The US$80 million promised to the Iga family by Qiao Feiyun was paid in two instalments.
A 50% deposit was paid first, while the remaining 50% would have to wait for the successful conclusion of the mission.
Moreover, Qiao Feiyun gave a promise of an additional US$2 million pension for each person in the event of a death.
Hattori Hanzo had sent his only son, Hattori Kazuo, to ensure that the mission would be completed successfully.
This time, he specifically asked Ichio Hattori to lead the team to the United States to complete the mission, in order to ensure that the mission would be completed as smoothly and triumphantly as possible.
He called Kazuo Hattori to his study and told him the situation, “Kazuo, pick seven of your best men and go to America as soon as possible!”
Kazuo Hattori said with some concern, “Father, since we have pledged our allegiance to the Ito family, we should first report this to the Ito family and ask for their approval, right? Otherwise, if they know that we are acting without permission, I am afraid there will be some trouble.”
Hattori Hanzo waved his hand and said in a cold voice, “Don’t worry about the Ito clan, they don’t care about us Iga ninja. If this continues, we will sooner or later starve to death!”
When we set off for China, she never told us who our enemy was going to be. This is clearly a trick to send us to our deaths!”
Hattori Kazuo said, “Father, you don’t have to understand this matter so well. It is likely that Miss Ito had already known in her heart that Young Master Ye would win and was just asking us to go and make up a crowd.”
Hattori Hanzo snorted coldly, “No matter what, that woman has been hiding something from us, and this matter makes me very unhappy in my heart!”
Saying that, Hattori Hanzo looked at Hattori Kazuo and said with unparalleled seriousness, “Kazuo, you should know that the top families in the country now are no longer in the era of the tripod ……”
“When there was a tripod, it was when the three clans held each other in check, guarded each other and targeted each other, that the importance of our ninja was reflected ……”
“But now, the Ito family has laughed all the way to the end, if you look at all of Japan, except for the Yamaguchi group, no one is a rival of the Ito family anymore, in this situation, how can the Ito family still need ninja?”
“What’s more, the four ninja clans are all loyal to the Ito clan, but the Ito clan basically no longer needs ninja, which leads to everyone’s economy being stretched to the limit, if this continues, everyone will starve to death, if no one needs ninja and no one pays for ninja, I’m afraid ninja will all die out!”
“We …… We can’t ask the Japanese government for subsidies and turn ninja into an intangible cultural heritage, can we?”
“In that case, wouldn’t you, the descendants of the great ninja, have to spend your days in tourist attractions, performing ninjutsu for the tourists to earn money?”
“How would we be able to live up to our ancestors?”
Hattori Kazuo was speechless.
What his father had said was not alarmist; ninjutsu, a profession that had become very marginal in modern society, had survived because there were large families willing to pay for them.