After receiving Sakura's message, Shikamaru's lips curled slightly. "Done. Sending Sakura to infiltrate the Imperial Palace was the right call. Those two princes didn't disappoint me. They really did take advantage of the chaos to sneak into the palace Treasury. Heh."
Obito Uchiha saw how pleased Shikamaru looked after receiving a message, even starting to talk to himself. Curious, he asked, "Shikamaru, what's got you so happy?"
Shikamaru told Obito Uchiha what Sakura had reported, then smiled. "I investigated the situation in the Bloodkill Principality beforehand. The Second Prince and Third Prince joined forces to oppose the Crown Prince, but their Crown Prince, Xue Wuyi, was rather cunning and kept both of them under his thumb. Now that we've killed their king and senior ministers, the whole country is in chaos. This is the Second Prince's only chance to turn things around, and I knew he wouldn't let it slip away. That's why I arranged for Sakura to follow him. Sure enough, he couldn't hold back. He's saved us quite a bit of trouble."
Obito Uchiha was a schemer himself and understood at once. "If the Second Prince wants to seize power, he has to control the country's finances first-in other words, the Bloodkill Principality's Treasury. We happen to need that wealth too, but the Treasury is riddled with traps. So the Second Prince became your guide."
Shikamaru smiled faintly. "Exactly. We could have found it ourselves, but that would have taken time. We don't have that much time or resources to waste. If we can resolve this quickly, why take the long way around?"
Obito Uchiha asked, "We've dealt with their king and the reinforcements, but the Bloodkill Principality still has armed forces left. If we don't handle them properly, they might keep opposing us. What do we do