After settling everything and having our wounds patched up by a physician Daisaku brought in, Daisaku paid us for the horses, the food, and the weapons. Supervisor Yuma also gave us all our cut of the bounties while he had the corpses packed away in his wagon.
"I'll handle the bounties." Supervisor Yuma said.
"We didn't even know there were bounties on them." Hirokazu said.
"You just want a bigger cut for taking care of it. Well, I don't mind giving you the portion, saves me the trouble." Daisaku said. "Send Zangei my regards."
After splitting the gold with Hirokazu and Kuro, I came out with an extra 48 ryo.
I ended up selling the old katana I had because it ended up with chips all over from all the fighting. Instead, I kept the katana that had belonged to the patrol leader. Daisaku had offered 75 ryo for it, so it must have been a decently good-quality sword.
"By the way, do either of you know anything about the Shiin Clan?" I asked as we were preparing to leave.
"Shiin Clan? Why do you want to know about them?" Daisaku asked.
"We had a run in with them." Hirokazu said.
"They're a ninja clan that has fallen after the war." Daisaku said. "We've also had a few run ins with them."
"They were ninjas? They didn't look like ninjas, they looked more like bandits." Hirokazu said.
"War?" I asked.
"The answer to the both of you is...well, you couldn't really call it a war. The gist of it is that our Daimyo was feeling a little ambitious and decided to invade our neighbour, but he severely underestimated their samurais and his forces were completely and utterly defeated. After returning to the country his forces disbanded. The Shiin Clan were part of his forces and now they have to resort to banditry to survive." Daisaku shook his head as he gestured at the town. "Losing that war was the prelude to the situation we are in right now."
'So the Land of Rice Fields had been having their own troubles even before our Daimyo forced the DMZ on them. If anything, he forced it on them because of their weakened state, and they could only comply.'
"Come on, it's time to go." Supervisor Yuma called out at that moment.
"I'll see you next time." Daisaku said.
"We probably won't be seeing you again." I said.
"Yep, this was a one time thing." Hirokazu added and Kuro nodded in agreement.
"Haha, good. You're too young to be getting involved in this dangerous business."
We set off with the caravan afterwards and I spent the entire trip resting and meditating on the back of the wagon. The meditating was surprisingly helpful in soothing my low tank of ki. By cycling the small amount of ki that I recovered, I was able to mitigate my physical weakness to an extent. Enough that I could sit down and join everyone for meals.
We arrived in Yamainu on the evening of the second day.
"Supervisor Zai, can I have a word with you?" Supervisor Yuma requested after we arrived at the warehouse and everyone was preparing to leave.
I nodded to Hirokazu and Kuro to give us some space and Supervisor Yuma spoke up once we were alone.
"I must admit, when I first saw your arrangement..." He gestured at our wagons and at Hirokazu and Kuro. "I thought your investor was a little ambitious. Although our time together was short, I was impressed from what I've seen of you and your team. This is for your investor." He said as he produced a slip of paper before me. "My investor is always on the look out for competent businessmen to deal with."
Hirokazu and Kuro took me back to the restaurant afterwards. We had to explain to Azu that I pushed my technique a little too far during a "duel" (to the death) and exhausted myself.
Hirokazu and Kuro said their goodbyes after that.
"We'll stay at the orphanage for tonight." Kuro said. "And then we'll set off for Nishihara first thing in the morning. I'll try and master all my clan techniques by the next time we meet and I'll be able to help you then." Kuro pointed in the direction of the room with the sealed onibi.
"I'm not going to slack off either." Hirokazu said. "I can't let a junior like you surpass me."
I received a surprise visit from Gen'en the next morning.
"Your sister says you injured yourself in a duel?" He asked as he sat down next to me and unceremoniously grabbed my arm.
"Nothing too serious." I said.
"Nothing too serious he says." Gen'en muttered. "You've experienced ki exhaustion and..." He put a hand on my rib.
"Ouch!"
"You have fractured ribs." Gen'en admonished. "It seems like you've been meditating at least. The good new is you'll be able to move about normally in 2 days if you keep it up. The bad news is no strenuous activities for the next 6-8 weeks while your bones heal."
Gen'en gestured for me to take off my robes.
"The person who wrapped it up for you did a rather decent enough job, but when you meditate, be sure to focus on deep breaths or you will run the risk of developing pneumonia. I noticed a muscular fellow bringing in ice when I came in. If you ice the area regularly, you'll be able to cut the time of your recovery down somewhat."
Before Gen'en excused himself, I decided to ask him for some advice since he was here. I had been running into too my dangerous situations lately and needed an edge in battle.
"I encountered a technique while I was away."
I explained to him how Menma's music had swelled up my acupoints, especially the two located in my head and how I had been thinking of a technique to reproduce those effects.
"I want to use this technique I have that I call 'Fury' to cycle ki around the pathways in my head enough until I can expand those two acupoints. What do you think?"
"That sounds like the most foolish idea I've ever heard of." Gen'en looked at my like I was crazy.
"What?"
"You could blow your head open if you misfire." Gen'en shook his head in disapproval. "There are easier ways to open the gates of opening and healing."
"Gates?"
"They are called gates because these two particular acupoints limit the flow of ki in your body. Have you ever heard that the human body can only use 20% of it's full potential?"
"Yes, I've heard of that."
"That is the brain's way of protecting the body from exhausting itself. Other than increasing the flow of ki, the gates also have other functions. The gate of opening—which is the acupoint on the left, removes that limit your brain places on your body. While the gate of healing—on the right, increases your physical strength. It also has a recovery effect on your body, hence the name gate of healing."
I had a feeling of deja vu as I listened to his explanation.
'Did I hear about this somewhere before?'
"But I should warn you before I teach you how to open these acupoints. There is a reason the body limits itself and it can only take so much pressure before it overburdens itself, therefore you must train your body extra hard to be able to bear this burden."
I nodded in agreement. "I was planning to even if you didn't tell me."
I still hadn't given up on my plan for training my body to compensate for lack of ki, skill, and techniques, and with this technique, I would have the perfect complement to go with it.
"Good. Let's start with the basics, and once I'm satisfied, we'll move on from there." Gen'en nodded as he took out a needle. "Acupuncture is my specialty and what better way to open them than with this."
"You're going to poke a hole in my head?" I asked with a hint of worry in my voice.
"Don't be silly." Gen'en said. "I'm going to teach you how to stimulate the two acupoints."
Two Days Later
I had to spend the next 2 days in bed with nothing to do other than meditate and practice stimulating an acupoint in my hand that Gen'en said was safe to practice on.
'I should have bought an extra copy of that book I got for Jin.'
I received a message stating that there was a meeting at Junpei's inn this morning. Which was where I was currently walking to, along with Nobu and Kin.
"Why didn't you take Big Sister Azu too?" Nobu asked.
"Someone needs to look after the restaurant." I said. "I'll take her next time, but I think you'll like the surprise."
"What's this surprise about?"
"You'll have to wait and see." I said mysteriously.
We arrived at the inn and I let Kin go off on his own to see his mama, while Junpei met with us and led us to the kitchen. Junpei's mother and father were already there along with Ryota. They were watching as a few men moved a crate into the kitchen and set it on the counter.
One of the men then turned to Junpei's mother. "I did ask you asked, Proprietress Motoyama, and got this bluefin tuna. But what's so special, that I had to send one of my top chefs to personally go back and forth from Shimamaki City to retrieve this?"
"Care to explain to Head Chef Aoki, Zai?" Junpei's mother said as she glanced my way.
"Did you keep it iced like I asked?" I asked.
He gestured for the men to open the crate and reveal a large bluefin tuna preserved in ice.
"Take it out and cut it up like you would usually do when you serve sushi."
The head chef had a look of bewilderment but still did as I asked when the proprietress nodded at him.
He retrieved a large saw-like knife and removed the tail, head, and fins first. He then skillfully split it into 4 equal parts, separating them from the bones while he was at it.
"This is..." He paused when he realized something different about this particular tuna. "This texture is amazing. I've never seen the fat marbling look so rich and vivid before."
"Truly?" Proprietress Motoyama asked as she stepped forward to examine the tuna. "And this was because it was preserved in ice?"
Head Chef Aoki nodded.
"Then we should have a taste." Junpei said.
"I heard the part called the otoro is the most fattiest part of the tuna." I added.
"Yes, the belly of the tuna, near the head." Head Chef Aoki pointed where before he began cutting.
Nobu watched attentively, so as not a miss anything as the head chef methodically and masterfully cut the fatty pieces. He cut diagonally, against the grain and we all had plates of otoro sashimi in front of us shortly after.
"Meow." I looked down to see Kin pawing at my shin.
"How did you get in here?"
"Meowww."
"You want to try a piece?"
"These cuts are certainly beautiful." Junpei's father noted as we all grabbed a piece with our chopsticks and had a taste.
I grabbed a piece for Kin, who gobbled it all up instantly, before trying out a piece for myself. It was just like I had remembered.
'Ah, I haven't had this in forever.' I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the taste.
"Wow...it just melts in my mouth."
"The taste is so rich."
"I didn't know cheap fish could taste so good, this will change things."
"This will give us an great edge over the other inns."
Nobu looked at me with his eyes wide.
"How is it?" I asked
"It's the most delicious sushi I've ever tasted." He smiled as he enjoyed the taste of the tuna.
"I'd like to take that as a compliment but it was mostly the ingredient this time." Head Chef Aoki said.
I felt like that was a good time to introduce Nobu.
"This is the head chef of my restaurant, Nobu." I said. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if he could drop by sometimes and exchange knowledge with your chefs, Proprietress Motoyama. Obviously, he'll be benefitting from this exchange more, considering his age."
"Consider it done." She said as she nodded at Head Chef Aoki, who nodded back.
I turned to Nobu, whose jaw had dropped in speechlessness. "So how did you like the surprise?"
We had the meeting to discuss the collaboration between our businesses afterwards. The basics of it were that we would recommend our customers to the other businesses, and if the customers patronized one of our establishments, they would get a discount at the others if they showed proof.
We also decided on a membership they could purchase for preferential treatment. Proprietress Motoyama also recommended a few other businesses to bring into the collaboration to provide a wider range of options for the customers and a larger network to work with.
After the meeting, Ryota and I stayed in the room while Proprietress Motoyama left to attend to some patrons.
"Here take these off my hands. It's too much money for me to carry, especially since it doesn't belong to me." I took out a bundle from inside my robes and tossed it over to Ryota as I leaned back and stretched out.
He opened it up and I could see his eyes sparkling as he counted all the gold.
"We've secured the two buildings while you were away."
"You work fast. Do I want to know how you secured the buildings?"
"We did everything above board, so you don't need to worry."
I updated him on anything related to the job that occurred during the trip.
"Do you know who they are?" I asked when I passed him the note that Supervisor Yuma gave me to deliver.
Written on it was a private room number on the second floor of a certain restaurant in town.
"I have an idea."
I raised my brows at him.
"They obviously have connections to the more reputable houses or clans in town, since they can get access to high-quality arms, police weapons, and explosives. When I was in prison I heard about a very well connected black market broker in town who could get their hands on anything. From information, to hard to get merchandise, to even hired assassins. They are very low-key but they deal with premium goods and they move huge amounts of money."
"Are you going to meet them?"
"I don't see a reason not to. The meeting place is public enough and even my boss would be happy to gain access to some of the things they have to offer."
"Do you think they deal with things like sword arts and techniques?" I asked with some anticipation.
"They should..." Ryota said, unsure. "I'll check for you when I have the meeting."
'It would be nice to get the second part of the Woodcutter's Lament, or maybe something even better.'
The techniques that I have been seeing lately have been getting more and more mystical. I was really curious about the kind of techniques out there and if I could get my hands on them.
"Speaking of meetings..." Ryota said hesitantly.
"What is it?" I suddenly had a bad feeling with the way he was looking at me.
"Senior Brother Kurata wants a meeting with you."