Chapter 137: Traditions and Talent

After working things out with his little brother, things became relatively boring during Nobu's stay in Inuyama Castle. His father was usually busy managing the affairs of the territory, so, for the most part, his time was split between spending time with his mother, spending time with his reincarnated baby sister, and spending time with his raven-haired lovers.

Though Nana was very sociable, the presence of Yui and Nohime made things pretty awkward. The woman simply couldn't help teasing them, so, not only was Nobu forced to keep his opportunistic baby sister occupied, the entire experience was accompanied by Nana 'educating' the two taciturn beauties about their duties as a wife. To make matters exponentially worse, Nobu was entrusted the task of helping Nobuhime bathe as skinship with the opposite sex was apparently very important.

A stark contrast to what it was like in Nobu's previous world and country, childrearing in Nian was regarded with extreme importance. The mothers of newborns would spend upwards of 22 hours at their children's sides. Many even shared the same bed, or, at the very least, the same room until the infant reached the age of 4. There was even a notion cemented in the minds of the Nianese people that new mothers were 'supposed' to suffer, almost as if it were a sacred duty.

Adding to the strangeness, young boys as old as age twelve would bathe alongside their mothers in order to increase familiarity and ensure a strong maternal bond. Some provinces even had customs where the mothers were the ones that educated their sons about the opposite sex. Likewise, young girls would bathe with their grandfathers, fathers, or uncles until they had been engaged to be wed or experienced their first puberty. It was customary for them to help their fathers/paternal figures to wash their backs, but, unlike the case with mothers and sons, paternal figures were prohibited from even speaking to their daughters. Educating them in sexual matters was also considered taboo, as, more often than not, females learned about sex during their bridal training or from their husbands.

Since Senken was usually busy with his duties as Daimyo, Nana had come up with the 'ingenious' idea to have Nobu, accompanied by two maids, bathe his little sister. She managed to strongarm him by pointing out that he would need to do it while they were staying on the mountain, so, for the remainder of his stay in Inuyama Castle, Nobu maintained a constant deadpan whenever he was tasked with taking care of his reincarnated, increasingly mischievous mother...

Fortunately, the actual cleaning was done by the maids sent to make sure no accidents occurred. All he had to do was pour lukewarm water over Hime's body to help her rinse off. More importantly, he was also able to talk Nana out of bathing with them. She evidently wanted to make up for the time when he was catatonic, but, as a healthy young man, Nobu had no choice but to talk her down. The maids were already bad enough. If Nana appeared in her birthday suit, Nobu knew there was a very high chance he would have some kind of 'reaction'.

Though she may have given birth to him, it did little to change the fact that Nana was a remarkably beautiful woman. Even her aroma was enough to cause Nobu's body to warm up, so, as much as he felt compelled to 'compensate' the woman for his piss poor decision-making prior to reincarnation, he would rather avoid routes that led to even mild misunderstandings. Senken was a great guy and an even greater father. Nobu didn't want to disrespect him by perving, even inadvertently, over his own mother.

Incest could be pretty interesting when it came to fiction but it was unbelievably fucked up when it came to reality...

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As awkward as his relationship between his mother and mother-turned-sister were, Nobu could at least rest assured that things were going well between him, Nohime, and Yui. The duo didn't really get along all that well, but, after having her Aura increased to the pinnacle of Silver through the use of Nobu's Heavenly Treasure, Nohime became noticeably more 'resolute' regarding the future.

Speaking of Nobu's Heavenly Treasure, one of the things his Grandfather and Father had asked of him during his stay was to use his Camera App to evaluate a number of promising youths. Senichi, in particular, had been fixated on using Nobu's Heavenly Treasure to both strengthen alliances and ensure his grandson had adequate protection in the future.

Though there was nothing inherently wrong with surrounding himself with capable females and kunoichi, Senichi proposed the idea of Nobu accepting young boys who had just completed their foundational training as his retainers. Foreign Lords, and, more importantly, members of the Court wouldn't respect him if every single one of his companions was a female. Thus, in the days leading up to Nobu's imminent departure, Senichi practically dragged Nobu over to the training grounds to observe and see if there weren't any young talents he was interested in.

As the use of Aura was strictly regulated by the provincial government, the vast majority of young children undergoing foundation training did so under the watchful eyes of skilled veterans. Nearly every young child from the same generation would be gathered in the same place, and, with very few exceptions, their progress would be recorded in exacting detail to make sure resources weren't be wasted on people without talent.

At the behest of his Grandfather, Nobu, wearing his mask and accompanied by Yui and Nohime, both wearing veils, spent a few hours each day monitoring different groups of trainees. It was a perfect excuse for getting away from his mother and sister, so, while simultaneously searching for people associated with his namesake, Nobu also compiled dossiers on each of the more promising trainees. He got achievements for analyzing individuals, so, with each of the scans costing a meager amount of Aura due to the age and limited reserves of the people he was scanning, Nobu didn't mind helping his family pick and choose talent.

Though Nobu was of the mind that anyone could succeed if they put in the prerequisite amount of effort, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that talent didn't play a major role in a person's success. His Heavenly Treasure literally allowed him to identify which kids were special from birth, so, while it made him feel scummy to characterize children by their innate talents and capabilities, he couldn't just deny the facts right in front of him. The only thing he could do was game the system a bit when he found out a child was in a shitty situation.

One of the neat things about possessing one of the only Heavenly Treasures that allowed you to analyze others was that there was no one to question the information you provided. Better yet, his parents and Grandfather trusted his judgment to an almost unreasonable extent, so, even if he told them what he was up to, Nobu doubted they would care. Helping 'everyone' might be impossible, but, so long as he limited his benevolence to those he genuinely believed deserved an opportunity to prove themselves, Nobu had a respectable amount of wiggle room when it came to choosing the recipients of the Oda Clan's resources.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Nobu was provided with an actual justification for his actions. One of the younger foot soldiers assisting in the children's training grabbed his attention when he heard one of the students refer to him as Kinoshita-sensei.

While the name Kinoshita wasn't worthy of mention, at least to the average Nianese, it was a name Nobu was intimately familiar with due to his knowledge of the Sengoku Period of Japan. Thus, the moment he heard the young soldier addressed as Kinoshita-sensei, Nobu immediately scanned the man to confirm his suspicions.

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Name: Hiyoshi-maru/Kinoshita Tokichiro

Age: 15

Gender: Male, H:164.7cm, W: 70.3kg, B: 71.2cm, W: 59.5cm, H: 71.1cm

Blood Type: AB-

Cultivation: Metal Infusion Technique

Aura Units: 77,719/79,443

Status: Malnourished(+), Cautious(+), Bored(+)

-Malnourished: Poor nutrition and prolonged periods of starvation have caused his body to begin atrophying. Removal Cost: 4,292AU

-Cautious: He has noticed you observing him. Removal Cost: Cannot be removed.

-Bored: Repeating the same tasks every day has caused him to feel as though he is wasting his time. Removal Cost: Cannot be removed.

Main Hand: Right

Preferred Weapon: Katana, Spear, Bow, Fan

Strengths: Fiercely Intelligent, Excels at Grasping a Situation, Loyal to Those He Respects

Weaknesses: Peasant(+), Malnourished(+), Gambling Addict(+), Minor Dependency(+)

-Peasant: Born to Kinoshita Yaemon and Omandokoro, a former foot soldier and a washwoman serving the Oda Clan.

-Gambling Addict: His desire to secure better living conditions for his mother has caused him to become entangled in illegal gambling.

-Minor Dependency: His association with criminals and the black market had led to him consuming illegal substances.

Orientation: Heterosexual

Preferences: Older Women

Favorite Foods: Meat, Salted Rice, Dumplings, Cheap Herbs

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Though the man's cultivation was pretty terrible, it wasn't too surprising considering he was a peasant that had effectively been assigned the task of acting as a practice dummy for children. The more important thing was that he was exactly the man, or, more accurately, the teenager Nobu had been searching for.

While the majority of people, even in his old world, might not find the name Kinoshita Tokichiro, quite a number of people recognized the name Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was one of the original Nobunaga's most prominent, and, more importantly, loyal retainers. He was also one of the Three Great Unifiers of Japan, so, while most would disregard the slightly lazy-looking youth, Nobu's eyes practically lit up when he recognized the young man's identity.

Waving down the Warrior in charge of overseeing and instructing the class, Nobu received the elderly man's permission before asking Tokichiro to accompany him to the same room he had interviewed a number of students. Nobody knew what his identity was, but, with his father and grandfather 'vouching' for him, everyone had been treating Nobu with the utmost respect during his visits to the training field.

Not expecting to be called upon by the strange, mask-wearing man that had spent the last few days observing and calling upon students, Tokichiro became as tense and unreadable as a statue as he sat across the trio of Nobu, Yui, and Nohime. Their proximity to each other made Tokichiro even more uncomfortable, as, even among the peasants and commoners, men and women rarely sat in such close proximity outside of brothels...

Seizing the initiative, Nobu surprised Tokichiro immensely by asking, "You are Kinoshita Tokichiro, eldest son of Kinoshita Yaemon and Omandokoro, correct?"

Though he clasped his hands, Tokichiro's expression remained unreadable as he performed a half-bow and answered, "My Lord is correct..."

Without knowing the actual identity of Nobu, referring to him with the title of Lord was the safest form of address available. It was entirely appropriate, especially considering they were in the capital, but it was the most common way in which peasants addressed members of a higher social class.

Waving his hand in a dismissing manner, Nobu said, "Raise your head." before shifting his attention to Yui and asking, "Can you ask the servants to prepare tea and a light breakfast? Our guest seems to be a bit famished and this is going to take a while."

Nodding her head, Yui promptly rose to her feet before departing to the adjacent corridor to wait for a servant. Quite a number of servants and bodyguards had been assigned the task of shadowing Nobu while he was outside the castle walls so it didn't take long for her to catch their attention and relay Nobu's words.

While Yui was handling their food and beverage arrangements, an awkward silence permeated the room's atmosphere as Nobu organized his thoughts. There was no way in hell he could just come out and tell Tokichiro about his Heavenly Treasure. Toyotomi Hideyoshi may have been one of the original Oda Nobunaga's most fervent supporters, but, in his present state, Tokichiro was just some no-name kid with a gambling and drug addiction. He had the potential to be one of Nian's greatest generals, but, for the time being, he wasn't even qualified to be a sandal bearer...

("Now, how to handle this...?")

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(A/N: I really want to keep writing NOICE but my primary focus right now is EPIC. I should be able to post consistent chapters around November, but, until then, expect sporadic updates until the main plot of EPIC has concluded.)