A victory in combat was the be all, end all. At least it should have been. "We have answered your challenge. Withdraw. This camp is no longer your concern." Kenji said before turning his back to them. Rion was pissed. He just gripped his katana and charged behind him. I was expecting that. I threw my kunai at him. He blocked it, but that was all that we needed. Kenji was alerted and glared at him. "You would dare disgrace yourself with a foul strike after losing a duel!?" he demanded. Rion was really shocked at the intensity of the glare. I was too. Taiga stepped in and said "Forgive my brother for he is young. I assure you he will be disciplined when we arrive home." I watched as literal steam left Kenji's mouth as he sighed. "Fine. You have been honorable this whole encounter, Taiga-dono. I leave him in your care." Both of them retreated immediate after saying goodbye and bowing. Keisuke smiled and said "Kenji-dono! You were glowing like the sun! Does your clan practice ninjutsu!?" He was excited. Kenji only scoffed. "Nothing as dirty as that. Our family only practices Sword Arts."
Neither of us had heard of that before. He only shrugged. "Noble clans develop their own weapon techniques after lifetimes of honorable concentration and dedication to the martial arts." It was just like ninjutsu then. You had to have a certain level in a special field and then create a new skill. Once it was made, it could be passed down and shared. I did not know what would be needed to create a jutsu of my own. There was not much that I did besides use my sword and kunai. It was only when I had become a chunin that I learned some ninjutsu. That was the downside of being independent or being in a small clan. You had no idea where to begin. I did know from a late night text from Suzie that I could meditate to work on my amount of chakra. I could even learn what affinity I had with enough levels in it. That was where I was going to start. We had to report this to the mayor. Once this was done, it would be time to go home to the village. Our house would be done and we could see the results. That was easy due to Kenji doing the most talking. We added what was favorable for the camp.
The mayor was satisfied although not exactly pleased. He wanted the camp gone. It was once again being handled by others, so it was not his concern. First it was us in the Kirume Clan scoping it out and infiltrating. Now the well regarded Hinode Clan would personally see to their disarming and patrol them. He gave us the money that we were promised and dismissed us all. I looked at Kenji. "I pray for success on your clan's new mission to protect the people." I said. He looked at me and said "I did not take you for a very religious man. I am sure that I can convince them. Everything that I've seen tells me that it is right to look over them. Even failing that, we cannot allow them to disturb the peace of the region." That was true. Now they were drawing forces from another city to invade the lands. That could not be allowed to stand. All the sensible members of the clan would want to stop them from attacking. We both decided to walk at a normal pace back to the village. It was our last trip as bachelor roommates after all. When we got back, our houses would be done. It was important to us.
