AI Model: gemini-3.0-flash
Chapter 7: Ninja Hunter
"This guy... this guy... is definitely not human!"
What kind of existence could use a single blade to precisely block every arrow amidst that rain of fire filling the sky?
There wasn't a single scorch mark on that red samurai armor, the hand holding the blade remained powerful, and even his breathing was as steady as before.
Is this guy a monster?
Actually, if Roland were to judge it himself, his performance just now was hardly worth mentioning.
The additional ability of the [Ashina Style], [Flowing Water], allows him to gain an extra 10% correction value when parrying.
This correction value applies to both parry timing and parry range; as long as he remains fully focused, it's easy to achieve a perfect parry for every incoming arrow.
Roland continued to approach the Bandits, each step feeling like heavy hammer blows striking their hearts.
Fear drove the Bandits to back away, but the greed deep in their bones made them unwilling to stop there.
Fame, power, and wealth—as long as they could cross this bridge, it would all be within reach!
"Kill!"
In the end, greed triumphed over fear!
The Bandits howled as they surrounded him again, led by several Bandits holding wooden shields.
Roland leaped into the air, forcibly shattering the wooden shields with his knees, then using his remaining forward momentum, he swung his blade in a backhand horizontal slash, killing two more in the blink of an eye.
He thrust his arm forward, piercing another person's throat, then flipped the blade, gripped the hilt with both hands, raised it over his head, and struck down from a high stance, splitting another bandit along with his shield.
Ashina One-Stringer!
The signature skill of the Ashina Style, it is also the move that best reflects the foundation of a practitioner's swordsmanship!
He threw a backhand punch, dislocating someone's jaw, then grabbed the opponent's shoulder, using him as a human shield.
After blocking several blade slashes, he raised the mangled corpse over his head and threw it out.
Taking advantage of the brief gap created by this strike, Roland quickly gathered the treasure chests dropped on the ground.
"Ten treasure chests, the drop rate is okay! It's just that these Bandits are too weak; they only drop white treasure chests, which aren't worth much. What a pity!"
Roland stood up, intending to terrify these people into submission, and pounced toward the terrified Bandits again.
But several spear tips suddenly thrust out from the crowd, forcing him to twist his body and dodge these vicious attacks, which were like vipers' flickering tongues, in a somewhat clumsy manner.
Several figures dressed as Japanese Monk Soldiers stepped out from the crowd holding long spears, and after chanting a Buddhist prayer, they charged at Roland together.
"Ninja Hunters?"
Ninja Hunters, also known as Monk Soldiers, are hired by various factions to earn money.
This profession was born amidst the flames of war to counter the silent assassinations carried out by shinobi against various factions during conflicts.
These Monk Soldiers focus on specialized training to deal with shinobi, and since they use long spears—where "an inch longer is an inch stronger"—they particularly counter the short swords used by shinobi.
Therefore, ordinary shinobi only meet death when they encounter them.
The Interior Ministry hired them to attack alongside the Bandits to deal with the Hachio Way of the Crane, the shinobi unit of Ashina Country.
What they didn't expect was that Roland alone would intercept the numerous Bandits on this bridge, preventing them from advancing a single step.
If they couldn't even enter the Hirata Estate, how could they talk about dealing with the Hachio Way of the Crane hidden in the shadows of the estate?
Left with no choice, these Monk Soldiers had to reveal themselves early, intending to resolve Roland as quickly as possible and break through this defensive line.
"Misyama-in Enshin, here! I shall be the one to take your head!"
The leading monk soldier roared and thrust his spear straight out.
Roland didn't reply, simply using a powerful downward slash to suppress the spear tip pointing at his face.
Just as he wanted to change his move to counterattack, another monk soldier's spear thrust forced him to switch from offense to defense again.
"Tsk! How troublesome! If only I knew 'Mikiri Counter' now, it would be much easier to deal with these guys. For now, I can only take it slow! Resolve one first!"
The techniques used by Ninja Hunters were specifically developed to counter shinobi, while the Mikiri Counter was developed by the Ashina's [Great Shinobi Owl], who participated in the [Blood Feud to Reclaim the Country], to counter Ninja Hunters.
Once he learned Mikiri Counter, let alone these few Ninja Hunters, as long as the strength attribute difference wasn't too large, all thrust-type attacks before him would be equivalent to offering their vitals to his blade.
Swinging his blade to knock away two spears, Roland switched to a high stance, making a move to use Ichimonji again.
The Ninja Hunter in front of him hurriedly raised his spear horizontally to parry, but the expected slash did not come.
Roland's back leg kicked forward, hitting the monk soldier's shin; as the opponent fell forward due to his balance being broken, the hilt of the blade struck the back of his head.
After a muffled groan, the Ninja Hunter collapsed to the ground, and Roland followed up with a stomp that snapped his spine.
"First one!"
Stepping back to dodge a sweeping spear, Roland seized the moment the opponent was recovering the spear, switched to a low stance, and launched a rising slash to seize the initiative.
The Ninja Hunter didn't have time to turn his spear tip and could only use the shaft to block the stormy assault; before long, a flaw appeared, and his throat was slit by a single stroke.
"Second one!"
Raising the katana again to return to a high stance, this time, the Ninja Hunter, unable to figure out his intentions, chose to retreat and dodge instead of parrying.
His retreating figure just barely avoided the downward swinging blade; just as the Ninja Hunter was feeling lucky about his quick reaction, a sudden roar came from his ear:
"Get out of the way!"
It was Misyama-in Enshin!
But hadn't he already dodged the enemy's attack?
In the next second, he felt a pain in his chest as a blade tip pierced straight through his heart.
It turned out this slash was still Roland's feint; the blade had only used thirty percent of its strength during the downward swing.
After the blade brushed past the Ninja Hunter, it quickly dropped to a middle stance, then his rear leg muscles tightened instantly, he lunged forward, and sent the blade into the enemy's chest.
"Third one!"
Roland withdrew the blade, and after twirling it in a few flourishes, he rested the back of the katana against the crook of his arm.
Clamping down slightly, he slowly drew the blade through, wiping away all the blood on it.
"Who's next?"
Facing Roland's challenge, the Bandits and the Monk Soldiers led by Misyama-in Enshin looked at each other in bewilderment.
They looked at one another, and no one dared to step forward again!
"As expected of Lord Blackday! To think he could easily achieve what we could not!"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"Such strength is probably comparable to the Generals of Ashina Country!"
Behind the defensive line, Nogami Gensai, who had witnessed the entire battle, couldn't help but marvel.
And just as they were cheering for Roland, a young man ran out from the interior of the estate in a panic and delivered a piece of bad news to Nogami Gensai.
"What? The rear defensive line has been breached?!"