"Definitely. As you said, you are indeed out of the scope of our fire-paying thieves, and we are not here to arrest you. ”

"But—"

When Hasegawa said this, the conversation suddenly changed.

"Since you were touched by us, then we can't just let you go."

"Count yourself out of luck, Ogata Ichata."

"Cut......" Ogata pouted, "I knew it was going to happen." ”

With that, Ogata pulled out the knife at his waist and took a mid-section stance.

"Throw!" Hasegawa suddenly let out a loud shout.

As soon as his words fell, several bamboo tube-shaped objects immediately flew out from the crowd behind him.

The bamboo tubes cut through a beautiful parabola and smashed straight towards Ogata.

In the face of these bamboo tubes flying towards him, Ogata didn't even bother to use the "step", and dodged all these bamboo tubes flying towards him with a dodge left and right.

Just when Ogata wondered why the officials who had paid the thieves to change the fire had thrown so many bamboo tubes over, Hasegawa suddenly praised Ogata without knowing whether he was sincere or pretended:

"Amazing, good skills, can dodge so many bamboo tubes in one go."

Hasegawa said as he slowly walked out of the ranks.

As he went out of the ranks, he slowly pulled out the knife at his waist.

Hasegawa's move caused confusion among his subordinates behind him.

"Hasegawa-sama!" Tachibana said in a loud voice, "You are ......"

Before Tachibana's words were finished, Hasegawa took the lead and said:

"Don't move! Don't give me any messy help later! ”

"I'm going to personally meet the 'Executioner's Knife'!"

"Look at how capable Ogata Istosai, who can kill a hundred people, has!"

"Hey, 'Onihei'." Ogata looked Hasegawa up and down, "As the chief of the Fire Thief Change, do you plan to go out in person?" ”

"It's something I do a lot." Hasegawa smiled slightly, "People who don't have enough skills and can't stand at the forefront of the battlefield are not qualified to be commanders." ”

"Concentrate, Ogata Ichisai. I...... But it's very strong. ”

Although I don't know if Hasegawa's words just now are a bluff.

But—bluffing or not—Ogata had no intention of underestimating the enemy.

The two clenched the knives in their respective hands and stood opposite each other.

The first person to move was Hasegawa.

Hasegawa's timing of the attack was suffocating with precision.

Just picked the moment when Ogata was blinking, he pounced with a knife.

Hasegawa's first attack was an unpretentious horizontal slash.

The sword light swept towards him from the left side of Ogata.

Hasegawa's movements were fast, but not so fast that Ogata couldn't react.

Ogata just in time to block the knife to the left and block Hasegawa's horizontal slash.

- Uh-huh......! This guy ......

With just this ordinary horizontal slash, Xu easily judged that Hasegawa's words just now were not a bluff.

He's quite strong indeed.

Pushing Hasegawa's slashed knife away, Ogata quickly launched a counterattack.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

……

Their knives collided several times in mid-air.

In the end, it was Hasegawa who pushed back first, ending the seemingly never-ending collision of swords.

Ogata glanced at the gaps in his blade.

Since Kuranaga gave him this knife, Ogata doesn't remember much about how many people he has slashed with this knife and how many knives he has slashed.

It has been used to this day, and it has made this knife "scarred".

And the battle with Hasegawa just now added several new wounds to this knife.

- I really want a sword that can be slashed......

After muttering something in his heart, Ogata refocused his attention on Hasegawa in front of him.

"He is worthy of being the commander of the fire and the thieves...... This swordsmanship is really not covered. ”

"Thank you for the compliment. Your swordsmanship isn't bad either. ”

"But although your strength is strong, it shouldn't be enough to kill a hundred people."

"If you want to be a hundred, at least you have to have the strength of Kuro Mamiya."

"Huh?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, "Do you know Mamiya?" ”

"It was for me to hunt down Kyuro Mamiya that I led my subordinates to this mansion."

With that, Hasegawa lifted his stance and slowly withdrew the knife in his hand into the scabbard.

"What's wrong? Don't you continue to fight with me? Ogata's gaze froze, "Or ...... Are you going to have your men attack me? ”

"I don't want to fight you any longer, and I won't let my men attack you en masse."

"Because—there's no need for that anymore."

"Ogata Ikatosai, don't you notice that your head is dizzy now?"

——？！

"Hmm......"

Ogata covered his head with his free left hand.

Hearing Hasegawa's words, Ogata suddenly realized that his head was indeed dizzy as Hasegawa had just said.

And the degree of dizziness is getting worse.

- What's going on......!

- I was ...... Drugged......!

- But...... When was he drugged......

- When you were fighting "Onihei" just now...... I wasn't stabbed by some poisonous needle......

——？！

- Is it a bamboo tube?!

Ogata jerked his head and looked at the bamboo tubes lying not far away, which he had just dodged away.

It wasn't until this time that Ogata realized that the top of these bamboo tubes had a round hole that was not too big or too small.

Looking at Ogata, who was looking at the bamboo tubes with a stunned gaze, Hasegawa smiled slightly:

"This is a new weapon that we have only started to install in the last two years."

"The bamboo tube is filled with colorless and odorless 'fumi' that can make people unconscious as long as they take a few puffs."

"When it's time to use it, just pull out the plug that blocked the mouth and throw it out."

"It's a pity that because of the high cost of construction, we are only willing to use this new weapon against those troublesome thieves."

"You have inhaled so much 'maze qi' contained in the bamboo tube, which is enough to make you sleep for a while."

"Do you really think I just wanted to try your skills?"

"It's true that I want to try your skills, but the main reason is to delay time and buy time for the effects of the 'Lost Qi' to work."

"Don't push yourself, you shouldn't even be able to stand up by now."

Despite Ogata's struggle to stay awake, waves of vertigo continue to hit Ogata's brain.

At this time, Ogata couldn't even stand up, so he could only use a knife as a cane, barely supporting his body.

Vision problems had already begun to appear, and Ogata looked around and saw 3 Hasegawa Heizo.

"Damn...... By...... Placed a ......"

After leaving this sentence, Ogata could no longer hold it back, his eyelids sank, and then he completely fainted to the ground.

Looking at Ogata, who had passed out, Hasegawa waved his hand and motioned for his subordinates behind him to arrest Ogata.

"Ogata Ichitosai." Hasegawa whispered to Ogata, who had already passed out, "We're not 'duelists', we're 'captors'......"