-one hour before the dawn-

After spending more than two hours searching for a specific herb, Shizune rushed back to the cave with an extremely anxious expression on her face. In her anger and frustration, she had completely forgotten to set up Shikigamis to keep watch over Nobu. If he ended up escaping, she would never hear the end of it, so, despite abhorring physical labor, she sprinted back as fast as her milky white legs could carry her.

"Haa...haaa...haaaaa..."

Hearing the sounds of animalistic breathing, Nobu's body immediately tensed as he looked towards the entrance of the cave. Fortunately, or perhaps not, the source ended up being none other than his captive, the annoying pinkette.

"What's the matter with you? Did you get chased by a bear or something...?"

Offering a genuine smile in response to Nobu's words, Shizune combed aside a few strands of hair sticking to her face before answering, "Oh, it's nothing. I just did some light training before running back to see you. How do I look? Does the sweat beading upon my pearl-white skin make your heart go dokun-dokun~?"

With the horizon already beginning to brighten, heralding the rising sun, Nobu had little trouble making out Shizune's features. He couldn't deny she was a remarkably beautiful woman. She had an immaculately sculpted face, fair features, peculiar pink hair, and a pair of breasts that no girl her age had any right to possess. The only problems were her age and her shitty personality, so, after a brief moment of silence, Nobu answered, "Just make sure to keep your distance. You might be a girl but your sweat stinks like any other person."

Having said his piece, Nobu immediately shifted his attention back to the stone tablet. Because of this, he missed seeing the smile on Shizune's face freeze. This was quickly followed by an incredibly determined expression, and, moments later, the same practiced smile she had worn throughout the vast majority of their interactions.

"While I was out, I picked some fruits and refilled my canteen at a nearby mountain stream. Once the sun comes up, I'm planning to escort you back to your little hidey-hole. Our primary objective was only to delay Yui so I'll be returning you to her once everything has been settled. Eat up and make sure you're properly hydrated. I have no intention of carrying you."

Though he was pleasantly surprised by the woman's words, Nobu's past-life experiences made him skeptical of anyone who was encouraging him to eat and drink with a practiced smile on their face. Shizune was exactly like the predatory woman he had encountered previously, so, with a completely serious expression on his face, he said, "Nah, I'm good. If you're not bullshitting, I'd bet my right nut that Yui will be coming to get me. I can't imagine that hardass just sitting still and waiting for you to bring me over."

With that said, Nobu immediately returned to ignoring Shizune. This left the pinkette with one of the dourest looks she had ever possessed, the upper half of her face turning dark as a result of her hanging bangs. This made her usually beautiful amethyst eyes appear scary. Unfortunately, unless she wanted to prove Nobu's previous assessment of her character correct, there wasn't really much she could do to force him.

Resisting the urge to stamp her feet in frustration, Shizune returned her spiked canteen to her bag before walking over and shamelessly sitting to Nobu's left. This earned her an annoyed glare, but, as it was better than having her straddle his lap, Nobu was simply intending to ignore her until she suddenly adopted a serious expression of her own and asked, "Huh? How did your cultivation base increase this much in such a short period of time?"

Freezing the moment he heard Shizune's question, Nobu attempted to move away from her when the girl suddenly pounced on him, drastically increasing her weight as she exclaimed, "I knew there was something strange about you! Your reserves didn't fluctuate even a little while you were injured and unconscious. Now, after only two hours, you're suddenly on the verge of breaking through to the next Rank! Tell me what you did...!"

Since Yui had never really explained anything regarding her suspicions, Nobu was thoroughly taken aback by the fervor, excitement, and seriousness radiating from the tyrannical pinkette. She looked like a kid who had just found the most interesting toy in the world, and, depending on his response, she might very well follow through on the threats she had made in the past. At least, that's what the look on her face was telling him.

Though there was a chance Shizune had been lying to him, Nobu decided to gamble on the fact that Yui would be coming to 'save' him. Their association also provided him with a bit of leverage, so, with a genuinely annoyed expression on his face, he said, "I don't fucking know. Try asking Yui, or, better yet, her Grandmother. She seems to have some idea of what's going on considering she asked Yui to escort me against my will. I've never even met the old hag so how am I supposed to know what she's thinking?"

Blinking her eyes in surprise, Shizune instantaneously reduced her weight back to normal as she asked, "You're someone the Matriarch has taken an interest in?"

Without waiting for Nobu's response, Shizune unmounted his body before adopting a flawless seiza and saying, "You should have mentioned this earlier. Had I known you were someone the Matriarch wanted to meet..."

Thinking the woman was beginning to regret her actions, a taunting sneer began to develop across Nobu's face. Before he could say any snide remarks, however, she adopted the scariest smile he had seen thus far, adding, "I wouldn't have hesitated~."

Before Nobu could ask what the hell she was talking about, several snake-like Shikigami, seemingly manifesting out of thin air, coiled around his body. Then, once he opened his mouth to speak, she plugged his mouth with her waterskin, a devilish smile on her face as she explained, "There are only three types of men who are brought back to the Clan. Bandits, enemies of the Oda Clan, and, most importantly...people with unique skills and bloodlines. Yui wouldn't have resisted so desperately if you were a common criminal or an enemy, so, by process of elimination, you must possess a unique skill or bloodline..."

Though he tried to resist swallowing whatever Shizune was forcing down his throat, Nobu's pupils shrank at the realization he was paralyzed. One of the snakes had bit him near the base of his neck, and, as a result, his entire body had become numb after only a few seconds. The only thing working properly was his autonomic nervous system, the extension of the brain that regulates sub-conscious bodily functions and involuntary responses. This included things like swallowing, so, despite his best efforts, Nobu gulped down the entire canteen as Shizune watched on with a lascivious smile.

With the canteen emptied, Shizune returned it to her pouch before dangling a familiar red root in front of his face and asking, "Do you know what this is~?"

Unable to even glare properly, Nobu had no way of responding to Shizune's question. This caused the smile on her face to grow even wider, and, after licking her lips, she graciously explained, "It's a rare herb known as Dragon's Vigor. Nobles use it when they need a bit of extra oomph. I won't bore you with the details. Let's just say your little brother is about to grow up. Ufufufufufu~."

As there was already a sizeable tent hidden beneath the band of Nobu's trousers, Shizune began to run her finger around the tip as she tilted her head coquettishly to the side and revealed the reason behind her actions, voice heavy with passion and slight melancholy as she muttered, "I'm not sure if Yui has explained it to you but the Yoshitsune Family has been cursed by the Goddess Inari. Because of this, we have a difficult time producing male offspring and have been forced to adapt to a world that is very unforgiving to women. Since no rational man wants to be with a woman cursed to bear only daughters, we have been forced to take a number of 'extreme measures' to ensure the survival of our Clan..."

Taking advantage of Nobu's inability to offer any meaningful resistance, Shizune untied the knot of his hempen belt before unabashedly pulling down his trousers. This caused her to pause for a brief moment, but, after recovering from her stupor, she began to experimentally run her fingers up and down his shaft as she continued, explaining, "Every three or four years, the Yoshitsune Clan gathers capable and unique men from across Nian in order to pass on their genes to the next generation of kunoichi. This most recently occurred four years ago, but, more important than that, the Lady of the Oda Clan recently gave birth to a daughter. She will need kunoichi of her own to serve as her hands and feet outside the capital, so, if it's true that the Matriarch has taken an interest in you...there can really only be one reason..."

As those words departed her lips, Shizune began to stroke Nobu with remarkable finesse as leaned forward close enough to nibble his earlobe before whispering, "I'm looking forward to giving birth to a healthy baby...Pa-pa-sa-ma~."

Despite his paralysis, a violent tremble managed to run through Nobu's body the moment he heard Shizune's heated words echo through his ear before invading his brain. He even managed to twitch his thumbs, but, considering he wasn't a match for her even when he had full control over his body, this wasn't very useful.

Fortunately, not that Nobu had felt particularly lucky ever since his arrival in this world, there were quite a number of things Shizune wanted to try before moving on to sex. She still hadn't given up on seducing him, so, now that he couldn't really look away, she took a few steps back and said, "If you close your eyes, the next time you open them will be with your penis inside me. Who knows, if you're right about Yui, she might even arrive before we move on to the main course~?"

Now confident that he wouldn't look away, Shizune lifted the hem of her skirt to reveal surprisingly 'modern' panties. They even had an elastic band, frills, and all the trimmings expected of something out of a Victoria's Secret Catalog. Had he not been thoroughly infuriated, Nobu might have wanted to know where she had obtained such a garment. Instead, he just watched blankly as Shizune slowly peeled away each layer of her outfit, a seductive smile on her face as she looked down at him with a strangely 'possessive' glimmer in her amethyst eyes...

Seeing these eyes, Nobu, unable to speak, internally groaned the sentiment at the very forefront of his mind, specifically, ("Okay, fate. You've successfully pissed me off...").

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Compared to tracking Yuriko's, following after Shizune was like trying to catch up to someone on a paved path. The only thing she had done to make things marginally more difficult was sending off her Shikigami in random directions, but, due to their small size, only someone inexperienced would fall for such a simple ply. Thus, despite only a few minutes passing since their conversation, Yui and Yuriko found themselves breathing heavily at the bottom of a rocky outcrop covered with trees and heavy foliage.

Though she wasn't particularly gifted at sensing the aura of other people, it didn't take long for Yui to detect the presence of two people hidden amongst the rocky outcrop. This caused her pupils to contract, and, though Yuriko had attempted to stop her, calling out, "Yui! Wait...!" she did no such thing. Instead, she leaped up only to find Shizune near the very end of her striptease, nothing but her pale pink panties baring her from complete nakedness. She also noticed Nobu collapsed on the ground with a painful-looking erection, so, without requiring an explanation, she charged toward the paling pinkette, shouting, "Shizune...!" with a pair of katanas in hand.

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(A/N: Ah...I finally understand. The MC is actually the heroine of this story. *nods sagely while stroking beard*)