With the Book Retrieval Teams
"Looks like this entire hallway is a bust." The leader of this group says. "Anyone find anything noteworthy?"
"Nothing worth stealing."
"Nope!"
"Negative."
"No."
"Dammit." The leader says once he has a reply from everyone present. "Hold on. There were eight of us. Now there's five."
"Shit!"
"Does that mean someone got three of us?"
"How does that even happen?"
"Who could even do that!"
"Adorable, you think I only got three of you." A smooth and cocky voice comes from inside one of the rooms that the shinobi have already cleared.
The gathered five shinobi don't waste time for their opponent to continue. They burst into the room to defeat him with focused anger, to avenge their fallen teammates.
"There's no one here." The leader says in surprise.
"But how?"
"The voice definitely came from inside here."
"The hell is going on?"
"Where are the bodies at?"
"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourselves?" The smooth cocky voice says from back out in the hallway.
The five shinobi leap back into the hallway with every sense strained to its maximum. Even then they don't find the speaker.
"After all, I didn't defeat three of you." The arrogance flowing in the words of the hidden speaker is palpable. "I defeated four of you."
"Shit." The leader says. "He replaced one of us. Roll call!"
Roll call, a standard way to identify an impostor. Prior to even leaving their home each individual shinobi is assigned a number. That number is used to identify themselves should something like this exact situation happen. If someone says the wrong number then that person is the impostor. Simple and effective.
"One." The leader says.
"Four."
"Six."
"Eight."
"Two."
"Shit. He must have gotten one of us to break." The leader assumes. "Okay, this requires a more personal touch."
"Alright, how do we do that?" Two asks.
"Six, where did we meet?" The leader asks.
"The prison complex. Guard duty." Six replies.
"Pass. Four, how did we meet?"
"I tied to pickpocket you and you caught me. Brought me back with you since you saw I had skill." Four answers.
"Pass. Eight, what were we doing when we met?"
"Really? I swear all men are pigs! You just had to pick that question for me didn't you? Nothing stays behind closed doors anymore. I was riding you like a champion! There, I said it! Is your ego satisfied? Cuz I sure wasn't!"
"Yeah totally not her." Two says and he gets nods from everyone else in agreement.
"Don't get mad at me I just proved your innocence!" The leader says. "Two -"
"We grew up together." Two cuts him off. "Now a question for you."
"Wait what?" The leader exclaims in surprise. "It's not me!"
"You sure?" Six says as he palms a kunai. "Everyone else passed. That leaves you."
'A drawn kunai, that's a little aggressive for a harmless question.' A melodic voice gently whispers into the leaders ears. 'Are you sure you can trust him?'
"Whoa just calm down! I'll answer a question, ask away!" The leader says as he eyes the drawn kunai. "No need to get stabby."
"Stabby?" Eight says. "Whose getting stabby?"
"Him!" The leader points at Six. "He's got a kunai and everything! I bet it's him!"
'Yes, I think you're right.' The melodic voice continues to tenderly reassure the leader. 'Are you going to remain defenseless while your enemy is armed? You don't want to die, do you?'
The leader quickly draws a kunai and falls back defensively.
His bold actions cause every other shinobi present to mimic him. They have a weapon drawn and their eyes are darting around in fear. Who is the plant? Which one of them has been replaced? Who can they trust?
"What the hell are you talking about?" Six shouts. "I didn't draw a kunai until after you did!"
'He lies!' The melodic voice lightly breathes into the ears of the leader.
"LIAR!" The leader shouts. "It's you!"
"Wait no it's -" Six doesn't get a chance to finish, Two clubbed him in the back of the head with the ring of a kunai.
"Right. That's that." Two dusts off his hands.
'No it's not over.' The smooth voice musically chimes into Eight's ear. 'It's a ploy, he's trying to deceive you! None of you would attack a teammate! He has to be the one!'
All of the shinobi straighten up, Eight included. Yet she's still on guard, she's staring intently at Two. As meaningless chitchat springs up between everyone, things like we have to find the others, she's prowling closer to the plant.
"Hey." She says, drawing the attention of Two and extends out a hand for a high five. "Good job."
"Thanks!" Two grins in happiness. Then his face breaks on her fist and he's rewarded with swift unconsciousness.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Four shouts at the Eight.
'It's her! Our leader was wrong Six was innocent!' A melodic voice frantically whispers to Four. 'Quickly! Strike her down before she kills anyone else!'
Four blurs forwards and backhands the kunoichi. The unexpected blow was easy to land and the surprise on her face was so good that Four wants to give the impostor an award for their acting skills. If he didn't know better he'd say it was real.
A strong arm wraps around Four's neck.
"Sorry about this if you're actually who you look like." The leader speaks. "But with all the shit that just went down I need to know that the enemy is out of commission. I know it's not me, but I can't prove it's not you. So sleep, I'll find the damn book myself."
Four crumples to the ground.
"Right. Well by default that means I got ya!" The leader tries to cheer himself up after watching his team rip themselves apart.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but you didn't." The arrogant and cocky voice from before says from right behind him as a hand falls on his shoulder. "I take that back, I'd love too. In case you were wondering I never replaced anyone. You all defeated yourselves for me, it was hardly any work at all. You're all pathetic. None of you felt the trappings of genjutsu? None of you thought your actions were strange? Disgraceful. I expected a challenge."
The leader furiously whirls around with every intention of eviscerating this mongrel.
The last thing he sees are two burning eyes, the eyes of the devil himself.
...
With the Assassination Teams
"Alright." The Leader speaks up as all eight of them are just outside a grand door. "On the other side of this door is the Royal Court. Our target should be in there. We're going with standard procedure. My half is going in loud, we'll draw the attention of everyone there. All of his bodyguards should rush to defeat us, we're going to make it flashy. That means you four will go in quiet. Creep around the hall, get to the King, and take his head. Don't come help us until after the King is dead. No matter what you hear, what you see, keep going until the mission is complete. The mission comes first."
The Leader looks out over his shinobi. They're all ready for this. Their weapons are drawn. Their faces are set in excited determination. They are willing to face death for the thrill of victory. He couldn't be more proud. No doubt the rest of his shinobi, the other two groups, are feeling the same way. They're probably wrapping things up right now.
"Now, questions?" As usual the Leader asks. He expects to hear silence like normal. Like how it always is.
"I have one." An aristocratic voice, one dripping with authority, comes from the other side of the door. "Would all eight of you come join me?"
All eight shinobi are frozen on the spot. They've already been discovered and instead of running the King was waiting for them to show up? He's that confident in his bodyguards? That he didn't even bother to attempt to hide himself? Was he even hiding in this castle to begin with?
The grand double doors swing themselves open to reveal a brightly lit Royal Court. A deep red velvet carpet extends all the way from the doors to the bottom of the only chair in the room. No, the only throne in the room. Elegant purple drapes cover the windows and tapestries of unimaginable detail decorate the walls. The wealth in this room is overwhelming.
Then all eyes settle on the one person in the room.
Their target. The one they are here to assassinate. The King.
He's lounging casually on the grand throne. He's completely relaxed despite his dire situation. He is draped in a luscious red robe that falls regally down his back to almost touch the ground. The part on his shoulders is made of the softest white fur you can possibly imagine, it even wraps around his back to make it one piece. This once piece of the wardrobe is worth more money that every shinobi here combined has ever seen. Underneath that he's clad in the finest silks imaginable. Never before have they gazed upon such grace, such royalty.
Yet the elegant clothes of the King are not the most prominent feature. It's not his posture, even if he's radiating an intimidating aura the like of which only Orochimaru has displayed before. It's not his rapidly tapping finger either, the one that raps against the hard wooden arm of his throne as he gazes out at the shinobi in growing ire.
The most prominent and horrifying feature is his crown. It is not a golden crown like everyone expected. It's a crown made of pure black thorns. Usually that wouldn't phase even the most undisciplined of them, but the crown is moving. It's alive.
"Come now, I know that it seems outlandish to you but there is no reason I cannot be civil." The false friendly tone shifts to one of undeniable anger. "You all cannot say the same. Breaking into my home! Attempting to steal my possessions! Plotting to blow up my castle! I will not stand for such insolence! You're lucky I don't have you squished like the meddlesome insects you are."
Not a single shinobi has moved since the doors opened. They simply can't process what is happening. How can one man be so bold?
"Do no be confounded by the illusion of choice!" The King roars as he slams a fist into the arm of his throne. "Do not mistake my kindness for weakness! Approach me!"
The Leader pulls himself out of his shock. This changes nothing, the King will die. In fact this makes it much easier, he's alone and undefended.
"Well then, we might as well humor the dead man." He quietly whispers to his shinobi and they all chuckle behind him. "His arrogance will be his downfall. He thinks he's untouchable."
"I am not untouchable." The King cheerfully cuts in to the shock of the shinobi, he shouldn't have heard that. But now the King's anger is gone since the shinobi are doing as he commanded. They are rapidly closing the distance between them. "I know that. But no one here is capable of reaching my pedestal. No one here can hope to match me!"
"So." The Leader blatantly ignores the King's words. "Since we're humoring you, why don't you humor me. I've got a question for you."
"Oh?" The King leans forward in his throne. "This is new. I've never had assassins with the sheer gall to speak like that! You've caught my interest and as such I will spare your lives for a little longer. Ask your question."
"Thanks?" The Leader says, he's not sure if that was a compliment or not. "How did you know our objectives?"
"Do you really think I don't have my own resources at my command? My own schemes and plots?" The King lazily drawls out as the eight shinobi stop before his elevated throne. He's raised up on a platform of stone to symbolize that he's above everyone else. "May you be one with the shadows? May the shadows be one with you? You know nothing of the shadows. The shadows are not your ally. The shadows are not your friend. You disgrace the shadows."
...
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