Naruto: The Blind Swordsman

Chapter 76: Happiness, Father's Instinct and Departure

__________ POV Narration__________

"I-is something wrong, Father?..." Yue's voice rang out as she stood before her father inside his office.

She was dressed in new clothes, all blood was washed off. She now looked just like before, as if nothing at all had happened.

Behind the Daimyō stood Mifune and Ken, shoulder to shoulder... Well, close to that at least. Mifune was still taller than Ken by quite a bit, at least while Ken's transformation was still active.

"Yue... We need to talk about what happened in the courtyard earlier..." Yuichi's voice sounded serious, his expression told little Yue that the situation was no laughing matter too...

'Did I do something wrong?!' Was the first thought in her mind.

It wasn't that she didn't realise that gouging out someone's eyeballs was 'wrong'. She wanted to do it either way, and she thought that she wasn't going to get in trouble if she was following Ken's 'orders'.

'Was Sir Ken's orders not approved by Father?... Would I be able to blame him for that then?!'

Her mind was running on overdrive. The last thing she wanted was for her father to look at her in a bad light. She was prepared to sacrifice anything in order to avoid that.

Mifune and Yuichi could both read her mind just from seeing the frantic look in her eyes. The slightly panicked expression was currently etched into her face.

Still, they waited for her response.

"... Y-yes father... Did I disappoint you...?"

It was a question that could've had many meanings... It was exactly the question that the three of them were expecting to receive from her.

On one hand, it could be that she was asking if she was disappointed in her performance during Ken's 'test'. Either she had done badly, or she had done too well...

After all, it could be that she was concerned she may have disappointed her father by letting her bloodlust show to such an extent.

By getting carried away at the moment and letting loose on the prisoner in a manner not befitting royalty.

"..." Here was the crucial part.

'... I should do as Ken instructed here... He's the one with more experience when dealing wiht such things... Even if it feels wrong.'

"No dear... In fact, it's the opposite. You went above and beyond what we may have expected..."

Encouragement from a father figure...

Yuichi couldn't help but question himself internally... Was he really right in encouraging such a talent? Letting her grow?

But Ken thought otherwise...

'It's important that no matter what she does, she feels like she can rely on you...

That she'll always have someone to fall back on. You need to do this if you want to keep your relationship with her intact.'

Ken's words rang in Yuichi's mind. It was clear that the assassin knew what he was talking about. Even Mifune seemed to agree, it was the most 'diplomatic' approach to the situation after all... But it still felt wrong.

"Thank you, Father!" Yue squealed a bit as she ran up to her father, almost jumping over his desk and landing in his now open arms.

Yuichi's feelings swiftly vanished when he embraced his daughter... The Daimyō observed Yue's reaction, and his expression immediately softened.

A large smile spread across her cheeks as she buried her head in his chest, her entire face lit up as her eyes seemed to regain their life.

Yuichi's eyes widened for a second... He couldn't help it. Even with all of his pampering... He hadn't seen Yue that happy ever since...

'Ever since her mother passed... Ken was right in the end... I can't afford to lose my daughter.'

Yuichi patted his young daughter's head with a warm smile on his face. At that moment, he couldn't help but feel thankful for Ken's intervention.

'Who knows what could've happened without him here... I already owed him a favour, but this goes beyond that... Being able to see Yue's smile... This is a debt that I can't ever pay back...'

The father and daughter duo hugged for a bit more, Ken and Mifune stood unmoving during that time.

Mifune sometimes glanced at the assassin. He wasn't fully ok with Ken also being allowed to stand by the Daimyō's side since he was still technically an outsider.

But now that Ken was to be taking care of Yue, it was simply a waste of time to mistrust him.

It was also hard for Mifune to be mad at Ken when seeing Yue's smile.

'If he had any bad intentions, he already had a lot of chances to act out on them... Even if he has more ulterior motives, he's already proven to be an ally...'

The samurai sighed a bit before his gaze rested back on the Daimyō and Yue.

Meanwhile, Ken was contemplating how the training was going to be done. He did propose that Yue would come to his compound and live there for a few years, but Yuichi wasn't fully ok with not seeing his daughter for that long, which was completely understandable...

'We might end up with a schedule where she returns home once or twice a month... But I sure as hell am not wasting all of my time here...'

Ken shook his head before his senses fixated on the little girl for a moment.

'Her first kill... Huh?'

Even if he had been the one to technically finish off the prisoner, she was the one that had 'killed' him. She did the most damage essentially.

Ken couldn't help but sigh internally as he remembered his very own 'first kill'...

He was older than Yue when it happened. He couldn't remember exactly by how much, but he remembered the details of it perfectly...

His reaction wasn't that much different from Yue's either...

'The thrill of drawing that first blood was what got me hooked...'

It all started with a drunken fool one merry night... He may have been violent, and gotten himself kicked out of a bar, or maybe his wife kicked him out of the home because of his drinking.

None of that mattered. What mattered was that he stumbled upon Ken, or Joseph, that merry night...

Ken remembered how he had gutted the man with a switchblade, how he had stuffed some trash in his mouth to keep him from screaming out while he was bleeding like a pig.

'... In retrospect... Yue's first kill might've been better. It was neither as messy, nor was it involving a random drunk passerby...'

Ken didn't exactly take pride in what he had done. Not that he ever had... But it was thrilling, to say the least...

That guilt was what drove him to aim higher... To go for people that actually deserved to die, at least by his standards.

He also killed plenty of good people, cops, detectives, and even some good politicians. It was either for money, pleasure, or by mistake...

Money was nothing more than an object to Ken regardless... It was just a way to keep his spree going for longer.

He did become the best assassin-for-hire and even became filthy rich...

But the blood of innocents that stained his hands still made him ashamed of his past. As for the countless others... Who cares anyway?

Snake dying in the snake pit wasn't worth crying over. It was only a shame whenever someone that didn't belong fell in...

Ken sensed the girl's happiness once more. It was even more concentrated than when she was torturing that criminal.

'I'll make sure she won't have to live with such regrets... Make it so she'll always be able to justify her actions while also satisfying her 'needs'.'

While the Blind Swordsman was mulling over his thoughts, Yuichi decided to finally continue his preplanned 'speech'.

"Little Yue..." The Daimyō patted his daughter's hair once more before he cupped her cheek and turned her gaze to meet his.

"... Lord Ken vouched for your talent... He was even impressed by it, to the point where he wishes to help you develop it properly... Do you accept his guidance?"

Yue seemed more and more excited with every sentence that her father spoke.

But before she could accept, her father continue.

"By accepting... You will leave with him, and you will learn from him. You can't complain to him about your treatment... Nor will you receive special treatment compared to his other students..."

Yuichi kept his expression unchanged. He wasn't fully on board with the idea either. It was hard for a father to let his young daughter wander off at the end of the day.

In the end, Yuichi and Mifune realised that Yue would live alongside the other youngsters in the Dark Brotherhood. They wouldn't be able to shelter her at all, and she would have to get used to a significantly different way of life...

In the end, it all hinged on her... Was her determination to learn and develop large enough to give up her current life?

Well...

"I accept!" Her voice rang out with clarity... Her answer was exactly what Ken had expected.

There was no hesitation in the girl's voice.

Her features were still just as happy and excited as before. In fact, she hugged her father once more, thankful for the opportunity he was giving her...

"Thank you for letting me do this, Father..." Yue snuggled up to her father once more as she spoke out.

She also turned and looked at Ken with an almost euphoric expression, she mentally thanked the assassin that had also made it all possible...

"You're more than welcome, Yue... Just promise to visit me from time to time, don't forget about your old man!" Yuichi ended the 'speech' on a high note. A wide smile spread on his face as he slowly wrapped his hand around his daughter one last time.

"..." The two of them stayed like that for a few more minutes, before Yuichi sighed and slowly softened up, his daughter also getting up and walking in front of his table, facing her father with a resolute gaze.

"So... When are we leaving?!" Her confidence was skyrocketing, and Yuichi sighed a bit when seeing her.

"Now, you have 10 minutes to pack your bags, not one second more. Grab only essentials, I will throw away anything that's unnecessary." Ken was the one to respond this time, as he stepped forward and walked by Yuichi's desk.

Yue's eyes widened when she heard his answer. The little girl immediately started leaving her father's office in a hurry, only stopping to bow to the people inside before running away.

"..." Silence stretched in the room for a few seconds, before Yuichi sighed and turned his head towards Ken.

"Please take care of my daughter, Ken... I'll send a delegation whenever I want her to visit, they'll take care of bringing her safely to me... You don't have to bother yourself with that."

The Blind Assassin merely nodded at the Daimyō's words.

"Very well... I'll make sure no harm comes to her. Training will still be harsh, but I'm sure she can take it... It seems you raised a strong girl..."

The assassin then started walking away. Yuichi's gaze traced his steps as he closed the door behind him.

"..."

Mifune sighed a bit as he finally spoke out.

"I assume you want someone to follow them?"

The Daimyō looked at his General, seemingly pondering about it for a second before shaking his head.

"No... It's no use. Lord Ken would certainly notice if he was being tracked... And I doubt there's anything that can harm her while she's with him."

The General frowned a bit when hearing that. But he didn't protest in the end.

'... From here on out, Yue's fate lies in that man's hands... At least she won't turn into a tyrannical noble and a serial killer...'

And so, Ken's meeting with the Daimyō ended on a high note...

The Blind Swordsman's payment was still set to be sent to him during the next 'check-in' of the Daimyō's delegation.

It was going to contain a rather substantial sum, as Ken had gone above and beyond this time around. But no amount of money was going to change the fact that Yuichi now was indebted to Ken.

Any and all plots that the Daimyō may have been cooking up were now erased in an instant.

"... What are the chances of Lord Ken using the front door to leave this time around?" The Daimyō turned to his General for a second.

"... Very low... He's probably just going to jump the walls with the Young Lady on his back..." Mifune sighed as he remembered the Assassin's habit of ignoring regular customs.

"... Please make sure to inform the Samurai that Yue is leaving with him... We don't need any misunderstandings to happen now..."

"Naturally..."

Mifune also left the room after that, to inform his troops of the development.

And finally, the Daimyō was left alone with his thoughts...

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Yue's gonna be getting more screen time from now on, being the mc's pupil an all that.

Yep, still working on the advanced chapters for now

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