400 Million, 600 Million, 700 Million

On the field, Nagano Masaru and Taiichi stood facing each other.

"Kid, wait till I cut off your limbs, then you'll know that not letting you play was for your own good!" Nagano Masaru licked his lips, glancing sideways at Taiichi as if he were a lamb to the slaughter.

Taiichi ignored him, silently drawing the Short Sword from his back and waiting for the competition to begin.

At this moment, an official from the Daimyo's Mansion stepped onto the field. After confirming that both sides were ready, he did not delay and quickly left the field after saying "Begin".

As soon as they finished speaking, Taiichi and Nagano Masaru quickly started moving and rushed towards each other.

When the distance between the two was only 10 meters, Nagano Masaru lowered his body, his right hand loosely gripping the hilt of his sword, his eyes fixed on Taiichi charging forward, and he shouted excitedly, his saliva unconsciously flying everywhere.

Taiichi knew what was going on from his posture. It was a standard "Iaijutsu" starting stance. After the two of them rushed forward two more steps, Taiichi seized the moment when Nagano Masaru's long sword was about to be drawn. In a Body Flicker, he rushed in front of him and delivered a heavy slash with his Short Sword, slamming it hard into the hilt of his opponent's long sword.

The precise slash avoided the opponent's hand holding the knife.

The surging force forced the drawn longsword back into its sheath.

After the slash, Taiichi raised his foot and kicked Nagano Masaru hard in the chest, sending him flying to the edge of the field.

The scene fell silent for a moment, except for the sound of Nagano Masaru struggling to get up on the court.

"Cough cough, you little brat, you deserve to die!"

That kick was clearly not light, and the humiliation of being so easily knocked down overwhelmed Nagano Masaru.

Without a second thought, he charged toward Taiichi with his long sword. However, just as he was about to draw his sword, Taiichi Body Flicker beside him again, and his Short Sword slashed at Nagano Masaru's arm as he drew his sword.

Fortunately, he had known about Taiichi's speed beforehand, and with special attention, he quickly retreated, narrowly avoiding the slash with his right hand.

Seeing his opponent retreat, Taiichi followed suit, his Short Sword never leaving the opponent's right hand as he drew his sword. Every time the opponent tried to draw his sword, Taiyi would thrust out, forcing the opponent to withdraw his hand and defend.

After more than a dozen moves, Nagano Masaru couldn't even draw his sword. Even the laymen watching from the sidelines could see that Nagano Masaru's strength was far inferior to Taiichi's.

"Has Taiichi's strength increased again?" Saori couldn't help but ask the Captain beside her.

Captain Yamaguchi nodded solemnly. "His strength and speed have both improved significantly, and his swordsmanship has improved tremendously."

"That Samurai is at most a Special Jōnin Grade warrior. He even lost Taiichi first round to Taiichi, breaking his momentum. Now it depends on Taiichi wants to win."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, clearly showing his great joy. Taiichi had exceeded expectations; this match had won both face and reason.

In contrast to the relaxed atmosphere on Konoha's side, the atmosphere on the Daimyo's side was heavy. However, the Daimyo kept his face covered with a fan, so others could not see what his expression was. They could only sense a hint of coldness in his slightly narrowed eyes.

On the field, after toying with Taiichi, Nagano Masaru finally drew his long sword.

Nagano Masaru looked completely deranged, his eyes filled with elation as he stared at the unsheathed sword, as if he were certain of victory the moment the sword was drawn.

"You damned bastard, your death is near! I'm going to tear you to pieces and then feed you to the dogs!"

After saying that, he rushed forward without regard for anything else, and swung his long sword at Taiichi with all his might.

Seeing the attack that had completely gone awry, Taiichi did not back down and swung his Short Sword to meet it.

"Huff, huff, huff"

In all three exchanges, Taiichi used the tip of his Short Sword to strike the hilt of the long sword, making full use of the dexterity of his Short Sword to neutralize the heavy blows from his opponent's long sword.

Furthermore, by utilizing this asymmetrical attack, he broke Nagano Masaru's balance, and once again raised his foot and kicked out hard, the same scene repeated itself, and Nagano Masaru was kicked to the edge of the field again.

"Hey, Uncle Nagano, are you going to keep fighting? If you do, I won't hold back anymore."

This is truly devastating! The Konoha ninjas on the sidelines twitched at Taiichi's words; he really didn't give the other party any face at all.

Seeing that the other party did not respond for a long time, Taiichi was also puzzled. Logically speaking, that kick should not have knocked the person unconscious. Could it be that the other party was so angry that he fainted?

Seeing that the other party still did not make a move, Taiichi turned his gaze towards the Daimyo, waiting for his next instructions.

The Daimyo was also filled with anger, but he was still shrewd enough to conceal his rage without making a sound.

"The ninjas of Konoha are indeed formidable; these junior Samurai are far superior."

As he spoke, he waved to the waiter beside him, indicating that he should leave the area.

Before long, two more waiters came up, helped the fallen Nagano Masaru up, and carried him outside.

"Elder Koharu, let's go back and discuss the final details."

With that, Daimyo took the lead and walked into the Council Hall.

At this moment, everyone followed the Daimyo's footsteps, and no one noticed Nagano Masaru being carried away.

As he was being helped by a waiter past Taiichi, a hysterical scream rang out, "I want you dead!"

Suddenly, Nagano Masaru had been unconscious, broke free from the servants supporting him, pulled out an even shorter Wakizashi from his waist, and stabbed it at Taiichi, who was walking with his back turned.

The incident happened suddenly, and no one expected it to happen. The Wakizashi was about to pierce Taiichi's waist.

A series of Sealing Talisman flashed beneath Taiichi's feet, causing Nagano Masaru, who was charging forward, to freeze for a moment. This brief pause allowed Taiichi to quickly create distance.

At this moment, Nagano Masaru probably knew that he was going to die today. Sealing Jutsu, he still rushed towards Taiichi without hesitation.

His actions not only angered the Konoha crowd outside the arena, but also thoroughly enraged Taiichi. A large amount of wind-attribute Chakra gathered towards the Short Sword, and the invisible Chakra transformed into a tangible Wind Blade, surging outwards from the blade to both sides, with a clear and sharp whistling sound resounding throughout the arena.

Seeing Nagano Katsu rushing towards him, Taichi also assumed a drawing-sword stance. When the distance was right, Taichi instantly moved, swinging his short sword upwards.

In an instant, Taiichi and Nagano Masaru passed each other, and the Short Sword sliced through Nagano Masaru's body without any hindrance. The remaining Chakra, along with the swing of the sword, turned into a streak of light and flew straight towards the courtyard wall.

"Crack" That's the sound of the Wakizashi breaking and falling.

"Thump"—that's the sound of a human body falling in two, splitting in two.

"Crash!" That was the sound of the wall collapsing after being cleaved by a flash of blades.

With each sound, the crowd outside turned their gaze toward the direction from which the sound came. Finally, their eyes lingered between the three sources of sound until they all focused on Taiichi, who was standing there sheathing his sword.

"Daimyo lord, I apologize. I didn't stop just now." Taiichi's sharp gaze was fixed on the Daimyo's entire body, as if searching for the perfect spot to strike.

The Daimyo felt a chill run down his spine under Taiichi's gaze, and his lips twitched upon hearing Taiichi's words. His eyes darted back and forth between the man who was now in two, Nagano Masaru, and the calmly standing Taiichi, while his mind screamed, "You haven't stopped yet, and I bet you don't want to stop now either!"

"Fine, he's a despicable man with no sense of Samurai whatsoever. He deserves to die." With that, he turned and left without looking back.

At this moment, the people from Konoha also stepped forward. Saori was the first to grab Taiichi and carefully examine his waist. What had just happened was so fast that it almost scared her to death. That Wakizashi practically touching Taiichi's skin. If it had been any later, who knows who would have fallen today.

"Taiichi, Taiichi, what just happened? Why did Nagano Masaru suddenly freeze?" Yohei asked excitedly. The scene had really shocked him, and his Sharingan was still in a state of reactive activation, with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan wildly in his eyes, though he himself was completely unaware of it.

"It's Sealing Jutsu: the Lamp Array Jutsu," Saori explained to everyone after examining Taiichi. "But Taiichi, how did you activate it so quickly?"

Everyone looked at Taiichi with curiosity, waiting for his answer. After all, this was a trump card; if it could be widely adopted, it would greatly enhance Konoha's fighting strength.

Taiichi seemed to have sensed everyone's thoughts, and without keeping them in suspense, he took out a blank sheet of rune paper from his robes. "This is it. I had Senior Disciple Brother Minato inscribe the Sealing Jutsu for me before, just in case. I didn't expect it would actually come in handy."

"So that's how it is," everyone sighed. "Many people know this method, but it's not very practical. It requires a ninja who knows Sealing Jutsu to maintain it, and it's very costly."

"Taiichi, staring at the Daimyo like that was very rude. Konoha is the ninja village of the Land of Fire; you can't overstep your bounds." Utatane Koharu reminded Taiichi that the person was, after all, the Daimyo, and even the Hokage would have to show him respect.

Taiichi curled his lip. He had no respect for this Daimyo, and if it weren't for the village's sake, he wouldn't want to bother with him. But he still spoke very sincerely, "Yes, Advisor, I was just ambushed and acted impulsively."

"Okay, let's all go. Don't keep the Daimyo waiting."

When the Konoha members returned to the Council Hall, the Daimyo was once again seated in his place. Only after Utatane Koharu her seat did the two sides resume their previous negotiations.

Because of the previous agreement, there was no need for further disputes between the two sides, and they quickly determined the final amount. Just as the two sides were about to finalize the result, the Daimyo sitting above spoke up.

"Elder Koharu, the competition just now turned out so badly; it's all my fault for misjudging people. Therefore, to express my apology to Konoha, I'll add another 100 million taels to the military budget, making it a total of 700 million taels. What do you say?"

This shocked not only the people of Konoha, but also the Minister of Finance who had just been engaged in complicated negotiations. To increase the amount by 100 million ryo just to express his apology, Daimyo, do you not value money?

Of course, this is something that can only be thought in one's heart and must never be said out loud.

"Well, thank you so much for your Daimyo gift, Lord Daimyo!" Utatane Koharu expressed her deepest gratitude, fully satisfying the Daimyo's vanity. Little did she know that he was currently sitting in the seat of honor, covering his mouth with his fan and chuckling.

After discussing all the business matters, what followed was a round of meaningless small talk, and the Daimyo even specially invited everyone to a sumptuous lunch at the Daimyo's Mansion.

During this time, the Daimyo kept pulling Utatane Koharu to chat, and other officials who were accompanying them at the meal would also frequently step forward to chat with Captain Yamaguchi, and even Taiichi, Yohei, Saori.

The content was Eight Gates, including various personal questions such as how life was in Konoha.

Taiichi such a smart person; he realized as soon as the conversation started that the Daimyo was probably trying to poach Konoha's talent.

Captain Yamaguchi's gaze swept discreetly over the others, his eyes calm and revealing nothing. Saori's expression was one of disgust, clearly understanding the implication. Only Yohei spoke freely and unabashedly about the wonderful things he had done in Konoha, leaving the officials he was talking to completely bewildered.

Taiichi also responded to the officials who chatted with him in a perfunctory manner, and sometimes he imitated Yohei by praising the beauty of Konoha.

After the banquet ended and the Konoha people left the Daimyo's Daimyo's Mansion, the Daimyo returned to the Council Hall and asked the minister who had just been in charge of the negotiations.

"So, is there any possibility of winning them over?"

"It's difficult." The Minister of Finance shook his head. "That Taichi Matsushita is very cunning and has been stalling us. That Saori Furukawa is disgusted by our attempts to win her over. As for that Uchiha ninja, I don't know if he's pretending to be stupid or genuinely doesn't understand; he hasn't responded at all."

"Alright, send a letter to Konoha requesting detailed information about the team members from this mission. In the future, for similar missions, try to get Konoha to send this team." The Daimyo instructed, "That Taichi Matsushita, who said he was an orphan, is someone who could be recruited. Make sure to maintain contact with him."

"Also, from now on, regularly send orders to Konoha, asking them to send at least three Jonin teams to the Daimyo's Mansion each time to protect my safety. As for what happens after that, you know what to do, right?"

"Yes! Daimyo, everything for the Land of Fire, for the Daimyo!" The Minister of Finance's face was full of fervor.

After the Minister of Finance left, leaving only the Daimyo in the large Council Hall, his smiling face gradually turned gloomy: It seems that Samurai are still not enough; we still need to recruit ninjas. But finding so many suitable ninjas is not something that can be done overnight.

Meanwhile, the Konoha members, embarking on their return journey, were in high spirits. Not only had the Ninjutsu been successfully completed, but they had also exceeded their target. Thinking of the 700 million ryo, even Utatane Koharu's usually stern face couldn't help but break into a smile.

Turning to look at Taiichi, who was standing guard to the side, Utatane Koharu also showed a satisfied expression. "What a good boy. No wonder Hiruzen favors him so much."

And so, the group returned to Konoha after two days. With that, Team 8's escort mission was successfully completed. Utatane Koharu and Captain Yamaguchi went to report to the Hokage. Taiichi and the other two agreed to train together before returning home.

Back home, Taiichi, having washed away the dust of his journey, sat at his desk, reflecting on the course of the mission. This had become a habit for Taiichi after each mission. He would summarize the gains and losses of each mission, review the experiences, and consider whether there were better solutions or his own shortcomings.

After recalling the events, the image in my mind froze on the moment when Nagano Masaru Wakizashi me.

That was thrilling! If that knife had really stabbed me, I'd be seriously injured, if not killed. Looking at the location, I might lose all my happiness for the rest of my life—it's a kidney, after all!