In the inn, White Sheep came to report on the reconnaissance from the past few days.
"Captain, the Left Guard General of the Land of Rivers only returns to his mansion once every half month and is usually posted at the west gate of the castle. Even when he does come to the nobles' district, he's escorted by hundreds of samurai. Among them are at least eight Hidden Sand shinobi."
"As for the Chancellor, he lives inside the Imperial Council Hall itself. After Host Hidden Rain declared war on the Hidden Leaf, these officials have been far more cautious."
"Give me a little more time, Captain. I'll find more intel on them."
Yagami said, "Keep digging. I'll find a way to get those two out of the capital."
"Get them out of the capital? How do you plan to do that?"
"Wait for my word."
Yagami left the inn and rode in the carriage arranged by the Treasury Office. Outside the capital he changed carriages and boarded the carriage of Koi Chisa, the Treasury Minister.
Her carriage smelled faintly of incense, four little sachets hung in the corners.
"Mr. Mikome, please forgive me for urging you so. Ever since the Land of Lightning invented electricity, the capital can't live without various electrical devices. Coal supplies are dire — in a month, not just the capital but even the castle could be without power."
"The schematics you gave me were reviewed by the coal-power artisans; they say it's genuinely possible to use river water to generate power. Today I'd like you and the craftsmen to confer on site and confirm a plan and location for a hydroelectric station."
"Mikome" was the false name Yagami had given.
Yagami answered, "I can't just draw a few blueprints and walk away with one million ryo. That's not right."
He was thinking inwardly: when the dam's groundbreaking ceremony is held, persuade Koi Chisa to invite some nobles to attend — that will draw the two targets out of the capital.
They followed the Yoshimizu River downstream, Yagami picked a ravine for the site.
"The soil in the Land of Rivers erodes downward as rivers cut deeper gullies. Those gullies can be utilized to build a hydropower station. This spot is ideal — build a dam here, create a reservoir, and use the water's potential energy to generate electricity."
Koi Chisa examined the map and asked, "Mr. Mikome, why not build a dam upstream of the capital? It would generate power and regulate the capital's water flow."
Yagami shook his head. "If you put a dam upstream of the capital and someone destroys it, the capital is finished. Don't overestimate a shinobi's morals. If I were a Hidden Sand agent trying to sabotage a country under the protection of the Hidden Leaf, I wouldn't hesitate to blow the dam even if the flood drowned thousands in the capital."
Koi Chisa's expression dimmed. Shinobi have terrifying destructive power — ordinary people carefully maintain their environment, and a few well-placed jutsu can reduce everything to ruin.
"I never expected you, Mr. Mikome, to understand shinobi so well."
"After killing and nearly being killed, you pick up a few insights."
Koi Chisa found Mikome oddly optimistic.
"Mr. Mikome, would you consider settling in the Land of Rivers? I'll petition my brother to grant you the office of Kawachi no Kami — you'd oversee the dam and the hydroelectric station."
Koi Chisa was the younger sister of the daimyo and ran the Treasury Office, she had never married.
Yagami's mind raced — this would make it much easier to get close to the nobles. He asked, half-joking, "If I take the Kawachi no Kami post, does that mean the one million-ryo reward disappears?"
Koike Chisa laughed. "I'll bring the reward and the official seal tomorrow."
For several days Yagami worked at full tilt at the Treasury Office to get the project ready for groundbreaking. Koi Chisa agreed to invite nobles and hold an elaborate foundation ceremony. She grew increasingly moved by this wandering shinobi from the Land of Lightning, who threw himself into the project. She stopped thinking of him as a mere itinerant and began imagining him staying in the capital as Kawachi no Kami.
The two of them grew close, Yagami carefully cultivated the relationship and Koike Chisa was taken by his engineering talent.
...
The full moon hung like a silver plate. Moonlight washed the ministry courtyard. With the power out, there were no electric lights — only moonlight and candlelight, which felt strangely romantic.
In the ladies' chamber the window stood open, moonlight pouring in.
Koike Chisa stood bathed in moonlight, flushed, and asked, "Why do you want me to keep my glasses on?"
Yagami looked at her pale form in the moonlight and said, "I like you in glasses. It gives you a certain contrast I find appealing."
"But… the glasses keep slipping. They're uncomfortable."
"You must keep them on."
As the daimyo's sister she'd never encountered a man this forceful, so she complied without much protest.
Outside the chamber, maidservants waited in the corridor, ready to attend the mistress. One maid glanced repeatedly at Koi Chisa's study, where the hydropower plans lay — she had already passed what she saw to a Hidden Stone spy. What choice would the spy master make?
If the Land of Rivers built hydropower, they wouldn't buy coal from the Land of Earth — and coal was a major economic pillar for that country.
Half a month later the equipment schematics were complete and the dam's groundbreaking ceremony began. Yagami, clad in the Land of Rivers' official robes and wearing a tall hat, sat on the platform. White Sheep wore sunglasses and mingled with the craftsmen, watching the nobles' seating area.
Yagami had managed to lure the assassination targets out to the outskirts of the capital, the Left Guard General and the Chancellor had both accepted invitations to the ceremony. With so many samurai around them, an attack would be difficult.
White Sheep watched Yagami, who sat laughing and talking with the tall, striking Koi Chisa. People who had shared intimate moments with each other read different cues — a glance, a touch — that were not the same as between ordinary friends.
White Sheep suspected Yagami had used seduction to secure access to the daimyo's sister. Training in Root hadn't covered the "beautiful-man ploy." Apparently it worked.
The foundation ceremony began under Koi Chisa's clear voice.
"Honored nobles and craftsmen, the Rivers Capital Hydropower Project foundation ceremony begins. This station is the daimyo's priority; it will solve the capital's power shortage caused by coal scarcity…"
Yagami smiled, watching Koi Chisa's silhouette in her gown. His eyes flicked to the Left Guard General's bodyguards, trying to spot which of the samurai concealed Hidden Sand agents. The war between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand still had no decisive outcome; these fence-sitters were restless. Were the Left Guard General's and the Chancellor's defections spontaneous, or had the daimyo quietly ordered them to hedge his bets?
In the middle of Koi Chisa's speech, four craftsmen suddenly leaped up and charged the platform.
"Kill Kawachi no Kami! We cannot let the hydropower station be built!"
"Earth Style: Rock Iron Cannon Technique!"
All four spat out stones that swelled in the air until each became one or two meters across and rocketed toward the platform.
Yagami blinked — he had been planning to assassinate nobles, yet now someone was charging straight at him.
Koi Chisa was frightened but immediately drew a thin sword and with three strokes split a rushing boulder. She clearly had a good blade technique. She barked orders to her samurai: "Protect Kawachi no Kami!" and then grabbed Yagami and pulled him aside.
"The Rock shinobi spy is trying to destroy the project over coal," Koi Chisa said, worried, but she tried to reassure him. "Don't worry, Mikome — I won't let anything happen to you."
Yagami answered, "I know. I won't be harmed."
Chaos had erupted. Yagami signaled White Sheep to move.
***
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