Council in the Tower

Izuna grabbed Setsuna and tucked him under his arm.

Setsuna's body left the ground, his legs flailing in midair as he shouted in angry protest, "Put me down! I can walk myself!"

Izuna ignored him, gave Shōgatsu a look that said "follow me," and strode toward the tower.

The floor at the base of the tower slid open silently, and the three entered one after another.

There was only one oil lamp in the loft, its flame weak. The Hagoromo Clan Leader sat beside the observation window, having just been relieved, and had only just poured himself a bowl of water.

The Hagoromo clansman who had relieved him was in his early thirties. Both legs were missing below the knees, his trouser legs neatly rolled up and tied around his thighs.

To cover the gaps between rotations at the barrier's five points, this was the best manpower the front lines could spare-a stationary controller with both legs amputated, a crippled soldier who was as good as dead if anyone discovered his hiding place.

It was not that the Hagoromo Clan neglected its grounds or the clan leader's plan. Rather, manpower at the front was stretched thin, and every Hagoromo with the Heavenly Eye was being pushed to his limit.

The clan leader set his earthenware bowl on the floor. "How are things outside?"

Shōgatsu dispensed with pleasantries and briefly recounted the battle at the Cliff Stronghold-the Senju had breached it, but their aim was capture rather than slaughter, which meant they were prepared to negotiate peace.

"Of the fifteen people at the stronghold, the six who died were all hit by shuriken during the Water Release bombardment. The remaining nine all had their hands bound behind their backs. While clearing the battlefield, they were even stopping our wounded from bleeding."

The clan leader looked at Shōgatsu. "That only shows the Senju are prepared to negotiate. It doesn't mean they'll agree to a ceasefire."

"The north wind will rise soon," Shōgatsu said steadily. "Unless we prepare before winter arrives, many people will die before spring. Our food reserves can last through the winter, but only if we stop fighting."

"We have what they want most before winter-food." The clan leader looked toward the Hagoromo Farmland.

"That was before." Shōgatsu shook his head. "The Senju have suffered heavy losses now, too. Their food reserves are more than enough for this year."

The Old Clan Leader's voice was strained. "How can you be certain they'll negotiate? Right now, the Senju have the upper hand on the battlefield."

"At the Cliff Settlement, we captured the entire Senju squad sent to clear the battlefield."

"How many?" the clan leader asked at once.

"Ten."

"Ten?" The Old Clan Leader's eyes suddenly lit up. "Is that true?"

Standing beside them, Izuna instinctively straightened at those words, loosening his arm around Setsuna slightly.

Setsuna seized his chance to wriggle free from under his arm and landed on his backside on the loft floor.

"Two jonin leading eight chunin," Shōgatsu added.

The Disabled Clan Member sitting at the formation's focal point had been silently maintaining the barrier, but finally could not keep himself from speaking. "That's three squads' worth."

"For the Senju, they're fighting men in their prime, too." Shōgatsu looked at the Old Clan Leader. "Ten people is no small number. And they're prisoners, not dead. I believe their families would rather see them return alive than die fighting the Hagoromo Clan."

The Old Clan Leader nodded repeatedly. "That gives us leverage for peace talks. We won't be quite so much at their mercy."

He let out a long sigh and drained the remaining water in his bowl.

"...But Tensho..."

His voice caught as soon as he spoke. His son, who had died beneath Tobirama Senju's blade, was a wound carved into his heart that would never heal for the rest of his life.

The Disabled Clan Member snorted, unable to suppress the hatred in his voice. "If they wanted peace talks, why kill our clan leader ten days ago and deliberately turn this into a fight to the death? I say the Senju should bring Tobirama Senju's head to the negotiating table!"

Shōgatsu frowned and turned toward him. "You know that's impossible."

Tobirama Senju was Hashirama Senju's younger brother and the Senju Clan's second-in-command. For the Senju to bring them their own second-in-command's head, the Hagoromo would have to drive them to the brink of annihilation.

The Old Clan Leader pressed his lips into a thin line. Only after a long while did he speak. "Then why did he kill Tensho?"

Izuna folded his arms and sneered. "Because the younger Senju brother had it all worked out. Once he killed Clan Leader Tensho and the situation escalated, Hashirama Senju would have no choice but to intervene. Faced with Hashirama Senju's overwhelming strength, the Hagoromo could only surrender unconditionally and pay whatever reparations satisfied them."

"But Hashirama Senju didn't come," Setsuna interjected.

The corners of Izuna's mouth lifted slightly, pride showing on his face. "Because my elder brother kept Hashirama Senju occupied, leaving him no attention to spare for opening a second front."

The loft fell quiet for a moment.

The Disabled Clan Member tilted his head slightly and asked hesitantly, "Clan Leader, are we going to negotiate peace?"

The Old Clan Leader remained silent for a long time before speaking:

"Prepare for peace talks. Send a letter to the Sarutobi Clan for me and ask them to sound out the Senju. But we mustn't retreat on the main front-if we give ground on the battlefield, we'll be at their mercy at the negotiating table."

The tension in Shōgatsu's face finally eased a little.

Shōgatsu took a deep breath and brought up the second matter. "I hope we can abandon the plan to turn the clan grounds into a trap and lure in the Fuma or the Blood Horse to kill them."

The clan leader's brows gradually drew together.

"May I ask why?"

Shōgatsu began his analysis. "If we simply kill them all when they first enter our grounds, there's no problem-that serves as a warning. But turning this into a deliberate death trap is very different. That would be declaring war on the Fuma."

"We've only just seen the first signs of possible peace talks with the Senju," Shōgatsu said earnestly. "If we go to war with the Fuma now, we'll be the ones fighting on multiple fronts."

Izuna folded his arms and snorted. "As long as we hurt them badly enough and kill or wound most of their frontline fighters, they won't be able to fight. Once they're afraid, they won't dare invade again."

Shōgatsu turned to Izuna, his tone still mild. "If we cripple them, there won't be another attack for a while."

Shōgatsu looked at the clan leader and continued his analysis. "But the Fuma and Hagoromo are neighbors. Compared to making enemies of the Senju, the Hagoromo have more to fear from making enemies of their neighbors. In the past, even if we weren't friendly, we could maintain harmony on the surface. When outsiders invaded, we would support one another and resist them together."

The Hagoromo Clan Leader nodded slowly.

Shōgatsu continued, "What worries me is that if we cripple their fighting forces, they might decide to take us down with them and let the Senju station troops in their territory. Besides, what would our other neighbor-the Blood Horse-think? How would they deal with a Hagoromo Clan that had crippled the Fuma?"

Shōgatsu patiently reasoned with them. "Right now, they're invading our clan grounds, so justice is on our side. Even killing every one of these invaders wouldn't be excessive. But if we lure them in to kill them, we'd be the villains."

Everyone's expression grew grave.

Shōgatsu lowered his voice further. "What's more, a Senju invasion through Fuma territory would be worse than the main front. The Fuma Clan's land is higher than ours. The Senju could flood our entire territory with Water Release."

Silence settled over the loft for a moment. In the corner, the oil lamp's flame flickered restlessly, and a spark fell into the oil with a faint crackle.

The Old Clan Leader sighed and looked to Izuna for help. "What do you think?"

Izuna considered briefly, glanced at Shōgatsu, then at the clan leader, and slowly spoke. "I can only offer advice. I can't directly interfere in a decision that determines whether your clan survives."

The Old Clan Leader nodded, then turned to Setsuna, his stern features softening for once. "Setsuna, what do you think?"

Setsuna froze.

He had not expected the Old Clan Leader to ask his opinion on something this important. He was a child of the Uchiha Clan. Even with half Hagoromo blood, he should have had the least say in a decision concerning the Hagoromo Family's survival.

But the Old Clan Leader's gaze was serious.

Setsuna fell silent for a moment, his mind racing.

First, he felt that, in a way, Shōgatsu was slapping him in the face with that whole "you don't understand strategy" argument.

Second, he thought Shōgatsu made some damn good points.

That made him uncomfortable all over.

He did not want to admit Shōgatsu was right. The plan involving that Hagoromo Shogatsu had originally been flawless-lure in the Fuma, the Blood Horse, and the Senju, shut the doors on them, and use the Intangibility Barrier and Fire Release to turn the entire clan grounds into a meat grinder.

This was a tactic he, Uchiha Setsuna, had devised. He believed that if they carried it through, its destructive power would be absolutely devastating.

But Shōgatsu was right.

Tactical perfection did not equal sound strategy. If they crippled the Fuma, the Fuma would take them down with them.

The result would be Senju troops moving into Fuma territory. At that point, it would not merely be a question of the clan being wiped out-their grounds would be flooded into a swamp.

He mumbled, "I think...he has a point."

As soon as he said it, his face burned as though Shōgatsu had slapped him hard.

Damn Hagoromo Shogatsu, he cursed inwardly.

Ding-Rebellion Points +20.

Setsuna jolted inwardly.

Fuck! Why was it so generous this time?

He hurried to check the breakdown and discovered that +5 came from rebelling against Izuna, +5 from rebelling against the Hagoromo War Hawks, and the largest share-+10-came from rebelling against his own plan.

Rebelling against myself counts, too?

That fucking works?

Setsuna's brain briefly crashed for a second.

He had always assumed Rebellion Points were earned by provoking emotional reactions in others-the angrier they got, the more points he received.

But now the system had shown him with undeniable proof that rebelling against himself counted as rebellion, too.

What the hell are this lousy system's criteria?

Overturning my own plan, rejecting my own tactics, admitting I was wrong-that counts as "rebellion," too?

Setsuna was filled with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, gaining twenty Rebellion Points felt great. This was much faster than needling Izuna by bringing up Tobirama Senju.

On the other hand, overturning his own ideas really did not feel good.

Now he had twenty-nine points.

He quietly spent fifteen points to raise his Focus Points to level three.

Staring at the remaining fourteen points, he ground his teeth. Why am I always just short of another upgrade? Was this system designed by Hidetaka Miyazaki?!