A few minutes later, someone wearing a rat helmet emerged from the room, dressed in a luxurious brown robe.
That person was Soji!
The reason Soji had taken several minutes to come out was simply because he had not known whether to choose the rat helmet or the dog helmet.
After all, he did not particularly like wearing either of them.
Rat and dog heads—both felt like insults...
In Soji's mind, helmets shaped like dragons or tigers suited him better.
But Soji did not want to keep looking for the other Zodiac Guard squad leaders.
So, after struggling with it for a while, he chose to wear the rat mask.
After all, compared to it, the dog head looked worse and sounded worse.
"Rat it is, then. Next, I need to make contact with Ryūzetsu."
Shrugging, Soji continued after Ryūzetsu.
Yes, judging by Soji's manner, he had no intention of meeting Ryūzetsu under his original identity for the time being.
Not long after Soji left, Matsuru Noyaku, the village head of Kusagakure, led the rest of the higher-ups to look for Dog-kun and Rat-kun.
They had originally agreed to discuss some matters at a certain time, but after waiting for a long while without seeing Dog-kun or Rat-kun, the others simply decided to come together.
It was easy to imagine what they saw when Kusagakure's higher-ups knocked on Rat-kun and Dog-kun's doors for ages without receiving an answer, then finally broke in by force.
Two dead bodies.
"Rat-kun! Dog-kun!"
"Damn it, who did this?"
"Why did this happen?"
"This is Hozuki Castle!"
"Would anyone really dare attack us on Lord Mui's territory?"
"Do you think it could have been Lord Mui...?"
"Idiot, what are you thinking? Never mind whether Lord Mui had any reason to do this—just the fact that