"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 54: Mutual Pitfall
Most of the items gathered by the Ashes organization's ninjas were quite ordinary and could be packed directly into sealing scrolls. A smaller portion of seemingly valuable items were brought before Yūshin.
Among them were scrolls recording the Tsugawa Clan's ninjutsu. Yūshin casually unrolled a few and found they contained ordinary Water Release techniques. He considered them valuable, but not particularly so.
After all, he couldn't expect ninjutsu scrolls from an ordinary ninja clan to compare with Water Severing Wave, could he?
As they say, "Once you've seen the vast ocean, other waters seem insignificant"—who knows when he'd next encounter the "respectable and lovable" Tobirama Senju.
The Water Release ninjutsu collected here might enrich Yūshin's repertoire, but wouldn't bring revolutionary changes.
So, faced with these things that theoretically formed the foundation of a ninja clan's standing in the shinobi world, Yūshin merely glanced at them before setting them aside.
Another valuable find was a chest of gold koban. Yūshin hefted the money box with both hands—it felt like at least thirty kilograms... Now they'd struck it rich.
If Yūshin's group were merely wandering ninjas, currency might not be particularly useful to them. But now the situation was completely different.
Having accepted employment from Kikyō Castle, that city's commercial system would inevitably open to them. Thus, money truly became valuable.
The looting operation lasted most of the day—not long enough to dig three feet deep, but most valuable items had been collected.
Yūshin felt the "fruits of victory" were sufficient. Not being greedy, he promptly led everyone in a decisive withdrawal when time was up.
A "village-destroying battle" had just occurred here. The commotion, neither large nor small, might attract "spectator ninjas'" attention. To avoid unnecessary conflict, Yūshin felt the sooner they left, the better.
By his understanding, it would be best not to take spoils at all—finish the job and run. But most people didn't agree with this thinking, as it was overly cautious.
Winning a battle without looting—wouldn't that be fighting for nothing?
Fortunately, the accidents Yūshin feared didn't occur. The group retreated with abundant supplies, satisfied, and soon safely withdrew to Kikyō Castle's sphere of influence.
The organization returned to their original abandoned village base, where they finally had the opportunity to organize their massive haul.
Yūshin entrusted "knowledge-type" gains like ninjutsu scrolls to Kansen Morinaga's management. These techniques held little value for Yūshin, but that didn't mean they were worthless to others. Properly utilized, they could definitely help many people improve their strength.
After ending their wandering life and temporarily settling down, Yūshin decided to establish an internal department similar to a "ninja school," attempting to enhance his side's ninja strength through proper education.
The variety of ninjutsu could serve as school materials. Yūshin decided to have Ryūnosuke Hayasaka manage this new "education department."
Next, Yūshin placed direct "financial assets" like the gold coins under Hagūgen Chihori's management. A group of over fifty people needed a small logistics department.
Finally, he handed the miscellaneous ninja tools and war supplies to Gorō Fūma.
The Fūma Clan would reforge these fire-damaged ninja tools, making them into high-quality weapons again... If necessary, Yūshin was prepared to establish a dedicated ninja tool production department.
After all, for an established brand like the "Fūma Clan," Yūshin didn't want to discard it unless absolutely necessary.
The "arms" trade has always been profitable, and cold weapons are also a type of arms.
After experiencing a clean and decisive victory of the weak defeating the strong, the Fūma Clan's trust in the Ashes organization greatly improved. Given more time, they might even develop a sense of ownership.
Gorō Fūma also began genuinely accepting Yūshin's leadership. During the three-person team's execution of the battle plan, he had once suspected he might face some kind of trap, but facts proved his worries unfounded.
When Yūshin decided to move against the Tsugawa Clan, he hadn't considered that external warfare would accelerate internal integration—this was an unexpected bonus.
...
After returning to the Kikyō Castle area, having completed their established objectives, Yūshin decisively arranged for Gorō Fūma to visit the keep the next day for routine reporting.
As for post-war summary of this military action... well, there wasn't much to summarize at the overall level, because this "war" was ambiguous—there hadn't been any real large-scale, multi-person combat operations.
It was mostly just dispersal actions.
If there was anything to summarize, it would be Yūshin's reflection and summary regarding his own combat methods, ninjutsu usage, and technique effectiveness assessment.
Overall, he wasn't very satisfied with deciding victory through the rather troublesome combat method of relying on ninjutsu, as it wasn't simple, direct, or efficient enough.
Yūshin actually wanted that kind of victory achieved through basic attacks interspersed with normal attacks, not relying on talent and mechanics, but purely on effort and sweat.
If possible, he'd even want to hear defeated opponents curse him as a "damned stat monster" in frustrated rage.
But people's physical constitutions can't be generalized. Yūshin's background and the blood flowing in his veins determined he could never be strong in basic stats.
So after much consideration, if he wanted to further improve his combat ability, the most likely method was still enhancing his ninjutsu's destructive effects.
For Fire Release or Water Release, destructive power was actually quite good—the problem lay only in pitiful accuracy. So to improve destructive effects, whether "projectile speed" could be further increased was key.
Yūshin decided to try improving the "projectile speed" of his mastered ninjutsu.
In other words, if it can spray, absolutely don't let it flow.
Translated into simpler, more common language, Yūshin decided to adjust the ratio of "propellant" to "warhead charge."
But while this sounds simple, if he really wanted to adjust his ninjutsu to ideal effects, Yūshin didn't know how many brain cells he'd have to expend.
Early the next morning, Gorō Fūma brought a ninja to the keep, preparing to report combat results to their "superior" in their group's conventional understanding.
According to their prior agreement, as long as the organization proved its combat capability, Kikyō Castle would formally establish the employment relationship, making Ashes organization no longer rootless ghosts but possessing an official base.
However, Yūshin had a feeling that things wouldn't develop so smoothly. Otherwise, Kikyō Castle's daimyo would seem too much like a "wise ruler," which didn't conform to the objective pattern of small and medium lords often being cunning and short-sighted.
But regardless, since Yūshin had already come here and found this place quite good, he definitely wouldn't move easily next.
Everything must be done according to contract—verbal agreements are also agreements and equally cannot be reneged upon.
Sure enough, when Gorō Fūma returned from Kikyō Castle, his expression seemed quite grim.
"Is there a problem? Does Kikyō Castle have regrets?" Yūshin asked Gorō Fūma.
Gorō Fūma shook his head and said:
"I met Kikyō Castle's daimyo. Regarding employment matters, he had no objections—everything can follow the conditions agreed upon beforehand... They'll be responsible for verifying the Tsugawa Clan's destruction, and once facts are confirmed accurate, all conditions won't change."
"Isn't that quite good?"
"Indeed, Kikyō Castle seems to have shown honesty and fairness. Now we can be considered Kikyō Castle's ninjas, but..."
Gorō Fūma sighed and continued: "The daimyo immediately assigned us a rather unusual mission. I feel it's inappropriate, even has a conspiratorial atmosphere..."
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