Chapter 139

These footsteps were very light and slow, as if someone of lighter weight was tiptoeing; if the surroundings weren't so quiet, even Uesugi Toru might not have noticed them.

He listened for a while longer and discovered these footsteps had been around this house...

No, Uesugi Toru observed for a while; strictly speaking, this place should be called a warehouse—and these footsteps had been lingering around the warehouse the whole time, with no intention of coming in immediately.

He was somewhat puzzled.

There weren't any other footsteps or breathing sounds around here, so what was that guy outside doing, amusing himself?

In any case, Uesugi Toru, bound by these fragile straw ropes, wasn't very worried about his current situation.

On the contrary, he had to carefully control his strength, lest he accidentally snap the ropes and lose the possible event this opening might trigger.

"Better clear the red dots first."

Uesugi Toru used his mind to bring the prompt line before his eyes, and his pupils shrank slightly.

【Your special item, Walking Watch, has been activated!】

【Walking Watch (Special Item)】

【Effect: Precisely measures the Constant World Walker's own behavior's degree of influence on history. Current influence degree: 0%.】

【—Respected Constant World Walker, please strive to increase your degree of influence on history as much as possible, leaving your own mark in history.】

【Warning: Disclosing information directly related to "Walker," "Future," etc. is prohibited, to avoid unknown effects.】

Degree of influence on history...?

Uesugi Toru frowned slightly in puzzlement and looked at the area quest below it.

【Current area unlocked: Genjitsu Sengoku Era (Three-Star)】

【Current Main Quest First Ring Entry Ticket unlocked.】

【Entry Ticket: Choose to join under any Daimyo's command, or choose to establish an independent school.】

【Quest time limit: None】

【Note: If this quest is delayed for too long without completion, it may cause subsequent quests to be skipped directly.】

A completely different main quest guidance from the three previously unlocked maps popped up, making Uesugi Toru fall silent for a moment.

Judging by this quest description and the Walking Watch's panel, it seems that after using the History Key, I entered the real Sengoku Era located in past history.

And not some area in the Constant World related to the "Warring States."

"But how is that possible..."

Uesugi Toru first subconsciously murmured a sentence.

Immediately after, he recalled Okita Soji, whom he last saw in Fishing Master, and the streetscapes and crowds in the Zanshigimaru trial that looked no different from the real Edo Period.

It seems spacetime travel isn't impossible either.

Moreover, this "History Key" is a Mythic Item personally handed to him by Magatsukami.

Thinking of it that way, things seem to make sense.

Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it.

Uesugi Toru set aside the extra guesses for now, carefully sensed the surrounding heaven and earth Spirit Qi concentration, and then froze.

This Sengoku Era's Spirit Qi concentration is far too thin.

Not to mention compared to the current Constant World Genjitsu, even the Genjitsu before the Wave Coming can't compare—to be more precise, it's not even one-tenth of the previous Genjitsu's Spirit Qi concentration.

"No wonder there weren't any particularly famous Mononoke and Yokai in the Warring States Period; so that's the reason."

Uesugi Toru then recalled the Oda Army he saw in the history projection that didn't have a single Three-Star General, and immediately understood.

Generally speaking, changes in Spirit Qi concentration cannot affect the speed at which people cultivate Breathing Techniques.

But if it's too low—this is when Rituna Minami's sea level theory mentioned earlier comes into play.

If the heaven and earth Spirit Qi concentration is too low, it will correspondingly cause the "sea level" to drop, becoming the upper limit of this heaven and earth.

One suspects "Three-Star" is the limiting Guankai of the current heaven and earth; the closer one gets to this Guankai, the slower the cultivation speed becomes, and crossing this Guankai is even more difficult.

Uesugi Toru blinked; with his strength at roughly Three-Star, doesn't that mean he already counts as a great expert in this chaotic Warring States world?

But if he proceeds as the main quest says, later on he might face not just one-on-one, but hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands.

So it's better to keep a low profile—Uesugi Toru, who has been drowned by Chizhou before, doesn't want to experience that kind of death a few more times.

Creak...

The dull sound of a door opening pulled Uesugi Toru's attention back.

He immediately looked toward the doorway expressionlessly, and then saw a child walk in with messy hair, sallow and emaciated, wearing a coarse cloth jacket on the upper body, and a pair of worn-out straw sandals on his feet.

Upon seeing him awake, the child's eyes instantly brightened, and he jogged over somewhat eagerly.

Is this a child?

Uesugi Toru couldn't quite determine the age of the other party, who was a bit over 1.3 meters tall—because people of this era are probably all this short; the Oda Army's many Ashigaru were just this height before.

Moreover, the other party's face was sunken from hunger.

Even with Uesugi Toru's good eyesight, he couldn't judge at a glance the age of a short, skeletal soldier from the Warring States Period.

Uesugi Toru, lacking information, didn't speak, but quietly watched the child reveal a schadenfreude expression, sit down in front of him after humming twice.

Then, he chattered a whole bunch at him in an unintelligible language.

Uesugi Toru:?

Seeing his completely bewildered expression, the child also froze for a moment, then switched to another unintelligible language and repeated what he just said.

Uesugi Toru still didn't understand what he was saying.

After repeating seven or eight times like this, the child, who had mastered so many languages yet still failed to communicate, finally couldn't hold back.

He fiercely slapped his thigh, pulled out a shortsword gleaming with cold light from his waist and pressed it against Uesugi Toru's neck, revealing a fierce expression.

Ho, this blade's the real deal.

Seeing this blade, Uesugi Toru's gaze shifted to the child's waist—besides this shortsword, there were also two Kunai and some strange odds and ends he couldn't recognize hanging there.

Ninja?

So I was actually brought here by a ninja.

But he had just arrived; most likely he had been unconscious in the wilderness or the Mountain Forest before, so why would this little ninja choose to go to the trouble of tying him up and dragging him here.

Uesugi Toru looked the slender little ninja up and down, estimating he had no idea how much effort it took to drag him over.

In that case, didn't he owe the other party thanks for not leaving him out there to suffer wind and sun?

The little ninja stared at Uesugi Toru for a good while, his expression without a ripple, then discovered a fact.

——That this guy in front of him didn't take him or the short blade pressed against his neck seriously at all!

Damn it!

She had gone to great trouble to drag this fair-skinned Samurai lord back from the main road outside.

Now not only was there a language barrier, the other party was also suspected to have cultivated the legendary "Breathing Technique" — otherwise how could someone not fear a blade at their throat!

"Dead ball, this is a huge loss... why not just treat this thing as understood and leave?"

The little ninja murmured low, touched the bone key warm as jade inside the lining, and accidentally revealed a corner of it.

A prompt immediately jumped out before Uesugi Toru's eyes.

【History Key Shrine】

【Effect: Equivalent to an ordinary Shrine, but can be easily moved.】

【——Please be sure to hand it over to a sufficiently trustworthy person for safekeeping, otherwise...】

History Key turned into a Shrine?

Seeing a familiar noun, Uesugi Toru didn't think much, subconsciously wanting to reach out and light up the Shrine, but forgot he was currently still supposed to be "firmly" trapped on the pillar.

Slap slap.

The fragile Straw Rope couldn't even hinder for a moment before Uesugi Toru snapped it into sections that fell to the Ground.

Before the little ninja could react, Uesugi Toru had already snatched the History Key back into his hand.

【You have lit, History Key Shrine.】

Upon seeing this familiar prompt jump out, Uesugi Toru only then noticed his hand was already suspended in mid-air.

【83】 He fell slightly silent, looked at the little ninja who had been scared into sitting on the ground.

He fell briefly silent, looking at the little ninja who had been frightened into sitting on the Ground.

The scene was extraordinarily awkward for a time.

"That..."

Uesugi Toru hadn't finished a sentence when he saw the little ninja's hand grope at his waist, and then a handful of Lime was fiercely thrown out.

Uesugi Toru squinted, pinched his nose.

The little ninja didn't think twice, and darted toward the Doorway.

——Joke, able to directly break free of wet Straw Rope binding with bare hands, what kind of monster is this!?

"Eight Shaku Figure, block the door."

A faint voice transmitted from the still-dispersing Lime.

The next instant, the little ninja suddenly discovered the originally half-open large door suddenly darkened.

He blankly raised his head to look.

A colossus over two meters tall, nearly as high as the warehouse ceiling, blocked the doorway position without warning, staring at him with a beaming smile.

"Mwah! Wah! Monster!"

The little ninja was scared into screaming, collapsed on the ground and began trembling violently — the Eight Shaku Figure reaching over 2.4 meters was indeed too terrifying for people of the Warring States Period.

He shrank backward: "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

Uesugi Toru surprisingly understood this, he plucked his heartstring, signaling the Eight Shaku Figure to bring the little ninja before his eyes.

"po~"

The rarely restored Eight Shaku Figure extended a palm larger than the little ninja's head.

Just as she was about to nimbly lift him by the collar, a short blade pierced out from her palm.

Fine pain transmitted.

The Eight Shaku Figure blinked, raised her hand, and while looking down at the little ninja below, pulled the short blade out.

But strangely, not a drop of blood flowed from the wound; instead the pierced palm rapidly restored to its original state.

The little ninja, originally with a fierce light in his eyes, froze at this sight, feeling his worldview overturned.

He scrambled toward the other side's Window to escape: "Yikes! Monster! Monster! Gonna die!"

Then he crashed heavily into Uesugi Toru's Abdomen.

Thud.

Uesugi Toru lowered his head: "So you can speak human language, why didn't you say so at the start?"

The little ninja hurriedly shook his head, thought of that terrifying monster right behind him, and without another word tried to flee.

But where would Uesugi Toru let him have his way.

He reached out and easily lifted the other party, causing the little ninja to turn back, revealing a fearful and anxious expression,

"You idiot! Can't you chop my head off later! Can't you see the monster behind you!?"

The speech was extremely fast; Uesugi Toru didn't catch many words, but roughly understood he seemed very afraid of the Eight Shaku Figure.

Uesugi Toru turned his head, to the Eight Shaku Figure whose head nearly touched the Beam: "Change form, don't scare this kid to death, I still need to question him."

"po..." The Eight Shaku Figure looked a bit disappointed, "But since it's Toru-sama's command, then so be it."

As the words fell, a burst of white mist bloomed from the Eight Shaku Figure, then she returned to Two Shaku form, her height instantly becoming only half of this little ninja's.

"Ah?"

The little ninja, whose feet were kicking in mid-air, froze, looked at the Two Shaku Figure, then at Uesugi Toru, and then couldn't help but let out a startled scream,

"——Dead samurai! You're that monster's master!?"

This time, at least the three words "dead samurai" Uesugi Toru understood.

Uesugi Toru raised his eyebrows, wondering how this little Kokara could still be so insolent after being caught by him, so unafraid of death?

But forget it, he was an adult who didn't hold grudges against children, not to mention a beggar ninja brat from a few hundred years ago who probably couldn't recognize a single big character.

Throwing the little ninja onto the ground, Uesugi Toru said slowly, word by word: "Don't move, and I won't kill you."

After the conversation just now where he sometimes understood and sometimes didn't, Uesugi Toru figured it out——actually he and this little ninja were speaking the same language from the start.

It's just that because the other party's accent was a bit heavy, when he spoke fast Toru couldn't understand.

Hearing Uesugi Toru's words, the little ninja immediately showed an expression of utter disbelief.

He stared coldly at Uesugi Toru: "You're full of shit... you samurai kill for fun every day, how could you possibly let me go!"

Finishing, he closed his eyes with a look of resignation: "If you want to kill then kill! I won't beg like a dog!"

Uesugi Toru stared at the little ninja for a while, and finding he didn't seem to be joking, asked doubtfully: "How did you tell I'm a samurai, when did I say I was a samurai?"

The little ninja's brow twitched.

——Does this even need the dead samurai to say it himself, look at this height, this fair appearance handsome enough to be picked out of a crowd at a glance, and this mouthful of neat white teeth!

Besides that, there's this neat hair and skin white to the point of being hard to believe, if he wasn't raised in a noble courtier's house from childhood how could he have cultivated such skin?!

——And you still say you're not a samurai!

Even lying needs some credibility!

If he wasn't a samurai, he'd just eat it up in big mouthfuls, without the slightest hesitation!

"Hey, Toru-sama is asking you something, didn't you hear?" The two-shaku adult standing to the side kicked the little ninja's foot with some dissatisfaction, making the latter's expression freeze up again.

Even though he had already transformed into a form even smaller than him, the little ninja couldn't forget the giant thing he had just seen.

Seeing him like this, Uesugi Toru thought for a moment then said: "I'm indeed not a samurai but an Onmyoji. Heard of Onmyoji? This one is my Shikigami."

As he spoke, he raised a finger, making a small flame spring from his fingertip.

The little ninja stared blankly for a moment, he dazedly gazed at the flame on Uesugi Toru's fingertip, and leaned closer out of curiosity.

Then, he actually felt heat!

"It's really fire...?" The little ninja murmured in disbelief, looking at Uesugi Toru who withdrew the flame then turned his palm to let a ball of water float in his hand, "The legend is actually true, there really are still Onmyoji alive in this world."

Uesugi Toru sighed helplessly: "Now you believe I'm not a samurai, right."

——If this little ninja wasn't the first person he met after coming to the Sengoku Period, and also equivalent to having indirectly saved him, Uesugi Toru wouldn't have wasted so much breath on him.

He would've just transformed into a four-tailed fox and slapped a Soul Seal on him long ago.

But this was also the limit of his patience, if he kept going on about samurai samurai don't blame him for using some extreme measures.

The little ninja poked the water ball with his finger, complexion complex: "Then fine, I'll temporarily believe you..."

"What do you want to ask?" The little ninja raised his head, he knew someone like him had no other use value.

Uesugi Toru withdrew the water ball and said: "First, what's your name?"

"Shiraishi." Shiraishi clicked his tongue, "Why are you asking this."

Shiraishi, quite a common surname.

Uesugi Toru pondered for a moment, deciding to first clarify the current time point——if the Battle of Okehazama had already passed, then he would go with the flow and join Oda Nobunaga's command, then try to reverse the key event of the "Honnoji Incident".

Because after the Battle of Okehazama, the Oda Clan's power began to expand rapidly, if he went under other Daimyo to oppose the Oda Clan it might not succeed.

After all, the general trend isn't something one person can easily change, doing things steadily is still best.

And he had also interacted with Oda Nobunaga, finding he was quite a decent person, not as self-destructively cruel as history says.

And if it hasn't reached the Battle of Okehazama's time point yet... then just watch the situation, no need to rush the decision.

So he asked: "I've been secluded in the mountains cultivating for a long time, what era is it now?"

Shiraishi answered without thinking: "Hongzhi Year 2."

Hongzhi Year 2? What the hell kind of year is that?

History-blind Uesugi Toru only remembered the AD years corresponding to key events, and had no interest in these era names that change every ten-odd years or even every few years.

He smacked his lips, continued asking: "Then do you know Oda Nobunaga? What's his impression in the world's eyes?"

Shiraishi looked at him deeply, then snorted lightly: "Who doesn't know him, Owari's Big Fool is famous far and wide!"

Understood, Battle of Okehazama hasn't started yet.

Otherwise, Oda Nobunaga's title couldn't possibly still be the rather mocking "Big Fool".

This time point is pretty good.

Uesugi Toru touched his chin, pondering.

Maybe he could join the Takeda Clan boasting the strongest cavalry, or chat with his same-surname head family Uesugi Kenshin.

Second option, find Shizuku's ancestor——that is, the future unifier of all Japan Tokugawa Ieyasu, also not impossible, just the time and effort might be a bit large.

But Imagawa Yoshimoto forget it.

Uesugi Toru who just finished the Battle of Okehazama had no good feelings toward the Imagawa Army that scattered at one charge, and he didn't even see the leader Imagawa Yoshimoto at the end.

Retainers and army still fighting hard, yet he himself had already run off without a trace, what kind of thing is that!

This guy's no good, not considering.

Crossing this fat short-legged "First Bow of Tokaido" off the consideration list, Uesugi Toru asked again: "Then where is this? Any big cities nearby?"

First know the time, then know the place, then can get to work.

Uesugi Toru had looked out when Shiraishi opened the door earlier, only seeing a stretch of wasteland, not even half a human shadow.

So he guessed the surroundings might be a godforsaken wasteland.

Shiraishi answered: "Hasu Village. A small village not far from Sunpu Castle."

"You're lying to me." Uesugi Toru narrowed his eyes, smiled, "A village with only one house?"

Shiraishi was startled, and hurriedly added,

"This is the Rotting Wood Hut beside Hasu Village... not many people come here normally, so I dragged you here wanting to strip you bare from head to toe."

Shiraishi immediately covered his mouth, realizing he had spoken too bluntly.

He laughed awkwardly twice, trying to brush it off.

Uesugi Toru didn't think it was a big deal.

Robbing someone in these war-torn times was perfectly normal; not killing after robbing, and uprooting the weeds to remove the roots, showed Shiraishi had a great conscience.

So he took out some compressed biscuits and mineral water from his Storage Backpack, not knowing when they had been placed inside, tore open the packaging, and handed them to Shiraishi.

"What is this..."

Shiraishi's complexion was vigilant, but he was not surprised that Uesugi Toru had suddenly produced things, after all, it was quite normal for legendary Onmyoji to know strange tricks.

"Food and water." Uesugi Toru said, broke off some compressed biscuits and threw them into his mouth, then drank two mouthfuls of water, "Looking at you, you haven't eaten for several days, right?"

Shiraishi swallowed hard with difficulty, seeing him eat and drink first before hesitantly taking over the two things.

He stared at the compressed biscuit in his hand for a long time, then as if he had made a major determination, he bit down hard.

Silence.

Uesugi Toru watched Shiraishi after he bit the compressed biscuit remain silent for a long time, and was about to touch him to see if something was wrong when,

the latter suddenly raised his head with eyes shining, staring at him with spirited eyes and asked seriously: "If I acknowledge you as my boss, can I eat this thing every day from now on!"

End of Chapter