After Ichiro tossed the severed hand of Kobayashi Haro onto Setoru's table, the outpost deputy chief's surprise knew no bounds. He immediately looked at Ichiro with completely different eyes and for the first time offered him tea. But Ichiro refused, took the reward, and left.
Returning home, Kenshin couldn't avoid the close inspection from his worried wives. Hitomi immediately noticed the bruises under his eyes and asked Twenty Second in a displeased tone:
"What happened?"
"Nothing serious, simple broken nose, but I did primary treatment as you taught me." Twenty Second said softly, instantly turning meek and silky before the stern mother.
"I didn't teach you to do your job so sloppily! Why didn't you stop the blood flow and remove the bruises?! Doesn't your own father deserve quality treatment?!" Hitomi snapped.
"I... Sorry, Mom..." Twenty Second mumbled. When it came to professionalism, Hitomi gave no slack even to her own sons.
"Stop it, Hitomi, don't be so hard on him—in field conditions, he did everything required." Kenshin said with a smile, not wanting to hear arguing among family, especially after the mission ended without major losses.
Hitomi immediately fell silent, seated Kenshin in an armchair, and began treating his nose and removing the bruises under his eyes.
"How did it go? Did you manage to destroy the target?" Kasumi asked excitedly. She worried greatly about the mission's success and hadn't been able to sit still all this time.
"Not perfectly, of course, but we took down that bastard. If he hadn't somehow foreseen our attack in that strange way, it would have been even better." Kenshin replied.
"Yes, Father, this scum somehow incomprehensibly foresaw my attack and even created a water clone decoy. I just don't understand why that woman agreed to be bait..." Ichiro said with a sigh.
"Most likely no one asked her. Let me see everything you noticed during the attack." Kenshin ordered and touched Ichiro's head.
For the next few minutes, he only replayed that moment over and over under x150 focus and came to some conclusions.
"Looks like that woman was immobilized. The bastard probably damaged her spine so she couldn't make sudden moves. But she was conscious, or during our scan with Twenty Second, we'd have easily spotted the trap."
"And how did he know about the attack?" Kasumi asked. Thanks to her natural wit, she could easily spot the most important points in events.
"Good question. Honestly—I don't know. Either he had some fate-prediction technique, or that vaunted high-level shinobi instinct. Thinking about it, the bastard really was a strong Jonin, contrary to what was known about him..." Kenshin muttered thoughtfully. The ability to predict wouldn't give him peace. With it, all his plans could go to ruin, as powerful enemies could easily sense threat in him even without prerequisites.
"The Great Elder was talking about how the life of a shinobi becomes more astonishing and incomprehensible the closer one gets to the level of the Sage of Six Paths," Kasumi said. She immediately recalled how she had listened breathlessly to numerous stories about the great shinobi of the past. And although the Nara clan paid great attention to their illustrious ancestors, even they could not ignore the greatest shinobi in history. Such as Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and the Sage of Six Paths.
"This is very bad... There are many dangerous enemies around who might notice us ahead of time. If any of the Akatsuki decide to pay us a visit, we won't even be able to resist effectively... Let's hope this intuition only works for direct danger, otherwise we're in for a rough time..." Kenshin said with a sigh.
"You were saying that on Mount Myoboku lives a completely unique creature that was acquainted with the Sage of Six Paths himself, and it can predict the future, right?" Kasumi asked with interest, recalling what Kenshin had told them based on watching anime.
"I don't know how true this information is, but it's quite possible that the old toad will sense something if our family plays any role in the coming events..." Kenshin muttered uncertainly, and sat Hitomi, who was standing nearby, on his lap to relax, inhaling the scent of her well-groomed, long hair.
Having ended the discussion on a rather cheerless note, everyone returned to their affairs. Kenshin's sons went to rest, while he himself continued to sit in the armchair, embracing his beloved wife, and pondering.
He tried to come up with something that would guarantee them complete safety, but nothing came to mind. He immediately dismissed the extremely risky option of allying with one of the influential structures, because he understood that deals are only made with equals, and the weak would be enslaved, humiliated, and crushed, regardless of empty words like "honor," "dignity," and "morality."
The only conclusion he reached was the necessity of personal power. Only power could shield their entire family from the fate of the estate owners where Haro was hiding. Moreover, overwhelming and all-encompassing power could not only serve as a shield against Haro but also as a sword to destroy him.
"Hitomi, tell me, would you like to live in a world without endless wars?" Kenshin asked tenderly, stroking her smooth belly.
"Mmm... Of course, everyone dreams of that... Why?" she replied tenderly, melting from his caresses.
"I'm going to build exactly that kind of world..." he said softly, enjoying the closeness with his beloved woman.
"W-what?" Hitomi exclaimed in shock, turning her head.
"Originally, I just wanted to live on the outskirts and not bother anyone. But today it hit me that bastards like Kobayashi Haro will find you even at the edge of the world and trample your beautiful life with their filthy boot if you don't have the power to respond. That's why I'll focus all my efforts to make our Nakayama Family become the Nakayama Clan as soon as possible." Kenshin said resolutely, sending a horde of goosebumps across Hitomi's body.
"Whatever you decide, I'll always support you." Hitomi said tenderly, and kissed him on the lips. She had long decided that even if Kenshin decided to destroy the entire Hyuga Clan, she would personally hand him the sword.