Chapter 137 Showdown at Songlin Slope

Su Lun didn't know how much the "Onimaru Hyakume" would improve Chitiao, but it was definitely much stronger than when it was in the hands of a swordsmanship layman like him.

After taming the demon sword, Chitiao's entire aura changed dramatically, giving people an increasingly ethereal feeling. With her aura unleashed, she seemed almost divine, truly like a Rakshasa from hell, with a terrifying killing intent that made people shudder.

A sword master recognized by a famous sword would have a 100% match. With this demon sword in hand, Chitiao was even more exaggerated than Su Lun with his Black Scythe. It was as if nothing in the world could not be cut.

But it wasn't without its side effects.

According to Chitiao, even if she could now control this twelve-crafted masterpiece, she would still be constantly eroded by the demon sword's demonic energy in the future. This sword already had spirituality and had been worshiped with incense for many years, becoming a demonic weapon of the Hell Realm. In the future, it would absorb the souls of the dead and the aura of slaughter under the sword to grow itself, becoming increasingly ferocious, and over time, it would inevitably backlash against the sword master.

In other words, she had to constantly become stronger and make breakthroughs in swordsmanship to keep suppressing it.

Su Lun wasn't worried about this.

Chitiao's belief in swordsmanship was unmatched by ordinary people.

.......

Before, Mikoto chose to come to Chaming Mountain to take refuge.

Now that the situation was basically clear, there was no point in continuing to stay.

After a discussion, the group decided to set off immediately and return to Edo.

The next morning, they left Grandma Jia's bathhouse and arrived at a mountain road leading from Chaming Mountain to Chiina.

Mikoto had notified the royal family in advance by paper crane that guards would be sent to pick them up.

"Songlin Slope" was a remote mountain岗, where one could barely see a single passerby all day long.

The group had been waiting here for a while.

Su Lun didn't feel impatient at all.

He wanted to inscribe the eight-layered runes on his skin, and he could draw them anywhere.

He could draw while walking, and it was even better to draw while waiting.

The Rune Flesh of the rune arcanist lineage required engraving runes on the body's skin, flesh, muscles, and bones, drawing runes of a certain element or effect according to one's needs.

Su Lun had only reached the first step.

He wanted to cooperate with the Vajra secret technique to draw a gold-type self-adaptive sixth-order rune called "Golden Dragon纹."

This variant rune was very complex, a bit like weaving a fishing net, with interlocking links, forming a "rune protection net" for the human body, which could resist, disperse, and buffer attacks. After the drawing was completed, it would also bring a huge toughness increase to the skin, and close combat and life-saving abilities would increase exponentially.

Su Lun now had no problems with rune understanding, but this was a delicate job that required a lot of time, so he had been tinkering with it almost all day and night.

Chitiao had just tamed the demon sword and was "exchanging feelings" with the sword all day long.

Watching Su Lun tinker, she didn't forget to train her disciples, "Aren't you always envious of how powerful your 'Mr. Su Lun' is? Now you know why he's so powerful, right? Today's training task is to draw the sword three thousand times..."

"Yes, teacher."

Luo Luota was also very serious and obedient.

She began to draw the sword and practice the Iaijutsu, with the sharp metallic sound of "铿嚓" constantly ringing in her ears.

Mikoto, who was on the side, heard Chitiao's words and echoed, "Mr. Su Lun is indeed very hardworking. He's working hard every moment, no wonder he's so powerful."

Su Lun smiled noncommittally.

He was used to it. Studying and researching were a part of his life, and he had always been like this.

This was also the daily routine of an alchemist.

At this time, he looked at the time and casually asked, "Miss Mikoto, did you agree with the guards to meet at ten o'clock?"

"Yes."

Mikoto frowned slightly, "They seem to be late."

It was almost the agreed time, but she hadn't seen the shadow of the guards.

A trace of unease also appeared on her face.

She was a princess, so under normal circumstances, the royal warriors could only arrive early and would never be late.

If the time was late, it meant that something might have happened.

"..."

Su Lun's brows also furrowed slightly when he heard this.

The situation in Yamain was very complicated, and he didn't hold any illusions.

The terrain of this mountain崗 was very high. The crow was standing on the treetop, looking out from a high position. Even with the shared vision, it didn't find anything unusual.

But it was this calm that made Su Lun feel a faint sense of foreboding in his heart.

He watched Mikoto release the paper crane again, probably wanting to confirm the situation, and felt that she could only wait.

But before long, before she received a reply, the death bird on the branch seemed to have discovered something and suddenly crowed "嘎嘎".

Su Lun's expression suddenly changed, and he whispered, "Not good, let's go!"

Hearing this, Chitiao, who was lying on the stone for a nap, suddenly flipped over and asked urgently, "What's wrong?"

Mikoto didn't understand what was happening and looked at Su Lun with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know. But there is danger approaching!"

Su Lun's eyes were solemn, and he didn't know the situation himself.

But he knew very well that the death bird's ability was to foresee death.

Its warning just now was very urgent, which meant that a "fatal" danger was quietly approaching!

Seeing Su Lun's serious expression, Chitiao and Mikoto both straightened their expressions. Without asking any further questions, they followed Su Lun, who had already turned around and quickly evacuated.

......

Su Lun took a few steps, and some thoughts flashed through his mind quickly.

To be able to remind the death bird that it was a "fatal danger", the opponent's strength must be very strong.

"Take the mountain road, don't take the main road!"

Su Lun glanced at the flat main road where there was no one in sight and suddenly changed direction.

He had carefully observed the terrain near this mountain崗 all the way. If it were him to ambush, there would definitely be heavy troops guarding the main roads.

He plunged into the dense forest, and Chitiao, Mikoto, and Luo Luota followed closely behind.

Almost at the same time as they left "Songlin Slope", a "咻~" sound suddenly came from not far behind them.

Then,

There was a "咚" explosion, which could be heard for dozens of miles.

It was actually a signal arrow exploding in the air.

Seeing this scene, Chitiao and Mikoto immediately understood what was happening: there was an ambush!

They sped through the forest.

.......

"There seem to be a lot of people, maybe people from the Takeda Shogunate are here!"

"Not necessarily. Maybe it's Abe Taihe..."

"..."

Although the few of them had considerable combat power, they wouldn't be stupid enough to fight in the enemy's encirclement without clarifying the situation.

Su Lun held a black umbrella in his hand, running while thinking about something with a blank expression.

Just at this time, he suddenly discovered something. He grabbed with his five fingers in the void, and with a pull of several transparent silk threads, he watched as a thick tree that he passed by broke into two pieces with a smooth cut.

Chitiao and Mikoto also noticed Su Lun's movements. With a glance, they saw that the cut of the broken tree was actually flowing with scarlet blood.

There was actually a ninja hiding in the tree trunk who was using Wood Release to conceal himself!

Looking up again, there were dozens of bamboo-woven paragliders in the sky.

Mikoto's pupils shrank, and she recognized the ninja镖 sect纹 on the ninjas' clothes. She whispered, "Those are Koga ninjas!"

Su Lun's eyes narrowed.

There were many factions of ninja宗 in Yamain, mainly the Koga and Iga factions.

The Iga sect ninjas were good at guarding and pharmacology and were loyal to the royal family, the Shinobu clan.

The Koga sect ninjas were warlike and were good at ninjutsu and researching various ninja tools. They usually served warlords in wartime and were very active on the battlefield. The largest branch was now in the Black Dragon Society.

Seeing the Koga ninjas, he could be 80% sure that they were from the Takeda Shogunate!

Now that it was clear that the enemy had an ambush, and even that there were ninjas lurking in this forest, it meant that the situation on the other routes was even more dangerous.

Fortunately, the death bird warned them of the danger in advance, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous if the encirclement were to close.

But now that their whereabouts had been exposed, a big battle was unavoidable.

Su Lun looked at the ninjas who were starting to jump down from the sky, thought of something, and said very quickly, "Miss Mikoto, there may be a very strong presence among the enemies, prepare the second plan."

"Okay!"

Without any hesitation, Mikoto took out a piece of white paper in the shape of a human figure from her arms, bit her finger, dripped blood on the paper, drew a talisman, and handed this newly made "shikigami paper doll" to Su Lun.

.......

In the blink of an eye, an old man appeared in front of Su Lun and the others, blocking their way.

This guy was wearing a tattered felt hat, with a wine gourd hanging on his waist, a red, drunken nose, looking like a drunken mountain farmer.

But it was this sloppy outfit that made Mikoto shout sharply, "Be careful, this is Ueno Sasaki, one of the three Koga ninjas, 'Demon Hand'!"

Su Lun had heard of this guy's name.

A special Jonin, a top assassin-type ninja whose reputation could definitely rank in the top ten among Yamain ninjas.

There was no false reputation under the great name, and he didn't underestimate it at all.

The old man was not polite either. Seeing the three of them coming towards him, he raised his hand and formed a ninjutsu seal, and suddenly spewed out a visible wind blade from his mouth, "Ninjutsu Art: Wind God Kamaitachi!"

Those wind blades grew against the wind. They were only the size of fingers when they first came out, but in a blink of an eye, they turned into rounds of wind blade crescents.

Thousands of wind wheels ravaged the forest. In the blink of an eye, the thick trees in the forest were "blown" down like cutting wheat.

Chitiao was at the forefront, waving her sword so tightly that no water could leak through.

What was surprising was that the blade actually sparked "铿铿铿铿" when it touched those wind blades.

Looking closely, there were thousands of miniature sickle ninja tools hidden in the wind blade.

Wind-type ninjutsu was pervasive, and a range attack couldn't be blocked by puppets.

Su Lun didn't have Chitiao's superb swordsmanship to be able to defend perfectly. He pinched a arcanist seal, and an dark golden luster instantly flowed over his skin. Looking again, there were faint runes like dragon scale tattoos.

The fifth-order Vajra Secret Technique plus the sixth-order rune's Rune Gold Body wasn't so easy to break. The dense wind blades cut on the skin without leaving any traces.

Su Lun's attention was never on these wind blades.

How could he not know that this was the enemy's smokescreen?

Looking again, the old man really disappeared into thin air.

"What superb stealth! No wonder he is one of the three Koga ninjas..."

Su Lun's eyes narrowed slightly.

His senses of sight, hearing, and touch couldn't detect the guy's existence at all. Only in his soul perception could he sense a ball of soul fire approaching Mikoto mixed in with the wind blades.

He was probably thinking of killing her with one blow.

Su Lun pretended not to notice and only suddenly burst out when he found the opportunity.

"Silk Control Secret Art: Bird in a Cage!"

He grabbed with his five fingers in the void, and countless silk threads turned into reality and suddenly straightened, wrapping the figure inside.

But before the silk threads could cut, a smoke bomb suddenly exploded inside with a "嘭" sound, and the ball of soul fire ran out hundreds of meters away as if it had teleported.

This old man was like a loach, quickly escaping after a failed attack.

Su Lun let out a soft sigh in his heart, secretly praising the ninjutsu escape technique, which was extraordinary.

Being attacked, Chitiao's violent temper couldn't bear to show weakness. Before the wind blades had subsided, she suddenly stomped on the ground, and her whole body rushed towards the direction where the old man had escaped like a human cannonball.

While she was still in mid-air, she drew her sword and slashed forward, and a sword qi broke through the air.

Sasaki was forced to show himself from the Wind Release, and the steel claw blades worn on the palms of his hands crossed, taking this slash head-on.

Seeing this, Su Lun had roughly estimated Sasaki's strength.

Although Chitiao's slash was just a test, the fact that he could take it so easily meant that this guy also had the strength of a fifth-order profession.

"Sasaki is well-versed in Wind Release ninjutsu, don't get entangled with that guy!"

"Okay!"

Su Lun and the others completely ignored that guy and continued to run towards the depths of the forest.

But just then, they vaguely heard someone whispering in their ears, "Ninjutsu Art: Myriad Flower Wheel!"

Looking again, cherry blossoms suddenly fell from the sky in this forest, like snowflakes, beautiful and enchanting, making people feel dazed for a moment.

They didn't see the enemy, but they heard Mikoto urgently reminding, "Be careful, that's Kōbe Kaoru 'Sakura Princess', also one of the three Koga ninjas. She is skilled at controlling demons and is proficient in illusion. She has the 'mind replacement' bloodline!"

In the Yamain Kingdom, because believers cultivated the power of Shinto, the probability of talent awakening was very low. But once a talent was awakened, the probability of bloodline inheritance was extremely high, and it was usually called "bloodline limit".

Hearing Mikoto's words, Su Lun immediately replaced the term in his mind with a talent in alchemy, 【B-025-Persuader】.

This talent naturally had an easy-to-convince affinity and high mental strength growth.

It was indeed a talent very suitable for being an illusionist.

Chitiao had a demon sword by her side, so naturally, she wouldn't be affected.

Only Luo Luota had a moment of infatuation and was then woken up by Mikoto with her Kagura bell.

Su Lun had also seen through this illusion long ago. This level of術士 was not a big problem for him now.

But what made him even more curious was that the soul fire he sensed was the one he had seen before.

It was actually the female ninja who had disguised herself as a guide in the Swordsmith Village?!

.......

In this brief exchange, both sides had tested out some things.

"Damn it, weren't that female swordsman's arms sealed by Lord Takeda? How can she still have such strength?!"

"Also, why is the demon sword Muramasa here!"

"The one using the silk threads is the guy I mentioned before, be careful, he's very skilled!"

"We can't stop them, quickly notify Lord Danzo!"

"..."

Su Lun had recognized Kōbe Kaoru, and the female ninja had also recognized him, so she naturally knew that these people would not be easy to kill.

......

Two of the "three Koga ninjas" had already appeared.

If Chitiao and Su Lun weren't by her side, perhaps those guys would really have had a chance to kill Mikoto.

But now, it was completely insufficient.

However, Su Lun had no intention of fighting.

The death bird's warning made him not dare to be careless at all.

The people who had appeared so far couldn't give them too much of a death threat.

After all, ninjas were positioned as assassins. Without the certainty of killing, the two special Jonin didn't dare to fight head-on and just followed along the way.

The death bird was still crowing 嘎嘎, Su Lun and the others didn't stop at all, killing several blocking嘍囉 ninjas along the way, thinking that they had probably broken through the encirclement.

But just then, Su Lun sensed a guy with an exaggerated escape speed suddenly appearing.

He shouted urgently, "There's someone underground!"

"The person coming is very strong! Be careful, I'll stop him!"

Chitiao felt the killing intent like a thorn in her back and also shouted at the same time.

It was the same dangerous feeling as before when the sixth-order rune old man was assassinated.

Facing this level of opponent, there was no room for holding back at all.

She stretched out her hand and changed into a set of crimson armor as if by magic, which was naturally the famous Sengoku armor, "Iron Red Scale涂 Five-Piece Torso Armor".

With the Tengu mask covering her face, her whole person suddenly became majestic.

This time, she directly drew the demon sword Muramasa.

Her fighting spirit was high.

Su Lun's eyes also narrowed when he saw Chitiao's actions.

There probably weren't many people in Yamain who could make Chitiao, who had now advanced to the fifth order, say "very strong".

The guy who was escaping underground was probably the reason why the death bird had been crowing.

Su Lun didn't dare to be careless at all, and the eight-armed spider lance had already been revealed behind him.

In the blink of an eye, the guy who had escaped by earth suddenly stood out a hundred meters away. He was wearing black iron armor, a mask, and leggings, a standard ninja attire. There was also a moon-shaped clan紋 on the armor.

Seeing this, Mikoto was also surprised, "That's... that's the leader of the Koga ninja宗, 'Shadow Buddha' Katō Danzō!"

Hearing this name, Su Lun's eyes were also full of solemnity.

The number one ninja in Yamain, a master of both ninjutsu and martial arts, the only ninja in the world who had reached the "Shadow level".

Although his soul perception was only about the strength of a fifth-order profession, this guy's strength was really unfathomable.

.......

Su Lun and the others escaped the encirclement because they left decisively, and only a few high-level ninjas caught up.

But looking at the "Shadow Buddha" Katō Danzō in front of them, none of them acted rashly.

Su Lun also felt a little novel that he had actually encountered this kind of "legendary figure".

But now that he had seen the person, he wasn't flustered.

This Katō Danzō was strong, but many of his methods were "known".

The outcome of the battle could also be estimated somewhat.

Now Chitiao had a demon sword in hand and famous armor on her body. Not to mention that she could defeat this Katō, she could protect herself without worry.

What's more, there were Su Lun and Mikoto. If they really fought, they would have a chance to end up in mutual destruction.

Su Lun felt Chitiao's fighting spirit rising higher and higher and guessed what she wanted to do, so he asked, "Sister Chitiao, what do you think?"

The safest plan was naturally not to fight head-on.

As long as Chitiao could hold back this strongest one, Su Lun and the others could find a way to kill the others.

Then, run again, and it would be much easier.

As expected, Chitiao said what he expected, "You guys go first. I want to use this guy to try my sword."

Although they were both fighting, "holding back" and "trying the sword" were two different states of mind.

One was passive, and one was active.

Sword masters were like this, they must be tempered in battle after battle.

When they met a suitable opponent, their hands itched if they didn't fight.

"Shadow Buddha" Katō Danzō was not only a ninja, but in terms of swordsmanship alone, he was definitely a top-tier swordsman among the top five in Yamain.

He was strong and could give Chitiao a sense of crisis. He was the best opponent.

Chitiao now had a demon sword in hand and just needed a hearty battle.

"Oh."

A sharp light flashed in Su Lun's eyes, and he responded faintly.

During the one or two breaths of time that they exchanged, Katō Danzō on the opposite side was not idle either.

Just then, that guy pinched a ninjutsu seal and opened his mouth and said, "Ninjutsu Art: Toyokumo Nozawa Country!"

The rumble was endless. Looking again, that guy actually spewed out a waterfall. The flood-like amount of water rushed over with great momentum like a mountain torrent, and rocks and trees were instantly washed away in a mess...

In the blink of an eye, the huge forest became a swamp.

"Is this the strength of a 'Shadow'..."

Su Lun's eight-armed spider lance easily floated on the water, and he sighed.

He looked at the exaggerated amount of water and didn't understand the principle, so he complained in his heart, "How can this guy噴出 so much water?"

If it were alchemy, it would probably take a seventh-order profession to produce such a large amount of water.

.......

This "Toyokumo Nozawa Country Art" was definitely a disaster-level attack for group targets.

It was no exaggeration to say that one person could fight an army.

But for Su Lun and the others, the problem wasn't big.

Su Lun was just wondering what the motivation was for Katō Danzō to make so much water when he looked again and saw that that guy was also using a special technique to directly step on the water and rush over.

Was this to create a favorable battle terrain for himself?

Seeing this, Chitiao didn't show any weakness and shouted, "I'm going!"

"Pa", "Pa", "Pa"... a series of explosions in the air.

One stepped on the water, and one stepped in the air, rushing towards each other.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides were about to collide.

Unfortunately, Chitiao had just advanced to the fifth order, and her strength was much weaker than Katō Danzō, but the sword in her hand was the "demon sword Muramasa".

It could blind, had demonic energy, and could confuse the mind... many negative states that could be called [Sealed Items].

With this slash, the sword qi stretched for hundreds of meters, and waves several meters high rose on the water surface.

Katō Danzō touched it for a moment, and his eyes were completely dark. He immediately knew that something was wrong. This guy's combat intuition was extremely strong, and he suddenly withdrew and retreated, leaving the range of influence.

But from this slash, he immediately knew the strength of the opponent in front of him.

A cold light flashed in his sinister eyes, and he formed a ninjutsu seal with both hands.

This time, a faint white fluorescent light actually condensed on his body, as if a mysterious will was blessing him.

"Divine Art: Thousand-Armed Stone Buddha!"

Katō Danzō finally used the ultimate ninjutsu secretly passed down by the Koga ninja宗 - Thousand-Armed Stone Buddha.

During this earth-shattering time, a thousand-armed stone Buddha hundreds of meters high descended from the air, dignified and awe-inspiring.

It was said that this secret technique had the power to communicate with the gods and could kill gods and demons!

......

Just as the two were fighting, Su Lun had run far away in another direction.

He felt the exaggerated movement behind him and turned back to take a look, raising his eyebrows: "As expected, the strength of these Shinto believers can't really be judged by rank..."

It was the familiar formula, the familiar routine, the descent of a higher will, the secret belief technique...

Having encountered it several times, Su Lun didn't know what was going on.

He couldn't beat this level.

"But speaking of which, to have forced out the opponent's trump card so quickly, Sister Chitiao has become so strong now..."

Thinking of this, Su Lun disappeared into the forest with the pursuers behind him without looking back.