Shi got out of bed and headed down to walk around the castle. Shi looked from room to room before finding a room decked out with maps and artifacts. Shi went to the map in the center of the room and looked down upon it.
The map had an x on where the castle presumedly was, about halfway up the island of Kyushu. Shi looked around and found a quill and an ink well on the table next to the map. Shi picked up the quill and marked all of the castles he had taken so far.
After marking the castles, Shi circled the small towns and villages under the castle's radius. Looking at the new map, Shi saw that there were gaps under three of the castles in Kyushu.
Shi rolled up the map and put it in a small box that was lying around, before putting the box under the leather breastplate he wore. Shi rushed out to the yard and found Daisan and Hyousuke dealing with the soldiers.
"Can you guys handle things for a month or so while I do something?" Shi asked. The two men nodded at him before turning back to the men. Shi darted out of the gate and headed due south at full speed.
After a week Shi found Seizon coming out of a village. Behind him was a huge assortment of men, a couple thousand strong. "Seizon, I need three men who are capable of controlling castles on their own and enough men to back each of them up once they're in power, do you got that right now?" Shi asked.
"Of course young master Shi." Seizon said, bowing smoothly and bringing out some soldiers and three well-dressed men. "Perfect, here's where to bring the men when you finish collecting them," Shi said, pointing out the castle he had just taken on the map he brought.
Seizon nodded and headed north while Shi took his men west. After another week of traveling, Shi's party came across one of the castles. Shi went up to the gates and looked up to the men on the ramparts.
"I'm Shi Saisei, you can either surrender right now or I'm gonna come up there and murder all of you," Shi called up. One of the guards looked down. "I'm afraid I'll have t-" The guard's sentence was cut off as Shi leaped up and cut his throat.
Shi sheathed his knife and looked at the rest of the guards. As they turned towards him, they were met with white-hot flames, leaving a wall full of charred corpses. Shi looked across to the other side and shot every man there with his bow.
Shi hopped down and opened the gates for the men. Shi ran through the city, shooting any guards he found on his way through. When he reached the castle he slung his bow across his back and slashed the throats of the door guards with his karambit.
Shi sprinted through the halls, shooting a lightning bolt through any guards that got in his way as he went towards the throne room. When he reached it he opened the doors and stepped inside.
"Wait, I surre-" One of the men inside tried to say before Shi slit his throat. The man's pleas turned to gurgles as he fell to the floor. Shi launched cold in all directions, freezing the rest of the men solid. A strong blast of wind magic shattered the frozen statues.
Shi left the castle and gathered his men, leaving a third of them to take care of the rest and one of the three well-dressed men to lead when it was done. Shi and the rest of the men headed south to the second castle.
After another week they reached the second castle. Shi went up to the walls and called up to them. "I'm Shi Saisei, surrender or die." The men on the wall looked down, recognition in their faces. The men scurried to open the gates and let Shi's party in the castle.
Shi went to the throne room and quickly killed the former leader of the castle. Shi brought one of the well-dressed men and half of the remaining men forwards and called out to the castle's soldiers.
"This is your new leader and these are your new comrades. If I hear anything about something happening here that is detrimental to me, I will personally come here and slaughter each and every one of you so play nice."
That said, Shi took his remaining men and headed east to the final castle. After a couple of weeks, they arrived. Shi went up to the walls and the men immediately shot at him. Shi dodged the arrows and lept up to the wall, throwing a bunch of kunai which downed several men.
Shi launched a metal spear through three men before summoning a huge boulder which he dropped on the ramparts behind him, having the boulder roll along the ramparts while crushing dozens of men.
Shi felt the mana flowing through all the men and strode through them, sucking all of the mana out of them, leaving a trail of shriveled corpses as he strode along the walls. Shi's mana core topped out about halfway along the ramparts so Shi switched tactics, stabbing a man in the eye.
As the man fell back Shi slit the throat of another man before dropping low under a spear thrust and knocked a man off the walls with a leg sweep. Shi came up in an uppercut to another man, the force of which knocked the man's jaw into his skull with a loud crunch.
Shi threw a kunai into a man on his left before performing a spinning backfist that sent a man's jaw flying off the wall. Shi twisted out of the way of a sword, using the spin to deliver a kick to the man's ribs. Blood spewed out of the man's mouth as his organs were crushed by the kick.
Shi combined fire and sand, launching glass shards at the remaining men. Some of the shards stuck in the men while others tore through them, leaving jagged holes in heads and stomachs.
Shi looked up to see that there were no men left so he hopped down and opened the gates before finding the throne room. Once there Shi killed the leader with a bolt of lightning before heading back down and leaving the rest to the men.
Shi took out the box and took out the quill and map. Shi marked off the three castles as his and circled the entire lower half of the island of Kyushu, marking it as his. Gaps in his control taken care of, Shi left the castle and started the journey back to the main force.