The huge iron-armored warship, Sakura Sakura, slowly came to a stop a few hundred feet away from Matsumoto Takeyoshi's warship.
This distance was neither too far nor too close. It was the most suitable place to attack or retreat.
On the bow of the ship, Yagyuu Ryūnosuke stood with his hands behind his back. His white robe fluttered as he looked at Matsumoto Takeyoshi with a smile.
Beside him, Yamada Keiko, who was dressed in red, held a sword in her hand. She looked at the man in white standing beside Matsumoto Takeyoshi with a complicated expression.
That was her brother, Yamada Shingo.
Yamada Shingo's eyes were cold. He didn't have the joy of seeing his sister.
Although they were blood-related siblings, they were now serving different masters.
Matsumoto Takeyoshi stood at the railing of the warship with a smile and looked at Yagyuu Ryūnosuke.
"You must be Mr. Matsumoto," Yagyuu Ryūnosuke, who was standing at the bow of the ship, spoke first with a clear voice.
"That's me." Matsumoto Takeyoshi replied with a smile, "You must be the special envoy of Ise Grand Shrine, Mr. Ryūnosuke, right?"
"I've heard that Mr. Matsumoto is omnipotent. Today, I see that you live up to your reputation," Ryūnosuke said with a smile.
"Mr. Ryūnosuke, you flatter me." Matsumoto Takeyoshi smiled and said, "Mr. Ryūnosuke and I have never met before. May I know why you've come all the way here?"
Matsumoto Takeyoshi went straight to the point.
"I'm sure Mr. Matsumoto knows better than I do why I'm here, right?" Ryūnosuke smiled and said, "Mr. Ryūnosuke holds a divine artifact of Japan and has a large number of soldiers under your command. You secretly worship the ancient evil god and have the intention of rebelling. You came to this country under the pretext of paying tribute to the Great Ming Dynasty to secretly search for the Nine Tripod Cauldrons. You intend to rule the Great Ming Dynasty and look from the south. This time, I'm here on the orders of the Great God Amaterasu and General Tokugawa to escort you back to our country and await your punishment."
Matsumoto Takeyoshi, who was opposite him, smiled and didn't comment.
"Sir, do you have anything else to say?" Long Zhijie asked when he saw Matsumoto Takeyoshi smile without saying anything.
"Mr. Long has finished speaking. What else do I have to say?" Matsumoto Takeyoshi asked Long Zhijie with a smile.
"Then what do you mean?" Long Zhijie narrowed his eyes and asked Matsumoto Takeyoshi with a smile.
"When a general is outside, he will not obey the orders of the monarch." Matsumoto Takeyoshi curled his lips and said, "Since General Tokugawa said that I have the intention to rebel, then I will do as he says. Rebel."
As soon as he said this, Yamada Keiko, who was beside Long Zhijie, instantly turned pale!
Before Matsumoto Takeyoshi said those words, she and her brother Yamada Shingo were considered to be ministers of the same palace. Now that Matsumoto Takeyoshi had openly rebelled, the two of them were enemies!
The man in white's gaze was still calm and unperturbed.
"Mr. Matsumoto is indeed straightforward," Long Zhijie said to Matsumoto Takeyoshi with a smile. "This is also good. I don't need to waste my breath and save myself the trouble."
Rumble … As soon as Long Zhijie finished speaking, more than a dozen huge cannons extended from the side of Sakura. At the same time, the warship quickly turned sideways, and the black cannons aimed directly at Matsumoto Takeyoshi's warship!
These huge cannons were firearms that Tokugawa Ieyasu had spent a lot of money to buy from Europe. They were extremely powerful, and Tokugawa Ieyasu had been reluctant to use them after buying them. However, this time, in order to successfully kill Matsumoto Takeyoshi, he had specially ordered people to install these cannons on Sakura overnight to help Long Zhijie.
On the bow of the ship, Long Zhijie smiled and looked coldly at Matsumoto Takeyoshi, as if he was looking at a dead man.
He had already expected Matsumoto Takeyoshi's attitude.
The short conversation just now was just a formality.
This time, no matter what, he had to get rid of Matsumoto Takeyoshi as soon as possible.
"Ise Grand Shrine and I have always minded our own business. Since Mr. Yagyuu insists on being enemies with me, Matsumoto Takeyoshi, then I have no choice but to be rude," Matsumoto Takeyoshi said to Long Zhijie with a smile.
Rumble … As soon as Matsumoto Takeyoshi finished speaking, the warship under his feet quickly moved sideways. More than a dozen cannons extended from the side of the warship in an orderly manner, their muzzles aimed directly at Sakura!
This warship was carefully designed and built by the master shipbuilders sent by Matsumoto Takeyoshi. Apart from being smaller than Tokugawa Ieyasu's Sakura, the facilities inside were no worse than Sakura.
The two huge warships' muzzles faced each other, and the atmosphere immediately became tense!
"Fire!" On Sakura, Long Zhijie gave the order directly!
"Fire!" On Wuji, Matsumoto Takeyoshi said expressionlessly!
As soon as the order was given, the cannoneers on both sides lit up the turrets with the pine oil torches in their hands at almost the same time!
Chi … Sparks were quickly released from the turrets, burning them out in an instant!
Boom … Boom … Boom …
Dozens of iron balls wrapped in flames shot out from the huge cannons that weighed more than a thousand kilograms, shooting toward the enemy's warship at high speed!
The iron balls were extremely fast, and they covered a distance of three hundred meters in the blink of an eye!
Seeing the incoming cannons, Long Zhijie, who was on Sakura, smirked and suddenly waved his sleeve at the incoming iron balls!
Whoosh! A huge gust of wind suddenly appeared!
This gust of wind was so strong that Sakura, which was under Long Zhijie's feet, was instantly pushed back by three meters!
Whoosh! The dozen or so iron balls that were charging towards Long Zhijie instantly changed directions and returned to where they came from, whizzing towards Matsumoto Takeyoshi's warship!
In the blink of an eye, dozens of fiery-red iron balls rained down on Wuji like a rain of fire!
Once these iron balls hit Wuji, no matter how sturdy Wuji was, it would probably instantly collapse and turn into a pile of wood!
At this critical juncture, Ye Fan and the white-robed man did not dare to be negligent and attacked at almost the same time!
Clang! The white-robed man suddenly unsheathed his white saber!
White light burst forth, brilliant and dazzling!
At the same time, the white-robed man waved his saber and slashed horizontally at high speed. His movements were extremely smooth and concise, without the slightest bit of sloppiness!
Whoosh! A dazzling white arc of light that was more than a hundred meters long shot out from the white-robed man's saber at a speed that could not be seen with the naked eye. It went straight for the first wave of iron balls!
The white-robed man waved his saber so quickly that a huge shockwave was formed the moment he waved his saber, causing huge ripples to appear on the surface of the sea below the warship!
Whoosh … The fiery-red iron balls and the dazzling white saber met in the air!
Crack … Crack … Crack … Following a series of crisp sounds, the fiery red iron balls were cut into two by the white-robed man's saber arc as if they were tofu!
Plop … Plop …
The shattered iron balls instantly lost their strength and fell into the sea from the sky.
Chi … Chi …
The boiling hot iron balls that fell into the seawater stirred up waves of heat!
Whoosh … After the first wave of iron balls was struck down by the white-robed man's saber, the second wave of iron balls, which had been changed direction by Long Zhijie, followed closely behind!
The white-robed man turned his saber and prepared to swing it again.
However, just as the white-robed man was about to attack again, Ye Fan, who was standing behind Matsumoto Takeyoshi, moved!
He placed his left arm behind his back, looking extremely elegant. Then, he suddenly waved his right sleeve! Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind was instantly released from his sleeve, which went straight for the fiery-red rain of iron balls!
This gust of wind was so powerful that the warship under Ye Fan's feet was pushed back by the gust of wind for about seven to eight meters before it came to a stop!
Whoosh … When the high-speed rain of iron balls was less than three meters away from the warship, they were instantly changed direction by the gust of wind that Ye Fan had released, and they quickly rushed toward Sakura, which Long Zhijie was on!
The speed of the iron balls was almost twice as fast as when they had first arrived!
Giving someone a taste of their own medicine — this was Ye Fan's style that had never changed.
What a powerful attack! On Sakura, Long Zhijie frowned.
The strength of this young man's spiritual power was not below his own!
He had finally encountered an expert today!
The Great Ming Dynasty was indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. He had just witnessed Cui Ziwen's domineering techniques, and it had only been a few days since he had last seen this young man with a heaven-defying cultivation!
Seeing the fiery-red iron balls hurtling toward him at high speed, Long Zhijie, who was standing at the bow of the warship, suddenly stretched out his right arm. His palm transformed into a saber, and he quickly swung it at the sea in front of him!
Whoosh! A white arc of light was released from his hand, which shot straight into the sea!
Boom … A huge wall of water that was over thirty meters tall and sixty to seventy meters thick instantly rose from the sea ten meters away from the bow of Sakura!
The waves churned, and the blue wall of water with an astonishing aura blocked the front of Sakura like a huge mountain!
Boom … boom … boom …
The fiery-red iron balls rushed into the wall of water, and their power was instantly lost!
Whoosh … After the huge wall of water blocked the attack of the iron balls, it heavily fell back into the sea, creating a large white splash.
The cannoneers on both sides were stunned.
As a result, the loader forgot to reload, and the gunner forgot to ignite the cannon.
Their mouths were half-open, and they stared dumbfounded at everything that had happened before their eyes. It was as if they were in a dream.
They had never expected to be able to block such a powerful cannon attack, let alone see it happen.
They were all experienced cannoneers, and they had seen countless battles. However, this was the first time that they had seen such a scene.
They were not the only ones who were shocked. The ninjas on both sides were also shocked, and their hearts were beating wildly!
Before this, they had all thought that the side they were loyal to would win without a doubt.
The ninjas on Sakura completely believed that this time, Matsumoto Takeyoshi would not be able to withstand a single blow. This was because their commander was the reincarnation of the Black Dragon in Japanese legend, Yagyu Ryūnosuke, a mythical figure!
On the other hand, the ninjas on Matsumoto Takeyoshi's side were full of confidence in the strength of the white-robed man and Ye Fan. In their opinion, the strength of the two of them had already reached a god-like level. No matter who the other party was, as long as they were enemies of the two of them, they would definitely die!
However, after the initial clash just now, the ninjas on both sides began to feel nervous.
This could be said to be a fierce battle between dragons and tigers. It was still unknown who would emerge victorious.
After the white-robed man and Ye Fan made their moves, they looked at each other tacitly and nodded slightly.
Although Matsumoto Takeyoshi's plan was to let Ye Fan make the first move, the white-robed man still chose to make the first move. It was not because he disobeyed Matsumoto Takeyoshi's order, but because the opponent this time was too powerful. He was a mythical figure and could not be taken lightly. And no matter how high Ye Fan's cultivation was, he was still an outsider. If Ye Fan deliberately made a mistake, it would not be a joke.
His duty was to protect Matsumoto Takeyoshi's safety. He could not take this risk.
But when he saw Ye Fan make a move to help, his worry disappeared.
Obviously, Ye Fan had realized that Matsumoto Takeyoshi could not be harmed yet, so he took the initiative to help.
This time, the two of them stood on the same side.
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