That evening, Acting Lord Date Kametani arrived at the brightly lit camp of The Fireflies organization.
Yūshin hadn't yet had time to explain the organization's name change to everyone, but this was irrelevant to Date Kametani—he only needed to treat Yūshin and his group as the Fūma Clan.
Date Kametani seemed to have chosen to come alone to demonstrate trust and sincerity.
After enduring brief fear and panic, Date Kametani's intelligent mind regained the high ground. He saw his current situation clearly and no longer believed his life was under serious threat.
With Kikyō Castle's military power having fallen into other hands, precisely because Date Kametani's life was in the other party's grasp—seemingly ready to die at any moment—it was exactly for this reason that he wouldn't die easily.
"Lord Acting Lord, welcome to your arrival."
After Date Kametani entered his tent, Yūshin struggled to rise from his sickbed, dragging his injured body to greet him, outwardly expressing respect for Kikyō Castle's (acting) supreme ruler.
His habit of being civilized and polite was, in some ways, very similar to the later Orochimaru—call someone "sir" when appropriate, "teacher" when needed, "your excellency" when required, and kill you when necessary.
Date Kametani disliked the title "Acting Lord," but he was very clear about his situation and wouldn't be deceived by Yūshin's surface behavior, so he dared not show any dissatisfaction.
"Lord Yūshin, thank you for your timely assistance. Kikyō Castle has now restored order."
Date Kametani also bowed slightly to Yūshin, speaking polite words. At this point, he also understood who led this ninja group, since that Fūma clan leader was very consciously standing at Yūshin's side.
"You're too kind, this is what we should do... Has the news of the daimyo's unfortunate death been spread?" Yūshin asked.
Date Kametani nodded decisively—he was much more proactive than Yūshin in this matter. After all, no one is more eager to cover up the truth than the perpetrator.
In the incident of the previous daimyo's unfortunate murder, was Date Kametani the killer or an accomplice? Was it necessary to distinguish so clearly?
In any case, the previous daimyo's enterprise ended halfway through, his ambition bursting his belly—this was a thorough tragedy that should be widely announced.
"I came this time to inquire about Lord Yūshin's views on future governance matters of Kikyō Castle..."
Date Kametani had reservations, but his question was very direct—extending or retracting his head would both result in the same blade.
"It's not governance, but public security. Please rest assured, we Fūma Clan will absolutely not interfere with your political authority, much less meddle in Kikyō Castle's ruling power. Apart from replacing the previous batch of ninja, everything remains as before..."
Yūshin's words sounded as if he only sought "defense contracting," but in reality, with Kikyō Castle's current military and political power balance, what difference did speaking nicely make?
Given the limited trust between both sides, Yūshin spoke more bluntly:
"More simply put, political affairs are yours, military affairs are mine."
"To put it plainly, there are some things you don't need to worry about. At worst, we Fūma Clan will just parasitically feed off Kikyō Castle. As long as we don't violate the foundation of cooperation, why would we interfere with your rule?"
The so-called basic principle of cooperation was: I'll try not to speak, but once I do speak, you must listen to me.
This condition was actually quite good for Date Kametani. After hearing Yūshin's words, he indeed breathed a sigh of relief.
Fundamentally, Yūshin truly had no interest in politics. He had no need to excessively seek ruling power over civilians—remote control of the ruler was actually the most correct approach.
On one hand, ninja officially cannot stand above daimyo—this is the default practice in the ninja world.
On the other hand, regarding priorities, Yūshin saw very clearly—regardless, a person's energy is limited. Rather than investing too much in politics, it's better to put most energy into ninjutsu training.
Ruling civilians was useless for Yūshin's strength growth. Conversely, as long as he continuously increased his strength, his covert control over Kikyō Castle would become increasingly solid. The causal relationship couldn't be more obvious.
"However, there's one point: besides becoming Kikyō Castle's official ninja, we Fūma Clan will also become 'civilian ninja' here. Without interfering with missions assigned by your upper levels, we'll also accept missions from the public..."
Date Kametani didn't know Yūshin's intention, but didn't think there would be any conspiracy, so he nodded and agreed again.
Limited by his social class, his vision wasn't far-reaching, so naturally he didn't understand the principle that contact means integration, and integration means contact.
In any case, both sides reached a preliminary cooperation agreement.
...
For over ten consecutive days, Yūshin only quietly recuperated, while the organization gradually took root in Kikyō Castle.
Their most important task currently was serving as bodyguards for Date Kametani and other newly appointed high-ranking officials. Frankly speaking, despite the organization's ninja having mediocre abilities, without external enemy invasion, this mission had no difficulty whatsoever.
But if they faced external enemy invasion, it would depend on whether the bodyguard ninja or the high-ranking nobles could run faster. As long as the ninja could run faster than ordinary people, the mission wasn't difficult.
So-called bodyguards just put on appearances during peacetime and were useless at critical moments. Many "imaginative" and "broad-minded" important figures have fully demonstrated this professional characteristic.
Over ten days would normally be enough for Yūshin to completely recover, but because his injuries were too severe this time, even after such a long period, he had only barely regained mobility.
That night, Yūshin finished a set of calisthenics. He moved his body slightly, feeling his recovery was going well, and his mood couldn't help but relax further.
Previously, he had somewhat doubted whether White Zetsu's body's recovery ability could repair such severe injuries. Facts proved White Zetsu was still trustworthy... as long as there was sufficient chakra support.
So he slept peacefully.
However, at midnight, the lying Yūshin suddenly opened his eyes.
To continuously repair his injuries without stopping, these days he naturally maintained White Zetsu transformation. Precisely because of this, he acutely sensed at the first moment that "similar beings" had appeared nearby.
One, two, three, four.
And not just one—there were four White Zetsu appearing not far from Kikyō Castle.
Yūshin became alert, because before the Gedo Statue was stolen back to the ninja world, White Zetsu numbers were becoming increasingly rare. Under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no reason for them to appear collectively near an unremarkable small city.
Could there be unexpected visitors?
At the same time, Shichimi Uchiha in the camp quietly departed under cover of night.
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