Stormfall (An AU Naruto Quest)

Unrelatedly, I have finally finished re-drafting up the one-shot that served as the first arc of this story: Rainfall

Be sure to check it out, and feel free to share any comments/remarks you have here or wherever. It should include all the resources you need to run the game yourself (ideally lol)

Per request, the explanation for samurai ranks has been edited into Chapter 18, both in the beginning scene as well as a blurb at the bottom in spoilertext.

"It's not looking good," Shion admitted. "Even with more time, I'm not sure I-"

"Let's move on then," Shirogane said, interrupting her. She scowled back at him.

By this point, the other samurai had been fully restrained and gagged, though several of them were making their thoughts plenty clear with the murderous gazes sent their way. Reo stood beside them, checking over his work securing them to trees with a thick wire. He seemed disinterested in the conversation, keeping his focus on the restraints. Chiyome kept quiet too, perhaps either out of guilt or disinterest, merely glancing between the others.

Shion was nearly about to ask Kenzō and Momoka what they thought, before the wounded ashigaru herself started sputtering. "-dagger-" she gasped weakly. It seemed she would be bleeding out in mere moments.

"Don't," Shirogane warned, holding up a hand. "She's still dangerous."

Shion hesitated for a fraction of a second before handing the ashigaru a kunai.

The ashigaru immediately thrust it into her own stomach, coughing up more blood and then going still not long after. Shion flinched in shock, standing up and staggering back. The restrained samurai struggled furiously against their bindings, emotions unwillingly plastered on the faces of some of them. Kenzō and Momoka seemed just as shocked as Shion, while Reo and Chiyome were totally unsurprised. Shirogane, for his part, was simply angry.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Shirogane demanded.

After taking a moment to process what just happened, Shion took a deep breath and scowled at him again. "It was her last request, fuck off."

Kenzō loudly cleared his throat before Shirogane escalated. "Let's get back to the task at hand. Night's falling. Should give me a bit more cover to peer inside and see what we're working with. Let's not get any more distracted."

The others grumbled at each other and reluctantly moved to position, ready to charge in if Kenzō was spotted while sneaking around the fortress.

"How will we know if you need to be bailed out?" Chiyome asked.

"Follow the sounds of explosions," Kenzō replied.

She shrugged and nodded, in a "fair enough" kind of way. Shirogane just rolled his eyes. Kenzō sighed internally. There was too much friction within their group for an operation like this. He shook his head and tried to take his own advice, focusing on the task at hand.

---

Kenzō, for his part, had already scoped out the section of wall he would approach, on the west side of the fortress. The immediate surroundings of the castle held no cover whatsoever, leaving only bare grass or patches of ice and snow. Kenzō carefully hopped between patches of grass to avoid leaving any footprints before latching himself to the smooth gray brick of the outer wall with chakra adhesion. He glanced to the northwest and southwest guard towers, where samurai stood vigilant with torchlight and what appeared to be bows, but they did not notice his dark colors against the dark stone as their vision swept the area.

Waiting for the opportune moment where they were each looking away, he silently hauled himself to the top of the wall, creeping three steps to the other edge, and then dropped to the other side, clinging once again to the cold brick.

He had a much better view now of the castle they'd be dealing with. It seemed to be single-story, albeit a tall story. The castle proper was made of a similar, smooth gray brick, though with greater detailing and colorful accenting. Lanterns were hung every so often, keeping the entire courtyard that Kenzō could see illuminated.

On his left, he spied a small alleyway, likely used simply to move around the castle while patrolling, with a window or two. He considered peeking in, but decided it would compromise his nighttime stealth advantages too much, moving into the lantern light to peer inside.

On his right stretched a courtyard with a scattering of small gardens and sakura trees, as well as what appeared to be the main entrance to the castle, on the southern side. Two more samurai patrolled the inner walls counter-clockwise… they were moving away from him, but it wouldn't be long before they circled around right beneath him. Best not be here when that happens.

Could he get inside the castle? He wasn't sure, at least not without noticeable opening a door. There looked to be a few chimneys, maybe he could enter one of those? But they'd be foolish not to secure those against that exact strategy. Not to mention that the interior of the castle had not only kogashira but a kumigashira, if Reo's interrogations were any indication. Kenzō had already barely defeated just a single kogashira before, let alone multiple of them and their superior ranking officer, the kumigashira.

He shook his head and began to move back toward the others. Jun would tell him to have a healthy perspective on his own capabilities. Confidence in oneself was critical, but arrogance was a critical flaw. When Kenzō finally acquiesced to Jun's teachings, he promised that if he wanted to be smug about his own skills, he would at least do his best to be objective about it, to the exasperation of his teacher.

Hey, a lesson learned was a lesson learned.

---

"Sounds like we're gonna have to crack it wide open, then," Reo said, displeased. He didn't seem eager to get into a potentially life threatening battle on someone else's behalf, Momoka noted. Funny, that.

"I'm not sure we can fight all of them at once," Kenzō said. "They won't group up so much once we start launching area-of-effect attacks, and against sheer numbers like that even you and Shirogane might run into trouble. But for those of us that aren't chūnin yet, we're definitely not going to be able to fight off so many at once."

Reo looked over at him inquisitively. "You took down a kogashira near single-handedly, right? Assuming your teammates are on par with you, if you three aren't chūnin-level yet, I can't imagine you're that far from it. Still, I take your point. Which begs the question, how can we retrieve the documents without needing to defeat the entire castle?"

"Draw them away with a diversion, or at least most of them, then sneak a team in to grab them," Shirogane said as the others nodded, already thinking something similar.

Momoka looked between Shirogane and Reo, saying, "Hmm. You two possess both the greatest combat capabilities and the largest-scale effects. Should we leave the diversion to you?"

Shirogane scoffed. "No offense, but there's no way I'm letting your little posse pore all over the deepest darkest secrets buried in those notes while we're over here risking our necks, not even knowing if you just decided to leave us to die instead."

Momoka shrugged. "Alright then. What do you propose?"

Shirogane brushed long brown hair out of his face and scratched his chin.

Reo beat him to the punch, gazing steadily at Momoka with those focused, dark eyes. "I think Shion and I can keep them busy in the courtyard. You and Chiyome ought to be searching, with your scouting and Sealing skills. Shirogane and Kenzō can keep anyone else off of you while you look." He glanced over at Shirogane. "That work for you?"

The ex-Hidden Rock shinobi huffed, and said, "I guess that's fine."

Reo gave an ironic half-smile and looked over at the others. No one had any issues with the plan as proposed.

If only they knew how off the rails it would go, and how quickly.

---

A chorus of ninjutsu rang out just before they charged in.

"Earth Release: Obsidian Thorns," said Shirogane, with massive spikes of obsidian coating his arms and turning them into massive blades.

"Fire Release: Burning Chains," said Reo, and snakelike coils of fire wrapped themselves around his torso, with the other ends hovering nearby menacingly.

"Earth Release: Living Roots," said Momoka, and her mental reach extended out once more. The castle was too large to sense the entirety of from here, but perhaps if she got inside, she could map the entire interior.

"Water Release: Water Whip," said Shion, and her old reliable whip of water slithered forth and into her hand, waiting to be unleashed.

"Wind Release: Gale Edge," concluded Kenzō, as razor sharp wind chakra climbed over itself to coat his twin hook blades.

Reo was confident he could clear the two samurai on the southwest tower himself, so he stood alone. Shion, Kenzō, and Shirogane would take the two samurai in the southeast tower, where Shion would then split off to rejoin Reo and draw attention, while Kenzō and Shirogane would clear a path for Momoka and Chiyome.

Reo gave a thumbs up from his position, and they struck in unison. His confidence was not misplaced. In a blink, he leapt above the southwest tower, swiftly intoning, "Fire Release: Rising Sun Dragon," and blasting the ashigaru stationed there. They swiftly tore off their overheating helmets, but before they even had time to draw their blades, the Burning Chains coiled around him struck out like biting cobras, blasting across the torsos of the ashigaru and knocking them out cold (or hot, rather.)

Simultaneously, Shirogane flew up the southeast tower, cutting massive lines across what seemed to be a kogashira. Before Kenzō and Shion could join him, Momoka's shuriken sprouted from the kogashira's helmet, not quite enough to penetrate the metal, but enough impact to floor him.

Kenzō and Shion reached the top of the southeast tower simultaneously, bouncing the remaining ashigaru back and forth until he too crumpled to the ground.

The northeastern tower guards began to run their way, as did the two-man patrol encircling the ground floor.

It was all going to plan so far, Kenzō noted. That is, until the floor of the tower disappeared from underneath them.

---

Reo was in free fall. The two ashigaru he'd knocked unconscious tumbled just below him, and the wind was beginning to rush in his ears.

He stretched his fingers as far as he could, attempting to make contact with the wall. The chains coiled around his torso trailed behind Reo, not quite solid enough to budge him. His muscles strained uselessly against the air, but he had tilted himself just enough to drift to the side.

Moments before he impacted the spike pit at the bottom, (and moments after hearing the two unconscious samurai slam into the bottom) his fingers grazed the wall just enough to use chakra adhesion. His arms jerked to a halt and he used the momentum to swing himself through the doorway at the base of the tower, wincing at the jolt in his shoulders. He rolled for a few moments, rising dazedly to his feet, only to find two ashigaru rushing toward him from the northwestern tower.

He brought his hands together for a ninjutsu, only to wince and briefly cover his eyes at the blinding light that suddenly began to emanate from the fortress. What was that? Ninjutsu? Couldn't be. Perhaps a seal.

He did his best to avert his gaze while sidestepping the incoming attacks. "Fire Release: Rising Sun Dragon!" he blurted as quickly as he could, engulfing the two combatants flanking him. As they staggered back, still smoldering, his Burning Chains technique whipped around, fiery links striking them in the head and dropping them like logs. Survivable, probably. Same couldn't be said for the two in the tower unfortunately.

Just as he took a moment to catch his breath, the front door burst open, with no less than two kogashira beelining straight for him, with a few of their underlings in tow.

Lovely.

---

Chiyome and Momoka deftly leapt up onto the castle walls moments after the northeast tower guards flew past, crouching down and looking for an ideal opening to make their way into the castle. The sound of fighting had just broken out, so they spoke quickly.

"Only a single door," Momoka noted.

"That we can see," Chiyome added.

"Mmm. Plenty of windows. But there's papers in the corners and the center…"

"Yep. I'm sure they're juiced to the tits with some kind of barrier seal. Maybe some kind of variant of the Fivefold Barrier, based on the four corners of the window and the center seal. Makes it harder than granite. We're not just gonna be blasting our way through that."

Momoka grew increasingly antsy as the sounds of battle intensified. They were taking too long to figure out how to get in. Rushing the front door would require sprinting straight through the growing mass of combatants out in the courtyard, and everyone would see them go in… Not a great idea. She decided quick action would be needed. Their window to reach the documents might be thirty seconds or less. She could only hope Living Roots would give her a swift clue.

"Hmmm… maybe we just need to throw hard enough." She pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag on it.

Chiyome scoffed. "Well… if you managed to crack it, the Fivefold Barrier might fail. But then what? Our escorts are a little preoccupied over there- wait, what are you-"

Momoka threw with the greatest strength she could muster, the sound of steel whistling through the air and slicing clean through the window before the explosives blew the wall outward. Momoka and Chiyome shielded their eyes from bits of rubble raining on them, then dropped to the ground floor.

Momoka put a hand to the ground. Yes… through her earth technique, she could feel someone rushing from a tiny office-sized room sequestered in the center of the fortress, having opened a heavy metal door. Perhaps that's where…?

"Well. Looks like our subtle maneuvers have been noticed," Chiyome grumbled, pulling out a storage seal and conjuring a man-sized puppet covered head to toe with ninja wire. In the opening Momoka had just made stood the kumigashira, the highest ranking officer in this fortification, in armor of gleaming pearly white, blade drawn.

"Shit."

---

Voting remains closed.

Sorry, intended to finish the entire fight this update but just wasn't feeling it. Next time!

Shion's stomach fluttered curiously as she was suddenly in free fall. Shirogane and Kenzō were nearby, just a bit out of reach, equally shocked and flailing in the open air. Her eyes flicked down. Spike pit. They'd hit the bottom in three seconds or less. Shion had to act quickly. She refused to die here, without any accomplishments to her name.

She stretched out her hand, but couldn't quite reach the wall to stick to it. Kenzō was the same. She had just enough time to use the Water Whip still gripped in her hand to shove Kenzō to the far wall before she braced for impact, hoping to land her feet in the gaps between the rows of spikes. Kenzō managed to adhere his feet to the tower, fruitlessly extending a hook her way to catch her.

She yelped with pain as one of her calves was slashed open, barely managing to jam her feet between the spikes and use adhesion to slow herself down, whole body jolting from the impact. Shirogane crashed next to her, standing on the body of the kogashira, before leaping up and out of the tower to engage the swarm of samurai that were converging on their location. Shion shielded her eyes from the spray of blood, only to see a samurai who had slipped past Shirogane readying a throwing knife. Her eyes quickly scanned the area near the southeast tower, spying a damp, slightly-frozen clump of sakura leaves to Substitute with. Apparently, it counted as solid enough to work, as she found herself swapped and standing in a small courtyard of pink leaves and flowerbeds.

She scrambled to her feet in the sakura garden, only to have her eyes assaulted by blinding light suddenly emanating from the fortress. She staggered back, striking out with Water Whip and barely deflecting an incoming attack from an ashigaru. She was still disoriented enough that she couldn't get a good count of how many were near. Five? Four?

She swung vigorously at the ashigaru who had engaged her, attempting to regain the tempo, but with the blinding light she saw the second just a second too slow. She felt steel bite into her ribs for just a moment, before feeling the rush of Substitution and finding herself by the trunk of a tree. Kenzō had switched with her, forcing her two attackers back for a moment. They would recover quickly though, now that they knew the trick. And indeed, several times, they deliberately ignored Kenzō and went for Shion instead. Kenzō helped where he could, but with how injured she was already and while focusing on his own fighting, Kenzō's Substitutions could only help so much.

Shirogane was also fighting multiple ashigaru at once, clearly frustrated and swiping ferociously. "Move aside!" he shouted. In the distance, Reo was getting swarmed by at least four samurai, only managing to sidestep some of their attacks.

Shion was already too injured to be of much help for Reo. Shirogane would want to back him up, while Kenzō still needed to make his way to Chiyome and Momoka. But they were being slowed down by their own problems. Damn.

In this fraction of a moment, she eyed the ashigaru near them, moving decidedly slower than the shinobi. Wincing at the pain in her side and calf, she pulled forth a kunai with an explosive tag, knowing her allies would be fast enough to get out of the way but that their opponents might not be so lucky.

She Substituted herself a safe distance away. "Sorry," she murmured to no one, and threw.

---

Reo jumped over another swing, blade cleaving through the Burning Chains that trailed behind him. He was getting tired, and was having trouble Substituting fast enough to keep up with so many combatants at once.

His enemies were doing well not to group up too closely and allow him to take them all out at once. He just needed an opening… he needed this operation to go well. Nori could afford no less.

His Burning Chains flared out once more, striking into the floor, walls, and open air around him. The kogashira knew what to expect at this point, weaving around it, but the ashigaru were still just a little too slow, scores getting burned across their armored waists.

And then they rushed in, moving in unison. He Substituted himself with a barrel, which they swiftly cleaved to bits, preventing him from using it again, then closed in on him.

Reo had plenty of chakra in reserve, and he tried to will himself to burn more, make his muscles move a little faster, but to no avail. He moved away from the strikes as best he could, leaping toward and off the wall, but still found himself getting nicked and cut. Shallow, for now, but it wouldn't take long for it to spiral out of control.

Too slow. He felt a sharp pain in his thigh, even as he kept moving away from the crowd chasing him.

"Just get out of here!" he could hear Shirogane yelling in the distance. "We've got this!"

Reo wasn't sure he believed that. But he couldn't help Nori if he was dead.

Reluctantly, he barreled through his foes one last time, leaping onto the castle wall even with his wounded leg, before jumping into the woods. Nobody followed him.

He said a quick, heretical prayer for guidance to the Will of Fire and made his way to safety.

---

In the smoldering ruin of a wall that Momoka had just blasted a hole in, a figure in armor of gleaming white leveled her blade at Momoka and Chiyome. The kumigashira, the current highest ranking officer in this facility.

In a blink, Momoka Substituted with a small dining table behind the kumigashira and kept running. Chiyome swapped with another charred table just a moment later, throwing down a quick Prismatic Barrier Seal as Momoka sprinted for the documents. A luminous barrier sprung forth and blocked the way back in.

Their foe whirled around. "Wha- stand and fight, coward!" the kumigashira roared, unleashing a flurry of attacks on the Prismatic Barrier which began to whine and shift from violet to blue to green as it weakened.

"Where the fuck are the other two?" Chiyome muttered to herself with gritted teeth, running to the other side of the barrier. It had expanded from the large scroll she'd scrawled the seal on to cover essentially the entire dining room, and there was no point in standing nearby when it inevitably failed in the wake of so many attacks.

Maybe if she were lucky, she'd have enough time to set up another-

The barrier shifted to red and finally shattered completely. Chiyome heard the crackling of thunder as the samurai raced straight for Momoka, her body alight with electricity.

Before Chiyome could follow, three ashigaru picked themselves up from the smoking rubble of the wall Momoka had exploded moments before, getting ready to lunge for Chiyome.

"Not so fast," she growled, bringing her wire-covered Slipknot puppet to the forefront with a macabre dancing of her fingers. It convulsed horribly, as if ill, before bursting open and unleashing a flood of wire in nearly every direction, piercing through furniture, rubble, and samurai, stringing everything together and slowing their movement.

She sidestepped several swipes (barely) pulling out another puppet from her back sheath and getting ready to fight. Even with the ashigaru greatly slowed down, it was still three-on-one.

Damn.

---

Kenzō shook his head, ears ringing from the explosion he narrowly dodged. Two of the ashigaru were completely mulched, shattered armor flying in every direction. The other two sidestepped just fast enough to not die instantly, but they too fell after Shirogane swiftly closed the distance and pummeled them unconscious.

Reo had fled, and the crowd that had surrounded them pivoted and began sprinting across the courtyard straight for their position. "I've got 'em," Shirogane grunted, and lumbered that way, bladed arms scraping along the ground with a sickening whine.

Shion was in rough shape, blood staining nearly every part of her attire.

Kenzō waved her on. "Get out of here. I'll cover the others." He turned and started sprinting toward the hole they'd blown in the wall. Slow. He felt slow. He couldn't use Vacuum Step without letting go of his swords and releasing Gale Edge…

He heard the sound of rushing water behind him and jumped instinctively, landing on Shion's Surging Seas technique. He shot her an angry look. "What the hell are you doing? Get clear before you bleed to death!"

"Still needed my help," she mumbled, dumping him unceremoniously by the wall, and weaving around stray projectiles thrown her way. "Give 'em hell," she said, scaling the castle walls and heading for the channel of water beside the fortress. Kenzō heard a splash in the distance as he made his way into the castle, jumping over stray wire that covered the room. He followed the sounds of thunder and hoped he wasn't too late.

---

Momoka had flown through the wreckage of the dining room, making her way into what seemed like a small pantry. A dead end, it would seem, but Living Roots told her otherwise. Sack of rice, apples, and other goods had been hastily thrown in front of some sort of small mechanism. Momoka tossed the goods into the doorway to slow her pursuer and found a small lever, unlatching a door that fit flush with the wall.

Yanking the door open, she made her way into a small study, filled with books, papers, and other things. Her eyes scanned over it all in a fraction of a second, before she shook her head. Reaching back into the pantry, she quickly emptied a bag of vegetables and began shoving papers, scrolls, and books into it, doing her best not to tear any of the pages. With one bag filled, she dumped it into a storage seal and began filling another.

Moments later, she heard a storm of stomping boots sprinting straight at her, ducking her head just in time to avoid it getting lopped off. The kumigashira's gaze bore down on her like a god of death, crackling with lightning. As she made her next swing, however, the blade was caught. Kenzō had leapt into the room, sticking himself to the far wall from a running spring and hooking her blade just in time. "Keep going!" he shouted, entangling himself with his foe.

Momoka continued to hastily shovel whatever she could find into a vegetable sack as the kumigashira and Kenzō thrashed haphazardly. The samurai kicked a desk chair at Momoka while she wasn't looking, merely sensing it with Living Roots and rolling aside. The samurai continued to heave against Kenzō's blades, with little room to maneuver inside of this small office and pull free.

Momoka slid across a desk as the kumigashira wrenched Kenzō down from the ceiling and slammed him into it, shattered wood flying everywhere. Shoving the last of a bookshelf into a sack and sealing it, Momoka hurled the empty shelf towards the kumigashira, who promptly cleaved it in two, only to have her ankled hooked and yanked, sending her toppling to the ground.

Momoka leapt over the chaos and through the door, and through her earth technique, she could still feel the kumigashira wrestling to pass Kenzō and get to Momoka, roaring in frustration.

Momoka cleared the pantry, and shouted to Chiyome who was engaging several ashigaru nearby. "Got it! Let's go!"

"Thank fuck," Chiyome said, launching her puppet into the group and detonating it in a spray of wood splinters and iron pellets, toppling the samurai. Once they cleared the fortress, Chiyome turned and sprinted in a completely different direction.

Momoka was into the woods, using what chakra she had left to Substitute and break trail. The documents were theirs. All that was left was for Kenzō to escape.

---

As Momoka fled, Kenzō continued hooking his swords into the kumigashira's armor. Again and again, she would barely manage to throw him off and send a swipe his way in vain, with slow forward progress.

He could tell that she was by far his superior in swordsmanship, but she had two big roadblocks to finishing him off. First, they were in an enclosed space, where his shorter blades had more freedom of motion. Second, and more importantly, she had elected to use Thunder Path - some sort of samurai art that utilized or mimicked Lightning Release. It allowed her to rapidly catch up to Momoka and potentially deal a lethal blow to the Earth-natured shinobi. But while Earth was weak to Lightning, Lightning was vulnerable to Wind. Kenzō's Gale Edge technique was energized and more freely-flowing, revving him up as he clashed repeatedly with his foe, not giving her a chance to switch to a more advantageous Elemental Release.

The kumigashira whirled to face him directly and finish him off more directly, bright sparks of anger blazing in the dark pools of her eyes. She pulled forth her secondary tantō blade in her off-hand and began to more effectively maneuver around and through his swings now that she too had a blade in each hand.

Kenzō's back hit the wall as she forced him away. Time for a different tactic. He leapt onto the wall and adhered to it, sprinting around the walls of the small room and across the ceiling, forcing her to whirl around again and again in her heavy armor, and as he ran he was parrying her swings when they managed to get near him.

He continued running, and as he reached the center of the ceiling again, he dove straight down at her. She staggered aside in time to not be knocked over completely by the weight of his falling body. He pirouetted and landed in a squat, cracking the wooden floor. He leaped forward with a low posture, right under her legs, blades trailing behind him, with the hooks catching on the links of her leg armor and sending her to the floor again.

His blades came down, but he wasn't aiming for anything lethal. As she rolled aside, he caught her wrist, pulling her katana free. In a practiced motion, he dropped his blades into their sheaths and snatched her weapon out of the air, spearing it through a leather loop on his hip.

As she rose quickly to reclaim her blade, Kenzō's hands flashed through handseals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Step." He whizzed past the pantry, past the kitchen where a trio of ashigaru were pulling wires out of their skin, out into the yard of the fortress. "Shirogane!" he called out. "Go time!"

Kenzō leapt up onto the castle walls as another field of spikes pushed itself free of the ground, courtesy of Shirogane's Bleeding River Impalement technique. It was much slower than when he used it against the patrol, but it didn't need to actually stab anyone - only trap them. Deep in the fortress, the kumigashira furiously began to hack through the massive spikes obstructing her path, but it was simply too slow. As she glimpsed Kenzō through the mire of rock, he gave one last ironic salute and leapt free of the fortress, running into the wilderness.

---

Two days after the raid, Momoka finally made her way to a safehouse they'd arranged midway between the Sakamoto fortress and Yamagakyō. (Kenzō, Shion, and Momoka briefly met up even before that to coordinate their arrival, just so none of them would be alone with the others.)

"Good, we're all here," Shirogane said, neutrally. "And perhaps more importantly, you've got the intel. Did you look it over?"


"Not really," Momoka lied. "Just a peek to verify what we took. Lots of blackmail, as promised. But not much about us. I didn't read too deeply, but mostly, it seems to be about the Fukuda Clan… and the Sakamoto Clan."

"They kept blackmail of their own Clan?" Reo asked, surprised. "Why would they do that? Why not just burn it all the minute they took it from the Yakuza?"

"I've been meaning to ask," Momoka continued. "How sure are we that the Yakuza had it to begin with?"

---

Rokuro made his way calmly back into Yamagakyō. The high alert protocol appeared to have been lifted, and Rokuro had an inkling why. But he did not make his way to the Pink Lotus Casino. No, he made his way to Taira Castle, the center of power for the Daimyō, the lord of the city and the region.

Inside, the castle was undergoing redecoration. Namely, removing the crest of the Sakamoto wherever it was embedded into the dark stone walls.

Fukuda samurai stood at the ready, but permitted his entry as he made his way to the Daimyō's throne room. On the throne sat not Tomatsu Sakamoto, renowned Taisho of the Sakamoto Clan, but instead, Yamamoto Tadashi, the leader of Iron's Yakuza. Sitting comfortably in the large chair, Tadashi wore a resplendent silver-gray-white kimono and a broad smile upon his face.

"It seems our friends retrieved the information we were looking for," Rokuro said flatly. Not a Sakamoto samurai in sight. Only the Fukuda Clan. Without the confidential letters, bills of pay, mission notices, and other such compromising documents they had on their vassals, the Sakamoto's hold on the Fukuda had slipped. Tadashi had clearly cut a deal with them in advance. Rokuro idly wondered if Tadashi had even bothered to keep the Fukuda's blackmail material - they would be bound by their own honor to prop him up either way.

"That they did, Rokuro, that they did. Came in just a few days ago. Even sent a few copies of their findings to friends, you know how it is," Tadashi replied, moving to a table stocked with a selection of wines and spirits, pouring himself a glass and offering Rokuro another, which he took without remark or rejoice.

"They retrieved more than we were looking for, even," Rokuro added, idly. "Y'know, I spent a good two weeks interrogating your men - hell, even your own brother - with all sorts of special tricks. And yet, I couldn't find a single leak." He drained his wineglass and poured himself another. "So I'm forced to believe one of three things. One, the leaker was able to conceal their deception from me. Fat chance, I'd say. Two, the Sakamoto simply got lucky in their targeting. Don't think so. Three, there was no leak at all." Rokuro set the glass down. "You just wanted to know where they were keeping the goods and didn't trust me to figure it out on my own."

Tadashi stared impassively.

"What, did you think if I were the one to recover them, I'd try and take your place? Do you really think the Shōgun would tolerate a shinobi on this throne? Do you think I have the slightest interest in that anyways?"

"Don't think I'm foolish enough to trust a single thing you say, Rokuro."

"I know you aren't foolish enough to trust me, but I didn't think you were foolish enough to lie to me."

Tadashi merely smiled and took his seat on the throne again, two dozen samurai flanking the room and the throne. "You know, in my investigations into you, Rokuro, I'd uncovered some interesting tidbits, about one Arakaki Yori, of the Arakaki Clan of Hidden Sky. Would you happen to know anything about him?"

Rokuro was unimpressed. "Get to your point."

"A bit too obvious of a second level identity, 'Yori.' I had to admit I was disappointed. That is, until I was able to find the lie beneath the lie. Who would have guessed that you were really…" Tadashi paused.

"Problem, my Lord?" Rokuro said, staring him down.

"What did you…? This changes nothing. I have it written…"

Rokuro had already thoroughly scoured any such mentions of himself amongst the Yakuza's many hideouts. It was irrelevant nonetheless. None of them would be able to recall the information even if they stared directly at it. In time, they would forget there was a secret at all.

Rokuro's bored monotone firmed into Command. "Get a taste of power and fancy yourself untouchable? You forget your place, mongrel. A worm will never rule over an asura no matter how large a throne he sits upon. Never fool yourself into believing you can ever be above me."

Tadashi frowned angrily, but found himself unable to reply.

"I will not oppose this tiny kingdom you've built for yourself, nor will I care when it inevitably crumbles. Your usefulness has been superceded by your duplicitousness. If you honestly thought you'd be able to blackmail me into maintaining service to you, your petty fiefdom will fall even faster than I'd originally thought. I believe your network has found me all that I've needed. Give my regards to your brother, would you? Farewell, Tadashi."

It would be several minutes before Lord Yamamoto Tadashi, the new Daimyō of Yamagakyō, was able to remember how to speak.

---

"What else did you see in the documents before handing them over?" Kenzō asked in a low voice, sitting across from Momoka in their small rented apartment. Shion was nearby, resting from her severe injuries now that their Yakuza-provided healer had left for the day.

"I kept what I could, but I wasn't sure what wouldn't be noticed," Momoka admitted. "I didn't remove the intel about us. Tadashi was full of shit, you could barely ascribe any of that hearsay to us. The Sakamoto's accounts of us at their fortress will be far more problematic going forward, and even so, they don't explicitly know who we are yet…" She gestured to a set of books and scrolls on a shelf. "A few manuals. History, religion, strategy… you might find some of their culture interesting, or at the least, useful."

"What about the other shinobi?"

Momoka frowned. "Well, I didn't keep any of it, but I did manage to read most of it."

"And?"

"Hmm..."

---

Chiyome, Formerly of Hidden Sand

• Clanless as far as I've been able to surmise (does Sand even have any good Clans?? Maybe Chiyome can tell us more. Otherwise might need to bug Tadashi to throw some funds that way)
• A multitude of specialties, but genin-level at all of them. Trapmaking, puppetry, Sealing, Wind Ninjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, facepainting, arts n crafts, improv theater…
• Couldn't get much on any of her former teachers, but Hidden Sand Academy records would seem to indicate she was fairly talented in school. Given the number of specialties she possesses, this isn't surprising. Being selected for Sealmastery right out of the Academy? Only a couple kids like that a year, at most. Yet, had a bit of a reputation for having a bit of a god complex… Seriously? At sixteen? Hopefully she's grown out of it since then. Knowing shinobi, it's probably gotten worse.
• [References to multiple other documents]. Bounty is astonishingly high for her skill level. Whatever research she stole, Hidden Sand is PISSED. Given their history as one of the preeminent Sealing villages alongside Hidden Whirlpool and Hidden Lock, it could be many things. Some Clan specialty effect, battlefield manipulation, dimensional tech, biosealing… But my money's on Jinchūriki seals. Though, if she really intends to crack those at her skill level, maybe she is touched in the head after all.

Reo, Formerly of Hidden Leaf

• Clanless by his own admission. But let's be honest, Clanless in Leaf is like being Clan in a Minor Village. Those fuckers are stacked!
• Heavy hitting Fire Ninjutsu, seems above average for a chūnin. Also possess Lightning Release and a modicum of skill in Technique Hacking. Useful to have a Hacker on retainer, though he doesn't seem to take commissions for others. Wonder what he's working on… now that's a fun question!
• Still has some ties to Leaf, though I haven't been able to pin down any specifics… playing with Fire there, my friend. Though, I guess they'd be the experts in getting burned.
• [References to multiple other documents.] Seems to have had a bit of a gambling problem in the past, though I can't say I've noticed anything since he's joined up with us. Might be due to the fact that he accidentally got in bed with the Fire Yakuza and now they've got his sister hostage. Nah, probably unrelated. Makes a decent amount of money running missions for us. Makes even more hunting down missing-nin. I just know he and his little buddy are watching Chiyome like hawks. Did Tadashi arrange that on purpose or did he luck out? That little scoundrel!

Shirogane Yūdai, Formerly of Hidden Rock

• Part of a fancy pants Minor Clan. The Shirogane Clan have obsidian-themed Earth Release Ninjutsu, allegedly much pointier than the average rock. Cool, I guess.
• Quite proficient with Taijutsu, especially with the sword-hand technique he has. Pretty good at most forms of combat, actually. Bunch of other random earth techniques too. A bit of Hacking skill, but apparently not much compared to Reo.
• Doesn't seem like he has any connections to Hidden Rock anymore. As far as I can tell, he left fairly recently.
• [References to multiple other documents] Couldn't quite pin down what Hidden Rock wants him for, beyond tying up loose ends with Clan Secrets. Seems like he committed some sort of unforgivable crime - which is crazy, because frankly Villages will forgive a lot of crimes. Hell, they give you awards for some of them. Probably blew something up that he wasn't supposed to. That's the usual story. Makes good money bringing in missing-nin. Wonder what he plans to spend it on…

---

Sakamoto Tomatsu, one of only three Taisho of the Sakamoto Clan, was a hair's breadth away from shouting completely incoherently to his subordinates. "Seven dead! Dozens wounded! Hoshizaki Castle in ruin! All of our safeguarded secrets, stolen! And now, the Fukuda have ousted us from the region, citing broken oaths and sacrilege! They would fight even to the death to repel us from this place, putting a damn crime lord on the throne! Absurdity to the highest degree! I lack the vocabulary to explain how monumental this failure of yours has been for the Sakamoto Clan! Your sole task was to defend this castle with your life, and you failed!"

Sakamoto Hikari, the kumigashira left in charge, had somehow even managed to get her damn weapon stolen. Unbelievable. She stared back at him with cool regard, letting him complete his lecture, before she turned to one of her subordinate kogashira, Sakamoto Katsu, gesturing to him to grant him permission to speak.

"My Lord Sakamoto," he began, evenly at first, but quickly breaking into anger. "When were you going to deign to inform us that we were giving our lives for your petty political tribulations? My beloved student is dead by her own hand, fatally wounded by miscreant shinobi drawn here by your underhanded and feckless principles."

Tomatsu stared down his subordinates, approaching Katsu and staring down at him. "You dare speak to me in that tone? You dishonor yourself."

Katsu didn't blink. "I would give my life to tell you what you deserve to hear. You have shamed this Clan, and dishonored everyone stationed here." Katsu pulled forth his blade, raising it to impale himself. "I reject everything you stand for. You are no leader of mine."

"Hold," a commanding voice intoned. Katsu hesitated.

"This is a private, internal affair," Tomatsu said through grated teeth, turning around. "Who dares to-"

"Silence," said Mifune, Shōgun of Iron.

"M- Lord Mifune-"

"I will not repeat myself," Mifune said, simply.

Tomatsu wisely shut up.

Mifune gestured for Katsu to put his blade away. "Your resolve does you credit, samurai." He looked at each of them standing around him and continued, "I have personally overseen the transfer of power in Yamagakyō. The Fukuda will no longer be vassals to the Sakamoto Clan. I have reviewed the situation, and am in accord with the Fukuda's divine right to this territory. Those of you who wish to serve penance for your aid in these dishonorable acts may assist them in moderating this territory. You may answer to the Fukuda's sole Taisho, Fukuda Madoka. I will advocate on your behalf to the Sakamoto Clan Head, should the need arise. Come sunrise, I will return to the Capital. Please reach out to me should you need my aid."

Hikari, Katsu, and the other officers of Hoshizaki Castle replied only with a bow.

"All of you are dismissed, except for you Tomatsu. You will kill yourself by sundown."

"Y-yes, my Lord."

"I will be your second."

"It would be my honor to die by the legendary Kurosawa Blade, my Lord."

Mifune nodded and patted him on the shoulder consolingly. "If you flee, I will personally hunt you down and make you regret ever picking up a sword."

---

Kenzō jolted awake from an armchair. Momoka had tapped him on the knee (very carefully, lest he start swinging.) She'd even awoken Shion from her restorative slumbering.

Rokuro had made his way to their apartment.

"What is it?" Kenzō said carefully, still shaking off the shock of being awoken with a stranger (...acquaintance?) in their room.

"I am informing you three that I'm taking my leave from the Land of Iron. I have a few other sources of intelligence I need to check up on… amongst other things. I know you had some interest in hiring me for lessons in Genjutsu and other skills, which might be possible when… hmm. Let me cut to the chase."

He leaned on the trim of the doorway. Kenzō wondered if that was some sort of social spec ploy to be maximally persuasive. This was the insanity of dealing with a social specialist - they made you question every little thing.

"I have an infiltration job offer, one I cannot do alone. I'll be gone for a few months, so take whatever time you need to prepare. When I return, I'll begin training you for the mission, including whatever lessons you had in mind, free of charge... should you accept. I need three talented young shinobi who can work well together to pose as my genin squad in next year's chūnin exams, young enough to look the part but skilled enough to do well, else I'd have just hired a few jōnin." Rokuro sighed, looking out the window (even though the shutters were closed). "Despite what the exams might appear to be on the surface, many of those who enter are far overqualified to be chūnin, with the exams really serving as a chance to show off to other Villages. Diplomacy in action."

"You want us to… enter the chūnin exams? As missing-nin?" Momoka asked, dazedly.

"No. I need you to win the chūnin exams."

---

Arc concluded! Didn't quite manage to take the castle nonlethally, but a pretty bang up job overall. Taking that patrol out in advance probably shifted the entire encounter tbh, and it was damn close as it is.

XP Award: 695 XP
This will be added to the character sheets.

Your team has also been awarded 40,000 Ryō from Tadashi for completing the mission.

Shion has earned 3 FP for Consequences, and everyone has earned an additional 3 FP for winning a highly difficult encounter. Note: FP will reset back to 4 at the beginning of next arc regardless of what your current totals are. These are essentially meant to be spent on research or downtime rolls.

As for voting, you have a job offer pending. This is still 2 or 3 arcs away, just to calibrate expectations. One of those arcs will presumably be a training arc with Rokuro. These other arcs will not necessarily yield as high of an XP reward as this arc, which is definitely going to be on the upper end of the reward curve, I think.

Do you agree to enter the Exams?
[X] (Exams) Yes, we will enter the Exams.
[X] (Exams) No way are we entering the Exams! That's crazy!