Commiting Seppuku

"It's a good thing Suzume was wearing armor." A samurai stood outside Natsume's tent as he talked with Yori. They had already bandaged her shoulder while she was resting. Because of this incident, their journey was delayed so they decided to settle in and make this spot their camp for the night. Natsume was already awake, but she continued to lie in her tent. She was waiting to see the result of the search for Ken's body.

"It's a good thing to be prepared for betrayal?" Yori replied sarcastically. The samurai suppressed his urge to agree.

While she rested, Natsume took the time to sense the gates. Since she had already sensed the Gate of Opening, it was easy for her to find it once more. She went over the technique of opening the gate and familiarized herself with the process but stopped at the last moment. A sudden outburst of chakra would be strange, so she just repeated the process a few times before committing it to memory. It required a lot of concentration, so she would need practical experience to be able to open it in combat.

Natsume started to sense the second gate when she heard the commotion outside. "They're back!"

Daichi along with two other samurai arrived at the camp entrance with a frozen body. They brought him to one of the vacant tents and Yori stepped in after them. Fortunately, the snow hadn't fallen too heavily in the time it took to return and retrieve his body. Daichi was nervous the whole way back since he had hoped for animals to get to the body first.

"Yori-sama…" One of the samurai that went to get his body started speaking, but he just raised his hand to stop the man. Yori wanted to inspect the body himself. Seeing the single slash to the throat, he was a bit suspicious. How could Daichi not see the face of his attacker if he slit his throat? He signaled everyone to leave the tent while he investigated on his own.

After removing his equipment, a shocking discovery was made. Yori saw the intricate seal on Ken's arm. As far as he knew, Ken did not have any hobbies involving fuinjutsu or calligraphy. When Yori attempted to inspect the seal, it instantly activated and spread across Ken's body. After realizing the danger, Yori jumped out of the tent and braced himself.

Fortunately, the tent they took his body to was on the edge of their camp. The samurai that were waiting outside the tent looked at Yori in confusion, but their instincts warned them of danger so they also fled backward. After a few seconds, the tent exploded. Once the dust cleared, all that remained was a pit in the dirt. Yori returned to the scene and knelt over the hole. Everything being obliterated in the explosion caused him to punch the dirt in anger.

Yori had gone past self-doubt and disappointment. His emotional scale had tipped too far so his anger finally exploded. Everyone was alarmed due to the explosion and did not dare to dally. Even Natsume threw on the fur coat and stepped forward with the other samurai. Thinking there was an attack, the samurai were armed and ready to fight. Instead, they saw Yori standing over a pit.

"That man who called himself Ken is a traitor. I do not know what his purpose was, but his identity as a shinobi spy is certain. I fear that he was not alone…" Before Yori even finished the sentence, four thuds could be heard from within the crowd. The samurai spread out from the kneeling figures and identified them as the group that always stuck together. It was Daichi and his clique.

"Yori-sama, although we entered apprenticeship together, none of us knew each other before then." Daichi took out his tanto and held it with both hands. "I will give my life to restore everyone's honor and clear our names of suspicion." Natsume watched quietly from the side and wondered what his plan was. Daichi's eyes had the will and determination to end his own life. This kind of madness could not be faked.

None of the other three had made any other moves besides kneeling. Only Daichi decided to commit seppuku to cover for them. Their eyes turned red, it seems they had misunderstood this friend of theirs. Just as the blade was about to come down and stab into his abdomen, Yori knocked it out of his hand. The mood was solemn and serious. After this, no one suspected Daichi at all.

"Enough. No one else will be dying under my command. When we return, I will make a detailed report. It is not too late to restore your honor before the Shogun." Although his words were harsh, Yori felt relieved inside. 'At the very least, I can trust Daichi-san.'

Natsume watched from the side and was impressed. She approved of her subordinate's skill. She was very proud of her own acting, so her standard was much higher. However, this spy incident was unexpected. Given the circumstances of her apprenticeship, she would likely be interrogated upon arrival. If the Shogun was particularly cruel, he may just choose to cut off her paths even if her story was flawless.

Natsume hoped to at least learn the advanced chakra blade techniques before being sent to her execution. She considered manipulating everyone in camp with her sharingan, but she couldn't ensure that there was no one in the samurai's camp that could see through genjutsu. Therefore, she decided to lie low and rely on her new subordinate to attract the Shogun's attention.

Once Yori dismissed them, the samurai returned to their respective tents. The camp quickly become quiet, no one dared to cause any trouble for the rest of the night. It did not take long for Daichi to arrive outside of her tent.

"Come in."

"Suzume-sa…n, how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you for saving me, Daichi-san." Natsume activated her sharingan and put Daichi under a genjutsu in order to communicate with him secretly. The world was created by Daichi subconsciously, and a devastated battlefield appeared around the duo. 'It seems the trauma from then is still with him.'

"Ojo-sama, what instructions do you have for me?" Daichi did not acknowledge his mental world. It seemed that he had found a purpose and was clinging onto it.