Taking Control of Every Bounty Office

It was the third day after Prince Takasu's sudden death.

The nobles of the Land of Fire were on edge. Guards at every estate had doubled, and gates were locked tight.

The Bounty Office had seven or eight branches, plus casinos and pawnshops. Every one of its businesses operated in the shadows.

Now that the prince was dead, the whole enterprise was up for grabs. Some wanted to swallow rival shops, some wanted to find a new patron, and some wanted to claim it all for themselves.

At the center of it all, someone had booked the entire second floor of Stone Mouth Town's only tavern.

Shopkeepers from across the Land of Fire arrived one after another.

Old Zhou, the Stone Mouth Town shopkeeper, stood at the stairs with sweat beading on his forehead. In twenty years in the trade, he had never done anything like this: gathering every shopkeeper in the Land of Fire for a new boss whose name he barely dared to speak.

Fujiwara, the burly shopkeeper of the main office in the Capital, strode in with two ninja guards and planted himself at the head table. "Old Zhou, who exactly is this new boss you mentioned in your letter? I'll say this up front. The old boss is gone, but by seniority and by the size of our shops, no outsider gets to come in and tell us what to do."

Mifune, who ran the large port branch, entered with a cheerful smile and a fan in hand. He greeted everyone warmly, though his eyes quietly swept the room. He kept his words agreeable while waiting to see which way the wind blew.

Kameda, the shopkeeper of the branch outside the Capital, arrived last. He bowed and nodded, looking meek as could be. As he sat,