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Knock, knock, knock...

Just after Tanaka Yoshikado finished speaking, knocking sounded from outside the door.

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

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

That was right—"bring him back" had been specially emphasized by the Third Hokage.

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 rushed in from outside. Samu Kokaze, dozing in the chair, shuddered as the chill hit him.

Tanaka Keishi opened his mouth when he saw the clan head's disheveled appearance, but in the end, he 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. He shot to his feet and, his legs wavering slightly from getting up too fast, 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 different clothes, he looked like a butler as he led Samu toward the dining hall.

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

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

Tanaka Yoshikado, standing at the doorway, suddenly spoke.

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

The last trace of sunlight vanished beyond the west, and endless stars glittered across the night sky.

Following Tanaka Keishi through several magnificent courtyards, Samu was so consumed by hunger that he had no mind to admire the elegant decorations around him.

With his exceptional senses, he occasionally twitched his nose and swallowed as he smelled the faint aroma of food in the air.

"This is it!"

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

"What a feast!"

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

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

There were only three chairs at the table. Clearly, aside from Tanaka Yoshikado, no one else from the Tanaka Clan had been notified. This made Samu give Tanaka Keishi, standing nearby, an approving look.

The wait felt especially long. When the sound of footsteps came from outside, Samu, who had been constantly swallowing his saliva in his chair, abruptly raised his head.

Tanaka Yoshikado, now once again dressed neatly in his noble attire, strode in with a dust-covered Guy. Seeing Samu sitting there and nearly drooling, he smiled.

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

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

"Who was waiting for you? If I wasn't afraid the rest of your clan would come too, you wouldn't even get a chicken leg."

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

Hic...

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

"Hm?"

A sharp glint flashed through Guy's eyes as the chicken leg that had almost been within his grasp vanished before him.

"Youth refuses no challenge!"

Swish...

Afterimages appeared all across the table, accompanied from time to time by the clatter of chopsticks striking each other. At the same time, the food on the table disappeared at an astonishing rate.

Tanaka Yoshikado, holding a chicken leg at the side, looked somewhat dazed. He lowered his head, looked at the chicken leg in his hand, took a bite, and gave a servant beside him a meaningful look.

Time slowly passed amid the meal. The room was now bustling, with servants repeatedly carrying away empty plates and replacing them with fresh hot dishes, all while looking at the two people at the table with terror in their eyes.

After a long while.

Hic...

Guy, across the table, let out a satisfied burp. His belly was swollen, making him look like a woman ten months pregnant.

Seeing Samu Kokaze staring at him with contempt, Guy tremblingly picked up a piece of fried meat and struggled 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 last bite of food on the table, Samu looked at Guy lying on the floor clutching his stomach, a smile curling at his lips.

"I'm full! Thanks for the hospitality, Brother Yoshikado!" Samu Kokaze rubbed his flat stomach and thanked Tanaka Yoshikado, who was holding a teacup.

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

Yoshikado, who had remained at the table to keep them company, had a face full of amazement.

As he spoke, he looked at Guy lying on the floor and asked, "Is he alright?"

"Don't worry."

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

Supporting Guy, who was clutching his stomach, Samu walked over to Tanaka Keishi, who had been waiting on them since they entered the room. "Uncle Keishi, please take Brother Guy somewhere to rest."

Tanaka Keishi bowed slightly, took Guy and his bulging belly from Samu, signaled to the servants on either side, and headed out.

The room, which had just been bustling with activity, fell silent. Having eaten and drunk his fill, Samu Kokaze put away his usual 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 had blocked his way, most of it concerned cultivation at the Fire Temple. He knew nothing at all about the current situation.

Tanaka Yoshikado raised his brows at the question, holding his teacup. "Thanks to you, after the assassination attempt against you two days ago, things have become much easier for me."

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

As he spoke, he paused and looked strangely at the small figure before him. "To be honest, I never expected you to come help me. With your fear-of-death personality, shouldn't you be hiding in safe Konoha instead?"

Samu Kokaze rolled his eyes.

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

"Alright, I misspoke!" Yoshikado offered an entirely insincere apology from his chair, then asked, "Tell me, what other purpose do you have for coming here? Even though the resources I can use now are somewhat less than before, dealing with whatever trouble you have should not be a problem."

Looking at Tanaka Keishi, who sat in his chair with complete certainty that he had come with another motive, Samu Kokaze could not take it anymore. He rolled his eyes again, jumped down from the chair, and headed for the door. "Fine. Since you insist on thinking I have other plans, Brother Guy and I will return to Konoha first. You can handle things here yourself!"

"Hey!" Tanaka Keishi suddenly shouted as he watched Samu Kokaze get up and walk away. He put down his teacup and rushed after him in a few strides.

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

"I was just joking too!" Samu raised his head and threw the same words back at him.

"You really never let yourself lose out, do you?" Tanaka Yoshikado rolled his eyes, choked by those words, and turned to sit back down.

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

Tanaka Yoshikado had barely settled onto his chair before shooting to his feet, staring suspiciously at Samu. "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.

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

"There was once a senior 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 are all low-ranking people. They cannot obtain any useful information at all."

"But..." Tanaka Yoshikado stopped in front of Samu and looked curiously at his somewhat cold face. "What are you asking this for?"

Samu Kokaze's expression remained calm as he listened.

"Do you want to get rid of the Sato Clan once and for all?"

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

"I said, do you want to get rid of the Sato Clan once and for all?" Seeing the look on Yoshikado's face as though Samu were joking, Samu repeated himself slowly and seriously.

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

"Besides, where would you find ninja willing to take such a mission? The Five Great Ninja Villages would never accept this kind of job, and ninja from the black market cannot wipe out everyone in the Sato Clan in such a short time. Once they are discovered, the army and the ninja protecting the daimyo will immediately mobilize. You should know that too."

Samu Kokaze remained calm as he listened to Tanaka Yoshikado's complaints. He looked up and said steadily, "I naturally have my methods. When the time comes, you only need to have your people take what I give you and place it in the designated location within the Sato Clan. Leave everything else to me."

Seeing Tanaka Yoshikado's conflicted expression and that he still wanted to say something, Samu 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.

Tanaka Yoshikado took a deep breath, his expression incomparably conflicted. His handsome face flushed red as he recalled the humiliation of the past year and his trust in Samu Kokaze's way of doing things. "Damn it! Let's do it!!!"