Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Report Of The Missing Persons

"Took your sweet fucking time..." the Supreme Leader rolled her eyes when the Stars walked into her tent once the newly appointed Southern Regimental Commander left the tent and the heated rumblings ceased. "Did the human-caterpillar decide he's too high maintenance to attend?"

"He's still recovering from the last mission, ma'am." Shige-H crafted a quick lie. "He should be ready for action soon enough, it's nothing major, but we figured it would be best if we relayed the contents of the briefing to him later on."

"At least this one has the decency to not parade displaying his weakness for all to see. It's the least weaklings can do." Regimental Commander Harcel beamed his teeth to everyone with a faked, pleasant expression as if he hadn't just insulted a member of the Stars in front of their faces.

"Shut the fuck up, Harcel. I've got no fucking time for you stirring shit. Shit's been fucking crazy enough already as it is!" the Supreme Leader hammered her arm with a commanding bawl. "Thing is, you guys, there has been a massive stick driven into all of our collective asses, and it's bleeding our rears like crazy. I hate to pull this shit on you but I'll need you on the field as soon as possible."

"Ma'am!" Shige-H bowed, with the rest of the Stars following. Mana first, immediately after her leader. Skaven a moment after, but not without sighing in hindrance while Endo seemed to skip along the blade's edge for the longest time, bowing just a blink before someone would have raised their voice at him. This was the Stars pledging that they would do whatever needed to be done and that they were listening for their orders.

"Mana, you're wearing your old garbs. That means you're planning on coming back to the stage soon? I mean some real, big-shot, hall-filling magic show distractions and not those charity cases you've been doing lately. I gotta say, I could really use that offer you made about that World Magic Shitshow Whatever... We could use a bunch of agents capable of walking in and out of ninja villages without raising too much noise about now. Especially now." The Supreme Leader looked at Mana with a solemn stare.

"Yes ma'am," Mana nodded. "All I need is to send a message to Hiro-san in Konoha, and we can set the World Magic Tour up in a few weeks. I'd be calling in some favors by asking him to advertise without proof that I can be a major draw again, but I've been practicing my sleight of hand. In terms of technical skill on the stage, I'm as good as I ever was. No one would suspect this to be a ploy and not a legitimate show."

A tiny glint in Shige's eye telegraphed pride in her comrade's ability to have faith in her skills again. Mana had crawled through broken glass and bawled her eyes and throat out on her way back, but she was ready to pick her life up and stick it back together from the broken shards she found after the prison stay.

"A few weeks is really fucking inconvenient, but let's not rush it just yet. Send your hawks. Would it be possible for you to perform in a few ninja villages before the big event? The Allied Ninja need you guys to snoop around in a few places as soon as possible really fucking badly." The Supreme Leader asked.

"I suppose that wouldn't be outside the realm of logic and possibility." Mana shrugged. "It depends on the ninja village and how we play it, however. I can try making the shows pass as a pre-tour roadshow meant to hype the main event up. It's an excuse, at the very least. How well it'd go I cannot guarantee."

"Ma'am, with all due respect, we'd like to know what this is all about. We're right after a major assignment in Konoha which resulted in us facing off against an entire group of high-ranking ninja. Have there been complications with the reconstruction plan?" Shige-H inquired.

"That would be to put it lightly..." a dark-haired woman in a pink robe and a halo of steel hanging behind her–the new Eastern Regimental Commander spoke up. "I'm afraid that the Allied Ninja will need to bet everything on their Stars again."