Determined to Be Ruthless

Watching Kamiya Hiromi head downstairs, Kamiya Keiyun gritted his teeth and turned to ask, "Has the wedding date been set?"

"It has. The fifth of next month, during the grand festival at Tsukuyomi Shrine," Kamiya Sanyō said softly.

"These freaks—back where I came from, they'd have been shot!" Kamiya Keiyun gritted his teeth. "What about Shimura Ken? Have you met him? Do you have any information on him?"

"What are you planning to do? Don't do anything stupid!" Kamiya Sanyō hurriedly said. "Besides, didn't Father say that if I married into their family, it would benefit you too? The Shimura Clan is one of Konoha's great clans. Maybe I could even get you some ninjutsu or something."

"If I used ninjutsu bought with my sister's life, I'd never know peace for the rest of my life!" Kamiya Keiyun shook his head. "If that's the case, I'd rather die!"

"You..."

"Don't talk about me. Tell me what you think. Are you really willing to accept this?" Kamiya Keiyun asked.

"I..." Kamiya Sanyō shook her head miserably. "Of course I'm not willing. That Shimura Ken is already over thirty, he's missing a leg, and he looks vicious too..."

"Exactly!" Kamiya Keiyun gritted his teeth. "Is there no way to break off the engagement?"

"The contract has already been made, and Shimura Ken's father is the head of the Shimura Clan!" Kamiya Sanyō shook her head. "I heard their family also has someone among Konoha's higher-ups, overseeing Root. They say it's a very powerful department."

Kamiya Keiyun had just heard that this marriage alliance could allow him to join that so-called Root and receive better instruction.

If he had been a coldhearted transmigrator, he might have accepted it. After all, selling off one sister would let him enter high society and gain greater power. Why not?

But Kamiya Keiyun could not accept it. Those who worked hard were always proud at heart. Besides, he had Heaven Rewards Diligence. Even without anyone to teach him, he could still forge his own path to becoming strong through self-created methods.

If I accepted a future like that, I wouldn't even be able to respect myself!

"Then there's only one option: Shimura Ken has to die!" Kamiya Keiyun frowned. "As long as he's dead, there'll be no wedding!"

Wasn't Kamiya Keiyun being a little too extreme, wanting to kill someone over nothing more than an engagement?

Not at all. Kamiya Keiyun had transmigrated here as a child and understood perfectly well that this was no society ruled by law. It was pure aristocratic politics, politics of power.

The control and oppression of commoners by nobles, and of lesser families by greater families, were absolute—nearly impossible to resist. Did people think rising up against one's superiors was some kind of traditional art?

In reality, it was only because such examples were so rare that people remembered them.

Once something had been decided, there was basically no taking it back. Great clans valued their reputation above all else.

Besides, although the marriage had been proposed by the Shimura Clan, judging from Kamiya Hiromi's attitude, he had agreed to it willingly enough. And now they wanted to back out? Were they playing him for a fool?

"But he used to be a Jonin! I heard ninja ranks are divided into Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. You haven't even graduated yet. You're not even a Genin. How could you possibly do it?" Kamiya Sanyō shook her head. "It's impossible!"

"Who said I'm alone? Won't you help me?" Kamiya Keiyun asked.

"I..." Kamiya Sanyō froze. "But..."

"I want to kill him partly because I'm furious, but also because of you. If you don't even want this yourself, then I have even less reason to do it!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

What he wanted was an independent, strong sister—not one who could only cry helplessly whenever trouble came.

Even if he could handle everything himself, he still had to force her to take a step forward.

"I-I don't not want it. I'm just scared. What if we fail? What if the village finds out..." Kamiya Sanyō said quietly.

"That's why we need a complete plan to reduce the chances of failure!" Kamiya Keiyun said firmly. "Besides, even if we fail, the worst that can happen is death. Otherwise, we leave the village. We'll rebel! Start a revolution! We won't have to worry about the future at all!"

"I..." Kamiya Sanyō hesitated for a long while. Just as Kamiya Keiyun was beginning to grow impatient, her expression finally hardened with resolve.

"Fine. Together, we'll kill Shimura Ken!"

"Shimura Ken was a Konoha Jonin, but that title was from six years ago. Six years ago, he lost a leg on the battlefield and withdrew from the ninja ranks. He's currently idle at home," Kamiya Sanyō explained.

"What other information is there? For example, does he have some kind of nickname?" Kamiya Keiyun asked.

Kamiya Sanyō thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. I only overheard bits and pieces from the side."

"What about the Shimura Clan?" Kamiya Keiyun asked again.

"I only know that they were already a great clan when Konoha was founded," Kamiya Sanyō said.

"I see." Kamiya Keiyun nodded. There was not much intelligence, but he could still infer some things.

Konoha was a village made up of ninja, so the great clans within it were naturally ninja clans, the kind with ninja everywhere you looked.

So sneaking into someone's home for an assassination was unrealistic. It would be best to strike outside.

But Kamiya Keiyun had noticed from the rooftop that night that ninja patrolled everywhere throughout the village. Killing someone without being discovered by the patrols would be difficult.

Especially when the target was a former Jonin, even if he was missing a leg.

It had to be fast, precise, and ruthless!

"I'm giving you a task. Over this next month—no, there isn't a full month—you need to obtain more information about Shimura Ken within three weeks. That includes his daily routes, preferences, schedule, and preferably what ninjutsu and combat skills he knows!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

"I..." Kamiya Sanyō found it difficult, but then she thought about it. If she was discovered, the worst that could happen was death. But if she married him, that would be worse than death.

Was there really any difference?

"Alright. I'll do my best!" Kamiya Sanyō said.

"You have no experience gathering intelligence, but you're Shimura Ken's fiancée. It makes perfect sense for you to learn about his preferences in advance!" Kamiya Keiyun said. "Start from there. Don't rush, and absolutely don't expose your intentions. You'll have to judge the proper limits yourself!"

He did not truly have faith in Kamiya Sanyō's abilities either, but this damned world had not given him time to learn slowly. Who would have thought that Konoha, which seemed somewhat progressive, actually had arranged marriages?

So it was either die standing or live kneeling. There was no third choice.

He went downstairs to eat, then returned and continued training.

He originally slept six hours a day, but now he cut it down to four.

After all, if he did not get enough sleep at night, he could make up for it by sleeping in class during the day.

The Bright Virtue Method progressed quickly. He had already roughly shaped a human figure. Next came the finer details: facial features, hair, clothing, accessories, and the like.

By this stage, his control over Chakra had become extremely strong. Chakra could flow through most of the meridians in his body.

Then, a new field of study appeared before him.

Meridian studies.

He discovered that not all meridians served the same function. Each had its own emphasis. Most enhanced strength and speed, but some boosted recovery, while others improved poison resistance.

The meridians around the ears were even more complex. Some allowed a person to hear farther away; some let a person hear sounds they normally could not, expanding the range of audible frequencies; and others enhanced the brain's ability to simulate what it heard.

For instance, Kamiya Keiyun had originally only been able to hear footsteps. Now, based on those footsteps, he could roughly simulate the person's height, weight, and stride length.

If he could take it a step further, perhaps he could even hear the twisting of someone's muscles, their heartbeat, and the flow of their Chakra!

Wouldn't that let him anticipate an enemy's moves at every turn?

Kamiya Keiyun thought of a term: Listening Bridge!

However, the Listening Bridge in Wing Chun used the hands to sense the movement of qi and blood within an opponent's body. Through training his hearing, Kamiya Keiyun could actually sense such changes through sound alone!

"Sure enough, the name Listen to Sound, Perceive Reason was not chosen wrong!"

This chapter has been fairly controversial, mainly because I did not clearly explain the class structure.

I will also add more later about trying courtesy before resorting to force.

As for marriage, there shouldn't be much controversy over that, right?

Not to mention ancient Japan—girls in ancient China also married very young.

Zhang Lihua, the consort of Chen Shubao, the last emperor of the Southern Chen dynasty, was favored as soon as she entered the palace and became pregnant. Zhang Lihua bore Chen Shubao his fourth son, Chen Shen.