"You've certainly asked the right person for this," Ember said, immediately leaning in mysteriously.
"I'll just tell you the most important things. Besides you all, there's also the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine and the head of the Kamisato Clan. They…"
Ember recounted everything about Yae Miko and Kamisato Ayato's secret plotting to Washizu and Dan Oni Roku without holding anything back.
Kamisato Ayato, who had specifically reminded Ember to keep it a secret, might just cry if he saw this scene.
"I never thought the Kamisato Clan and the Grand Narukami Shrine would have such considerations!" After Washizu heard what Ember said, his heart was already in turmoil.
He had originally thought the Shogunate was a unified front, but he never expected that undercurrents had long been stirring within it.
"Right? I told you this isn't a rebellion. At most, it's just… just a political struggle!"
Ember patted Washizu's shoulder, looking completely unconcerned.
It was as if these things were nothing to him—and indeed, they weren't much to Ember.
Even if Kujou Sara's words about the Raiden Shogun noticing him were true, it wasn't a big deal for Ember.
His actions were partly due to Kujou Sara's predictions, but more importantly, the Shogunate's recent moves had ruined his plans. If not for that, Ember probably would have completely forgotten about those people in the Shogunate.
"If only it were as easy as you say," Washizu said, a worried expression creeping onto his face as his resolve wavered.
"Don't underestimate yourselves. Look, who else can go without breathing and still have a rosy complexion like you?"
Ember pointed to the candle in Washizu's hand, which stubbornly refused to light. The oxygen in the cellar was thin now; ordinary people wouldn't last more than a few minutes before suffocating.
"You already possess superhuman strength. Just gather a few good fighters, and we'll infiltrate Inazuma City."
"Then, a dropped cup will be our signal, and we'll swarm them. Who could resist?"
Ember clenched his hand into a fist and vigorously waved it a few times in front of Washizu and Dan Oni Roku.
"Easier said than done," Washizu said, shaking his head and sighing.
Ember spoke easily, but doing it would be as hard as ascending to heaven. The visible and hidden guards in Inazuma City were not to be trifled with.
"What's so hard about it? Do we look like important people? Take off your worn-out armor and enter Inazuma City; who would even notice you?"
Dan Oni Roku immediately retorted when he heard Washizu diminishing their own morale.
The strict security in Inazuma City was only for powerful individuals with Visions; who would bother to care about ordinary people?
And the villagers of Higi Village fit the definition of "ordinary people" perfectly. They couldn't even be called ordinary people; they should be called country folk.
If they went to Inazuma City, they probably wouldn't be noticed, but they would most likely be discriminated against.
It could be said that the current villagers of Higi Village were practically the most suitable group of people for infiltration and surprise attacks.
"What you said…" Washizu looked down at himself; the mud on his leg guards hadn't completely dried, and his palms were thick with calluses.
"It really makes sense!" Washizu scratched his head. If he took off his armor and covered up his unusual features, he would look exactly like an old country farmer.
But who would have thought that an old farmer's strength was no less than that of a Vision wielder?
Washizu listened to Dan Oni Roku's words and, after a brief thought, understood the reasoning. If the people of Higi Village truly intended to infiltrate Inazuma City, it was likely no one would even notice.
"Not only that, don't forget about the Kamisato Clan. They have a secret passage that leads directly into Inazuma City from outside," Ember added fuel to the fire, seeing Washizu lost in thought.
"Is that so?" Washizu looked up, his eyes gleaming. He slammed his fist against a nearby sack, then said with full vigor:
"Since you've said all that, I'm in too! My life was saved by you in the end, so consider this my way of repaying the favor!"
It was as if Washizu had swallowed the bone shard that had been stuck in his throat. With these words, his aura suddenly rose a notch, and even the layers of wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
After a series of bold and heroic words, Washizu eventually calmed down. He took a deep breath and reminded Ember:
"But there's one thing I need to clarify: my own opinion can only represent myself. I cannot decide how many people in Higi Village will follow you."
"No problem! You call the people over, and I'll talk to them!"
Ember patted his chest, and a series of "clank, clank" sounds echoed in the dim cellar.
"Alright, you wait here. I'll go get them," Washizu said, nodding, seeing Ember's confidence.
Then, without further delay, he opened the cellar's trapdoor and left… Although Higi Village's granary was important, besides the necessary guards, generally no one wanted to come here.
It was not only spacious and sparsely populated, but unrelated people wandering around here could easily cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
Therefore, the villagers of Higi Village would only gather at the granary when distributing food; at other times, they were unwilling to linger there.
But now, in Higi Village's true reserve storage area—that is, in the cellar beneath the granary—a large crowd of bobbing heads had gathered.
"Don't push! You're crushing me!"
"Who stepped on me?!"
"It wasn't me, anyway! It's too dark in here; stepping on someone is unavoidable."
…The cellar suddenly became noisy. The small flame Ember had ignited on his fingertip was no longer enough.
So he raised his hand, and after a "boom!" sound, light illuminated the entire cellar of Higi Village.
The sudden burst of light immediately attracted everyone's attention. The previously noisy crowd instinctively looked towards Ember, who held a flaming palm aloft.
Seeing this, Washizu interjected at the opportune moment:
"Everyone here is a capable fighter from our Higi Village. I've called you all here today to discuss something."
"Whether you agree or not is a personal matter. I won't have any objections, but there's one thing I must emphasize."
"Once we leave this cellar, pretend this matter never happened. If anyone lets their mouth slip…"
"Don't blame me for disregarding our past camaraderie!"
A rare look of ferocity erupted on Washizu's face, something many present had never seen before.
The crowd, who had been about to continue talking, immediately fell silent. They looked left and right, and as fear rose in their hearts, a hint of curiosity also emerged.
What exactly was this matter that could make the usually kind Washizu display such a serious expression?
"Hey, hey, hey! No need to be so serious. Actually, even if it gets leaked, it's fine. We don't need to reason then; we'll just fight!"
Ember saw the serious atmosphere and immediately waved his hand at the crowd. The flame in his hand did not extinguish, and as he waved his hand, everyone's shadows also swayed.
Because Ember's waving frequency was incredibly fast, the flickering frequency of the shadows was also extremely rapid, and everyone almost vomited because of it.
"Reason? What do you mean?" Washizu quickly asked. There was no "reasoning" part when they discussed this earlier.
Even if what they were about to do couldn't be called rebellion, it was still shocking enough. It was a serious matter that allowed no room for carelessness.
"Reason? Aren't you the reason? Not only that, Yae Miko and Kamisato Ayato are also part of the 'reason.'
"If I didn't want to reason, I could just kick my way into the Tenshukaku, drag that puppet and the reclusive woman out, and beat them up, and it would all be over, wouldn't it? Why go through all this trouble?"
Ember rolled his eyes at Washizu. What he needed was for the Raiden Shogun to be convinced. That way, all the troubles like the Sakoku Decree, the Vision Hunt Decree, the Shogunate Army, and the resistance could be solved effortlessly.
This was the benefit of immense prestige. Ember was very sure that with the Raiden Shogun's prestige in Inazuma, it was like a low-tier version of 'words become law.'
What? You say this is water? But the Shogun said it's fire, so it's fire—that's roughly how this 'words become law' works.
As long as he could make the Raiden Shogun realize her mistake, everything would be easy.
Conversely, Ember wasn't confident he could instantly cut down the Raiden Shogun. If she stubbornly refused to admit her mistake, or even said something to all of Inazuma during a lull in the fight,
Then Inazuma and Ember would probably both be in for a world of trouble.
As someone who didn't like looking down on others, Ember didn't like being in trouble, so he wanted the Raiden Shogun to lose convincingly.
Not only in martial arts, but also psychologically!
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