Chapter 48: Hindsight and Looking Forward

In hindsight, Nobu should have realized that a hot springs bath attached to a kunoichi den would be accessible to said kunoichi. There were also no men living within the temple so it wouldn't have made sense for them to have something like a men's bath.

Simply put, bathing in the temple estate meant sharing a bath with the people, more specifically, the kunoichi who lived there.

Though he could have requested they allot him a specific time of day to bathe, that meant 'only' being able to bathe at that specific time. Nobu had never been particularly schedule oriented, so, after the initial shock of stepping into a changing room filled with half a dozen naked women, he did his best to ignore their stares as Yui and Yuriko guided him to one of the smaller pools in the expansive, open-air, bath.

Seeing her Lord walk with a wooden washbasin covering his crotch, a faint smile crept its way unto Yuriko's face as she waited until he was seated in the water to remark, "You know, there's no reason for you to feel shy. None of the girls here have any aversions to being seen naked, and, even if you get an erection, I'm sure they would appreciate it more than anything. Besides, don't you think it's a little silly that you're the only one embarrassed in this situation? You should have more confidence."

Staring back at the naked beauty sitting on the edge of the bath without making a single attempt to cover herself, Nobu found himself at a loss for words. Fortunately, Yui seemed perfectly happy to speak for him, her expression severe as she stated, "Yuriko. Even if our Lord has given us permission to speak freely, there is such a thing as too casual."

Raising her brows in response to Yui's rebuke, Yuriko leaned back, supported by her hands as she opened her muscular thighs to reveal the secret garden hidden within. She didn't miss the flicker of Nobu's eyes as he 'sneakily' caught a glimpse, but, feigning ignorance, she glanced back at Yui and asked, "Am I wrong though? Our Lord is at a disadvantage if nudity bothers him to this extent. He's at an age where he should have built an immunity against this kind of thing. I'm just concerned that some strange woman or foreign kunoichi will seduce him when we're not looking. Even here, at the very heart of our Clan's territory, there is a chance he could be targetted..."

Though it might sound like Yuriko was exaggerating, the truth of the matter was that there were a number of kunoichi serving other members of the Oda Clan gathered within Yumegakure and the main estate. They might not publicize it, for a variety of reasons, but they would quickly come to know of Nobu's stay in the village. Once that happened, the kunoichi serving the Sixth Elder and his children were bound to try something.

Unable to deny Yuriko's words, Yui, who had also forgone any attempts to conceal herself, looked towards Nobu, an apologetic smile on her face as she said, "I'm afraid Yuriko's right. The eleven of us will do our best to protect you but there is only so much we can do on our own. I can help you, but we'll need to come up with ways to make you a harder target. Other than that, our best option is to forge alliances with other kunoichi and seek the support of an Elder. Even just one Elder would provide greater protection than the eleven of us so it's something my Lord ought to consider..."

Exhaling a tired sigh, Nobu didn't immediately respond to Yui's words of advice. Instead, he let his body sink into the remarkably hot water until it had nearly reached his nose. This made him vaguely aware of the fact that the hot springs didn't smell anything like sulfur, but, with other things on his mind, such observations were just passing notions.

Feeling tired and annoyed, Nobu began to blow bubbles as Yui and Yuriko watched him with wry smiles on their faces. They couldn't make decisions for him as that would be a complete reversal of their position as Lord and Retainers. He could ask them for advice, sure, but, in the end, the only person that had any say in the matter was Nobu himself...

With his thoughts briefly shifting to a certain pink-haired Elder, Nobu gradually pulled his body from the water, surprising the two girls by sitting on the edge of the bath and allowing his not-so-little brother to proudly stand at attention. This caused the ambient sounds coming from the other baths to fade away, but, doing his best to ignore the dozens of eyes that had immediately shifted toward him, Nobu asked, "How many Elders are there?" before following up with, "Wait, should we even be talking about this kind of thing in such a 'public' place...?"

Tearing her eyes away from Nobu's lower body, Yui met his gaze with a faint smile as she answered, "If my Lord continues to adapt this quickly, we might not have to worry for very long. For now, it's probably for the best that we finish bathing as soon as possible. Cho would have already prepared a meal by now. Shall I wash your back?"

Surprising the duo, Nobu shook his head and answered, "Nah. I kind of just want to relax. Besides, don't the two of you need to wash your hair?"

Shaking her own head this time, Yui regained her smile as she explained, "We'll return later in the evening. Our Lord need not concern himself with such things. Rather, even if we were to wash our hair now, it would only become messy later on. It's pretty obvious that our Lord's frustrations have been building ever since we reached the village..."

Staring down at Nobu's almost painfully erect penis, Yui made it very clear what she was trying to insinuate. This caused Nobu to return to the water, a deadpan expression on his face as he fell into a contemplative silence that lasted more than a minute. He had actually been thinking about sex a lot more than usual ever since he scaled the mountain, not because he was a particularly horned-up individual, but because every woman he had met was ridiculously hot, scantily clad, and more than willing to spread their legs and let him fuck the living daylights out of them...

Though he might have fantasized about having a harem when he was still a virgin, such sentiments faded quickly once he actually experienced how troublesome and high maintenance some women could be. This led to him having far more one-night stands than committed relationships, as, more often than not, it simply wasn't worth it. Now that he was surrounded by women he could probably fuck at his leisure, Nobu actually felt physically exhausted rather than excited. Sure, his body might be reacting, but, with every woman in his surroundings being more than capable of killing him in an instant, he couldn't help feeling a little suffocated...

"Do you mind if we join you...?"

Though Yui and Yuriko had noticed the girls approaching long before they asked their question, it was only after he heard their words that Nobu came back to his senses and looked over to find two girls. Both had black hair with a strange blue tint to it but the woman who had spoken possessed a mature figure with shapely breasts, wide hips, thick thighs, a fat ass, and neatly trimmed pubes. As for the second girl, she couldn't have been more than 12-13, and, based on their matching hair and eye color, they were either sisters or a mother/daughter pair.

Since it was ultimately Nobu's decision to make Yui and Yuriko remained silent as he sat up and asked, "Why? There's plenty of space in the other baths and I'm not a carnival attraction. Can't you see I'm trying to relax?"

Folding her hands over her crotch, the older of the two girls offered an apologetic bow as she said, "My apologies. It was not my intent to trouble you. It's just, my daughter is going to be attempting her graduation exam soon and I thought she might benefit from interacting with a man. Even if it is only for a short while, will you please converse with her?"

Frowning in response to the woman's words, Nobu was about to tell her to fuck off when Yui's and Yuriko's words came to mind. So long as they weren't 'enemy' kunoichi, there was merit in building positive rapport with the members of other generational groups. You never knew who might have a connection with a powerful figure, so, after a moment of consideration, he said, "Fine. However, I'm not exactly a normal person. I doubt I can be of any real help..."

Returning a smile, the older woman mused, "I am well aware of that. If you were any normal man, you wouldn't be attempting to relax in a bath filled with kunoichi. Most people wouldn't have the courage to pass through our gate, much less expose themselves in this manner. Even the Lord of the Oda Clan only visits the main estate once throughout their entire life. Everyone else avoids this place as if it's infested with the Black Death. After all, Inari Okami-sama is both incredibly fond and extremely resentful of men..."

As she was saying all of this, the black-haired woman sat across from Nobu while her daughter took a seat barely a person's distance to his left. He noticed she didn't seem particularly nervous. Rather, much like Chikako, her expression was borderline apathetic as she stared back at him and said, "My name is Takao. Yoshitsune Takao. Might I ask what your name is?"

Since news of Nobu's stay in the clan had yet to propagate throughout Yumegakure, his presence was more so a topic of intrigue than anything else. Everyone was curious about his identity, but, just as Yui had managed to remain relatively low-key by acting in a high-profile manner, Nobu was able to achieve a similar result by merely going with the flow. It was kind of like how a group of people dressed as movers could show up with a van and steal a bunch of stuff from a person's house and nobody would even think to call the cops. The key was to act normal, and, so long as you didn't do anything to stand out, the average person would simply assume you have the right to be there.

Terrifying both mother and daughter, Nobu attempted to appear as relaxed as possible as he casually replied, "My name is Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga. It's nice to meet you, Takao and...?"

Realizing she was addressing her, Takao's mother nearly leaped out of the bath with the intent to perform a dogeza when Yui interjected, stating, "Our Lord has come here to relax. Please do not make a scene. If he was troubled by your behavior, he would not have allowed you to join him in the bath."

Though her heart was racing a mile a minute, Takao's mother appeared to regain her calm after hearing Yui's words. Immediately after that, she turned her eyes up, her expression becoming a perfect mask of a bashful beauty as she meekly replied, "Rukia. My name is Yoshitsune Rukia. It would be my life's greatest honor if Nobunaga-sama refers to me by my first name..."

Since Nobu had addressed her daughter without honorifics, Rukia was hoping he would do the same with her. She didn't harbor any hopes of being able to seduce him, but, so long as she could make a positive impression, she could drastically decrease her daughter's chances of losing her life in one of the more unsavory missions kunoichi were sent on. It was surprisingly difficult for average kunoichi to even meet a Noble, so, now that one was right in front of her, she wanted to do what she could to protect her daughter. She had already lost the other two. She couldn't bear to lose her last...

Frowning in response to Rukia's sudden shift in behavior, Nobu, once again, resisted the temptation to just tell her to fuck off. He wasn't sure how long he would be loitering within the Yoshitsune Clan but there was a chance it might be years. Since behaving hostilely had only gotten him fucked over god knows how many times, he needed to control his anger, at least until he had enough power to 'make' people fuck off. Thus, just as Rukia was thinking about apologizing for her impertinence, he forced a smile and said, "It's nice to meet you...Rukia...Takao..."

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(A/N: Our boy is beginning to learn...)