Itachi and Sena walked into the castle. Having extracted some information from the guard after the genjutsu, he walked confidently as he waved at the castle guard who saw his friend with the servant girl he liked to accompany. He winked at him and gave him a thumbs-up as Itachi walked through the gate.
The moment they walked in, Sena approached the head maid and showed her today's haul. The head maid was impressed with the mushroom quality, especially as Sena sold her on how good of a find it was and how they needed to utilize it while it was still this fresh. Convinced by Sena's persuasive manner, the head maid decided to cook it for Lord Hojo as lunch, and she asked Sena to go and entertain the lord since he had company till lunch was ready, as she was the only servant free who could play an instrument.
Sena walked into the large room where Hojo sat with a guest from the daimyo court as they spoke. She bowed heavily as the two people did not pay her attention, like she did not exist.
Sena held the biwa and her fingers moved with finesse as she played. As a kunoichi, she was trained on multiple instruments, dances, etiquette, and much more. The light melodic tone was very pleasant as the noble moved slightly from time to time with the tone and his guest enjoyed it immensely, as they finally paid her attention.
Hojo's guest stood up slowly as he walked around Sena, eyeing her lustfully. "She is not looking half bad, Hojo. How about you send her to my bedroom today?"
Hojo laughed. "Fine, but do not overdo it. She is a very good servant and you know how hard it is to find those."
The guest waved his hand. "She is just a peasant. She should be honored that I want to use her as entertainment. Even if I kill her, she should be grateful that we allowed her to stay alive for that long."
He said the last part as he grabbed Sena by the chin, but she did not stop playing. Even as they treated her as an object, she showed no reaction. The guest nodded, "You are not kidding. She is indeed that good."
Hojo smiled. "I can give her to you if you gave me more access to the daimyo. It would be nice to yank Konoha's chain a bit more."
The guest sighed. "Hojo, we need to keep the balance. You are part of that balance. Our daimyo is smart enough to utilize you when he wants Konoha to behave, so do not overdo your hand."
Hojo grumbled. "Iwa is offering much more that Konoha is. We should align more with them."
The guest shrugged and replied. "Yes, but if we leaned too heavily on them they will have leverage. We need to keep the balance."
Hojo's eyes were half closed as he sipped the tea slowly. They were speaking like Sena was part of the furniture.
After a long moment of silence, Hojo said, "What if we played with the balance?"
His guest raised an eyebrow with an amused smile on his face. "Oh, are you finally ready to act on your ambition?"
Before Hojo could reply, a knock came on the door. "The food is ready, sir."
Hojo grumbled. "Fine. Bring it in."
The heavy oak doors creaked open, and two servants entered, balancing large, lacquered trays. The room filled instantly with the rich, savory aroma of soy broth and earthy herbs. They moved with practiced silence, placing the bowls before Hojo and his guest.
The star of the lunch was the seasoned mushroom rice, a steaming mound of perfectly glazed grains. Nestled atop the rice were the rare, pale Cloud Mushrooms. They had been sliced into delicate, translucent strips that shimmered under the room's lantern light.
Beside each rice bowl sat a small, elegant clay teapot of steamed mushroom broth, from which a faint, aromatic steam rose, carrying the essence of the forest floor and fresh citrus.
Hojo gestured dismissively toward the food, his eyes still fixed on his guest as he picked up his chopsticks. He speared a large, succulent piece of the Cloud Mushroom from his rice, the texture glistening with a light soy and mirin reduction.
"The harvest must have been exceptionally potent this year," Hojo noted, his voice dropping into a tone of cold pride. "The chefs know that nothing clears the head for state business quite like the earthiness of these particular mushrooms."
His guest nodded, inhaling the concentrated steam of the broth. "It is a rare luxury, Hojo. Let us hope the clarity it brings helps us decide exactly how much we can tip the scales to our favor."
A huge smile appeared on Hojo's face at the implication of his guest's words.
Sena remained in the corner, her fingers still resting on the strings of her biwa, lightening the mood. The mushrooms, tender and perfectly prepared, were disappearing quickly. Sena was sure that her teammate had done his part, and as expected, he had.
Just as the food was being prepared, Itachi cast a light Genjutsu on the head maid. Using his impeccable expertise, he kept the technique subtle enough that no shinobi in the castle could sense his chakra. Under his influence, the head maid ensured a specific patch of mushrooms was used to prepare the plate Hojo would eat from.
After a while, the noble started to cough lightly. He chuckled and dismissed the discomfort, enjoying the fresh mushrooms immensely as he continued to eat. Hojo assumed he was simply catching a cold as his body shivered involuntarily, but he coughed harder this time. Worry washed over his face as he took a sip of water, but before he could swallow, his eyes widened in horror. He grasped his throat in panic, unable to breathe. His face reddened as his guest panicked.
Sena stopped playing immediately and screamed, "Help! Hojo-sama is choking!"
The room rippled violently as Itachi and another guard walked in. They saw Hojo writhing on the ground, gasping for air as his face turned blue. They shot toward Hojo, however, Itachi, with a masterful, undetected push, caused the other guard to lose balance and collide with the food, causing it to spill everywhere. The guard was covered in the mess while Itachi gave him a look before running toward Hojo.
Once he reached him, Itachi, with absolute chakra control, pulsed chakra through the noble's body. The highly specialized poison acquired by Sena was slow-acting but insidious. It would have disappeared in time, but chakra could hasten this process immensely. The spilled food also ensured that the poison was mixed and exposed to the elements so it would disappear just as fast.
Itachi acted as if he were trying to help, but there was no doing that. Hojo's eyes were bloodshot, and tears streamed from them as he finally died, clutching his throat and clawing deep, jagged slashes into his own neck with his fingernails while the other guard frantically shouted for a doctor. The guest was terrified, his mind racing to the conclusion that the food must have been poisoned. However, since he remained completely unaffected, he ultimately convinced himself that his friend had simply suffered a tragic, unfortunate accident and choked on his meal.
Sena never stopped screaming and crying as the guest shouted, "Someone take this dumb woman out of here! Where is that damn doctor?"
Itachi immediately bowed. "Yes, sir!"
He grasped Sena violently and dragged her away while she collapsed, crying in horror at the look on Hojo's dead face. The mansion was in uproar as Itachi dragged Sena away, making sure they were seen by others before they disappeared into a dark corner, away from the chaotic scene of the dead noble.
He whispered, "Sorry, Sena. I hope I didn't leave a mark on your arm."
Sena shook her head, smiling. "Do not worry about it."
Itachi nodded. They were both professionals, and too much talking while in enemy territory was a bad idea. Sena carefully sent a faint pulse of chakra, confirmed that no one was close, and nodded to Itachi, who held on to her and flickered out of the castle.
They moved undetected, thanks to Sena's chakra sense periodically scanning their surroundings as they approached an isolated part of the city where Root had established a smuggling tunnel and slipped out of the city completely unnoticed.
Thanks to the impeccable work of two of Konoha's most skilled and meticulous shinobi, the difficult mission parameters were met, neutralizing an enemy of Konoha without a single hitch.