Hane Genma was a man driven by pragmatism, his actions always laced with purpose. His approach—challenging opponents to single combat and then letting them walk away—reeked of ulterior motives, no matter how you looked at it.
So, what could Genma possibly want with a shinobi clan?
The answer was obvious.
If Fuma Goro couldn't see it by now, he'd be embarrassingly dense.
But if that was the case, should they seize the chance to quietly eliminate the daimyo of Reito Castle, who had so boldly ventured onto the battlefield?
Fuma Goro's mind wasn't flexible enough to keep up with Genma's schemes, and that was putting it mildly.
Genma signaled to two shinobi from the Akimichi Clan to take their clan leader away, a move that left them dumbfounded.
They'd lost, yet they faced no consequences? Something felt off. Could this enemy truly be so upright, almost naively so?
Given Genma's youth, it wasn't entirely impossible. Perhaps he hadn't yet been tainted by the grim realities of the shinobi world?
They were overthinking it. The idea of the shinobi world corrupting Genma? More like Genma corrupting the shinobi world.
The Akimichi Clan, caught in the fog of their own perspective, failed to see the bigger picture. Every gift of fate comes with a price, marked in shadows long before it's revealed.
"Are… are we really just leaving like this? You don't have any demands?" The two Akimichi brothers, hoisting their leader Akimichi Jinsei, couldn't help but glance back at Genma as they prepared to depart.
Genma nodded decisively. "The war's not over yet. We'll meet again for another round."
The brothers carried their elder sibling back to the daimyo's side. After confirming Jinsei was safe, their rationality returned, and they bowed their heads in shame before the daimyo.
"Lord Daimyo, we apologize. We were defeated."
The daimyo had personally overseen the battle, yet the Akimichi Clan had delivered a crushing loss to their opponent. No matter how you sliced it, it was a disgrace.
But the daimyo waved it off, signaling they needn't dwell on it. He'd anticipated this outcome before they even set out.
"How's Lord Jinsei? No serious issues, I presume?"
"From a quick assessment, he's fine. Big Brother only passed out due to chakra exhaustion," Akimichi Kizuki replied, reassuring the daimyo not to worry too much.
"I saw Lord Jinsei shift into his true combat form. Why did his chakra deplete so suddenly?"
The daimyo had a basic understanding of the Akimichi Clan's fighting style, so he couldn't fathom why Jinsei, after unleashing his trump card, had collapsed so abruptly.
The two brothers exchanged glances. Kizuki, steeling himself, answered, "We're not entirely sure. Perhaps Big Brother can explain once he wakes up."
The daimyo of Reito Castle, Shimizu, nodded, choosing not to press further on the awkward matter.
It was clear that the political leadership of Reito Castle, headed by the daimyo, maintained an exceptionally harmonious relationship with the Akimichi Clan, the leading shinobi force. In some ways, it was an idealized partnership.
"By the way, what did that Genma fellow say?" Shimizu asked.
"He won but didn't impose any conditions. He let us take Big Brother back and even said, considering we might not be satisfied with this outcome, he'd arrange another fight with us later," Kizuki explained.
"Is that so…" Shimizu murmured.
"Lord Daimyo, what did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing. I just meant he's a magnanimous man. It seems we'll have to keep playing his game."
"Game?"
Shimizu didn't elaborate. From the recent battle, it was clear that this shinobi named Genma was far stronger than their side. Unless they were willing to escalate to a full-scale war, they had no choice but to continue these one-on-one duels.
But if it came to all-out war, could they control the outcome?
Could they even win?
Shimizu wondered if Kikyo Castle, with a fighter like Genma, might have others of his caliber.
Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Genma was a purposeful, rational man—someone you could negotiate with. Dealing with a person like that was, at the very least, manageable. Shimizu mulled this over silently.
He stood from his seat, preparing to return to Reito Castle with the unconscious Akimichi Jinsei. As he did, his gaze inadvertently swept toward the battlefield's center, where Genma offered a slight bow, as if courteously bidding him farewell.
Shimizu's doubts melted away. He returned a smile and a nod.
See? A civilized man.
And civilized men were always good people.
Once the daimyo's party had left, Fuma Goro, who'd been holding back for what felt like an eternity, finally blurted out, "Leader, are you planning to recruit the Akimichi Clan into the organization?"
Genma nodded. "If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to it. It's been a while since we've expanded."
A while? Really?
As one of the newest members, Fuma Goro had no idea about the organization's recruitment cycles. Uchiha Nanami had joined later than them, but they'd mistakenly assumed she was a veteran member from the start.
Seeing the doubt lingering on Goro's face, Genma elaborated, "To survive, we need to keep growing. With our current strength, we'd struggle to come out unscathed from even a mid-scale conflict."
He paused, then added, "Now, think about the Akimichi Clan. Don't they check all the boxes for what we need? Strong fighters, small numbers, and combat styles that require coordination."
With conditions like that, what more could you ask for? In an era where shinobi clan alliances weren't yet the norm, the Akimichi Clan would've been a hot commodity otherwise.
Fuma Goro thought it over and quickly grasped Genma's intent. As the organization's newest member, he had no grounds—nor desire—to oppose new recruits.
Now it was up to Genma to make his move.
Would he win them over with respect and virtue? Or resort to coercion and force?
Akimichi Jinsei had been utterly drained, wrung out like a rag.
After two full days of unconsciousness, he finally opened his eyes. Yet, even awake, he felt like a husk. It was as if he'd pulled five or six all-nighters in a row—his spirit was sapped, his temples throbbed, his mind was foggy, and his vision blurred.
This was the aftermath of having his chakra completely siphoned. Genma, perhaps unintentionally, had left Jinsei with severe side effects.
It'd take at least ten days to half a month to regain his full vigor.
Jinsei knew how to handle this. Despite his mental and physical exhaustion, he immediately began eating voraciously.
The chakra drained in battle, the nutrients missed from two days without food—he needed to replenish it all. Look at him now; he was practically skin and bones.
Beyond the chakra depletion, the fight had left him with injuries, some permanent. Battling Genma, a walking furnace of scorching steam, meant burns were inevitable with any physical contact.
He'd also taken a direct hit from a Fire Release jutsu.
Worst of all, his abdomen now bore a foot-shaped "tattoo"—a lifelong mark that would never fade.
But soon, Jinsei learned there was no such thing as rock bottom, only deeper despair.
As a married man with a wife and a five-year-old daughter, Jinsei watched as his wife, skilled in medical ninjutsu, approached his bedside. She began unwrapping the bandages around his head to change them.
As she worked, she said, "Jinsei, do you know what male pattern baldness is?"
"Bald… baldness?"
Trying to soften the blow, she rephrased, "Jinsei, do you know what even the most advanced medical ninjutsu can't do?"
"What?"
"Ahem, medical ninjutsu can't bring back the dead—or dead hair follicles."
Jinsei: "…"
Bald?
"Reviving hair follicles isn't a medical issue; it's a matter for magic," she teased.
She was half-joking. After all, her husband had returned alive from the battlefield—a miracle in itself. Whether the gods protected his hair or not was irrelevant.
Injured, bald, defeated, and released out of pity by the enemy… After his wife finished changing his bandages and left, Jinsei sank into a deeper gloom.
When his two younger brothers heard he'd woken, they rushed to his side.
Kizuki filled him in on what happened after he'd passed out.
Jinsei felt a flicker of relief. Dying on the battlefield might be a shinobi's fate, but since he'd survived, he wasn't about to march back to the enemy and demand to know why they hadn't killed him.
That'd be no different from a tantrum-throwing shrew.
Hearing that Genma wanted another fight, Jinsei rallied his spirits. Next time, he'd go all out from the start.
"Big Brother, why did your chakra run dry the moment you entered Butterfly Mode?" Kizuki asked.
"It wasn't just depletion. The enemy stole my chakra. That Genma is a nightmare—he can suppress our strength and siphon chakra," Jinsei said, recalling the fight. "I suspect the more we unleash our chakra, the faster he drains it."
It was an obvious truth. With his chakra "floodgates" wide open, Genma had free rein to plunder it.
"So… how do we counter that?"
Forget fairness—Genma had the ability to absorb chakra in battle. Why wouldn't he use it?
"We can only try to avoid direct physical contact with him," Jinsei said, lacking any better ideas for now.
Meanwhile, back in Kikyo Castle, Genma savored the high-quality, high-intensity Yang chakra he'd plundered.
As it coursed through his meridians, he felt his physical strength significantly enhanced.
The transformation was even better than he'd expected.
Having experienced Yang chakra firsthand and studied medical ninjutsu, Genma began researching Yang chakra manipulation.
In essence, it was about combining mental and physical energy to amplify the vitality and life force of the latter.
This wasn't a simple fusion. Mental energy had to catalyze and enhance physical energy.
Unlike other chakra natures, Yang and Yin were purer, more intrinsic. Everyone had the potential to manipulate them, as they stemmed from one's innate essence.
For some reason, Genma found Yang chakra manipulation far easier to grasp than other natures.
Using Jinsei's chakra as a sample and following medical ninjutsu principles, he soon felt he could tap into the life-force aspect of chakra.
It was far from a qualitative leap, but in studying Yang chakra, Genma felt his talent and aptitude shine for the first time. It was as if he was born for this.
He was eager to wrap up the conflict with Reito Castle and dive fully into Yang chakra research.
The feeling of immediate progress with effort was intoxicating, and he couldn't get enough.
So, just three days later, Genma slipped another letter into the daimyo of Reito Castle's chambers.
As usual, after delivering the letter, he planned to leave a note on an Akimichi shinobi.
But after recognizing Genma's stealth prowess, the Akimichi night guards had started standing back-to-back in pairs, eyes wide, scanning their surroundings like paranoid owls.
Genma sighed. Look at the daimyo—knowing he couldn't stop an infiltrator, he didn't even bother trying. His room was unchanged, no shinobi tucked into his bed for protection.
Genma could still find a chance to leave a note, but it'd take too much time.
He wasn't about to let them dictate his pace.
If the night guards were so vigilant, someone had to sleep eventually, right?
He switched targets and left a note with ease.
One can imagine how Akimichi Jinsei felt, waking up to find a red note plastered on his forehead.
Humiliated on the battlefield, and now humiliated at home?
When Shimizu awoke and found the new letter, he was starting to get used to it.
After reading it, he yawned and said, "Same place as before. But since Lord Jinsei is recovering, Kizuki will fight in his stead."
Kizuki had no objections. He was ready to go all out to restore his clan's and the daimyo's honor.
Shimizu planned to tag along for the spectacle, sensing Genma had more tricks up his sleeve. And he wasn't wrong.
At noon, in the same location.
This time, Genma brought a few extra shinobi, but Fuma Goro was absent. Knowing Genma's intentions, the others were curious to see his strength and the Akimichi Clan's performance.
The stage was set. Genma didn't mind that Kizuki was his opponent. He couldn't exactly demand to keep fighting an injured man.
Big brother down, second brother up—Kizuki was stepping in like a substitute warrior.
Kizuki wielded a black staff taller than himself, clearly prepared to counter Genma's chakra absorption.
But today, Genma planned to showcase something else, employing a strategy of gradual escalation and relentless pressure.
"Thank you for sparing my brother last time, but I won't hold back because of it," Kizuki said.
"Of course. War is war. Even if I die here today, I won't regret my actions."
Well, didn't that set the tone?
Kizuki's chakra erupted, butterfly wings manifesting behind him. He launched into the air, swinging his staff down at Genma's head with full force.
Clang!
A sharp metallic clash rang out. To everyone's shock, Genma blocked the strike with his forearm.
Steam rose faintly from his body. Even with Boil Release, his physical strength shouldn't have been enough to parry a metal weapon barehanded.
Kizuki's eyes darted behind Genma, his face twisting in shock and panic, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.
Behind Genma, a pair of chakra wings had unfurled.
The Akimichi Clan's straightforward mindset made their moves predictable. Genma had anticipated Kizuki would open with his ultimate technique and prepared accordingly.
Naturally, his chakra wings were a crude imitation, fundamentally different from the Akimichi's butterfly wings.
They weren't even close—Kizuki's were elegant and symmetrical, while Genma's looked like oversized, mangled fly wings.
But the psychological impact was immense. Kizuki, brimming with confidence moments ago, was thrown into disarray.
Genma hadn't mastered Yang chakra yet. Both his wings and reinforced arm relied on the chakra plundered from Jinsei.
In essence, this was big brother versus second brother. With Kizuki's heart in chaos from the start, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
Genma claimed another batch of Yang chakra, though he restrained himself this time, sparing Kizuki from being completely drained.
The fight wasn't as flashy as the last, but Genma's theatrics caused an even greater stir among the onlookers, especially the Akimichi, who thought their clan's secret techniques had been stolen.
The result was the same—only this time, it was Kizuki who lay unconscious.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my patreon:
pat reon .com/yuuwand