Uchiha Tonan walked out of the small courtyard of the study hall, and when he passed the back garden, he happened to encounter the Daimyo, who had come to ‘eavesdrop’.
Tonan immediately greeted, “Your Majesty.” Realizing he was found, the Daimyo said with an embarrassed look, “Seimei-dono, how is Naraku doing lately?”
Tonan smiled lightly, “The First Highness is very talented. He has already begun to possess the bearing of a great ruler. It’s just that he has received too much knowledge in this period, which he needs to digest. Therefore, I plan to give him a break for a few days.”
Hearing Tonan’s words, the Daimyo was overjoyed. His eldest son had endured bitter hardships for so many days. Now, he could finally take a break. He hastily asked, “I wonder if there is anything I need to do? Or do I need to encourage Naraku?”
In his heart, he always wanted to find a chance to take good care of his elder son. He felt like he hadn’t cared about him for so long, and this son of his had drifted away from him.
Tonan pondered for a while, “Your Majesty, you still shouldn’t meet the First Highness for the time being. He needs to overcome some difficulties by himself. Your Majesty just needs to continue to care for the Second Highness.”
“Also, you need to order some people to guard the First Highness’s residence in secret, lest other people might disturb his study. Now is the best time for him to transform.”
After hearing Tonan’s words, the Daimyo paused for a while, “Alright, then I bid farewell to Seimei-dono.”
……
That afternoon, Naraku, who had just finished using the chakra test paper, opened the curtain and looked at the figures walking back and forth at his courtyard’s gate. The guard was tight and strict as if they were guarding a prison, which made it difficult for Naraku to breathe. He felt suffocated in his heart.
His eyes turned cold and he closed the curtain. Returned to his seat, he muttered, “Father, have you already begun to guard against me? Your action today has truly frozen my heart.”
He looked down at the crumbs on his palm. “Earth-attributed chakra…”
Although a little hesitant, he finally took a deep breath and spread out a scroll. There were five C-ranked ninjutsu written on the scroll, belonging to five attributes respectively.
A few days later, late at night, Naraku opened the door, and called out in a light voice, “Shinnosuke-senpai, are you there?”
As soon as his words fell, Shinnosuke appeared in front of him instantly. “Your Highness, do you have any instructions for me?”
Naraku waved toward Shinnosuke over and said, “Let’s talk inside, Shinnosuke-senpai.”
After the two of them walked inside, Naraku took a deep breath and looked at Shinnosuke. He then somberly asked, “Shinnosuke-senpai, have you also heard the recent rumors?” Shinnosuke nodded. He knew that Naraku was referring to the rumors about the succession to the Daimyo’s position.
Naraku put on his calmest appearance and said in a serious tone, “Shinnosuke-senpai, you can rest assured that if I became the Daimyo, I’ll definitely support you to become the next Hokage of Konoha.”
“Thank you… Your Highness,” Shinnosuke nodded absent-mindedly. From his demeanor, it was obvious he believed he had made the wrong bet after hearing the recent rumors. Naraku was carefully observing the man in front of him. Even though the change in Shinnosuke’s expression was small, it didn’t escape his eyes.
He felt even more unpleasant inside, thinking about how Shinnosuke would use every possible way to get close to him in the past. However, still maintaining a genial expression, he took out four envelopes and handed them over to Shinnosuke. He then explained, “I have four letters here. I request you to help me deliver these to the four lords of Konoha.”
Shinnosuke frowned and said, “Your Highness, I…”
“Do you want to turn me down?”
Naraku was enraged but he had no other way. He needed Shinnosuke’s help, so he could only force himself to smile and convince the man. “Although the current situation is not good for me, I will still fight for my right. When that time comes, my father will seek the opinions of Konoha’s lords before making his final decision. I hope that the four lords will express their support for me. This will help sway father’s decision in my favor.”
Naraku tried his best to persuade Shinnosuke. If he was unable to, he truly would be left with no other choices as he knew he couldn’t find anyone other than him in his current plight.
Shinnosuke hastily shook his head, “Your Highness, the Ninja Village can’t interfere in this matter. Besides, if I leave, who will safeguard you at night?”
Naraku pointed towards the gate, “Do you think I’m not safe enough?”
Shinnosuke felt that the First Highness in front of him was a bit aggressive. After hesitating for a while, he thought of a way out and said, “Alright, but I do need to inform the Daimyo about this.”
Hearing this, Naraku couldn’t maintain his smile anymore. He took a step towards Shinnosuke and coldly said, “Shinnosuke-senpai, people should help each other. Seimei-sensei once said that adding flowers to brocade is not as good as sending charcoal in snowy weather.”
“Those who will help me at this time, I’ll remember them with gratitude forever. But I’ll also remember those who hit a person when he was down. There are some matters whose results remain uncertain till the very end. Have you ever thought about what I would do if I became the Daimyo after you rejected me today?”
“Although the Daimyo doesn’t have much say in the Hokage election if I support a person, I can give that person enough funds to splurge. I wonder how many ninjas can resist that. Besides, you are already tied to my boat. If you want to jump off now, you can. But do you think Nahara will let you climb in his boat?”
