The lamp had burned lower by the time Akane set the brush down. He looked at the letters he had written, then pushed them aside.
The Daimyo.
Tsunade's words lingered in his mind. She must have noticed something during her meeting. If she thought it was worth mentioning after everything else, it was worth investigating.
He blew out the lamp and closed his eyes.
The Dream Space formed around him without effort. The sky was the same deep violet it had been earlier, caught between day and night. He did not stop to admire it. Instead, he reached outward, searching for the specific presence he needed.
The Land of Fire's Daimyo was asleep, as expected at this hour. What mattered was whether his dreams were guarded, but he didn't think he would have any difficulty. Akane found the thread of the man's consciousness and pulled it.
The world around him shifted in response to his actions.
The Daimyo's dream was exactly what Akane had expected. It was lavish, comfortable and undisturbed by any sort of doubts that kept ordinary people awake at night. The man sat in a grand hall, surrounded by attendants and beauties who brought him food and the drinks that existed only because his mind had supplied them.
Akane watched everything from the edge of the dream, invisible to the figments that populated it. The Daimyo's subconscious was relaxed, unguarded, and it made his work easier.
'I need to know something that happened recently. Something that concerns him and Wind Daimyo.'
He reached into the flow of the man's memories, searching for anything that matched Tsunade's instinct.
It took several minutes, and then he found what he was looking for.
It was a conversation, and it was done recently. The conversation was between the Fire Daimyo and the Wind Daimyo. They were speaking in a room that Akane recognised from the mansion. The good thing was that the memory was clear and unaltered by the distortion that usually softened older recollections.
From what he saw, he understood that this had happened within the past few days.
Akane started to watch everything.
The Wind Daimyo's expression was hard to read. He looked neither angry nor desperate, but there was something else. Like a plan or a calculation, a sinister malice that had already been settled before he opened his mouth.
"If she dies in your land," the Wind Daimyo spoke, "I win."
The Fire Daimyo's hand paused over a cup. He stared at him for some time and said, "You seem certain of it."
"I have prepared everything needed for this. The legal grounds to hold them, the public sentiment they can't gather here and the necessary parties who will confirm that Konoha failed to protect her. All I need is for you to do nothing."
"But what if I win?"
"You keep the eastern trade routes. They will be unopposed for the next decade."
The Fire Daimyo was quiet for a long moment as he heard the words. The greed inside him wanted to agree instantly, but he didn't. He took his time, picked up the cup and drank it.
After thinking twice, a smirk appeared on his face as he thought of a person, and he said, "Then I suppose I will win."
Akane stared at the Fire Daimyo, enjoying the lavishes without care. There was a look of disgust on his face as he understood what had happened. He removed the Fire Daimyo from the dreamspace, and the violet sky hung above him, unchanged, but the shape of what he had just learned was already settling into place.
"A bet, huh!"
It was not a casual one but a big transaction between only two people. But those people were the ones who controlled most of the things in the country. Himari's death in the Land of Fire would give the Wind Daimyo the justification he needed. For what, the memory had not made explicit, but the implication was clear enough.
'War. It seems as I had expected. The Fire Daimyo himself doesn't want Konoha to grow too much.'
The Fire Daimyo had agreed to let it happen. Even though he said that it was in exchange for trade routes, for a decade of them and that only benefited him, Akane could more or less guess what had influenced him more.
'And we stepped into the middle of it.'
He pulled himself out of the Dream Space and sat up. The room was dark, and the lamp had gone cold. He did not bother relighting it.
He sat in the silence for a long moment, letting the information settle.
The Wind Daimyo wanted his daughter dead. It was not because he hated her or because her brothers had convinced him, but because her death was useful. A political tool that had been prepared long before she arrived in the Capital.
The brothers were a separate operation. Akane felt like they wanted her dead for their own reasons.
'It could be Inheritance, position or a personal grudge.'
There were two different groups with two different objectives, but both of them were aiming at the same target.
That also explained the mismatch Tsunade had noticed. The mansion staff answered to the Wind Daimyo, and the searchers in the Capital answered to the brothers. Neither group trusted the other enough to share information.
"Akemi is a connectioon." He murmured. She was the only person who moved between both groups without being removed. Maybe that was why she was still alive even though she had failed some moments.
Both sides needed someone who could operate in the other's territory, and she was useful enough to keep.
'That will not last forever.'
He stood and crossed to the window. The Capital was dark outside, the rooftops silvered by moonlight. Somewhere in that city, the brothers' people were still searching and somewhere in the mansion, the Wind Daimyo's people were waiting for Himari to die for their master.
"Haha, they would be waiting for a long time."
The next morning came faster than he expected.
He found Tsunade in the medical wing, reviewing Himari's chart. She looked up when he entered and studied his expression for a moment before speaking.
"You found something," Tsunade said as she understood his expression, and Akane nodded at her.
"Yes."
He told her everything. The bet, the conversation, his conjectures, and what they could expect.
By the time he finished, Tsunade had set the chart down and was staring at the wall with an expression that could have been anger or grudging respect for the scale of the setup.
"A bet," she said, repeating everything.
"Yes."
"Over whether Himari dies here."
"Yes."
"And we are the ones keeping her alive."
"Yes."
Tsunade stared at the wall for a while. But before her anger reached its peak, Akane made her sit down and massaged her head. He knew that if Tsunade burst out here, it would cause more problems than a war happening.
Tsunade looked up to Akane, who was looking at her gently and massaging her head. She exhaled slowly and spoke, "That explains why the Wind Daimyo's people have been so careful. They are not actively trying to kill her themselves but waiting for us to fail."
"And for the natural complications of poison to finish the work."
"Except the poison is clearing."
"Which means they are running out of time."
Tsunade's eyes met his as they shared their thoughts. "They will accelerate or do something."
"Yes."
She was quiet for a moment to think, and then she said, "The brothers' people in the Capital. The Wind Daimyo's people in the mansion. They are not coordinating, huh!"
"No, they aren't. They do not trust each other. The Wind Daimyo is running a long-term political play, but the brothers want immediate results. The two approaches conflict, but I feel if Wind Daimyo acted, they would get together."
"That is why Akemi is still alive, but I don't really think they would join."
"Oh, really?" Akane asked, and Tsunade nodded at him. Then her expression sharpened as she continued, "She is the only channel between both groups. If she dies, the two sides lose their ability to track each other's movements."
"Which means one side might act without knowing what the other is doing."
"It would cause lots of chaos."
"Controlled chaos, actually", Akane corrected with a playful smile.
"But yes, it would cause lots of chaos."
Tsunade stared at him with a deadpan. Even though the situation had gotten serious, he was still joking, though this had lightened the atmosphere between the two. Then she picked up the chart again and made a note.
"We need to move Himari sooner than planned."
"How soon?" Akane asked.
"Today or tonight at the latest. The poison is under control, but she is still too weak for a long journey. If we wait until she is fully recovered, the mansion will have tightened around us."
Akane nodded at her words. "I will prepare the route."
"Do it."
He turned toward the door, but as he was about to leave, he stopped.
"What about the Daimyo's bet?"
Tsunade's voice was flat when she answered. "We keep Himari alive. That is the only answer that matters, and the bet dies with her recovery."
"You leave for now. We will continue the talk later."
He left without another word.
Time passed by, and the preparations took most of the morning.
Akane moved through the Capital with the same measured pace he had used the previous day, but his purpose was sharper now. He noted the positions of the brothers' watchers, the timing of patrol shifts, and the streets that offered cover and the alleys that would trap them.
The route formed in his mind as he travelled around, searching for what he could use.
There was a side entrance from the mansion that opened onto a service lane. Through the western district, where the guards were less attentive, they could reach a waiting point near the old textile warehouse he had observed the previous day.
From there, a transfer to a safer location outside the Capital could be done easily.
It was not elegant, and it did not need to be, as it only needed to work once. There were multiple other options, but as Orochimaru would follow him, he had to use the methods he could show to him.
'I have more than enough strength and capabilities to take the easy route, but conditions and consequences would be too much. I can't show or do anything that would raise the questions I can't answer.'
Even though Akane could use Zetsu to keep Himari safe, or kill all of Wind Daimyo's personnel, he would have to show more strength than required. The political complications aside, the bastards in the village wouldn't let it go and would cause more problems than he wanted to handle.
He returned to the mansion in the early afternoon and found Tsunade in the office adjacent to Himari's room. She was writing instructions that he did not ask for whom.
"The route is ready."
"Explain it," Tsunade said, without looking at him.
He did and started to explain everything. Tsunade listened without interrupting, and when he finished, she nodded once.
"It will work."
"It will work once."
"That is all we need."
She set the pen down and looked at him. "I will inform Himari. You handle the exit."
"Understood."
He was at the door when her voice stopped him.
"Akane."
He turned and looked in her eyes. From her expression, he felt like there was something important she wanted to convey.
Tsunade did not say anything for a moment. Then she spoke, "When this is over, we are going to have a very long conversation about the kinds of people we are becoming."
He met her gaze with a smile appearing on his face and said, "I know."
Then, he left the room.
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Chapter 83 on ptreon.