Naruto: The Blind Swordsman

Chapter 74: Reunion and Plan in Action

____________ POV Narration ____________

"... So that's the plan, huh?..." Ken's shoulders slumped a bit as he tilted his head.

'At least I won't have to teach some spoiled brat...

I can also always refuse, but making Daimyō owe me another favour is certainly going to be helpful in the future... The more leverage I have over him the better...

This also sounds like easy money regardless...'

"Yep... Do you think you can do it? Not that I doubt you can get your hands dirty, but we don't wish to inconvenience you too much with this..." Mifune nodded to the masked assassin, while the Daimyō sighed a bit.

"If you do agree, I will make sure you are paid well for this request...

If our plan is successful, I am even willing to grant you a Noble Passage Seal... Giving you an honorary title of nobility within the Land of Iron..."

Mifune's eyes widened a bit when hearing his Lord's words. Yet he didn't get to question that decision, as the Daimyō decided to explain himself right away.

"Since I already owe you a favour, I believe this should be enough to compensate you for your time..."

Mifune still seemed dissatisfied though. Accepting an assassin as nobility was quite the move... The other noble families were also definitely going to complain about it...

"... I don't wish to gain a noble title... I am happy as long as I get proper payment..."

'Noble title... It does sound nice, but it would essentially further tie me down to this Land. Even if it's just an honorary title, I wouldn't go out of my way to gain it...'

"That is fine... The offer will remain on the table, and you will still get proper compensation regardless..." Yuichi nodded, seemingly expecting Ken's refusal already.

"... I will go and arrange for our plan to be completed today..." Mifune nodded and turned to leave the room, taking one last glance towards the assassin that had snuck past all of their defences effortlessly before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"Now then... I guess I will go meet your daughter... Out in the field should be fine..." Ken nodded towards Yuichi, who seemed to also agree.

"Of course... I will let her know to go out and meet you. I'm sure she'll be excited." Yuichi just nodded and slowly stood up, while Ken left through the door normally.

'That's new...' The Daimyō had half expected Ken to turn into a bat and leave out the window or something along those lines. Seeing him use doors was surprising enough. Thankfully the guards didn't stop him, as Mifune had already informed everyone about his presence.

Ken walked through the halls while humming to himself, sometimes, either a guard or a servant would give him a strange, almost hostile look.

'I guess sneaking into their leader's office makes them a bit wary of me... Whatever...'

The Blind Assassin could feel their wariness, their hostility. But he didn't really care about any of it.

Instead, he was stuck contemplating how exactly he had managed to get the attention of that little princess.

'Hell, I was expecting her to not ever want to see me again... That type of situation would usually leave someone traumatized...'

He had half-expected the Little Girl, Yue, to ask the Daimyō to keep him as far away from the palace as possible.

'... I guess she did seem relatively accommodating even back then, and went as far as to invite me to the palace... I guess a little girl that grows up on stories of heroism would fall for a 'perceived hero'...'

As much as Ken found the situation annoying, he also was thankful for it.

Even if he didn't get a favour from the Daimyō, he was still going to request an exorbitant amount of money.

After all, one couldn't just hire an assassin on the level of the 5 Kage for a Genin-level mission...

Yep, to Ken, his current predicament was very similar to some of the missions that beginner shinobi were sent on. He remembered Tosho telling him a few things about them.

Missions ranging from cleaning up the streets to finding lost cats... It wasn't exactly what one would envision Genin getting sent on...

Even worse, the Genin that had only gotten sent on such missions would then be sent to war... Expected to excel on a battlefield with nothing more than the theoretical knowledge from their academy...

It was basically a death sentence. And a huge reason why Tosho had ended up where he was.

Ken eventually reached the courtyard of the Daimyō's palace. He sat down underneath a tree, shaking it slightly as he leaned with his back on it. Snow fell on top of his head as he took a deep breath.

He didn't bother shaking it off, instead, he just started meditating a bit, feeling the Nature Energy gathering up around him, being drawn to him.

Then, just as he formed a vortex of Nature Energy around him, he let off chilling murderous intent, causing it to dispel instantly, the tree he leaned on even seemed to try and sway away from him, going slightly against the wind.

Nature Energy was still drawn to him, but, unlike chakra, it seemed to have a mind of its own. It would either fear Ken or love him unconditionally.

The Blind Assassin had experimented with it many times. To the point where he doubted if there was anyone else in the world with more mastery over Nature's Energy than him...

Granted he had yet to meet anyone capable of drawing it in or controlling it in any way.

As Ken was mulling over these thoughts, a small figure ran into the courtyard.

A young girl with shining eyes, and a wide smile stretching on her face. The guards couldn't help but smile warmly when seeing her pass by.

Her features were fair, to the point where one could clearly tell that she was a little princess just by looking at her face. The expensive clothes made out of silk certainly helped too...

Ken could sense most of her features as she ran up to the tree he was leaning on.

He could sense a great number of emotions within her. Emotions like excitement, happiness, and a severe lack of patience, which was rather normal for children her age.

"Sir Ken!" She brought her hands together, skipping from side to side while staring at the Blind Assassin that was still sitting on the ground in front of her.

"... It's been a while, little brat..." The Blind Swordsman slowly stood up patting the snow off of his shoulders as he cracked his neck a few times.

Now standing at his full fake height, Ken was around 1.55 meters(5.08 feet) tall, while the little princess was around 1.40 meters(4.6 feet).

'At least this brat isn't taller than me... It's already enough that she's older...'

Yue didn't seem to appreciate being called a brat, but she was far too excited to bring that up.

"Oh my god! I am so glad that my father finally managed to contact you!"

Her emotions were definitely reflected in her tone and mannerisms as she continued skipping from side to side like an overly excited child on Christmas Eve.

"I am quite busy usually. Would you mind telling me exactly what, and why, you wish to learn from me?" The Blind Swordsman cut right to the chase, not exactly bothered about catching up with the little lady.

"Well..." Yue seemed to stop suddenly, bringing her hand to her mouth, seemingly gaining a thoughtful expression as she looked at Ken's mask.

"I... I do appreciate Lord Mifune's teachings... But it's just not what I want to do...I want to be like you..." Yue eventually managed to get out her thoughts, as her gaze eventually reached the ground.

She seemed to be ashamed for a second, before turning a bit red as she remembered the day that Ken saved her.

'The way he killed those men... I'll be able to do it as well one day... At least with his guidance.'

While Yue was fantasizing about her lessons, Ken was taking her outward response a bit differently.

'She seems to have turned a bit skittish, shy... Maybe the Daimyō was right? Is she truly just infatuated with her 'saviour'?...

Well, I guess his plan has more chances of being successful like this if this is truly the case.'

Ken, much like Yuichi and Mifune, assumed that Yue was simply lying. That she just wanted to spend some time with her saviour, to get to know him on a personal level.

"Fine... But before I teach you anything... I need to confirm a few things. Call it a test." Ken's voice seemed to bring the little girl back to the conscious world, as he started walking into the middle of the courtyard.

"Oh! Anything! I'll do anything! Just promise me that you'll teach me afterwards..." Yue's voice sounded even more excited than before as she skipped after him.

"Naturally..." 'Don't worry, you'll forget all about wanting to learn from me after today...' Ken sighed as he stood in the middle of the courtyard.

He then turned his head to the side and gave one of the samurai watching them a nod.

The samurai nodded back, before leaving and returning with... Three chained men. They wore torn rags, blindfolded and gagged. Their hands and legs were cuffed tightly, chains connected them all together.

The men released muffled screams and tried to struggle while being dragged out by the more physically capable samurai. They were gagged, and they were too weak to resist as they ended up thrown into the middle of the courtyard, right in front of Ken and Yue.

Yue looked at the three of them with a confused gaze, her eyes shining for a second as she looked at Ken's back quizzically.

"These three... It doesn't matter what they did to reach this place. It doesn't matter who they are or used to be... Today, they will die." Ken turned his head towards Yue, while the three men trembled and tried to get up.

Three samurai appeared behind the prisoners, kicking them in the back of their knees, forcing them to kneel on the hard and cold ground.

"And you... Will kill them." Ken then tapped one of his wrists, but he didn't take out a long blade or even a kunai for that matter...

"But you won't kill them normally... No, that would be too easy. Too quick... Too impersonal..."

Yue gasped when seeing the object that Ken extended to her... A scalpel, one with a blade so small that any one of her fingers was bigger...

Quickly, her heartbeat became faster and faster, she stared at the scalpel in her palm with a startled expression.

Her entire face was hidden from everyone, only Ken could feel the slight changes in it. The panic, the fear... The excitement?

'Wait a minute... Something isn't quite right...'

Ken could feel some blood rushing to her face, he assumed that she turned red.

'Holy shit... Don't tell me... No, I need to confirm this...'

"I was going to ask you to just slit a throat... But judging by your reaction, that might be too little..."

The samurai seemed a bit startled when hearing what Ken said. They couldn't really see their young Lady's reaction after all...

They were a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation in general, but they were given orders to listen to the assassin's commands, so they couldn't disobey...

Ken slowly walked over to one of the men, allowing the samurai holding him down to step back.

The blind assassin took off the man's blindfold, revealing the prisoner's panicked expression. He then removed the man's gag, allowing him to breathe freely.

"P-please spare me!!" Those were his first words. But Ken ignored him completely, having no sympathy to give for an actual murderer.

All three of the men brought into the courtyard were hardened criminals, with crimes ranging from child abuse, murder, smuggling, kidnapping and rape... They were going to be tortured and killed by the state regardless.

"Gouge this man's eyes out... Slowly..." Ken slapped the man once, silencing him instantly before he turned to Yue, whose hands were already shaking.

'If she goes through with this... Then we might have some bigger problems on our hands...'

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