Message, New Information and Assistance

__________ POV Narration __________ 

Ken stepped into his office with a smile on his lips.

Inside, Asai, the 'Green Forest King', was just sat down on one of the chairs, drinking some tea that he seemed to have made on the spot.

"Lord Ken, and even Lord Mifune, great to see the two of you with these 4 eyes of mine."

Mifune raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the tattooed man.

'Did the Dark Brotherhood have any allies that look like this? He seems inexplicably shady even for Ken's standards...' 

"Seems like you've made yourself at home... Did I not tell you not to touch anything?" Ken tilted his head as he walked into the room, almost instantaneously taking his position on his comfortable chair.

"W-well I figured it would be ok... I only used the cheapest tea leaves and made sure to clean up after myself."

Asai seemed a bit embarrased and fearful at the Blind Assassin's tone. He really seemed to be on edge, likely hoping to not be executed for pouring himself some tea of all things.

Ken's personality was not that great towards his enemies at the end of the day, anything could happen.

'No, he still needs me... As long as that remains true then he won't kill me needlessly for such a small matter.' 

"That's my favorite brand of tea. If you call it cheap again I'll cut out your tongue." 

"S-sorry si-" 

"Shut up, I have more pressing matters. Make yourself small in the corner or something." 

The Blind Assassin dismissively waved off the Green Forest King's apology, not really caring to give the man any ounce of respect or leisure.

In Ken's lack of eyes, the Cursed Technique Expert was lucky to still be breathing. 

Ken nodded towards the former Cult Leader when seeing him quiet down and submissively put his tea cup down. He then motioned for Mifune to also sit down.

The Old General gave Asai a pointed look before sitting across from him, not intimidated in the slightest by the creepy aura that the Jujutsu Master gave off.

Not like the General had anything to fear. At such short range, he'd be able to decapitate just about anyone before they managed to materialize any Jutsu. 

And with Ken present, the creepy and rather intimidating Asai really looked more like an abused child. 

Mifune gazed towards the Blind Assassin, his aged brows furrowing as he watched the letter on Ken's desk. The object that someone of Saburo's status thought concerned both the Land of Iron and the Leader of the Dark Brotherhood. 

The Second Blade was more than authorized to open letters addressed to Ken. He was somewhat of a filter, taking care of trivial matters for the Blind Monster.

This task was somewhat swapped in between him and Tosho at times, depending on how busy each of them was at the time.

But, over the course of 6 years, there was rarely something notable enough to call Ken over for.

'Everything's suddenly becoming so eventful... This is way too suspicious, everything happening all at once...' 

Ken slowly opened up that letter and allowed his senses to trace the indents that the Raikage's pen had left on the page.

'His handwriting is as messy as ever...' The Assassin sighed as he formed a first impression of that letter almost instantly.

"Greetings, Dark Brotherhood Leader.

I'm well aware our last meeting wasn't exactly a pleasant one, but I'm still sending this letter to everyone, including you, because it seems I have no choice but to inform you all about the nobles' plans for our respective nations." 

Ken slowly read out the letter to Mifune, his voice unshaken, gaining a narrative and very smooth tone.

Asai blinked a few times, not expecting to be allowed to listen into such an important meeting.

His breath immediately hitched, as he realized something rather grim.

'Fuck... He doesn't plan to let me leave this room alive, does he?'

But Ken had no care for his fear or concerns.

"For the past few years, they've been relentlessly pestering me to ally with them—something I nearly did, thanks to my own impulsiveness. Since then, as you know, I have changed my mind. 

However, after dealing with them and their stupid representatives, I've come to know that they've gone ahead and established several new hidden villages within our territories, not to mention bolstering nearby smaller Hidden Villages." 

Mifune's head immediately snapped towards Ken, his eyes widening. Asai had a very similar reaction, his fear being slightly replaced by shock.

'T-to think they'd try to replace the ancestral founding clans that form the hidden villages...'

Asai sweated a bit as he remembered more about the formations of the Hidden Villages. Dozens of clans getting together was what had formed them in the past.

'I wonder... Is this related to some of my Lieutenants and subordinates going missing in the past few years?' Asai's eyes narrowed, his mind filling with annoyance at the prospect of having his men be bought off so easily.

'Fucking bandits...' Was all he could think. Meanwhile, Mifune was more outspoken with his thoughts.

"What the hell? Why did he not inform everyone of this during the meeting?!" 

The Old General was pretty annoyed at the fact that such vital information was only now being disclosed, when it was likely already too let to try and suppress the nobles.

"No, this on it's own wouldn't be too bad... Them wanting to distance themselves fully from the villages within the alliance and no longer have to rely on them for wars and contracts only makes sense." 

Ken had already somewhat thought of the possibility. 

Even if it was improbable before, Ken was not fully aware of the entire financial situation of each particular noble family.

But if they all banded together somehow, then it really was a possibility, even if small.

The problem was not them achieving such a thing... The problem was more in their intentions.

And the Raikage seemed to also have some information about those.

"That in itself ain't that big a deal, as I'm sure you'd agree. The problem is that these idiots now seem to be keen on waging war against us.

At least that is what my last conversation with their representative has got me believing." 

Ken continued reading out from that letter, a scowl rising on his lips.

'Indeed, this all matches with the Akatsuki incident and what Mifune shared with me... Their intentions are certainly to either wage war, or drive the Three Corners Alliance outside of their territories forcefully...' 

Either way, blood was going to spill. And everyone currently in that room was smart enough to know that. 

Mifune's entire visage twisted with anger, as the mere thought of their nations being plunged back into war made his body fill with disgust.

'Why... Why are nobles so fixated on the profits of war?!? Why can't they just accept the prosperity that peace brings?!' 

"However... I say that if they want war, then we should oblige. 

Make it the shortest war in history. Let us dismantle these ingrates. They seem to think we've softened up after just a short 6 years of peace... I say we should just cut their necks off.

We've had our disagreements, Ken, but I'm sure you'd agree. The best way to deal with adversity is to outright crush it with everything you have. 

I will see you again in the War Room, as soon as I've located the Hidden Village in my land..."

Ken smiled as he read out the rest of the letter. 

As much as Ken and the Raikage disagreed with each other, they were both able to see the most straightforward solution in that situation.

And that was because they were both confident that they'd be able to protect the people they cared about regardless.

Mifune was also strong, but the Land of Iron was a lot larger than any single Hidden Village could ever hope to be. 

His mind could only focus on one thing...

'If the Land of Iron becomes a warzone... Then how many lives will we lose for this foolishness...' 

Mifune seemed to ponder on that for a moment, his gaze twisting with pain just at the mental image of it.

"Perhaps it is not to late to reach out to them... Maybe they can be made to understand..." 

Unfortunately, Ken was there to dash the General's hopes.

"No, the war has essentially already started. They've hit an organization that I had been backing in the Land of Rain... It's only a matter of where the next battleground is going to be at this stage." 

When hearing that, Mifune's eyes widened, his brows furrowing with rage as his teeth clenched tightly.

"Then... How about you just go out and kill the noble families? It shouldn't be too hard, right for you, right?" 

Ken simply shook his head at that suggestion.

"I can certainly assassinate them... But who exactly? When performing an assassination, you need a proper target, you need information. 

At this stage, we only know that a lot of nobles are involved. I don't wish to stain my hands with the blood of innocents for no good reason..." 

Mifune opened his mouth, as he trembled a bit in anger.

He couldn't refute Ken however. Taking down the Nobles was a good strategy only if they knew exactly what nobles were involved. 

At that point they could safely infer the identity of some of them, Ken was sure of that. But they wouldn't have any confirmation. 

The entire situation had also gone underneath the Merchant Association's radar, so they were unlikely to be of any help whatsoever.

"Then... I guess war it is, huh?" At that point, Mifune sounded dejected.

That was when Asai decided to speak up.

"If it comes down to it, and you are worried about your people doing the war... Then the Green Forest Union is willing to assist the Land of Iron." 

In that moment, Ken gave the former Cult Leader a wide grin.

'Good... Make yourself useful.

That's the only chance you have at survival.' 

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Sorry for the constant delays, I've been busier with work lately, didn't have much time to write for either story, the only difference is that my original story still has that backlog of chapters... So yea

Original story is currently at 12 chapters! Still uploading daily on there. Still named 'The Storm Calling Buddha'. 

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