With the help of old Yusuke, Kazushi now 'knew' the secret of the Ichihara family and these SENBON TORII shops.
But suddenly he found himself in a situation where he didn't know what to do next.
An unknown force, with a large number of ninjas and the ability to remain hidden throughout the land of fire for an unknown amount of time, is involved in this, and Kazushi feared it would affect the family.
Having his doubts about how to proceed, he again expressed his doubts to the old man Yusuke.
"You're worrying too much," said the old man.
"This organization right now is like a rat hiding in the sewers."
"They can leave at any time"
"But they know that if they do, they will be hunted down."
The words of old Yusuke restored Kazushi's confidence.
'Old man Yusuke is right,' he thought.
Right now, countless forces within the Land of Fire were searching for this unknown organization.
Not to mention the mysterious figure that split that mountain in half.
Kazushi didn't know what conflict this figure and this organization had, but the former wouldn't let the latter go if it showed itself to fight against his Kawada family.
And even if this figure did not appear, he could still count on the Daimyo and the Leaf ninjas.
The first would never allow a second force of such large ninjas in his territory, and the second did not want to share their garden with another force.
Taking this into account, he told the old man Yusuke his plan and he listened.
Kazushi's plan was simple.
Blackmail
Because they knew the secret of this organization, they could get a lot of money by threatening to expose them.
While they could continue trying to rob SENBON TORII stores, it would be an unnecessary action and would likely result in a direct and open conflict with this organization.
The best thing would be to get a large amount of money with minimal effort.
The only problem was how to do this while maintaining anonymity.
In Kazushi's mind, it would be better if this organization didn't know who they were.
Not only to avoid future retaliation, but also to gain more benefits.
In addition to this organization, they could also blackmail the Ichihara family.
And not just once, they could do it countless times in the future.
If they didn't want the Daimyo to know about their betrayal, the Ichihara family would have no choice but to give in.
"That's an excellent idea," said old Yusuke with a huge smile.
Unlike the other elders of the Kawada family who had the idea of making large profits all at once, old man Yusuke knew that it would be impossible.
The Ichihara family and this clandestine ninja organization would not give in easily, and the Kawada family would be hurt if they pushed too hard.
It would be best not to be too greedy.
In this way, these two forces will not resist each other as much.
Of course, the benefits could be increased by repeating the operation many times in the future.
"Regarding how to maintain anonymity..."
"...of course it's possible," said old Yusuke mysteriously and in a low voice.
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Days later, the Ichihara family
"I assure you that my grandson will lead the family to success!"
"No, the family needs a capable leader like my grandson!"
"Your grandson won't be able to handle the pressure!"
A huge mess was taking place in a hall where several elders of the Ichihara family had gathered while discussing the election of the next family leader.
"SILENCE!"
After 5 minutes and unable to stand the noise any longer, the old man sitting in the main chair at the table shouted.
And since he was the oldest and most prestigious elder in the place, everyone immediately fell silent, without showing any displeasure.
The man was not only Tetsui Ichihara's father, but also the previous patriarch of the family.
This had allowed the man to accumulate great power and influence, and people normally did not dare to offend him.
Especially now, when they needed his support for the election of the patriarch for the family, they didn't want to offend the old man.
"This has also been a surprise to me," said the old man.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to behave this way."
Everyone else in the room lowered their gaze, 'repentant'.
Of course, none of them were truly sorry for their outbursts.
After all, the position of head of the family is at stake, and they will not let the opportunity to outmaneuver or bring down their opponents pass them by.
Not to mention what they just found out.
Now not only was the family leader's position at stake, but also a great deal of wealth, and everyone wanted a piece of the pie.
Of course, they were also curious about the origin of this unknown wealth.
Unfortunately for them, they couldn't get the information they wanted.
As they lowered their gaze and appeared 'repentant', they cursed Tetsui for dying just a few days ago and now they couldn't ask him for any explanation.
Meanwhile, Sozen Ichihara shook his head.
He was too old to be fooled by these guys.
But what was I going to do?
He had to accept that even he felt a little greed when he learned of his grandson's inexplicable wealth.
The man had never cared about him, so he knew nothing about Kozue.
Except that her son Tetsui fell in love with his mother, and she died when she gave birth.
After all, Tetsui had many legitimate and illegitimate children and was too busy to worry about each one of them.
It was only now, when they received an anonymous message, that they remembered they had this grandson.
Of course, it wasn't all rosy, as this message was blackmail.
He demanded 100 million Ryo in 2 weeks or 'they will expose his secrets'.
Sozen didn't know what secrets they were referring to, but he and the other elders of the Ichihara family were interested in the next part of the message.
'...and they don't need to lie about not having money'
'We know they're behind the SENBON TORII stores, so we know they have money'
Sozen was one of the first to find out about this and quickly sent his subordinates to get the necessary information.
He was upset that someone dared to try to blackmail the Ichihara family and wanted to severely punish whoever had such audacity.
But first they had to gather more information and this name SENBON TORII was the only clue they had.
It was days later that he received the information gathered by his subordinates and learned of his grandson's hidden wealth.
The fact that Kozue has a huge amount of wealth made it possible for Sozen to call Kozue grandson and not just refer to him as 'boy'.
"We still don't know who sent this message, and finding out should be our priority," the old man said as his gaze swept over everyone.
"He not only threatened our family, but he also told us that my grandson needs our help."
"That's why I and some others will set out to find my grandson to ask him who he recently offended and how we can help him."
"And to better protect him, we'll bring him back to the family."
Upon hearing the man, everyone hid their jeers, seeing clearly that the old man was also interested in the boy's wealth.
But since they didn't want to offend him, they just nodded in agreement.
They were interested in the position of family leader and in the wealth of Tetsui's son, so bringing Tetsui's son first pleased everyone.
They only needed to secure the position of family leader for their descendants, and they could acquire Tetsui's son's wealth in the process.
Regarding the idea of Tetsui's son denying the family's hand in marriage?
That didn't cross their minds because it was unlikely.
If the boy wasn't an idiot, he would know that it would be a bad idea to refuse the Ichihara family's call.
Kozue Ichihara was displaying a wealth that surprised them, but it was just wealth.
They didn't know how he got it, but they mocked the boy because it was easy to take it away from him if he didn't accept the family's 'help'.
They could make several moves, both overt and covert, to hinder the operation of these stores.
So even if Kozue initially refused, they could change his mind after temporarily ruining his business.
Soon, Sozen issued some orders before the meeting ended and they left the room.
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The next moves of the Ichihara family were naturally followed by Kazushi and the elderly Yusuke Kawada.
Through spies within the Ichihara family, they learned that most of the Ichihara family elders moved to trace the origin of the letter they sent.
But since they made sure not to leave any clues, the Ichihara family's actions were useless.
What caught their attention were the movements of Sozen Ichihara, who headed towards the only SENBON TORII store in the capital of the land of fire.