While walking. I walked into the Ichiraku Ramen along with my guard. I had been too tense lately. And the shop was nearby anyway.
"Hoh, Kurosawa-san! Long time no see. What would you like?"
"A bowl of your finest for each of us, Teuchi-san."
"Right away, sir!"
I smiled. Teuchi's enthusiasm was contagious. Maybe that was also one of the reasons for his success. He never asked you about stuff you didn't want to talk about. All he gave was simple, unconditional warmth.
As we waited, we were joined by people. And as luck would have it. I knew a few of them.
First was Maito Duy. He nodded to me. The deal I had tried to strike with him had fallen through long ago. Especially with me getting suppressed so hard by the family of the other customers who entered. Kurokami Rei. He was with his sister and another clan mate of his, along with two servants.
When he saw me, he simply snickered and sat down at a different table. I ignored him and started chatting with my Lotus leaf squad. I was here to relax in peace anyway. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards today.
Normal conscious heirs don't cause trouble without reason. Drunk heirs, on the other hand, were an entirely different matter altogether.
Just as we were finishing up our meal. Rei stumbled towards us. I could see the mountain of Soju bottles on their table.
"If it isn't the Lord of Fuinjutsu Kurosawa Ren himself?"
Now he had drawn attention. And not just ours.
"Tell me, great Lord. Do you regret it yet?" He had a smug smile on his face as he slammed his hand on our table.
"You're drunk, Kurokami-san. You should leave before you do something you regret." Raya warned him. Her fists are clenched.
"Oh! The little whore speaks!" I instinctively clenched my sword's handle.
"No worries, no worries. I'll break you in my own time. But more importantly, Ren, don't you regret rejecting Yozora now?"
I just stayed silent.
"I bet you do. You go to your bed every night crying into your pillow. Begging the sage of the six paths for another chance. Right Ren? I am right, right?"
I tried to ignore him I really did. Their table was snickering.
"You had such arrogance when you asked for my sister in marriage. Who the hell did you think you are? You're not even worth her shoes you dumb f..k!"
You will have your chance. You will have your chance. I repeated in my mind.
Maybe Shiori saw my expression near violence. She tried to stop him. They were politically stronger. But in a fight against me her brother will suffer too much. "Leave those fools alone, brother. They aren't worth it." I had studied these two. They both had their eyes on the seat of the seat. Yet they were friendly. At least as far as anyone knew from the outside. It was a strange dynamic.
But Rei didn't listen. "Oh, what! No, no, no. Since we're all here. At least let me introduce him to his bride."
I raised my head. As he stumbled back to his table and grabbed one of the servants by her chin. He dragged her roughly and showed me her half-burned face.
"You see, great lord Ren. Kaina here had a little accident when she was little. She is a little rough around the edges, but she belongs to a very distinct line. Her grandfather was an elder once. Although her father couldn't live up to his legacy. You are not deserving of her, But once you are part of the Board completely. We shall grant you the honor of marrying her."
He laughed and cackled as my blood boiled. See, I told you right. I knew what the board will become. A great man once said, Power tends to corrupt. And Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was a tacit understanding that I'll fal in line. This was a way of them to abuse that line. Now that they felt they had me cornered. A head married to an ugly woman with no political standing.
And don't give me that feminist and inner beauty crap. This is reality for me.
Beauty is an asset. And that is the truth.
Logically, I should have walked out. But in the end, I was too frustrated from all the politicking I had been doing over the last few days, and my baser instincts won.
I punched Rei as hard as I could and sent him flying into the wall. He was a good fuinjutsu master, but he was a normal Chunin. I was an elite chunin by system counts. I didn't look back to assess the damage. Just punched a few Ryo to Teuchi and left as the Kurokami checked on their fallen heir in a panic.
It was a foolish move. But damn, did it feel good.
------
Inuzuka compound. Dinner table.
Inuzuka Renga and I had been sitting and eating in silence for a while now. Tomorrow's vote weighed heavily on both of us.
The servants refilled our plates. We kept going. Until finally, as the meal finished. Renga broke the tense silence.
"What is your offer?"
My struggle was no longer secret. Although my votes were. But I had exhausted everything now. All methods of forming alliances were used. I was politically, financially and physically spent. I had no favors to give and bribes to offer.
"What makes you think there is one?"
"If there isn't, then why are you here?"
I breathed heavily and leveled my gaze at him. And I did not speak until the pause became painful.
"You once asked me for friendship. Are we friends, Lord Renga?"
The old man sniffed. Countering my pause with his own. "I would like to think we are Ren-kun. After all, you and Rina have been teammates for so long."
"I am not asking about her. I am asking about you."
"If you want our help tomorrow. I am afraid it will take more than emotions to move me, Ren-kun."
He was a bit irritated now. His tone was that of handling a child.
I could not have that. I had nothing else to offer. And if he treats me like that. It's over.
"Tomorrow, when Lady Koharu goes around. In a traditional vote, your clan will be among the first to vote. I am not here to offer you anything, Lord Renga. But I am here to check the worth of your words. I will not try to convince you by telling you how many votes I have or what deals I can offer. I am here to see."
He raised an eyebrow, "That's quite the tone you're taking, young man."
"I know. And you should, too. When all those deals were pulled. I didn't blame any other clans. Because they were business. You were not just a business. The others are afraid of me because of the potential I have shown. Know this, Lord Renga. Your vote tomorrow will determine how I see your clan for the rest of my life. I assure you, Rina will always be welcome. You, on the other hand, might not be."
There was no table stomping and voice raising as I left. This was my gamble. I knew that emotions weren't enough to sway them. But a threat on a coming dawn was different. They could take this any way they liked. This could spark assassination attempts and bitter struggle. Or this bluff could make Renga think that I had enough power now. He will either choose to become enemies or sincere allies tomorrow. If I had been anyone else, it would have been a no-brainer. But I was the guy who raised a very powerful clan from dust right in front of his eyes. I had the second largest Fuinjutsu userbase in all of Konoha only exceeded by the Kurokami.
And most importantly. I was a bona fide Genius. Which meant that normal logic and constraints were useless to me.
I just hope he believes that too.