Parade After the Battle

With the Baiye Clan taking the lead in surrendering, the remaining minor clans who could no longer sustain the fight sought to follow suit. However, Kaguya Taketori arrived on the battlefield once more and executed a minor clan leader who attempted to surrender, effectively stabilizing the morale of the rest.

Following this brief interlude, Kaguya Taketori clashed with Senju Meima again, though the intensity was significantly diminished this time. Once the two finished their exchange, both sides withdrew.

Not long after, Kaguya Taketori pledged that the Kaguya Clan would not harass the Senju for one year, and added a considerable amount of supplies to the agreement, bringing the war to a close.

War is merely a means to secure benefits; this remains true even in the future battles between villages.

Hiugo settled down from this point on and was dispatched to handle the affairs of the Baiye Clan.

The territory of the Baiye Clan was located near the Kaguya Clan, surrounded by several other minor clans.

Settling them in their original territory was impossible, yet they could not be allowed inside the city walls immediately after surrendering; there was simply no trust to speak of.

Consequently, Hiugo found a plot of land near the city walls to house them, constructed several large wooden cabins, and let them settle in for the time being, leaving further arrangements for later.

Just as Hiugo returned to his room, Senju Xiangyang trotted over and whispered:

"Young Master Hiugo, this is a gift of gratitude sent by the Baiye Clan leader."

He opened a storage scroll, revealing a chest full of coins. Hiugo raised an eyebrow. During the Warring States period, currency was cast in copper; while systems similar to banknotes existed, they generally only circulated within one's own clan.

For instance, if you exchanged a chest of copper coins for banknotes within the Senju Clan, those notes would be useless in the Sarutobi Clan, forcing you to exchange them back into coins.

The interesting part was that while exchanging coins for notes was free, the process of exchanging notes back into coins usually incurred a "handling fee" if you lacked the clan's seal.

Hiugo examined the chest of coins for a moment, then closed it and said:

"You've given this to the wrong person. Take it to Elder Meima quickly..."

"Young Master, this was sent to you by the Baiye Clan leader. Why should it go to Elder Meima?"

Senju Xiangyang asked calmly.

Hiugo glanced at him and said in a deep voice:

"This victory was achieved because of Elder Meima. In essence, the win has little to do with me. The Baiye Clan isn't giving this to a child like me, but to the Senju Clan. I cannot accept this."

He sighed after speaking. Who doesn't like money? He believed that even if he kept it, Senju Meima wouldn't ask questions.

But for a kid who had just arrived on the battlefield, just won a battle, and just gained a shred of prestige, accepting this spoils of war was clearly inappropriate. If he were this "greedy" at five, what would he become later? Thus, keeping it felt uncomfortable; it was better to refuse.

Senju Xiangyang nodded with a smile. As an old ninja who had roamed the battlefields, he understood this logic. He had only been testing Hiugo's character.

If he were lacking, he would find a way to correct him; if he were sufficient, that would be for the best. After all, one should know a little about the person they are destined to serve.

Senju Xiangyang was about to pack the items into a storage scroll to send to Meima, but Hiugo stopped him.

"What is it, Young Master Hiugo?"

"Go back to the Baiye Clan again. Don't use a storage scroll. Call four of our clansmen to carry this chest, and have them carry it all the way to Elder Meima's place. There's no need to rush."

"Understood."

Senju Xiangyang didn't say anything more this time and followed the order directly.

Hiugo tapped the wooden table lightly. Why hide when receiving a gift? It wasn't as if it were something shameful. To save face for the small clan, sending four people to carry it was a nice touch.

Originally, after coming off the battlefield, he had wanted to go to Senju Rei to lose some "face" and see if he could gain the recognition of the Slug to learn Sage Arts. Sage Mode was incredibly useful, both now and in the future.

As it turned out, after that "slug" crawled around his body, it simply said his temperament was insufficient and he couldn't cultivate it.

Hmph... if I can't cultivate it, then I can't. Who cares? I refuse to believe all Three Great Sage Regions would reject me.

His thoughts returned to the present. He took the data provided by Genma out of the storage scroll and began cross-referencing it with the intelligence from the eastern battlefield. Now that the Kaguya Clan had temporarily ceased hostilities, he could learn about the nearby clans and look for the Three Great Sage Regions along the way.

The Senju followed a policy of "love," so they didn't make things too difficult for these minor clans. As long as they didn't act against the interests of the Senju, the Senju wouldn't do anything to them.

"It's really quite a mix. Some specialize in farming, some in intelligence, and others in painting. Wait, the ones who specialize in painting went to another country..."

Although the intelligence provided by Genma was generally accurate and much more detailed than the eastern battlefield reports, there were still some discrepancies.

"Alright, let's go take a look."

Hiugo organized the data and walked out. After leaving the battlefield area, he used a Transformation Technique to go and observe the surrounding neutral clans.

The first one he arrived at was the Yekage Clan. This clan was primarily composed of intelligence brokers who collected information from all walks of life. Because the clan was small, there was some delay, but their prices were cheap, relying on high volume for profit.

Hiugo took a casual look. Most of the headlines he had already seen on the Senju side, and the rest were trivial matters. After wandering around, he lost interest in the intelligence but bought a Fuma Shuriken instead.

This weapon was much larger than a standard shuriken, with four blades that opened up like a windmill.

He had seen them in the clan territory before, but back then he was more accustomed to agile weapons. Now that his Sage Body strength had increased, throwing this thing felt no different from throwing a regular shuriken.

Just as Hiugo was about to leave, he sensed he was being watched, so he changed direction and headed elsewhere. Once he left the Yekage Clan's territory, two ninjas emerged from the trees in front of him.

"Brother, we're short on cash lately. Would you mind helping us out and 'borrowing' some money?"

Hoshizhuo Guang smiled slightly, and a mass of purple chakra suddenly appeared behind him, forming an unstable, floating shape.

"Oh? If I recall correctly, this technique belongs to the Hoshi Clan of the Land of Bears, right?"

Hiugo suddenly became interested, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

Konoha had not yet been established, so naturally, some of the original ninja villages had not been named, but some clans still existed.

The Hoshi Clan was named after a star that fell from the sky into their territory. Relying on this star, they developed a set of ninjutsu called the Mysterious Peacock Method, characterized by purple chakra surging out of the body and transforming into different forms.

"Since you know how powerful we are, hand over the money, and we won't make things difficult for you..."

Xing Chenguang shouted aloud, only to discover that black trees had appeared beneath their feet at some unknown moment, and these trees were continuously absorbing their Chakra.

"Mysterious Peacock Method: Beast!"

Just as Hoshizhuo Guang intended to use it, the beast shape he had barely condensed dissipated instantly.

"Black wood? You are the White-Haired Demon of the Senju!"

Xing Chenguang looked down at the wood beneath his feet and exclaimed in shock.

"This naming sense doesn't sound like something Kaguya would come up with. The two of you, this is a rare opportunity; I truly want to study your Ninjutsu."

"No need to be nervous, no need to be afraid. Take a deep breath. Dizziness is normal, and the pain only lasts for a moment..."

Hiugo revealed a trace of a smile and rubbed his hands together.

For some reason, the two of them only felt a chill run down their spines, and a sense of dread welled up in their hearts.