Volume 32

**Chapter 228:** **Pre-sentiment****.** Azumi kisses Toranosuke, allowing him to die without regret. Bontenmaru is now convinced of the rumor of her being a whore, who had slept with her two companions. Hikoshiro is loading him on a horse, when the monks arrive with chief retainer Tsubouchi-sama. At Seigain temple, the soldiers report to Kano that they did not find anybody in the carts, and the surviving monks dispersed into the darkness evading them. Tsubouchi revealing the truth to the samurai, ordering them to cease following Yagyu and return to the castle. It begins pouring. Munenori and his team is on horseback searching for the cart carrying High Priest Tenkai. Azumi and Hikoshiro ride to to the rendeavouz point at Myoouji. Kano leads the assassins to suppress the revolt at the castle. The monks, Tenkai and Tobizaru are hiding under a bridge for a while, before heading to Myoouji, to avoid detection. A monk scouts the area, but is assassinated by an enemy scout. Azumi and the team arrives at Myoouji, explaining the situation to the monks there and entrusts Toranosuke's corpse to them. Bontenmaru arrogantly orders the monks to release them and defames Azumi as a harlot, prompting Hikoshirou to secretly punch him.

**Chapter 229:** **Certain Death.** The enemy scuffles with the monks, but they were only decoys. Tobizaru and the high priest are hiding in some foliage close by. Munenori orders the soldiers to search the area for them. A scout arrives at Myoouji, and guides Azumi to the bridge. The gates of the castle are locked, so Kano retreats to the Niwauchi. It's morning. Okyo wakes due to the commotion of the rowdy soldiers, she makes Chiyozo accompany her as she meets with Kano. "Thickets! Bushes! Search everywhere! Don't miss anything!" Munenori growls. Tobizaru and Tenkai tumble down a hill, pursued by the enemy. He brings the high priest to the river, to hide underneath the rippled water which will conceal their location. The old high priest, unaccustomed to such physical exertion, gasps for air, revealing their location. A soldier spears Tobizaru, when Azumi slays him. Exhausted they float in relief.

**Chapter 230: Agreement to Duel.** Azumi checks Tobizaru's condition briefly, who's been stabbed in the leg. Munenori is thrilled, thinking they'll finally be able to kill Azumi, now when she's trapped in the water. But halts, when Hikoshiro pulls up with Bontenmaru as hostage, threathening his wellbeing, forcing Munenori to hold his hand. They leave the water, and Tenkai begins negotiating. As a consequence of killing so many innocent monks, he decides to keep Bontenmaru hostage, but will only release him on the condition he defeat Azumi in a duel. He plays on the Yagyu clan's honor, making sure they will not interfere, and giving Azumi the chance to settle the score and avenge grampa. He tries to play them into arrange the match using wrapped shinais or wooden swords, to which Azumi agrees and suggests dueling at Myoouji. This is to make sure that when Munenori is felled, they'll have the numbers to fight off the rest of the clan, who might not care as much for Bontenmaru as their leader.

**Chapter 231: Tenacity.** Azumi is at a disadvantage, since she cannot fell him swiftly by simply aiming for his vitals as is her usual strategy. Meanwhile Munenori plans to use his strength to smash her skull, and orders his men to kill Hikoshiro and retrieve Bontenmaru after the duel. Munenori kicks her and tries to smash her skull, but Azumi uses his own strength against him to break his arm.

**Chapter 232: Keen.** The clan escorts him on a wooden pallet(?), looking for nearby shelter. He orders them to stop and just rejoin his bones right then and there, outside the gates of Myoouji. Tenkai grieves over Toranosuke's body, before ordering the company to eat and rest for a bit, before returning to Seigain to search for the corpses and the missing. Kano is yet to hear of the news, so he cannot do anything but stay at Niwauchi. He asks to be left alone with Okyo, since 'a man's sexual desire is heightened after battle'. She rejects him, and Chiyozo tries to say something. Feeling threathened, Kano grabs his sword, which the brother responds to. Okyo defuses the situation. Some monks return with the cart, and our friends retrieve their belongings. Tobizaru is worried because she let Munenori go without finishing him. Azumi stops Hikoshiro from professing his love in front of Tobizaru: "Stop. Don't say it. Your feelings makes me happy, but it's a heavy burden." She hugs them both: "Even if I'm used to being targeted, I can never get used to seeing those I love die! Never! Never ever! Don't die before me! I beg of you!"

**Chapter 233: Rescue Plan.** Kano receives the news, and realizes top priority is taking back Bontenmaru. Azumi asks him to sleep now that he's no longer bound, and lays down a futon for him. He cries, explaining he wants her even if she's a lascivious harlot, since she's got all that he wish he had: talent. Kano's spy reports the situation. Kano and company ambush Hikoshiro, but Chiyozo mistakes him for the young lord and kidnaps him instead.

**Chapter 234:** **A Difficult Situation.** The spy talks with Azumi in secret, and checks Hikoshiro's value as a hostage, and they negotiate that she'll hand over Bontenmaru in exchange, without letting the other's know. Kano pays them three koban, and says whomever slays Azumi will be rewarded with ten times the amount. Dumb and dumber (idk their names) are especially motivated, since they can avenge his older brother and finally buy medicine to cure his father's chronic illness.