The four of them looked at the corpse of the fallen patriarch that had a large gaping hole in its midsection.
Uehara's second clone prodded it with a kick.
"Aren't cultivators supposed to be strong?"
The third clone looked at the corpse of Tannin in contemplation.
"I'm just as confused as you. Even normal humans would've lived for a minute or two."
The first clone just frowned.
"Was he a fake cultivator?"
Uehara crouched down and swiped his finger.
"It probably has something to do with this crystal-like substance. That would explain why he died so suddenly."
The second clone that had prodded Tannin with a kick frowned.
"So not only have we lost his soul but we also can't get any new information about the cultivation clans?"
Uehara stood up, burning the blood and blue substance on his fingers.
"It seems like it. His soul vanished just shortly after I thrust through his abdomen, crushing his energy core."
The third clone sighed.
"In summary, mission failed?"
The first and second clones nodded.
"Mission failed."
The first clone added.
"We'll get them next time."
Uehara ignored his clone's antics and grabbed the corpse by the head.
"I'll give this corpse to Chizuki. Maybe she can find out who this person was."
The third clone looked into the distance.
"If that soul-link wasn't so weak, we could've found out where that man and his son were from."
"All we know is that this weakling…"
The first clone kicked the corpse.
"...came from the east."
The second clone sighed.
"I really thought he'd at least last longer."
The first clone looked at the second clone with a serious gaze.
"Gay."
"What?"
"You're gay."
The second clone's mouth twitched.
"But I'm you."
"That changed when you became gay."
"But?"
"You're no longer part of the brotherhood."
"?!"
The third clone looked at the first two clones quarrel with each other before turning its gaze to Uehara.
"I have a suspicion that his core is linked to his soul."
Uehara nodded.
"Possibly. But destroying his core should've only crippled him."
"I have a theory. We've read of this scenario a lot where some entity had to bind their soul to something so that they can continue existing when their body's perish. This man's body was strong but maybe his soul wasn't. You know how humans can barely live past a hundred-years? This man doesn't look like no buddha so in order to survive, he maybe had to bind his weak soul to his core in order to continue existing past the hundred-year mark. That's my theory on the current situation."
Uehara looked at the corpse and nodded.
"Makes sense."
The third clone shrugged.
"Maybe. But ask father first what he thinks."
Uehara shuddered a bit.
"Father will break my legs if I visit him this soon."
The third clone kept quiet for a while.
"Fair enough. Well, that's enough thinking for me for one day. I've thank…thunk…what's the word again?"
Uehara sighed as he brought a hand to his forehead.
"Thought."
"Right. I've thoughted too much. Later main me."
The third clone dispelled itself in dark flames. The first and second clones noticed the third one had dispelled. So stopping their argument, they dispelled themselves as well.
Uehara hung his head when the clones left him.
"Why am I always the only mature one?"
Ever since Uehara took advantage of the fact that he has perfect control over his own body to create a shadow clone using chakra, none of his clones were exactly the same as him. In fact, they were much more childish when the situation allowed them to be. His clones would either be lazy or prideful or somewhere in between, in line with his desire to take a rest in his past life and his immense pride as a hybrid in his current life.
The fact that his shadow clones acted like children always confused him. When he brought the matter to his father a few years ago, he laughed and said his clones are acting like the child he should've been.
Disregarding his current thoughts, he looked at the corpse next to him.
"If I had just waited for his son to leave, I could've gotten some more information and there would've been no loose ends."
When Kenji had entered the auction house, Uehara was able to feel how his energy was different from shinobi. He didn't know he was a cultivator until he had revealed his aura. His initial plan was to then 'kindly' ask him for the location of his clan after the auction. He never expected that after Kenji directed killing intent towards Sakura, he'd let anger cloud him.
Eventually, Kenji was too incapacitated. Even if he healed him, he was too mentally damaged and Uehara had realised that when it was too late. Luckily, he felt that someone was travelling towards Kenji through the soul-link and so he quickly changed venues. Seeing it was the father of Kenji, he decided to be careful and not use any techniques that could potentially kill him immediately.
But still, his plan failed and all he has are two corpses and unaware whether there is a way they could or found out it was him who killed the both of them. He wasn't afraid of cultivators but he didn't want to have to wait for them passively to make a move. He also didn't know how many means they possess to combat him should they find out his identity.
That was also the reason why he wanted the information that cultivators possess. Since they are long-lived clans, they would no much more about the supernatural side of the world. Uehara still hasn't forgotten about his goal of entering the underworld to devour Izanagi and Izanami, if they do exist there. Although he doesn't want to rule the world, he does want to have the information about it. Ignorance is something he could never accept.
Looking into the distance of where he could last feel the soul-link, Uehara frowned.
"I don't like leaving loose ends like this. Once I find out who he is, I'll immediately exterminate his entire clan to avoid further trouble. Hopefully there will be some archives collected over the century that will let me understand more about the supernatural world."
With that, he vanished in a swirl of darkness.
…
"Thank you for coming to the auction everyone. Your patronage has been greatly appreciated and we hope to see you all in the coming year."
Tachibana Saburo concluded the auction. His niece Aoi, was too nervous and terrified to carry on the auction so he had took over for her.
Nearly everone had long since calmed down after Uehara had left. After all, most of the patrons here were either shinobi or martial artists who had encountered numerous life-threatening situations. A talented genius from some hidden clan immobilising the genius of another hidden clan didn't even rank in the top ten of the most troublesome situations they faced.
Even though Uehara clearly showed that he was stronger than them, they could swallow it, especially since Uehara didn't show that he was against them in anyway. Although a few ordinary people and some nobles were uncomfortable, the auction continued to be lively. In fact, it became more lively when it came out that the "talented-genius" was part of the Hiroshi family.
Everyone at the auction house had heard of Hiroshi Mangetsu, a commoner who had worked his way into one of the top positions in the military, mesmerising everyone he had ever come across with his terrifying strength.
Some of the patrons viewed Uehara as Mangetsu's hidden child. Although Sakura heard their whispers during the course of the auction, she never bothered to correct them. In fact, her not doing anything would help enhance the possibility of no one from the clans causing trouble with Uehara. The last thing she needed was him annihilating the entirety of Japan.
After all, she still plans to hand it to him on a silver platter. Although she has no dreams of becoming an empress, it doesn't mean she can't make someone else one.