Under a large tent, the core members of the Ashes organization gathered to hear the results of Gorō Fūma's trip to Kikyō Castle.
"So what exactly is the mission?" Yūshin asked.
"Kikyō Castle's daimyo Date Toyosaka gave us a task—ordering us to assassinate Reitō Castle's current daimyo as soon as possible, and even requiring us to eliminate that daimyo's entire clan if possible."
This mission left everyone momentarily silent.
Hagūgen Chihori looked around at everyone, then quietly asked, "What's the problem with that?"
"There is a bit of a problem," Gorō Fūma said.
Immediately, Shichimi Uchiha provided an explanation:
"Daimyo generally don't issue such orders because they're very irregular and unreasonable. Under normal circumstances, he should order us to defeat or eliminate Reitō Castle's ninjas, removing the daimyo's wings and claws."
"After disarming the enemy, the Kikyō daimyo would then send his secular forces to eliminate the opposing daimyo... With the enemy having no ninjas while Kikyō Castle has them, the latter naturally stands invincible. Any subsequent military action, even if unsuccessful, wouldn't result in major losses."
"Why take such a roundabout approach?" Chihori asked again.
"Because it's a political understanding. No daimyo wants to become a direct target of ninjas, so rulers normally don't violate this understanding," Shichimi Uchiha said with a shrug.
Ninjas are always cutting scalps, stabbing kidneys, and digging out hearts—far too bloody for noble daimyo.
Are their lives equivalent to other people's cheap lives?
One daimyo sending ninjas to assassinate another breaks this understanding, essentially indirectly assassinating himself—it goes against their class's overall interests.
Taking the roundabout approach may seem superfluous, but it creates separation between the daimyo's neck and the ninja's blade.
Chihori nodded. "So we've accepted a mission that defies common sense?"
Gorō Fūma nodded, saying:
"I suspect that even if we complete this mission, we'll become Kikyō Castle's abandoned pawns, because Kikyō Castle's daimyo clearly doesn't want to bear the blame for sending ninjas to assassinate other daimyo."
Yūshin thought for a moment, then said: "Why do we have the opportunity to become Kikyō Castle's official force? Because Kikyō Castle's previous ninja force was eliminated. So... why was the previous batch of ninjas eliminated, and by whom?"
No one answered this question, but everyone thought of an unpleasant possibility.
Those ninjas might have been made to bear certain crimes, then pushed forward as "scapegoats."
The destruction of those ninjas might even have been Kikyō Castle itself "cleaning house."
No one blamed the group for thinking so poorly of the daimyo—human hearts are inherently dirty, especially those of political figures.
"Did you accept this mission?" Yūshin asked Gorō Fūma.
Gorō Fūma said: "Yes. Regardless of whether the daimyo harbors ill intentions, I couldn't refuse in that situation."
Yūshin nodded, thinking that made sense. With a new employer who just signed a contract, you can't refuse their first assigned mission—otherwise it shows lack of cooperative sincerity.
"I also gathered some intelligence in Kikyō Castle... This region was called the Land of the River Source over a hundred years ago. Later, this country split into five regions due to warfare, producing five daimyo with real power, all claiming to be rulers of the Land of the River Source, thus opposing each other..."
"Now, three of the five forces have been eliminated. The so-called Land of the River Source daimyo forces consist only of Kikyō Castle and Reitō Castle."
Gorō Fūma added more information about local forces.
Listening to this, the Kikyō daimyo seemed increasingly suspicious.
Yūshin thought: What Land of the River Source—this place will eventually become part of the Land of Fire. Does the so-called Kikyō Castle daimyo really dream of restoring old territories and achieving grand ambitions?
However, this is the Land of the River Source, and they are the Hagūgen clan—both containing the character "源" (source), so their connection runs deep.
"What should we do?"
With Gorō Fūma's question, everyone's gaze turned to Yūshin.
Yūshin remained silent for a while. After seemingly understanding the cause and effect, he finally said:
"We're wandering ninjas, and the other party is a daimyo force that 'kindly' took us in. According to current universal values, we can't repay kindness with enmity or usurp what isn't ours... At least we need a legitimate reason."
Yūshin wasn't a daimyo himself and didn't much care about "understandings," but he didn't want to be used for nothing.
"Do we... have corpses?"
This question came out of nowhere, but Gorō Fūma still nodded:
"When cleaning the battlefield, we collected some ninja corpses from the Tsugawa Clan's village for emergency use."
This sounded somewhat disturbing—why keep corpses?
But Yūshin didn't ask. In any case, these corpses would truly come in handy.
"Very good. We'll accept this mission... make a trip to Reitō Castle, at least to see what Reitō Castle's daimyo looks like."
"Who would have thought—just finished an external war, finally returned, only to face another round of internal political intrigue."
Gorō Fūma and the others exchanged glances, feeling that Yūshin not only wasn't nervous but even seemed somewhat pleased.
Shichimi Uchiha secretly rolled her eyes, thinking: What do you mean "internal"? Where does this sense of ownership come from?
...
Meanwhile, at Kikyō Castle's keep.
Kikyō Castle's daimyo Date Toyosaka was equally in good spirits.
Compared to Date Kametani whom Yūshin had met before, this daimyo perfectly matched all of Yūshin's stereotypes about lofty nobles.
Simply put, Date Toyosaka's first impression was that he was half human—split the other half and you'd get a pig.
On the keep's highest floor, he sat in the highest position, with exquisite delicacies arranged on the low table before him.
His nephew Date Kametani attended at his side.
"This batch of ninjas seems quite capable?"
"Still needs verification—we must wait for intelligence reports. If the situation matches their reports, then they're reasonably capable... After all, the Fūma Clan has some reputation in the shinobi world."
Date Kametani knew essentially nothing about the Fūma Clan, but this didn't prevent him from briefing someone even less knowledgeable.
"Hehe, they're just begging wild dogs. When they bark a few times, I'll throw out some bones. After eating the bones, they should bite people for their master."
"Quite capable... very good. I hope they can smoothly complete that mission."
"Sir, if they're quite capable, won't it be difficult to clean up afterward?" Date Kametani carefully reminded him.
"Moreover, many things happen once but not twice. If such things happen a second time, we'll have great difficulty gaining external trust."
The daimyo waved dismissively: "As long as it's barely passable, I'll throw out the scapegoat. As for gaining trust... it's completely unimportant now. Do you know why?"
Date Kametani thought, then said: "Because once it's accomplished, you'll be the Land of the River Source's only daimyo."
"Haha, exactly... Speaking of cleaning up afterward, there won't be any problems. You don't know the origins of the ninjas I hired."
"So you won't understand just how sharp his fangs will be."
🔥 Want to read the next 20 chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 [Join on - patreon.com/GoldenLong]