Chapter 40: Too Late
With the mission details in hand, Daniel set off towards the Land of Tea. The landscape gradually shifting from lush forests to rolling hills and tea plantations as Daniel flew over the land. Arriving there Daniel could feel the tension in the air, the chaos of war had already broken out.
As Daniel entered the Land of Tea, he saw a person about to be murdered, crying in fear. "I guess the war already broke out," Daniel muttered, swooping down in a flash to stand between the soldiers and the terrified person. The soldiers' faces etched with fear at the sight of a shinobi.
"A Leaf ninja? What the hell is going on?" they wondered as Daniel stood there.
"You there, state your business. We're currently dealing with important matters here," one of the soldiers demanded.
"I'm a Leaf shinobi here on a mission. What is going on? I thought there was going to be a summit two days from now," Daniel said, noting their attire. They were soldiers, not bandits, unless they had gone rogue.
"Wait, you're the Leaf shinobi? Thank goodness, maybe we still have time. I'm a member of the royal family, please, I beg for your assistance," the man on the ground said, his voice tinged with hope.
"So you're with those bastards of the Loyalists too," the soldiers spat, raising their weapons. "To hell with you Loyalist bastards," they shouted, swinging their swords, not wanting to hear more from Daniel or the man on the ground.
"Haa. Have it your way then," Daniel said, quickly slicing off their heads. He turned to the man on the ground, his back to the fallen soldiers. "Could you explain to me what's going on?" Daniel asked as the soldiers' heads fell, sending fear through the man on the ground.
"Please, sir, spare my life, I beg you," the man cried, quivering.
Daniel knelt down, not wanting to prolong the process. He reached out to the man's head, sending a jolt through his body. The man closed his eyes, expecting death, but after a moment, he realized nothing was happening.
"So, Mister Prince, it seems my assistance is no longer required, seeing that the civil war has commenced and your entire family is dead," Daniel said, standing up and letting go of the man's head.
"Haa. He wasn't going to kill me? Wait, how does he..." The prince, still on the ground, lifted his head, wondering how this person knew he was the prince.
"You've heard of kekkei genkai, right? Mine allows me to read memories. Now, all you know, I do," Daniel said, crossing his arms. The prince was confused, struggling to accept the situation. His family had been assassinated, and he barely survived because the royal guard sacrificed his life to save him. He had been hunted by rebels who didn't care about his royal status and had been on the run for two days. He wanted to reach the Loyalist faction, loyal to the royal family, but they were on the other side of the nation. The civil war had erupted because the royal family was murdered, and the Loyalists blamed the Rebels, dividing the Land of Tea in half.
The prince found himself at the heart of the rebel territory, but now he was saved by a Leaf shinobi carrying a document that could have solved this problem in the first place. Unfortunately, the contents were now irrelevant, meaning Daniel's mission was effectively over.
"What's with the missions I get always going south?" Daniel mumbled, frustrated by the mess his mission had become.
"Umm, excuse me, but could I have a word?" the prince asked as he stood up, his voice trembling slightly.
Daniel looked at him with a bothered expression. "Fine. But first, you need to get to safety," he said, knowing the request the prince wanted to make—helping with the current situation. Although this was technically no longer part of his mission, it irritated him. But since he was already here, he decided to see it through and do a good deed for once.
"If only we acted faster," the prince lamented, thinking of what could have been avoided. But what happened had happened, and now was not the time to lament. He held his sadness and powered through.
They needed to get to the Loyalist side and stay away from the rebels. Knowing he could handle the situation, Daniel decided to make three shadow clones. One clone would head to the main base of the rebel faction to gather intelligence, while the other two clones would escort the prince to the Loyalist side for safety.
The three main clans making up the rebel forces gathered in the Tanaka compound to discuss the war. "Damn Watanabe, they sold us out!" Ryuji slammed his fist on the desk in anger. Apparently, the Watanabe clan had been pretending to support the Rebels but were actually spies for the Loyalists. Now, after the war had started, they sabotaged many of the storage facilities holding crucial resources.
"Sounds rough," a voice echoed in the room where they held their military discussions.
"Who said that?" The voice alarmed them, and a mist appeared, knocking everyone out cold.
"That was simpler than expected, but this should be expected from a nation this size. They don't even formally have a militia capable of utilizing ninjutsu," Daniel remarked, noting the nation's weak military and reliance on mercenaries. He read the memories of the people there.
"Well, this took a twist," he muttered. The rebels had conspired with the current Daimyo to overthrow his uncle in return for establishing a new meritocracy system and getting rid of the hierarchical system currently run in the Land of Tea. The rebels simply wanted a fairer economy for their people, while the Loyalists were extremely against this and regarded the hierarchical system as the foundation of the Land of Tea. The summit was meant to resolve this, but with the assassination of the royal family, the Loyalists were enraged and attacked the rebels, plunging the Land of Tea into war.
The rebels were already infuriated when the Daimyo didn't fulfill his end of the agreement. When this came out after his assassination, an event that occurred two years ago, it made things worse, portraying the rebels in a bad light. From this, it looked more and more like the Loyalists were the bad guys. Since his clones were already heading there, this could pose a problem. If word got out that a member of the royal family was alive, they'd either kill him or use him as a puppet.
Daniel figured he needed more information. He focused and tried to locate the Loyalist base to get their perspective on this. "Found them," he muttered as he used instant transmission to teleport straight into the Loyalist base.