Turning back, the First Prince looked at Torifu with a look of eagerness. "Honored guest? Can we talk about what was in the letter now?"
Torifu smiled. "Of course. Please, Your Highness, have a seat."
"Honored guest, you as well."
The First Prince returned to his main seat, while Torifu sat in the subordinate seat below him. The distance between them was quite far, giving a sense of them looking at each other from across a great distance.
"Your Highness, can you first tell me about the situation? I need to make some plans." He then pointed to the puppets behind him. "Each of my subordinates is a master killer. It will be easy to deal with your brothers."
The First Prince almost spit out the tea he was drinking. He waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no, honored guest, you've misunderstood. Just defeat them, don't kill them! You absolutely must not kill them!"
"Oh?" Torifu asked with a hint of confusion. "Wasn't the Eighth Prince already killed? Since the precedent of fratricide has already been set, why are you still so concerned?"
The First Prince hit the table in frustration. This time, Torifu could see some genuine emotion in his expression.
"My eighth brother wasn't killed by us. He took his own life. But since he died at a meeting of us brothers, no one would believe us even if we announced it publicly." He then looked at Torifu with burning eyes. "But we are blood brothers! No matter how much we fight for the position of Daimyō, we would never kill our own brothers!"
Torifu waved his hand, looking indifferent. "Fine, suit yourself. This is an issue between you brothers, after all." He then continued, "But you need to explain to me why the Eighth Prince committed suicide."
When the First Prince mentioned this, his expression became one of confusion and bewilderment.
"That day, we were having a meeting. Although we were already arguing about the position of Daimyō, it hadn't gotten to this point yet. We brothers talked from afternoon until night. Our different ideas clashed, and we kept arguing. And just as the meeting was about to end, my eighth brother suddenly pulled out a knife!" As the First Prince said this, his eyes became a little bloodshot, and blood vessels filled his eyeballs. "Then, as if he had gone mad, he said, 'I will take back everything sooner or later,' and then killed himself."
After recounting the story, the First Prince took a big gulp of tea and gasped for air. Torifu didn't get any useful clues from this. Instead, he was even more confused. He was completely in the dark. What did he mean by "take back everything"? Was he going to be reborn or something?
Torifu couldn't figure out the Eighth Prince's mental state, but it was highly likely that he was controlled by a genjutsu. Just like how the rogue ninja leader at the beginning of their trip was controlled to self-destruct. This Eighth Prince could also be like that, but it was also possible that he was brainwashed by some cult. There were quite a few people in the Naruto world who were good at this kind of thing, like Black Zetsu. With a little trick, he played Madara Uchiha like a fiddle. From beginning to end, Madara was just working for Black Zetsu, and he did it so diligently. But if it really was Black Zetsu, what would he want with the Land of Whirlpools? Torifu couldn't figure it out, but these were all just guesses and couldn't be taken as fact.
"Please accept my condolences, Your Highness the First Prince."
After a while, the First Prince finally calmed down. "I'm sorry you had to see me in such a state, honored guest. But my brother's death was a huge blow to me. I'm sure you can understand."
Torifu nodded.
"Have you seen any outsiders on the island, Your Highness?"
"Outsiders? There were quite a lot of outsiders here before we closed the borders. After I ordered the country to be closed a few days ago, all the outsiders were expelled."
The fact that they had all been expelled was different from Torifu's guess.
"Was that Rain person an outsider who came to the Land of Whirlpools many years ago?"
The First Prince was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yes, he has been serving me for a very long time. I was the one who gave him his name." The First Prince shouldn't be lying now, which meant that this Rain person might really be harmless? Just an ordinary servant? But Torifu didn't feel like he was. It might have been a preconceived notion. But Torifu would continue to keep an eye on Rain.
"What's wrong, honored guest? You look a little confused. Is there something wrong with this Rain person?"
Torifu waved his hand. "No, nothing. I just thought he was a very dedicated little servant. He didn't get angry even though I yelled at him so many times."
"Oh, he's just a servant. How could he dare to get angry at you, honored guest?"
"Hahaha, you're right. Anyway, let's stop talking about him and move on. Let's talk about your brothers."
The First Prince had been waiting for a long time for the conversation to get to the main point. He said to Torifu, "Now, among my brothers, only my second brother and I are close. The others have all moved out of Uzushiogakure." The situation was what he had expected. The fact that he was close with the Second Prince was also mentioned in Kushina's message. Uzumaki Ashina only ran away with Kushina and then disappeared after meeting with the First and Second Princes.
"It's rare for a First Prince to have a close brother. But does the Second Prince not have any ambition for the position of Daimyō?"
The First Prince shook his head. "Honored guest, you don't know. My second brother is an ordinary person and can't practice ninjutsu. The Daimyō is a synonym for the clan head, and the clan head must be a powerful shinobi. So..."
He didn't need to finish his sentence for Torifu to understand. It wasn't just the Uzumaki clan; any ninja clan in the world was the same. It was irresponsible to the entire clan to let an ordinary person be the clan head. Speaking of this, the First Prince also shook his head with regret. "If my second brother could practice ninjutsu, I definitely couldn't compare to him. He's so intelligent."
"Your Highness, you don't need to be so humble. Being intelligent doesn't mean you can be a good shinobi. It's also good for him to be your right-hand man and offer you advice."
With Torifu's words, the First Prince felt much better. "The honored guest is right. This might just be our fate."
Although the First Prince's first impression on Torifu was not great, as he seemed a little too eager on the surface, to the point of being exaggerated. But after talking for a while, Torifu felt that this First Prince seemed to have some genuine substance, though not a lot.
"One last thing, Your Highness. Do you know where Ashina-sama is now?"
The First Prince looked troubled. "It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's that I don't know where my father is either." He continued, "Kushina is already in the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm sure she told you about what happened that day."