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Knock, knock, knock...

Just after Tanaka Yoshikado finished speaking, someone knocked on the door outside.

As Tanaka Yoshikado went to open it, Guy stared conflictedly at the figure asleep in the chair.

Before they had set out this time, the Third Hokage had specifically instructed him to safely "bring him back."

That was right. The Third Hokage had placed special emphasis on the words "bring him back."

But if he agreed to join the Tanaka Clan, would he still return to Konoha?

"What a headache!"

Guy fiercely scratched his head.

Creak...

The door opened, and cold air poured in from outside. Samu Kokaze, dozing in the chair, shuddered as the frigid wind hit him.

Tanaka Keishi opened his mouth upon seeing the clan head's disheveled appearance, then ultimately sighed. "Clan Head, everything has been prepared. We are waiting for you and Master Samu to attend the banquet."

"Food?"

Samu Kokaze's ears twitched as he lay in the chair. He shot to his feet and, his legs slightly unsteady from rising too quickly, headed outside.

"It's finally ready! I was starving to death!"

Rubbing his stomach, he asked as he passed Tanaka Keishi, "Where are we eating?"

"Please follow me, Master Samu!" Tanaka Keishi said respectfully. Having changed into another outfit, he looked like a butler as he led Samu toward the dining hall.

After he left, the expressions of the two people remaining in the room grew somewhat stiff.

"Do you think he was really asleep just now?"

Standing at the doorway, Tanaka Yoshikado suddenly spoke.

"Probably?" Guy replied uncertainly as he watched the two leave.

The last trace of sunlight vanished beyond the western horizon, and countless stars glittered in the night sky.

Following Tanaka Keishi through several lavish courtyards, Samu was so consumed by hunger that he had no interest in the elegant decorations around him.

With his extraordinary senses, he occasionally twitched his nose, swallowed, and sniffed the faint aroma of food drifting through the air.

"Here we are!"

Tanaka Keishi, walking ahead, pushed open a large wooden door and led him inside.

"What a feast!"

Samu Kokaze sighed as he looked at the food spread across the dining table.

He strode over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Though hunger gnawed at his stomach, he still forced himself to wait for Tanaka Yoshikado.

There were only three chairs around the table. Clearly, aside from Tanaka Yoshikado, no one else from the Tanaka Clan had been notified. Samu Kokaze could not help giving Tanaka Keishi, who stood nearby, an approving look.

The wait felt exceptionally long. Only when footsteps sounded outside did Samu Kokaze, who had been constantly swallowing saliva in his chair, abruptly raise his head.

Tanaka Yoshikado entered with Guy, whose body was covered in dust. Yoshikado had once again put on his full set of noble attire, and he smiled when he saw Samu Kokaze nearly drooling in his chair.

"If you're hungry, eat first. Why wait for us?"

Tanaka Yoshikado pulled out a chair and sat down, then picked up a chicken leg from the table and took a bite.

"Who was waiting for you? If I weren't worried that the rest of your family would come too, you wouldn't even get a chicken leg."

With his mouth stuffed full of food, Samu Kokaze glanced up and muttered.

Burp...

After swallowing his food with difficulty, Samu saw that Guy across from him was eating no slower than he was. His expression changed, and he suddenly sped up, his hands moving so fast over the table that they nearly left afterimages.

"Hm?"

As the chicken leg that had been within his grasp vanished before his eyes, a sharp glint flashed through Guy's eyes.

"Youth refuses no challenge!"

Whoosh...

Afterimages filled the dining table, accompanied from time to time by the clash of chopsticks. At the same time, the food on the table vanished at an astonishing pace.

Tanaka Yoshikado stood to the side with a chicken leg in hand, his expression somewhat blank. He lowered his head, took a bite of the chicken leg, and gave the servant beside him a look.

Time slowly passed amid the meal. The room was now bustling, with servants repeatedly carrying away plates that had been cleared clean and replacing them with fresh hot dishes, all while looking at the two diners with terror-filled eyes.

After a long while.

Burp...

Guy, seated across the table, let out a full belch. His stomach was swollen like that of a woman ten months pregnant.

Samu Kokaze looked at him from across the table with disdain. Guy's trembling hands picked up a piece of fried meat and laboriously tried to stuff it into his mouth.

Slap...

The fried meat fell to the floor. Guy's stomach rumbled violently as he collapsed backward, his face full of unwillingness. "My... youth... actually... failed here!"

After eating the final bite of food on the table, Samu Kokaze looked at Guy lying on the floor clutching his stomach, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I'm full! Thank you for the hospitality, Brother Yoshikado!" Samu Kokaze patted his flat stomach and thanked Tanaka Yoshikado, who held a teacup in his hand.

"Keishi had told me about your appetite before, but seeing it in person is still quite shocking."

Yoshikado, who had remained at the table to keep them company, wore an expression of complete amazement.

As he spoke, he looked at Guy on the floor and asked, "Is he all right?"

"Don't worry."

Samu stood up, walked over, and helped Guy up. "He just ate too much."

Supporting Guy, who clutched his stomach, Samu walked over to Tanaka Keishi, who had been attending nearby ever since they entered. "Uncle Keishi, please take Brother Guy to rest."

Tanaka Keishi bowed slightly, took Guy and his bulging belly from Samu Kokaze, then gave the servants on both sides a look and headed outside.

The room, which had just been so lively, fell silent. Having eaten and drunk his fill, Samu Kokaze put away his ever-present smile, pulled over a chair, and sat opposite Tanaka Yoshikado. In a low voice, he asked, "What exactly is the current situation?"

Although he had obtained some intelligence from Genichi's mind when Genichi blocked the road, most of it concerned his training at the Fire Temple. He knew absolutely nothing about the current situation.

Tanaka Yoshikado raised an eyebrow at his words, teacup in hand. "Thanks to you, after the assassination attempt on you two days ago, things have become much easier for me."

"Even if the Daimyo does not help this time, I won't be unable to hold on."

After saying that, he paused and looked strangely at the small figure seated before him. "To be honest, I never expected you to come help me. With your fear of death, shouldn't hiding in safe Konoha be more your style?"

Samu Kokaze rolled his eyes.

"Am I really that pathetic? I came here to help you this time!"

"All right, I misspoke." Yoshikado offered an utterly insincere apology from his chair, then asked, "Tell me, what else did you come here for? Even if the resources I can mobilize now are less than before, solving whatever trouble you have should not be a problem."

Unable to stand Tanaka Yoshikado's conviction that he had some other purpose for coming here, Samu Kokaze rolled his eyes again, jumped down from his chair, and headed for the door. "Fine, since you insist on believing I have other plans this time, Brother Guy and I will return to Konoha. You can handle things here yourself!"

"Hey!" Tanaka Yoshikado suddenly shouted. Still seated with tea in hand, he set down his cup and rushed after Samu in several quick strides.

"It was just a joke. Was that really necessary?" Tanaka Yoshikado said helplessly.

"I was just joking too." Samu looked up and returned the same words to him.

"You really never let yourself take a loss, you little brat!" Tanaka Yoshikado rolled his eyes, choked by those words, then turned and sat back down.

"All right, enough joking around." A trace of killing intent appeared on Samu Kokaze's face. "Do you have anyone in the Sato Clan?"

Tanaka Yoshikado had barely touched the chair before he shot to his feet and looked suspiciously at the figure before him. "Why are you asking that?"

"I naturally have my reasons. You only need to tell me whether you do or not!" Samu Kokaze glared fiercely at him.

"Since it's you, there's nothing I can't tell you." Tanaka Yoshikado gave Samu Kokaze several strange looks, stroked his chin, and circled him a few times.

"There used to be a high-ranking member of the Sato Clan whose weakness I caught, and he became my informant. But Sato Liandu discovered him and threw him into the Insect Cave."

"As for the others, they're all low-level personnel. They can't obtain any useful information."

"But..." Tanaka Yoshikado stopped before Samu Kokaze, looked at his somewhat cold face, and asked curiously, "Why are you asking about this?"

Samu Kokaze's expression remained calm.

"Do you want to eliminate the Sato Clan once and for all?"

"What? Say that again?!" Tanaka Yoshikado picked at his ear, looking as if he had not heard clearly.

"I said, do you want to eliminate the Sato Clan once and for all?" Samu Kokaze enunciated every word seriously as he looked at Yoshikado's expression, which said he had to be joking.

"Damn it! Kid, don't drag me into a pit!" Tanaka Yoshikado instantly leaped up as if his fur had been ruffled. "Do you think this is like fighting shinobi, where you kill anyone you dislike? If we break the rules, it'll definitely be the Tanaka Clan that dies!"

"Besides, where are you going to find shinobi willing to take this job? The Five Great Shinobi Villages won't accept this kind of mission, and the shinobi on the black market can't possibly wipe out everyone in the Sato Clan in a short time. Once they're discovered, the army and the shinobi protecting the Daimyo will mobilize at once. You should know that too."

Listening to Tanaka Yoshikado's complaints, Samu Kokaze remained calm. He looked up and said evenly, "Naturally, I have my own methods. When the time comes, you only need to have your people bring the things I give you and place them in the designated locations within the Sato Clan. Leave everything else to me."

Seeing Tanaka Yoshikado's conflicted expression and that he still wanted to say something, Samu Kokaze reassured him, "Don't worry. Nothing will happen."

"Really?"

Tanaka Yoshikado could not help asking.

Samu Kokaze did not answer. He merely nodded very seriously.

Taking a deep breath, Tanaka Yoshikado's expression became incomparably conflicted. His handsome face reddened as he recalled the humiliation he had endured over the past year and his trust in Samu Kokaze's way of doing things. "To hell with it! Let's do it!!!"