afraid of swords."

He seemed to have thought of something extremely terrifying. Even after experiencing many battles, as a jounin of Iga, he could not completely control his fearful expression for a while.

Ninjas are a profession born in the dark. They are used to lurking in various hidden places. When passing on information, they also choose various sparsely populated roads, just to avoid accidents.

But this habit has caused them a lot of damage recently. Places with few humans are not safe places because monsters are likely to appear there!

Although the Iga ninjas are very good at killing people, they really don't have much to do when facing the legendary monsters.

Asai Nagamasa pondered for a moment, and he guessed that the reason why the other party rushed to show his favor to him was probably because he took a fancy to his identity as an Onmyoji, right?
Perhaps the Iga ninjas were really traumatized, which prompted Santai Fu to make such a decision.

"Since you were able to find me here in time, it means that you Iga ninjas must have been observing and tracking me for a long time. I might as well tell you that I also encountered some monsters."

"Most monsters have one thing in common, that is, they are afraid of thunder and fire. Although it is difficult for ordinary fire to cause any harm to powerful monsters, it can at least delay it a little and buy you some time to escape."

If it were to deal with the beastmen and the like last night, swords and ordinary fire could certainly play a considerable role.

However, for those who can use water power like the Three Eyes and Eight Faces, or Prajna, or even the demonized Hashihime, some ordinary fire has no other effect at all except possibly irritating the opponent, so Asai Nagamasa did not say anything. Too full.

"Thank you, Mr. Asai, for reminding us, but indeed, facing those powerful monsters, we can only choose to escape."

Ishikawa Goemon has always been known for his superb ninjutsu, but he never thought that one day he would be as resigned to his fate as he is now.

Asai Nagamasa nodded: "The monster you just mentioned that was transformed from an animal, is it the one with the head of an animal and a body, walking upright, and can be hurt by swords?"

"Yes, Master Asai, although they are of different types, some have sheep heads and some have dog heads, they are generally human-shaped, and they do bleed and be killed."

"Although after turning into monsters, they are much thicker and thicker than ordinary animals, we Iga ninjas are not completely powerless to fight back."

While speaking, Ishikawa Goemon was a little proud, not only because he had killed more than ten beast monsters with his own hands, but the boss even personally killed two bull-headed monsters that were several meters tall and looked like the legendary Netherworld Judge. Now The corpse is still deep in the secret room of Iga no Sato.

After the tendons are severed, the opponent will fall down and bleed. After the throat is cut, the opponent will also die. In comparison, this kind of beast monster is even easier than those resurrected skeletons or zombies. Deal with some.

Asai Nagamasa can almost confirm that the other party should be talking about beastmen, not real monsters. Real monsters are not that weak.

"Very good, I understand. Tell Mr. Baidi Santaifu, next time if a monster appears, remember to search for this kind of stone nearby."

As he spoke, Asai Nagamasa took out a spiritual stone: "This is a spiritual stone that gives birth to monsters. Be careful. Long-term exposure to them will cause great harm to ordinary people. Only I, as an Onmyoji, can Purify the evil within."

"If it is a spiritual stone that emits golden light, put it in a sealed box and bring it to me. If it is a green spiritual stone, you have to be careful whether there are animals or corpses nearby that have been transformed into monsters."

Although spirit stones contain rich energy, to ordinary people, spirit stones are actually no different from poison. Even corpses that come into contact with spirit stones will turn into ghouls. What good end can happen to living people?

Especially the green spiritual stones newly discovered yesterday, they are even more threatening. Even with his current strength, it takes a lot of effort to purify the filth in them.

Looking at the light emitted by the spirit stone, Ishikawa Goemon's pupils suddenly shrank, because he was no stranger to this kind of stone with a special appearance.

The Iga ninjas even collected some. They originally planned to process them and then sell them, but they didn't expect them to be so dangerous?
He took a deep breath: "Yes, thank you Mr. Asai, I will tell the boss."

Asai Nagamasa nodded, then stretched out his hand to make a "please" gesture, indicating to the other party to continue speaking.

"The third thing is, I know who destroyed those ships, and we in Iga also received their entrustment."

Speaking of this, Ishikawa Goemon's tone obviously changed, and he seemed to be gloating.

Asai Nagamasa suddenly narrowed his eyes: "Is he a monk from the Ichigo Sect?"

Although the tone was questioning, looking at his expression, it was clear that he was convinced.

Ishikawa Goemon, who was still a little gloating about his misfortune, suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and was very surprised by the other party's acumen and wisdom.

He seemed to understand more and more why he had fully assisted the general in the first place but did not receive any feedback afterwards. Therefore, the boss who swore that he would never be loyal to the samurai would change his mind and make that decision again.

Because the young man in front of him and the former general were completely different in terms of strength and wisdom.

"It's the Wishing Temple family in Long Island City. They bought information about you, Mr. Asai, and asked us to follow you with all our strength. They have deep malice towards you. Although there is no direct evidence, they seem to believe that you and their young master died It’s inseparable.”

Asai Nagamasa didn't think he could hide it for too long, especially it was even more difficult to hide it from Iga Ninja and Oda Nobunaga, so he didn't quibble: "Indeed, the Ichiko sect never needs evidence, as long as they suspect , that’s enough.”

Ishikawa Goemon nodded quickly: "Yes, sometimes even I can't help but sigh that they are indeed too domineering. And they also destroyed the boats on the shore of Lake Biwa in secret. Those big bald heads in the moonlight It’s still very conspicuous under the light.”

Asai Nagamasa snorted coldly: "It seems like they are waiting for the opportunity to kill me and my troops in one fell swoop?"

After a slight hesitation, Ishikawa Goemon finally chose to tell the truth frankly: "Yes, Wanzhengji Temple has prepared a monk army of several hundred people, and it seems that they are in contact with the Zaga community, but they are still there. If they haven’t all rushed to the nearby area, even if they are from the Yixiang Sect, the daimyo along the way will not let them easily pass by.”

Although when a large-scale battle actually occurs, several nearby forces can raise tens of thousands of troops, but in normal times, their standing troops may only be a few hundred thousand, and they are scattered in various places. local, so they will not easily let so many troops belonging to other forces enter the country.

"Miscellaneous? Those professional mercenaries who are famous for their iron guns? This is indeed a bit troublesome."

Although Asai Nagamasa himself also trained some iron artillerymen during this period, their training time was too short, and they were completely incomparable to the Zaga soldiers who had fought in dozens of battles. .

Moreover, maybe Kofukuji and the Tsutsui family will never lend the passage to the Nagashima Castle Ichikazu clan, but the Rokkaku family will almost certainly borrow the passage. The death of themselves, the young master of the Asai family, will definitely be a big deal for their Rokkaku family. Great thing!

However, even if all the more than 1000 people were lost, Asai Nagamasa would only feel a pity, and even the actions he would take next would not have a particularly serious impact, but how could he let the other party get what he wanted? ?

Not only himself, Dao Zuojian, A Guo and others also devoted a lot of effort to them.

Momochi Santafu chose to send out ninjas at this critical time and made a request for alliance. He must have guessed what he was thinking and thought he had no better choice, right?

But even so, he decided to take this bait, because he absolutely could not let Yuanzhengji's conspiracy come true!

So he asked bluntly: "I do need the ships of your Iga clan. I wonder what your request is regarding the alliance with this clan?"

Ishikawa Goemon was immediately stagnant again. Although he said that he was revealing information to the other party, he felt that he was being restrained from beginning to end in this meeting.

But fortunately, the boss is not too bad. He and many think tank ninjas made several guesses in advance: "The boss wants some power that allows us ninjas to fight monsters, and a promise."

"promise?"

Asai Nagamasa thought for a moment, and then he immediately guessed a possibility. He couldn't help but want to laugh. Now, is Momochi Santafu still obsessed with his identity as a samurai?
"Okay, I agree. I can choose some qualified ninjas and teach some Yin Yang techniques. But how much I can learn depends on their talents. But the time, place and number of people are all up to me to decide."

"As for the promise that Mr. San Taifu of Hundred Lands cares about, besides being a warrior, I can guarantee that once it becomes a major event, you ninjas will also be able to enjoy your own land and salary!"

Ishikawa Goemon was immediately overjoyed. The reason why their boss chose to help the shogun in the first place was to obtain the status of a samurai. Unfortunately, the shogun broke his promise afterwards, and the promise fell into nothing. Unexpectedly, Lord Asai agreed so readily. , and there are unexpected surprises.

Sure enough, the boss made the right decision!

He nodded quickly: "Thank you, Mr. Asai. I will repay the boss right now. The boss will definitely be willing to come to see you in person to discuss a formal alliance. With his pace, he will be able to reach Kyoto soon!"

"Very good, I also have some questions that I would like to ask Mr. Third Taifu in person!"

(End of this chapter)