Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Follow the Money

The glares of Mana and Yushijin were pushing against each other, firing off an amount of mental and emotional sparks not too different from the number of physical ones they had let out when their weapons clashed not too long ago.

"Lord Sixth approves of my actions, he's told me as much when I messaged him before. He has no reason not to. The Diamond Hand, in other words, the organization I am fighting against here is draining Shukuba of its last drops of blood. They operate in the Fire Country. The Fire Lord would be quite happy if the Diamond Hand stopped leeching his own resources and slowly turned his domain into a desolate crime den." Mana began hesitantly explaining her train of thought to her colleague. Something she did not entirely wish to spend time doing but it appeared that Yushijin would not back off unless she let him know exactly what his role in this all was.

"But if the Feudal Lord himself would be content with the completion of your objective here, why would the Hokage call you back? He is the one who has everything to gain, the Feudal Lord does not even know your name, to him you're just a tool, the only one to gain his praise would be Sixth himself." Yushijin flexed his weary shoulder after sheathing his sword back and putting his cloak back on to protect him from the pelting snow.

"Exactly, Sixth is a Black Ops man, he knows the ins and outs of what he has to gain but also of what he has to lose if I fail here. All he will have to talk about with the Fire Lord, in that case, is a dead kunoichi in Fire Lord's backyard doing hell knows what and dissolving the political state of one of the pleasure towns with nothing to show for it. It would be a sign of his weakness and that he is unfit to remain in the big seat for too long. He is a man of strength, he continuously flaunted that against Hokage-sensei when the two met, his competence is a matter of great pride to him." Mana elaborated, hoping that Yushijin would catch on to what she was saying.

Even if the eyes of the handsome Konoha ninja were confused, clearly seeing the contradiction of his mission objective and presence here to the Lord Sixth's better interest, he still was not perceptive enough to put the picture together. This was typical of boys in Mana's eyes, too fixed on figuring out who was stronger than whom and planning complex schemes to face their preferred opponents in the field of battle instead of figuring out why the fights needed to be fought in the first place. So lazy and hesitant to look one pace up from where their eyes were at just because they enjoyed the view.

"You are Lord Sixth's way out of an apology to the Fire Lord, Yushijin. By sending you here he can show something that denies his inaction, he ensures that whether I win or fail here, whether my reputation is mixed with dirt or elevated, he has nothing to lose because he can always reasonably deny his involvement in the matter. If I topple the Diamond Hand – Lord Sixth will take all the credit the Fire Lord has to dish out, if I die in the process – he'll just point out how he tried to retrieve me by sending you here and that'll be that." Mana pointed it out.

"I can't believe I was played like that. The Hokage doesn't even need me to complete my mission in that case..." Yushijin looked down, looking a tad bit disappointed.

"That's who Lord Sixth is. These are the games that shaped him as a man behind the curtains where he once lurked. He is a politician, maybe because of that he is the best man for the seat he is in right now." Mana shrugged. "Repair your sword and meet me tomorrow at midday in the museum. I'll give you your fight and you can go home, with me or without me."

Yushijin looked Mana in the eyes, something was in the process of being snowballed down the hill in his mind but he looked hesitant to word those thoughts. Perhaps he was still hesitant to let Mana out of his sight, maybe he wanted to suggest his own aid in apprehending the Diamond Hand before they settled things. Whatever the case was, the young man decided against speaking up and simply nodded before walking off.