Ch238. Rasa's dethroning 2

"Mikumi-sama, you... aren't saying what I think you are saying, are you?" Asked Ebizo, one of the two Elders while Chiyo instantly stopped dozing off.

This was serious. Kazekage breaking the few laws that still apply to him? Distasteful. Worse yet, the Kazekage being discovered breaking the few laws that still apply to him? Disaster! That was an unmitigated shitstorm for the Sunagakure. From this point, anything from a complete overhaul of the higher-ups of Suna to a small manageable civil unrest could happen, depending on what the Daimyo and council will agree upon. It was honestly in the wind.

Though... from the way the Wind Daimyo looked and what was discussed, it was obvious the Kazekage hat would most likely find a new owner today.

'Stupid boy,' Chiyo glanced at Rasa with a disappointed tired gaze before focusing back on the Daimyo and the supposed Pakura, 'now, the only thing is to find out what route will the Daimyo chose to go about this.' She inwardly sighed, from the top of her head capable of naming five strategies that would have a chance at removing Rasa from his seat in this situation. 'Let's see if I can somehow mitigate this disaster.'

"Daimyo-sama," Chiyo's raspy old voice calmly rang through the council room, something that didn't happen for so long, the heads of the council members snapped in her direction, "How are we to be certain the woman next to you is really Pakura?" She eyed the green-haired girl with a shrewd gleam. "We all know there are many ways one can be impersonated and that's not counting all the special bloodlines or Jutsus we have no idea about. The woman next to you looks twenty-five at the height of her prime and we all know for a fact, Pakura would be around thirty-three if she was alive. For a civilian, the difference between these eight years is not so discernible but for a ninja, it is the difference between desert and sand playground." She slowly voiced her thoughts in a heavy manner, causing many doubts to flow through the room while Rasa gained a hopeful glint but stayed silent, knowing his input could simply worsen things and the Daimyo visibly faltered. Chiyo only looked as if she was putting a lot of effort into not falling asleep as she continued, "Are you sure you were not deceived, Daimyo-sama?"

The various clan heads seemed very intrigued and clearly wanted an answer or proof of Pakura's identity. The Daimyo himself knew Pakura is who she says she is. In the past two months, they met a few times and he could honestly say she changed very little personality-wise. But he simply could not prove her identity, causing him to furrow his eyebrows and frown at Chiyo who stayed stoic.

Chiyo didn't really like Rasa all that much. She quite disliked him and that was also the reason why she often fell asleep during the council meetings. She always found him a worthless leader so there was no reason to add to the senility levels in the room by staying awake. If she didn't care for Sunagakure so much, she would have retired a long time ago anyway. It's just that her position granted her a way to prevent at least some disasters aimed at Sunagakure. Like now, for example. The best way to take the wind from the Daimyo's sails was to discredit Pakura and establish doubts about her identity. Without a proper justification, there is nothing the Daimyo could do, no matter if he was de facto the ruler of their nation. At least, not where it concerned the shinobi affairs.

While the Wind Daimyo was frowning at the old hag who dared to question him, Pakura simply impassively raised an eyebrow at Chiyo... and that's when Chiyo knew she fucked up.

It was years before Chiyo last interacted with Pakura. Coupled with her advanced age, her memory wasn't the best so nobody could fault her for forgetting something about supposedly dead kunoichi. That eyebrow-raising, however... now that made Chiyo's mind experience flashback after flashback as dread filled her eyes when she realized...

'Shit! It's really Pakura! She is going to...!' Chiyo started to take a breath to stop the woman from...

"Elder Chiyo," Pakura's quiet, calm, and collected voice with a hint of amusement resounded through the room as a vicious gleam flashed through her eyes, "you once told me about how poisonously stabby you got with your first husband during one particularly intimate moment. The poor guy never woke up after that. At least his wealth fell into the hands of his mortified widow, right?" Pakura eye-smiled at the woman whose eyes bulged out while the jaws of the council members, hidden ANBU, and the Daimyo alongside his entourage dropped at the blatant accusation of kin slaying.

Pakura slowly turned her head towards Ebizo, "Elder Ebizo," Her lips stretched into a small mischievous smile as if she was going to reveal some naughty secret, "you killed your older brother when you were fifteen in order to become the heir of your clan. But hey! Unfortunate accidents happen all the time to the clumsy clan heirs, no?"

Ebizo's lips thinned but his facade held. The rest of the council, however, were now staring at him in utter disbelief. Especially the clan heads were torn between feeling disgust and wanting to demand proof he did not do what the green-haired woman insinuated. Killing a clan heir and stealing the heirship? There was no worse crime for these clan heads.

Despite the sudden and shocking revelation, Ebizo's secret had as much worth as Chiyo's. None whatsoever. These were things that happened long, long ago. Things nobody would go poking their nose into just because. Yes, they were important and well-guarded secrets but in the end, they were harmless in the grand scheme of things. At most, the Elders lost prestige. Nobody could persecute them for it. Not without proof that would be impossible to find after all these years. Then again... the Shinobi world worked a bit differently.

Pakura was quite satisfied as she turned her head yet again to the young man sitting to the right of Ebizo, her lips still in that infuriating small smile. "Karuen Koichi..." She hummed, "I don't really have anything on you since you are too young for me to know. Your father though." Trailing off, Pakura heightened the sense of dread in the young man who had no idea what kind of dirt the woman would pull on his family. "If my memory serves well, you are a bastard child of one of your father's mistresses from the red-light district since his wife is infertile. Your real mother was killed after giving birth and you were raised as a son of..."

"WE GET IT!" Chiyo loudly exclaimed before coughing a few times from the stress.

Koichi seemed totally bewildered by what the woman said about his circumstances of birth. Stiffening, he found himself being stared at by other council members and even the Daimyo. Only after a moment, it clicked for him. 'I... am not my mother's son?' His breath hitched, remembering all the praise heaped upon him and how his talent in clan Jutsu was just as high as his supposed mother. Needless to say, the world suddenly flipped upside down for the young clan head.

"That's enough. You are Pakura." Chiyo reluctantly admitted, her plan to discredit the woman utterly foiled. 'How could I forget she was one of the very few people with access to even the darkest secrets of our village?' She mentally questioned herself, realizing what this all meant in growing horror, 'She is a walking treasure trove of village secrets and we can't even persecute her for it as she is declared dead! Oh, hell...' Chiyo's shoulders slumped.

"Glad we cleared that up." The Daimyo chuckled at how Pakura resolved the situation. "Now... if nobody else has any questions, I think it's time for today's main agenda." He dramatically paused and everybody leaned forward in anticipation, "Pakura came to me with a request to sanction a Grudge Duel against Rasa Sabaku for the position of the Ruling Clan. The winner's family will become the new royal clan of Sunagakure."

The room descended into deafening silence.