"Stop!"
The instant this voice was heard, Mr. Isamu and Hirohide stepped back, while I stopped the sword movement inches before it touched Taro's skin.
The latter's eyes were so wide they resembled a pair of white eggs, due to the shocking sight before him.
"Would you please withdraw Taro's sword?" he said politely, which apparently puzzled Taro and Hirohide.
This person, like the two we had fought, had yellow hair and a small beard on his chin.
As for his clothing, it was evident that it was of good quality, reflected in the gold embroidery on certain parts of his garments, including the clan symbol.
It was a red circular shape with a gold bar in the center, resembling the Ketsuryūgan.
For my part, I simply made a movement with my arm, which caused the sword to spin through the air, ending up in its sheath, which was on my back, without having to bend my body.
Regarding Mr. Isamu's actions, he lowered his guard and put away his katana as well.
"What brings you to the Chinoike clan lands?" As I asked this question, the two ninjas who had confronted us retreated and approached this person.
Taro: "Patriarch Arisuke, they wanted to enter our clan."
Hirohide: "That's true, Patriarch. We did everything we could to hold them back."
Arisuke: "Silence!" His concentration was focused on us, so much so that he didn't even look at his subordinates.
Isamu: "The reason we're here is because we've been given a mission."
The patriarch of the Chiroike clan clenched his hands tightly.
Arisuke: "Which clan are we fighting this time?" The voice with which he voiced this question contained immeasurable frustration.
I laughed lightly, understanding the situation the Chinoike clan found itself in at this moment.
Jomei: "No, we're not here to fight against them."
Arisuke: "What is the reason you came here?" He never let his guard down, focusing on our every move.
Jomei: "The reason is simple: we would like to form an alliance." My answer reflected immense confidence.
Patriarch Arisuke didn't trust those words, because various clans had recently carried out numerous raids against the Chinoike clan, but thanks to their military prowess, they managed to repel all the attacks with minimal casualties.
Arisuke: "I see, but I believe this is not the place to discuss this matter. Please accept the invitation to our clan, where you can recover from your injuries."
Jomei: "We are very grateful, but regarding the healing of our wounds." I applied medical ninjutsu to myself, healing the wounds I had received, which were not many and shallow.
This had been planned by myself, although I hadn't expected the Chinoike clan patriarch to be here, but it would make things easier in the negotiations.
The looks of fascination and bewilderment on Arisuke and his subordinates reflected that I had achieved what I wanted.
On the one hand, it was a reason to attract this clan to join us, and on the other hand, it was to show them our clan's potential in a war against them.
Jomei: "Good, we can go now," I commented as my wounds healed, which only took a couple of minutes.
Along the way, Hirohide approached us.
Hirohide: "By the way, what are your names?" His attitude was completely different from what he had displayed before the fight.
The question itself didn't pose any problem, but the way he asked it, I sensed it was obvious he wanted to learn more about us.
Jomei: "My name is Jomei, and this is Mr. Isamu."
Hirohide: "It's a pleasure to meet you. I wanted to apologize for the confrontation a few moments ago. As you know, we've had some fights with nearby clans."
Isamu: "Don't worry, we understand perfectly well what that's like."
Hirohide: "Have you also been attacked by other clans?"
Jomei: "Indeed, yes, although these attacks have recently ceased."
Taro: "What did you do to stop all of that?" His excitement was evident; he hoped that if they answered this question, his clan would be able to do the same thing they did.
Isamu: "Just be stronger than them." The answer itself didn't help him at all with his clan's situation. This left him feeling demotivated.
The journey was really short, so our conversation was brief.
Upon arriving at the Chinoike clan, they gave us a place to sleep, commenting that it was already late for conversation, but that we would speak directly with Arisuke, their patriarch, the next day.
Isamu: "How did you know they were from the Chinoike clan? And why did you let that ninja injure you?"
Jomei: "I didn't really know they were part of the Chinoike clan, but since you mentioned we were about to reach their clan, I deduced it must be them." I decided to bring this up.
Jomei: "Regarding the injuries, I was obviously hoping to show them medical ninjutsu, so we'd have a better chance of forming an alliance."
...
Taro: "Patriarch, will you really listen to those people?" He asked, a little worried.
Arisuke: "I don't know yet, but that child's skill is similar to what the current patriarch of the Senju clan is described as."
Hirohide: "But he's too young to be that person," he questioned.
Arisuke: "He could even be the son of that patriarch, but I don't understand why they would come so far to ask for an alliance."
Taro: "I've heard some rumors from the Land of Fire. Apparently, they signed a peace agreement with the Uchiha clan. It seems they had exterminated a clan allied with the Senju clan."
Hirohide: "I heard they signed the peace agreement because the brother of the patriarch of the Senju clan carried out a massacre in the Uchiha clan. It seems they even took the lives of several children and young people."
Arisuke listened to both stories, trying to figure out which one was true. He even thought that what Hirohide had said had provoked the attack Taro mentioned.
After all, the stories from the Land of Fire were little known in the Land of Lightning, so it was not known for sure what had happened.
The same thing happened with the rest of the planet, because clan wars focused solely on completing missions and fighting against their enemies, thereby gaining new territories and, consequently, greater profits.
...
The next day, we found ourselves sitting next to Patriarch Arisuke.
Arisuke: "I would like to start by thanking you for your willingness to ally with us, but I would like to know more about you, including which clan you come from."
Jomei: "The clan we come from is the Uchiha clan." These words caught Arisuke completely off guard, as he had expected the Senju clan to seek an alliance with them.
That's why he had planned to continue the negotiations in a way that would show his distance, demonstrating that he didn't want an alliance with the Senju clan.
This was due to the recent rumors, but upon hearing that it was the Uchiha clan that wanted an alliance with them, he didn't know what to say, as he had already prepared for negotiations with another clan.
Even so, he continued with the negotiations, hoping to reject this proposal, because, like the Senju clan, the Uchiha clan had several rumors.
The main one being the fact that this clan demonstrated great combat power, and the members of the Uchiha clan displayed attitudes that disdained the rest of the clans.
Arisuke: "Why does the Uchiha clan intend to negotiate an alliance with our clan?" he asked, truly puzzled by this fact.
Jomei: "That's the point. It's not the Uchiha clan, but me who is seeking this alliance. Our patriarch believes the war with the Senju clan is over, but I believe the real fight has just begun." I expressed the real situation and my personal thoughts on the matter.
Arisuke: "I understand the situation, but even so, I don't think you have anything that could help our clan." They expressed their thoughts in the same way.
Arisuke: "In fact, if the situation is as you describe, an alliance between our clans would be completely unfavorable."
Making it clear that he didn't believe a child had anything that would truly benefit the Chinoike clan.
Jomei: "On this matter, I think Patriarch Arisuke is mistaken. Right now, our two clans are going through very unfavorable times for both of us." At this point, he wanted to express that he was somewhat aware of the events that had occurred.
The same events had been described in the anime, but he didn't know how much he should say, so his response was a bit cryptic.
Arisuke: "I don't know what you're talking about, kid. We've had disagreements with some neighboring clans, but it's nothing new."
His expression didn't waver, showing that this wasn't the first time he'd been in a similar situation.
At this point, I smiled smugly. "I don't think that's true, at least not because I know exactly why we were given that mission."
Arisuke's gaze and expression remained completely blank, but the next words I spoke made his wall crumble instantly.