"No matter who you are, if you dare commit a crime in the Jinen clan, you stay here!"
A Jōnin's voice rang out, cutting through the night. Raizen, masked and cloaked in shadows, didn't flinch.
"My lord, look at the embroidery on him!"
Just as Jinen Takuto readied a strike, a Chūnin pointed at the insignia on Raizen's arm, shouting, "Kashiwagi! You brazen thief! The Kashiwagi clan has truly lost its sense!"
The Jōnin's anger ignited. With a roar, he lunged at Raizen.
"The Jinen clan will fall to my Baimu clan soon enough. This moment is only a step," Raizen muttered under his breath, carefully playing the part of a Cypress clan ninja. In a blink, he vanished, leaving Jinen Takuto grasping at empty air.
"Where is he?! Find him now!"
Frustration boiled through the Jinen estate. That night, the clan turned every corner of their compound upside down but found nothing. Raizen had already slipped back to his residence, leaving behind the carefully orchestrated chaos of a single ninja eliminated, setting the stage for tomorrow's rumors.
Morning arrived, and with it, the first whispers of unrest. A Kashiwagi clan ninja had been found dead within the Jinen compound. Outrage flared; the Jinen demanded that the Kashiwagi clan surrender the culprit. The Baimu clan, of course, denied any involvement, escalating the tension.
Even as the Jinen elders sensed something suspicious—the killer had left Kashiwagi's emblem behind—they could not convince their clansmen, who were furious and demanding retaliation. Raizen smiled quietly at the news. His carefully laid trap was already taking hold: the two clans were on a collision course, their fury stoked, their reasoning drowned in emotion.
That night, Raizen repeated his play: infiltrating the Kashiwagi estate, waking a ninja, forcing a scream to alert the household, and then beheading the unfortunate soul. He left behind the Jianjing clan emblem, ensuring Baimu's misunderstanding. True to form, the next morning, the Kashiwagi clan accused the Jinen clan, and rage burned hotter than ever.
The two clans seethed. Ordinary ninjas saw only betrayal and murder, not the invisible hand manipulating them. Patriarchs tried to hold the lid on the tension, but Raizen had already planted the fuse for war.
For the next half month, Raizen remained in his hideout, training, planning, and gathering intelligence. When he finally emerged, he donned the Jinen clan disguise again and mounted his clay owl. Tonight's target was more delicate—someone pivotal to keeping the peace between the clans.
Kashiwagi Mujing, a defender of pacifism, had long restrained the fires of war between Cypress and Jinen. Without him, communication would crumble, leaving only suspicion, hatred, and inevitable bloodshed.
Raizen's lips curved into a grim smile. Cutting the bridge tonight… no more whispers of caution. Only the war I want.
With practiced stealth, he flew atop the clay owl above the Cypress estate and activated a Flying Thunder God Kunai, slipping inside unseen. The next stage of his plan had begun.