"Sit."
Patriarch Amamiya Gen's voice was calm, carrying the weight of the clan. Kitahara‑san and Raizen both nodded, taking seats beside him.
"Raizen," Gen said, his eyes sharp, "explain your plan."
Raizen leaned back, fingers tapping the armrest, giving off the lazy confidence of someone who had already won in his head. Kitahara‑san felt a flicker of confusion—he had no idea what Raizen had been doing all this time.
"Right now, Kashiwagi Makoto and Amamiya Jane have started the war," Raizen began, "but in the clash six days ago, both clans were restrained. My goal was simple: provoke them again. Push the tension until a new battle erupts."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "Two consecutive skirmishes will force both clans to bleed differently. Injuries will pile up, grudges will fester, and eventually, a full-scale war becomes unavoidable. People die, and their families will not forgive—once that happens, the battlefield is theirs to lose."
Amamiya Gen nodded slowly. It made sense. Raizen's logic was ruthless, but sound. "Continue," he said.
"When both clans go into all-out war," Raizen continued, voice cool and deliberate, "I'll stand as the balance. I'll let them drain each other as much as possible. And the moment they weaken, I strike. Both clans will be spent. You, Patriarch, as the leading ninja, can move in to occupy and secure Uicheng. I'd say there's an eighty percent chance we take the city."
Kitahara‑san froze. Wait—Raizen had provoked the clans? That meant all the subtle manipulations, the intercepted attacks, the chaos—Raizen had orchestrated it. A cold sweat ran down Kitahara‑san's spine.
Gen studied Raizen, unblinking. "Do you have the strength to fend off the other clans and finish this when the time comes?"
"Absolutely," Raizen replied, voice steady and unwavering.
Gen leaned back, a slow smile forming. "Good. From now on, Yicheng is in your hands. The clan will provide whatever resources you need. Kitahara‑san, you'll assist Raizen. Our goal is clear: put Uicheng fully under Amamiya control."
"Yes, Patriarch!" Kitahara‑san said, his voice a mix of awe and nervousness. Raizen's eyes gleamed—calm, predatory, fully in control.
Kitahara‑san had heard tales of Raizen's deeds, but seeing the evidence firsthand—secretly manipulating two warring clans while appearing idle—was terrifying. He realized how much of a ghost in the shadows Raizen truly was.
After final instructions, Amamiya Gen departed quietly. Kitahara‑san turned to Raizen.
"What now, Young Patriarch?"
Raizen smirked, tapping his chin. "Wait."
Both clans had withdrawn, licking their wounds after the initial battle. The lull was perfect. Raizen planned to push their rivalry further, until a tipping point forced them to expend even more strength.
Seven days later, the perfect spark came. On the road, the patriarch of the Kashiwagi clan's son was intercepted and killed. The news hit the Cypress clan like a thunderclap.
"They've killed my son… war is inevitable."
From a distance, Raizen watched the bloodied corpse, shaking the Flying Thunder God kunai clean, then disappearing before anyone could see him.
The Cypress patriarch, Baimu Baimu, roared to the sky, vowing vengeance against the Jinen clan. Meanwhile, the Jinen clan, enraged, couldn't figure out the culprit—after all, Baimu's death of his own son seemed impossible to orchestrate internally. Raizen had played both sides perfectly, stoking the calm before the true storm.
When the seventh day's chaos ignited, the clans clashed fully, burning through Uicheng. Small families who had come to trade were forced to flee. The Amamiya clan, as arms merchants, remained untouched—profiting and observing as the two titans exhausted themselves.
Raizen didn't leave the house once. Kitahara‑san had no idea how much the Young Patriarch had mastered. From his seat, Raizen trained, refining his detonating clay techniques to the extreme.
This was no mere hobby. Explosive clay was deadly early on, but inadequate against elite ninjas. Raizen aimed to perfect it, then shift focus to Ice Escape—a versatile skill with far-reaching applications.
In the meantime, he developed advanced tools:
C3·18 — Clay dolls that grow rapidly, capable of leveling a village.
C4·Garuda — Insidious ninjutsu: a clay doll explodes, releasing tiny clay spiders that erupt from the enemy's body. Deadly, but neutralized by Lightning Style chakra.
Raizen was preparing for a war that would reshape Uicheng—and he would be the one pulling the strings from the shadows.