The Thousand Mask Warrior

Cutting From Top to Bottom

Paulo Omura was not a Japanese swordsman. His short instincts were honed already from a young age. When he was green, he had been engaged in a great battle on the side of the Japanese Christians. Even the rebel forces were also led by a figure who was also younger than others, namely sixteen years named Amakusa Shiro.

So just knowing that some people are following him is not difficult.

The Japanese ronin instead returned to notice the movements of their stalkers. Paulo Omura starts stealing glances to gauge the enemy's strength. It turns out this surprised him. He seems to know quite well who these people are. Characteristics, both from the clothes and weapons they carry, Paulo Omura tried to guess the men who they are and what their business with him.

Paulo Omura looked at his two colleagues and shared the news. The two friends had also understood from the beginning that they were being stalked. And so, without speaking, Paulo Omura gave a sign to his two comrades without speaking.

He broke away from the entourage, luring some of the stalkers to follow him. The two colleagues who had understood, also separated themselves and went to different corners of the wind.

From here Paulo Omura walked quickly apart from his two colleagues. He doubled his strength but without looking so prominent. He had become accustomed to hiding energy blasts from the enemy. In one-on-one combat, or fighting in a war, hiding steps and plans is an inevitability. Paulo Omura was even able to hide the movements and wrinkles on his face so as not to be read by the enemy.

Likewise, when the movement and action is as simple as walking, Paulo Omura managed to disguise his strength so that his footsteps look as natural there, but his strength doubled. Inevitably, the stalkers accelerated their pace as well.

Today, Paulo Omura carries with him his daisho of katana and wakizashi on his left waist, and holds the naginata in his right hand. Like the other two companions of the Three Gods of Iai, Konoshi Hidetada and Arima Oda, they left the long yari on the mat, or their boat. It was too bothering to carry those weapons around to only then realize that they were being stalked. However, inwardly, Paulo Omara hoped that the stalkers would multiply in number and he would also bring yari. The battle will be more intense, he thought.

Paulo Omura in fact had to be satisfied because it was only stalked by about five stalkers mixed Siamese and Khmer people. Paulo Omura felt harassed and belittled. At least fifteen fighters armed with swords dha or daap earlier. This means that the people who were most likely the servants of the Pair of the Hand of the Death God Sokhem and Sovanara were stingily dividing exactly five people for each of Paulo Omura, Konoshi Hidetada and Arima Oda.

Five people! Paulo Omura growled.

He walked faster away from the market and the river and into the forest.

Because indeed his footsteps accelerated without the knowledge of his opponent, of course the five stalkers lagged quite far. They then become a bit confused until they collapse. If they lose track of Paulo Omura, then their work will be considered a failure. After all, it also meant that Paulo Omura was aware that he was following them.

The five men armed with a pair of dha or double daap were shaking the tall grass in the forest far from the river and the center of the crowd.

Paulo Omura stood in the middle of a slightly roomy area. There were two tall trees on his left and right, but the grass and weeds were not as tall as in the other place.

The face of the kirishitan ronin was cold and showed no feeling at all. He stood up opening both his legs. The naginata spear was clasped in both hands and placed on the side.

“The place that is good enough for you to die,” murmured Paulo Omura quietly in Japanese.

The five stalkers who had been caught off guard were so shocked and instantly unsheathed their curved swords instinctively.

The five people who had been caught and caught were immediately spread in a war system that was ready to gang up on Paulo Omura. The target returned his right leg slightly, while his right hand also pushed the naginata spear handle to the base, making his left hand in front of the handle. The spear naginata is stretched parallel to his waist forward.

This is the style of Naginajutsu style of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, which is one of the oldest fighting arts in Japan. These war lances using naginata spears were created by Iizasa Ienao who lived from 1389 to 1488 AD.

Iizasa Ienao was a master swordsman of spear and sword who asked a daimyo in his era to perfect his moves in a remote place, to be taught to the samurai.

His power in using the sword and spear was united in the naginata moves which later became one of Paulo Omura's shrewdness.

“With this naginata, none of you had the chance to touch my body,” murmured Paulo Omura back.

The naginata he used had a hardwood handle, with a spear blade very similar to a wakazashi, or a short katana sword. The blade can be removed from the hilt to be reattached to the other naginata hilt, or used as a sword like a wakizashi and katana if the blade is longer.

The use of naginata had reached its peak during the Gempei War in 1180 to 1185 AD in Japan where the Taira breed or group fought the Minamoto no Yorimo of the Minamoto breed. At that time, the naginata was considered a useful weapon for soldiers because of its spear-like length, but it could also be treated like a katana that snatched and cut.

Paulo Omura did not move from his original condition. However, his fingers were ready to move when the attack had begun.

The breeze made the grass and the weeds rustle. Paulo Omura was calm. It smells of death. His pair of ears were sifting through the enemy's steps. Two to the left, one to the right, the remaining two in a row try to attack directly from the front. Their dha and daap were at the side, with both hands half-stretched.

Paulo Omura grunts. Such horses he knew well. Both open hands make the possibility of each streak being loose and as strong as possible. The downside is, of course, defense is just as open.

Paulo Omura attacked first. His right foot took a long step forward, making his right hand now also in front of his left hand on the handle of the naginata. He raised the naginata high, and along with his steps, the naginata bar cut from top to bottom straight and fast.

The leading Siamese fighter flinched and raised his two dha forward crosswise. The dha blade stamped the naginata spear handle, but the naginata's curved blade managed to cut off his right shoulder. Not only that, the powerful cutting pressure from Paulo Omura made the body of the Siamese fighter collapse to the ground.

Paulo Omura came forward quickly and stabbed the Siamese in the back into his heart.

Shouts of anger and rage sounded. Paulo Omura pulled out his naginata quickly, then slapped the naginata into the surroundings.

Blood splashed in all directions along with the roar of the naginata spear, sending the attackers off. They resisted the movement despite clearly seeing one of their comrades had died.