Chapter 103 — Four Hundred Million, Six Hundred Million, Seven Hundred Million
On the field, Nagano Masaru and Taichi stood facing each other.
"Brat," Nagano sneered, licking his lips as his slanted gaze roamed over Taichi's body like a butcher sizing up livestock,
"when I cut off your arms and legs later, you'll finally understand why not letting you fight earlier was actually an act of mercy."
Taichi ignored him completely.
He calmly drew the short blade from behind his back and waited in silence for the match to begin.
A court official from the Daimyō's estate stepped onto the field. After confirming that both sides were ready, he wasted no time.
"Begin."
The moment the word fell, both fighters burst forward.
When the distance between them shrank to ten meters, Nagano Masaru lowered his stance, his right hand hovering near the hilt of his long blade. His eyes were locked onto Taichi, excitement twisting his expression as saliva sprayed unconsciously from his mouth.
Taichi saw the posture and immediately understood.
A standard iaijutsu opening.
Just as they closed another two steps—and precisely at the instant Nagano's long blade was about to leave its scabbard—Taichi vanished.
In a flash, he appeared directly in front of Nagano.
His short blade came down in a brutal, precise cleave, smashing straight into the guard of Nagano's sword.
The angle was perfect—cleanly avoiding the opponent's hand.
The surging force slammed the half-drawn blade straight back into its sheath.
Before Nagano could even process what had happened, Taichi lifted his leg and drove a powerful kick into his chest.
Bang!
Nagano was sent flying, crashing hard into the edge of the arena.
For a moment, the entire venue fell silent.
Only the sound of Nagano Masaru struggling to get back to his feet echoed across the field.
"Cough—cough—!"
"You damned little brat… you really deserve to die!"
The kick had clearly done serious damage, and the humiliation of being so easily knocked away shattered what little composure Nagano had left.
Without thinking, he charged again, gripping his long blade tightly.
But just as he tried to draw—
Taichi disappeared once more.
In the next instant, he was at Nagano's side, his short blade slicing toward the arm drawing the sword.
This time, Nagano was barely prepared. He desperately leapt backward, narrowly avoiding having his right arm split open.
Seeing him retreat, Taichi advanced.
Step by step.
His short blade never strayed far from Nagano's sword hand. Every time Nagano tried to draw, a precise thrust or slash forced him to abort and defend instead.
Ten exchanges.
Then fifteen.
Nagano Masaru still hadn't managed to fully draw his blade.
At this point, even the spectators with no combat experience could tell—the gap between them was enormous.
"Is Taichi… even stronger than before?" Saori asked quietly, unable to hide her surprise.
Captain Yamaguchi nodded solemnly.
"His strength and speed have both increased noticeably. His blade work has improved even more."
"That samurai is at most a special jōnin in combat ability. And after losing momentum at the start, this fight is already decided."
"Now it's just a question of how badly Taichi wants to win."
As he spoke, a faint smile crept onto his face.
This was beyond mission success—Taichi had completely exceeded expectations. Face and money alike were being secured.
On the Daimyō's side, however, the atmosphere had grown heavy.
The Daimyō still hid his expression behind his folding fan, but the half-lidded eyes peeking above it carried a chill that made those nearby uneasy.
Back on the field, after being toyed with long enough, Nagano Masaru finally succeeded in drawing his sword.
His face was twisted with madness.
Staring at the exposed blade, his eyes gleamed as if victory were guaranteed now that the weapon had left its sheath.
"You filthy bastard!" he roared.
"Your death is here! I'll hack you to pieces and feed you to the dogs!"
With no restraint left, he charged forward, raising his long blade overhead and bringing it down with all his strength.
It was a completely unstructured attack—pure rage, no technique.
Taichi didn't retreat.
He stepped forward and met it head-on.
Clang—clang—clang!
Three rapid collisions.
Each time, Taichi's short blade struck precisely at the base of Nagano's sword, exploiting its length and weight disadvantage. Using finesse against brute force, he shattered Nagano's balance.
Then—once again—
Taichi lifted his leg.
A crushing kick.
Bang!
History repeated itself.
Nagano Masaru was sent flying back to the edge of the field once more.
Taichi lowered his blade and looked at him calmly.
"Hey, Uncle Nagano," he said lightly,
"are you sure you still want to continue?"
"If we keep going… I really won't hold back anymore."
This was truly killing the body and crushing the heart.
Taichi's words made even the Konoha shinobi at the sidelines wince—he hadn't left his opponent even a shred of dignity.
When there was no response for a long while, Taichi grew slightly puzzled. By all logic, that kick shouldn't have knocked the man unconscious.
Did he pass out from rage instead?
Seeing no movement, Taichi turned his gaze toward the Daimyō, waiting for the next instruction.
The Daimyō, meanwhile, was seething inside. Still, he possessed enough self-control to suppress the anger on his face without revealing it.
"Konoha's shinobi truly live up to their reputation," he said coolly.
"These minor warriors are clearly no match for you."
With that, he gestured to the attendants beside him.
Soon, two servants stepped forward, hoisting the fallen Nagano Masaru under the arms and dragging him away.
"Elder Koharu, let us return and finalize the remaining details."
The Daimyō rose first and headed back toward the council chamber.
Everyone followed behind, none of them paying attention to Nagano Masaru as he was carried off.
Just as he passed behind Taichi—
A hysterical roar erupted.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Nagano Masaru suddenly snapped awake, violently wrenching himself free of the attendants. In one motion, he drew a shorter side-blade from his waist and stabbed straight toward Taichi's unguarded back.
The attack was completely unexpected.
No one had time to react as the blade flashed toward Taichi's waist.
In that instant, sealing symbols flared beneath Taichi's feet.
Nagano's body froze stiff for a fraction of a second.
That moment of immobilization was enough.
Taichi instantly pulled away, opening distance.
And Nagano—perhaps realizing that this was already a dead end—broke through the seal and charged forward regardless, abandoning all restraint.
His recklessness enraged the Konoha shinobi watching from the sidelines.
It also ignited Taichi's fury completely.
A massive surge of wind-nature chakra poured into Taichi's short blade. Invisible chakra condensed into tangible wind edges, exploding outward from the blade with piercing, razor-sharp shrieks that echoed across the field.
Facing the charging Nagano, Taichi adopted an iaijutsu stance.
When the distance was right—
Taichi vanished.
His blade flashed upward in a single, decisive motion.
The two passed each other in a blur.
The short blade cut cleanly through Nagano's body without the slightest resistance. The residual chakra followed the arc of the swing, forming a crescent of blade light that flew straight into the distant courtyard wall.
Crack! — the side-blade snapped in two and fell.
Thud! — a human body split apart and collapsed.
Crash! — the courtyard wall shattered under the lingering blade light and collapsed inward.
With every sound, the onlookers' gazes snapped to its source—until all eyes finally settled on Taichi, calmly standing as he sheathed his blade.
"Daimyō-sama," Taichi said evenly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the Daimyō's body as if selecting another target,
"my apologies. I failed to hold back just now."
The Daimyō felt a chill crawl over his entire body.
His eyes flicked between Nagano's severed corpse and Taichi's composed figure. His lips twitched violently.
Didn't hold back?
You look like you wouldn't mind killing again.
"…Forget it," the Daimyō said stiffly.
"A despicable man with no warrior's honor deserved his fate."
He turned and left without another word.
The Konoha group immediately gathered around Taichi.
Saori rushed to him first, carefully checking his waist. The incident had been far too sudden—she'd been terrified. The blade had practically grazed his skin. One moment later, and no one knew who would have fallen.
"Taichi! What just happened?" Yōhei asked excitedly.
"How did Nagano suddenly freeze like that?"
The shock had left Yōhei's Sharingan fully activated, the three tomoe spinning wildly—yet he hadn't even noticed.
"It was a sealing technique—Single-Line Lamp Formation," Saori explained after finishing her inspection.
"But Taichi… how did you activate it instantly?"
Everyone turned toward Taichi, curiosity burning in their eyes. This was clearly a trump card—something that could dramatically boost Konoha's combat strength if replicated.
Seeing their thoughts, Taichi didn't hide it. He pulled out a blank sealing paper.
"This," he said simply.
"I had Minato-senpai inscribe the sealing formula in advance—just in case. I didn't expect to actually need it."
Understanding dawned on everyone.
It was a known method—but impractical. Sealing arrays required maintenance by specialists and were extremely costly.
"Taichi," Koharu said sternly,
"the way you stared at the Daimyō earlier was extremely disrespectful. Konoha is still a village of the Land of Fire. There are boundaries you must not cross."
Taichi curled his lips slightly. He had no reverence for that man—but for the village's sake, he restrained himself.
"Yes, Elder," he replied sincerely.
"I was ambushed and lost my composure for a moment."
"Good. Let's go. Don't keep the Daimyō waiting."
---
When the Konoha delegation returned to the council chamber, the Daimyō had already retaken his seat.
After Koharu resumed hers, negotiations resumed.
Because of the prior agreement, there was little left to argue. Just as both sides were about to finalize the figure, the Daimyō spoke again.
"Elder Koharu," he said,
"that unfortunate incident earlier was my failure in judgment. To express my apologies to Konoha, I will add another one hundred million ryō."
"A total of seven hundred million. How does that sound?"
Shock rippled through the room.
Even the finance minister nearly lost composure.
One hundred million ryō just for an apology?!
Naturally, he dared not voice such thoughts.
"Then we gratefully accept Your Excellency's generosity," Koharu replied smoothly, perfectly satisfying the Daimyō's vanity.
Behind his fan, the Daimyō chuckled softly.
---
After the banquet and endless pleasantries, the Konoha group finally departed.
Back in the now-empty chamber, the Daimyō questioned the finance minister.
"Any chance of pulling them over?"
"Difficult," the minister replied.
"Matsushita Taichi is extremely cautious. Furukawa Saori shows open resistance. As for the Uchiha… either he's playing dumb or truly clueless."
"Send a request to Konoha," the Daimyō ordered.
"I want full profiles on that squad. Arrange for them to handle future missions here whenever possible."
"And that Matsushita Taichi—an orphan, wasn't he? He's worth cultivating."
---
As for Konoha's group, the return journey was filled with light hearts.
The mission hadn't merely succeeded—it had exceeded expectations.
Even Koharu couldn't suppress her satisfaction.
Looking at Taichi, she nodded approvingly.
"No wonder Hiruzen favors him so much."
---
That night, Taichi sat at his desk, reviewing the mission as he always did.
His thoughts stopped at the moment the side-blade had stabbed toward his waist.
That really was close…
If that blade had landed, death would have been merciful.
At best, he'd have lost his future happiness.
After all… that was the kidney.
He exhaled slowly.
I need to be stronger.