The news spread through Minami Kyoto before sunrise.
At first, people believed it was only another rumor.
Someone claimed the old Shogunate would be restored. Another insisted that Princess Kaguya had made an announcement during the council meeting. A merchant swore that Sakura would become the ruler of the South, while a temple elder said the crown intended to place a northern governor over the region.
By midmorning, the rumors had become impossible to ignore.
Princess Kaguya had announced the restoration of the Shogunate.
The South would not become an ordinary province under direct northern rule. Instead, it would retain its own ruler, its own administration, and its own defense force under a restored military office.
And the new Shogun had already been chosen.
Ryo.
The Black Ronin.
The man who had saved Minami Kyoto.
