Chapter 172

Huh?

The world-renowned... Great Ninja?

A bleak autumn wind suddenly rose, lifting the sideburns of the slender youth.

Shiraishi froze in place, recalling the definition of the word "Ninja" that Uesugi Toru had once explained to him.

So-called Ninjas are probably existences similar to "Samurai"; they are topics that people absolutely cannot avoid when discussing this era.

The former bow in darkness, while the latter receive reverence and cheers in the light.

Although a "Great Ninja" cannot be mentioned in the same breath as a "Daimyo", they can certainly be ranked alongside big figures like "Great Sword Masters" whose fame spreads far and wide.

During his days at the Imagawa Residence, he had indeed figured out roughly what the Kiai Technique was, and had made remarkable progress in it, becoming much more formidable than his former self.

However, Shiraishi still understood that he could barely handle even the most incompetent good-for-nothing among Samurai.

No other reason: his physical constitution was simply too weak.

And a Great Ninja... should be more formidable than several hundred of him put together, right?

He stared at the exquisite secret manual placed before him, bound seamlessly and even faintly exuding the scent of ink, and for a moment did not know whether to take it.

Because of his experiences since childhood, Shiraishi thought more, and more messily.

For instance, right now he was thinking: if he took this secret manual but completely failed to cultivate the proper effects from it, causing Uesugi Toru to be utterly disappointed in him.

—If he didn't take it, fine; he could still maintain his status as a "house-raised pet", relying on the Boss to live as a freeloader Samurai in the Imagawa Clan.

But if he took it... the direction things would develop would be completely unpredictable to Shiraishi.

And, how could he possibly become a "Great Ninja"?

That's a completely impossible thing, right?

Just thinking of what Uesugi Toru had said to him earlier, Shiraishi almost couldn't hold back a laugh.

—After all, he didn't even dare think like that when he was stuffed full and having sweet dreams!

"Boss..."

For a moment, Shiraishi wanted to blurt out a refusal, saying he just wanted to maintain the present, the here and now, this peaceful blissful life of living in a house, eating and drinking his fill.

Living peacefully and happily after eating his fill, growing up, growing old, then dying.

No need to worry about starving to death today, no need to worry about waking up one day tied up in some terrifying place, no need to worry about how to survive the next winter.

The brief days spent in the Imagawa Residence were the life Shiraishi had prayed for since he could remember.

As for anything more, how could he dare ask for it.

"Hm?"

Uesugi Toru looked at Shiraishi, whose fingers kept rubbing against the small bottle containing Konpeitō, and asked with a curious smile: "What are you thinking about?"

Shiraishi was momentarily at a loss for words.

He thought of those high-ranking dignitaries he had been following beside Uesugi Toru these days — Imagawa Yoshimoto, Okabe Motonobu, Matsudaira Motoyasu, Asahina Yasutomo...

And those terrifying Elders who this morning had no choice but to bow their heads to the Boss.

At this moment, it was as if two little people who looked exactly like him drilled out beside Shiraishi's ears.

One wore coarse hemp clothes, topped with a round belly sitting slumped, still chewing a polished rice ball in his mouth.

This little man patted his belly and said lazily: "Being able to eat and drink your fill is enough! What else do you want to ask for?"

The other was wrapped entirely in black, only a pair of indifferent eyes exposed outside, looking lonely and powerful.

He said coldly: "If you settle for the status quo, then when you encounter something like that time again in the future, you'll still be unable to do anything."

But Shiraishi's thoughts didn't stop there.

He thought more, and more realistically.

—The Boss is his backer, the reason he obtained this "Samurai" status.

—And if he doesn't do something more, will he be forgotten by the Boss just like that?

After all, even raising a pet has a limit to one's patience.

Therefore, after a moment of silence, Shiraishi responded: "Boss, according to what you said, aren't Ninjas all supposed to be unknown to everyone?

So after this, no one will know me either."

He reached out and somewhat hesitantly picked up the Ninja Secret Manual before him, yet gave a clever evasive answer.

Uesugi Toru, understanding the implication, couldn't help but smile; he patted the youth's head twice: "Then that's pretty good too."

"In any case, do your best."

Uesugi Toru said to the youth who raised his head and looked dazedly at him: "If you can finish cultivating this entire secret manual, teaching you the Breathing Technique I cultivate isn't out of the question."

He said casually,

"But open it and have a look first — although I found an illustrated version easier for you to understand, this secret manual still has some difficulty."

Shiraishi silently listened to his words, standing in place and slowly turning the first page of the secret manual in his hand.

Then, he stared wide-eyed in a daze.

Some difficulty?

No... Shiraishi actually felt this secret manual seemed...

A bit too simple.

At this instant, a huge prompt suddenly popped up before Uesugi Toru's eyes.

【Current Constant World Walker's Historical Influence Degree: 0.5%→1%!】.

Uesugi Toru, who was just preparing to continue Skin Tempering, instantly shuddered, suppressing all emotions that had not yet leaked out, and immediately swept a glance at Shiraishi with the corner of his eye.

—Shiraishi merely opened the first page of this ordinary secret manual that can only cultivate to around One-Star Half, and his Historical Influence Degree actually rose to 1%!?

Uesugi Toru's mental state rarely fluctuated.

—Shiraishi's talent in the "Illustrated + Ninja" path is really high!

Just then, Shiraishi's voice, carrying a hint of doubt and self-satisfaction, drifted over.

"Boss, does this secret manual really have some difficulty?"

Uesugi Toru said blandly without changing expression: "It's merely an entry-level text of the ninja path; even if you can understand and digest it all in one night, don't get conceited."

He admonished Shiraishi, whose mouth corners simply couldn't be suppressed,

"The path of cultivation is long; whether cultivating breathing techniques, Yin-Yang Arts, or ninja secret arts similar to yours, the greatest taboo is self-satisfaction and arrogance.

But one must also remember not to lose the spirit of brave and diligent advancement."

Upon discovering the ninja secret manual was really far simpler than he had imagined — so simple that Shiraishi, who could understand the first page completely at a glance, was stifling a laugh — he saluted with an awkward, neither-here-nor-there gesture,

"Understood, Boss!"

Uesugi Toru looked at Shiraishi's smug expression, knowing full well that although he stood there listening to his words.

Whether those words actually slid off his slick brain was another matter entirely.

Uesugi Toru wasn't in a rush either.

People teaching people doesn't work, but once events teach a person, they're guaranteed to learn.

He merely said,

"Then, cultivate here for an afternoon first; let's see how much you can learn from it."

Letting Shiraishi go to the side to peruse the ninja secret manual, Uesugi Toru likewise rose from the cylindrical stool by the stone table and sat down cross-legged directly facing the sun.

He prepared to see how much proficiency he could gain in the Sengoku Period by tempering his skin hard for an afternoon alone, without using Soul-Returning Incense Ash or soaking in a medicinal bath.

Uesugi Toru closed his eyes; with each breath he made the gang-qi obey his command like an extension of his limbs, surging into his skin in continuous cycles, beginning the long and painful tempering.

……

In the blink of an eye, the sky's edge had already sunk westward with the sunset.

An afternoon's time, in the body's tempering, was but a finger-snap instant.

Uesugi Toru, drenched in sweat, opened his eyes calmly; after returning the gang-qi to its original position, he looked at the prompt that popped up after Shiraishi finished cultivating beside him.

【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique Proficiency +2.】

Uesugi Toru: "……"

For a moment he actually didn't know what to say.

Although the Sengoku Period and the real world have a time difference, this afternoon of bitter cultivation only yielding a measly 2 proficiency points was really too absurd.

It seems not wanting to pay any price and relying solely on slowly grinding by oneself has far too low efficiency, extremely inadvisable.

So auxiliary cultivation resources must be arranged, and he can also exchange cultivation insights with Okabe Motonobu — there might be some surprises.

Uesugi Toru turned his head, silently looking at Shiraishi not far away, who was lying on the ground perusing the manual, and discovered the manual's thickness facing his side had already decreased by one-fifth.

Uesugi Toru raised an eyebrow.

Wouldn't that mean Shiraishi only needs two or three days to finish reading this manual and reach entry level?

If fast, perhaps half a month to learn it all, then touch the threshold of One-Star Half.

This talent……

Could it be that the "increased hidden event trigger probability" within the Constant World Walker identity can also let him encounter all kinds of rare talents?

Unclear.

But this is a good thing.

If Shiraishi didn't understand the ninja manual at all and couldn't make heads or tails of it after a month, he'd have a headache finding the next passable talent.

——Not far away, after an afternoon of reading and practice, feeling he had obviously become stronger by a large margin, Shiraishi put away the manual and walked over.

He raised the manual in his hand, eyes wide, and said: "Boss, this seems really suited to me."

Compared to his previous hesitation and lack of confidence, the current Shiraishi was practically a different person.

Because, during that afternoon of learning the ninja secret manual, the positive feedback he received was simply too dense, too plentiful, and too fast!

Often Shiraishi would flip open a page, understand the meaning of the diagram in mere seconds, and his body would then assume the exact same posture without any thought.

Immediately after, streams of warm current would surge from deep within his body, continuously increasing his strength.

With confidence greatly boosted, Shiraishi clenched his still somewhat scorching fists and said seriously,

"Boss, I'll rely on it to become stronger, to become very, very strong!"

Uesugi Toru shrugged noncommittally.

Look, he merely simply entered the door and he's already swelling up again.

But he didn't say anything more.

Shiraishi's brimming-confidence state — later letting reality give him a toxic beating — will make him honest directly.

——And after this afternoon's cultivation test ended, he had to go find Imagawa Yoshimoto and talk to her about the medicinal bath.

After all, purely relying on himself to find those dozens or hundreds of medicinal herbs is very hard, but if this matter is handed to the Imagawa Clan, the difficulty becomes near zero.

Besides, he also had to show the Samurai Zanmetsumaru he specially brought.

Uesugi Toru thought for a while; upon seeing Shiraishi still standing beside him, he blinked, and took out half a box of pastries from his storage backpack,

"I have business with Lord Imagawa later; this box of pastries is for you, take it back and eat slowly."

Shiraishi, who originally wanted to say something, immediately had golden light in his eyes upon seeing these never-before-seen pastries, and accepted them with a hehe laugh.

"Okay Boss! Understood Boss!"

Shiraishi hugged the pastries, his two legs moving lightning fast; with a *shu* he ran off without a trace.

Uesugi Toru also left his small courtyard; along the way he asked everyone he met where Imagawa Yoshimoto was.

Thus, after asking repeatedly several times, he was finally led by a hurried maid to a small artificial lake.

"Adult, the Head of Family is right ahead."

The maid finished speaking, then silently and slowly pushed open.

By this time, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, replaced by the faintly emerging silver moon and stars.

Under the half-dark, half-light sky, Uesugi Toru raised his eyes and saw the two people sitting in the small pavilion before the lake surface shimmering with rippling light.

Okabe Motonobu was eating rice balls while drinking tea, seemingly still talking happily about something.

Imagawa Yoshimoto merely gazed quietly at the lake surface, listening quietly, only occasionally replying with a sentence.

Uesugi Toru deliberately made his footsteps heavy, so that Okabe Motonobu heard them the moment he took his first step.

In no more than two seconds, Imagawa Yoshimoto turned her head and waved at him, gesturing for him to come over.

"Mr. Toru, please sit."

Uesugi Toru did not decline, directly sitting on the round stone stool.

Seeing him arrive, the smiling Okabe Motonobu immediately, without leaving a trace, pulled the wooden box on the table toward her direction.

Uesugi Toru glanced and discovered the wooden box contained rice balls wrapped in seaweed, each as big as his palm.

This thing, what's so rare about it...

"Mr. Toru, would you like to try one?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto rose slightly, took a rice ball from the wooden box, and smiled at him: "Rice balls I kneaded with my own hands."

Uesugi Toru raised an eyebrow, took the rice ball with both hands: "Many thanks, Lord Imagawa."

He immediately took a bite.

Hm?

Uesugi Toru lowered his head and discovered this rice ball didn't just contain plain rice, but was actually stuffed with lots of fragrant meat floss.

"For me, the process of making rice balls little by little helps settle chaotic thoughts, just like the tea ceremony..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto spoke halfway, noticed his slightly surprised expression, so she added,

"Usually only Motonobu eats the rice balls I knead, so naturally I also stuffed in quite a few necessities. Eat your fill and you'll have more strength."

Necessities, naturally referring to the full load of meat floss.

For Okabe Motonobu who has already reached the Body Tempering Stage, sufficient carbohydrates and protein must be supplied, otherwise even maintaining daily cultivation would be difficult.

Watching him eat large mouthfuls of the still-warm rice balls, Imagawa Yoshimoto also hummed in satisfaction.

After she took the wooden box from the food-guarding Okabe Motonobu's hands and placed it in the center of the table, she cut straight to the chase and asked,

"Mr. Toru, is there something you need?"

— Toru coming to specially find her at this time, it must be to request something "only she can do" or "she is the first choice for."

This is good.

Such requests help draw the relationship between the two closer.

Imagawa Yoshimoto would love nothing more than to have more such requests.

After finishing the rice ball, Uesugi Toru also didn't beat around the bush, similarly telling the two directly that he wanted a medicinal bath to assist cultivation, and all the types of medicinal materials needed.

"Medicinal bath?"

Okabe Motonobu muttered strangely.

She spread her hands: "I've never heard before of any medicinal bath that can reduce this long grinding work."

Finished speaking, she suddenly froze, then directed her gaze at Uesugi Toru's exposed skin, squinted and leaned closer, asking somewhat uncertainly,

"Mr. Toru... your membrane has changed.

You broke through?"

After watching for a moment, not waiting for the latter to answer, Okabe Motonobu slowly enunciated confirmation: "In just one afternoon, Mr. Toru you've actually nearly completed Skin Tempering."

"Lord Okabe has good eyesight."

Uesugi Toru nodded.

After a moment of silence, Okabe Motonobu couldn't help but clap in praise: "Such change in just one meeting unseen, no wonder Lord gave you such high evaluation."

Listening to their conversation, Imagawa Yoshimoto who still didn't know Uesugi Toru also cultivated a breathing technique frowned in puzzlement and tilted her head,

"Motonobu, and Toru... what are you talking about?"

"Huh? Lord you still don't know?"

Okabe Motonobu first scratched her head, then suddenly realized with an "ah": "I almost forgot, Lord you're still a bit short of Gang Qi Circulation so you can't tell."

Gang Qi Circulation?

Imagawa Yoshimoto blinked upon hearing the incomparably familiar term, and in an instant seemed to realize something.

So she was utterly shocked.

She abruptly turned her head to look at Uesugi Toru's calm face, and after taking a deep breath, pursed her lips and asked: "Toru... Mr., you also cultivated a breathing technique, and completed Gang Qi Circulation?"

Uesugi Toru nodded his chin, replied modestly,

"Just barely managed to complete it by luck, in terms of attainment still far, far inferior to Lord Okabe."

Actually... really completed it?

You know, Toru isn't a warrior family child who learned breathing technique from childhood, but an Onmyoji!

The world calls him "Onmyoji Toru"!

Including herself too!

And now, actually telling her this Onmyoji Toru, his attainment in the breathing technique path is likewise top-tier?

The young lady felt a trace of frustration for the first time, she wondered what she had been striving to cultivate all those past years?

Imagawa Yoshimoto slowly kneaded her sun temples with ice-cold fingers.

But she didn't fall into contemplation, instead directly telling Uesugi Toru these medicinal bath ingredients could be prepared by tonight.

After Uesugi Toru explained the medicinal bath's effects and "origin" once more, Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes brightened, and she tentatively asked,

"Since the medicinal bath invented by Mr. Toru's teacher has such good effects, can I promote it throughout the Imagawa Clan so all samurai can use it?"

She looked at Uesugi Toru with some anticipation.

But who would have thought he would decisively shake his head: "Without the protection of Qi circulation, recklessly using this medicinal bath will only result in sudden death halfway through."

Only medicinal baths usable above Qi circulation.

Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced sideways at the smiling Okabe Motonobu, then spoke: "In that case, I understand."

She struck while the iron was hot, continuing to ask,

"Then I wonder, where is Mr. Toru's teacher at this moment?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto had already prepared her argument; no matter the price paid, as long as it did not touch fundamental interests, inviting Toru's "teacher" would be a great profit.

Because even the apprentice was so formidable, let alone the teacher!

—And to fill in the origin of the medicinal bath formula, Uesugi Toru, who had fabricated a nonexistent teacher, sighed,

"My teacher has long since traveled the clouds and departed, perhaps already gone to the other side of the sea; I truly do not know where he might be."

Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned for a moment, feeling a touch of regret in her heart.

"However."

Uesugi Toru shifted the topic, wanting to bring up the Samurai Zanmetsumaru while following this "teacher" topic,

"My teacher left me a wonderful shikigami capable of precisely testing slash power; it can be used by anyone."

Just as he finished speaking, Uesugi Toru raised his hand slightly, causing the round, plump black Samurai Zanmetsumaru to appear out of thin air, landing on the empty space to one side.

The stern-faced Samurai Zanmetsumaru spoke in a deep voice,

"Master."

Imagawa Yoshimoto sized up this shikigami that combined humor and dignity with its round head and round brain, and let out a slightly surprised "oh."

Okabe Motonobu, who had originally been sipping tea in small mouthfuls, suddenly raised his head and gazed steadily at the tall Samurai Zanmetsumaru.

Samurai Zanmetsumaru shifted his gaze, and after locking eyes with Okabe Motonobu, he swayed slightly forward, bowing: "Strong one, would you like to try a punch?"

Okabe Motonobu became interested upon hearing this.

She stood up with a swish, yet did not stir even the slightest fluctuation of Qi,

"My lord!"

Trusting in Uesugi Toru, Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded upon hearing these two words,

"Go."

"Alright!"

The woman strode to the front of Zanmetsumaru, grinning at it: "Hello, just call me Okabe."

"Samurai Zanmetsumaru," it said, "Okabe-dono, please do as you wish; I will not let a single bit of force leak out."

"Well, thank you very much!"

Okabe Motonobu first patted it cheerfully, then turned her head, and upon seeing Uesugi Toru also nodding at her in the same way, she raised her fist without any wind-up.

She tightened her five fingers.

Then she struck out!

In the next instant, a violent explosion of Qi erupted in the less than one chi distance between Okabe Motonobu's fist and the surface of Samurai Zanmetsumaru!

Samurai Zanmetsumaru immediately fell backward, the magnitude of his fall second only to the one slash Uesugi Toru had delivered with full force the first time.

Samurai Zanmetsumaru seemed to shout in anger after a deep breath,

"Ten thousand two hundred and thirty-seven kan... it is said!"

Ten thousand kan!

Uesugi Toru's pupils shrank slightly.

And this was merely a punch Okabe Motonobu had thrown at close range without raising her hand!

You tell me this damn thing was just tempering flesh?

Uesugi Toru seriously suspected Okabe Motonobu was about to complete tempering her entire body and was starting to cast tendons.

Otherwise, how could mere physical strength and Qi possibly achieve such a degree?

"Oh—!"

Okabe Motonobu, leaning forward to look at the small grass behind Zanmetsumaru that remained completely motionless, sighed in admiration and laughed loudly,

"Mr. Toru, I like this Samurai Zanmetsumaru, really like it!"

This was normal.

After all, which samurai would not like a "wooden dummy" that cannot be destroyed no matter how you strike it and can precisely report your strength?

This is too convenient!

"By the way, Okabe-dono, regarding the exchange of breathing techniques..."

Uesugi Toru spoke.

Okabe Motonobu turned her head: "This... my lord did not say that Mr. Toru's medicinal bath could be prepared before tonight ends?"

She licked her lips and said with a smile,

"Then let us wait until late at night when you and I are alone to speak of it."

End of Chapter