The room was unnervingly quiet. After two minutes, Chisa asked softly, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Hold on, I'm calculating the dates to make sure he's mine."
Chisa's beautiful eyes widened behind her glasses. She spun around and began swatting at the Fox. This man had ignored her for nearly two years, and now his first reaction was to check the math!
Yagami quickly pulled her into a hug. "Just a joke. Of course I believe you."
Chisa sighed, her heart settling. She knew she didn't have the courage to actually provoke the "Copper Fox" of the Leaf. The Land of Rivers was too small and weak; it couldn't protect her from a man like him.
Yagami reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a scroll. Upon opening it, rows of sealing formulas were revealed, one of which was marked with the character for 'White'. With a soft 'poof', the summoning contract for the Stone Panda clan appeared.
"Chisa, sign a contract with the Stone Pandas. If you are ever in danger, you can use a Reverse Summoning to bring me to you."
With Qiaoyi and Purple Cat both pregnant, Yagami knew Yuka couldn't handle the logistical burden of his "private interests" alone. Adding Chisa to the network would help distribute the workload.
Chisa's eyes lit up. As a woman who had spent eighteen months longing for him, she finally had a direct line to his world. She bit her finger and signed her name on the contract. Her eyes flickered over the first name on the list: 'Uzumaki Yuka'.
'Am I the 'third' woman?' she wondered.
Yagami mused that as a noble, Chisa likely understood that a man of status would have multiple partners. She probably wouldn't mind being "Number Five."
"Get dressed. I'll summon Shiro-ji so you two can meet."
Chisa hurriedly gathered her scattered clothes from the floor and desk. A moment later, Shiro-ji appeared. The panda looked at the noblewoman, hearing from Fox that she now had the right to reverse-summon him. 'I'd better make sure Uzumaki Yuka and this noble lady don't cross paths,' the panda thought. 'That would be a disaster.'
Yagami looked at the back of the panda's paw, where he had carved a Ten-Seal. "Shiro-ji, how is your progress with the Ten-Seal and Earth Style: Flying Bamboo?"
"We are slower than humans," the panda replied, "but after a few months, I've finally mastered them. I can release five bamboo spears simultaneously now. The range is impressive."
Yagami nodded in approval. "Good. Stay here for a moment. I need to step out."
"Fox, where are you going?" Chisa asked quickly.
"To see our son."
With that, Yagami's form sank into the floorboards and vanished.
The Mayfly Technique allowed him to travel through the earth's organic network at nearly 500 kilometers per hour. Moving like a neural impulse rather than a physical mass, he crossed the distance from Teigu Town to the capital of the Land of Rivers in just a few hours—a trip that usually took days.
Even with the Guardian Shinobi (the children of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu) and a Hyuga Special Jonin protecting the Daimyo's castle, no one detected his infiltration. Chisa had her own princess's residence within the complex.
Inside a grand hall, Yagami found a child guarded by several maids and a wet nurse. A flurry of illusory feathers drifted through the room (Temple of Nirvana Jutsu), sending the guards into a deep slumber.
Yagami slowly rose from the floor. One look at the boy was enough; the hair had a distinct reddish tint. He was definitely his son, inheriting the Uzumaki traits. 'Senju or Uzumaki blood... even if it's discovered, I can play it off,' Yagami thought. He could claim to be an agent of the late Senju Rinmoku; since the man was dead, no one could disprove it.
After watching the sleeping child for a while, he vanished back into the earth.
...
It was nearly dawn when Yagami returned to the ship in Teigu Town. Chisa was asleep on the bed, still in her clothes. He kissed her awake.
"Chisa, what is the boy's name?"
She rubbed her eyes and reached for the glasses she knew he liked. "He doesn't have a formal name yet, just a nickname: Kagami-kun." She had chosen it because of his fondness for her glasses.
Yagami thought for a moment. "How about Ogawa Yaboku?" (Night Anchor of the Small Well).
Chisa's eyes brightened. It incorporated the "Ogawa" surname her father had given her. "It's perfect."
"Chisa," Yagami said seriously, "I am a Leaf ANBU. My enemies are many and powerful. If my identity is exposed, it could bring death to you both. Let the child keep your surname. When it's convenient, I'll have Shiro-ji notify you, and you can summon me. When he's four, I'll return to teach him chakra refinement and ninjutsu."
"I understand," Chisa said softly. "But Fox... is there any chance you can retire? I hear the mortality rate for ANBU is horrific."
"I have my mission," Yagami said, stroking her hair. "Is there anything bothering you lately? I'll handle it."
"Nothing major," she replied. "My brother's son, the eleven-year-old First Prince, has mentioned he doesn't want my child inheriting the Ogawa name. But my brother dotes on me; I've done much for the clan. I believe he will support me."
Yagami mentally filed the "First Prince" away. If the boy became a problem, he'd become a "Dead Prince."
...
Two hours later, the second round of negotiations began on the Rain noble's ship. Chisa sat in her chair, looking exhausted and languid.
'That annoying Fox,' she thought, blushing. This morning he had insisted the morning light hitting her glasses was "magnificent" and wanted to "admire the scenery" from a different angle. After half an hour of that, her legs felt like jelly.
The Rain noble gave a brief opening, urging them to find a peaceful resolution. Chisa pulled out the map with Yagami's red circles. "We're changing the location of the talks today."
At her request, the ship moved to the first red circle. The Wind noble's face paled instantly. Chisa wove a seal, and a Water Dragon Bullet erupted from the river, diving deep into the water. It shattered the anti-whirlpool barrier, and a massive vortex appeared near the shore.
"An intake pipe," Chisa said coldly. "How do you explain this, Land of Wind?"
They moved to four more locations, and each time, Chisa accurately exposed their secret conduits. The Wind noble, caught red-handed, begged her not to hire Leaf ninja, promising to seal the pipes immediately.
Peace was within reach—but someone didn't want the conflict to end.
Suddenly, a company of Stone Shinobi erupted from the forest by the river, charging straight for the noble's grand ship.
***
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