However, as if the athlete had been hunched for a long time, but the gunfire was delayed, Yu Qiuping's heart was full of doubts. However, like an athlete on the track, no one dares to look up at the referee with the gun raised – in case the gun goes off the moment you look up, you'll have to start at least half a way slower.

Therefore, Yu Qiuping still held Chidori tightly, ready to jump out at any time after the signal was issued. However, as far as he could see, he suddenly noticed that Ryuko was a little distracted at the moment—she was carefully stroking a scarf in her pocket.

"A familiar scarf." A thought flashed through Yu Qiuping's heart, "It seems to be... Oh! That winter, when I first met Ryuko, I helped her tie the scarf. ”

Wasn't this scarf thrown away a long time ago? Yu Qiuping was also a little distracted for a while, and involuntarily began to think about the story about the scarf. It was still winter when Yu Qiuping first gave Ryuko the scarf, but Ryuko had to wrap around it no matter what, and in the summer, he had to wrap around it, and as a result, he had prickly heat on his neck. Later, Yu Qiuping took the scarf away - after that, Yu Qiuping asked himself that he had never seen the scarf again, and he didn't know how it would return to Longzi's hands - he had never seen Longziwei again after so many years.

However, in the few moments when Yu Qiuping, who had been concentrating for a long time, was distracted, Sen Kecheng's side suddenly heard the sound of fighting and shouting to kill. Yu Qiuping poked his head out in surprise and found that Sen Kecheng had rushed out of the pass with people, and was fighting with a dozen ninjas in front of the pass—and the ninjas in the bushes and woods who were originally standing in the middle also immediately rushed towards Sen Kecheng's side. Even the ninjas who were guarding this pass in front of Yu Qiuping rushed to reinforcements.

"Why didn't you shout the code?" Yu Qiuping was taken aback, but at this moment, he couldn't help but ask Sen Kecheng, but immediately beckoned and led the five people around him to get up and charge. Ryuko quickly stuffed the scarf back into his arms, and rushed out with Yu Qiuping with the knife. At this moment, there were less than 10 ninjas left in front of them. These ninjas naturally can't stop the battle-hardened guards, although Yu Qiuping himself is not high in martial arts, but Ryuko and Mori Kolong are both masters, and they rushed out in one breath while covering each other. Those ninjas were no match at all, and after being hacked to death 3 people, they fled in a hurry.

However, Yu Qiuping had already rushed to the bottom of the mountain, but Sen Kecheng did not rush out. Yu Qiuping and Mori Kolong hurriedly jumped onto a stone hill and looked behind them, and found that Mori Kecheng and his two remaining guards were under siege by more than 30 ninjas. Before Yu Qiuping and Sen Kelong could react, they saw that under the chaotic knife, Sen Kecheng and the remaining 2 guards were also cut to the ground. A ninja pounced on Mori, cut off his head, and held it high in the air in a flash.

The best friend who was chatting with the old days just now became a ghost under the knife in an instant-Yu Qiuping only felt the pain of being torn in his heart after being shocked. He suddenly understood why Sen Kecheng insisted on sending Sen Kelong to Yu Qiuping, and then attacked first without issuing a code. Mori Ke didn't want to break through on both sides together, but wanted to use his own life as a bait to take the lead in breaking through to attract the attention of the Matsunaga ninjas, so as to give Yu Qiuping a chance to escape - however, he was reluctant to send his eldest son to death with him, so he arranged him to Yu Qiuping's side, hoping that Mori Kelong could escape with Yu Qiuping.

"Senpai-senpai..."Yu Qiuping only felt a dryness in his throat, and tears welled up in his eyes, "Why are you doing this!" Didn't you say that you should cherish your life! If you don't let me die, how can I send myself to death! ”

"Father!" Mori Kelong's eyes were also red, and he roared angrily like a wild beast, and then he held the knife and rushed towards Sen Kecheng's head. However, Yu Qiuping realized that the situation was not good. Because the dozens of Miyoshi ninjas had already turned around and rushed towards Yu Qiuping's side.

"Your Highness Momiji, let's go!" Mori Kelong shouted in a low voice to Yu Qiuping, and at the same time resolutely rushed in the opposite direction, "Go and avenge your father in the next place!" ”

"Kolon, calm down!" Yu Qiuping grabbed Sen Kelong, and while ordering the guards to retreat quickly, he ordered in a low voice: "If you don't want Ling Zun's efforts to be in vain, you can go with me!" ”

After saying that, Yu Qiuping couldn't help but drag Sen Kolong towards the bottom of the mountain. Mori Kolon knew that now was not the time to be emotional, and although he was full of grief and anger, he still obeyed Yu Qiuping's request and evacuated with him with tears in his eyes. The ninjas of the Matsunaga family were so careless that they actually forgot to kill or move away the horses that Yu Qiuping and the others left behind, so that Yu Qiuping and the others could get on their horses and run.

·

However, since the Matsunaga family's Ashigaru came from the northeast and the Miyoshi family's troops were in the south, Yu Qiuhei had to gallop westward with his people. After noticing Yu Qiuping's successful escape, the Matsunaga family immediately sent cavalry to chase after him. At the last moment, the Yuqiu army located outside the west gate seemed to sense that the situation was wrong, and Shigeharu Takenaka immediately ordered Nobuyomi Anayama to lead 400 cavalry out to respond in the name of the chief of staff, and the 400 cavalry pursued by the Matsunaga family were in a correct position.

Anayama Nobushi didn't say much, and didn't think about whether the Matsunaga family was friend or foe, so he rushed over at the cavalry of the Matsunaga family. When cavalry hedges, horse speed is crucial. If time is missed to increase the speed of the horse due to hesitation, the entire army will be destroyed. The cavalry of both sides sent out a huge loose formation and launched a round of hedge outside the south gate of Takaya Castle. In the shadow of the sword and sword, many knights were knocked off by the other party at the moment when the wrong horses intersected, and more people waved their weapons at each other, riding their horses towards the next enemy.

After a round of hedging, more than 20 knights fell on the side of the Matsunaga family, and more than 30 people fell on the side of the Yuqiu family. Since the two sides swapped positions during the hedge, behind the cavalry of the Matsunaga family was the camp of the Yuqiu family, and behind the Anayama Nodashi they were the group of the Matsunaga family who were rushing. In order to return to their respective camps, the commanders of both the Anayama Nobushi and the Matsunaga clan ordered the cavalry to turn their horses around and launch a hedge again after slowly accelerating. This time, the knight exchange ratio of the Yuqiu family was still not optimistic - they fell more than two dozen people, but the Matsunaga family only fell a dozen. After two rounds of fighting, the knights, who had only been knocked off their horses and were not mortally wounded, struggled back to their camp with the help of their allies, and Yu Qiuping had escaped safely back to the camp.

"Your Highness, what's going on? Why is the Matsunaga family chasing His Highness! When Shigeharu Takenaka saw that Yu Qiuping had returned safely, he immediately stepped forward and asked.

"The Matsunaga family is most likely from the Oda family, and just now he sent ninjas on the mountain to attack me and His Highness Mori! His Highness Mori has already met with an accident, and I have escaped by luck. Yu Qiuping gritted his teeth with hatred, and said in a deep voice: "Immediately let Chang Panbei and Ming Di prepare for war!" Meet the rushing Matsunaga Army! And it is very likely that the Miyoshi family has already colluded with the Matsunaga family, and the troops of Ataka Dongyasu and Miyoshi Yoshiko are also at risk of suddenly attacking us, so be cautious! ”

"Kolon, I know you're feeling hard right now." Yu Qiuping turned around and patted Sen Kelong, who was already red-eyed and full of tears, "But I still want you to return to the Mori family's reserve immediately, immediately rearm and fight, and beware of the Miyoshi army in Gaoya Castle!" ”

"Yes! Your Highness! Mori Kolon replied in a loud voice, almost roaring, and bowed suddenly, "In the next step, I will cooperate with His Highness Momiji to smash these miscellaneous pieces!" Avenge your father! ”

·

After Mori returned to the Mori family's army, Yu Qiupei immediately asked Shigeharu Takenaka's staff to start formulating an emergency battle plan. Matsunaga Hide's 4,000 soldiers had bypassed the southern castle of Takaya Castle and attacked Yuakihei, who was stationed in the western castle. 2,400 soldiers of Tsukiwabei and Mingdi were guarding Yingpan and Xicheng Castle Town, relying on their strong defensive capabilities and dense iron artillery firepower, leaving Matsunaga Hide's helpless for a while.

However, Yu Qiuping knew that now was not the time for a decisive battle. Originally, on the southern front, the total strength of the Oda and Matsunaga coalition was 24,000 men, and the Miyoshi family's army was also as high as 22,000 men. However, at this moment, the 12,000 men of Matsunaga Hide's army fell to the side of the Miyoshi army, and the situation immediately became that the 12,000 men of the Oda army against the 34,000 men of the Miyoshi-Matsunaga coalition army were the absolute disadvantage of the Oda family, and they were unable to fight at all.

On the one hand, Yu Qiuping sent an urgent messenger to inform Oda Nobunaga that Matsunaga Shu had rebelled and Mori was killed in battle, and asked Oda Nobunaga to send reinforcements. On the other hand, they seek to retreat from Takaya Castle and retreat to the north bank of the Yamato River as soon as possible to defend their territory.

However, sending an envoy at this moment, Oda Nobunaga will not be able to react until tomorrow. Takaya Castle was about 70 miles from the front line of the confrontation between Oda Nobunaga and Miyoshi Chokei, and it would be nice if reinforcements could arrive the day after tomorrow - and before that, Yuakihei would have to rely on his own forces. The situation at this moment, although it is not a desperate situation, is also extremely difficult.

The top priority is to find a way to repel the attack of the Matsunaga family. Then, the reinforcements that blocked Anzhai Dongkang and Miyoshi Yixing, and even had to fight against Miyoshi Changyi and Miyoshi Yasucho who were killed from the city. And because Yu Qiuping's troops were located in Xicheng, it was also difficult to withdraw to the north bank of the Yamato River. After that, it was a big problem to defend Sakai Town, which is located 30 miles west of Takaya Castle on the southern side of the Yamato River.

Just when Yu Qiuping was worried about the tricky situation in front of him, Shigeji Takenaka suddenly walked quickly to Yu Qiuping's side and whispered to Yu Qiuping: "Your Highness, there is a plan below!" Please let me go to the Mori family army immediately! ”

"Huh? What stratagem? Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked.

"Before sunset, don't break the tall house, don't leave a head."