The moment Hachiko collapsed onto the ground, every soldier at the border outpost froze.
"Someone's come back!"
The guards rushed forward instantly, surrounding her. One of them crouched down and flipped over the emblem on her back, then snapped his head up. "She's one of ours! Bee crest!"
An older soldier squeezed through the crowd, bent down for a closer look at Hachiko's face, and his eyes went wide.
"Wait — I know her. She was part of the delegation sent to the Land of Iron." He grabbed his companion's arm. "Kobuchi-sama's team."
The crowd went quiet.
"Where's Kobuchi-sama?" someone murmured.
"Where are the others?"
Nobody could answer. Hachiko's lips moved but produced no sound. Her clothes had been soaked through with blood and mud, and the wound along her right ribs was still seeping, leaving a broken red trail across the corridor floor.
"Medical-nin! Someone get the medical-nin!"
The shout had barely faded when Hachiko's eyelids dropped and she went straight down, motionless.
---
Inside the stone medical chamber, the hum of bees was low and steady.
Dozens of golden bees moved slowly across Hachiko's body, drawing healing chakra into her wounds one thin layer at a time. Yajima the medical-nin stood to the side, watching the swarm's movements carefully, occasionally reaching in to adjust the position of a single bee.
This technique had been passed down from the founding era of the village — the Bee Healing Art. Medical ninjutsu in this period had yet to develop into anything sophisticated, but Kamizuru bees had an almost unmatched sensitivity to injury, and the chakra-refined honey they secreted could close wounds several times faster than conventional methods. It was the clan's exclusive advantage. It was something outsiders simply could not take from them.
Yajima sent someone to notify the clan leader, then stayed where he was and kept watching.
---
At that moment, Ishikawa was seated inside the strategy tent with a topographical map of the Land of Earth spread open in front of him.
"Walk me through the northern line again."
Mu stood across from him and pressed a finger to a mountain pass in the map's center. "The defense at Oni Village won't hold much longer. Their supply line runs through here. If we seal this point, they'll come to the table on their own within a week."
"Take it in a month?"
"If things go smoothly." Mu lifted his eyes. "If they don't, a month and a half."
Ishikawa was quiet for a moment, then gave a slow nod. Just then, footsteps approached outside and a soldier lifted the tent flap and stepped in, bowing low.
"Clan Leader."
"What is it?"
"One member of the delegation sent to the Land of Iron has returned alone. She was found with serious injuries and lost consciousness. Yajima-dono is treating her now. The others..." The soldier dipped his head lower. "There is no news of the others."
Ishikawa's expression shifted slightly, but his voice stayed even. "And the others? Kobuchi?"
"Unknown. She was the only one who returned."
Silence settled over the tent.
Ishikawa stood up. He glanced at Mu, and Mu fell in step behind him without a word.
---
When the door to the medical chamber opened, several clan elders were already gathered inside. They stood in a corner, faces carrying different expressions, but the same gravity.
Ishikawa walked to Yajima's side, his gaze settling on Hachiko where she lay.
"How is she?"
"Blood loss, dehydration, chakra depletion." Yajima didn't look up. His hands kept moving. "The injuries themselves aren't fatal, but she was clearly running for two days straight without rest or food. The swarm is working through it now. The critical period has passed."
"When will she wake?"
"Soon."
Ishikawa said nothing more. He stood where he was and waited.
Mu stood behind him, watching Hachiko's face, expression unchanged.
After roughly the time it takes a stick of incense to burn down, Hachiko's fingers moved. Then her eyelids, lashes trembling, slowly opened.
Yajima immediately stepped aside. "Clan Leader. She's awake."
Ishikawa moved forward and stopped at the bedside, looking down at her. "Hachiko."
Hachiko met his eyes, went still for one second, and then tried to push herself upright with her hands.
"Don't move." Ishikawa held her shoulder down. His voice was completely level.
Hachiko froze. Her throat worked up and down. Her eyes were already red.
"What happened?" Ishikawa asked. "Where are the others? Where is Kobuchi? Why did you come back alone?"
Hachiko's tears came before her words did.
"I failed the clan... I failed Clan Leader-sama... I'm sorry..."
"I don't need to hear that." Ishikawa's voice didn't change. "Tell me what happened."
Hachiko drew a deep breath and forced herself to speak.
"The Land of Iron deceived us." She bit down on each word. "During the day, the negotiations seemed completely normal. They arranged lodging for us. But in the middle of the night, they surrounded us — not to talk. They came to kill."
Ishikawa's expression didn't move, but his brow creased very slightly.
"Even so," Hachiko continued, "with Kobuchi-sama leading us, we could have held on. Those samurai couldn't stop us. Everyone was preparing to break through the perimeter..." She stopped. Her voice dropped. "But then that thing appeared."
"What thing?"
"The same being that attacked our camps at the border." Hachiko's hands clenched tight around the sheets. "Six eyes. Markings across its face. Carrying a blade that didn't look like any normal sword. The moment it appeared, everything in that corridor changed."
"Kobuchi-sama fought it for a long time." She raised her eyes, still crying. "He was struggling badly, but he kept going, pulling that thing's attention so the others could break away one by one. At the end..."
She couldn't finish.
"At the end, Kobuchi told you to run." Mu spoke from beside Ishikawa, his voice flat.
Hachiko nodded hard, pressing her face into her hands.
The chamber had no other sound.
Ishikawa straightened and stood there in silence, staring at some point near the head of the bed. Hachiko felt a pressure spreading through the room without a sound — Ishikawa's chakra, not erupting, simply present, the way the weight of a mountain is simply present.
After a few seconds, Ishikawa let out a slow breath.
"Rest." He turned to Yajima. "Take care of her."
Yajima nodded.
Ishikawa walked to the door and stopped at the threshold without turning around.
"The matter of the Land of Iron," he said, "I will handle."
He walked out.
Mu followed at his shoulder and said quietly at the doorway, "I'll have the latest intelligence prepared."
"Good."
Outside, the sunlight was sharp. Ishikawa narrowed his eyes against it for a moment, then walked forward at a steady pace.
---
It was the fourth day since the assassination of the three officials.
Inside the Daimyo's palace in the Land of Iron, this was not the first emergency council of its kind. Shinji sat at the head of the hall with several rows of officials kneeling before him and guards standing along both walls.
Okisuke stood at the center of the hall, expression composed.
"My lord." He kept his voice level. "The Kamizuru forces have been showing significant activity near our eastern border. Scout reports confirm they have begun concentrating troops approximately twenty li outside the eastern mountain pass."
Shinji's face tightened for a moment before settling again. His fingers rested on the armrest without moving. He said nothing.
Advisor Hiraki was the first to speak. His voice was sharp.
"My lord, we must mobilize. The Kamizuru are not moving without reason. And this time they are not alone — several major families from the Land of Earth have already allied themselves under them. Ishikawa is not leading his own clan into battle. He is leading the combined forces of the entire eastern Land of Earth. If they truly intend to cross the border—"
"And so?" Old Advisor Takeo cut in from the side, his voice heavy. "You want us to strike first?"
"Waiting until they hit us before we respond, or pressing them before they can act — the cost of those two choices is completely different." Hiraki's tone hardened. "A preemptive strike can at minimum reduce our—"
"A preemptive strike." Takeo repeated the phrase. There was open contempt in his voice. "Hiraki-dono, do you understand what happens the moment we draw that blade? We are simultaneously declaring war on every family in eastern Land of Earth. The Land of Iron has never done such a thing. That is not preemption. That is suicide."
"Then your answer is to sit here and wait for death?"
"My answer is that we do not act rashly before we understand the full situation." Takeo's brow was deeply furrowed. "Furthermore, the Kamizuru have only gathered troops. They have not crossed the border. If we mobilize now, we hand them a justification they do not currently have."
"They already killed members of our delegation on our own soil! Not one of them has come back! You think they're here to negotiate?"
"Enough."
Shinji spoke.
The hall went silent at once.
He looked at Hiraki. He looked at Takeo. His gaze finally settled on Okisuke.
"Okisuke."
"Here."
"Keep the border forces on standby. No offensive action." Shinji's voice was measured. "Any movement requires my approval. Nothing is done without my order."
Okisuke gave a slight bow. "Understood."
"Dismissed."
Okisuke returned the bow, turned, and walked out of the hall.
Shinji leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, shutting out the noise of the arguments still simmering behind him.
He knew it clearly enough.
This situation had already moved beyond what he could contain.