Daimyo's Banquet

A week before the New Year, Dada's family and a large entourage from the clan set out from Kumogakure for the Capital City of the Land of Lightning.

Setting aside their identity as shinobi, the Yotsuki Clan was in fact a great noble house, much like Konohagakure's Hyuga. They had countless attendants, a long legacy, and vast holdings of land and wealth. Their overall strength was even greater. Naturally, they could not attend the Daimyo's invitation like shinobi on a mission, wearing flak jackets and sandals while leaping through the trees.

Besides, Mother Satomi was an ordinary person.

They could hardly have the Third Raikage carry his wife on his back to the banquet.

So this time, they brought a large number of attendants, supplies, and gifts prepared for the Daimyo and others, traveling at an unhurried pace. The journey was expected to take four days.

Dada hid inside his mother Satomi's heated sedan chair, keeping her company and chatting with her.

"Have you grown taller again lately?" Satomi asked as she watched the drowsy Dada.

Dada gestured at himself and asked in confusion, "Have I?"

His training and diet had both improved recently, and Dada did feel that he had grown straighter. He had once been considered a short child in the Yotsuki Clan, but now it seemed he still had hope of reaching the clan's average height of two meters. He was still rather thin, though. Dada's body differed from ordinary people's; at the same size, he weighed far more than others, with an exceptionally high body density. That was why it could support such tremendous strength.

"You have. My son is getting more handsome by the day," Satomi said with a smile.

Interestingly, the Third Raikage seemed to believe that sitting in a carriage with a brazier and being pulled along would damage a shinobi's will. He insisted on walking on his own two legs, considering it a manifestation of the shinobi spirit. Yotsuki Ki strongly agreed with him and, like his father, insisted on walking. Quite a few shinobi shared that mindset.

Thus, despite having quite a few carriages, they were used only to haul cargo while the people insisted on walking, creating a rather amusing sight.

When Dada had been about to board his mother's sedan chair, someone had tried to stop him. The Third Raikage had said that this was also a form of training.

Dada's single reply left the Raikage speechless.

"I'm still a child!"

The journey was leisurely and easy, without the slightest disturbance. It allowed Dada to briefly pull himself away from his endless busy affairs and experience his lost childhood again. Apparently, they had encountered a band of bandits along the way, but Dada never even saw them. The reconnaissance shinobi had wiped them out from dozens of kilometers away.

As the second strongest great power in the Shinobi World, the Land of Lightning's capital, like Kumogakure, had been built against the mountains. It covered a vast area, even surpassing the capital of the Land of Soup that Dada had seen before. Yet its prosperity was not bustling and lively, but solemn.

As they neared the capital, officials and attendants came to lead the way. Dada never got the chance to admire the city's prosperity before they were taken into the inner city where the Daimyo resided.

The Japanese-style tower was called Asuka City. Built against the mountains to begin with, it had been renovated by generations of Daimyo and had become increasingly lofty. It could be seen from far outside the city.

Dada noticed that the guards along the way were all ordinary soldiers. Occasionally, there were a few samurai in imposing armor, their gazes sharp. They seemed to be samurai who used Chakra.

But in Dada's estimation, their strength was probably mediocre, around the level of chunin with glaring weaknesses.

In the Shinobi World, that was clearly not enough. No wonder the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors Kumogakure had sent before were so favored by the Daimyo.

After tidying up a little, Dada changed into a splendid yet uncomfortable outfit with Meizi's help. His family followed the attendants to a place within Asuka City.

Yotsuki Ki kept twisting his shoulders as if there were needles inside his clothes, his face full of impatience.

"These clothes keep catching under my arms," Yotsuki Ki said with a frown.

"Could it be that they were designed to catch under your arms precisely because they don't want you making circular motions with them?" Dada said.

Yotsuki Ki fell into thought.

A moment later, Yotsuki Ki flexed his arms, his muscles swelling. A faint sound of fabric tearing followed. Yotsuki Satomi, walking ahead, turned back with a reproachful look. Yotsuki Ki tested his arms again and no longer felt any obstruction.

Dada covered his face. It seemed the inside of the outfit had already been ruined by this guy...

Asuka City was a maze of winding paths. The family of four walked for quite some time before finally arriving at what looked like a banquet hall.

Inside the magnificent hall, dozens of nobles and officials in fine robes sat along both sides. At the end of the aisle was a somewhat bloated figure who looked rather old, seated on an enormous chair. On his head was a ridiculous-looking giant fan emblazoned with a lightning symbol.

How should one put it? It was hard not to think he looked like an idiot.

The Third Raikage strolled forward calmly. The Raikage held a special status and sat directly at the Daimyo's left. Dada, his mother, and Yotsuki Ki were guided to seats farther away, where the families of nobles and officials were seated.

There were many people in this area. Dada knew none of them and had no interest in getting to know them. He walked straight to his reserved seat, sat down, and began eating on his own.

Today was not New Year's Eve, merely a gathering before the New Year. Dada guessed it was also meant to welcome the Third Raikage, but none of that had much to do with him. Yotsuki Ki, on the other hand, was surrounded by a group of people asking after his well-being and eagerly praising how beautiful their daughters were. They fawned over Satomi as well, doing everything they could to ingratiate themselves.

The Raikage's eldest son was evidently a highly sought-after marriage prospect.

As for Dada, perhaps he was simply too young. For the moment, no one came to flatter him.

But if they knew how much power Dada controlled on a daily basis, they would probably take a different approach.

Dada was more than happy with things as they were, sampling the delicacies continuously brought over by the attendants. It had to be said that even by Dada's standards, Asuka City's chefs were highly skilled. Remembering how the Third Raikage had said that the current Daimyo was someone who enjoyed indulgence, Dada felt that this was only natural.

He also noticed an equally large empty chair to the Daimyo's right. He guessed it might belong to some Daimyo's wife, but then felt that something was off. By Shinobi World customs, a Daimyo's wife should not hold such a high status that she could sit on equal footing with the Daimyo.

While Dada was wondering about it, he suddenly felt Yotsuki Ki sit down beside him.

Though the two brothers were close, they had never sat this tightly together before.

"What's wrong?" Dada shifted slightly to the side and asked curiously.

"They were too annoying. They kept talking about how pretty and gentle their daughters were, so I told them my little brother was still young and needed looking after. Then I escaped."

Dada turned to look. Quite a few people were still secretly glancing in their direction, seemingly waiting for an opportunity—or perhaps trying to assess the situation.

Dada, who had always considered himself Yotsuki Ki's equal mentally, felt utterly exasperated. What did he mean, needed looking after? He made it sound like Dada was a little child...

At that moment, a plump noblewoman waited for a while before suddenly getting up and walking over. In a duck-like voice, she said, "Young Master Ki, if you have time tomorrow, please visit my humble home. My daughter..."

Yotsuki Ki finally could not endure the hair-raising voice of the plump noblewoman. He picked up his chopsticks, pretended not to hear her, and held a piece of meat to Dada's mouth. "Be good! Dada, eat your meat-meat!"

Dada ignored the fatty meat at the corner of his mouth and stared at Yotsuki Ki with the dead eyes of someone ready to kill.

Was he serious...?

Dada suddenly wanted to punch him.

Yotsuki Ki turned to Lady Ooki and said, "My apologies, Lady Ooki. My little brother is still young and needs someone with him. We can discuss that matter later."

Then he turned to Dada, his eyes conveying an intense desire to survive. Her daughter weighs over three hundred jin. Save me.

Yet his face remained perfectly composed, even smiling as he said, "Dada, open your mouth. Ah~ eat your meat-meat."

"...Yotsuki Ki, how are you going to repay what you owe me?"

Just as Dada reluctantly prepared to open his mouth and eat the fatty meat in Yotsuki Ki's hand, the banquet hall doors burst open. An attendant announced in a shrill voice, "His Excellency the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has arrived."

The banquet hall doors opened again. A man wearing a fan decorated with flame patterns strode in with an obnoxious gait, followed by a large entourage and more than a dozen shinobi with no weak presences.

At their head was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, whom Dada had met once before.