Chapter 71: Keiji's Solo Gunfight

  "How come I didn't ask them where the martial monk was? A group of monks who only know how to chant and lecture wouldn't care which martial monk is stronger or whose spear technique is better, so it's no wonder they got their legs broken! It serves them right!" Kiryū Manzōmaru was furious. More than twenty people from the Kiryū household were also furious, and a few fools still hadn't found their way back yet; all they could do was wait until evening when they would return to the mansion in Monzen-machi on their own.

  "Is Master Hōzōin Jun'ei really good at gunjutsu? I want to challenge him!" The most excited person upon seeing Hōzōin Jun'ei was Taki Kōjiro, followed by Shima Sainosuke, who had also heard of Hōzōin Jun'ei's reputation. Next was Honda Sanmi, and the three of them were eager to take action together. As a small tail, he naturally followed suit, but after that, there was no one else... Only these three little kids were excited, while everyone else was already exhausted and didn't care if it was Hōzōin Jun'ei or Hōzōin Jun'etsu.

  Hōzōin Junryū initially inherited the traditional art of naginata from his ancestors, but after mastering it, he suddenly felt that using a long-handled naginata lacked defense. In order to strengthen his defense while maintaining his attacking power, he created a new spear based on the existing yari-jitte (a type of Japanese polearm), which he called kata-yari.

  According to his boast, the combined attack and defense of the crescent moon gun is the orthodox way of gun technique. Such a thick-skinned boast would naturally provoke some well-known masters of gun technique to strongly condemn him. In order to prove the correctness of his new idea, Yin Rong used his skills to try out with those who opposed him, and in the end, whoever came to challenge him was easily defeated by him.

  After the war, some people questioned whether Bōzōin Tanetsugu had resorted to cunning and took advantage of others' unfamiliarity with the repeating rifle, repeatedly launching surprise attacks. However, facts speak louder than words, and the cries of the defeated are naturally not taken seriously. As a result, his new gun and shooting technique gained fame, and people gave this new gun a new name: the "Tenmonji Gun".

  Hōzōin Jun'ei, although his reputation was growing, he was not an easy-to-satisfy person. To perfect his new gun technique, he sought instruction from the Tennen Rishin-ryū school of the eastern provinces and from people like Jōetsu's first-rate gunman, Uesugi Shigekata. By the time Hōzōin Jun'ei was less than thirty years old, he already had a masterful air about him. The Hōzōin temple always had dozens of students learning gun techniques, and every month there would be some stubborn people who came to seek instruction in gun techniques. Therefore, when the Kiryū party of over twenty people arrived, Hōzōin Jun'ei was not surprised.

  "Hōzōin Tanemichi! I'm Takigawa Keijirō, and I've come to learn the ways of the gun from you!"

  "Hmph! Hahaha……" A group of monk soldiers and warriors burst out laughing loudly, every month there would be some foolish young man who comes to challenge the master's marksmanship, but none as confident and straightforward as this kid pointing at the master wanting to learn the Hojojin's marksmanship.

  "What are you laughing at! What's so funny?! Let me tell you! My marksmanship is quite formidable!" Taki Kojiro's face turned red as he suddenly felt a bit regretful, jumping out to challenge them the moment he entered was too hasty, if only he had been given a little more time to dress up, his eccentric appearance would have surely stunned this group of fools!

  "You're not convinced? Bring it on! I'm Takiwara Keijirou, and in the future, I'll be the greatest swordsman under heaven!"

  "This kid is really arrogant! Haha... Let me, Nakamura Yosaburo, teach you a lesson!" Nakamura Yosaburo, a young man in his early twenties with an unattractive crescent-shaped haircut, picked up a wooden sword and walked to the center of the training ground, saying: "Bring it on! Kid! I won't bully you, just let me give you three moves!"

  "Mitsurou on the right is definitely going to teach this kid a lesson!"

  "Let him know what real marksmanship is!"

  "Kei Jirō, ganbare!" Amidst the shouting of the Hōzōin disciples, only Shima Ukon and Honda Sanmi were still persisting in their efforts. The Kiryū family's warriors sat on stone benches, resting; if it weren't for the master's request, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to find a warrior-monk.

  "Alright! I'm starting!" Takigawa Keijirō charged forward with his spear, his strength and speed were incredibly fast, and he struck down Nakamura Yūzaburō... Alright, actually Takigawa Keijirō just knocked that arrogant guy to the ground with one thrust of his spear. Fortunately, the tip was wrapped up, or else that guy would have had a few more holes in him.

  Kiriyama Mantsumaru chatted with Nakajo Hidetaka: "Hidetaka-sama should have practiced spearmanship, right?"

  "It is true that I have practiced, Chūjō-ryū is a school of martial arts created by combining the family's traditional martial art passed down from the Kamakura period with Niten Ichi Ryu, and my ancestor Nagahide also exchanged our family's traditional spear techniques with martial artists visiting from the eastern provinces."

  "So, Nakajo-style gun techniques should be quite formidable too, right?"

  "My skills with the sword are only superficial, my father always urged me to rest and practice, so I can't say how good I am, compared to my ancestors, I'm really ashamed."

  "It's nothing, my family is the same, maybe a bit better at horse riding, but other than that, just amateur level." Kiryu Manzoumaru yawned and dozed off leaning against the stone table.

  "Oh! Won again! Go Keiichiro!"

  "Bastard! Nakamura Ushirō has been defeated! Yamada Yahēji has been defeated! Matsuzō and Gorō have also been defeated! Who the hell is this guy, was he sent by the monks of Enryaku-ji?" Several Hōzōin disciples, who were watching their comrades fall one after another, shouted in a flurry: "He must be using some kind of trickery, some sort of dark magic! Tell us! Are you a monster summoned by Enryaku-ji?!"

  "Shut up!" Bōzōin Taneyoshi glared at the troublemakers with a fierce look, forcing them to back down. Then he walked over to Takigawa Keijirō and burst out laughing: "I see your marksmanship is from the Ise school of shooting! Speaking of which, we actually come from the same school. Our family name is Ise, and our common ancestor was Ise Iga no Kami. This Ise school of shooting was also passed down from our ancestors in Ise Province to the temple of Kōfuku-ji. Which branch of the Ise school did you learn from?"

  "I don't know which school, I just followed the village warriors to practice basic gun techniques for a few years. If you want me to teach you about guns, please give me an answer!" Takigawa Keijirō persisted stubbornly.

  "Hmm, let's have a match with my disciple first." Hōzōin Jun'ei turned around and slowly walked back to sit down again. The young monk who had been standing behind him with a wooden expression slightly moved and stepped into the arena carrying an old-fashioned wooden spear.

  "Wasn't that your apprentice just now?"

  "No, they also stay in my Treasure Temple like you, relying on me. My Treasure Temple has a small population, but I won't support these lazy people. However, I won't drive them away either. Whether you can learn or not depends on your personal fortune. If you want to learn from them, this trial can be exempted directly."

  "Hmph! I'd rather not learn from these good-for-nothings, who can be knocked down with just a few blows. They're not even as strong as me and my roughhousing friends." Taki Kōjirō scornfully curled his lip, directly denying the existence of this group of people. It's easy to imagine how devastated they must have felt being denied by both Hōshōin Sanei and Taki Kōjirō.

  "My name is Takigawa Keijirō. I'm honored to meet you!" Knowing that this person was a disciple of Hōzōin Jun'ei, Keijirō became more serious.

  "Zeng Amy, please!" The wooden nun nodded slightly and indicated that he could attack.