Chapter 264 - A Sacrificial Lamb

Fire Capital.

A ninja stood inside Ryoma's room, hidden in the darkness and silently observing him. The subordinate of the 3rd minister was unaware of this individual's presence and was steadily completing his mission report. It wasn't long before he finished it and at that moment the intruder made his move.

'Genjutsu art: Timeless Haze'

In mere moments Ryoma was under the intruder's illusion technique and was sitting in his chair motionless.

The shinobi slowly appeared from the shadows and walked towards Ryoma. 'This will put you under while I get what I need.'

He immediately began going through the mission report that was just done and quickly memorized every detail and even made a copy. 'The spy Fujin sent was caught and now the two major corporations are forming an alliance. The young master won't be happy about this.'

He read the details of the alliance and merger between the two parties and gave a light sigh.

The unknown ninja completed his work in a couple of minutes and the next moment he was out of the room. He dispelled the illusion jutsu holding Ryoma and quietly made his exit.

—-

The ninja was exceptional in stealth and quickly made his way to his destination with the new information. It wasn't long before he reached a small palace and entered through a secret tunnel. He soon stood in front of his master's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The shinobi entered and gave a small bow before taking a scroll from his pocket. "I have the information you wanted, young master."

"Ahh yes. Perfect. I can always count on you Hotoja."

The shinobi who entered Ryoma's residence in secret was the loyal guard of the youngest prince Katsuya Hinoō. The third prince immediately went through the report and noted the most important details as Hotoja stood silently. The smile on Katsuya's face widened by the time he finished the document.

"Wonderful. Everything's going according to plan." The prince couldn't help but chuckle. He turned to Hotoja with a teasing grin.

Hotoja was surprised to see his master's reaction. "I thought you'd be angry or at the very least annoyed, seeing that Fujin Genjira's company would soon be shut down. You spent quite a bit of money over the last 4 years on strengthening his company."

"I did. And it was for this exact reason."

"You helped him… to fail?"

Seeing his subordinate's confusion the third prince began explaining.

"Over 5 years ago I had been gathering information on most businesses running in and around Fire country. One in particular caught my eye. The Silver Wood Logging company."

"Fujin Genjira's company!"

The prince nodded. "Yes. While similar businesses were struggling due to the two giants Satoru and Rising Sun, Fujin's company was steadily growing. I found it odd and ordered a secret in depth investigation. It took some time but I soon came to know of his spies in the two major companies feeding him intel. Fujin used that intelligence to create tension and skirmishes between the two corporations."

Hotoja began to understand the situation. "Slowing down their growth while strengthening his own."

"Precisely. And it was at that moment I came up with an idea. Can you guess what that is Hotoja?"

The prince's subordinate was silent for several moments as he thought about all the information he had. A minute later his eyes widened. "The only thing I can think of that's profitable from this whole endeavor is if you wanted the alliance of the Satoru corporation and Rising Sun corporation."

"Exactly."

"But if the goal was the merger of the two companies then why did you secretly help Fujin build his company and help him with the funds? Why not use those resources to assist the other two?"

The prince shook his head negatively. "Even if I did they would have kept going at it and they wouldn't have agreed to an alliance. It would have been a waste of time and energy. Their ego and hate was too big. So I decided to strengthen the enemy they already had and make him a common foe they could rally against when the time came. I gave Fujin's company a boost in capital with several conditions in place. With my help his growth increased significantly to the point he was beginning to threaten the other two. The only way they could keep growing was to stop fighting each other. They were beginning to realize that even if they didn't like it."

Hotoja's eyes widened. "Wait. The mission you sent Kaien on a couple months ago…"

"It was to meet with Tsuyoshi Satoru and Yamamoto Hideshi in secret. I'm the one who ordered them to meet for a possible negotiation and alliance. And the moment I learnt that it was Kakashi and Daichi sent to guard Ryoma, I knew the mission would be a success and the spy would be captured."

Hotoja was silent as he went over the whole scenario. 'Tsuyoshi and Yamamoto hated each other's guts but they feared their company's ruin more. Young master created a common enemy for them to unite against. A sacrificial lamb... All of this plan… created and set in motion years before today. How frightening…'

"Now do you understand my reasoning for giving aid to that man Fujin and his company for the last four years?"

Hotoja looked up at his master and nodded. "Yes. But young master… Even if this was the plan from the start won't you suffer some losses with the destruction of the Fujin company? Since you wanted your involvement with him a secret you won't be able to recuperate the losses when the 3rd minister shuts him down."

The grin on Katsuya's face slightly widened and a dark dangerous glint was in his eyes. "Not exactly Hotoja."

Fire country. Fujin Genjira's Home.

Fujin Genjira, the head of the Silver wood Logging company, was currently tied to a chair and was bleeding all over. He was tortured for information for over an hour. In a weak voice he spoke to the man who stood near him.

"P-please… I told you… everything… Nobody knows… about my deal with Lord Katsuya… There is no… Evidence… Please believe me…" Fujin pleaded with every bit of his strength.

A man shrouded in black and dark red garments silently stared at the man for several seconds. He then spoke in a heavy tone. "I believe you." The next second a kunai was plunged into Fujin's brain ending the man's life.

The ninja took the kunai and made his way to the basement of the home. He passed by several guards that were on the floor dead and bleeding. Soon he reached the basement and opened a secret chamber. Inside was a large space filled with money and gold.

'Master will be pleased. I better get to him with this quickly.'

The shinobi hurriedly began sealing the massive wealth in a large storage scroll. Soon the secret chamber was empty and the shinobi left Fujin's house. A few seconds later the house caught on fire behind him, burning everyone and everything inside…

With Prince Katsuya.

"When I first began helping him I made certain conditions with him. I told him not to use my money for anything nefarious. Fujin had the gall to ignore that warning and imported drugs and even slaves using my funds. I wasn't going to let him live long after that…" The third prince said as he stood on the balcony of his room enjoying the cold wind on his face.

"I take it you sent Kaien to deal with him."

"Yes. He's going to erase all evidence if there is any and he'll take all the liquid assets stored in his home. That was another condition I made with Fujin. I knew this day would come and I'm not someone who accepts losses easily. You know that…"

Hotoja was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "Young master, not that I'm questioning your methods, but why go through all this trouble just to create an alliance between Tsuyoshi and Yamamoto's companies?"

Katsuya smiled hearing that. "People look at their companies and see two large business operations but I see it as something much more… A potential information network with a distribution channel that spans an entire country and a few neighboring regions… It just needs the right touch to make it happen… But all that will only be possible if a merger happens. An alliance won't cut it. I need those two corporations to join together…"

The older man's eyes widened in surprise when he heard his master's plan. 'An information network like that will certainly increase the young master's influence and reach. Even though he's young he's certainly a cunning man. I made the right choice joining his side.'

The two spoke for a short while before another topic came up.

"I still can't believe the Leaf ninjas would let go of their prisoners in exchange for information… I wonder who they were…" Hotoja slightly shook his head and wondered to himself.

"I believe I have an idea." Katsuya chuckled as he already deduced an answer.

Hotoja silently looked at his master and waited for him to speak.

"This meeting between the two was kept a secret and was on a need to know basis. Only very few people could have gotten access to that information aside from Fujin's spy leaking the intel. I knew that possibility and was keeping an eye on Yuta. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it was some unknown shinobi who contacted him regarding the negotiations and not the other way around…"

"So Yuta wasn't the one who hired the ninjas?"

"No. He just tried to take advantage of the opportunity that came…" The prince replied.

"But who could have known about this…? And what reason would they have to interfere?"

"The only ones with the means to get secret intel like this in this country are very few people. The one I'm suspecting is Danzo Shimura." Katsuya crossed his arms and spoke.

"Based on our intelligence he's the former advisor to the Hokage and the commander of Root. From what I know the Hokage ordered and disbanded the Root but there is scattered evidence of its activities across the 5 nations. But young master, why do you suspect him?" Hotoja recalled the information on the organization.

"I suspect him because of the actions of the Leaf ninjas… Danzo isn't someone who likes others to have great power. An alliance between those two corporations would have significant economic changes. The power and influence of the two companies would greatly increase and I'm guessing he didn't want that to happen. And perhaps he even foresaw the potential of what their merger might bring. He's a paranoid old man who still lives in the warring era… But then again considering my plans I suppose he was right to be wary."

Hotoja soon understood why his master suspected Danzo. "But that's not a valid reason to attack Ryoma and disrupt the negotiations between those two. If the 3rd minister found out that ninjas from Leaf village were interfering like that, he would report it to Lord Ryuga and he would take action."

The prince agreed. "Yes. Father would not be pleased and the actions of the ninjas would cause friction between the village and the Royal court. The Hokage wouldn't sanction a mission like this so I'm guessing the ninjas were operating on Danzo's orders behind the Hokage's back."

"I see. The Leaf ninjas must have come to this conclusion as well. They didn't want the identity of the attackers to be revealed because they didn't want them to be connected back to their village. They must have captured them in secret and found the information some other way."

"Yes. The fact that the Leaf ninja wanted to hide the identity of their prisoners is the very reason I suspect Danzo." The prince spoke.

Hotoja looked at his master. "Are you going to take any action my Lord?"

Katsuya laughed. "Why? The Leaf ninjas lied. True. But those two did their job perfectly and I have a feeling the Hokage will take the needed action once this news reaches him, if he hasn't already… I won't waste energy on a problem others will take care of for me…"

Hotoja nodded and stood silently while his master looked at the starry night sky with a small grin.

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Author's Note:

This is all for now regarding the B rank mission and events at the capital. From the next chapter onwards we'll focus solely on Kakashi, Daichi, Naruto and the others till the end of the graduation debacle.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the twist in this chapter. How are you guys liking the Katsuya Hinoo character so far?