CHAPTER 600: CHAPTER 600: THE SNIPE AND THE CLAM QUARREL, THE FISHERMAN BENEFITS

Upon placing the Big Snake Pearl into the Dimension Space, Xiao Zhan assessed the current situation.

Now that the Yagyu Family of the three major families had been annihilated, only two remained, but what their attitudes were, Xiao Zhan did not know yet.

Would they unite against the Chiba Family, or affirm the Chiba Family’s status and maintain a tripartite balance of power?

Or perhaps they harbored other intentions.

Xiao Zhan needed to formulate corresponding strategies based on their attitudes.

For now, the plan was to stay unchanged and respond to all changes adaptively!

...

Koizumi residence.

In a luxurious room,

three people sat.

They were Koizumi Hideo, the Family Head of the Koizumi Family, Hattori Kaji, the Clan Leader of the Hattori Family, and Yagyu Kenjiro, who was now left as a leader without a following!

The trio sat in a circle.

Koizumi Hideo appeared indifferent, leisurely sipping tea.

Hattori Kaji sat beside him, eyes closed, seemingly disinterested in his surroundings.

Only Yagyu Kenjiro’s face showed a faint trace of anger, gripping his teacup so tightly that the tea was quivering, ready to spill over.

"Yagyu-san, what’s done is done; there’s no use getting angry. Anger only harms the body," Koizumi Hideo sipped his tea and offered advice.

However, his words sounded more like schadenfreude.

"Humph."

Yagyu Kenjiro snorted coldly, then said, "I won’t forgive the Chiba Family. They may hide for now, but they cannot hide forever!"

"Right, such a large family won’t be able to hide for long. Soon their exposure will be inevitable," Koizumi lifted his eyelids slightly, glanced at him, and agreed.

Then he added, "Yagyu-san, I’ll help you locate their hiding place. In the meantime, please stay here."

"There’s no need. I have a place to stay."

Yagyu Kenjiro responded and got up.

"I shall take my leave now."

After these words, he and Hattori Kaji left.

The room was then left with only Koizumi Hideo.

Before long, the room door opened again, and an older man entered.

Though he appeared aged, with white hair, he was still full of vigor, his skin was rosy, he was in a lively state, and with every step, he exuded a robust aura.

Koizumi Youtaemon, the only Seventh Grade Sovereign of the Koizumi Family!

Rumored to have almost stepped into the Eighth Grade Realm!

The unmistakably strongest known figure in the Baka Federation!

Upon his entry, Koizumi Hideo immediately rose, "Father."

Koizumi Youtaemon grunted and took a seat.

"With the current situation, what are your plans?"

Koizumi Hideo pondered and calmly said, "I believe this situation presents a good opportunity for us. If handled well, our Koizumi Family could become the only family in the Federation."

Koizumi Youtaemon grunted again; his tone was so even it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

At that moment, a knock came from outside the door.

"Come in,"

said Koizumi Hideo.

The door opened, and a butler-like figure entered, bowing his head to Koizumi Hideo, "Family Head, the assimilation of the Yagyu Family’s assets is proceeding in an orderly fashion, but we’ve encountered a bit of trouble."

Upon hearing this, Koizumi Hideo frowned slightly, "What trouble?"

The butler was his most capable assistant; if even he described it as trouble, it was no mere surface-level nuisance.

The butler replied, "In the process of assimilation, other families also want a piece of the pie, they’re just small-time disturbances, anything swallowed now will eventually be spit back out. But there is one family who is absorbing assets rapidly, they’ve swallowed a large amount of the Yagyu Family’s assets before we even had time to react. And it seems as if they had prior knowledge, always one step ahead and cutting us off before we could act, in just less than a day’s time, they’ve snatched a significant amount of what should’ve been ours."

"So, what is your countermeasure?" After listening, Koizumi Hideo, unbothered, inquired calmly.

In the current situation, any family daring to snatch food from the mouth of his Koizumi Family would only face destruction.

He was not curious about which family’s audacity this displayed; he was confident that eventually, they would be annihilated and spit out everything with interest!

The butler hesitated momentarily, then said one word, "Eliminate."

"Go ahead," Koizumi Hideo waved him off.

"Yes."

After the butler left.

Koizumi Hideo spoke to Koizumi Youtaemon again, "Now the Yagyu Family is left with only Yagyu Kenjiro. He’s a desperado with nothing to lose. Paired with the wily Hattori Kaji, the Chiba Family will have a tough time."

"What do you plan to do?" Koizumi Youtaemon asked directly.

His way of doing things was exactly like Koizumi Hideo’s.

Koizumi Hideo thought for a while and said, "I plan to use a stratagem of luring the tiger away from the mountain to draw Yagyu Kenjiro away while employing a borrowed knife to kill, to make the Chiba Family fight against the Hattori Family. When clam and crane fight, we shall reap the fisherman’s profit."

After saying this, he looked towards Koizumi Youtaemon, "At that time, father, we may need your intervention once."

"That’s easy,"

Koizumi Youtaemon added, "The Hattori Family’s Sky Folding Technique, I’ve longed for it, let’s seize the opportunity this time."

...

After leaving the Koizumi house, Yagyu Kenjiro and Hattori Kaji.

Yagyu Kenjiro had a consistently grim expression.

From Koizumi Hideo’s tone and demeanor, it was not difficult to tell he was taking pleasure in his misfortune.

Verbally he spoke of helping Yagyu Kenjiro, but it was still unclear what kind of scheme he had behind his back.

"Hattori-san, now of the three major families, my Yagyu Family exists in name only, leaving just your family and the Koizumi Family. Be wary of the Koizumi Family’s great ambitions."

"We earnestly cultivate Ninjutsu and never fight for fame or profit; would he act against us?" Hattori Kaji asked doubtfully.

Yagyu Kenjiro chuckled coldly, his tone full of mockery, "Guess why you are also one of the three major families?"

Hattori Kaji, clearly a simple-minded practitioner, answered, "Because our strength is formidable."

His answer was not incorrect.

Yagyu Kenjiro smiled wryly and shook his head. It was precisely because of Hattori Kaji’s personality that he was willing to befriend him.

"Hattori-san, there’s an old saying in Longxia, ’A man without guilt will be guilty if he carries a jade.’ With a treasure in hand, one will be coveted by others, let alone when that treasure is a sword."

Hattori Kaji, still confused and unharmed in his innocence, eyes widened, still somewhat perplexed.

Yagyu Kenjiro shook his head helplessly again, it seemed Hattori Kaji’s mind couldn’t turn that corner.

He said, "Forget it, Hattori-san, don’t think too much. You just need to remember to be on guard against Koizumi Hideo, this guy will devour you whole without spitting out bones."