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If Yūshin's current identity weren't as the captain of "Ashes" but as the clan head of "Hagūgen," then the words coming from his mouth would obviously be much harder to believe.
But with a different identity, his rhetoric gave people a completely different impression and achieved vastly different effects.
It wasn't that Gorō Fūma was gullible—mainly, they had reached a dead end.
The Fūma Clan now had only thirty-plus members remaining, with only half being shinobi and the other half civilians.
The civilians had no support, the shinobi had no fighting spirit—amidst such pervasive defeat, what could Gorō Fūma, as clan leader, possibly do?
After hearing his question, Yūshin showed slight surprise on his face and said:
"Our organization's principle is to gather streams into rivers and seas, collecting drifting shinobi to weather the Shinobi World's crises together. If you wish to join, I would naturally welcome you.
However... such a major decision—are you really deciding so hastily? Won't you discuss it with your clansmen?
Moreover, if you join us, while we won't interfere with your internal clan affairs, future actions must follow collective unity principles—that is, obeying my command. Can you accept this?"
Yūshin was being honest; his words weren't deflecting but rather meant to "put the ugly truth up front."
Gorō Fūma's earlier words were indeed somewhat impulsive, but the problem was that the Fūma Clan had reached the end of their rope. To survive in the Shinobi World, banding together with other forces for mutual support had almost become their only choice.
This "Ashes" organization was clearly an excellent partner for cooperation.
Because it was small in scale with good principles, merging the two sides together could be considered true confluence rather than annexation... Gorō Fūma felt he could rely on Yūshin's group to weather the crisis while maintaining his clan's relative independence—this was already quite good.
The more Gorō Fūma thought about it, the more he felt his decision was correct.
"Yūshin-san, I believe I can persuade my clansmen. As long as you're willing to accept us, we're willing to actively become part of Ashes," he said.
Yūshin seemed to consider carefully again before responding:
"How about this—you can become our temporary members. We can spend some time together first, which would both help you through difficulties and give you a chance to understand us.
After you recover your strength, if you approve of our principles, you can choose to become part of us. If you don't approve of our principles, you can choose to leave..."
These words made Gorō Fūma feel somewhat ashamed. In his view, Yūshin spoke with complete sincerity. In comparison, his inner scheming to exploit the Ashes organization seemed quite sordid.
Frankly speaking, the Fūma Clan's desire to join Ashes was merely bowing to reality, not rushing toward an ideal path... What principles or not—they simply wanted a bite to eat.
"Yūshin-san, perhaps your approach is more reasonable, but since we've accepted your selfless help and chosen to join you, there's no reason for future betrayal. Please believe us... Now I'll go persuade my clansmen."
Gorō Fūma spoke with apparent finality as he walked toward the Fūma Clan's camp to persuade his people.
However, these words should be taken with a grain of salt. Could Yūshin naively believe promises made by shinobi he'd known for just a few hours?
One thing was certain: while the Fūma Clan's decision to join Ashes might seem somewhat rash and impulsive, if they truly wanted to leave later, things probably wouldn't be simple.
After Gorō Fūma returned to the Fūma Clan's camp and discussed with his clansmen for a while, he convinced them with almost no effort.
In a sense, encountering people willing to help when at the end of one's rope was tremendous fortune—they had no reason to refuse such assistance.
The reason Gorō Fūma could quickly persuade his clansmen, besides bowing to reality, was that Yūshin's "withdrawal agreement" certainly played a crucial role.
Gorō Fūma brought the good news to Yūshin.
What happened next quickly made him understand that joining the "Ashes" organization was absolutely not a casual matter.
"Yūshin-san, we've unanimously decided to join Ashes. We hope you can accept us and treat us equally," Gorō Fūma said to Yūshin.
Yūshin smiled in response, saying:
"Welcome to your joining. Please rest assured—sincerity and equality are the foundation of our organization's existence."
"To demonstrate mutual trust and express welcome to you, I believe both sides should hold an alliance ceremony."
Doing things with ceremony was important, and Gorō Fūma saw no problem with this, but...
"Certainly good, but under current conditions, how do we hold a ceremony?"
"Nothing complicated—we've always emphasized substance over ceremony."
"Very well, everything follows Yūshin-san's opinion."
Under Yūshin's arrangement, both groups quickly gathered together.
They formed a circle—Yūshin's people on one side, the Fūma Clan on the other.
In the open space at the center, a bright bonfire was lit. Yūshin and Gorō Fūma stood beside the bonfire, then Yūshin explained the upcoming ceremony.
"Today, based on Fūma Clan Leader Gorō's request, our 'Ashes' organization has decided to accept the Fūma Clan as members."
"The organization's operational rules and attitude toward every member—everyone will experience these later, so I won't elaborate today."
"Please believe that even though we come from different backgrounds, since we've united together, we can be as close as blood relatives—blood merging, flesh and bone depending on each other."
"I know that often words lack power and are short on binding force. No matter—we can build trust step by step."
"Of course, before that, we must eliminate mutual hostility, otherwise everything becomes impossible to discuss. Therefore, I've prepared this ceremony..."
Speaking thus, Yūshin extended his right hand toward Gorō Fūma.
At this moment, most people thought he was just speaking pleasantly—what effect could such a ceremony have? A handshake would suffice.
Gorō Fūma smiled and extended his hand, gripping Yūshin's tightly.
Then...
Amidst the bonfire's dancing flames, cold light suddenly flashed.
Yūshin's left hand gripped a sharp dagger, unhesitatingly stabbing through both their clasped right hands with one stroke.
Intense stabbing pain came, and Gorō Fūma felt bewildered. He instinctively tried to withdraw his hand, but his palm was firmly clamped by Yūshin, unable to move at all.
Blood dripped drop by drop from the gap between their two palms.
Commotion arose from the Fūma Clan's side—they thought this was Yūshin suddenly launching an attack.
Yūshin's calm voice simply overwhelmed the chaotic disturbance:
"We seal each other's ninjutsu to write an oath of never being enemies."
Both sides' palms, pierced together by the sharp blade, had no choice but to remain clasped—physically demonstrating an attitude of necessary cooperation.
Both sides' blood truly merged together.
For shinobi, hands and fingers are as precious as a pianist's, because they depend on their hands for livelihood, wishing they could buy massive insurance policies for their hands.
Yūshin's act of dragging Gorō Fūma to "cripple both hands" theoretically did seal each other's ninjutsu... Under such injuries, neither could perform hand seals for quite a long time.
Any light words couldn't compare to the persuasive power of bloodshed.
Gorō Fūma stopped his instinctive struggling, looking at Yūshin's calm, unperturbed eyes. Suddenly he felt that this "Ashes" organization, once joined, could never be left again.
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