[Gintama] Immortal

It's against common sense to say that, since coming to Amaterasu-in Naraku, Oboro has become more cheerful.

Yae was already idle, and Naraku's routine of murder and arson hadn't changed for 500 years. She recently found new joy in observing Oboro.Seeing the little guy busy up and down all day, cleaning a good killer organization cleaner than the Buddhist hall, she tends to have the illusion that Tianzhaoyuan Naraku is running for an advanced health unit and will definitely win the award.

It is not only the hygienic environment of Amaterasu-in Naraku who has undergone subtle changes. Recently, Yae can often see Xu and Oboro.

One is the leader of an assassination organization with a long history, and the other is a slave who should have died with the patriarch in the lenient regime. The identities of the two people are very different, and the trajectories of life are also completely different, but there is an endless trend in chatting. The focus of the topic basically revolved around "When will you teach me the skills of assassination" and "I will not teach you to be a killer".

When Xu mocked himself that he couldn't give anyone anything other than assassination skills, Oboro curled his lips and complained in a low voice: "Didn't you always refuse to teach me?"

The child may not have noticed, but his expression has become much more vivid now.

Taking off the shackles of the old self and the shackles of the past, Xu's blood gave Oboro a second life, but Xu's existence itself gave him the meaning of living.

"As long as it can help the teacher, I'm willing to do anything." It sounds like the polite words are from the heart, and I want to be in Amaterasu-in Naraku and take root by Xu's side wholeheartedly. To Ming Zhi.

After knowing what kind of existence Xu is, his will has not wavered in the slightest, but has become more determined.

"You really picked up a good boy." The night outside the window was boundless, and a candle was lit in the empty room. Yae sat across from the desk, propping his chin to watch him write the documents to be submitted to the shogunate.

Generally speaking, ordinary people who have experienced that kind of miraculous near-death experience would want to ask about it immediately after waking up, but Oboro didn't do that.

He has been patiently waiting for the right time. If Xu Xu did not show his willingness to reveal, he would probably be able to hold back like this forever.

The thick ink smudged the traces on the rice paper, and after finishing the last word, he raised his wrist neatly to close the pen, and casually put it aside.

"In three days, I will leave for a trip, but I will be back soon." He turned his head, his voice was as calm as the surface of the sea after the rain, and the unfinished meaning in his words was self-evident.

"During this period, Oboro will be counting on you, Yae."

Thick dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and the flickering candlelight reflected in those scarlet pupils, which suddenly seemed to warm up.

"……"good.

What she was trying to say was, yes.

……

She doesn't remember how she got into the darkness.

One moment she was still in a room lit by candlelight, and the next moment she was alone.

... Lord God... Lord God... I beg you...

The choking voice fluctuated from far to near, faint like a firefly that was about to disappear in summer night, floating and flickering in the dark sea of ​​consciousness.

The sound of the call seemed to be closely connected with the heart, and the voice pulled one end of the heartstring, and suddenly pulled it straight——

When he woke up and saw the unfamiliar ceiling, Yae was stunned for a second.

Reflexively, she tried to turn over—without success.

She could feel "her" cheek against the painfully hard floor, and that alone was abnormal enough.

His hands and feet were bound by something like a rope, his body was weak and weak, and there was a burning pain in his abdomen. Yae struggled to twist his neck and looked around——

What came into view was the most common long house. Three-quarters of the long and narrow room was covered with dilapidated tatami mats, and the remaining quarter was a doma used as a kitchen.The three girls huddled in a corner, sitting as far away from her as possible, as if she were some terrible plague.

... Where is Amaterasu-in Naraku?Finally got bombed?Where did that guy go?And hazy, he probably doesn't know Xu Yao's plan to run away.At this juncture, she opened and closed her eyes, why did she suddenly change the dungeon?

There was no wind outside the house, and there was no sound in the room, only the cautious breathing of the girls remained.

Yae finally managed to turn Wang Ba... Oh no, it simply turned over and put his right cheek on the floor.

The ronin who sat leaning against the door with the knife raised his eyes and glanced at her indifferently, as if he was looking at some kind of goods.Seeing that she didn't move any more, he looked away, holding a grass stem in his mouth and looking into the unknown distance in every possible way.

……kill him.

An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded in his head, and a scalp-numbing intense hatred poured into his chest, like a sharp needle piercing a nerve.Yae felt that the body struggled involuntarily, but it was tied with hemp rope, and that consciousness could only give up angrily in the end.

Blinking, Yae turned her attention to the inside of her body.

--kill him?Why?

Without answering her words, that feeble consciousness just stubbornly repeated an order.

...kill those scumbags.

Yae could only change the direction of the question.

--May I have your name?where is your family?

As if a certain barrier was suddenly broken, before the sound of the heart fell, the memories belonging to this body suddenly came like snowflakes.

The sky in my memory was gloomy and rainy, the black crows were parked on the sharp bamboo fence beside the execution ground, and there were two blood-stained heads on the wooden stakes, even if the blood was all over the face, the kind of pain carved into the bone marrow and blended into the blood The familiarity doesn't fade away.

The voice rolled in the throat, but it still could not form the pronunciation of "Mom and Dad". The vision was shaking, as if a wind suddenly blew out the candle in the dark night, and the gloomy picture flickered and flew. When the memory became clear again, the body's Fate has fallen into the hands of traffickers.

……there is none left.I have nothing left.

That consciousness wailed, like a dying animal curled up into a small ball, trembling and crying blood.

...Kill these people, I beg you, I will pay whatever price you want.

Yae lowered her eyes, and in the eyes of those around her, she was just lying motionless on the ground.

...Orphans of the Great Prison of Kanzheng?

Sighing in the bottom of my heart, Yae lowered her voice:

——This is your wish?

The consciousness that was so weak that it was about to disappear suddenly became stronger.

——Yes, this is my wish!No matter what price I have to pay, even if I have to sacrifice my body, as long as I can make those scumbags pay for their lives, I am willing to do anything!

……I see.But before I promise you, you have to answer me a question.

Yae let out a breath slowly, and she closed her eyes.

--What's your name?

For a long time, so long that she thought the other party's consciousness had disappeared, she heard the voice softly say:

—— Sakura.

Sakura, pronounced the same as "Sakura".

...Sakura?

It really is a cute girl's name.

Yae was in a daze uncontrollably, and for a moment seemed to see the mountain cherry in full bloom under the slanting sunlight.The little girl with eyes as clear as a young deer looked at herself timidly, and asked her nervously and with difficulty hiding her expectation:

——"Are you the god who came to answer my wish?"

Another voice of consciousness sounded in his head.

"...Yes," Yae finally found his voice after a long while.She bent the corner of her mouth, as if she was affected by this body at the moment, her eyes suddenly became slightly wet.

"But I am only the god of your ancestors."

——As long as the cherry blossoms at the shrine are still in full bloom, no matter where your son is, just call my name, and I will definitely answer.

Words are the oldest of powers, and even more so in insubstantial things.Using words as a curse, she unilaterally made a contract.After a long time, this promise of blood connection finally came true because of the other party's strong obsession.

It is all supported by hatred until now, and that little soul flickers like a candle that is about to be extinguished.

It was the soul of a girl, born in the early spring when the cherry blossoms were blooming, and was cared for and grown up by her parents, but before the cherry blossoms bloomed in spring, she was destroyed in the bloody storm of the Kanzheng Prison.

Yae carefully held the girl's soul between his fingers.The faint fire of the soul touched her fingers gratefully, and the thin warmth quickly dissipated.

She watched the light dim until it was completely extinguished.She clearly felt that another consciousness disappeared, and her body was suddenly empty.

...Don't get lost, Sakura.

However, if it was the couple she saw in her memory, she would definitely wait there.

On the white road, I will definitely wait there.

Yae opened his eyes and sat up.

The girls huddled in the corner looked at her in amazement, and it was unbelievable that the person who was dying a moment ago suddenly became energetic.

With her hands still tied behind her back, she raised her chin and gestured to the ronin sitting by the door:

"Is there any meal?"

— This body has been on a hunger strike for three days.

There seemed to be a hole in the stomach, and it was on fire, and the limbs were so weak that I couldn't lift it, and I trembled a few times when I took a breath, it was too weak.

With little thought, she immediately decided that her immediate priority was to regain her strength.

Hearing that she finally thought about it and stopped the hunger strike, the middle-aged man who seemed to be a human trafficker was very excited. He immediately ordered food from the restaurant and delivered it, and stopped tying her up to prevent her from trying to harm herself.

The trafficker uncle hired two ronin for this trip, one was responsible for monitoring the goods, and the other was responsible for waiting for his orders.The so-called goods naturally refer to those girls huddled in the corner. There are four of them, all of whom are going to be sold in the Flower Street.

Yae was burying his head in grilling rice, eating food for three adults by himself, when a slightly sarcastic female voice suddenly sounded from the corner.

"...Fortunately, I thought you had some backbone," said the oldest girl, who glanced at her up and down, "Now you're not looking for death? Are you going on a hunger strike?"

After a pause, Yae raised his head and pointed his chopsticks at himself in a daze: "Are you talking to me?"

"...Otherwise, what do you think?" The other party almost lost his breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just a little moved suddenly."

"I'm just talking to you, you're so moved!"

Yae put the chopsticks together and put down the bowl, sincerely thanking everyone who made this bowl of rice come into being, and then returned to the previous topic: "The rice is so delicious, I suddenly don't want to die."

"...Ghost letter!"

"Where's your family?" From her point of view, these girls couldn't be younger, and they are at the age when they should be held in the palm of their parents' hands and cared for.

The girl suddenly fell silent, and when she spoke again, her voice lowered a degree, even with a bit of viciousness: "I don't have that kind of thing."

After a pause, she repeated: "None of us have that kind of thing."

Yae looked at the other girls who were huddled in the corner. They all lowered their heads and stared numbly at the ground in front of their feet.

"It was our so-called family that sold us."

Tilting his head, Yae thought about it for a while: "Is that why you don't run?"

"...Are you an idiot?" The girl twitched the corners of her mouth, "Do you think we can escape?" She gestured to the tall figure guarding the door.

"You may not be able to do it alone." Eight points nodded.

A well popped out of her forehead, and the girl threatened in a low voice fiercely: "What do you mean, believe it or not, I will kill you."

"I mean, you still have to decide your own destiny, Keiko." Yae showed a gratified expression like an old father.

"Who is Keiko, Kouhu!"

"First explain," Yae scratched his cheek, "I'm only responsible for creating opportunities, and you decide what to do next."

A small square of sunlight fell through the vent on the roof, and she raised her head to look at the blue sky outside.

Before appearing here, Xu had already put on the agenda the plan to run away from Amaterasu-in Naraku with Oboro, and she didn't have so much time to waste here.What she promised will definitely be done. If she is not too weak, she would like to get rid of those who are in the way right now.

The girl's body is very good... Hey wait, how can I say that she looks like a pervert... But it is undeniable that when she starts to fight, she still misses the reckless guy who can wield a gun and a knife, Roaring on a war horse is like the kind of thunder.

Following the centuries-old tradition of Amaterasu-in Naraku, Yae waited until evening to act.

When blood burst out from the throat of the trafficker uncle, everyone around was shocked.The explosive power of a moment was not enough. She stabbed the sharp chopsticks into the fat throat, but the chopsticks did not penetrate completely as expected, and were half-embarrassed and stuck in the middle.

The other party's body fell onto the worn-out tatami with a heavy, muffled sound, the rice bowl was dumped, and the soup splashed everywhere.He didn't die immediately, the middle-aged man panted in pain, clutching his bloody throat for a while, struggled for a while before he fell silent.

The ronin who was guarding the door finally moved, but the room was too small to draw a sword to fight, and if he was not careful, it was easy to cause the tragedy of the blade being chopped on the beam.

The cold flashing sharp blade passed by, and taking advantage of the closeness, Yae pulled out the wakizashi pinned to the waist of the man, turned around and appeared behind the man.The first time the knife cut through the air, the opponent turned around and slashed at him without hesitation, she suddenly lowered her body and made a backhand strike, cutting off the tendon in the opponent's back foot.

The man fell down screaming, but still wanted to struggle to get up, Yae put his left hand on Wakizashi's knife handle, pointed at the man's neck and stabbed the knife down forcefully.

The world is finally quiet.

Yae stood up straight, and the last ronin stopped by the door, as if he forgot to draw his sword in a daze, and just kept looking at her with a ghostly expression.

"...Well, how should I put it, engaging in human trafficking activities will really be condemned by God." She brushed her obstructive hair back behind her ears, wiped the freshly splashed blood on her face, and then looked up. Raise your eyes:

"I'm in a hurry, so I'll send you down to reunite with your employer right away."