A samurai who doesn't want to be a daimyo is not a good onmyoji

Chapter 34 Ninja

After giving some more details, Asai Nagamasa said goodbye to the two of them, rode the black horse, and embarked on the road to Meino alone.

But before he had gone far, he stopped and turned to look at a forest dozens of meters away in the northwest: "You have been following me for so long, I guess you must have something to say to me."

But apart from the sound of the gentle breeze blowing the leaves and a few insects, there were no other sounds in the forest.

"Aren't you coming out yet? Do you think I'm just deceiving you? The quicksand technique!"

Asai Nagamasa chuckled and shook his head, then he raised the folding fan in his hand and pointed at it from a distance.

This was one of the results of his several days in Xiaogu City. It was a basic magic weapon made with the soul core of the pig demon as the core, which could slightly reduce his spell consumption and enhance the maximum casting distance.

In fact, strictly speaking, a real magic weapon requires a lot of materials and takes a certain amount of time to make. Asai Nagamasa currently cannot meet the requirements, but in order to improve his combat power as soon as possible, he still resolutely made it.

He roughly inlaid the pig demon's soul core on it, and sketched out a few simple magic circles, so that the folding fan could draw energy from the soul core, and then draw spiritual energy from the world, slowly replenishing the energy of the soul core.

In the long run, using such crude techniques and eager for quick success will greatly damage the soul core itself and reduce its service life. Repeated use will also continuously reduce the maximum mana limit, even at high frequencies. It is not impossible for it to break on the spot after the spell is cast.

But at the moment, Asai Nagamasa has no other good ideas. He doesn't have that much time or resources, and as long as he defeats stronger monsters, he will naturally obtain stronger soul cores. At worst, he will have to create new spells. The device is ready.

As he activated his magic power, the big word "天" on the paper fan suddenly shone, and countless earth-yellow lines appeared on the originally white paper fan. This was the manifestation of the use of earth magic. The pig demon was originally of the earth type, but it was killed by Asai Nagamasa before it could truly grasp the power of the spell.

The light flashed away, and there was a muffled groan in the distance, followed by the flash of the sword, but it was of no use at all. The power of the spell was not something that mortals could withstand, especially after Asai Nagamasa deliberately set up an ambush.

Asai Nagamasa shoved aside the thick branches, seeing the thin black figure whose lower body was completely buried in the soil, despite struggling hard, he got deeper and deeper, he couldn't help smiling.

The black night clothes, black mask, and the ninja scythe in his hand all reminded him of the other party's identity. He was a ninja, and most likely a Koga ninja loyal to the Rokkaku family.

"This is quicksand awakened by earth magic. You may have never seen it, but you just need to know one thing. The more you struggle, the closer you are to death."

He had just started to practice spells, and those basic offensive spells were often not as powerful as cutting him with a knife, so he was mainly practicing various auxiliary spells these days.

The black shadow paused for a moment: "Is this the legendary spell? When did you discover me?"

Asai Nagamasa couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. The voice was unexpectedly pleasant. She seemed to be a young woman.

"Although your steps are light, you can't hide it from me. Now that you have decided to run away, how can I not be wary of your attacks? Am I right, the Koga ninja from the Rokkaku family?"

Asai Hisamasa is not that ruthless, but the Rokkaku family may take action. If they can successfully kill him, the young master, and then put the blame on Asai Hisamasa, it would be perfect.

Asai Hisamasa, who was already known for his incompetence, would be notorious for killing his own children under such circumstances, and the day when the Asai family would fall apart would not be far away.

Therefore, after Asai Nagamasa left Odani Castle, he left some magic marks on the roadside, hoping to be alert to possible pursuits, and it was also used as a practice for spells.

However, he didn't expect that someone would touch his mark before he took a few steps, so he used a small spell to successfully trap the other party.

The quicksand is the first level, and the restraint of earth spells is the second level. Whether it is intentional or not, even if it is just this most basic spell, ordinary ninjas who fall into it cannot easily escape.

But the only thing he didn't expect was that the other party only sent one ninja to assassinate him. Wasn't he underestimating himself too much?
"No, I don't represent the Koga or the Rokkaku family. I just represent myself. I want to come and see Shinkuro-sama and my husband who left me."

As she spoke, the female ninja took off her mask, revealing a delicate, beautiful, but slightly sad face.

At this moment, even Asai Nagamasa couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "Are you the daughter of Hirai Sadatake?"

"I am Hirai Na, the adopted daughter of Lord Hirai. In order to protect myself, I practice some ninjutsu."

The female ninja reluctantly bowed, but because she was in the quicksand trap, her movements seemed somewhat nondescript.

"Rokkaku Yoshiken adopted Hirai Sadatake's adopted daughter as his adopted daughter, and then entered into a marriage contract with the main family."

Asai Nagamasa was almost speechless. Sure enough, from the beginning, the other party had no intention of actually fulfilling any duties and obligations between in-laws and allies.

Sending such a woman here to paralyze the Asai family, even if the Rokkaku family suddenly breaks their alliance, they don't have to worry about the Asai family taking any violent revenge measures. Anyway, the first unlucky one is just an adopted daughter who is not related to them by blood.

Unfortunately, their plan had a slight accident. This woman was no ordinary woman.

Will she really become a victim willingly?Did she really practice ninjutsu just for self-defense?Does her adoptive father Hirai Sadatake know?

Asai Nagamasa's brain started working rapidly, and then he took out one of the two tokens given to him by Naotsuke Endo: "In that case, you don't recognize it, right?"

Kunoichi Hirai Na's eyes suddenly froze, as if she was in disbelief and hesitant, but after some struggle, she finally lowered her head obediently and bowed. "Since it is Gennosuke's jounin-sama's token, I can only tell you honestly."

"Iga genin Hirai Na, I want to pay my respects to Shinkuro-sama. I wonder what your orders are?"

Asai Nagamasa suddenly laughed. Is this the Warring States Period, full of betrayal and conspiracy?It seems that my future life will be full of surprises everywhere!
However, he didn't expect that his teacher Naomi Endo would also make mistakes in his predictions. He originally thought it was a favor from the chuunin, but who knew that the other party would be upgraded again now?

Lightly waving the paper fan in his hand, Asai Nagamasa stopped the spell, and the quicksand, which had infinite suction, instantly turned into ordinary soil.

"I have already chosen a name for myself. From today on, my name is Asai Nagamasa."

"You can continue to go to the Asai family as Hirai Na. Although I have run away, the head of the family will not treat you badly."

The groom running away before the wedding day is an insult to the daughter of the Wu family, but it is not a big problem for the kunoichi. For a qualified ninja, they have no honor at all. The kunoichi The same is true, not to mention that he is a ninja who has always had evil intentions and has many purposes and plots behind his back.

On the other hand, even if it was just to appease the Rokkaku family who would definitely be furious, Hirai Naso would definitely be treated politely when he went to Kotani Castle, so Asai Nagamasa now felt no guilt towards the woman in front of him.

"Also, say hello to Mr. Bai Di San Taifu for me. Maybe we will have a chance to cooperate."

In the current Nibon, due to the long-term war, various bandits, bandits, pirates, and ninjas have emerged in an endless stream, and competition with each other is also very fierce. In order to survive and confront, they often stick together and form various forces. .

However, Iga ninjas and Koga ninjas are undoubtedly at the forefront even among the entire Nippon ninja group and various special forces.

The third Taifu of Momochi, the Iga noble clan, the head of the three Iga jounin families: Hattori, Fujibayashi, and one of the Momochi family, is also the current leader of the Iga ninjas.

Not only was he highly skilled in ninjutsu, but he was also cunning and resourceful, and had a pattern that was far superior to that of ordinary ninjas. He even tried to establish a relationship with the general who was now in Kyoto, hoping to improve the status of ninjas, especially the Iga ninjas.

Even monks can openly attack cities and seize territory, occupy a city and a country, and establish themselves as daimyo. The powerful ninjas should be able to do the same, right?
This was probably what Bai Di San Tai Fu thought at the time, and he actually put it into action. He set his sights on the general who was nominally in charge of all military affairs in Nibon.

But he still misjudged the situation.

In the current Nippon, whether it is the emperor or the general, for the truly powerful daimyo, they are just mascots and pure decorations.

Because except for Kyoto, they have almost no land, and their livelihood depends entirely on the donations and donations from daimyo and minor daimyo from various places.

Because wars have blocked roads, or some daimyo simply don't want to give, the income of the generals is very unstable. It is difficult to even support themselves, let alone build an army.

Those aristocratic courtiers who originally served the general have served other mid-to-high-ranking warriors in recent years.

For no other reason than to make a living.

You must know that most of the ministers originally disdained becoming warriors, and were even ashamed of becoming warriors, but now they are rushing to work for the warriors, and it depends on whether they are willing to take them in. One can imagine their The situation has become so bad.

Without an army, even a nominally superior general cannot control his own destiny.

The Daimyo Miyoshi family, who is now in charge of the Kinki region and ranks at the forefront of the entire Nippon region, has driven the contemporary General Ashikaga Yoshiteru from Kyoto to live in the countryside several times, just like chasing away puppies. The general himself took the initiative to admit his mistake to the Miyoshi family, and asked people to intercede everywhere before he was able to return to Kyoto.

Even the general himself was living a miserable life. In this case, Bai Di San Taifu would certainly not get any return on his investment, and even the nominal reward would be almost zero.

The general himself is also an excellent warrior. As a warrior and a general, although he will consider using the power of ninjas, it does not mean that he can really think highly of the other party, even if he is already very down.

However, Momochi Santafu and the Asai family have a great chance of cooperation, because unlike the Koga ninjas who are loyal to the Rokkaku family, the Iga ninjas are committed to undertaking various tasks for the daimyo of all Nippon families.

More importantly, as long as he and the ninjas behind him can show enough value, Asai Nagamasa can give Momochi Santafu something that other daimyo will not give at all.

For other daimyo and samurai, land is the most important wealth, but this is not the case for Asai Nagamasa!

Hirai Na was a little confused, but judging from the smile on the other party's face and the much loosened soil around her, this should be a good thing.

So she bowed again in the pit: "Yes, Lord Asai Nagamasa!"

Asai Nagamasa shook his hand at her, then turned around and left.

Even ninjas have such a plan, so how will other people behave?

Let’s go to the nearest Inabayama Castle first and see what kind of wisdom and ability Douzan Saito, who is known as the “Mino Viper”, possesses!

(End of this chapter)