The integration of the two daimyo forces was both simple and complicated.
It was simple because the upper echelons were unified in their thinking, and the main ninja forces had no objections—the so-called integration was just putting them together like a mixed platter.
It was complicated because during the integration process, countless trivial matters kept cropping up—from position arrangements to resource allocation and even interpersonal relationships, nothing went smoothly.
Though these matters were small, they couldn't be ignored and had to be addressed seriously one by one.
While Reitō Castle's ninja forces were primarily the Akimichi Clan, there were other ninja as well. Otherwise, relying solely on the Akimichi Clan's numbers would be insufficient to maintain the daimyo's rule.
After all, while elites have greater value and can play bigger roles, daimyo still need some less elite people to handle miscellaneous tasks.
Undoubtedly, if these support ninja wanted to continue staying in the Land of the River Source, they would also have to join The Fireflies organization—otherwise they'd have to leave.
So many people—especially captain-level middle management and below—had been so busy these past few days their feet barely touched the ground.
Fortunately, routine matters didn't reach Yūshin; he only needed to focus on the overall situation.
What was the current overall situation? Order within chaos, everything developing in a positive direction. After a period of adjustment, The Fireflies organization would still be the same Fireflies organization...
When the Fūma Clan first joined, hadn't there been some minor issues too? And now? Now the Fūma Clan was diligently forging weapons for the organization.
After another ninja clan joined The Fireflies organization, the foresight of Shichimi Uchiha's previous ideas and actions became apparent—her designed forehead protectors came in handy.
Kikyō Castle, main keep, acting castle lord Date Kametani was enjoying fine food and singing.
Exquisite dishes filled the table before him, aromatic and flavorful delicacies tempting his taste buds, while several beautiful attendants knelt to one side providing meticulous service.
During this period, Date Kametani had indeed lived well. Although his status was puppet-like, he didn't lack political power—in fact, saying Kikyō Castle was under his governance wasn't wrong.
As long as he didn't conflict with the ninja organization here, he currently had the reality of being a daimyo without the title. Though there was always a vague controller above him, Date Kametani's current situation was far better than when he was a minor underling under the previous daimyo.
But just then, three ninja walked into the room.
This behavior of appearing directly without announcement scared Date Kametani so much he nearly dropped his chopsticks, and instantly various bad thoughts flooded his mind.
Kikyō Castle had just undergone a coup once—was there going to be a second one? Damned ninja, going back on their word!
He barely maintained his composure and looked at these three ninja, discovering their clothing wasn't uniform, but they all wore the same unfamiliar forehead protectors.
He recognized two of them as members of the Fūma Clan, while the other, who was particularly tall and strong, looked like a ninja from the opposing Reitō Castle.
This scene nearly scared Date Kametani into upper digestive tract failure and lower digestive tract full-power discharge.
But strangely, after these three ninja approached him, they knelt on one knee.
What did this mean? It wasn't Reitō Castle attacking and their side being defeated? But Reitō Castle surrendering to their side?
He could only say he'd guessed part of the truth.
Then he heard the tall ninja say:
"Date-sama, the Land of the River Source has now achieved unification. You have become a retainer of Shimizu Kiyosuke daimyo-sama. If you don't want to lose your current position, please immediately come with me to Reitō Castle to swear loyalty."
In just these one or two minutes, Date Kametani's emotions had been like riding a roller coaster.
Wait, when did the Land of the River Source unify? Didn't unification mean Kikyō Castle's destruction? But Kikyō Castle wasn't destroyed.
How did I automatically become that Shimizu kid's retainer? Why was there no warning beforehand?
Who am I, where am I, is this still Kikyō Castle?
However, regardless of how complex his emotions were, after losing The Fireflies organization's support, he had no choice but to immediately follow orders to Reitō Castle.
If he could demonstrate loyalty to the daimyo, theoretically he should be able to maintain his current position. After all, he had no ninja forces, so besides obediently following orders, he couldn't stir up any trouble.
Under these circumstances, having locals govern locals was more conducive to stabilizing the situation.
Thanks to Yūshin-sama, perhaps after this trip Date Kametani might even get promoted, advancing from "acting castle lord" to "castle lord"—not an impossibility.
This might differ from Date Kametani's envisioned upgrade path from castle lord to daimyo, but you tell me—was it a promotion or not?
In any case, he had completed his historical mission. Whatever happened to Date Kametani next had nothing to do with Yūshin.
At this time, Yūshin had just finished inspecting the organization's internal functional adjustments, combat squads, deployment distribution, and other matters. He was returning to his office with Shichimi Uchiha and the newly transferred Akimichi Kizuki.
"You seem to have some OCD tendencies? You always like to first divide departments and determine functions, then fill these departments with ninja?"
Shichimi Uchiha chatted as they walked, feeling that with the organization's current scale, such detailed arrangements were completely unnecessary, and this approach was different from typical ninja clans.
"What's wrong with that?"
Yūshin didn't quite understand Shichimi Uchiha's point of confusion. First determining positions then arranging personnel—wasn't that normal?
Shichimi shook her head and said:
"In typical ninja clans, ninja don't have long-term 'positions.' When the clan has tasks or needs, ninja receive different assignments at any time."
Hearing her say this, Yūshin finally understood. It wasn't that ninja clan organizational forms were more general or makeshift—it was just that Yūshin's internal organizational arrangements were unlike traditional ninja clans and more like later ninja villages.
So was he innovating or subconsciously plagiarizing? Whatever—let's call it innovative plagiarism.
"It sounds like... ninja clan methods aren't bad either. My approach seems somewhat excessive."
Though he said this, Yūshin had no intention of reversing course. Ninja clan organizational forms might better suit current requirements, but this era might soon become history.
Shichimi nodded. She couldn't say which was better or worse, just considering it Yūshin's personal habit.
"By the way, do we really not need to relocate to Reitō Castle?" she asked again.
"No need. The distance between the two towns isn't far anyway, and we just finished construction here. We have no reason to move. Besides..."
"I get along very well with Shimizu daimyo—we could become friends. But if we relocated to Reitō Castle, being too close might make him feel suffocated."
After all, the saying "familiarity breeds contempt" still holds truth.
After dispersing organizational personnel, the person in charge at Reitō Castle remained Akimichi Ninsei, but his subordinates were no longer purely clan ninja—there were also Fūma ninja and Hagūgen ninja among them.
In this situation, Yūshin could already control Reitō Castle's military preparations, so he didn't need to stick close. This way, he could maintain sufficient buffer space between himself and the daimyo.
Akimichi Kizuki had been silently listening to their conversation. Although he felt these two lacked a bit of respect for the daimyo in their dialogue, their frank and open attitude that didn't avoid him was still satisfying.
He just hadn't expected the topic to quickly turn to himself.
Shichimi understood the beauty of distance, but distance could also create estrangement. She nodded somewhat hesitantly:
"I just wonder if Akimichi Ninsei clan leader can secure sufficient funding."
"Have confidence in him!"
Yūshin, who was responsible for talking, was more confident than Akimichi Ninsei, who was responsible for doing the work. He continued half-jokingly: "Right now is the perfect time for military expansion. As the only sun in the Land of the River Source, where else can Shimizu Kiyosuke-sama spend money besides on our organization?"
Yūshin indeed wasn't worried about military budget issues. He turned to Akimichi Kizuki and asked:
"By the way, Kizuki-san, does your Akimichi Clan have connections with the Yamanaka Clan and Nara Clan?"
After successfully creating a mixed platter, what should you do next? Continue making mixed platters, of course.
Akimichi Kizuki looked up. Although he didn't understand why the topic suddenly shifted to other ninja, he still promptly gave an answer:
"Yamanaka and Nara? Our Akimichi Clan's relationship with them is relatively harmonious. In fact, we've had cooperative experiences with them on certain missions..."
These two ninja clans' scale and survival methods in the ninja world had certain similarities to the Akimichi Clan, so whether in terms of ability combinations or specific circumstances, they naturally had tendencies toward closeness and alliance.
Connecting this to their current situation, Akimichi Kizuki smartly understood what Yūshin was really asking about.
"In fact, because our previous cooperation was extremely smooth, visionaries among the three clans had envisioned the possibility of uniting to form a three-clan alliance. But because each clan had considerable concerns and opposition voices, this matter came to nothing."
Well, that meant regardless of whether Yūshin existed, the "Ino-Shika-Chō" combination would debut anyway.
But as always, many could see the benefits of ninja clan alliances, but the problem was how specifically to unite? How to integrate collective interests without harming individual interests? Implementation was inherently difficult.
So-called alliance essentially required ninja clans to cede portions of their individual interests to the envisioned alliance body. Only after taking this first step could the alliance body possibly give back to these ninja clans... It was equivalent to sacrificing self-interest for others before achieving great things, which was extremely difficult.
From ninja clan to ninja clan alliance was inherently a "revolution." Relying solely on gentle negotiation couldn't achieve the goal—only through powerful force could the tightest unity be realized.
However, relying solely on force wouldn't work either. Perhaps only gods could grasp the proper "degree"—and the "God of Shinobi" was also a god.
Yūshin was very satisfied with this answer. In fact, he wasn't in such a hurry to absorb Yamanaka and Nara, since the organization hadn't yet completed absorption of the Akimichi Clan. If he rushed expansion now, wanting to "swallow big bites" recklessly, he could easily choke or even die from choking.
But making early plans wasn't a bad thing.
"Kizuki-san, what do you think about these two ninja clans' relationship with the secular forces supporting them... Well, I mean, what do you think about the strength of dependency between these two ninja clans and the daimyo forces behind them? Does the Akimichi Clan have any understanding of this?"
"Dependency relationship..."
Akimichi Kizuki thought for a moment and gave a relatively broad description:
"Probably much weaker than our Akimichi Clan's relationship with Reitō Castle, yet stronger than The Fireflies organization's previous relationship with Kikyō Castle."
"I see, so they can control their own combat units in a relatively free manner..."
Yūshin immediately understood. Not seeking to absorb Yamanaka and Nara for now didn't mean Yūshin couldn't form an "Ino-Shika-Chō" combination.
"What do you think about our organization hiring several Yamanaka ninja and Nara ninja long-term? Is it achievable?"
"Ah? Long-term employment?"
"Yes, preferably lifetime employment... Well, you don't need to answer hastily. Think carefully, take your time."
Actually, "lifetime" didn't need immediate consideration, but what difficulty could employment have?
You have to say, Yūshin was truly so cunning... always so full of planning and foresight. So-called far-sightedness meant taking one step while looking three steps ahead, eating what's in the bowl while eyeing what's in the pot.
"With our Akimichi Clan's relationship with them, employing ninja from these two clans shouldn't be problematic, but..."
"Yūshin-sama, if you want to achieve the next step, the conditions are somewhat harsh. Not considering anything else, just the financial pressure of supporting so many ninja..."
"Financial pressure? You don't need to worry about financial pressure, and I don't need to worry about it either. That's something Shimizu daimyo should worry about. Pay attention to identity and ninja duties—we can't overstep boundaries."
...
Financial pressure? There definitely wouldn't be much pressure soon.
The Land of the River Source was a small place, but after achieving internal unification and eliminating warfare, the changes and impacts were immediate.
The main manifestation was that within this small country's sphere of influence, the population was rapidly recovering.
Peace, even brief peace, produced an incredibly obvious siphon effect. Surrounding populations rapidly flooded in, with changes so dramatic they terrified Shimizu Kiyosuke.
Logically, this was a good thing—why was this daimyo worried? Because he was a surrenderist who always believed in keeping a low profile and quietly getting rich, fundamentally unwilling to become a conspicuous figure in the chaotic ninja world.
Once they absorbed this population, it would mean the Land of the River Source's national strength would greatly increase, meaning the daimyo and his ninja forces could control greatly increased resources, and also meaning they would become a tempting target.
But Yūshin didn't care about these concerns. Development was always a good thing.
Bulking up—whether the Land of the River Source, The Fireflies organization, or the Akimichi Clan, everyone needed to bulk up hard. How could they become strong without getting fat first?
Then, just when everything was thriving and developing vigorously, Yūshin suddenly received White Zetsu's assembly signal.
Look, this was opportunity—luck really was unpredictable.
When people are unlucky, even drinking water gets stuck in their teeth, but when things go smoothly, it's smoother than a thousand-mile flow.
It was harvest season again—Yūshin could reap a big harvest.
However, the subsequent development completely contradicted Yūshin's expectations. This time it wasn't thousand-mile-flow luck, but tooth-clogging luck.
Because when Yūshin rushed to the "meeting," he saw not only White Zetsu.
There was also Black Zetsu possessing White Zetsu's main body.
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