Private meeting

After giving away the potions he brought with him, Naoki rose to his feet, ready to leave.

"You may drink up now," he instructed as his brooding presence loomed over the men sitting before him.

"Thank you, Master!!!" The men roared.

Throwing their heads backward, they raised the ceramic bottles to their lips and in one go, downed the liquid content without worries.

In their mind, their Master would never hurt them, as he had first shown that to each of them on their first meeting before bringing them to join his network of armies.

"Train every morning before going about your daily activities," Naoki instructed as his gaze swept past them. "And you will assemble once more in the evening before you retire for the day."

"Yes, Master!!!" The thunderous voice of the warriors resounded in the room as their gazes turned serious.

Putting his hands behind his back, Naoki continued. "Our goal for a Divine Rule is not so far-fetched. The leaders of this country, have hundreds of thousands of soldiers. So, each of you must train to the level of being capable of slaying a hundred men and even more at once."

Releasing a deep sigh, he said in conclusion, "Eat well and look after one another. I won't come here except when there be a need to exercise my muscles as I can't go to pick up a fight with the Daimyos yet."

"Hahahaha…" The retainers erupted in laughter toward the end of his remark. Their Master sure had a good sense of humor.

Even in a serious matter, he still found a way to relax their facial muscles, and calm their erratic heartbeats.

"All right, that's it," Naoki said and turned to leave with Daisuke carrying the wooden box and following solidly behind him.

"Have a great day, Master!" The men echoed in unison as they immediately rose to their feet to offer a deep bow to him.

Even after he had left, they still couldn't stop talking about the joke he made.

Truthfully, if there wasn't going to be a huge headache later on, Naoki would have long gone into one of the enemy's camps and slain his soldiers in the middle of the night.

But the repercussion would be weighing heavily on his shoulders because his actions would be investigated, and surely the evidence found would be traced back to the doings of a member of the Sato family whom they thought no longer existed.

This would be as good as him announcing, 'Hey Daimyos! I'm here. This is the evidence that you missed out on one person while annihilating a powerful family several centuries ago. Now do your worst.'

This surely would have made sense if only Naoki was ready for the great war, but he couldn't act rashly, not after the patience he had exercised for centuries. There is still someone he needed help from.

First things first.

Otherwise, it would have been a great opportunity for Naoki to flex his muscles. This is the reason he was mostly in his Rabo, producing portions.

If he couldn't sharpen his muscles, he could at least sharpen his mind.

From the secret underground training center on the outskirts of the capital city, Naoki made the effort to walk a long distance along with Daisuke.

"Where is my horse?" Naoki suddenly asked out of the blue as black horizontal lines appeared on his forehead.

He seemed to have remembered he had a horse after walking for a while now, and he didn't look happy at the moment.

Sensing his Master's irritation, Daisuke hurriedly answered, "Master, your horse is currently being taken care of. I had to take it away after you fell in a coma,"

"Bring it back to me before the end of today," Naoki commanded as the corners of his lips tugged downwards.

"Yes, Milord!"

********

~At The Shogun's Private Residence~

The Shogun sat on his golden throne at the head of a long table in a room known as his 'Home Court' where he usually held secret meetings with his Daimyos.

Currently, he was wearing a long black kimono along with a black hat at the top of his head, as he listened to the four territorial Lords chip in their contribution while almost getting into an argument.

Here, in this room, the Shogun alone called the shots as no one could interrupt or tell him otherwise.

At the moment, they were rounding off their discussion concerning how to capture the Seer and take her away.

After learning of a flaw that could help them find her after a long time, this was such a serious matter.

"Our Lord, I don't think we should be bothered on how to take her away. We are the authority, we can do whatever that pleases us," Lord Shiba reminded as his gaze swept past the other Lords to rest on the Shogun.

Apparently, he didn't care whatever the commoners or the nobles thought. After all, the Shogun was the actual leader of the country, not the Emperor who was the highest ranked in the royal class.

Although he did think that way, the other Lords thought differently.

Glancing over at him, Lord Date said with a grave expression on his face while hinting at an important matter that should not be overlooked.

"We mustn't act rashly. Although the Emperor is in the palm of our hands, there are other nobles, waiting to throw us off the horse."

Saying to this point as Lord Satake and Lord Toyotomi nodded in agreement, he turned his attention to the Shogun.

"My Lord, I suggest we arrange for the Seer to be found within the shortest time possible as we are all ready to lead the search as we did 18 years ago."

From the side, Lord Satake gave his opinion. "No one would go about wearing red hair in this day. I suggest we hold a hair wash ceremony for the young ladies between ages seventeen and nineteen."

"Are you suggesting that we just come up with a non-existing ceremony in such a short time?" Lord Toyotomi interjected."

"We can do what we want as long as it concerns our agenda. We must do what we can to get that girl at all cost!" Lord Shiba interjected angrily.

They have waited for far too long and had been stagnant for the longest of time.

Once they got the Seer, there was nothing to bring them fear and for once, they would take over the leadership of the country, and abolish the noble ranking posing a threat to them.

Glancing at his leaders arguing over what was right and what was wrong, the Shogun slammed his fist on the table as his furious gaze settled on them.