Chapter 28 - Preparations for War

It took a couple of hours to convince them to migrate some people over to my side. Honestly, it would have been easier to just kidnap them but it would leave a bad taste in my mouth, and those that I took wouldn't be loyal to me.

In the end, this was the best choice, I would take in the crippled, and orphaned as well as thoughts that want to leave but have no prejudice against Nekoshou. This war had left many children abandoned and others who want to leave so I'm expecting a large harvest.

Next was the plan of attack. In one week my ȧssault team will head to their main base under the Kyoto Tower while they take out their supply depots. They plan to finish this war soon so we could only come up with this. They'll split their forces into 4 teams divided among their whole army. 20% will stay to defend their base, another 15% will ȧssist me at the tower, and 40% each will attack the supply depot. The last 5% will stay on call in case one of the teams needs reinforcements.

----

Yu - Well that's all we can do for now I'll see you in a week.

I got up from the table and was about to teleport out when Yasaka called out to me.

Yasaka - Hyoudou-dono wait I need to ask... what faction are you in?

Everyone stretched their ears to listen to my reply and I can only smile lightly.

Yu - I belong to no faction I represent myself and myself alone, I don't plan to be under anyone.

And like that, I left.

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{Yasaka's Pov:}

Yasaka - No faction...

This reply confused me, from what I could see he is strong but it isn't normal strength that can be gained without a backer. And yet he says he has no one behind him ȧssisting it. I began to think that it was the Nekoshou that are supporting him but everything I saw him do doesn't aline with the knowledge we have on Nekoshou.

Mind attacks, dematerialization, instant teleportation. These things were not something a Nekoshou can do at least not without a magic circle. Plus skills like these need years of practice and he doesn't look older than 15 but my instincts tell me he's younger than that.

He may seem cunning and manipulative but I can somehow sense that this is just a facade of his. If it wasn't then he why would he help my daughter, why would he help us, and why would he be so passionate when talking about his family. I can tell that he is also a caring boy who may do things in an unorthodox way but will never harm those who are innocent.

The meeting had already ended and right now I'm taking care of my daughter who seems to have exhausted herself while these thoughts take up my mind.

I had originally wanted her to stay away from the violence; it was my fault for keeping her in the mansion. A young girl like her can't be cooped up in a house, so I can understand her reasons for sneaking out. I just hope this experience doesn't affect her.

*Swoosh*

??? - Faction Leader Yaska.

Yasaka - !!!

A cold sweat came down my back, I turned around and saw Hyoudou-dono's companion but what frightened me was her stealth abilities. I was only able to sense her when she was right behind me.

Yasaka - How did you get here? Shouldn't you have left with Hyoudou-dono already?

Magari - Yu-sama told me to deliver this to you since it's classified information, and as for how I got here it's with the help of Yu-sama that I'm here. Now that my job is done I bid you good night.

*Swoosh*

Like that she left and I stood in the room with Kunou still sleeping behind me and a letter in my had. Gazing at the later I wondered what to do but in the end still opened it. The letter only had three pages and the first said.

[Your faction has been infiltrated. Here is a new change in the plans keep it a secret from these people]

The second page had a drawing of two of our council members and the third had the changes made.

Apparently, he wants to attack in 3 days rather than a week from now. The plan had some minor changes but it didn't stop what we already agreed on. He will keep an eye on our compound to make sure no one goes out to inform our enemy but we have to take care of the inside. When I finished reading the letters they caught fire and turned to ashes

Yasaka - *sigh*

Yu Hyoudou you are one interesting boy.

{Yu's Pow:}

By now Yasaka already got my letter and I had just finished informing the Nekoshou. Some didn't like the idea but still chose to agree with my idea. Others were worried that their skills have gotten rusty since they haven't gotten real battle experience in a while but I solved that problem easily.

A long time ago when I was using the [dungeon] function of the system I got the option of creating my own dungeon in Haven for future use. I agreed to put it in but left the dungeon inactive since neither I nor the Nekoshou needed it at the moment. There was also the issue of monsters overflowing Haven so I put it to the side until now.

Currently, I'm a deep in the mountain range in Haven a couple Km away from the village and behind me are 40 of the strongest Nekoshou in the village. The rest are still in the village since I won't have everyone fight.

Of these 40 Nekoshou 12 of them are ultimate rank and the rest were peak high rank. I now know why everyone was scared of them but now these people are loyal to me so I have nothing to fear.

Before use was a large ominous door with miasma covering the surroundings. This was the labyrinth dungeon I installed here. The monsters inside vary greatly from each other and the experience will sharpen the Nekoshou's previously dull claws.

With the help of [Time Alteration], I slowed the time inside 7 times so 3 days outside will be 21 days inside. When they get out they may even be stronger then when they came in I hope.

Watching them enter I had a little bit of worry in my heart since I knew it was hard to survive in there but I had to let them go hoping none of them die. They're in a group and back then I was alone when I first went into the labyrinth so it shouldn't be too bad.

I gave them teleportation runes that'll bring them back to the dungeon entrance when the 21 days are up. All I need to do is wait.

I'm back in front of the dungeon with everyone in the village and were waiting for the dungeon party to return. Over these few things, my people were able to catch 6 informants leaving the Yokai compound and eliminated them swiftly.

I also didn't stay idle while they were in the dungeon I made many pieces of equipment and runes for the operation to make sure nothing went wrong. Kuroka and Shirone however, made great strides in their training, yesterday they were able to gain their second tail and their control over life energy improved by a large margin.

Kuroka chose to specialize more in Youjutsu (demon arts) and Shirone chose to specialize more in Touki (fighting spirit). They still chose to gain some knowledge from other field but mainly focused on their chosen path. Another skill their working on is Kasha but they're having trouble scratching the surface of the technique.

*Swoosh*

*Swoosh*

*Swoosh*

*Swoosh*

*Swoosh*

Before long 40 Nekoshou began to appear before us, and all of them had a breathtaking aura around them. It was like the aura you'd get from a beautiful girl even though they're all beautiful it was more like the aura a returning soldier will have when they return home.

The thought gave me some expectation and worry. I'm only at the mid-tier high rank. While it may be easy for them I, on the other hand, will take longer to reach that point.

Yu - *Sigh*

Sighing at the unfairness of the world I distributed potions, and pills to the returning party and told them the rest until the time came. Right now it's 7 in the morning and we plan to attack at midnight I need these guys to consolidate their foundation and recover any energy they lost in the dungeon.