Chapter 767: Norihiro (2)
Chapter 767: Norihiro (2)
Shiina stopped a short distance from the throne and folded her hands behind her back. There was no sign of embarrassment, no attempt to apologize for the deception. If anything, she looked faintly entertained by the realization passing through Nathan’s mind.
"Well," she said lightly, "you look less surprised than I expected."
Nathan gave her a long look. "Only because I should have expected it sooner."
Her smile widened just a little.
Norihiro watched the exchange without interrupting, as if he had been waiting to see how Nathan would react. The faintest hint of approval touched his expression, though it vanished so quickly Nathan could have imagined it.
"You have already met," Norihiro said at last.
He was there after all watching.
"Yes," Shiina said. "Though that was a far more entertaining introduction than most."
Nathan’s eyes stayed on her for another moment. "You could have said who you were."
"I could have," she replied. "But then it would not have been as interesting."
That sounded exactly like her.
Nathan exhaled slowly through his nose, more thoughtful than irritated. He had wanted answers about her the moment he sensed what she was. Now one answer had come, but it opened the door to others. If she stood beside Norihiro so naturally, then she was no mere retainer. No ordinary bodyguard either. There was too much ease between them for that. Too much confidence in the way she carried herself here.
And that only sharpened his attention.
He shifted his gaze back to Norihiro. "So the battle was a test."
Norihiro did not answer immediately.
Instead, he rested one hand against the arm of his seat and regarded Nathan with composed interest, as if measuring not only his strength, but the way he thought, the way he noticed, the way he pieced together what was in front of him. It was the gaze of a man used to judging others before deciding what use they might have.
"In part," Norihiro said at last.
Shiina glanced toward him, then back at Nathan. "You certainly made it worth watching."
Nathan thought of the arena again. Of the swarm of fighters. Of the moment their swords met and shattered in the same instant. Of the way she had smiled and then simply surrendered, as if she had already learned enough.
"You gave up," he said.
Shiina tilted her head. "Would you rather I had not?"
Nathan did not answer right away.
Yes, part of him would have preferred that. He had wanted to see how far she could really go, and how far he himself would need to go in return. But this was not the place to say that plainly. Not yet.
Shiina seemed to read enough in his silence to enjoy it.
"I told you," she said, her red eyes bright with quiet amusement. "I felt enough."
Nathan looked at her, then at Norihiro once more.
"You have chosen quite someone as your bodyguard," Nathan said.
The words had barely left his mouth when one of the guards stepped forward in outrage.
"How dare you speak so casually before Norihiro sama!"
His voice cracked through the chamber, and in the same instant, several of the others stiffened as well, hands already moving toward their swords. Nathan did not so much as blink. He kept his eyes on the Daimyo, as if the reaction of lesser men did not concern him in the slightest.
Before the guard could say anything more, Norihiro raised one hand.
That alone was enough.
The room fell quiet again at once.
"It is fine," Norihiro said calmly. Then his gaze settled more fully on Nathan, his interest deepening rather than fading. "You are strong, that much is obvious. Nathan was your name, was it not?"
Nathan held his stare for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"I am going by the name of Ryo right now."
This time the silence that followed was absolute.
It did not merely settle over the room. It struck it.
Norihiro’s eyes widened, if only slightly, but the change was there. Beside him, Shiina also went still, the faint amusement on her face vanishing at last. Around the chamber, the guards reacted most sharply of all. Steel rang out as katanas left their sheaths in one hard wave, and within a breath Nathan found himself surrounded from all sides.
No one rushed him yet.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the slightest order.
Nathan remained calm in the middle of them, his posture loose, his expression unreadable. He looked only at Norihiro.
"I think you know very well who I am," he said.
For a brief instant, Norihiro looked like a man who had been struck by something genuinely unexpected. Then the surprise began to recede behind thought, and thought behind control. When he spoke again, his voice was serious now, stripped of all earlier formality.
"The man who killed Yorimasa and Morosuke," he said. "That is who you are."
Nathan gave a small nod.
Around him, the guards tightened their circle.
"So this whole tournament," Norihiro continued, "you entered it to reach me. To stand before me. To kill me, I assume."
Nathan noticed the shift beside the throne before he answered.
Shiina had not moved much, but she did not need to. Her stance had changed by a hair, just enough for someone like Nathan to see it. Her weight was settled more cleanly now, her body ready to spring in any direction. A moment ago she had been relaxed. Now she was wary.
Ready.
"Killing you is the idea," Nathan said. "You are too dangerous to ignore with this war you are planning against the north."
Norihiro studied him in silence for a breath, then asked, "Kaguya sama sent you, I assume."
Nathan did not answer at once.
So Norihiro was still thinking in those terms. As expected, he did not seem aware of Ayame’s true place in this matter. Perhaps he had heard rumors. Perhaps he knew fragments. But he clearly did not understand that she was already in the south, nor how important that fact could become. Yorimasa must truly have kept her existence hidden from him, hoping to seize her for himself before anyone else could act.
That was good.
If Norihiro ever laid hands on Ayame, her blood alone could become a weapon. With her link to the previous queen, she could give legitimacy to any conquest in the north. A marriage to her would hand a man like Norihiro a crown wrapped in law and ceremony.
Nathan had no intention of letting that happen.
"It would be best for you to abandon this war now," Nathan said at last, his voice even but carrying unmistakable warning. "I am giving you that chance."
Norihiro leaned back slightly on his seat, his eyes never leaving Nathan. "Interesting. I thought you came here only to kill me, yet you are still willing to speak first. Should I take comfort in that?"
"I am giving you options," Nathan replied. "Refuse them, and only death will be waiting for you. If it comes to that, I will not show mercy."
Several guards bristled at the words. One of them took a step closer, blade angled toward Nathan’s throat, but Norihiro did not signal for an attack. Instead, the Daimyo’s gaze sharpened further.
"And if I decide to kill you now, here in this room?" he asked.
Nathan’s eyes flicked briefly toward Shiina, then back to him.
"Would you ask that woman to do it?" he said.
The tension in the chamber deepened.
For the first time since Nathan had revealed himself, Norihiro gave a low chuckle. It was quiet, but real.
"Shiina is special," he said. "Very special. The blood of Miyamoto Musashi runs through her veins. She carries his descent, his talent, and his power."
Miyamoto Musashi.
The name struck Nathan at once.
He knew it.
Even on Earth, it had endured through centuries as one of the most famous names ever tied to the sword. But Nathan had heard it here as well, long ago, from stories told by Ayaka and Ayame’s mother. In those stories too, Miyamoto Musashi had not been merely a renowned swordsman. He had been the swordsman. The undefeated legend of old Japan, the greatest ronin to ever live, a man whose blade had become part of history itself.
And now Norihiro was saying that Shiina was his descendant.
Nathan looked at her again.
It fit.
Too well.
The precision in her movements, the absurd speed, the terrifying instinct that had warned him from the first moment he saw her. None of it had been imagined. She had inherited something extraordinary, whether by blood alone or by something deeper that had endured through generations.
Shiina met his gaze with quiet composure.
There was no arrogance in her face, no need to boast. She did not have to. The truth of her strength had already been made clear in the arena.
Nathan let the silence stretch for a moment, then said, "That explains a few things."
A faint smile touched Shiina’s lips again.
"You seem to understand your position," Norihiro said. "I can order Shiina to kill you."
At those words, Shiina said nothing.
But her expression changed.
It was subtle, so slight that most men in the room would have missed it, but Nathan saw it clearly. Something complicated passed through her face for a moment. Reluctance. Disappointment. Perhaps even annoyance. She did not look eager at all. And yet Nathan also knew that if he raised his weapon against Norihiro, she would move without hesitation.
In a strange way, he found that disappointing too.
They had only just met, yet some part of him had hoped things would not come to this. Not with her.
"Perhaps," Nathan replied calmly. "But I am confident I would win."
It was not arrogance.
It was simply what he believed.
At the same time, he was not blind. From the little he had already seen of Shiina, he knew exactly what kind of fight that would become. If they truly crossed blades, he would have to cast aside the limits he had placed on himself. Holding back against her would be suicide. Against most people, he could restrain his strength and still dominate the fight. Against Shiina, he would need far more.
Norihiro turned his head slightly. "Shiina."
Shiina kept her eyes on Nathan.
"I believe he is being honest," she said at last. Then a smirk touched her lips. "But I am also certain you would not leave a fight with me unharmed."
Nathan almost smiled at that.
She was right.
If they fought seriously, there was every chance he would win at a cost. And if Norihiro had any other hidden cards left to play after such a battle, then the entire situation could turn disastrous very quickly.
"You are right," Nathan admitted. "But I am not here to kill you. At least not yet."
Norihiro’s gaze sharpened. "Then why are you here?"
Nathan did not hesitate.
"I have your daughter in my custody."
For the second time that evening, real shock broke across Norihiro’s face.
This time it was worse.
The control in his expression cracked for a moment, and his cold eyes shifted at once toward the guards around the chamber. He did not need to say much. Several of them bowed sharply and rushed out immediately, no doubt to verify whether Sakura had truly been taken.
Then Norihiro looked back at Nathan.
"Are you threatening my daughter’s life so that I abandon this war?" he asked.
Nathan’s eyes stayed hard. "That would actually be a good idea. But I doubt you would give up your war even for your daughter."
That landed.
Norihiro did not answer at once, and his silence said enough.
Nathan could see it clearly. Norihiro cared for Sakura. That much was probably true. But his war, his ambition, and his desire to restore his family’s honor stood above even that. Men like him loved, but they loved through the filter of purpose. If forced to choose, they would sacrifice what should have been untouchable.
Nathan had no respect for that.
"I want something else," Nathan said. "Or rather, someone. Genzo. The shinobi. I want him back."
Norihiro frowned.
"Genzo?" he repeated slowly. "The name is familiar, but I have not seen him."
Nathan narrowed his eyes at once.
"You are not lying, are you?"
Norihiro’s expression cooled. "I am not a man who lies. No shinobi has approached me."
"He has been missing for two days," Nathan said. "And he was watching over you."
For a moment, Norihiro said nothing.
Then something shifted in his face. His eyes widened slightly, and a slow understanding seemed to settle over him. A faint curve even touched his lips, as though he had just connected pieces that had not made sense until now.
Nathan noticed immediately.
"So?" he asked.
Norihiro leaned back slightly. "I may know where he is. Or who has him."
Nathan’s stare sharpened. "You do not have him, and I am supposed to believe that?"
"I am telling the truth," Norihiro said, and this time there was no mockery in his tone. He sounded completely sincere.
Nathan held his gaze for a moment, measuring him.
"Then who has him?" he asked.
Norihiro did not answer right away.
Instead he said, "I will tell you if you return my daughter."
Nathan’s reply came at once. "You will get your daughter back when I get Genzo."
The room went quiet again.
Shiina watched the two of them without interfering, though Nathan could feel that her attention had sharpened further. The guards still inside the chamber remained tense, blades in hand, waiting for the slightest sign that words had failed.
At length, Norihiro spoke.
"Two days ago, someone visited me here in this castle," he said. "He mentioned that he met shinobi on the way. If your man disappeared around then, it is possible that visitor took him if he isn’t already dead."
Nathan took one step forward before stopping himself.
"Who?"
Norihiro looked at him steadily.
"Mitsuhide."
The name struck Nathan at once.
His eyes narrowed.
He had heard it before.
Genzo had given him the names of the four Daimyo, and Mitsuhide had been the last among them. The ruler of the Dead Valley. The one whose territory lay apart from the others, dark and severe in reputation. A man Nathan knew almost nothing about beyond the name, yet the moment Norihiro spoke it, the pieces began shifting into a new shape.
So Genzo had not been captured by Norihiro.
If this was true, then he had fallen into the hands of the last Daimyo instead.
Mitsuhide.
The ruler of the Dead Valley.