Chapter 101: Stride

With four and a half months passing since his arrival in Terra, Nobu was finally beginning to feel as though he had hit his stride. His cultivation base had exploded, his physique now eclipsed the body he had been proud of in his previous life, and, after a considerable amount of effort, he had finally managed to knock up Yui.

Fortunately, while his mother had sent a rather 'spirited' letter advising him to be more considerate of his partners, Nobu's actions hadn't born any actual consequences. In fact, everything seemed to be going well for him. So much so that he was genuinely shaken when he received news that Takao, Rukia's daughter, had died during her training mission...

"What the fuck did you just say...?"

Bowing her head, Kumiko appeared sincerely apologetic as she softly repeated, "Trainee Takao was discovered invading the estate of Owari-Asai's Governor and publically executed..."

"Bullshit...!"

After throwing his cup with enough force to send it crashing through the bamboo walls, Nobu jumped to his feet and began to pace around his room with a thoroughly incensed expression on his face. He hadn't gotten to know Takao all that well but she and her mother were two of the first people he had decided to save. She was supposed to start working for him the moment she came back from her mission. Now that he knew she had been executed, rage unlike anything he had ever experienced began to swell within his chest.

"Calm down. You accomplish nothing by throwing a tantrum."

Nursing a small yet prominent baby bump, Inami's expression became stern as she watched Nobu pacing around the room. He had recently broken through to the Fourth Realm, and, though he was quite a bit weaker than Yui, his power was rapidly increasing. All of their powers were.

Glaring towards the petite kitsune, Nobu was about to shout until he noticed her gently caressing her swelling belly. He felt as though all the wind had been taken out of his sails, a sigh escaping his lips as he returned to his seat and muttered, "I refuse to let this matter lie..."

Nodding her head in approval, a smile spread across Inami's face as she said, "Good. So long as you possess that mentality, you're on the path to becoming a commendable Lord. Now you just need to focus on gathering information. Acting without proper consideration will only jeopardize the lives of the people you care about. I doubt Rukia-dono and Takao-chan would want that..."

Inhaling a deep breath that caused a powerful air current to flow towards him, a refreshing chill gradually spread through Nobu's mind. When he exhaled, a much stronger flow exuded from his body, but, thanks to their glistening golden auras, the girls present were largely unaffected.

"Can I entrust this matter to the Yoshitsune Clan or do I need to prepare my own forces...?"

Amused by Nobu's question, Inami's smile became noticeably more prominent as she said, "After witnessing your heaven-defying growth and your ability to empower others, it isn't an exaggeration to say that the Yoshitsune Clan is yours to command. With the exception of your father, there isn't a single person who can override your authority within the Clan."

Though he was still unbelievably pissed, Nobu visibly perked up as he asked, "Does that mean I can change the laws of the Clan?"

Shaking her head, Inami had to resist the urge to laugh as she explained, "You can propose change. That much is certain. However, unless you have a plan detailing what you hope to achieve, we can't implement changes based on a single person's whim. We could probably work something out if you elected to empower the entire Clan but that's a discussion best left for after you become Lord..."

Furrowing his brows, Nobu decided to shelve that idea for the future. Instead, he adopted a serious expression as he said, "Fine. For now, send someone to inform Suzune that I wish to speak with her. We'll meet here around five. Until then, I'm planning to go and console Rukia. I can't even begin to imagine how devasted she's feeling right now..."

Recalling Rukia's expression when she learned she and her daughter could work for him, the urge to punch something began to swell in the back of Nobu's mind. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect her daughter. Now, she was alone amongst a bunch of people who might not even care that her last remaining daughter had died...

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Sensing a presence outside her door, followed by a gentle knock, Rukia hid the kunai she had been staring at listlessly for the past hour. There was only a single person who knocked to announce their presence, so, after drying her tears using her aura, she forced herself to appear calm as she adopted a proper seiza and replied, "Please, come in."

Opening the sliding door, Nobu gestured for Onihime to wait outside before making his way inside. Then, without a word, he sat down next to Rukia, surprising the petite woman with a firm hug as he said, "It's okay to cry..."

Though she wanted to insist she was fine, it didn't take long for Rukia's emotions to burst forth like a broken dam. Empathy was a rare commodity in Nian, and, even though she had experience with numerous partners, genuine care and affection were things she had never experienced. Thus, even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn't help wailing the moment her Lord wrapped his strong, seemingly all-encompassing arms around her body...

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After cradling Rukia in his arms for the better part of two hours, Nobu gently caressed the bereaved woman's head as he stated, "I'm going to avenge her. I may not have known your daughter all that well, but I will not rest until the people responsible for her death have been brought to justice. She might have been a kunoichi but she was still someone I wanted to protect. I won't stand for this..."

Feeling much better after crying her heart out for the first time in decades, a delicate smile spread across Rukia's face as she removed her head from Nobu's chest and answered, "Takao understood what she was getting into-"

"Stop. Don't give me that shit. You wouldn't have approached me if she had truly resolved herself to life as a kunoichi. Besides, this was never your decision to make. I'm the one who decided to avenge her so just shut up and be sad. I don't want to hear you lying to yourself on my behalf..."

Without waiting for Rukia's response, Nobu forced her head to rest against his chest. His raw power was incomparable to a Cultivator of the Metal Infusion Technique but he was exponentially stronger than he had been months prior. He could casually lift more than 200kgs, and, when he ran at a full sprint, even Chi-Chi would struggle to keep up with him.

Though her age and experience had allowed her to break free from most of the Clan's conditioning, the notion of disobeying her Lord had never crossed Rukia's mind. Thus, the moment Nobu told her to shut up and be sad, that is exactly what she did. Internally, however, she couldn't help remarking, ("Oh Takao...why did you have to die when we had finally found an ideal Lord? Now, even if wanted to, I don't think I can come and join you...")

Unaware of Rukia's thoughts, Nobu just continued to caress her head and back as he stared blankly at the ceiling above. He couldn't shake the feeling this was an event engineered by fate to get him off the mountain and more involved in the world. After all, while resources were quickly becoming an issue, his cultivation was increasing exponentially. The only things preventing him from breaking through to the Fifth Realm were his proximity to an active volcano and the fact he was currently in the process of adding everyone to his Friends List...

Unsurprisingly, sleeping with Inami gave diminishing returns after Nobu's Realm increased beyond a certain level. He had originally hoped this was a byproduct of her pregnancy, but, after reaching the Fourth Realm, the modified had decreased from 10 to 8 to 6. It was still worthwhile but it meant he would need progressively more friends if he wanted to maintain his current pace.

The downside to befriending powerful people was that they cost their literal cultivation base to add. In other words, recruiting people in the Third Realm cost hundreds of thousands, recruiting people in the Fourth cost millions, and recruiting people in the Fifth Realm cost tens of millions.

Simply put, every time he added one of the girls to his Friends List, Nobu would be Aura poor for a good 10-15 days. He also couldn't expend Aura that would place him into a lower Realm, so, if he wanted to recruit someone at Silver 3, he would need at least 400,000 Aura. This had allowed him to keep training without interruption but it was still annoying to have to wait around.

While this might come across as extremely whiny, the truth of the matter was that Nobu could now see the girls' respective toxicity. In other words, he knew could literally see how close they were to dying. This placed a great deal of pressure on him, as, even at 0.172% toxicity, Cho had numerous health defects. Healing her completely would cost more than 4.9 million Aura, an amount he would need in surplus if he wanted to treat each of her conditions.

Fortunately, breaking into the Fifth Realm all but guaranteed Nobu would be able to treat each of the girls' blood toxicity. He could even heal the entire Yoshitsune Clan once he reached the higher Ranks, so, while doing his best to comfort Rukia, a plan was forming in his mind. He would remain patient until the birth of his children. After that, even God couldn't help the corrupt cunts who put Takao to death...

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While Nobu was contemplating a literal purge of the people ruling over Owari-Asai, his father, Oda Senken, was humoring very similar thoughts.

Though Takao had lost her life, that didn't mean the Yoshitsune Clan had failed to gain information. They had proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the recently deposed Governor of Owari-Asai was organizing a rebellion with assistance from Granus.

"This is what I get for trusting those god-forsaken monkeys from across the sea. I went out of my way to cooperate with them and this is how they thank me...!?"

After reading through the report several times, Senken smashed the table beneath him with a look of fury in his eyes. He was literally the only Daimyo willing to give Granus the benefit of the doubt and open trade with them. He was even in the process of gaining approval from the Imperial Family to ship unrefined metals overseas. In spite of this, they were secretly working with his enemies in an effort to depose him. This was so utterly ridiculous that he was half-tempted to charge over to Asai and slaughter the whole lot...

"Calm down. You should have known something like this would happen the moment you opened trade with the outside world. Granus is still in the process of stabilizing as a nation. They have so many conflicts of interest that it wouldn't surprise me if a civil war broke out in the next couple of years. Instead of getting riled up, you should be thinking about how to deal with this before things get too out of hand."

Turning towards his father, Oda Senichi, a frown marred Senken's face as he asked, "What can I do other than send troops? I cannot allow a rebellion to break out in my territory. Not when my son is so close to returning..."

"Hmmm..."

Though he wasn't particularly fond of prophecies, Senichi's impression of Nobu was pretty positive after reading the reports of Hitomi. His unique views were something Nian desperately right now as pressure from the Heavenly Kingdom had been increasing in recent years. If they didn't unify under a single banner, and soon, there was a very real chance that forty thousand years of Nianese history would be erased in a single generation...

"You're not going to like this, but hear me out...what say we leave this matter to that prodigal son of yours? A rebellion might be disastrous for a province, but it's also an opportunity for change. If our enemies think we are weakening, they may attempt to declare war on us. If your son is truly fated to unify the archipelago, he'll need to start somewhere. Owari-Asai is just as good a place if any..."

Scowling in response to his father's words, Senken's first instinct was to call the man old and senile. His impression of Nobu was that the latter didn't want to get involved in politics. It wouldn't be fair to force this matter on him, but, at the same time, he knew that Nobu's destiny was something far beyond his ability to control. Thus, rather than immediately refute his father's suggestion, he picked up a brush and prepared to write a letter...

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(A/N: I feel like Nobu is going to isekai back to our world and punch me...)