However, only one person's expression was different from the others' expressions.

This man is a half-guard.

Although the half-guards did not rush directly to surround Ogata like his disciples, they also stood silently on the sidelines, feeling relieved by Ogata's smooth return, while quietly listening to Ogata's brief account of his feat today.

After learning that Ogata had defeated the 12 disciples of the Ishikawa Kenkan and retreated, the emotions that appeared on Hanbei's face were mixed.

Dominant in this complex emotion is the color of shock.

And...... An indescribable, meaningful and strange feeling.

The half-guard silently stared at Ogata, who was now the stars holding the moon, with this complicated gaze with a little strange emotion in shock.

……

……

If there is anyone who is the leader of the Hirose Domain, it is undoubtedly the lord of the Hirose Domain, Matsudaira Gennai.

If you go out on the street and ask a hundred people, all of them will answer the same thing.

But if you want to say that it is the second-in-command of the Hirose Domain, if you go out on the street and ask a hundred people, then these 100 people will definitely still give a unified answer: the second-in-command of the Hirose Domain is the old man of the family, Kuranaga Saemon.

The Hirose Domain is currently on the shelf of such a tyrannical monarch who does not care about political affairs in Matsudaira Gennai, and it stands to reason that the Hirose Domain should have collapsed long ago, and there were riots and uprisings everywhere.

However, until now, the Hirose Domain has maintained general stability, and there have been no major upheavals.

The reason for this is that the old man of the Hirose Domain, Kuranaga Saemon, who is 54 years old this year, is capable.

The so-called family elder is the highest-ranking official position among the feudal clans, and can be regarded as the chief steward of each feudal domain.

The chief steward who assists the feudal lord in handling political affairs.

And Kuragaga, the big housekeeper, can be described as hard-working and conscientious.

Matsudaira Gennai was messing around, and it was Kuranaga who managed to barely maintain the stability of the entire domain by virtue of his own strength.

And reading a book every night is one of the few entertainment activities in Kuranaga at the end of the day.

Even after a long day of work and exhausted, Kuranaga still reads before bed.

In addition to being an outstanding politician, Kuranaga was also an outstanding sinologist who was well versed in Sinology.

The books I read the most are all kinds of Chinese books.

For example, tonight, Kuranaga is reading a manuscript of the Analects.

When Kuranaga was studying, he didn't like people making noise on the sidelines.

So every night when he reads, Kuranaga would shut himself in his room and read alone in this quiet environment.

In Kuranaga's room, only the sound of Kuranaga himself breathing, and the sound of turning the pages of the book.

And yet—just then—a voice from the top of the ceiling broke the silence of the room.

"Kuranaga-sama."

After this sudden sound from the top of the ceiling sounded, Kuranaga did not panic, nor was he frightened.

A look of accustomedness.

Kurunaga did not stop turning his fingers to turn the pages, and while continuing to turn the pages, he said in a calm tone that was neither salty nor light:

"It's a flying ape, what's the matter?"

As soon as Kuranaga finished speaking, a panel of the ceiling was removed, and a short man dressed in black, all dressed in black, jumped through the hole in the ceiling and stood neatly on the tatami mat.

The place where the short man landed was behind Kuranaga.

The next moment he hit the ground, the short man fell to one knee on the ground.

This man of short stature is Kuranaga's ninja - the flying ape.

The flying ape was born in the village of Shiranui Shinobi.

For ordinary civilians, Shiranui Shinobi Village may be an unfamiliar term.

But for a person like Kuranaga, the name of Shiranui Ninja Village can be described as thunderous.

Shiranui Ninja Village, the largest ninja force in Japan, is best at cultivating ninjas who are good at assassination and combat.

At the same time, only the ninjas who are best at assassination and combat can get a high position in the Shiranui Ninja Village.

Ninjas who are not good at fighting will be discriminated against among Shiranui ninjas.

And the flying ape happens to be the kind of person who is not good at assassination and fighting.

Unable to endure this discrimination, the flying ape escaped from the Shiranui ninja village and wandered to the Hirose Domain in the Izumo region, where he met Kuranaga by chance.

Although the flying ape is not good at assassination and combat, it is quite good at infiltrating and gathering intelligence.

He was also appreciated by Kuranaga for this.

Kusunaga, who appreciates the ape's infiltration ability, takes the ape for his own use and makes him his own ninja, specifically responsible for helping Kuranaga find out all kinds of information in the domain.

When Kurunaga didn't have a specific job for the flying ape, the flying ape would wander around the domain, collect all kinds of useful or interesting information, and then report back to Kurunaga that night.

"Flying Ape." Kuranaga's gaze still did not leave the Analects in his hand, "Is there anything interesting or noteworthy in the domain today?" ”

"My lord." The corners of the ape's mouth curled, "There really happened a noteworthy thing today." ”

"What?"

"A group of disciples from the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion went to the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion to make trouble, not only forcibly breaking into the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion, but also injuring many people in the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion."

"Huh?" Kuranaga's gaze still did not leave the "Analects" in his hand, "Is the relationship between the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion and the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion so bad that they start to make trouble with each other......

"No, my lord. The reason why the people of the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion went to the Sakakibara Sword Pavilion today to make trouble was to find a disciple of the Sakakiwara Sword Pavilion, Ogata Yossei. ”

"Because Ogata Yisei happened to be not in the Sword Pavilion at that time, and there was a problem with the communication between the two sides, it deteriorated into a mutual fight."

"Ogata Esei......" Kuranaga chewed on the name.

After searching in his mind, he didn't think of this person, so Kuranaga classified this person as a minor character who didn't have to care.

"And then? This kind of short chores in the parent is what you call something worth noting? Kuranaga had a hint of displeasure in his tone.

"My lord, please listen to the next one. The really noteworthy things are in the back. ”

"After the people at the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion went to the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion to make trouble and injured many people at the Sakakihara Sword Pavilion, that Ogata Yoshii came back."

"That Ogata Yisei saw that his junior brothers were being bullied by the people of the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion, so without saying a word, he went directly to the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion alone."

"With the power of one person, challenge all the disciples of the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion."

In the end, after successfully defeating the 12 disciples of the Ishikawa Sword Pavilion, he retreated. There was not a single wound on his body. ”

"Alone?"

"Yes, Ishikawa Sword Pavilion alone."

Kuranaga's pupils shrank suddenly.

And his gaze also left the "Analects" in his hand for the first time tonight.