Over the past few days, Nara Tohiko had been having a miserable time.
The reason was simple: not everyone in his clan agreed to give up the fight.
The two sides had fought for years, and the seeds of hatred had long since taken root in their bones. That was not something they could simply let go of.
Now that he had declared the fighting over, the clansmen sharpening their blades for revenge naturally turned their anger on him.
Not only that, even the minority who supported the ceasefire were condemning Nara Tohiko.
They accused him of mishandling the situation and causing losses that should never have been so severe.
Yesterday, someone had even proposed that he atone with his life.
Realizing how bad things were, Nara Tohiko tried his best to salvage his reputation, but even his two closest friends were keeping their distance now.
"They're making me their scapegoat. It's plain as day."
"Hahahaha! Is this what I spent half my life working for?"
Nara Tohiko had been drinking. Before he even entered his tent, the overpowering stench of alcohol came rolling in.
When he lifted the flap and saw the masked ninja inside, most of his drunken haze vanished instantly.
"Who are you?" he asked.
He still held the title of commander, after all. His subordinates would not be so disrespectful.
This was the main army camp. An enemy could not possibly have infiltrated it.
If this were an Uchiha assassin, he would have struck the moment Tohiko lifted the flap.
Rather than an enemy assassin, he preferred to believe the Masked Man was a product of his clan's internal power struggle.
In the end, however, he was disappointed.
Looking at the handsome face beneath the mask and the three slowly spinning tomoe, Nara Tohiko quietly reached toward his waist.
He could accept defeat in a power struggle and face his clansmen's anger, but he would never die at an enemy's hands.
Especially not at the hands of the person he hated most.
"Uchiha Kyosuke!" The Nara Clan Head spoke the Masked Man's name.
"That's me." Slowly putting his mask back on, Kyosuke said with a faint smile, "Come to think of it, this is our first meeting."
"Don't worry. We'll be seeing much more of each other." The man's words were heavy with menace.
He looked ready to summon his subordinates and have Kyosuke arrested.
Yet, for some reason, Nara Tohiko did not act.
As his opponent, he knew very well how cunning the boy was.
If Kyosuke dared to appear so openly, he had to be confident he could leave, though Tohiko could not figure out how no matter how hard he thought.
Besides, Nara Tohiko also wanted to know why the boy had come.
Seeing this, Kyosuke pointed at the flask in his hand and said with a faint smile, "I can tell you've been having a difficult time, Clan Leader Tohiko."
"Thanks to you." The man took a quiet jab at him.
"The Ino-Shika-Cho are about to relocate en masse. To soothe your clansmen's anger, you'll need to find a suitable outlet."
"Clan Leader Tohiko, who do you think qualifies to be that lucky person?"
Me, of course... Nara Tohiko's brows knitted, impatience written all over his face. "Did you come here just to tell me that? Get to the point."
Kyosuke did not let those words disrupt his pace in the slightest. The more impatient the man became, the better the conversation was working.
Why was he getting impatient?
Because he was afraid. It was one thing for Nara Tohiko himself to suffer, but he also had a wife and children.
If he lost this struggle, he feared his family would be dragged down with him.
How to handle this had become a problem that tormented him day and night.
"Joining the Senju is certainly a good choice. Unfortunately, you'll still end up fighting the Uchiha head-on."
"Even if your family escapes the slaughter, they'll have to face us again someday."
"...That is a ninja's fate," Nara Tohiko said in a low voice.
"Mr. Tohiko, I have an idea that I believe could help you." Kyosuke's voice was enticing, like the wolf disguised as a grandmother coaxing Little Red Riding Hood to open the door.
He raised a problem that could not be avoided, then quietly offered a solution.
He laid out the pros and cons of the situation, making it seem as though he had nothing but the other man's interests at heart.
His work experience from his previous life had given him some very useful negotiating skills.
Next, Kyosuke explained his idea in detail.
Throughout the explanation, he still revealed none of his own demands, leaving his opponent no way to guess what he wanted.
"Flee to the Land of Lightning?" Nara Tohiko's voice was full of doubt.
In his explanation, Kyosuke had made one point very clear.
The Senju were indeed the best place to go, capable of ensuring the Three Clans would survive for generations.
He had not lied about that, nor had he tried to steer the man's judgment.
He had merely given the man a subtle reminder at the most crucial point.
Whatever attitude the Senju took, his own fate would not change.
If he truly cared only for his clansmen, then he could choose to face death nobly.
But if he had even a little selfishness, well, Kyosuke could show him some other options.
Silence. Deathly silence.
For a full ten minutes, Nara Tohiko did not say a word. All Kyosuke could see was his expression shifting as rapidly as the face-changing masks of Sichuan opera.
A long while later...
"What do I need to do?"
In the end, his will to survive won out.
"Your clansmen's resentment mostly stems from the defeats in those battles."
"If you can wipe out a contingent of Uchiha troops before leaving, I believe that will be enough to quell their anger."
"At the very least, it will save your life."
Raising his head, Nara Tohiko stared hard at the boy. Suddenly, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "So you came to make a deal."
He was clever. A single sentence from Kyosuke had led him to deduce a great deal.
If handled properly, this could even resolve the issue of fleeing to the Land of Lightning.
As for whether he should agree, Nara Tohiko could think of no reason to refuse.
Next, the two discussed the entire process in detail. Even the matter of how to scheme against Uchiha Hikazu was brought out into the open.
Watching the man throw himself into the discussion, Kyosuke smiled inwardly. My gift for talking people around hasn't slipped.
If he had started by saying he wanted to secretly harm a fellow clansman, the man would most likely have rejected him on the spot.
Even offering the benefits afterward would have been useless.
The resentment in his heart would absolutely have clouded Nara Tohiko's judgment.
You've already ruined me this badly, and now you want my help? Not even if it kills me! That was probably what he would have thought.
Instead, Kyosuke had considered everything from the other man's perspective from beginning to end.
As for his own demands, he had slipped them in without leaving a trace.
Nara Tohiko would think, I need to survive. Helping him along the way is no big deal.
The same end goal, the same motives, yet the response would be completely different.
That was the importance of persuasion.
Even someone as clever as the Nara Clan Head could not escape being manipulated by methods from another civilization.
"Good. Then it's settled." Nara Tohiko had taken complete control of the conversation.
Of course, that was merely his illusion.
After firmly committing the written plan to memory, he flicked his hand, and the paper immediately began to burn.
"What are you planning to do next..." Nara Tohiko still had other questions, but when he turned his head, Kyosuke was nowhere to be seen in the tent.
He stood frozen for a long time before silently sighing.
What that sigh held was probably something only he understood.
Before you continue