Umekawa Kojiro glanced at him, and the young ninja immediately lowered his head.

"A newcomer?" A cold sneer curled at the corner of Umekawa Kojiro's mouth.

"How many people have you seen upgrade from village-level to town-level within a single month?"

Cold sweat broke out on the young ninja's forehead, and he dared not speak again.

Another older ninja said in a deep voice, "Patriarch, we can ignore the orders from Osaka Castle." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Baigui County is the territory of the Umekawa family. Although Yamamoto Ichiro is the City Lord, he cannot control us."

"Exactly," another person chimed in. "Our Baigui County is ranked in the top twenty among the thirty county-level territories in Sakura Country."

In terms of strength and heritage, we don't need to care about Osaka Castle's attitude. Why provoke a Great Xia lord? If it causes trouble..."

"What if it causes trouble?" a burly ninja interrupted him. "Can the Great Xia people actually attack us? What can they do to us?"

"You can't say that. Beacon Fire Town isn't far from us, just 70 li to the east. If they develop..."

"So what if they develop? A small territory that just upgraded from village-level, how many people can they have? How many troops?"

We have fifteen hundred Level 9 County Soldiers and over twenty class-holders in Baigui County. Why should we fear them?"

The hall was immediately divided into two factions; some advocated following Osaka Castle's orders, while others felt there was no need to cause unnecessary trouble. The sound of arguing grew, and the atmosphere became noisy.

Umekawa Kojiro did not stop them, but just listened quietly.

The argument lasted for a moment before the older ninja raised his hand to suppress the noise and turned to Umekawa Kojiro. "Patriarch, what are your thoughts?"

The hall fell silent, and everyone looked toward the main seat.

Umekawa Kojiro picked up his teacup, took a leisurely sip, and then spoke slowly.

"I could have ignored Yamamoto Ichiro's summons."

He set down the teacup, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "But the price he offered forced me to reconsider."

He took a purple ninja blade from his robes.

"This is the first item he promised—the purple-quality 【shadow moon blade】."

A chorus of suppressed gasps rang out in the hall.

Purple equipment! Out of the twenty-one people present, only Umekawa Kojiro possessed a single piece of purple leg guards.

Now there was the shadow moon blade. It was a symbol of status and a guarantee of strength.

"After the task is done, there is a second piece," Umekawa Kojiro said as he put away the shadow moon blade. "Also purple equipment, and I can choose the type."

Now even the older ninja was moved.

Two pieces of purple equipment!

"Patriarch, you mean..." someone asked cautiously.

Umekawa Kojiro leaned back in his chair, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "I previously only had one piece of purple equipment, and my level was stuck at 25. You all know the threat of the highest-level Rank 3 Nightmare Tide."

Everyone's expression turned solemn.

The highest-level Rank 3 Nightmare Tide—that was a natural disaster capable of wiping out a county-level territory. Baigui County could currently only withstand a standard-level Rank 3 Nightmare Tide at most.

"If I can have three pieces of purple equipment, my strength will surely soar," Umekawa Kojiro's voice grew deep.

"When the time comes and I reach Level 29, combined with Baigui County's walls and defenses, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ we might even be able to endure the highest-level Rank 3 Nightmare Tide."

The hall fell into silence.

Everyone understood the Patriarch's considerations. This wasn't about acting on impulse or following orders; it was for his own strength and for the survival and development of Baigui County.

"But Patriarch..." the older ninja hesitated, "is that Beacon Fire Town lord really that strong? Is he worth such attention?"

Umekawa Kojiro did not answer directly but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question. "What is the current situation with that Copper-Tin Mine to the east?"

Everyone was stunned.

A ninja in charge of intelligence quickly replied, "Patriarch, that Copper-Tin Mine... has already been occupied by the people of Beacon Fire Town."

"Oh?" Umekawa Kojiro's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Didn't we say before that there were Great Qin Elite Soldiers remnants entrenched there, and we haven't been able to take it?"

"Yes," the ninja bowed his head. "But recently, for some reason, those remnants disappeared, and the people of Beacon Fire Town took advantage of it. By the time we got the news, they had already been mining for several days."

A low murmur of curses echoed in the hall.

"Great Qin Elite Soldiers remnants..." Umekawa Kojiro said thoughtfully.

"Those undead wandered this area for a year and suddenly disappeared, just in time for Beacon Fire Town to get lucky."

Umekawa Kojiro looked at someone. "What was the name of that Beacon Fire Town lord again?"

"Lin Feng," the person replied. "Supposedly an eighteen-year-old Great Xia youth who awakened less than two months ago."

"Eighteen years old, awakened for less than two months, established a village for less than a month, and already upgraded to a town."

Umekawa Kojiro emphasized each word, "Do you think such a person could be ordinary?"

The hall was so quiet that the crackling of the candlelight could be heard.

"Rare Lord Template," Umekawa Kojiro said slowly. "I suspect that he and I both have Rare Lord Templates."

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.

Rare Lord Template—almost all lords in Sakura Country with such a template were at least county-level lords.

If that Lin Feng was also one...

"That's why I asked, who among you can defeat him?" Umekawa Kojiro's gaze swept over the crowd.

"According to the international lord convention, when a higher-level territory and a lower-level territory compete for a resource point, the challenging lord cannot personally take action, but the challenged party can. Among the twenty of you, who can surely win against that Lin Feng?"

No one answered.

"No one dares to answer, right?" Umekawa Kojiro sneered. "I don't expect you to win in a head-on fight. I have my own arrangements."

He stood up, walked to the map hanging in the hall, and pointed to the location of Beacon Fire Town.

"Over the next few days, I'm going to subjugate the Nightmare Corrupt Dragon Beast." He turned around.

"Counting the round trip, it will take about five days. After the successful subjugation, I will intentionally leak news to let the word of my level drop spread out."

Everyone's eyes gradually lit up.

"It will take about two days for the news of my level drop to spread," Umekawa Kojiro continued.

"On the eighth day, you will send people to that Copper-Tin Mine to provoke them. No need for a real fight, just show your faces."

"And then?" someone asked.

A strange smile curled at the corner of Umekawa Kojiro's mouth. "Then, we'll see how that Lord Lin Feng responds."

He waved his hand. "Go and prepare. I will make further arrangements for the action on the eighth day."

Everyone stood up, bowed, and filed out of the hall.

The moment the last ninja pulled the door shut, only Umekawa Kojiro remained in the hall.

He stood before the map, staring at the small marker—'Beacon Fire Town'.

"Eighteen years old... Rare Template..." he whispered to himself. "Interesting. Let this old man see just how much weight you, this Great Xia dark horse, actually carry."

He turned and then strode out of the Council Hall.