Looking at each other in the eyes, he sighed. "Fine. You have not failed me yet. I will try this approach. Even the meanest residents of town will feed the homeless cats and dogs on the street. I'll instruct the samurai on patrol duties to take 5 blue haired pieces of shit with them. If they are as good as they say and make me pay for, they can take 5 on with no problems at all." he said. I thanked him. "Don't thank me just yet, ninja. I will see if what you said is true. If you were wrong, we will start going into the camps to destroy that rebellious faction. Every single member." he said in a deep warning tone. I knew this was very touch and go. When we left, I looked at my squad. Turning to Rin, Asahi and Hibiki, I said "You guys like going to the camp. Do you think you could help spread the word and keep tensions down if we gave you a week?" I asked. They 3 looked at each other for a moment. They all nodded and turned back to me. They were determined to help them. That is what they did for the week. Keisuke, Izayoi and I looked over the camp from the outside. It seemed to work out.
The Hinode Clan could not refuse a direct order from their liege. Even the ones that hated them were forced to obey. That meant that there was a big rotating cycle of 50 blue haired young men and women going out on patrol of their camp along with the samurai. That gave credence to what their faction was saying. More people joined up with them and tried to get the attention of the samurai as they passed. Those more sympathetic or glory seeking were able to take on more potential disciples. The ethnic radicals still existed, but it drastically slowed the rate at which they could recruit. I took that as a success. I also got to talk with Kenji on a day he was on patrol. He looked surprised to see me. "I have friends in the camp." was all I said. He nodded and continued the conversation. I asked if he was getting along with the blue haired refugees. Kenji sighed. "These are spirited young men. Lots of passion and drive. Very little discipline. If they want to even be considered, they need some training." he said. "Will you train them?" I asked. "I have when asked to. Many don't come back here."
It looked like he had it handled. Others were also doing trainings for the one that went with them. Even the samurai that hated them did not mind beating them into shape under the guise of "training". Those smart enough to see through all the abuse looked for new masters. The stupid and unyieldingly determined kept coming back. That was fine as long as the people living in the camp could see fellow blue haired people out and about with the samurai helping to productively defend their community from harm. Hibiki, Asahi and Rin were also getting around the camp on the inside. Probably fucking their way through all the people that could be swayed out of the extremist faction. As kunoichi, it was best to leave that up to the professionals. After the week was done, they said they had set things in place to keep the rebellion from rising. I trusted their judgement. It was time to go back and get ready for the chunin exams. The letter I sent specified that I wanted 2 shinobi. Natsuji, Akita and Hatsuka were a group of 3 kunoichi already. He answered by sending me Daiki and Akio. They were eager.
