In his cabin, Okisuke pressed two fingers against his forehead and stared at the reports spread across the table. Several officials found dead overnight. Samurai moving through the streets like something was chasing them.
"Damnit," he muttered. "Have the Kamizuru grown so bold that they're just killing our officials now?"
He pushed the papers aside. "Tadashi. Where is Hayato? I haven't seen him since this morning."
Tadashi wiped his forehead. "Lord Mifune, Captain Hayato and his squad were found injured near the eastern wing of the palace. They confronted the Kamizuru delegation and lost."
Okisuke's eyes narrowed. "What were they doing near the delegation in the first place?"
"Captain Hayato volunteered to watch over them," Tadashi said.
"Volunteered." Okisuke's voice dropped a level. "And no one thought to tell me?"
Tadashi's jaw tightened. He didn't answer right away.
Okisuke had been Mifune for less than a year. The position had come to him only because his predecessor had disappeared without a word, and that fact lived in the back of his mind every single day. He had spent every day since then making sure no one had reason to question whether the title belonged to him.
He kept his eyes on Tadashi and waited.
Tadashi lowered his head. "Lord Hideaki gave Hayato permission."
Okisuke's palm came down on the table hard enough to crack it. The fracture ran across the grain from the point of impact. "Advisor Hideaki gave permission? Is Hideaki the Mifune now? Who told him he could make decisions in my name?"
He was already at the door before the question finished leaving his mouth.
Tadashi stood there after it closed and let out a slow breath. He only noticed his back was soaked through with sweat when the pressure in the room finally lifted. However Okisuke had come to hold the Mifune's seat, no one who had spent five minutes near the man could seriously argue he didn't deserve it.
---
The capital didn't settle as the morning went on. It got louder.
By midday, people had gathered in clusters outside the administrative quarter and along the main roads. They weren't shouting, but they didn't bother lowering their voices either. Merchants stood in their doorways instead of tending their stalls. Off-duty samurai leaned against the barracks wall and whispered about the incidents.
Everyone knew what had happened. The Daimyo had broken neutrality on his own, without asking anyone. He had brought the Kamizuru into the capital and now officials were turning up dead and foreign shinobi had walked through the palace itself. The Land of Iron had kept clean hands through every war its neighbors had ever fought. It didn't anymore.
An old merchant near the market gate wasn't bothering to keep it quiet. "He opened the door himself," he said, shaking his head. "And now he's surprised something walked through it."
The man beside him didn't respond. But his silence was the answer itself.
---
Okisuke pushed open the door to Hideaki's office without knocking.
Hideaki looked up from his desk. He was a lean man in his early forties, with thin hair combed carefully to the side and ink-stained fingers. He is a staunch supporter of the current Daimyo.
"Lord Mifune," he said.
Okisuke pulled the door shut behind him. "Explain to me why Captain Hayato was stationed near the Kamizuru delegation without my knowledge."
"I authorized it," Hideaki said simply. "Hayato came to me with the concern that—"
"I didn't ask why Hayato did it," Okisuke said. "I asked why you, an advisor, authorized anything without consulting me."
Hideaki set his brush down. "You were occupied with the casualty reports. I made a judgment call."
"A judgment call." Okisuke let the words sit for a moment. "Hideaki, I am the Mifune. A judgment call about where samurai are deployed is not yours to make. Not under my name. Not without my knowledge."
"With respect," Hideaki said, and his voice stayed even, "there have been times when waiting for your approval has cost us speed."
"Then come to me faster." Okisuke stepped closer to the desk. "If you can't reach me, you wait. If waiting costs us something, that is a consequence we deal with together. What you will not do is act in my place and inform me after the fact." He held Hideaki's gaze. "Are we clear?"
Hideaki was quiet for a beat. Then he dipped his head. "Yes, Lord Mifune."
Okisuke turned toward the door.
"For what it's worth," Hideaki said, "Hayato genuinely believed the delegation posed an immediate threat. He wasn't acting out of ambition."
"I know that." Okisuke paused with his hand on the door frame. "That doesn't change what I said. Hayato is injured and three officials are dead. Whatever Hayato believed, the result speaks for itself."
He left without waiting for a response.
---
Hayato was sitting upright on a cot in the medical ward when Okisuke arrived. His left arm was wrapped from the elbow down and there was a cut along his jaw that had been cleaned but not fully closed. The two soldiers from his squad in the adjacent cots were both asleep.
"Lord Mifune." Hayato moved to stand.
"Stay down," Okisuke said. He pulled a stool close and sat across from him. "Tell me what happened."
Hayato exhaled. He looked at his bandaged arm for a moment, then back up. "I had been observing the delegation's movements. Their movements were off. They were keeping irregular hours, rotating through different faces when they left their quarters. It didn't match the behavior of a group here for diplomacy." He paused. "So, I followed them with my squad."
"And?"
"We confronted them near the eastern wing. One of them, Kamizuru Clan's heir, Kobuchi was stronger than us all." Hayato's jaw tightened. "He took out Reo and Fumio before either of them had time to draw properly. I managed to get a blade out but he—" He stopped. "He wasn't trying to kill us. He stopped short every time. It felt deliberate."
Okisuke said nothing.
"I think they wanted us alive," Hayato said. "A message, maybe. Or they didn't want to make things worse than they already were."
"What were they doing outside their quarters?"
"They seemed to be preparing to leave." Hayato looked frustrated by that more than his injuries. "I'm sorry, Lord Mifune. I should have reported my suspicions through proper channels instead of acting on my own."
"Yes, you should have." Okisuke stood. "Rest. I'll want a full written account when you're able."
He was halfway to the door when Hayato spoke again.
"Lord Mifune. Whatever they were doing in that wing, they weren't there by accident. How could the palace guards not notice them?"
Okisuke stopped. He didn't turn around. "I know."
---
The Daimyo's chamber was quieter than the rest of the palace.
Outside, the sounds of the capital's unrest filtered in faintly through the walls. Raised voices. The rhythm of boots moving quickly. Shinji stood at the window and watched the streets below without expression.
He was not a stupid man. He had known, when he made the decision to bring the Kamizuru in, that it would draw criticism. He had known it would unsettle people.
He had not expected the officials to start dying due to it.
His attendant, a young man named Soru, stood near the far wall and kept his eyes on the floor.
"Soru," Shinji said.
"My lord."
"How many now?"
"Seven, my lord. The latest three were found this morning."
Seven. Shinji pressed his fingers against the window frame. He had made the right decision. He still believed that. The Land of Iron could not remain untouched by the world forever. Neutrality had its limits. But seven dead officials in less than two weeks, and the capital openly muttering his name with the kind of tone that it didn't use lightly.
'I opened a door. The question now is whether I can control what came through it. They already blame me anyway.'
He turned away from the window.
---
Michikatsu appeared at the window. "You're drinking that again."
Muzan raised the cup slightly. "It's good."
"It tastes like grass."
Muzan set it on the ledge. "Did everything go as planned?"
"Yes. The Land of Iron is in chaos. The Kamizuru too." Michikatsu crossed his arms. "It won't be long before both sides move against each other properly."
Muzan was quiet for a moment. "Good. I was getting tired of waiting."
Michikatsu looked down at the street below. "With Kobuchi dead, Ishikawa might launch a full assault. What then?"
"Let him." Muzan didn't look away from the window. "If Ishikawa attacks, it only confirms what these people already believe. That Shinji brought all of this on them."
"And after that?"
Muzan picked the tea back up. "Then I won't have to do anything." He watched a merchant pull his shutters closed and bolt them from inside. "A ruler loses his throne twice. First the faith of his people, then everything else." He took a sip. "Shinji's already lost the first."