135 Kinship

Deciding to leave matters of the future to his future self, Nobu focused on the more important matter at hand, asking, "So? What the hell happened to you...?" in reference to the sling on his father's arm.

Without missing a beat, Senken shrugged his shoulders dismissively, answering, "Don't worry about it. More importantly, there's someone I want you to meet. Hiro...!"

As if he had been waiting for that exact moment, a young man entered the room from an adjacent bamboo door. His expression appeared impassive, but, if you were to look closely, it was possible to make out that his eyes were slightly swollen...

Though his ruby-red eyes briefly lingered on Nana, Hiro, or, more accurately, Nobuhiro managed to appear composed as he cupped his hands together and said, "Words cannot describe how relieved I am to see my elder brother, once thought lost, returned safely to the Oda Clan's embrace..."

Furrowing his brows, Nobu liberated himself from Nana's tenacious embrace before making his way over to the visibly tensing Nobuhiro. Then, before the surprisingly petite youth could even think to protest, Nobu gave his younger brother a bear hug, whispering, "Relax. I have no intention of taking anything away from you..."

Confused by Nobu's words and actions, Hiro found himself unable to respond as his feet dangled a few centimeters off the ground.

Releasing the remarkably thin youth from his embrace, Nobu gave Hiro a firm pat on the shoulder before turning to his father and asking, "Have you explained the situation? Does he know about my stone tablet?"

Shaking his head, Senken answered, "That is a matter for the two of you to discuss. I'm just here to keep things in order until you're ready to take the reins. Try not to keep me waiting too long, brat. I'm long past retirement."

Though he was young compared to some of the old monsters that had been clinging to power for generations, Senken was more than ready to pass over the reins to his children. His power had yet to begin stagnating, but, rather than horde resources for himself, he would rather invest them in the future. After all, at his level, the resources required to increase his Rank a single time could be used to rear more than a dozen Platinum Heroes. While this might not seem like a substantial number at first glance, it was pretty substantial when you considered there were only 37 Platinum Heroes in all of Owari.

With Nobu's Heavenly Treasure, increasing a person's cultivation base was remarkably easy. In fact, even now, Senken couldn't quite believe such a heaven-defying artifact existed.

One of the only things Nobu still lacked was resources. He may be able to provide a multitude of different cultivation methods, but, like people, not all cultivation methods were created equally. If that were the case, the Metal Infusion Technique wouldn't be so coveted by other countries.

Understanding that Nobu was going to need a tremendous amount of resources in a very short period of time, Senken was already making preparations to liquidate many of the assets the Oda Clan had stockpiled since their inception more than six thousand years ago. The prophecy of the Goddess had made the stakes pretty clear, so, with the fate of the very world on the line, Senken was prepared to invest the very clothes on his back towards making the way forward as smooth as possible for his sons. After all, what was the point of wealth if it wasn't used to ensure the success of future generations...?

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With Senken departing alongside a very reluctant Nana, Nobu found himself in the remarkably awkward position of being flanked by two stunningly beautiful women while his younger brother, appearing even more uncomfortable than he was, sat across from him.

At times like this, Nobu really wished he had a normal table and chairs to sit at. Sitting cross-legged while everyone else sat in seiza made him feel like an asshat. To make matters worse, everyone was given their own, individual tables. This was apparently to prevent cross-contamination from poisons and such, but, at the same time, it created a sense of distance that made it stupidly difficult to break the ice...

Fortunately, Nobuhiro wasn't unaccustomed to such awkwardness whilst dining, so, after several minutes had passed, he was the first to break the silence, remarking, "It pleases me to see how well you and Nohime-sama appear to be getting along..."

Similar to when Nobuhiro had first spoken, Nobu couldn't help furrowing in response to the youth's overly polite speech, asking, "Do you always talk like this...?"

With a genuinely confused look on his face, Hiro asked, "Beg your pardon? If I have said something to offend you, I apologize..."

Shaking his head, Nobu surprised everyone by placing his tray-like table into his Storage App and saying, "I don't want your apology. I mean, we're supposed to be brothers, right? Speaking politely to one another just seems stupid. Now, out with it. I want to know how you really feel. You can't be too happy about me appearing out of thin air like this, right?"

Without waiting for Hiro's response, Nobu clipped a pic of the effeminate youth using his Camera App. He was marginally surprised to learn how expensive the youth's information was. Fortunately, he just needed to be able to see his Status in order to know how the emo-looking teen really felt...

("Fear? Sadness? Guilt...?")

Noticing a distinct lack of hostile emotions, Nobu almost missed it when Hiro answered, "I really am happy...no, perhaps it would be more accurate to say I'm relieved to have you back with us. Mother has been sick for such a long time. Seeing her in such high spirits is something to be grateful for..."

Hanging his head, Hiro avoided Nobu's gaze as various thoughts crossed his mind. Unfortunately, Nobu wasn't exactly the most sensitive person in the world, so, rather than affording the youth the time he needed to collect himself, he asked, "You really care about her, don't you...?"

Instead of answering Nobu's question with words, Hiro simply nodded his head before closing his eyes in an effort to veil the seething emotions contained within. In truth, he wasn't at all happy to see their mother doting on the newly returned Nobu. She had never been particularly distant with him, but, ever since he came under the tutelage of his Uncle, Hiro had noticed the sadness in his mother's eyes whenever she gazed upon him...

Taking a deep breath, Hiro willfully reminded himself that it was his decision to listen to his Uncle's advice. He could blame his older brother all he wanted, but, understanding how shameless it would be to blame someone who wasn't even around, Hiro calmed himself before opening his eyes to ask, "What did you mean when you said you had no intention of taking anything away from me...?"

Having ascertained the reasons for his younger brother's fear, sadness, and guilt, Nobu's expression became serious as he said, "Though I'll need to hold the position for a bit, I intend to nominate you as the future Daimyo of Owari."

With his eyes turning round as saucers, Hiro opened his mouth, but, even after several seconds had passed, he couldn't find the words to speak. Instead, it was Nohime who asked, "My Lord...?" with a mixture of confusion and audible trepidation in her tone.

Turning to meet the raven-haired beauty's gaze, Nobu explained, "Hiro has been preparing for the position of Daimyo a lot longer than me. Besides, once I begin to expand my influence to the rest of the Archipelago, I'm not going to be able to stay in Owari. People don't respect leaders who just sit on their asses and delegate their responsibilities to others."

Though he was planning to do a lot of sitting around in the future, one of the few lessons Nobu had internalized from his previous world's history classes was that Conquerors didn't sit back and leave others in charge of their campaigns. Those that did would quickly lose the faith of the people, and, in turn, the faith of the very Generals they entrusted their protection...

With such thought on his mind, Nobu continued where he left off, adding, "I'm not going to fight my own brother over something as absurd as a title, and anyone who attempts to turn us against one another is clearly just looking out for themselves. We have the opportunity to work together to make Owari a better place. Tearing the Province apart just to seize a temporary position is fucking stupid..."

Recalling how the original Nobuhiro had been manipulated to rebel against the original Nobunaga, Nobu wanted to nip the problem in the bud as soon as possible. The position of Daimyo was all but meaningless to him, so, if his brother wanted it, why should they fight over it? The most important thing at the present moment was accumulating allies and people he could trust. Starting things off by suppressing or killing his own siblings wasn't exactly the best way to convince people he was on the side of justice...

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(A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I've been in a lot of pain recently and have had my focus split on a number of different projects. I actually wanted to put NOICE on hiatus until November, but, as there are a few fans eager to see the story develop, I've decided to alternate between releasing chapters of the side story and chapters of NOICE. I'm not going to make any promises but there should be at least one chapter every other day until we reach chapter 200 or so.)