The Shimada Family's Ninja Journey

Since he agreed to the Terumi clan to be their lobbyist, Hanzo didn't delay much.

The next day, they met with the elders sent by the Minazuki clan to negotiate.

The fact that this elder can come to negotiate on behalf of the Minazuki clan means that he must be a trusted confidant of Minazuki Arashi. The Minazuki clan includes some agreements and contacts between Minazuki Arashi himself and the Shimada clan. This elder

It's all clear.

Long before he came to negotiate, Minazuki Arashi had told him that if the Shimada clan interceded on behalf of the Terumi clan, then the Minazuki clan's limit could be slightly raised.

As for Ganshi, the Kaguya clan and the Minazuki clan also have ways to convince them.

But having said that, if the Terumi clan's demands are too high, the Minaduki clan will not give in without a bottom line.

Fortunately, Terumiei's request, as relayed by the Shimada clan, was not excessive.

At the cost of assuming more combat obligations, in exchange for a status that matches their own strength, the Minazuki clan also has an answer to the other two clans in the alliance.

In the name of the Shimada clan, representatives of the Inogaki and Kaguya clans also acquiesced to the Terumi clan's request.

After agreeing on some details, the Terumi clan soon signed an alliance with the Minazuki clan and officially joined the alliance.

Representatives of the Minazuki clan then signed a cooperation plan with the Mizu Daimyo on behalf of the Four Clans Alliance.

That is, the alliance of the four tribes accepted material assistance from the daimyo.

But as a price, the newly unified Water Country Ninja World must recognize the secular status of Damingfu and be responsible for defending the Water Country's territory.

In addition, taxes collected on the islands controlled by the four tribes of the alliance also need to be paid to the Daming Mansion in a certain proportion.

Hanzo served as a witness and watched the signing of the agreement on behalf of the Shimada clan.

On the surface, it seems that all three families are happy this time.

The Terumi clan successfully joined the alliance.

The alliance has also been recognized and supplied by Daming Mansion.

The Daming Palace also received a part of the local taxes that were originally monopolized by several major ninja clans, completing the purpose of spreading the influence of the Daming Palace to all parts of the Water Kingdom.

But if you look closely, there are still conflicts between Damingfu and the alliance.

Although the four major ninja clans agreed to pay some taxes to the daimyo, they refused the daimyo government's request to directly station officials in various places.

In other words, the ninjas of the Land of Water still firmly control the local power. Although the daimyo has spread their influence, their influence is limited.

Compared with the daimyo of the other four major countries, who control civil affairs with one hand, the power of the water daimyo is still pitifully small.

As for the alliance, they may be complacent in the short term due to the support of the daimyo.

But as time went by, they, who were originally lawless, suddenly had a nominal leader above their heads, and they would definitely feel uncomfortable.

All in all, in Hanzo's view, perhaps in the short term, the two parties will cooperate closely due to temporary satisfaction, but as time goes by, the hidden contradictions will become a thorn in the side between the Daming Palace and the Alliance.

But these have nothing to do with Hanzo.

This time, the Shimada clan has gained enough benefits by taking advantage of the appeals between the three parties.

Even in the future, the more minor problems there are between the alliance and the Daming Prefecture, the more conducive it will be to the Shimada clan branches to have both sides.

…

After dealing with the matter in the Water City, Hanzo and Motohisa returned to the family.

As soon as they returned to the family, before they could rest in a hurry, the second elder hurriedly found Hanzo.

"Young patriarch, the investigation into the wives of those clan members has come to fruition."

"oh?"

Hanzo's expression became serious as he followed the second elder to the Intelligence Department.

Walking into the room, Zhongnian was already browsing relevant information.

Seeing Hanzo and the second elder walking in together, Chongnian handed the document in his hand to Hanzo. Hanzo took it and while reading it, he told Chongnian and the second elder that Yuan Jiu had invited himself to be the leader of the branch clan.

As for the content of the intelligence, according to the information collected by the intelligence personnel of the Shimada clan, the wives of these clan members and their families have no contact with any unknown people.

And there doesn't seem to be anything suspicious about the encounter with the family ninja.

In short, the intelligence personnel's judgment is that either there is no one behind the scenes, or there is someone with deep roots in the local area.

And a person with such a deep foundation in the water city would not think of anything other than the water daimyo.

However, the investigation by family intelligence agents only ends here.

After all, the Water City is the territory that the water daimyo has managed for hundreds of years.

Hanzo could not expect intelligence personnel to complete a more in-depth investigation in just a few days, which was unrealistic.

"Hanzo, what do you think? Do you think it was the daimyo's handiwork?" Chongnian asked.

Hanzo put down the information in his hand and said: "Maybe it is, maybe it is not, but to be honest, it is not important now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zhongnian frowned.

The second elder also looked at Hanzo with some confusion.

"Originally, we were investigating these things because we were worried that the people left behind in the family would be instigated and backfire on the family.

But now, if Yuan Jiu is in charge, with his ability, I think even if there is someone behind the scenes, he may not be able to instigate it.

After all, these clan members are also members of my Shimada clan, how could they betray the family so easily?" Hanzo explained.

Chongnian and the second elder immediately understood what Hanzo meant.

Indeed, if the person in charge of the branch is capable enough and is a member of his own family, it would not be so easy for him to backfire on the family.

"But..." Chongnian suddenly said with a strange expression: "If Yuanjiu and Shui Daiming..."

Chongnian's words were very cryptic, but Hanzo understood what he meant.

Zhongnian was worried that this was a show between Yuanjiu and the daimyo.

Judging from this incident alone, it is indeed possible.

Because it would be a bit too coincidental to combine the actions of Daimyo and Motohisa.

The daimyo Aki asked the Guardian Ninja to stay in the Kingdom of Water, and Motokyu asked himself to be the leader of the branch clan.

And if the two of them join forces, they have the ability to deceive the Shimada clan's intelligence network.

It looks like a seamless plan.

However, whether it is a coincidence or a plan cannot be found out by collecting intelligence. There is only one basis for judgment, and that is whether Hanzo trusts Motohisa.

After a moment of silence, Hanzo said: "Dad, I believe in Motojiu."

Hearing this, Zhongnian also nodded and said: "You are the person in charge of the family. Since you trust Yuanjiu, the family also trusts Yuanjiu. It's just that you know what's going on."

Hanzo's expression became serious and he said: "Dad, Yuan Jiu grew up with me, and he has been with me most of the time since he came to the Kingdom of Water. If he can't be trusted anymore, then I really don't know what else to do.

Who can be trusted?"

Hanzo had already said this, so Zhongnian didn't say any more.

Upon seeing this, Hanzo said: "Let's do this for now. A high-level meeting will be held tomorrow. If there are no accidents, the matter will be settled."

…