Cursed Warrior Extermination Mission II

'Right then . . . Let's get to work.'

Surveying the entire city with his White Eye of the Kagura, Shiki immediately confirmed all he needed to know and just waited for "Sagi" to be alone so that he could have a talk with "him".

Shiki patiently waited for night time until he saw "Sagi" sneaking off alone somewhere. He followed "him" for a while and caught "him" in the act of preparing for another appearance of the Cursed Warrior.

It was near an abandoned building and, sitting on the roof, Shiki called out to the Daimyo after sealing the entire area.

"Fancy meeting you here on this misty night Toki-hime!" He called out with a smile.

Toki froze before immediately turning towards his position and questioning with a bit of fear.

"Who are you!?"

"A shinobi tasked with the investigation of the Cursed Warrior Apparition. And it seems that job is now done." Shiki said.

Toki bit her lips, unaware of what to do but then realized something.

"Wait! How did you know I'm Toki!?"

"Well, I've heard the story from my client and your disguise can't fool me so I just assumed you were the sister. Am I wrong?" Shiki calmly said.

"N-No . . ." The princess couldn't maintain any semblance of confidence before the young man of the roof and it bothered her.

"Now then, my original mission can be said to be completed but . . ." Shiki started.

Hearing the word "but" certainly gave the girl some hope and just like Shiki predicted, she bit on the bait he had given out.

"B-But?"

"But, I can do another mission for you . . . I have notice a little conspiracy going on in the background you see . . . And I started to wonder if you'd like my help in unravelling it." Shiki offered with a devilish smile of temptation.

"Do . . . Do you know who is behind my family's deaths?" Toki asked, trembling in her spot.

"I do indeed . . ." Shiki answered.

"Tell me!" She shouted but realizing that demands would do nothing for her, she suddenly spoke in a begging tone, filled with rage and desperation as she dropped onto her knees.

"P-Please . . . Tell me . . ."

Shiki immediately flashed to her side and raised her up from the ground in a hug as he whispered.

"And what will you do if I share that information with you?"

Toki pushed him away with flushed cheeks from embarrassment at the hug and rage towards the schemer who targeted her family and answered.

"I'll go and kill them!"

"My, my! How cute!" Shiki commented.

"Are making fun of me!?" Toki asked with rage.

"You know that's not what you should do." Shiki said while shaking his head.

"Hmph! Are you telling me that vengeance is bad for me an-" Toki started but was interrupted.

"Of course not!" Shiki exclaimed making her freeze in place.

"Have you ever heard the saying "Revenge is a dish best served cold."?"

Toki just confusedly nodded.

"Listen up then, what's the point of just killing them?" Shiki asked, making Toki even more confused.

"Instead, you should let them taste a bit of success, make them think everything is going according to plan . . ." He paused for dramatic effect.

"And then, viciously tear down everything they've built and let them watch it crumble around them. Only then do you deliver a painful death to them." Shiki patiently taught.

'Hmm . . . I feel like I'm corrupting a traumatized girl and luring her to the dark side . . .'

Toki felt the world crumbling around her as she finally saw the light.

"Will you help me?" She asked with hope.

"Maybe . . . But what will you give me in return?" Shiki asked.

"Anything! . . . I'll give you anything."

Toki replied unflinchingly.

"Well then Toki . . ." Shiki pulled out a Soul Contract Tag.

"Let's make it official."

And with this, Shiki's hold on the Land of Birds was set in stone. All that was left to do, was fulfill his own part of the bargain and help the princess get her revenge, which he had no intention of shirking so that Toki would wholeheartedly serve him in the future.

Shiki first shared with her the identity of her enemy and what his plans were, as well as how they would lull him into a false sense of security before ending him.

Meanwhile, Shiki himself would assure Toki and her subjects' safety, with the cooperation of Neji, Lee and Tenten whom he went to meet next.

A few moments later, the genin trio were rounded up and Shiki asked them what they had discovered so far, if anything.

"So guys. What have you learned so far?"

"The head priest Moso claims that all of the events taking place are a scheme of the strategist, Komei, but I have my doubts." Neji reported.

"Oh?" Shiki questioned.

"Everything seems to check out, but I can't help to find something odd with the priest . . ." He said.

"What about the two of you?" Shiki turned to Lee and Tenten.

"Komei-san seems to be a man of great character to mee, Shiki-san . . . But . . ." Lee commented.

"But he has made some suspicious action and we've seen him hang around at night time in the areas the Cursed Warrior has been known to appear." Tenten finished his sentence.

"Very good! I have made my own investigations and have already figured out the crux of the matter." Shiki declared.

"Wow! As expected of Shiki-san!" temari exclaimed, utterly lovestruck.

'Hmm . . . How cute!" Shiki thought.

"Indeed! I wouldn't have expected nothing less from Shiki-san!" Lee praised.

"So what is it?" Neji got to the point.

"Komei was just investigating the Cursed Warrior and is being incriminated by the true culprit, Moso." Shiki explained.

"This Moso however, is a fake, a disguise worn by a Watari Ninja named Hoki, a nuke-nin."

"""!?""" naturally the trio were extremely surprised.

"So that's why I felt something was off about him . . ." Neji commented.

"Indeed! But that's not all." Shiki continued.

"There's more!?" Tenten asked with surprise.

"Yes. the true identity of the Cursed Warrior is the current Daimyo Sagi!" Shiki said, shocking them once more.

"He is masquerading as the Cursed Warrior to try and learn about the truth behind the deaths of his father and sister." Shiki added.

"To think that was the case . . ." Lee said with surprise.

"But there is still more." Shiki continued.

"What now!?" Tenten was reaching the limit of what her mind could take.

"Sagi, is actually his younger sister Toki, masquerading as him to take the throne. The real Sagi died and it was his twin sister that survived that incident instead."

"""!?"""

"So she took the guise of her brother in order to foil the schemes of his killer." Neji deduced.

"That's right!" Shiki agreed.

"What a brave girl!" Lee praised.

"But it's kinda sad too . . ." Tenten commented.

"But how do you know all of this, Shiki-san?" Neji asked.

Shiki then processed to tell him how he could observed the entire capital in detail with his sensory jutsu and caught Toki in the act. He then proceeded to tell the trio about the agreement he made with the princess to help bring Moso/Hoki to justice.

Of course, the part where he made a soul contract with her was omitted.

Next up, Shiki ordered, the genin back to their positions and pretend not to know anything while proceeding with their supposed investigation while he made his own preparations.

According to the plan he concocted with Toki, they needed to give Moso/Hoki the feeling of success so Shiki would take Komei, who he was trying to pin his crimes on and bring him to Toki so that he can cooperate and thus more easily draw Moso/Komei into their trap.

And so, the very next night, the Cursed Warrior appeared and the shinobi made a show of going after it while Shiki kidnaped Komei and brought him to Toki.

Learning Sagi was in fact dead and Toki was the one bearing the burdens of rulership while trying to find the culprit behind her father and brother's murder moved the man greatly and he immediately agreed to help with the plan.

And the very next day, all of their efforts came to fruition. Komei was framed and set to be publicly executed for his crimes and Moso/Hoki along with Toki as Sagi would be present there.

They, the shinobi of Konoha that were hired were instead dismissed since they case had supposedly come to an end but they simply hanged around, only hidden from view.

Toki had also gathered some trustworthy officials with Shiki help in evaluating them and they cooperated to set and intricate trap for Moso/Hoki.

The plan was to out him in public while he was surrounded and condemn him in front of everyone. Komei would be released immediately and revealed to have been a part of the conspiracy all along and thus, Moso/Hoki will fall from heaven straight into hell.

After which he'll inevitably try to escape, only to find himself set upon by the heroic shinobi Shiki while his subordinates will be dealt with by the three genin with Shiki's help if needed.

It was the time for the execution and all was in place.

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