Chapter 409 The Old Man (Two in One, Please Subscribe!!!)
A meeting related to the future destiny of the Sheqiba family ended.
Rather than saying that this meeting was a meeting at the highest level of the family, it was more like a revolution, because through this short one-hour meeting, the family made several huge decisions in succession.
First of all, the war with the fierce ghosts has been stopped. In a short period of time, the family will focus entirely on searching and killing the "god". Secondly, last night's "Deadpool Raid on Genji" caused tragic losses. For the "Heavy Industry Building" incident, the source of all the blame turned out to be Mr. Masamune, a recognized hero of the Sheqiba family. As a result, Masamune was temporarily removed from all positions and powers in the family, and was even ordered to be grounded for a period by the current patriarch, Nagamoto Shisho. Month, finally everyone, Yuan Yuansheng, announced that the family no longer regards the secret party as the enemy. After waiting for the "god" problem to be solved, Yuan Zhisheng himself will personally find Principal Angers in order to reach a reconciliation between the two parties.
As soon as the meeting came to an end, the family heads rushed back to their positions non-stop. After a catastrophe, the eight Sheqi families were now in dire straits, and a new crisis was imminent. The family still needed the help of these highly respected family heads. Only under the leadership of the Japanese can we stand safely in this huge storm that is about to sweep across Japan.
Minamoto and Masamune Tachibana went to the 22nd floor of the building together, where they wanted to immediately transfer Princess Kaguya's highest authority. The head of the Miyamoto family rushed back to the underground dock of the Iwali Research Institute anxiously. He was busy working on the dragon form. Deadpool's skeleton is still stored on the laboratory's experimental bench, waiting for his research. Sakurai Nanami and Ryoma Genichiro rushed to coordinate the reconstruction of the liaison department and the shadow wall layer, which were most seriously damaged by Deadpool. The place requires a head-level person to be in charge, so that the work can proceed steadily.
In the end, the only ones left on the terrace of Xingshenji were the two most senior heads of the Sheqihachi family with white beards and hair... Fuma Kotaro, the head of the Fuma family, and Inuyama Ga, the head of the Inuyama family.
Fuma Kotaro and Inuyama Ga were sitting on opposite sides of the long round table. The "King of Ninja" and "The Strongest Sword Master" of the Jakiki Hachi family were separated by the width of a table.
The two old men just sat quietly, no one took the lead, but the air seemed to freeze for no reason, carrying an aura of imminent rain, as if a strong wind blew by, and the next moment there would be swords, swords, and blood splashing. scene.
But this kind of scene that would only appear in samurai rogue movies was not staged at this moment. With Fuma Kotaro sighing heavily, the long silence was suddenly broken.
"I'm old. It seems I'm really too old. The once feared 'King of Ninja' of the Fuma family on the battlefield has turned into an old man who is stubborn and unwilling to change." Fuma Kotaro said solemnly. sigh.
There was too much helplessness in the old man's voice, and the years had eroded the vicissitudes of life on his face. When Fuma Kotaro said these words, the aura in him that was in conflict with the Inuyamaga branch suddenly dropped. After that, the "King of Ninja" at this moment does not have any aura of being able to kill people with a sharp edge and kill thousands of miles. If someone who doesn't know him on the street sees the current Fuma Kotaro, they will at most think that he is a serious, rigid and even... There is also a bit of a scary old man who is not old enough to change.
"My heart is still as brave as before, but the years are suddenly too late." Inuyama He shook his head slowly.
"It's not you, it's us. We are all old. It's hard for old people like us to leave anything for the family." Inuyama Ga looked into Fuma Kotaro's eyes, "That's why I don't like you, Fuma-kun, I have always I don’t like you not only because of the grudges left over from the previous generation, but also because you are too radical.”
"You always want to leave something for the family. I know that you are sincere to the family, but you don't know that your thoughts have been corrupted. The only people who can bring new life to the family are young blood like the head of the Miyamoto family and the head of the family." Inuyama Ga said very seriously, "Our old-fashioned ideas are no longer suitable for this new era, and are even poisonous to the current family. The only use for us old guys to stay is to do our best for the young people who have grown up. It is possible to remove the obstacles ahead, and the bones after our death can only become the foundation of the family, and the spine and arms of the young people can become the pillars of the family."
"After all, you are the student that Principal Ange is proud of. Inuyama-kun, you indeed live a pure and thorough life. I am ashamed of myself." Fuma Kotaro shook his head slowly.
"Are you proud of me? The teacher has too many students, and I am far from being the one that the teacher is proud of." Inuyama He suddenly thought of Lu Mingfei, and through that young man, he saw Thinking back to myself more than sixty years ago, "It's really embarrassing to say that I should have understood it a long time ago. The teacher wanted to teach me the truth sixty-two years ago, but I was too stupid and it took me sixty-two years." Only then did I understand the teacher’s thoughts, and I almost went to the grave with this regret... I didn’t expect that it would take me sixty-two years to grow up.”
A self-deprecating wry smile appeared on the corner of Inuyama Ga's mouth. These were the true feelings he hid in his heart, but he did not say it to Ange, his subordinates, or even anyone around him. At this moment, he was facing Fuma Kotaro, who had never been against him. , Inuyama Ga actually said these words candidly. Instead of being half-hearted, he felt relieved that some kind of shackles had been removed.
"I still envy you, Inuyama-kun." Fuma Kotaro said sincerely, "At least you understand now, and you don't have to regret it."
"Some people say that people grow up in just a few moments, maybe when they gain something or when they lose something. These moments in some people's lives may come very quickly and they grow up overnight. Some people may never grow up in their lifetime." Fuma Kotaro suddenly turned his head, and the old man squinted his eyes and looked at Tokyo Bay in the distance. "In this case, living long may not be entirely a bad thing. At least I am already so old. You can still see such vivid scenes, young people today are more interesting than we were back then."
Kotaro Fuma's eyes were fixed on the young men and women in swimsuits playing in the waves on the beach of Tokyo Bay in the distance. No one knew what the "vivid picture" the old family leader meant... Maybe it was Kotaro Fuma's sight. The Wanderer running in the middle distance, perhaps at the end of the meeting just now, spoke so impassionedly that all the family heads were speechless.
"Yes, it's good to be alive...it's a good thing to be alive." Inuyama Kaya followed Fuma Kotaro's gaze and murmured.
I don’t know if the pupils of the two old men reflect the same picture.
"Compared with the current patriarch and Mr. Masamune, who do you think is better able to lead the family to strength?" Fuma Kotaro suddenly asked Inuyama He.
"You just inherited the position, who can predict what will happen in the future?" Inuyama He paused, he hesitated, and then said slowly, "But with all due respect, Mr. Masamune is also an old man, an old man like us. …It is undeniable that Mr. Masamune’s thoughts do have radical elements, but Mr. Masamune’s radicalism is an ‘old radicalism’.”
"'Old radical'?" Fuma Kotaro frowned slightly, as if he didn't understand the word.
"Yes, 'old radical'." Inuyama Ga sighed deeply, "This is a kind of samurai-like radicalism. Be upright when you should be upright, be decisive when you should be decisive, and never be sloppy when action is needed, just like the shogunate The samurai of the era... But samurai are something that should have been eliminated long ago. When a family is in decline, it is true that the samurai-like 'old radicalness' is needed to guide the rise of the family, but this kind of radical style cannot guarantee that the family will be the leader of the family. Prosperity never fades.”
"Really?" Fuma Kotaro was noncommittal, "You have a higher opinion of Mr. Masamune than I thought. I thought you would have a strong prejudice against Mr. Masamune."
"Why?" Inuyama Hexuebai raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know, it's just an intuition. My intuition is rarely wrong." Fuma Kotaro shook his head, "Do you know, Inuyama-kun, I am the leader of the Outer Five Families. Among all the heads of the Outer Five Families, I am the one with Masamune. The people closest to Mr. Masamune, even Mr. Masamune, would come to me to talk freely if he had some inconveniences to reveal to the head of the Minamoto family. We are all old people of the same era. We should have become close friends who can be close to each other, but in the end we did not. Mr. Inuyama family, you Do you know why?"
"Because of my identity?"
According to family tradition, the leaders of the Outer Five families and the heads of the Sheqi Eight families should not get too close due to status issues.
"No, it has nothing to do with identity." Fuma Kotaro shook his head slowly, "I always have a feeling that Mr. Masamune may be more... a Machiavellian than a samurai."
Inuyama Ga was stunned for a moment. He looked deeply at Fuma Kotaro and repeated calmly: "A Machiavellian?"
"Yes, a Machiavellian." Fuma Kotaro said softly, "Whenever I am alone with Mr. Masamune, I can deeply understand through the lines of this man's words that this is a man with huge ambitions. Such a man Being the leader of the Snake Qiba Family is naturally a good thing for the family, because only his radical approach can lead the family in danger to a strong position."
"Before Mr. Masamune succeeded him as the head of the eight Sheqi families, I knew him during the executive bureau. At that time, Mr. Masamune was extremely ambitious, as if the position of head of the family was in his pocket. At that time, I was very Appreciate this man, he will definitely become the head of the family, and the family will become stronger day by day under his leadership... This is what I thought at the time." Fuma Kotaro said, "After that, that man really became the master of the Snake Qihachi family. "Chief, my vision is not wrong, the family has indeed risen rapidly in the hands of that man, but I can't see through him more and more."
"What do you say?" Inuyama He asked.
"Mr. Masamune, who has become the head of the family, is more reserved, but after all, I have known that man for a long time, so I can feel that he just hides his huge ambitions under a stable appearance, and even the His ambitions were even more expanded than before when he was in the Executive Bureau." Fuma Kotaro said, "But at that time, Mr. Masamune was already the supreme leader of the underworld and the most powerful man in the entire Japanese underworld. His ambitions were growing day by day. Where does it come from? Is it because you want to lead the family to a higher peak? Definitely not, because if Mr. Masamune's ambition is for the family, he will not become introverted, but will be sharp."
"This problem has troubled me for a long time. I have been thinking hard but I still can't figure it out. Of course, I have not revealed it in front of Mr. Masamune, and I have never told anyone else these words. Inuyama-kun, you are the first." Fuma Kotaro Looking at Inuyama Ga, "It's not that I don't want to have a heart-to-heart relationship with Mr. Masamune, it's just that I can't have a heart-to-heart relationship with such a man, because I simply can't see through what's hidden deep in this man's heart."
"It's really surprising that the secret that Mr. Fuma has kept in his heart for so many years would be the first to be told to me." Inuyama Ga smiled, but his heart was by no means peaceful.
Even though the Inuyama family and the Fuma family have had irresolvable hatred for generations, Inuyama Ga himself has always been at odds with Fuma Kotaro. At this moment, he had to admire this man from the bottom of his heart.
Inuyama Ga always believed that Fuma Kotaro and Tachibana Masamune got closer together to gain popularity, but now it seems that the leader of the five outside families has actually faintly felt that something is wrong with Tachibana Masamune in his heart, although he has not yet suspected it. level, but this vigilance gradually developed based on intuition alone has lived up to his reputation as the "King of Ninja".
"Inuyama-kun, in today's meeting, it seems that one of you and I are targeting Mr. Masamune and the other is targeting me, but I can vaguely notice that you are very subtle, but you cooperate very well." Kotaro Fuma looked at him. Inuyama Ga's eyes, "You and everyone, I think you two may know something... we don't know."
Inuyama Ga couldn't help but take a deep breath. He looked at Fuma Kotaro with surprise in his eyes, and he finally came to his senses: "That's why you kept going against everyone in today's meeting, pretending to defend Mr. Masamune." appearance?"
Fuma Kotaro did not answer Inuyama Ga's question. He just stared into Inuyama Ga's eyes and continued his own question: "I will not presume to ask Inuyama-kun what you and everyone else know. What I just want to know is ...Mr. Masamune’s ambition, is it for the family or for himself?”
Inuyama He opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment.
"Then let me ask a different question." Fuma Kotaro paused, "Mr. Masamune, will you betray the family in order to achieve a certain purpose..."
Inuyama He looked at the old man's eyes as straight as a steel knife across from him. After being silent for a long time, he nodded slowly.
Fuma Kotaro stood up slowly, suddenly bowed deeply to Inuyama Ga, and then walked toward the door of the Xingshen Temple terrace without saying a word.
The biting sea breeze blows from Tokyo Bay in the distance. The old man's back in the wind looks like a famous sword that has been unsheathed again after many years of silence.
…
The black Toyota taxi was parked on the street in Chiyoda Ward.
The boy got out of one side of the back seat, trotted to the other side, and slowly opened the door.