Chapter 20: Never Hire a Rogue Ninja!!
"There are quite a few people in the Tokugawa clan who covet the position of head. They certainly don't want to see my son return safely to the Hidden Grass. I concealed the true target of the escort, thinking that the fewer people who knew, the safer we would be. But I never expected the information to leak out anyway."
Tokugawa Takahara sighed, a wave of fear washing over him. They had been lucky to survive this time. If they hadn't hired such a powerful ninja team, not only would his son have been killed, but he himself would likely have died at the hands of the rogue ninja.
"So that's how it is."
Yugito nodded slowly. She pulled Neji aside to confer with him for a moment, then returned to Tokugawa.
"Tokugawa-san, I'm giving you two choices. One, we terminate the mission and we part ways here. We'll return to the Hidden Cloud, and you can try to make it back to the Hidden Grass on your own. Two, you add another 200,000 Ryō to our payment, and we will continue to escort you."
Tokugawa mulled it over for a moment, then nodded, a pained expression on his face. "Alright. I'm in your debt, Ninja-sama."
The original payment was 70,000 Ryō. Adding another 200,000 brought the total to 270,000. It was no small sum. The Tokugawa clan's annual profits from their merchant business were less than two million Ryō. But money could be earned again. His son's safe return to the Hidden Grass was paramount.
With the new terms of the escort mission settled, the members of the convoy began to round up the scattered horses and clean up the battlefield.
More than fifty of the guards had been killed or wounded in the attack.
Tokugawa looked at the corpses littering the ground, his heart heavy. It wasn't the death benefits he was worried about. These guards were loyal retainers that the Tokugawa clan had spent a great deal of resources to train. Each one lost was a blow to the family's strength.
Neji walked over to him. "Tokugawa-san, after such a fierce battle, everyone is exhausted. Let's give them more time to rest. We'll set out again at noon tomorrow."
"Oh, you're right. Look at me, only thinking about my losses. I'll give the order right away."
Tokugawa slapped his forehead and immediately instructed the convoy to slaughter the injured horses to provide a better meal for everyone.
Late that night, a dark figure slipped out of a tent and went into the nearby woods. He took out a carrier pigeon from his robes and released it.
The pigeon flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
But it had only just cleared the treetops when it let out a cry and fell to the ground.
The dark figure's face changed.
He didn't dare to return to the convoy. Instead, he ran like a madman deeper into the forest.
He had only gone a few meters when his legs tripped a wire hidden in the grass. Two kunai shot out from the trees. With a soft thud, the figure fell to the ground, dead.
Neji and Tokugawa emerged from the shadows.
"Neji-kun," Tokugawa said, his voice trembling as he looked at the corpse. "Was he the spy in our group?"
The rogue ninja had gone straight for the carriage carrying his wife and son. They could only have done that with detailed prior intelligence.
"If he wasn't the spy, who was?" Neji said nonchalantly as he began to dismantle the traps he had set.
By the time he was finished, Tokugawa had examined the body. His face suddenly went as pale as a sheet.
"I assume you now know who hired those rogue ninja," Neji said.
"He's my..." Tokugawa was sweating profusely.
Neji held up a hand, cutting him off. He wasn't interested in the details. It was a typical Tokugawa family power struggle, all for the sake of money and position. The person behind it was bound to be one of the clan's key figures.
"Tokugawa-san, you'd better prepare another 200,000 Ryō."
"What do you mean, Neji-kun?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Tokugawa heard the sound of urgent footsteps nearby.
Another Neji emerged from the forest, a sack slung over his shoulder.
The real Neji smiled at his Lightning Clone. "Good work."
The clone gave a thumbs-up. "You can count on me."
Neji dismissed the clone, and a flood of memories entered his mind.
After absorbing the information, Neji rubbed his temples and then emptied the contents of the sack onto the ground.
"Tokugawa-san," he said, "would you say this man's life is worth 200,000 Ryō?"
"It really is him?!"
A few hours earlier, in the hidden valley in the Land of Frost.
After the Iwagakure rogue-nin had led the attack on the convoy, the client had not left. He had waited in the valley.
The client was none other than Tokugawa Takahara's younger cousin, Tokugawa Masaharu.
Takahara was nearly fifty. With his son dead, the other key figures in the clan would force him to step down. Then, Masaharu's ascension to the position of head would be a foregone conclusion.
As the sky grew darker, Masaharu grew more and more anxious, constantly looking toward the valley entrance, hoping to see the Iwa-nin return in triumph.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally heard the sound of hurried footsteps. Someone was approaching at high speed.
Overjoyed, Masaharu ran out of the valley.
The rogue-nin leader appeared, but to his dismay, he was the only one of the ten who had returned.
A sense of dread washed over Masaharu. "Why are you the only one?" he demanded.
"Hmph," the Iwa-nin sneered. "The others are all dead. You bastard, you really screwed me over."
"All dead?"
Masaharu's face fell. The rogue-nin had returned in such a sorry state; it was obvious the mission had failed.
"Damn it all. A C-rank mission with two Jōnin."
The Iwa-nin cursed, his eyes glaring at Masaharu until the man began to tremble.
"What... what are you going to do?" Masaharu stammered.
Fwish!
A flash of cold steel. The Iwa-nin's short sword plunged into Masaharu's chest.
"You... you..."
Masaharu clutched his bleeding chest, gurgling, unable to form a single coherent word.
The Iwa-nin twisted the blade, then stabbed him twice more. "A word of advice. In your next life, don't hire a rogue ninja."
Clap! Clap!
Neji's clone applauded. "You've got that right."
"?"
The Iwa-nin's face darkened as he spun around to see Neji emerging from the shadows at the valley entrance, a kunai gleaming in his hand.
The kid actually followed me?!
A vicious look appeared in the Iwa-nin's eyes. If he was going to be pursued relentlessly, then he had no choice but to fight to the death.
There was no point in words. In an instant, the two of them charged at each other.
The Lightning Clone formed a hand sign with his left hand while his right hand, holding the kunai, slashed at the Iwa-nin.
The kunai and the rock fist collided with a piercing shriek. A shower of blue sparks flew out.
Lightning Release: Chidori Blade.
The Lightning Clone's chakra was about equal to the Iwa-nin's. But lightning was strong against earth. The advantage was Neji's.
After a few seconds of crackling electricity, the lightning shattered the Iwa-nin's rock fist and then surged up his arm.
"Ghhhaaa!!"
The pain of the electricity coursing through his body contorted the Iwa-nin's face. His paralyzed body couldn't even make a sound.
His strength vanished in an instant, and the fear of death washed over him.
The Lightning Clone didn't give him much time to be afraid. He sidestepped and, with a swift movement, sliced open the man's throat with his kunai.