Chapter 84: INAZ - 82
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"Not only that, Hotaru's father, Shiranami, is also missing." This father and son duo, known as the most talented in the Tsuchigumo clan, perished just like that. This made the already small Tsuchigumo clan even more precarious. Therefore, in this troubled autumn, En no Gyōja couldn't make too many decisions easily. Besides, he himself had previously...
"Lord En no Gyōja, if the Tsuchigumo clan continues developing like this, with your foresight, you should be able to see the outcome, right?" Shinji stated calmly. This development trend, he believed En no Gyōja had deduced.
Hearing Shinji's words, En no Gyōja remained silent for a long time.
"Sigh..." Just leaving behind a sigh. Subsequently, En no Gyōja stood up, his long white hair hanging down behind him, a palpable sense of loss emanating from his entire being. Yes, as the head of the Tsuchigumo clan, he could naturally see the future development trend of the Tsuchigumo clan. No matter what, the trend was...
Let alone how many people within the Tsuchigumo clan could master the secret techniques, just counting those who could become ninjas, who could learn the Word Bind Technique, one could basically count them using both hands and feet. And this number, 5 years ago, was at least double. It seemed these years, a black hand had always been manipulating everything from behind. And En no Gyōja himself didn't know if it was one black hand behind it, or... five black hands? Thinking of this, En no Gyōja couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Don't bully my grandpa!" Just as En no Gyōja sighed, Hotaru suddenly stood up from the dining chair and said. But her hands still held a pair of chopsticks, continuously picking up food and putting it into her mouth. This vivid display of a little foodie made everyone present chuckle slightly.
"Alright, Hotaru. It's okay. They mean no harm," Seeing his granddaughter constantly defending him, a smile appeared on En no Gyōja's face. His granddaughter was his most cherished point. But under these circumstances, the Tsuchigumo clan actually hadn't had new students enter the ninja academy for a long time. After all, for the Tsuchigumo clan, maintaining the expenses of the ninja academy was truly too great. Now, their Tsuchigumo clan's situation was not that good.
"Hotaru, we mean no harm," Karin walked beside Hotaru, reached out, and tugged Hotaru's sleeve. Looking at Karin, Hotaru suddenly remembered, just now it seemed only Karin actively helped her into the kitchen to bring out the food grandpa made. Thinking of this, the anger on Hotaru's face seemed to lessen somewhat.
"Besides, actually, us approaching your Tsuchigumo clan wasn't just to ask you to join our Otogakure. There's actually another matter we wanted your help with," Shinji suddenly said.
"What matter?" En no Gyōja asked puzzledly.