The room was exceptionally quiet.
Two minutes later, Chisa asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Wait, I'm calculating if it's mine."
Chisa's beautiful eyes behind her glasses widened, and she turned around to hit the Fox.
This man had not only been absent and silent for nearly two years, but now he was actually calculating whether it was his!
Yōkō quickly hugged Chisa: "Just kidding, of course I believe you."
Chisa thought to herself, she wouldn't dare risk angering the Copper Fox of Konoha.
The Land of Rivers was too small and weak to protect her.
Yōkō took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch. After unrolling it, various sealing formulas were visible on it.
In the center of one of these sealing formulas was the character for 'White'.
After unsealing it, the contract summoning scroll of the White Panda clan appeared.
"Chisa, form a contract with the White Panda clan. If you're in danger, you can use Reverse Summoning on me."
Both Kyōi and Purple Cat were pregnant. Relying only on Yuka would be a bit too much for her to handle. With Chisa, she could share some of the... burden.
Chisa's eyes lit up.
She was a woman who had wanted to see the Copper Fox countless times over the past year. Now, with his sealing technique, she finally had the chance to see him.
Biting her finger, Chisa wrote her name on the contract scroll.
She saw the first name: Uzumaki Yuka. It seemed to be a woman's name.
Was she the other woman?
Yōkō thought to himself, Chisa is a noble; she should understand that a man is expected to have many lovers. She probably wouldn't mind being the fifth, right?
"Get dressed. I'll summon Hakuji so you can meet."
Chisa hurriedly picked up the scattered clothes, large and small, from the floor and table, and put them on.
A moment later, Hakuji appeared.
Hakuji heard from the Fox that this woman also had the authority to reverse summon him.
He thought to himself that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for Uzumaki Yuka and this noblewoman to meet; things could get messy.
Yōkō looked at the stone panda's hand.
He had also carved the Cross Seal on Hakuji's hand.
"Hakuji, how is your training with the Cross Seal and the Earth Release: Flying Bamboo going?"
Hakuji said, "We are much clumsier than shinobi. It took me a few months, but I've finally mastered these two techniques.
The power is great. I can instantly release five Earth Release: Flying Bamboo attacks; the area of effect is large."
Yōkō nodded repeatedly and said, "Good. Hakuji, wait here for me for a while. I'm going out."
Chisa quickly asked, "Fox, where are you going?"
Yōkō said, "I'm going to see our child."
Having said that, Yōkō's figure sank down and disappeared into the wooden floor.
The Ephemeral Technique allowed for extremely fast travel through the network of organic matter underground, about 500 kilometers per hour.
The movement of the Ephemeral Technique was similar to nerve conduction, not physical movement in the usual sense.
The journey from Tsutamidani Town to the Capital of the Land of Rivers normally took three or four days. Yōkō only took a few hours, resting once in between, and arrived at the Capital of the Land of Rivers.
The Jōnin leader of the Daimyō's Guardian Ninja of the Land of Rivers, the sons of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Kohari, along with a Tokubetsu Jōnin from the Hyūga clan, none of them detected someone infiltrating the Daimyō's Tenshu Castle.
Koishi Chisa had a princess's residence within the Tenshu Castle.
Entering the princess's residence, Yōkō quickly found a child in a large hall, guarded by several maids and a wet nurse.
Feathers appeared in the hall, and all the maids and the wet nurse fell into a deep sleep.
Yōkō slowly rose from the ground.
The moment he saw the child, Yōkō knew this was his son.
His hair is rather red...
He reached out and carefully examined the child. This child had inherited the Uzumaki bloodline.
The Senju bloodline, the Uzumaki bloodline – even if he were exposed, these were acceptable for outsiders to know.
He himself indeed possessed Senju and Uzumaki blood. He could pretend to be a secret agent of the previous clan leader, Senju Rinoki. Since he was dead, no one could prove it false.
Yōkō watched the child for a while longer, then left using the Ephemeral Technique.
By the time Yōkō returned to Tsutamidani Town, it was almost dawn.
The night passed without incident. Chisa lay on the bed, asleep in her clothes.
Yōkō kissed her awake and asked, "Chisa, what's the child's name?"
Chisa rubbed her eyes, first putting on the glasses the Fox liked, and said, "He doesn't have a formal name yet, only a childhood name, Kagami."
Because the Fox liked her wearing glasses, she had given the child the childhood name Kagami (Mirror).
Yōkō thought for a moment and said, "How about Koishi Yakata?"
Chisa's eyes lit up; this was the name his father had given him. It was good.
Yōkō said, "Chisa, I am a Konoha Anbu. I have many enemies, and they are very strong. If I am exposed, it could bring disaster to you and our son.
So, let the child use your surname.
When it's convenient for me, I will have Hakuji notify you via the contract's chakra. You can summon Hakuji and then use Reverse Summoning on me.
When the child is a bit older, around 4 years old, I will come to teach him how to refine chakra, train his taijutsu, and practice ninjutsu."
"Okay, I understand. Anbu ninja cannot reveal their identities." Chisa asked, "Fox, can you possibly retire from the Anbu? I've heard the casualty rate in Konoha's Anbu is very high..."
"It's not up to me. I have my mission." Yōkō gently stroked Chisa's hair and asked,
"Chisa, have you had any troubles lately? I'll help you solve them."
"It's not a major trouble," Chisa said:
"My brother's son, the 11-year-old Crown Prince, seems to have said on certain occasions that he doesn't want my child to inherit the Koishi surname.
But my brother dotes on me, and I've contributed a lot to the Daimyō's family. I believe my brother will support me."
Yōkō thought to himself, whatever the Crown Prince or the second prince, if they really annoyed him, they would all end up as dead princes.
"If that so-called Crown Prince makes any moves, notify me immediately. I'll handle it."
Two hours later, the second negotiation between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind began.
Chisa arrived on the ship of the Land of Rain nobles, leaning back in her chair, her figure tired and languid.
That annoying Fox. This morning, he insisted that the morning light shining on her glasses was dazzling and that he absolutely had to appreciate the different scenery.
The glasses had bounced up and down for half an hour. Chisa still felt weak all over.
The Land of Rain noble gave a simple opening speech, asking the two nobles who had come from afar to talk properly again, hoping to resolve things through negotiation rather than hiring ninja to escalate the conflict.
Chisa took out a scroll with several red circles marked by the Fox and said, "Let's negotiate at a different location today."
At Chisa's request, the Land of Rain nobles' ship went to the location of the first red circle.
A flicker of panic crossed the Land of Wind noble's face.
After forming hand signs, Chisa caused a Water Dragon Bullet to rise from the water nearby. The dragon's head plunged fiercely, crashing into the water's surface.
After destroying the anti-whirlpool seal hidden underwater, a whirlpool appeared near the bank of the Yoshimizu River.
There was clearly a water outlet below.
"Land of Wind, how do you explain this?"
After changing locations four more times in a row, Chisa accurately found all the hidden pipe outlets set up by the Land of Wind.
The Land of Wind noble admitted defeat, begged Chisa not to hire Konoha ninja, and promised to quickly block the outlets.
The peace talks were making progress, but some people were unwilling to see both sides cease hostilities.
From the forest by the river, a squadron of Iwa-nin suddenly charged out, heading straight for the nobles' large ship.
***
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(End of Chapter)