Duan Tianya stepped on clogs, wore a wide samurai robe, and wore a ninja sword branded with the Iga-ryu logo hanging from his waist.

After coming to Dongying to study art for three years, he was almost no different from ordinary Dongying warriors in terms of his accent and demeanor.

Duan Tianya had a tragic childhood that could not be looked back on, until he was discovered by the first person in the Central Plains martial arts, Iron Courage Shenhou, when he was seven years old, and then adopted as a righteous son, carefully cultivated, and taught martial arts.

Because of the huge trouble caused by the coastal widows, the Iron Courage Shenhou sent him to Dongying to learn art when Duan Tianya was sixteen years old, hoping to know himself and his opponent, and he knew Dongying martial arts well.

When he arrived in Toei, Duan Tianya first worshipped the master of the Iga school as his teacher, learned Iga ninjutsu, and was introduced by the master of the Iga school and went to Edo to worship Yoshinosuke Sato, the head of the three great ninjas of Toying.

Today, at the behest of Yoshinosuke Sato, I came to visit the famous Edo martial arts, the great master of the new Yin Stream, Yagyu Tajima Mamoru.

When he arrived at the Yanagi Xinyin Sect Dojo, Duan Tianya took out a prayer note and handed it to the disciple who guarded the door: "In Shimotakizawa Ichiro, on the order of Sato's seniors, I came to visit Mr. Yanagi, please inform." ”

In order to make it easier to walk in the land of Toei and avoid trouble, the head of the Iga school gave Duan Tianya the name of "Ichiro Takizawa".

The disciple guarding the gate saw the Igara-ryu logo on Duan Tianya's scabbard, and hostility surged in his eyes, but then he saw the badge of Sato Yoshinosuke on the worship post, snorted coldly, and said, "Wait." "Then I went in!

It didn't take long for Duan Tianya to get permission to enter, and he met Yuanyu Yuezhi in the dojo, a sect of grandmaster temperament.

There are many hostilities between Iga Ryu and the Yagyu Shinyin faction openly and secretly, originally Duan Tianya, as a native of the Central Plains, didn't know this very well, but when he arrived in Edo, he had been practicing with Shinobi Sato Yoshinosuke for a while, but he slowly understood some roots.

Basically, the Iga-ryu and Shin-Yin factions both served the shogunate, but the factions were different, and the outbreak of conflicts and fights was all for the sake of power and fame.

Duan Tianya obviously felt that in the dojo, the disciples of the New Yin Sect were undisguised hostile to him, but it was Yanagi Danma Shou who behaved very politely, and after reading the post, he said with a smile: "Brother Sato is strict and extremely demanding, he rarely praises someone, but in this letter, he praises you many times, Takizawa-kun, it seems that you are indeed very popular with Brother Sato!" ”

Duan Tianya bowed his head and said, "It's Sato's seniors who promote the juniors!" ”

Yanagi Danma Mamori waved his hand and said with a light smile: "Brother Sato will never be untargeted, since he praises your kendo talent, then you must be outstanding." ”

"Brother Sato asked me in the letter to instruct you in swordsmanship, so you are willing to compete with my disciples, and let me see how your attainments are first."

Duan Tianya bowed down and said: "The seniors advise, and the juniors dare to disobey their orders." ”

Saying that, he walked to the center of the dojo, raised his sword in his hand, and looked around the audience, but his expression was not shocked: "Please advise." ”

"I'm coming!"

A disciple of the New Yin Sect snorted coldly, as if he had long wanted to teach Duan Tianya a lesson, and his face couldn't help but show excitement and heat, and he jumped into the middle of the field.

Choke! Choke!

After each gave a salute, the two swords struck, and the disciples of the New Yin Sect made a loud voice, waving their swords and rushing to kill, revealing a fierce momentum.

Duan Tianya was calm and unhurried, and he was dashing and calm in the dangerous sword light, moving around, and suddenly a sword stabbed out, forcing the disciple of the New Yin Sect to face the door, forcing the latter to return to the sword to defend.

At this moment, the flaw was immediately revealed, Duan Tianya's sword momentum changed, the sword blade lightly touched the former's wrist, and a scar was cut, and the disciple of the New Yin Sect couldn't hold the long sword, and fell to the ground suddenly!

And the two sides have played each other less than Shihe.

The disciples of the New Yin Sect in the field all had gloomy faces, and Liu Sheng Dan Ma Shou glanced at the defeated disciple, shook his head and said: "The heart is impetuous, the sword has fallen before it comes out, how can it not be defeated?" You won't use it tomorrow! ”

The defeated disciple fell to his knees with a "poof", his face was like ashes, but he didn't dare to argue.

Next, the disciples of the New Yin Sect were all awe-inspiring, and regarded Duan Tianya as a strong opponent, and they didn't dare to slack off in the slightest, but they were still inferior in skills, and they were defeated in three battles.

Although Liu Sheng but Ma Shou still looked at it with a smile, as if he didn't care, his eyes narrowed slightly.

At this time, a fresh breeze was blowing slowly, and under the cherry blossoms, a girl in white came slowly, and all the disciples of the New Yin Sect showed reverence, and bowed: "Miss Xue Ji! ”

Duan Tianya looked back in a daze, and looked towards the snow-white shadow, and suddenly his heart felt as if he had been hit by an arrow, and he was pounding, and it was difficult to catch his breath.

A sour, sweet feeling that he had never tasted in 19 years flooded into his heart, and he couldn't take his eyes off it, and he stood stunned.

Yanagi Tajima Mamoru also showed a smile on his face and said: "This is the little girl Yukihime, Yukihime, Takizawa-kunnai Iga faction and Mr. Sato Yoshinosuke's master apprentice, excellent swordsmanship, you can ask him for advice!" ”

Later, Duan Tianya returned to Middle-earth, and when he reminisced with his confidant and friend Shangguan Haitang, he said: "She is Yanagi Xueji, the eldest daughter of Yanagi Danma Shou, I have never seen a special woman like her, before that, I never believed in love at first sight, but as soon as I met that time, my heart was already captured by her!" ”

Shangguan Haitang said: "What was the result of your sword competition that time?" Who won? ”

Duan Tianya was silent for a long time, and Fang sighed lightly: "It's me who lost!" I made ten moves in that competition, and after ten moves, Yanagi Yukihime returned the sword. ”

"Just a sword, and you're defeated?" Shangguan Haitang was incredulous, and exclaimed: "Even if your father-in-law makes a move, I'm afraid I won't be able to defeat you with one sword." ”

"I admit defeat myself, because as soon as that sword comes out, I know that I will definitely lose, in fact, even now, I still can't understand that sword, and I am afraid that I will still not be able to crack it when I meet it again."

Duan Tianya continued: "My father-in-law's martial arts are certainly invincible in the world, and no one can match them. But in terms of swordsmanship alone, Master Iga-ryu, Yagyu Danma Mamori and Yumian Shiro are not weaker than their stepfathers, and even more so. ”

"Master Iga's swordsmanship is exquisite, using ninjutsu in kendo, ever-changing, Yagyu Danma Mamoru's swordsmanship is incredibly fast, melting murderous aura into invisible, indestructible! And Sleepy Shiro is the first swordsman in Dongying, and the change of the phantom sword is all-encompassing, and it is even more incredible. ”

"But although their swordsmanship is strong, after all, a little bit of a drop is leaking, and I don't have a way to deal with it. But Yanagi Yukihime's swordsmanship does not belong to Dongying, nor does it belong to any swordsmanship in the Central Plains, so ...... That's not what a swordsmanship should be in the world! ”

Shangguan Haitang was shocked and speechless, and Duan Tianya said again: "Later, I learned that although Liu Sheng Xue Ji is the daughter of Liu Sheng but Ma Shou, she has not learned the swordsmanship of the New Yin Sect for a day. ”

"My original plan was to practice at the Yagyu Dojo for more than a month, but seven days later, something big happened to the Yagyu clan that forced me to leave early."

Duan Tianya recalled.

Shangguan Haitang asked, "What's the big deal?" ”

Duan Tianya's face showed a look of horror, and he sighed: "This matter is related to Liu Sheng Dan Ma Shou's youngest daughter, Liu Sheng Piaofu. Compared to her sister, Yanagi Piaofu is much more terrifying, if you don't see it with your own eyes and hear it with your own ears, you will never imagine that an eleven-year-old girl would be like this...... It's so frightening! ”

……

Seven days passed in a blink of an eye.

Since he was defeated at the hands of Yanagi Yukihime that day, Duan Tianya has stayed in the Yanagi Dojo to practice, and occasionally received guidance from Yanagi Danma Shou, but it made him regret that he had not seen Yanagi Xueji again in the past seven days.

On this day, accompanied by Yagyu Shibei, a big man from the shogunate arrived at Yagyu's house.