Tengen Uzui was filled with mixed feelings at that moment.
Hadn't this guy been holed up in the Swordsmith Village, hammering away at iron, not long ago?
How had he taken his eyes off him for just a month or two,
only for him to turn around and make news this big?!
Slaying an Upper Rank single-handedly?
He was so sour with envy his teeth ached. He really wanted some grapes!
As for the other two names on the list...
Kazetoriin?
That woman who always put on airs as his senior?
Shinobu Kocho?
The little sister of Xia Xi's old sweetheart?
He simply chose to ignore them.
But after his brief astonishment and that twinge of envy, another feeling soon welled up.
"Still, you did a damn good job."
Uzui slowly exhaled.
It was his heartfelt acknowledgment of his dear friend Xia Xi.
Then he carefully folded the letter, tucked it into his clothes, and sat down beside the bed.
The gap between them had widened considerably again.
"Lord Tengen?"
"What happened... Suma, you idiot, stop shoving me!"
"I just wanted to see Lord Tengen!"
The door opened, and all three of his wives poured into the room.
The room instantly grew lively.
Hinatsuru spotted a corner of the letter peeking out of Tengen's clothes. "Lord Tengen, is this... the letter you want sent back to the Ninja Village?"
"Ah, right, it's from Xia Xi, that... hmm?"
Only then did Tengen remember why he had called his wives over.
He immediately began rummaging around the room in a bit of a fluster.
At last,
from a pile of papers covered in messy scribbles, he dug out the letter he had revised over and over.
Those discarded papers beside it
were all drafts he had written and rewritten, only to abandon