Elevator Dimension Line

As night deepened, Tantai Ye and the others did not return to the Pure Land, but instead rested at the Emperor's Palace.

Zhu Juan and Ying Huo slept in the same guest room.

At this moment, Hotaru touched the high-elasticity sleeping mat laid on the tatami mat beneath her. The delicate feel of the fabric was completely different from the mattress she was currently using.

"Zhu Juan, who exactly is this Lord Tantai Ye?" Yinghuo asked softly, her eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of confusion.

The oil lamp on the low table above flickered and hissed a few times, causing the light and shadow in the room to sway accordingly.

Zhu Juan, who was standing to the side, took off her kimono, lifted the blanket and lay down. Then she looked at Yinghuo and smiled slightly, saying, "I can't answer your question because I don't know who the Master is. But one thing I'm sure of is that the Master is an extremely powerful person, even more powerful than you and I can imagine!"

Firefly rolled her eyes. How could she not know how formidable Tantai Ye was? Although she had never seen him fight, his amazing movement ability alone was enough to make one's heart tremble.

"Firefly!" Zhu Juan looked at Firefly seriously and said, "When we go back this time, we need to find a way to persuade the leader to join Lord Tantai Ye's command. This is our chance to shine."

“You mean we want to break free from the Tokugawa family’s control?” Hotaru paused, then added uncertainly, “But we’ve already pledged allegiance to Lord Hattori Hanzo. Wouldn’t doing this be tantamount to betraying them…”

The words following "fireflies" are hard to say, but the meaning is clear.

Zhu Juan paused for a moment before saying, "Back then, we had constant conflicts with the Koga clan. It was the first Hattori Hanzo who mediated, and with the Tokugawa family's power growing stronger, the two clans had no choice but to sign a pact of non-aggression under Hanzo's supervision..."

“But now, what Lord Tantai Ye is doing is gradually shaking the current situation. In the future, even the Tokugawa family will not be able to resist it, and no one will be able to stop it. If we still rely on Tokugawa, we will inevitably become enemies with you, Lord Tantai Ye. When that time comes, we…” Zhu Juan shook her head and did not continue.

She chose to follow Tantai Ye, so she became one of his people. When things turned against her clan, she would definitely side with Tantai Ye, so she didn't say these things.

"What did the master do?" Firefly asked in a low voice, full of curiosity.

Zhu Juan thought for a moment and then briefly recounted the incident when they approached the Emperor that day. She knew what kind of person Yinghuo was, so she wasn't worried about it being leaked.

"Ah! So that means, Lord, you now have complete control over His Majesty the Emperor!" Firefly exclaimed in surprise. This was simply unbelievable!

“It’s not control, it’s more like subjugation…” Zhu Juan thought for a moment, “The adult’s methods are beyond your imagination. He is someone who can modify or create ninjutsu at will.”

Firefly nodded in agreement, saying, "I believe that. The women around him are all incredibly powerful. Just now in the hall, the woman sitting next to me named Rize Kamishiro gave me a creepy feeling, like she was about to devour me."

“Therefore, we must persuade the leader!” Zhu Juan nodded.

"This matter is probably not easy, after all, it involves our entire village," Firefly shook her head.

Zhu Juan didn't say anything more; now she could only take it one step at a time.

…………

Meanwhile, far away in Edo, in a temple called the Tendai sect.

There was a house with the door tightly closed, and only through the paper windows could one see that the light was on inside.

Inside the room, several standing candlesticks, squatting on the floor, were covered with candles, illuminating the room brightly, though some shadowy areas were even darker.

At this moment, an elderly man with white eyebrows, wearing a kasaya, sat cross-legged on a futon. His slender white eyebrows drooped straight down from the corners of his eyes to his chin. His wrinkled face was calm and still, and his triangular eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at another elderly man in fine clothes in front of him.

The elderly man in the fine clothes was broad and stout, with a grayish-blue complexion on his aged face, giving him the appearance that his time was near. However, he still exuded an aura of authority, clearly the kind of person who held great power and was high above others.

“A ninja!” the elderly man in fine clothes whispered.

“Exactly.” The white-browed monk opposite nodded.

"Do you want to use ninjas to decide who will succeed Tokugawa as shogun?" the richly dressed old man asked.

The white-browed monk spoke up, “Now, Edo Castle is divided into two factions: Takechiyo, the eldest son of the second Hidetada, and his younger brother Kunichiyo. Even among the senior retainers and their wards, there is infighting. If this situation is left unchecked, even if the Toyotomi clan is destroyed, Tokugawa will still embark on a path of destruction.”

“I understand!” The old man in fine clothes was silent for a moment. “That’s why I came to you, Master, to discuss countermeasures.”

The old monk said, "However, after careful consideration, it seems too late to clean up the mess."

They completely misunderstand our good intentions.

"In that case, why not settle things in the way most suitable for the samurai clan, by deciding the outcome of a ten-way sword fight? That would be one method, but I don't want the Tokugawa samurai to die in such a way."

"So... ninjas!" said the elderly man in fine clothes.

“That’s right. If they were ninjas, even if they killed each other and blood flowed like rivers, we wouldn’t feel a thing.” The white-browed old man finished speaking and a smile appeared on his lips.

The elderly man in fine clothes didn't say anything more, but he nodded.

These two men were none other than the elderly man in fine clothes, who was none other than Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful general in the world at the time, and the white-browed old man, who was the most famous master of the era, Nankobo Tenkai, who was also a strategist for the Tokugawa family in private.

In this remote mountain temple, the two men, with their simple words, decided the future fate of their two tribes.

…………

early morning,

A cool autumn breeze rustled through the increasingly yellow leaves on the branches, while pedestrians passing by below began their busy day.

Tsukishiro Ryu, Yumiko, Pokona, Kamishiro Rize, Irimi Kaname, and the others didn't return; instead, they stayed to help Hoshimi Miyabi. Furthermore, as the mission unfolds, more of their sisters will arrive. Hoshimi Miyabi alone cannot complete the task.

After saying goodbye to Hotaru, Zhu Juan left the palace for their base in Iga, where she was to tell Jingoro and Koshiro about the matter with Kii.

As for what to do next, Tantai Ye didn't care. He just promised Zhu Juan that he would go back to Eyin with her, and then Zhu Juan would stay by his side.

“We have an appointment with Hojo Ujiyasu today, would you like to come along?” Arisa said to Tantai Ye at the dinner table.

“Hojo Ujiyasu! The leader of the Kyoto garrison, the head of the Hojo family!” Tantai Ye shook her head. “I’m not going. Are you planning to take action against the Hojo family?”