Nara Hideyuki stepped into the organization's archive room.
Following the return of Hane Genma and Shichimi, Hideyuki, who had been on high-intensity duty for quite some time, finally caught a break. Ninjas were truly beasts of burden; it was a marvel that he could even get off work on time.
In a place like this where records were stored, many shinobi might never set foot in their entire lives. It could be said that the vast majority of people had no interest in dry, written documents.
But Nara Hideyuki was different. As a man with a sharp mind, long-term vision, and a penchant for critical thinking, he naturally paid close attention to the organization's overall status, the surrounding hostile situation, and other strategic matters.
Since the Firefly organization currently lacked valuable archives—and even the quantity of paper documents was sparse—there was nothing particularly confidential about the archive room. Essentially, any shinobi within the organization was free to come and browse.
However, for the reasons mentioned above, practically no one came here to "read" unless they had absolutely nothing else to do.
Hideyuki flipped through document after document. As he set one down and unfurled another scroll, he suddenly paused.
The content recorded in this scroll was Hane Genma's overview of the Kugutsu no Jutsu (Puppet Technique).
Because Genma's research into puppetry wasn't deep, the details in the scroll were lacking. It merely described the definition of the technique, directions for development, and application scenarios in broad strokes.
However, for certain intelligent individuals, details were secondary. As long as there was a concrete conceptual guide, they could perfectly fill in the remaining details themselves.
After transplanting the Earth Grudge Fear (Jiongu), Nara Hideyuki had been the fastest to master that secret technique. And now, he was looking at the Puppet Technique. Between the Shadow Imitation Technique, the Earth Grudge Fear, and now Puppetry, Hideyuki felt he had forged an indissoluble bond with "threads."
Indeed, through comprehension by analogy, Hideyuki found himself very interested in puppetry.
One could only say his parents hadn't named him wrong; Hideyuki (Excellence) was truly excellent. It felt as though he would soon be showing off his brilliance.
This was a good thing. Limited by their aptitude, most shinobi in the organization lacked the ability for independent growth. Hideyuki already had a solid foundation as a ninja, and combined with his aptitude for critical thinking and the various chaotic ideas he absorbed from the organization...
In short, it wasn't impossible that he could become a monster-level shinobi in the future.
If Genma knew about this, he would undoubtedly be thrilled. After all, Nara Hideyuki would count as a powerhouse cultivated by the Firefly organization itself.
This proved that the organization possessed hematopoietic capacity—the ability to generate its own fresh blood.
Three days later, Ran woke from her coma.
Enduring the hollowness and discomfort in her eye sockets, she fought against a splitting headache while trying to adapt to the sensation of being plunged into darkness.
Although she had been unable to see when imprisoned in the dungeon previously, she could still perceive the mottling of light and color back then.
And now? She could sense only absolute darkness.
But immediately following that, a different kind of perception began to spread from within her body into the dark. As she focused her attention on this sensation, the surrounding scene presented itself in her mind in a way that was more abstract, yet no less precise.
Is this a hospital ward?
This sensation didn't come out of nowhere. In fact, Ran originally possessed strong sensory abilities. Now that she had lost her Sharingan, her body began to spontaneously adapt to the situation, unconsciously striving to compensate for the loss of vision.
The chakra that once surged toward the Mangekyo Sharingan had nowhere to go, so it began to flood her limbs and bones.
The direct result was that her sensory capabilities improved by several orders of magnitude.
In a nutshell: she had lost her sight, but her overall perception had been reinforced.
"This is fine."
Ran breathed a sigh of relief in secret. She wasn't afraid of losing the Sharingan, but she was terrified of losing her aptitude as a shinobi. After all, nobody wanted to become useless, right?
More importantly, this organization had saved her from the Uchiha clan. They didn't even care that she had lost her eyes. The more they acted this way, the more she wanted to work hard to repay them. Therefore, she needed to recover her past strength as much as possible.
A blind shinobi was by no means a useless shinobi.
"Someone is coming. One is... Genma. And the other?"
After a short while, Hane Genma and Chihori entered the ward.
"Oh, you're awake? How do you feel?" Genma noticed Ran had regained consciousness and greeted her.
"Yes... I feel okay..." Ran said.
She was incredibly grateful for Genma's self-sacrificing rescue operation, but she didn't know how to express this emotion.
Just as she was clearly not doing well right now, yet could only say "okay."
There was no helping it; she was a shut-in. Whether actively or passively, she hadn't spoken more than a few sentences in the entire past year.
Ran's eye sockets were wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages. Her figure was petite and frail, suggesting she had been living a life of malnutrition. Genma considered asking her age, but felt it might be impolite. Although she looked young, if she turned out to be from the same generation as Shichimi, asking about her age would be incredibly awkward.
Well, it likely wouldn't be that exaggerated, but her age probably fell somewhere in the range between Uchiha Orijun and Uchiha Madara.
Genma seemed to understand her thoughts, so he spoke up. "Don't overthink things, and don't put any psychological pressure on yourself. Based on rational judgment, your priority right now is to heal your wounds and recover physically. Thinking too deeply will only drag down your recovery."
"Anything else can wait until you're healed."
As he spoke, Genma placed his hand over her bandages, continuing to use medical ninjutsu to treat her injuries and soothe her spirit.
He wasn't exactly a professional medical-nin, but the medical conditions here were what they were, so they had to make do. Fortunately, due to the existence of an external supply, Genma had ample chakra, allowing him to use medical ninjutsu lavishly.
While treating her, Genma glanced at Chihori beside him.
Chihori nodded and said, "Shichimi should be here soon, but I'll go notify her just in case."
In Kikyo Castle, Shichimi was something of a parental figure to Ran, so she should be notified immediately now that Ran was awake.
Genma soon finished the treatment. Not waiting for Shichimi to arrive, he said his goodbyes and left the ward.
The result of obtaining the Earth nature transformation but failing to gain Wood Release weighed on Genma. A ninja's strength was like sailing against the current; if you didn't advance, you drifted back.
Aside from personal strength, what other ways were there to increase a ninja's combat power?
While racking his brains, Genma suddenly remembered the Gunbai (war fan) passed from Uchiha Tajima to Uchiha Madara—the one capable of reflecting ninjutsu.
That's right. Special ninja tools or weapons can also increase a shinobi's combat power.
So, after leaving the ward, Genma immediately went to find Fuma Goro.
It is worth noting that the Fuma clan's production of ninja tools prioritized quantity. They manufactured standard tools, but because their output was high and the average quality was excellent, they dominated the market in the ninja world. Although they were weapons masters, they weren't the kind of weapons masters Genma was looking for.
Genma understood this, so he didn't go to ask Fuma Goro for a special tool, but rather to ask if he had any leads in that area.
As it turned out, Genma hadn't asked the wrong person. Fuma Goro actually knew a thing or two about this. After all, the Fuma clan was technically in the same industry as those people, and peers naturally kept an eye on industry trends.
"Lord Genma wants a special ninja tool with greater power? Something like a Chakra Blade?"
After finding Fuma Goro, Genma explained his requirements, and Goro grasped his meaning accurately.
"Preferably more powerful than a Chakra Blade, and more durable... In short, I need the best ninja tool available."
Genma almost blurted out, "Find me the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths."
Fuma Goro understood Genma's high standards. After thinking carefully, he said, "I know of a master who crafts such tools, but I don't know if he has any finished products on hand, or if he's willing to sell powerful tools..."
"This man is called Kannazuki. Hozuki Kannazuki. He's an eccentric old man who lives alone on a small island in the East Sea."
"He likely fits your requirements, but he's difficult to deal with. Whether he's willing to trade with others depends entirely on his mood."
"Hozuki... The Hozuki of the Hozuki clan?"
Genma repeated the weapons master's surname. For some reason, after learning the man's background, he felt this master might be the real deal. He sounded reliable.
As for the issue of him being eccentric and potentially unwilling to trade... Heh. As a man of integrity, Genma was naturally willing to follow the rules.
But if the other party wasn't willing to follow the rules of trade, then Genma was prepared to start following the rules of "scavenging."
"I can't be certain if he is actually from the Hozuki clan, because he is very reclusive and seems to have no dealings with them," Fuma Goro added.
Genma nodded slowly, his face expressionless. Understood. That meant he could scavenge to his heart's content without worrying about consequences.
"Reclusive? Reclusive is good."
Genma had reservations about punching down at a kindergarten, but he had no psychological burden whatsoever about kicking down a retirement home.
"Do you know the specific location of that island?"
Fuma Goro immediately saw through Genma's thoughts. He intended to remind him that some things shouldn't be too unruly, but looking into Genma's clear eyes, he could only honestly report the location.
Genma was satisfied, but he didn't rush to leave. He stayed in Kikyo Castle to hold the fort and provide medical care for half a month, managing the surrounding situation while waiting for Ran's condition to completely stabilize. Only then would he have the opportunity to go out shopping.
There was another important reason Genma couldn't act rashly: he wanted to observe further whether White Zetsu would come to Kikyo Castle because of Shichimi.
The result was a peaceful half-month with no incidents, so Genma finally relaxed.
What he didn't know was that because Black Zetsu and White Zetsu attached so much importance to this matter, they remained in a state of inaction. It wasn't that White Zetsu wasn't moving; it was that they were preparing to unleash something big.
The Uchiha internal strife they had previously instigated failed to achieve the goal of turning the Uchiha and Hagoromo clans against each other. It could be said their schemes were not very successful.
However, this wasn't an unforgivable error. It didn't matter if those things took time, but they could not allow any failure in what they were planning next.
Aside from wanting to get some powerful weapons, Genma—who was temporarily unaware of these plots—was instigating another matter.
After the situation in the Land of Kawagen stabilized, the development of the Firefly organization hit a bottleneck. Originally, Genma's idea was to focus on internal development for a while, but he now realized this strategy was too conservative.
The harassment from surrounding hostile forces was simply endless.
Therefore, eliminating enemies and expanding further was actually an objective requirement that did not shift according to Genma's subjective will.
Once you developed to a certain scale and expanded to a certain degree, you could only continue to expand. Trying to stay quiet and make a fortune was impossible.
If one was bound by hesitation and stood still, it was easy to suffocate oneself.
This was probably what was meant by "where there is smoke, one is forced to burn."
So, for the next step, Genma intended to destroy the surrounding forces and expand the territory of the Land of Kawagen.
But as the Land of Kawagen expanded, a longer border meant more hostile forces, so they would have to continue expanding outward... It was an unsolvable loop; reality forced people to progress.
Genma could handle it, but the honorable Daimyo Shimizu Kisuke seemed to have walked onto the broad road of wearing the yellow robe while eating hotpot and singing a song.
Skilled at surrendering, he seemed unlikely to find a suitable opportunity to surrender ever again.
Optimistically speaking, perhaps he could start preparing his lines: "Why did I create the Land of Fire? I deeply regret it. I was happiest when I was earning a salary of 79 ryo a month at Reito Castle."
On the other side, after the secretive little maneuvers ended, Uchiha Tajima was forced to hold a meeting with the leader of the Hagoromo clan.
They were both very dissatisfied with each other's behavior, yet they had to pinch their noses and ignore their mutual actions.
The Hagoromo clan had lost quite a few men, but fortunately, their goal had been achieved. If the intelligence was accurate, the point of divergence between the two sides had vanished. Regardless of how the goal was achieved, the fact remained that it was achieved.
"Your actions were too rash. How could you instigate an invasion against the Uchiha? We had maintained a relationship of mutual trust, but now a crack has appeared. How can this be mended?"
No matter what, blame had to be assigned. After all, Uchiha Tajima currently held the moral high ground.
The Hagoromo clan was in the wrong first, so the clan leader remained silent. Internally, he thought, Who asked you Uchiha to secretly control such a weapon of mass destruction? We were wrong to strike, but are you completely faultless?
He simply ignored the accusation and focused on what to do next.
"It is merely a slight crack. Both sides have the will to maintain a cooperative relationship... Then the matter is easily solved."
"How?"
"We simply instigate another large-scale war operation where both parties participate to rebuild mutual trust..."
"..."
It was a terrible idea.
But it was better than having no idea at all.
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