Sugitani hung her beloved longbow on a nearby branch and listened to the sound of the horse's hooves approaching with no love. She knew that the Red Leaf Army was about to arrive to capture the Assassins, but she had no desire to survive. Anyway, the meaning of life has been lost, so why is there any need to survive?

When it came to the end, my mind relaxed and I began to think about something that was not boundary. In her mind, the image of the girl from her childhood vaguely came to mind. While other girls are keen on dressing up, she spends her days with bows and arrows. When she was a child, her father sharpened her with a knife, then a dusty soft bow that she found in an unknown warehouse, then the longbow that she begged her mother to buy for her, and to this day, her beloved longbow, which was given to her by a Nanban merchant who passed through Minami-Omi.

Although her arrows were accurate and fast, her father had never shown the slightest interest in her marksmanship. She didn't know if it was because she was a girl - there were a lot of female ninjas in Koga, or because she didn't follow her father's wishes to learn iron cannons, like her brothers.

"Bows and arrows are outdated." When his daughter invited him to watch her shoot arrows, Sugitani shook his head disdainfully and said, "It's useless to learn that thing." In the future, it will be the era of iron cannons. ”

"Father, it's not." Sugi Wen relied on her father to spoil herself since she was a child, and grabbed her father's arm coquettishly, "Look, it's not like I use a bow and arrow now!" There are so many ninjas, how many of them use iron cannons? ”

"That's what they're looking at." Sugitani replied without thinking.

"But the bow and arrow shoot far, shoot accurately, shoot fast, why use iron cannons and such things!" Sugitani Wen still pestered her father and asked, "Where is the iron cannon?" ”

"It's powerful." Even when answering his daughter's question, Sugitani's language was so concise, "A bow and arrow can't kill a person wearing armor, but an iron cannon can." ”

"But..."

"There's nothing to do." Sugitani Zenjubo didn't seem interested in talking any more, shook off Sugitani's hand, turned his head and said coldly to her, "It's useless to practice these things, sooner or later you will be eliminated by the iron cannon." I saw that you were a girl, and there would definitely be no future for you, so I let you practice. If you are my son, if you dare to practice this useless bow and arrow again, your hand will be broken for him. ”

Sugitani Wen listened to her father's mean words, but the indifferent back did not cry, but just clenched her fists tightly. From that moment on, she made up her mind to make a name for herself in her bow and arrow, to become a famous female ninja in Koga, and to make her father retract his contemptuous words at the moment.

However, she did not wait for that moment, but waited for the news of her father's death. According to those who returned, the father died at the hands of a blonde and blue-eyed foreigner archer. And his mission that time was to assassinate the Oda family's Yuqiu Momiji.

Yes, at the hands of an archer, not an iron gunner. This is a great irony for my father. originally made an appointment to fight with the opponent with an iron cannon, which is indeed what her father, who madly worships the iron cannon, can do. But in the end, he was killed by an arrow. The archer he has always looked down upon.

Father, you see, the bow and arrow still have its meaning, don't they?

·

Sugitani Wen has to admit that her father is indeed very far-sighted. In the years following his death, iron cannons began to appear more and more on the battlefield, replacing the bow and arrow. In front of the iron cannon, the bow and arrow really seem to have become an old antique that should have been eliminated a long time ago. Every time I heard the latest information from other ninjas, and heard what iron cannons were shining on the battlefield again, Sugitani Wen felt very uncomfortable.

Many years have passed, and the thought of her father's death no longer brings her to tears. However, Sugitani has always had a subtle obsession in her heart, and she attributes her father's death to his contempt for bows and arrows. I don't know what the idea is, whether it is to prove himself to his late father in one breath, or to untie the knot in his heart by proving that the bow and arrow are stronger than the iron cannon. Anyway, Sugitani Wen had such an idea in her heart - she wanted to use a bow and arrow to do something that her father couldn't do with an iron cannon - to assassinate Yu Qiuping.

After the brothers died in the encirclement and suppression of the Oda family without leaving an heir, Sugitani became the heir of the Sugitani family and had the power to mobilize all the resources of the Sugitani family. So, she put all her manpower and material resources into the assassination plan of Yu Qiuping regardless of it. Finally, the hard work paid off, and she found such an opportunity - this opportunity in front of her. She felt that as long as she could do this, then she would have no regrets in her whole life. She can also go to the other world in peace, go to her father, and proudly show off her skills to him.

But she failed, and she could do it.

Sugitani Wen sighed, her eyes slightly moistened, and the scenery in front of her was blurred. As the sound of horses' hooves approached, she realized that the cavalry of the Red Leaf Army was getting closer and closer. She stood up against the stone, and made up her mind to die just like that.

Until she saw the leader of the cavalry, a blonde and blue-eyed foreign archer.

·

"Are you Thompson Charlie!" Sugitani raised her hand in disbelief and pointed at the knight on the horse, who carried a long, exaggerated bow on his back, just like hers. She never forgot the name of the enemy who killed her father.

"You are—" Charlie glanced at the unarmed girl in front of him, and the longbow she hung from a branch beside her. He froze for a moment, and then turned his gaze to the girl's hands—the marks of those of a man wielding a longbow.

"Longbowmen?"

"Yes, or the ninja's daughter you killed." Sugitani Wen looked fearlessly at the Ming Di Bei cavalry who had outflanked her in front of her.

"Which ninja?" Charlie looked at his blood-stained hands, not understanding who Sugitani was referring to.

"Seven years ago, the ninja who made an appointment with you to fight the iron cannon alone." Sugitani Wen stared at Charlie's blue eyes and said in a deep voice, "You should remember him." ”

"The gentleman? I certainly won't forget. He was a great iron gunner, and at the same time a gentleman who kept his word. Charlie nodded thoughtfully, "You're his daughter?" Is your purpose this time for revenge? ”

"No, I'm here to prove to my father's Heavenly Spirit that bows and arrows are no weaker than iron cannons, but now I've failed, there's no point." Shangu Wen shook her head, and said a little lonely, "I am the one who assassinated the Yuqiu Division, if you want to kill or chop, listen to it." ”

When the other horsemen beside Charlie heard this, they turned over and dismounted, preparing to capture her. However, Charlie suddenly waved his hand and motioned for everyone to stop.

"Miss, why do you think you've failed?"

"What my father failed with an iron cannon, I failed with a bow and arrow." Sugitani Wen laughed miserably and glanced at his longbow hanging from a tree branch, "The rich daimyo and samurai have replaced their bows and arrows with iron cannons in the army. When archers and gunners shoot at each other, they die for life. Isn't it clear who is strong and who is weak? ”

Charlie didn't answer directly, nor did he shake his head, but looked over Sugitani's shoulders and looked at her longbow hanging from the branches.

After a long time, he suddenly stepped forward and broke the silence.

"I invite you and me, Miss, to go head-to-head, with a longbow. Just like your father did when he invited me. Charlie took the longbow that Sugitani was hanging from the branch and handed it to her, "Give Miss a chance for revenge." ”

"Your Excellency?" The cavalry around Charlie were taken aback when they heard this, "What are you going to do, my lord?" ”

"I'm going to go head-to-head with that young lady." Charlie calmly repeated to his subordinates.

"My lord, why is that? This person has already been captured, so why bother..."

"It's kind of a favor for her father, that's a great gentleman." Charlie thought for a moment and gave an explanation, "If it weren't for her father's request to decide life and death by the outcome of the head-to-head battle with me, His Highness and we would have died long ago. ”

"But Your Highness is the lord of an army... How could you risk such a reckless thing? ”

"A gentleman will never retract his promise." Charlie shook his head at his subordinates, then slowly took the longbow off his back, and looked at Sugitani Wen, who had not yet answered, "Miss, archers should not refuse to challenge their archery skills. ”

"I accept it, it's just a death anyway, why not avenge my father before I die." Sugitani Wen took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, pretending to be very sophisticated and calm, "What about the rules? ”

"It's the same as your father's rules." Charlie pointed to the woods beside him, "In this woods, shoot." ”

"Ten arrows per person?" Sugitani Wen glanced at Charlie's quiver and asked in a low voice, "The same rules as my father's back then?" ”

"No, you have ten, I have one." Charlie shook his head.

"You look down on me?" Sugitani Wen frowned when she heard this. Although she was already bent on dying, she couldn't help but be annoyed to see someone who looked down on her archery skills so much.

"Nope. When I played against your father, I had one projectile left and didn't shoot, so I just made up for that one. Charlie smiled and looked at Sugitani, "This is a favor to repay your father." ”

"What are you doing this for?" Sugitani was confused by Charlie's attitude.

"To prove." Charlie didn't finish his sentence, but he believed Sugitani had understood. He took out ten arrows from the quiver, stuffed them into Sugitani's quiver, and handed the extra arrows to his attendants who looked at each other, leaving only one arrow, and then took off his body and strode into the forest. Sugitani Wen was stunned for a moment, and immediately followed.

To prove that a bow and arrow are no worse than an iron cannon.