The feeling of the blade entering the flesh is transmitted from the handle to the palm of Ogata's hand.

However...... Ogata's knife did not pierce Matsudaira's heart.

Instead, it stabbed into the chest of a junior in Matsudaira Gennai.

At that moment just now, a junior surnamed closest to Matsudaira Gennai pounced and pushed Matsudaira Gennai away, blocking the knife for Matsudaira Gennai.

It was precisely because of this little surname's blocking knife that Ogata's stab missed.

"Lord...... Run...... "The little one muttered as he spat at blood.

"Damn...... Ogata hurriedly pushed aside the brainwashed man who didn't know whether to praise him for his loyalty or count his foolish loyalty, and immediately pulled out the knife from his waist.

The knife Ogata used just now was the one he had always taken from the short-bearded samurai.

After discarding the knife, Ogata still has his own knife at his waist to use.

Ogata could already hear shouts and footsteps coming from near and far at breakneck speeds around him.

This was the sound of the guards in Matsudaira Gen quickly rushing back to defend themselves.

Nanahara shouted, "There are assassins!" Protect the lord!! "By now, more than ten seconds have passed.

This seemingly short period of time was enough for some of the guards who were closer to Matsudaira Gennai to rush back.

Not daring to hesitate any longer, Ogata quickly drew his sword, raised it high, and slashed down - and launched a second attack on Matsudaira Gen, who was still sitting in place.

The blade was wrapped in strong wind and great power, and it roared towards Matsudaira Gennai's head......

Bell ——!

Then, a deafening sound of gold and iron clashing sounded.

"What...... ......?! ”

Ogata's eyes widened.

His knife, which was only a fist away from Matsudaira Gennai's head, was blocked by a knife sticking out from his right.

The person who blocked Ogata's knife was none other than Nanahara.

At this time, Nanahara, who was holding his left shoulder against Ogata's right shoulder, held the knife in his left hand, stretched the knife forward from Ogata's right side, and blocked Ogata's slash with the back of the knife before Ogata's knife slashed Matsudaira Gennai's head.

"Humph!" Nanahara snorted coldly, then slammed to the left, knocking Ogata who was standing to his left out of the way.

After closing the distance between himself and Ogata, he swung his knife and slashed at Ogata's neck.

Clang!

Ogata lifted the knife in his hand upwards and accurately blocked Nanahara's knife.

While blocking Nanahara's knife, Ogata anxiously said in his heart:

- Damn! Why is Nanahara here?!

Ogata shouted anxiously in his heart as he glanced at the position where Ichiro and the others had just confronted Nanahara.

In that area, only the bodies of 6 people remained in Ichiro at this time.

The six people, led by Ichiro, were all dead at this time.

The sharp-eyed Ogata noticed that the death of Ichiro 6 was strange.

Only three people, Jiro, Goro, and Rokuro, were killed by a single blow with a sword in the neck or face.

Ichiro, Saburo, and Shiro did not have any stab wounds on their bodies.

Rather, there is a thin root stuck in the throat.

It is a thin arrow that is no longer than the length of an adult's tail finger......

After pushing Ogata out of the way and slashing at Ogata only to be blocked by Ogata, Nanahara did not pursue, but quickly pulled up Matsudaira Genuai and quickly retreated backwards.

"Protect the lord!! Protect the lord!! ”

Nanahara has a loud voice.

Big enough to give the illusion that the sound of the Seven Plains could spread throughout the boar forest.

By this time, a large number of guards had already rushed back.

These guards who ran out from all over the forest were like a trickle, shouting and coming towards the confluence of Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara.

In the blink of an eye, there were already about 40 guards gathered around Matsudaira Gen, and the number was increasing at an alarming rate.

The lord was attacked, and all the guards rushed back like crazy.

"Wait for me!"

Ogata gritted his teeth and raised his knife to chase Nanahara and Matsudaira Gennai.

However...... Ogata had barely taken two steps forward when five guards came at him from five different directions.

"Get out of here!"

Ogata waved the knife in his hand and pulled out five sword lights.

Using the four sword skills of Sakakiwara's one sword, he solved these five samurai who came at him in turn, and all of them were killed with one sword.

Before Ogata could turn his gaze back to Gennai Matsudaira, three more guards came at him.

Three more flashes of swords appeared, causing three more corpses to appear on the ground.

"That's it!"

At this moment, Nanahara's shouting reached Ogata's ears.

Ogata followed the prestige......

After seeing what was in front of the voice, Ogata's pupils shrank uncontrollably.

Around Matsudaira Genuchi, there were already dense samurai......

The 8 samurai just now, although they only dragged Ogata for less than 8 seconds from beginning to end.

But the less than 8 seconds, plus the more than 10 seconds wasted by Ogata and the others just after they rushed out of the bushes to Ogata's first assassination failure, totaled about 20 seconds, which was enough for the guards scattered around to rush back to Matsudaira Gennai's side.

Although a small number of guards in Matsudaira Gen had been successfully killed just now and when they infiltrated it, according to the information collected by Kuranaga, there were 125 guards in Matsudaira Gen.

So even if a group of guards in Matsudaira Gen had been killed just now, there were still hundreds of guards around Matsudaira Gennai......

These hundreds of guards unsheathed their swords one after another, firmly arching around Matsudaira Source and Nanahara, forming a "circle" centered on Matsudaira Source and Nanahara.

Nanahara narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Ogata.

"I've seen the swordsmanship you just used...... It's Sakakiwara Ichito-ryu......"

"Keep the total hair...... He used Sakakihara again...... Oh, I know who you are. ”

"You're the same Ogata Esei, aren't you?"

"The person who got the Sakakiwara Knife Stream more than a month ago."

"Are you here to avenge your master and your brothers?"

"It's stupid!"

"Put the knife down!"

"Just put the knife down, and I can try to intercede for you!"

Ogata ignored Nanahara, who had been arguing.

Instead, he turned his gaze slightly and looked at the corpses of Ichiro and the others not far from his side.

If Ichiro and the others can help Ogata and drag Nanahara for even a second, Matsudaira Gennai's head will already fall to the ground.

But Ogata didn't want to blame Ichiro for their thoughts.

He knew - Ichiro and the others must have done their best.

Although he didn't see Ichiro and the others fighting with his own eyes, Ogata was sure that Ichiro and the others, who had given up their future in order to kill Matsudaira Gennai, were absolutely desperate to fight against Nanahara, who was far above them, just to help Ogata buy as much time as possible.

Ogata turned his gaze back.

Hundreds of katanas were facing him, and the cold light reflected from them made Ogata a little dizzy.

For no reason, Ogata suddenly recalled the time when he practiced swords at the Sakakibara Sword Gym before.

It was perhaps the happiest time of my day since I came to the Edo period and before the Sakakibara Sword Museum was bloodbathed by Matsudaira Gennai.

Just reminiscing about the time he spent practicing swords in the Sakakihara Sword Gym made Ogata's face uncontrollably smile.

And this happy memory is all gone because of the tyranny of Matsudaira Gennai.

Seeing that Ogata didn't take care of himself, Nanahara, who was a little annoyed and angry, shouted:

"Ogata Esuse! Put your knives down! Don't think that if you take a certificate of exemption from Sakakibara, you are unparalleled in the world! ”

Nanahara's big drink brought Ogata back to his senses from his memories.

There was no response to Nanahara.

He just glanced at the hundreds of samurai in front of him, then raised the sword in his hand and pointed the tip of the knife at Matsudaira Gennai and Nanahara.

"Ogata Esei!"

Nanahara's face turned red.

"You great rebel! As a courtier of the Hirose Domain, as a samurai, he wanted to assassinate his lord! ”

"Kindly gave you a chance, you still don't appreciate it!"

"Do you still have the integrity of being a samurai?!"

After hearing the word "samurai" from Nanahara's mouth, Ogata couldn't help but recall his conversation with Kuranaga last night.

(When the sky is falling apart, a few men have to step up.) If you succumb to the darkness and don't dedicate yourself to the righteousness of Kuangfu, you will be a man in vain! ）

What Kuranaga said to himself last night, Ogata still rings in his ears.

"I'm here today," Ogata said in a calm tone, "not as a samurai. ”

"Today, I stand before you as a man."

The main reason why Ogata agreed to wield his sword in order to assassinate Matsudaira Genuchi was for revenge.

But what Kuranaga said to him yesterday still touched Ogata a lot.

Ogata slowly lifted his left arm, placed it on the hilt of the wakicha knife around his left waist, and pulled it out sharply.

After posing for the selfless two-knife flow, Nanahara exclaimed:

"Ogata Esuse! You're going to use two knives?! ”

"When did you get the illusion that I would only have the swordsmanship of 'Sakakiwara Ichito'?"

Even with hundreds of samurai in front of him, Ogata had no intention of surrendering or backing down.

"I'm going to take off the dog's head in Matsudaira Gen today. I'll see who has the guts to stop me! ”

The cold killing intent, Ziokata's body does not need to emerge and boil.

Many of the hundreds of guards in Matsudaira Gen were taken back by Ogata's momentum and even took a few steps back.

"Hmph."

Nanahara's face already showed impatience.

"Stubborn! If you use an extra knife, can you double your strength?!

"The samurai of Hirose!" Qiyuan ordered in a loud voice, "Break the corpse of this great rebel into ten thousand pieces!" ”

With Nanahara's order, the hundreds of guards in Matsudaira Gen, whether they felt fearless or fearful, raised their swords in their hands at this time, and shouted while killing Ogata.

In the face of the hundreds of samurai who were slaughtering him, Ogata did not show any cowardice or fear on his face.

Just clenched the double swords in his hands and headed towards the hundreds of samurai.