After nightfall, the Senju Princess's exclusive office building remained brightly lit.
Inside the tightly closed office building.
The vast, dojo-like space was a magnificent and grand structure for anyone in this world.
Scrolls and books lined the surrounding walls like clouds, neatly arrayed, and amidst the heavy scent of ink, a subtle aura of solemn severity permeated.
Three figures sat upright by the low table in the center of the hall.
Tsukuyo wore a pale green luxurious robe, her unique hair bun still adorned with corn cockle flowers.
Senju Butsuma sat cross-legged beside Tsukuyo, his arms folded.
Opposite the father and daughter sat a middle-aged man, his face powdered, dressed in a hunting robe embroidered with subtle patterns.
This man had a smile on his face, exuding an indescribable aura.
Tsukuyo was with her father, Butsuma, receiving the esteemed guest from the Land of Fire—His Excellency the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
In such an important occasion, the Senju clan's young head, Senju Hashirama, was absent.
Because during this period, the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan continued to clash, at least on the surface, Senju Hashirama was responsible for repelling Uchiha Madara's attacks, while all other internal clan affairs were entrusted entirely to Tsukuyo.
The current Daimyo of the Land of Fire was in his prime, having not long ascended to his position, and his gaze seemed to flicker away when facing Tsukuyo.
In fact, several months ago, the first time the Daimyo saw Tsukuyo, he would fall into enchantment.
Yet today, after deeper collaboration, when the Daimyo saw Tsukuyo's beautiful face, he could find no other feeling than a sense of dread.
Perhaps throughout the entire Land of Fire, only the Daimyo himself truly understood how terrifying this beautiful young woman before him was.
Powerful and yet utterly lacking in moral fiber.
To be called her friend was a good thing.
To become her enemy was a bad thing.
At least the Daimyo himself clearly understood that for the rest of his life, as long as this terrifying young woman remained at the helm of the Senju clan, he would absolutely not dare to challenge them.
Moreover, he now also needed Tsukuyo.
"...The locust plague in the north has been resolved, thanks to the Senju clan's strategy, it's just... the Fujiwara clan over there..."
The Daimyo sighed, his face etched with worry, even though he seemed to have resolved a troubling matter.
Compared to the Senju clan's abundant water resources, fuel, and food, other parts of the Land of Fire suffered.
The Naka River irrigated most of the Land of Fire, but the lands north of the Land of Fire bordered the Land of Snow.
This year's climate was abnormal; winter was no colder than previous years.
The insect eggs dormant in the soil did not freeze to death, and the summer brought drought, leading to a massive increase in migratory locusts by autumn, which was a disaster for ordinary people of this era.
And Senju Tsukuyo solved the locust plague for the Daimyo, with the Senju clan contributing immensely.
The Senju clan opened up the social circles of the Land of Fire's nobility through its wellness services.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire thus formed a connection with the Senju clan.
The people of the Senju clan were beautiful and gentle, and their voices were pleasant, so over time, they grew closer and closer to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
Eventually, the Senju clan declared their territory to be under the jurisdiction of the Land of Fire, willing to pay taxes to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire according to the rules of household labor.
Once they accepted the money, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire became "one of their own."
During his visits for convalescence, the Daimyo shared his troubles with the Senju clan's wellness practitioners, initially mentioning trivial matters that those with their own intelligence networks would know even if the Daimyo didn't speak of them.
However, the Daimyo hadn't expected that after hearing his troubles, the wellness practitioner would smile and tell him that he could ask the Princess for help, as the Princess was most adept at solving problems.
The Daimyo, with a 'let's try it' mentality, began to approach Tsukuyo.
And this encounter... led him onto a treacherous path.
In the past, nobles hired ninja for missions primarily related to military force.
This time, the Daimyo was confiding his grievances to Tsukuyo.
Being the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was not easy; though he inherited his position, the Daimyo also had the Fujiwara clan as his maternal family behind him.
Starting from an unknown generation,
the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had to marry into the Fujiwara clan, who held the position of 'Regent Chancellor,' and the main wife had to be a daughter of the Fujiwara clan.
And the children born to a Fujiwara daughter would succeed to the position of the next Daimyo.
Although the current Daimyo also carried the Fujiwara clan's bloodline, the feeling of being controlled was extremely uncomfortable.
Even if he had his own ideas and wished to achieve great ambitions, he could only execute them with the approval of the current head of the Fujiwara clan.
If his ideas conflicted with the Fujiwara clan, the Fujiwara clan would consider replacing him.
His position as Daimyo was merely titular.
As for sending assassins to the Fujiwara clan, the Daimyo had indeed considered it, but failure would mean eternal damnation.
The Fujiwara clan held a stable position in the Land of Fire's court; almost everyone in the government and opposition belonged to the Fujiwara clan.
Even the Daimyo himself had been supported by the Fujiwara clan and possessed no true authority.
And the Daimyo's first interaction with Tsukuyo was precisely when he had his first confrontation with the Fujiwara clan.
Unable to swallow his pride, and acting impulsively, the Daimyo openly gambled with the Fujiwara clan.
The subject of the wager was "to reclaim wasteland in a certain area of the Land of Fire using the least amount of money."
That land was infested with bandits, and its people were notoriously fierce.
It wasn't difficult to hire commoners to reclaim wasteland with very little money, but ensuring they quickly completed the task after being paid—that was the challenge.
With little money, they lacked motivation.
With too much money, they would still slack off, because these people were not highly educated; as long as there was no threat to their lives, they usually worked intermittently.
If military force were used to suppress them, the cost would be astronomical.
At that time, the Daimyo thought to himself, 'Perhaps I should just give up. I'm a person with no talent, no trusted aides I can heavily rely on. Even those around me, including my wife, are arranged by the Fujiwara clan. It's truly miserable; my life will probably just be like this.'
However...
When the Daimyo poured out all these complaints to Tsukuyo.
Tsukuyo smiled. She said the problem was easily solved; there was no need to hire ninja to use ninjutsu to reclaim wasteland, and she could even make the local commoners voluntarily clear the land for the Daimyo without money.
The Daimyo was very curious about this and humbly sought her guidance.
But he hadn't expected that this single question would unleash his fear of Tsukuyo, making it uncontrollable.
Tsukuyo told the Daimyo to first spend money to have the commoners there reclaim the wasteland, then observe for three days. When they were slacking off, the supervising officials could appear helpless against them.
Then, on the third day of reclamation, send the ninja most skilled in thievery from the Senju clan to bury some gold and silver in the land to be cleared.
Bury gold and silver in the barren mountains, setting a trap.
Once someone dug up the pre-buried gold and silver, it would be impossible to keep it secret from others.
For profit, these commoners would inevitably start quarreling.
Next, the Daimyo should send people to make the commoners hand over the gold and silver, and then offer a small sum of money as appeasement, instructing them not to reveal news of a treasure in these barren mountains to prevent others from vying for it.
Doing this, in less than a day, the news of a mountain of gold in this wasteland would spread throughout the entire region.
With just a tiny amount of money, the evil in human nature could be enticed out and infinitely magnified.
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