Gradually, Yūshin was becoming increasingly confident in his "acting skills."
In this chaotic situation, Yūshin only needed to maintain a stern expression to achieve supreme acting—at most occasionally revealing a compassionate, sorrowful gaze. After all, in matters of life and death, could you really be expected to smile instead of maintaining a stoic expression?
Yūshin, in his "elder" identity, returned to Daisuke's corpse and conscientiously continued the autopsy work.
Before long, two more ninjas found him.
"Elder, the clan leader is urgently summoning the clan's senior leadership."
Yūshin trembled slightly, pretending to struggle as he stood up.
He had just observed the elder's attitude toward this deceased—seemingly very emotionally invested—and roughly understood their relationship was extraordinary.
Seeing this situation, the two ninjas found nothing unusual; one even quickly helped steady Yūshin.
"What else has happened?"
"Two mission squads that should have returned to the village tonight haven't come back and haven't sent any word. The clan leader suspects they've also been killed."
"So there's more than one enemy, and they're attacking us both inside and outside?" Yūshin asked.
"Yes, Elder."
Yūshin nodded. It seemed Shichimi Uchiha and Gorō Fūma had made their moves.
Internal treatment here, external application there—comprehensive care. One could see how blessed the Tsugawa Clan truly was.
"Elder?"
"I understand. I'll go see the clan leader immediately."
Yūshin turned to leave, but after two steps, he stopped and said: "Bring Daisuke's body with you. Come with me to the clan leader."
The two ninjas exchanged glances, then nodded simultaneously:
"Yes, Elder."
Yūshin was really getting into character, but he needed them to lead the way.
Although he had learned about this village's architectural layout from collected intelligence, he couldn't know the internal structure of specific buildings without actually entering them. Intelligence alone wasn't sufficient to support displaying a "strolling leisurely" familiarity.
So he needed guides.
Moreover, bringing this corpse was perfectly normal. On one hand, the elder valued this captain greatly; on the other hand, a combat captain was already among the clan's top ten important leaders. Since such a figure had died, naturally his body should be displayed—otherwise, how could they demonstrate this person's importance?
Faced with Yūshin's request, these two ninjas could only play the role of leading the wolf into the house, bringing him to the most core power center... the village council.
Yūshin's silent infiltration and "blooming at the center" tactics achieved the anticipated combat results.
Facing an enemy whose whereabouts couldn't be grasped, who was like a ghost, the Tsugawa Clan's lower and middle-ranking ninjas began falling into chaos.
The leadership couldn't possibly ignore this infiltration and assassination behavior that shook the clan's foundation. In fact, they were acutely aware of the harm such an enemy brought, so except for one combat captain out on a mission, all the clan's senior members had gathered together.
A meeting had to be held—not holding one was impossible.
"Setting aside the lost war materials, with the massive daily necessities essential to the clan's survival destroyed, how much longer can we hold out?"
"Since the village's establishment, we've faced attacks before, but I cannot accept the reality that enemies inflicted such huge losses on us without paying any price."
"Price? We haven't found any trace of the infiltrator. How many enemies are there? What's their background? Why are they attacking us? We know nothing."
"Materials and logistics departments were destroyed together. If the infiltrator is still hiding in the village, what should we do?"
"Anyone capable of such silent infiltration and killing techniques cannot be a nobody. Based on current intelligence, can't we guess their origins?"
The Tsugawa Clan's senior leadership were almost all somewhat frantic, yet anyone could see the panic hidden beneath their agitated emotions.
The Tsugawa Clan's leader was called Taishi Tsugawa, a mature ninja in his late thirties. He coughed lightly to interrupt everyone's debate and said:
"Shūhei, what did you discover at the various crime scenes?"
Yūshin didn't immediately realize the other party was calling "him." He knew the Tsugawa Clan had an elder named "Shūhei Tsugawa" who served as the clan leader's strategist, but couldn't confirm whether "Shūhei" was the one he was impersonating.
"Shūhei?"
Seeing no response, Yūshin finally confirmed the other party was calling him.
"Yes, Clan Leader."
He responded, then fell silent again, apparently organizing his thoughts.
The clan leader couldn't help frowning. Elder Shūhei had never been so hesitant before. Fortunately, someone quietly explained about the combat captain's assassination, and the clan leader understood why Elder Shūhei was reacting slowly.
"The enemy left no traces, but we can confirm he or they are extremely skilled in assassination techniques, possibly using very special methods for concealment and movement... If I'm not mistaken, it's very likely Earth Release ninjutsu."
Yūshin began analyzing himself—needless to say, his words were ambiguous.
"The enemy's assassination techniques are extraordinary. Our ninjas all died silently from backstabbing. Conceivably, he's most likely still hiding in the village, but finding him will be extremely difficult."
"What's important now is how we should respond... I suggest that at any time, any action must involve three or more people, with everyone mutually watching each other's backs."
"End all external missions. All ninjas should concentrate according to their team affiliations."
"Deploy reconnaissance and sensory ninjas in scattered positions with overlapping detection ranges, and position other ninjas within their sensing areas as much as possible."
"While we may not be good at finding the infiltrator, if he's still in the village, it means his objective hasn't been achieved."
"We just need to wait for the rabbit—when he strikes again, we'll seize the opportunity and eliminate him!"
Though his attitude was serious, Yūshin felt increasingly strange inside. Was he devising tactics to capture himself? Although the plan sounded reasonable, how could they possibly catch him?
The referee, match officials, and witnesses were all his people? No, they were all himself.
"What about ordinary clan members?" The clan leader thought briefly, then asked the crucial question.
No one could guarantee the infiltrator's targets were only ninjas and not civilians.
Yūshin remained silent, meaning: you understand what I mean, surely you can't not understand?
How to balance priorities was the clan leader's authority; "Elder Shūhei" was merely offering suggestions.
After a long silence, the clan leader finally said: "Make the arrangements. Follow Elder Shūhei's plan and get the clan's ninjas moving quickly."
Ninjas were immediate combat strength, the clan's foundation. At times like this, the clan leader had to make certain trade-offs.
Yūshin looked at the other elder, who hadn't spoken throughout. Compared to Yūshin's role as strategist, the other elder should be the enforcer.
The enemies infiltrating the village were necessarily limited in number, but with the enemy in darkness and themselves in light, what use was having combat strength? Without adopting passive defensive measures, people might become victims at any moment.
Who could imagine that Yūshin was actually "in the open"—just invisible to everyone else?
The clan leader's approach couldn't be considered wrong. The more concentrated the ninjas, the more exposed the civilians became. Without security guarantees, they would naturally become increasingly panicked over time.
Now it wasn't about considering material losses at all.
They immediately began arranging defensive matters, deploying the wait-for-the-rabbit plan.
Sitting right beside the clan leader, Yūshin could see all these arrangements clearly.
But he didn't immediately launch into action. The brewing, spreading, and expansion of panic emotions always required time.
Staying in the village council was wonderful—everyone here was talented and spoke so eloquently.
After another hour of discussion, the combat captains began leaving. They would summon their own teams to reassure and control the lower-ranking ninjas.
The clan leader and two elders would take turns on night watch, prepared to respond promptly to various emergencies.
So what would happen tonight?
For a working person, what's worse than working the night shift?
Working the enemy's night shift without getting paid.
So nothing else would happen tonight.
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