Chapter 4
KATSUGAWA TATSUYA
Katsugawa Tatsuya watched as the infamous jito of Shinoi stood in the yard, a practice bamboo sword in his hands as he stood there still as the water in an isolated lake.
Shinoi, a small piece of land just west to the capital, with ample farms, and a few mines. They were, in truth, nothing special, yet somehow, the young Jito in front of him had transformed those lands from mediocre to amongst the most prosperous in the land.
"That boy could spell trouble for us," muttered the beautiful woman standing by his side. Mahirou Miya was a woman born into one of the most influential lords in the land of fire. The man had been quick to support the rising lord Katsuagwa in when the previous daimyo had died, his support promised on a possible match between the new daimyo and his daughter.
The match had occurred, and Mahirou Miya had been married to the daimyo, yet she had never truly gotten what she had desired. With the daimyo choosing to favor a comer whore as his wife and putting aside the woman known as the 'jewel of fire.'
"Indeed, father seems to favor him, and more than that he has propped him up against us by making him marry his precious little daughter," he snarled angrily, as he turned to face his mother.
"Speaking of her, why is she still alive? You said that she would be taken care of by now," he questioned. They had already done their part in killing her mother and her two brothers. Yet somehow the little princess had survived.
Her mother's eyes tightened as she shook her head.
"It is very difficult to move against her at the moment, but there is no need to worry. The physician told me that she is not long for this world. Other than that, I believe our backer would be happy to arrange a rather eventful journey for the newlywed couple when they return to the Shinoi lands after the marriage," and it all clicked together.
One attack would take care of both of them. Interesting.
And speaking of their backer.
"Speaking of him," he began as he saw Mother perk up at the mention of their backer.
"Inform him that his dear friend has not recommended his name as his replacement," and his mother frowned at that.
"Then which names did the Hokage give as possible choices to replace him," she questioned.
"Fugaku Uchiha was one of them, though father was skeptical of that choice. Orochimaru was another, though the most interesting choice was one of a clan-less shinobi, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze," he replied and saw her mother nod as she put forward her hand, and the servants handed her the smoking pipe.
"Namikaze, huh, that is an interesting choice, though he does have the repute to carry that name. After all, Iwa and Kumo have an order of 'flee on sight' for the man," she replied.
"Indeed, but the man could be trouble for us. He is close to Jiraiya of the Sanin and is known to be some sort of revolutionary like the Shodaime Hokage," he replied.
"More than that, Shirahoshi was quite favorable of the man as well," he replied, making his mother perk up at that.
"What?" and he nodded.
"Yes, I had it relayed to Shimura as soon as I could. But maybe it isn't only us getting some support from a shinobi," he replied.
"Now that would be interesting," he replied, though suddenly he stilled as he felt the air crackle, and his head snapped towards the source of the disturbance.
Yet the sensation was gone as soon as it had come, and the only change he could see was that the young jito had brought down his blade.
Yet what was that earlier sensation?
"Did you feel that, mother?" he questioned, and his mother frowned and shook her head.
"Felt what?" she questioned, and he frowned. Had it been nothing? Yet the sensation had been obvious to him.
"Nothing," he replied in the end, shaking his head as they moved away from the yard.
Days later, during the morning practice, a serving girl would lean against that very tree, and the whole castle would erupt into fervor as the two would be known to have been cut down. The strike was so precise and quick that it had stayed upright for days only to fall when the serving girl leaned over it.
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Deep underground in the village, hidden in the leaves, a bandaged man stood opposite to a masked nin, who had just returned from the capital, bringing him word from his accomplices in the capital.
"So, Hiruzen has chosen to discard me again, such insolence," he would speak, his grip over his cane tightening in rage at the behavior of the man he had once called a friend.
"And is it true that Namikaze is supporting this Shirahoshi?" he questioned his informant, who shook his head.
"No, Danzo-sama. There is no evidence at the moment to support such a fact. However, it is true that the man did support his nomination in front of the daimyo," the informant told him.
"That is enough. The boy could become an obstacle to us in the future, especially since I have taken such a risk of supporting young Lord Tatsuya." And risk it was.
If anyone got wind of his involvement in all this, with enough evidence, he would be executed for high treason, and in such a case neither his reputation as Nidaime's student nor his friendship with Hiruzen would be able to shield him from the consequences of his actions.
"The boy should be wedded by now and set to head back to his lands in a few days," he replied, and the informant nodded.
"What are your orders, Danzo-sama!" the masked ninja questioned.
"Have him and his lady wife taken care of. Make it seem accidental," he ordered, though he stopped as he added.
"No shinobi, use some rounin or bandits. I don't want any exposure over this, for though there is no evidence, there could always be a slight possibility that Namikaze may have links to the boy."
"As you wish, Danzo-sama!" and with that, the masked nin vanished once more, leaving the bandaged elder alone.
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