Chương 24: Chapter 24-The Kill Order!
Chapter 24
TATSUYA SHIRAHOSHI-The Third Prince
The Third Prince of the realm stilled at his mother's words, his emotions roused by a sense of betrayal and rage at the actions of his now-dead father.
"What are we to do now?" he questioned, in a snarl filled with rage and anger at the naming of that jumped-up bastard as the next daimyo. How could his father overlook his own blood like that?
His fists balled up in rage, yet a part of him had already expected that.
His mother gave him a sympathetic look as she caressed the side of his face.
"We move forward with the plan. This changes little my body, we have the men and the support, all that's left is to get rid of the last hurdle standing in our way," she said, and he nodded.
"You are right," he said as he took a deep breath.
"I shouldn't be so angry," he said, and she nodded.
"Yes, we are at the final stretch now, victory is so close now. The sooner Akihito Shirahoshi and his accursed wife are taken care of, the sooner we can put all this behind us," she began, and he nodded.
"Yes, but they are winning at the moment. I received word in the morning that Grandfather had lost nearly half his samurai and a massive number of men in the initial crusades. There are rumors that the young lord could counterattack now and sweep through the Mahiro lands," he objected, and that did not bode well for him.
His power was driven by his connection to Lord Mahiro, and if his power was to weaken, especially in such a way that it was that jumped bastard who defeated the storied of Lord Mahiro, then it would not look good on him and could cause fractures in his own supporters.
"I know, but right now, with the death of your father, the battle has become simplified. Now it is all about Akihito. As long as he is taken care of, this battle will be won, and your grandfather will see that as well," she iterated, making him frown for a second as he tried to make sense of what she was trying to say.
And then it all clicked.
"You cannot mean…" he gasped as she nodded.
"Yes, I mean so as well. This is the final stretch, and with his friend's ambitions at stake, he has written to his associate in Konoha to deliver on his promise," she confirmed his earlier suspicions and his eyes widened as she finished.
"Lord Akihito is not long for this world," she finished, and he smiled as he nodded.
"That is good, but what about the other one, Suzuki? That bastard supports him, right? They have been rather friendly for quite some years now," he began, and she shook her head, surprising him.
"Suzuki had little support himself, and he doesn't matter, for he left the capital last night without telling anyone. No one knows where he went," she told him, making him frown.
"That's suspicious," he added, and she nodded.
"Yes, but we don't have enough time to care about every little detail. We need to strike, and we need to do it now while everyone else least expects it," she finished as she looked around and leaned forward.
"I shall make an excuse that you are extremely ill, so sneak out of the capital and rush to the castle where our men have gathered. And in the night, lead them and seize the capital," she commanded him, and he nodded.
"As you say, mother," he said and took the key from her hand.
"This shall open a secret passage to the outside from your room. Now go before anyone else sees you," she said, and he nodded and, after pocketing the key, rushed towards his room, a determined smile on his face as he envisioned himself sitting on his father's throne.
"Soon," he whispered as he vanished into the shadows.
0000
LORD HAYAMA MAHIRO
Lord Hayama Mahiro read the reports about the ongoing conflict between him and the jito Akihito Shirahoshi and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer level of losses taken by his force.
"This is a disaster," he gasped out as he read more and more of just what had happened with the invading force.
"This is an absolute disaster," he repeated as the report slipped from his hand. A slight tremor emerged in his hand as he realized the precarious situation of his lands.
He sat in his solar with his son and advisor, Matsuhide, who had a grave expression on his face as he questioned.
"What are we to do now? Five of our samurai are now dead. Both Lord Hattori and Lord Saegusa have pulled back their support, and the Shinoi forces are in prime position to mount a counterattack," he explained, and his mind raced as he realized the mess that they were.
"But what of the daimyo-sama? With lord Daimyo dead, maybe Lord Shirahoshi will have to split his focus, giving us an opportunity as he focuses on the capital," his son chimed in, but he shook his head.
"From everything we know of the boy, he is highly intelligent and knows that the capital matters little as long as he neutralizes us, for Tatsuya-sama derives most of his power from his relationship with Lord Mahiro, without which the nobles will never align themselves with him," Matsuhide conceded and rightly so.
"I have already, written to Lord Tatsuya's men, and they are ready to take over the capital, but still I expect the battle there to be deadly for the daimyo-sama did not name a heir. The forces there will be looking to the battles here and will be hesitant to crown Lord Tatsuya as the next daimyo as long as Lord Akihito remains alive and standing. If Lord Tatsuya is to rise to the throne smoothly we must deal with the young jito of Shinoi promptly," Matsuhide added and he nodded.
"But how?" Tatsuya cut in worriedly.
"He defeated five of our samurai. Five, and our main force has been decimated, and most importantly, he has an elder brother as a hostage. How are we to even combat him," Tatsuya cut in rightly so, and he was worried as well.
He had underestimated the young jito, and now that was costing him.
Yet still, the boy had gone above and beyond his imagination and had boxed him in.
Watashi Masamune, the Blade of the East, was his most potent weapon, a samurai the likes of which were born only once a century. The old man was powerful enough to shift the balance of power singlehandedly; he was also the reason he had been able to gather so many samurai under him.
Yet the old man had been killed by none other than the young lord himself, highlighting that the young lord's prowess with a blade was no joke and that he could not be underestimated.
"My order was for Miya to suppress the news of Daimyo-sama's death to buy us time; how did it get out so quickly?" he questioned Matsuhide, who looked down in shame.
"We underestimated the preparedness of the other side. The Fourth Prince had his men entrenched in court who leaked the news before we could intervene. Trying to suppress it afterward could have led to some unintended consequences," Matsuhide made excuses, enraging him further and further, for it seemed that nothing was going their way at this critical time.
And it was all because of him because of one man.
Akihito Shirahoshi.
He had underestimated him once. But he won't do it again.
He took a deep breath his mind made up as he picked up a scroll and began to write into it.
"We have underestimated young Jito Akihito, and that has cost us, but now it is time to deal with him and his newlywed wife, but we cannot do this alone now. So, we must first regain our lost allies," he finished writing the proposal and handed it to Matsuhide, who skimmed over it.
"A match between Lord Tatsuya and Lord Saegusa's daughter, it sounds reasonable, even though she would only be a concubine, the benefits should be enough to have him support us in this whole endeavor," and he nodded.
"As for Hattori, offer him a match between his daughter and Tatsuya," he spoke as his son's eyes widened.
"But father…" yet the protest died down instantly as he glared at him.
"There is no time to waste. We must gather our allies at once," he began, and his son's lips thinned, yet he didn't voice any more rebuttal.
"As you wish, Father," he finished, and he nodded.
"Gather our men and have them prepare for the defense of these lands," he ordered and Matsuhide nodded.
"My lord but the momentum lies with lord Akihito…"
"Leave him to me. You just have the men prepare," he finished, and the man nodded and got up and, with a bow, left the room, leaving him alone with his son.
The silence was deadly as his son broke it after a few minutes.
"So, will you do it?" he questioned, and he nodded as he took out a scroll from his hakama, a special scroll that he was meant to only ever use in case of an emergency, yet he believed that this warranted its use.
"Yes, I will," he said as he opened it up, biting his thumb and smearing a blotch of blood into the seal placed by the side and the paper gleaned before he picked up the brush and wrote it out.
'Akihito Shirahoshi!'
0000
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