Mashiro sighed and threw the scroll at Taro, then said, "There, give it to the old man." Taro was shocked, but before he could ask, Mashiro cut him off, "I'm confident enough to beat Hebi. And my prestige throughout the clan is already unmatched, especially with the abundance of food."
Mashiro scoffed, "It doesn't matter if he comes back or not. If Housen can really teach you Ki, then it'll all be worth it."
Mashiro knew the value of Ki like no one else, as it was one of the main fighting styles of his father. During his childhood, he and his brother had coveted Ki, but Housen had deemed them unfit.
At the time, both brothers threw a fit and tried to fight Housen, but were severely beaten by their father and Housen himself. Although Housen isn't considered strong in his current old state, he was one of the strongest ninjas alongside Fuji who became the right hand man of the previous patriarch.
The allure of Ki was understandable to anyone, as it can allow the user to predict movements from the enemy. In battle, this technique could be the deciding factor of life and death. Not only that, Mashiro and his brother knew that Ki had another important factor, and that was the ability to tell lies.
Because Ki deals with the enemies' muscles, breathing, and expressions, someone who has mastered Ki can easily tell when someone is lying or not. For people like Mashiro and Hebi, who had a future in a leader position, they knew how valuable something like Ki was.
However, even though they were sons of the patriarch, Housen had deemed the brothers unsuitable, as they did not have a calm mind. Only people who could calm their mind and hear and see the changes in a person's body could master Ki.
Taro nodded and was about to take his leave, when Mashiro suddenly stopped him, "Also, Taro… Don't show yourself for a few days."
Confused, Taro asked, "Why is that?"
Mashiro rubbed the bridge of his nose, "The diplomats from the Fu clan are requesting a meeting with me. They'll be here in a day or so, and stay for about three days."
The Fu clan is a major clan in the Land of Wind, a formidable clan that even the Daimyo has to show respect to. Although they aren't an aggressive clan, all of their clan members are curious people who would most likely probe at the Hosai clan's current strength.
When everyone heard the clan name Fu, everyone knew why they wanted to meet the Hosai clan. For one, it was most likely to probe the current Hosai, as they now border the Fu clan with the addition of the Hebidoku clan in the Hosai clan.
And secondly, the Fu clan are currently in a war against the Wama clan without any significant allies. Most of their allies are small clans that can only send a few low jonin ninjas to fight for them. So the Fu clan are most likely trying to hire the Hosai clan, a newly born minor clan that's still growing in power.
If the Fu clan managed to hire the Hosai clan, the three other clans under them would most likely be dragged into the conflict, helping the Fu clan even more.
Mashiro confirmed everyone's suspicions, "They're here to hire us. We don't know how much they're paying, but it should be a hefty sum."
Taro nodded and said, "Alright, I won't get in the way… But if you do accept the mission, don't send people that wield the enchanted swords. We can't let anyone know about its existence yet."
The existence of the enchanted sword has yet to spread in the Land of Wind, not even the surrounding clans know about its existence. The reason for this was because Mashiro had already banned the clan from talking about them, and Kise had already killed all Hebidoku clansmen that knew of its existence except for Ketsu.
Mashiro nodded, "Don't worry about that. I won't tell anyone."
After Mashiro reassured Taro, Taro left and went back to his room where he instantly went back to Minecraft.
After Taro had finished supplying the merchant guild, he felt that it wasn't enough. And so he enslaved the overworked Kamishiro and made him create more sealing scrolls. Although the sealing scrolls weren't hard to make, and Kamishiro could make hundreds in an hour, he still found it monotonous and what's more, he was overworked by Taro.
When Taro finished his work in Minecraft, morning had already arrived. He didn't need to sleep as he had plenty of rest in Minecraft. And so he quickly made his way towards old Housen's to give him the Last Will and finally learn from the old geezer.
Housen had already been back about a week ago and had asked Taro if he had the scroll. At first, the old man was angry as Taro explained that he had been too busy to ask for the scroll. In the end, the old man gave Taro another week to get the scroll and give it to him.
Now that Taro has the scroll, he thought to himself, "I wonder what's inside the scroll."
Taro stared at the scroll and was tempted to open it. But in the end, he just shook his head and rushed towards the house of Housen.
When Taro arrived, Housen was already outside of his house waiting for Taro as if he had already known that he would arrive.
Seeing the scroll on Taro's hand, Housen couldn't stay calm and snatched the scroll out of Taro's hand.
Taro watched as the expression of the old man changed from excitement to a solemn face. He murmured, "So that's your last wish, huh?"
With a sigh, he closed the scroll and stared at Taro who was intrigued at the content of the scroll but was more excited at the fact that he could finally learn Ki.
A smile formed on Housen's face and said, "You brat! You better have grit, or else I'll beat the shit out of you if you slacked off!"