Undercurrents Stirring 2 (Bonus Chapter for Reaching 20 on the New Book Rankings!)

Watching his old companions beside him sit down, the Sato Clan head instead calmed down. Looking at Sato Liandu as he walked before him, he sighed. "Is it worth it, for a clan head position that would sooner or later be yours? Even risking offending Konoha for it?"

"Sooner or later mine?" Sato Liandu repeated with an amused smile, a mocking curve appearing on his sinisterly handsome face.

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Leaving aside whether I could smoothly inherit the Sato Clan head position after you die under normal circumstances, even if I could, how could that compare to the pleasure of taking it from your hands myself?"

"You madman! I never should have trusted you back then!" the Sato Clan head gritted out as he stared at Sato Liandu.

"Madman?" Sato Liandu chuckled. "A madman wouldn't have tripled the Sato Clan's income over the years, much less greatly elevated the Sato Clan's standing in the Land of Fire."

"If that person from the Tanaka Clan hadn't happened to encounter that fellow who became a master sculptor at such a young age in the Land of Fire, sending his carvings everywhere and winning the daimyo's favor through them, then aside from the daimyo, the Land of Fire would have long since belonged to our Sato Clan!"

"And now, the daimyo's wife's birthday is almost here. I hear that person from the Tanaka Clan has boasted to the daimyo that he'll present a life-sized sculpture made from mutton-fat jade on her birthday."

"Now, as long as we kill the sculptor in Konoha, the Tanaka Clan will naturally fall into the Sato Clan's grasp once they lose the daimyo's trust. And as for you people who stand in the way of this?"

As he spoke, Sato Liandu broke into an evil smile. "Once I drive you from the clan head position, I doubt anyone below will have anything to say about it."

"The Land of Fire? The Sato Clan's domain?" The Sato Clan head glared at Sato Liandu's wildly confident face. "Young people like you will never understand what truly matters in this world! Power and influence? Or the favor you think you've gained from the daimyo?"

"I will never hand the clan head position over to you!"

Hearing the Sato Clan head's words, Sato Liandu's sinisterly handsome face twisted slightly. He stared at the stern-faced clan head. "You old bastard! Once this matter is finished, I'll forcibly drive you off the clan head position."

"Let's go!" Sato Liandu shouted in a low voice.

As his words fell, more than half the people seated in the Sato Clan's meeting hall rose and headed outside. Only a few people remained seated.

The Sato Clan head clenched his fists as he watched those following Sato Liandu out, then finally slumped back into his seat.

"Clan Head?" someone seated beside him called cautiously.

"I'm fine. Don't worry!" Hearing the voice, the Sato Clan head straightened his bent back once more.

He raised his head and swept his gaze over the few people remaining in the hall.

He said solemnly, "Sato Liandu is far too arrogant. He has no idea who truly holds the right to speak in this world! Send someone to Konoha immediately and inform them of this!"

"Isn't it already too late to go now? Since he dared say it openly at this point, perhaps he's already succeeded!" someone nearby said.

"Hmph! I never expected us to make it in time. We only need to distance ourselves from this matter. If Konoha truly pursues it later, they'll pursue Sato Liandu, not hold the entire Sato Clan accountable."

"Yes, Clan Head!"

The few people remaining indoors exchanged glances and nodded.

After leaving the meeting hall, Sato Liandu looked at the snowflakes on the eaves, and his mood settled. With his current control over the Sato Clan, he could have forcibly seized the clan head position long ago, but without a convincing reason, the daimyo could easily find an opportunity to interfere.

"Lord Liandu!"

A man dressed in noble attire who had followed Sato Liandu out of the meeting hall called after him.

Hearing the call behind him, Sato Liandu's lips curled slightly. His steps slowed as he walked forward, and he tilted his ear as though listening.

Seeing Sato Liandu stop, the man calling after him showed a flash of delight in his eyes. He stepped forward and said, "Lord Liandu, should we send people to keep an eye on those from the clan head's faction? In case they go and leak the news..."

"Leak the news?" Sato Liandu chuckled.

"To whom would they leak it? Konoha? The daimyo? Or that person from the Tanaka Clan you serve?"

"I've been wronged, Lord Liandu!"

The moment he heard Sato Liandu's words, there was a thud from behind him. The man who had just been speaking had dropped to his knees. Despite the freezing snow and ice, beads of sweat continuously rolled down his forehead as he cried out nervously.

"Wronged?" Sato Liandu turned around and looked down mockingly at the kneeling man. "I should really thank you! All these years, you've tirelessly helped pass along the information I wanted passed along. Otherwise..."

"Heh heh! It would have taken me quite some effort to gain the strength I have now!"

"Lord Liandu! Heaven and earth can bear witness to my loyalty! I have never harbored even the slightest intention of betraying you!" The kneeling man's long robe was already soaked through with sweat. His face pressed against the snow, he gritted his teeth and spoke in utter panic.

He absolutely could not admit to it. The fate of the last person who betrayed Sato Liandu was still vividly clear in his mind.

At the thought of being smeared with fresh honey in his wounds, thrown into the Insect Cave, and devoured alive, he could not stop himself from shuddering.

If not for the leverage they had caught him with years ago, he would never have dared betray Sato Liandu.

Seeing the man kneeling on the ground and trembling violently, Sato Liandu lost the mood to toy with him any longer. He said directly, "Did you really think I never noticed the information you spread over the years? I was merely playing along!"

"And now, as long as the Tanaka Clan fails to deliver what they promised on the daimyo's wife's birthday, I can strike at every one of their businesses. The daimyo, having lost face, won't provide the Tanaka Clan with support either."

"Even if the daimyo cannot possibly watch the Tanaka Clan collapse completely, the Tanaka Clan will no longer be able to threaten the Sato Clan's position."

"As for when the daimyo finds out afterward that we killed that master sculptor, we can simply offer up some benefits to placate him."

Sato Liandu did not say these words to the pitiful wretch kneeling and trembling on the ground. Instead, he addressed the others who had followed him out from the meeting hall.

After all, although he could basically be said to have the final word in the Sato Clan, it was still necessary to offer the rest of the clan some explanation.

"What about Konoha?" someone nearby could not help asking.

"Konoha?" Sato Liandu paused, his face filled with disdain. "Konoha's Third Hokage is nothing but trash now. During the eras of the First and Second Hokage, I naturally wouldn't have dared do this.

"But according to information the clan received, although Konoha clearly won the Shinobi World War a few years ago, when the Cloud Ninja came to sign a treaty and failed to kidnap the Hyuga Clan princess, Konoha not only failed to condemn the Cloud Ninja, but actually forced the Hyuga Clan to hand over the corpse of the branch family head."

"What is there to fear from a Konoha led by someone so weak and easily bullied? Even if Konoha finds out, what can they do? Could Konoha possibly dare come and threaten the Sato Clan?"

Watching Sato Liandu radiate confidence ahead of them, everyone from the Sato Clan following behind was thoroughly convinced.

Casting an annoyed glance at the kneeling man, beneath whom a puddle of urine had even formed, Sato Liandu waved his hand. "Throw him into the Insect Cave!"

Then, turning his gaze toward the others, who shuddered upon hearing the words Insect Cave, he said coldly, "What I hate most in my life is betrayal! Wealth, power, women—I can give you all of those! But if you want to betray me, the Insect Cave will be your only end!"