"Knock, knock, knock."
At midnight, someone knocked on Kamihane's door.
Kamihane calmly got out of bed and opened the door, revealing a pair of bright, beautiful eyes.
"It's you?" Kamihane raised an eyebrow, "Why isn't it Shoko?"
Outside, Tanba Yukino bowed deeply, her crimson lips parting as she spoke, "Miyamoto-san, my father has urgent matters to discuss. Please follow me."
"Understood." Kamihane turned his gaze toward a shadowy corner, his lips moving slightly.
"You brought a tail."
Yukino read his lips, a trace of sorrow flickering across her brow, as if she had already known about this. She repeated, "Please follow me."
Kamihane smiled faintly and stepped out.
At the headquarters of Tanto-sai, in Tanba Shin'ya's room.
"The situation is urgent, so I'll get straight to the point. Can you really help us overcome this crisis?"
"My word is my bond. Thirty percent of the shares, and I'll handle it for you." Kamihane crossed his arms, "Your guild isn't lacking in funds or business opportunities. What you need is a strong enough deterrent of force, and I happen to fit the bill."
Shin'ya hesitated, "Just how strong are you, exactly?"
"To be honest, I don't even know how strong I am now…" Kamihane's gaze drifted, his voice carrying a hint of arrogance, "If I wanted to, destroying a country wouldn't be too difficult…"
"To that extent…" Shin'ya's hand trembled, nearly spilling his tea.
He couldn't fathom how this seemingly unassuming young man possessed such overwhelming power.
With that thought, he immediately stood up, "Since we're cooperating, I also have a condition. As of now, we still don't know your true identity…"
"Uchiha Kamihane," Kamihane said softly, "Don't misunderstand. I have no connection to the Uchiha clan in the Land of Fire's Konohagakure. I am Madara-sama's disciple… and his blade."
"The legendary… Uchiha Madara?" Shin'ya couldn't help but take a step back, with Shoko and Yukino quickly supporting him.
He murmured, "If you're that man's disciple… then there's no problem…"
Upon learning Kamihane's background, he waved his hand and immediately agreed to Kamihane's terms.
Shin'ya's eyes burned with determination, "Not only that, I promise that if you can free Tanto-sai from the control of the Land of Iron's nobility, in addition to the thirty percent shares we initially agreed upon, I will personally give up another twenty percent. From then on, half of the guild's annual profits will be yours."
Kamihane looked at the serious Tanba Shin'ya, thinking to himself, This old fox is trying to tie me completely to Tanto-sai.
Prosperity and downfall would be shared, and when it came to certain decisive moments, his fifty percent stake wouldn't be enough to tip the scales of interest.
It had to be said, as a family head and the acting guild leader, this man was bold and had great vision.
But Kamihane wasn't foolish enough to nod immediately. Instead, he laid down three conditions:
"I can help the guild resolve this crisis of changing ownership, and from now on, I will serve as the ultimate deterrent against the Land of Iron's lords. However, I will have no involvement in how the guild operates or expands its scale. I will only intervene when the guild faces a crisis."
"I am a sharp blade. I can kill, and I can intimidate. How you use me is up to you."
Tanba Shin'ya carefully considered this and finally agreed.
Since they had already announced the martial arts competition to select a bride, they had no choice but to go along with it, having Kamihane step in and demonstrate his strength in front of all the samurai.
"However…" Shoko hesitated before finally whispering, "The requirement for this competition is that only samurai can participate. Kamihane-san, you're… a ninja, aren't you?"
Kamihane smiled lightly, "Don't worry. Even without using ninja techniques, I'll still dominate them."
At this point, Tanba Shin'ya coughed a few times, giving Kamihane a meaningful look, and declared loudly, "Then… it's settled. If Kamihane-sama wins the championship, it wouldn't be out of the question to marry my daughter to you!"
Yukino's body trembled slightly, her red lips pursing beneath her white veil.
Kamihane noticed this and playfully responded, "Then this son-in-law will take his leave now."
Shin'ya turned to his daughter and said, "Yukino, go see him off."
Yukino hesitated for a moment, but after seeing her father's gaze, she stepped forward gracefully and left the room with Kamihane.
"Shoko, you can leave as well."
The others left one by one, and Shin'ya leaned back on his bamboo chair, gazing at the solitary moon outside the window, his expression desolate, as if he had aged decades in an instant.
Within half an hour, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Shin'ya sighed deeply.
The visitors were his two disciples.
"Master, you…" Ryūnosuke hesitated, glancing quickly at his junior brother before flicking his sleeve. "Ah, junior brother told me… you're planning to entrust the fate of the guild to that kid from earlier today. I don't understand, why would you trust an outsider?"
However, Shin'ya ignored him and instead fixed his gaze on his second disciple. "Tetsuya, is this what you think too?"
Tetsuya frowned slightly and said, "I also think it's not very rational."
Shin'ya snorted coldly, "What? Do you think I've lost my mind in my old age?"
"Of course not!" Ryūnosuke dropped to his knees, not daring to look up.
"Tetsuya, how did you learn about this?"
Tetsuya didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "I just don't want Master to make a desperate move in a moment of panic and ruin the guild's bright future."
"Tetsuya! Enough!" Ryūnosuke's eyes widened in shock, dumbfounded by his junior brother's boldness.
He couldn't understand why this usually lazy and non-confrontational junior brother dared to speak to their master in such a way today!
Surprisingly, the normally strict master chuckled lightly, seemingly unbothered by his disciple's impudence.
"One move short, Tetsuya."
Both disciples were stunned by this remark.
Shin'ya continued, "Ryūnosuke, wasn't it you who advised me to marry off Shoko back then?"
Ryūnosuke broke into a cold sweat, "It was indeed this disciple."
"Be honest. Who told you about this plan?"
"No one told me, I came up with it myself!" Ryūnosuke's face turned pale.
Tanba Shin'ya slowly paced over to him, "Hahaha, it's true that you care about the guild, but with your simple mind, how could you possibly have thought of such a plan?"
"I…" Ryūnosuke grew anxious, wanting to explain, but the words wouldn't come out.
He was by nature dull and ineloquent.
Shin'ya sighed deeply, "Even you didn't realize it, did you? Wasn't it your dear junior brother who suggested it to you?"
Ryūnosuke froze, casting a suspicious glance at his junior brother beside him.
He vaguely recalled that one night, when he went to drink with his junior brother in frustration, his junior brother had indeed mentioned that if the Sugawara family's only daughter could find a good match, it might ease some of the guild's pressure.
"Could it be…" He suddenly remembered the words that Miyamoto Kamihane had asked him to relay to his master earlier that day:
'Your second disciple… he's not simple.'