After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they streamed out of the restaurant in a lively crowd.
"How about we not let the night go to waste? Why don't we continue the fun in the entertainment district?" suggested Seiryu, surrounded by everyone.
"Well, since Clan Leader Seiryu himself is proposing it, I guess I have no choice but to risk my life and accompany you!" Inuzuka Kaze, already a bit tipsy, joked.
The group, loosened up by the alcohol, burst into laughter. Even the usually stern Hyuga Kaihito and Hyuga Ken wore slightly mischievous grins.
"Clan Leader Seiryu! There are girls on the team, you know!" Yugao huffed, a bit annoyed.
"Oh, that was inconsiderate of me!" Seiryu laughed, then pulled out a wad of cash from a sealing scroll and stuffed it—somewhat roughly—into Hayate's arms. "Hayate, why don't you take your girlfriend and enjoy yourselves around town tonight?"
"Exactly, just remember to come back early," Kuroki Ryuta teased.
The laughter made the young couple blush furiously, but Hayate still accepted the money, and after saying goodbye to everyone else, took Uzuki Yugao for a stroll.
As for the rest, they headed off toward the Entertainment District.
Once the group had gone, Seiryu's real body slowly stepped out from the shadows of the street and walked off in another direction.
….
In the mansion of the lord of Tanzaku Quarters—the largest gambling hub in the Land of Fire—the town lord was, of course, no ordinary man.
Besides the noble title officially granted by the Land of Fire, Lord Yamamoto Taro kept hundreds of samurai and over a dozen ninjas in his mansion. Combined with his ties to certain ninja clans in Konoha, his position as lord was as solid as a mountain.
After finishing tonight's banquet, Yamamoto Taro, with a voluptuous girl in each arm and a drunken, lecherous grin on his face, staggered into his bedroom.
"Tonight is sure to be a delightful evening," Yamamoto Taro chuckled. But as he looked up, before he could even turn on the light, he saw someone sitting on the sofa by the window. Moonlight shone through the pane, illuminating the person and the kunai they were repeatedly wiping, reflecting a chilling gleam.
The woman in Yamamoto Taro's arms instinctively wanted to scream, but the figure by the window flashed red eyes, and she instantly went limp, collapsing powerless.
Yamamoto Taro sobered up in an instant. Whoever showed up in his bedroom at this hour, holding a weapon, was clearly up to no good.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Yamamoto Taro, though sweating profusely, managed to remain somewhat calm, inching backward as he spoke.
"I'd suggest you stop moving back. If that thing behind your right foot goes off, you'll be in trouble," the intruder said playfully. "I can't guarantee you'll die, but you'll go flying."
Yamamoto Taro stopped abruptly and looked back, only to see an explosive tag pasted right behind him, the trigger mechanism just a few centimeters from his right foot.
Swallowing hard, Yamamoto Taro—who had never faced death so closely—tried to maintain composure.
"We can talk this out. Are you here for money or—" He paused, still making small movements with his hand, trying to create a disturbance to alert the guards. Surely, his well-paid samurai and ninja would rip this intruder apart once they noticed!
But the man by the window smiled as if he hadn't noticed, watching Yamamoto Taro inch closer to the door until he knocked over a large flower pot. The crash echoed through the room.
Yet the guards Yamamoto Taro was counting on never arrived. Just then, the man by the window spoke.
"Waiting for the samurai and ninja in this mansion, are you?" the man said, rising and walking toward Yamamoto Taro. His steps were light but sounded like the footsteps of death to Yamamoto Taro.
"Two Shimura clan jōnin, twelve rogue ninjas, 271 samurai—it took a bit of work to deal with them all," the man said, coming close and flipping on the light. A handsome face came into focus, and the blood-red eyes with three tomoe made Yamamoto Taro freeze in place.
"Uchiha clan?"
"Smart," Seiryu said, patting Yamamoto Taro's chubby cheek with the flat of his kunai.
"As a Konoha ninja, isn't this a bit out of line?" Now seeing the Sharingan, Yamamoto Taro calmed down. If a Uchiha, a Konoha ninja, assaulted a noble of the Land of Fire, that was a capital offense.
"Out of line? Let's talk about rules, then," Seiryu said, smiling. "Over the past four years, Lord Yamamoto, you've provided up to 1.8 billion ryō in funds to the Konoha traitor Shimura Danzo and his criminal group, attempting to help him seize control of the Land of Fire's military. What do you think would happen if the Daimyo learned of this?"
As Seiryu spoke, Yamamoto Taro's pupils widened in shock.
"Sir, please don't say such things lightly. I was just hiring some guards!" Yamamoto Taro said hastily. And it was true—he'd spent a fortune hiring Shimura clan ninjas for their strength and to handle dirty work, but he'd never intended to help them control Konoha.
"Just guards? Do you think the Daimyo would believe that?" Seiryu smiled.
"What do you want?" Yamamoto Taro took a deep breath.
"I personally believe in your loyalty to the Daimyo. But you know, our Daimyo is rather… suspicious," Seiryu said, spinning the kunai in his hand like a butterfly. "So, still want to talk rules?"
"Please keep this secret for me. I'll reward you handsomely," Yamamoto Taro pleaded, as the kunai's blade grazed his nose again and again, breaking his will. He fell to his knees.
"What do you take me for?" Seiryu said, frowning.
"Yes, yes, I deserve to die, but please, have mercy, spare my life!" Yamamoto Taro, his life in the man's hands, couldn't hold it together and kowtowed repeatedly.
Seiryu waited until he'd kowtowed for a while, then finally spoke: "I see you're running quite a business here in Tanzaku Quarters. How much do you make a month?"