"Back so soon? Did you learn how to interact between husband and wife?"
Uchiha Yoichi feigned surprise as he asked, though he had long dispatched a clone to accompany Kaguya. He hadn't expected Kaguya to naively interrupt people in the middle of the night and directly ask them.
"I don't understand, why do couples do such things!"
Otsutsuki Kaguya shook her head and said to Uchiha Yoichi, "They say it's for procreation, but I can use my abilities to directly split and create children, so those rituals can be skipped. As for other reasons…they're useless in resisting them."
"Being a married couple, can it really help in resisting enemies?"
"Of course it can."
Uchiha Yoichi answered with a serious face, then stood up and walked to Otsutsuki Kaguya's side. He quickly noticed Kaguya tense up upon his approach and said, "See, you're tense because of my approach. This shows how little trust we have. How could such a distrustful relationship handle an enemy attack together?"
"You are probably wary of me in your heart right now. In such a distrustful relationship, how can we guarantee to team up against an enemy, just like you and your former companions? Would you be willing to help him deal with his enemies?"
Kaguya remained silent after hearing this, as many things on her mind were accurately guessed by Uchiha Yoichi, leaving her unsure of how to respond.
However, she had no intentions of attacking Yoichi; she merely felt uneasy about his significant power while being around him.
After a while, Kaguya opened her mouth to ask,
"Would performing such rituals...increase mutual trust?"
"Of course it can. Think about it, Kaguya: if two people are so close and yet don't attack each other, wouldn't that demonstrate mutual trust and eliminate concerns about each other?"
What Uchiha Yoichi said sounded reasonable to the uninformed Kaguya, even though it was fallacious to some extent.
"It does seem just as you said."
Uchiha Yoichi continued, "Only trust is the foundation for any alliance. Without trust, working together is difficult, let alone anything that follows."
Upon hearing this, Otsutsuki Kaguya nodded slightly with some agreement, sensing a bit of justification in his words.
Then, Kaguya glanced at Uchiha Yoichi with her clear eyes and asked, "So, do we need to do such things? The marriage rituals...."
In Kaguya's mind, those rituals seemed rather boring, but if they could enhance trust between her and Yoichi, she'd be willing to do them.
"It's not the right time yet. It would be hard for you to accept such closeness all at once, but we can start from other ways, like holding hands…."
With that, Uchiha Yoichi held Kaguya's hand.
Although Kaguya realized it, she did not resist and even placed her smooth, snow-like hand into Yoichi's hand… She also wished to quickly build trust so they could join forces against the Otsutsuki.
'How gullible she is....'
Uchiha Yoichi thought to himself after holding Kaguya's hand, her lack of worldly experience made her easily fall into his trap with minimal threat from enemies.
Moreover, her hand was extremely smooth, and her skin was as white as snow. After holding Kaguya's hand, Yoichi soon harbored other ideas, his hand gradually began to caress Kaguya's delicate hand.
Kaguya couldn't help thinking: 'Will this really increase our mutual trust?'
Then she gazed at Uchiha Yoichi's face with her clear eyes, her hand held by him making her feel less anxious....
Favorability: 56
Favorability: 57
Favorability: 58
After holding hands for a while, Kaguya's favorability towards him rose by three points, and Uchiha Yoichi found this progress quite satisfactory, considering it was only the first day.
Seeing that the favorability wasn't increasing further, Yoichi understood it to be the limit, so he said, "Kaguya, we still have to engage in more couple-oriented activities."
"....Hm, I'll listen to you then."
Kaguya nodded and said; not knowing what to do herself, having someone at her level of power who was wholeheartedly offering suggestions, she naturally followed his lead.
Moreover, under the subtle influence of Uchiha Yoichi's spiritual power, Otsutsuki Kaguya's reliance on him would only increase.
Yet this method was only suitable for use on Kaguya, as it would be hard to meet another person with such little experience and naivety in the future.
————————————
In the days following, Uchiha Yoichi, holding the title of Land of Ancestors Emperor, commanded his samurai to start conquering the neighboring countries.
There were many countries here, with over thirty around the Land of Ancestors within a radius of a thousand miles. Farther away were even larger countries, which housed many so-called Yin Yang Masters, Witches, and Divine Warriors.
Despite them being called Divine Warriors, in Uchiha Yoichi's perspective, they were simply Samurai who could resonate with Natural Energy.
After healing all the samurai in the Land of Ancestors, Yoichi taught them some Chakra, sending them to conquer nearby countries.
He was worried that the Yin Yang Masters had special abilities to hide. These people had rarely appeared after being taught a lesson by Kaguya and Isshiki.
Thus, luring them out using ordinary Samurai seemed feasible, and Uchiha Yoichi would take action once the Yin Yang Masters appeared.
With Chakra, the warriors of the Land of Ancestors were untouchable by ordinary people; their strength and speed multiplied five to tenfold, with one person easily defeating dozens. They wiped out the Land of That in just two days.
At this moment, annihilating a country is very easy; you just need to kill the Daimyo of another country and recruit his guards, and thus a nation falls.
Moreover, Uchiha Yoichi only needs to expand the ruling territory of the Land of Ancestors without needing detailed governance or development; it's still in the most basic agricultural stage, and there isn't much space for Uchiha Yoichi to develop.
Maybe those countries with larger territories might be slightly better, but there would only be more buildings, more maids and guards, and slightly better enjoyment there.
Following Uchiha Yoichi's orders, the guards of the Land of Ancestors were dispatched again on the fifth day, this time targeting the Land of Yang. It took only two days to annihilate them too.
After recruiting the guards of the Land of Yang, the Land of Ancestors already had more than a hundred guards, making it a veritable big nation in the vicinity.
Moreover, the number of civilian households paying grain tax under its rule reached up to two thousand, truly making it a 'big nation' nearby.
Uchiha Yoichi didn't give the guards much time to rest, and during the annexation of other countries, he solely instructed the guards to kill the enemy Daimyo and bring back the management personnel.
After resting for a few days, they were about to set off to annihilate other countries.
However, the further they went, the longer it took, since round trips consume quite a bit of time.
But Uchiha Yoichi's main focus was still conquering Kaguya.
Now, Uchiha Yoichi had also told Kaguya his name, and now Kaguya would call him by his name, though she hadn't mentioned the surname Uchiha.
"Yoichi, how long will this take?"
Kaguya nestled in Uchiha Yoichi's embrace, asking somewhat uneasily. This was much harder than holding hands, especially after Uchiha Yoichi had embraced Kaguya and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Though the two horns on Kaguya's head were a bit annoying.
"Just a little while longer; it's a necessary thing between a couple, Kaguya. Look at how other couples do this too; it strengthens mutual trust...."
"But, isn't the most important thing for a couple the last ritual, Yoichi? We can just proceed with that."
Kaguya suddenly raised her head, earnestly saying to Uchiha Yoichi, although her horns nearly hit Uchiha Yoichi's chin.
Kaguya's words surprised Uchiha Yoichi a bit, but remembering Kaguya's ignorance, he understood.
"Do you really want to perform that ritual?"
Uchiha Yoichi checked the Strategy Guide, and there appeared two choices, though both eventually led to conquering Kaguya.
"Yes, complete the marital ritual as soon as possible, so when the enemy comes, we can better respond."
Kaguya spoke in a very serious tone. She had been with Uchiha Yoichi for over a month now, and during this time, their interactions like conversations, handholding, and hugging gradually increased Kaguya's favorability towards Uchiha Yoichi.
Although Kaguya hadn't realized it yet, her favorability towards Uchiha Yoichi had already reached 71.
"Alright, then let's go back to the room for the ceremony..."
After Uchiha Yoichi spoke, he carried Kaguya and walked inside.
Returning to the room, Uchiha Yoichi tightly shut the windows and doors, but it was still very bright inside since it was morning.
"Kaguya, you know what a couple is supposed to do, right?"
Innocent and unaware, Kaguya didn't know what she was about to face. She nodded and said to Uchiha Yoichi, "I know, after performing that reproduction ritual, we will become a fully bonded couple."
"Here I come..."
...
Subsequently, Uchiha Yoichi occasionally activated his abilities and occasionally disabled the Enchanting Demon Body, relying on his own strenuous efforts to bring Kaguya's body to another climax again.
At noon, the sounds continued.
At sunset, the Land of Ancestors' civilians ended their farming, samurai finished their training, but sounds still emerged from the room where Uchiha Yoichi and Otsutsuki Kaguya were.
Only that there was no one nearby to hear it.
The sounds continued throughout the night, intermittently, but the bright lights inside the room and the frequently changing two silhouettes were enough to prove that Uchiha Yoichi and Otsutsuki Kaguya hadn't rested all night.
It wasn't until the next morning, after noon, and up to sunset, that the sounds inside gradually stopped.
Uchiha Yoichi was drenched in sweat, lying on the bed with Kaguya in his arms; this was already the fourth bed set, the previous three had become unusable due to their activities.
The bed set was also in a mess, but Uchiha Yoichi was too lazy to get up and change it, and Kaguya was asleep sprawled across him.
"Huh..... how long has it been?"
Uchiha Yoichi exhaled deeply, glancing at the sunset outside the window, kind of forgetting whether it was the first or second day.
During this workout, he only used Ōmononushi no kami once; the rest relied on his own Recovery Power, exhausting Kaguya in the process.
It was indeed tiring, but it was also truly comfortable, and the greatest gain was still Kaguya.
"Let's talk after a rest, Kaguya needs to rest too...."
Uchiha Yoichi was a bit fatigued himself, so he hugged Kaguya and took a nap.