Chapter 35: Itching for a fight

In a large underground room in one of the buildings on the outskirts of the city, sounds of heavy breathing were heard as over a hundred men engaged in an arm wrestle.

Their upper bodies were bare as beads of sweat glistened on their tanned skin.

Their main focus was to get their opponents back to the floor, but as each man had almost equal strength, the task became a little difficult to accomplish.

As the wrestle continued, five men in dull patterned kimonos, walked in their midst as their eyes glanced past each team, ready to shout a few instructions to their hearing.

Everyone seemed to be so into this training until Daisuke's arrival.

There was a little distraction from the retainers, but their instructors made them get back to work immediately.

"Do you think your level of strength is enough to impress Lord Sato when he returns? Focus!"

As no one wanted to be found lagging when their Lord and owner returned to test them, they became even more serious.

Their pride was in their master, and they wanted to impress him.

Daisuke's gaze glanced past the instructor that gave that speech and shook his head.

'Master will surely be disappointed no matter what.'

Naoki was already picky, and then he had to come back a hundred times stronger than before. He was surely going to curse their pride out when he came there.

Also, Daisuke had it in the back of his mind that both the instructors and the retainers were still unaware of Sato Naoki's return.

A smirk turned up at the corners of his lips. 'You are all in for a surprise.'

He couldn't wait to see the changes in their facial expressions, and their reactions in full.

Quickly, the large wooden box Daisuke came with was carried inside the large room by the men guarding the entrance to the building.

Putting the heavy box down next to his feet on the stage, the four men gave a deep bow before turning to leave.

"Takashi!" Daisuke called out as his sight landed on one of the instructors which happened to be the leader of the retainers in training.

Instantly, the man stopped in his steps and tilted his head to the side.

"Daisuke-sama," he answered before making his way to the front of the room, but suddenly, something happened that attracted the attention of everyone in the huge space.

Just a few steps away from Daisuke which five long strides could finish, someone appeared out of thin air, bringing with him a dark aura and the sound of a rushing wind.

'Whoosh…'

It was so hard for the line of concentration of the men in the room not to break with that kind of supernatural presence and grand entrance.

Instantly, everyone stopped what they were doing with one thought in their minds, 'Who is that?'

They were wondering about the identity of the person that was able to find this secret place and invade it without warning.

This was so unexpected that without waiting to see what the ghost that appeared in their presence out of nowhere looked like, the wrestle stopped as all the men in the room apart from Daisuke, stood in a defensive room and got ready to attack.

On the other hand, Daisuke was taken aback by Naoki's sudden presence.

At first, he was not able to see his face immediately he appeared as his lashes fluttered close due to the strong wind he brought with him. Still, he was able to recognize that strong familiar formidable aura.

It was hard to miss.

While others were in a defensive mode and ready to attack, a deep sigh escaped his lips.

'Master, can you not appear out of nowhere?'

He was scaring everyone into thinking that an enemy had found their secret training center.

Probably, if Daisuke did not know of Naoki's advanced superpowers, he would have drawn his sword the moment he felt the strong breeze next to him.

Shifting his gaze to the retainers ready to fight, Daisuke quickly glanced back to the man standing next to him.

Things could really go bad if the retainers attacked the man whose return had been long expected, a man they so much reverenced and were ready to lay down their lives for.

Imagine making a grave mistake like that…

With that thought, Daisuke hurriedly dropped to his knees as his hands face-palmed on the floor as several pairs of eyes turned to him.

'What is Daisuke-sama doing?' The men in the room thought with eyes widening in shock as they slowly left their defensive mode without knowing.

As Daisuke pressed his forehead to the space between his knees, his voice thundered with clear reverence in his tone.

"Welcome back, our Lord!"

'Huh?'

'That's Lord Sato?' They thought nervously, as their eyes moved back to the man whose clothes fluttered lightly.

Instantly recognizing him, their knees dropped to the floor at the same time as a 'pop' sound reverberated in the room.

Pressing their foreheads to the floor, their thunderous voice mixed with two different emotions resonated in the room.

"Welcome back, our Lord!"

Naoki's retainers were happy with his return but at the same time, emotional.

At last, he was back in their presence, but now, most of them were on the verge of tears. They missed their Master so dearly for 18 past years.

There was a point when they all felt there wasn't any hope left after waiting so long for his return.

They had almost given up hope, but with Daisuke's encouragement, they continued with the battle of their minds and body.

Fortunately, their wait wasn't for nothing as their Master was here with them now, looking as handsome and intimidating as they had remembered.

Slowly, Naoki moved his hands behind his back as his eyes moved between them.

Suddenly his lashes blinked a few times as his ears perked up.

Sniff, sniff…

'What's that sound?' He thought to himself as more sniffing sounds reached his ears.

Sniff, sniff…

'Huh? Are they crying?' A voice went off in his head as his eyes narrowed at the full-grown men still offering him the Great Bow.

'They can't be crying, right?'

Naoki thought it would be absurd for the full-fleshed soldiers in training for the past several years to cry on his return.

That was ridiculous!

With his senses heightened, Naoki could clearly see the slight movement from the shuddering shoulders of the men at the last roll.

Being unable to bear the emotional reunion with his retainers, plus their childish stunts as this was not his thing, his irritating tone immediately commanded.

"Stop your nonsense!"

Without giving them the chance to pull out of their soul-stirring state, he continued as his eyes hovered above them like a hawk looking for prey to feast on,

"Pick up your swords and come at me!"

'Huh?' Instantly, the men raised their heads to peep at him, before slowly rising to their feet.

No matter how shocked they were, they still had to obey the command before expressing it.

"M-Master…" One of the men at the forefront uttered with quivering lips as his eyes glistened in tears.

Raising a questioning brow, Naoki's carefree tone sounded in their ears like the gentle sound from a bamboo flute, "I thought you all were trying to fight me a few moments ago, what happened?"

"No Master, we wouldn't dare!" Takashi interjected straight away with a bow on behalf of the retainers who equally lowered their heads. A sign that showed their plead for mercy.

Fight him? Were they tired of living?

How could they fight their Master, and that too, someone that teleported into their presence?

It's not like they were trying to get to their early graves without partaking in the great fight awaiting them in the future.

An eerie silence followed as Naoki's gaze narrowed at them. His brows were slightly furrowed as his lips pressed together.

He seemed to be in deep contemplation on whether to let them off or do as his mind had directed.

At the same time, the retainers stilled their breathing as they waited for their Master's verdict while Daisuke released a deep sigh as his eyes closed briefly.

"Pick up your swords and come at me, now!" Naoki instructed the next moment as his gaze turned fierce.

Without waiting for them to recover from their shocks and disappointments, he drew Daisuke's katana from its sheath and pointed it at the men before him.

He was ready for a fight.

Daisuke was not surprised with the end result as he had already known that it would be so. He had been in their shoes before, so he knew what their Lord was capable of doing.

After all, the man has been itching for a fight since his eyes snapped open from the realm of unconsciousness, and now that he had a chance, why would he let them off just like that?

This would not be different from snatching a mouse from a cat.

There had to be a fight in order for him to reach a maximum level of satisfaction.