It took a bit to decide, but I think it's time. I'm not sure if he'll be here but I'll try anyways. I'm a few blocks away from the palace, at the same place that I first made it rain in the royal city. Keeping up the Transformation Jutsu has stretched out my chakra reserves a bit, and I'm able to push the Rainmaker Jutsu past the palace walls a good ways, but not to where I am. It feels good to watch the cloud form and break open, and hold the jutsu up. The usual hustle of the pedestrians to get out of the rain picks up, and again, it's a few minutes before the work of keeping up the jutsu forces me to quit.

The alley is empty except for me. With the hurried movement of the people trying to get out of the rain, I couldn't sense movements like the ones that indicated Yusei and his men were coming the last time I did this. I think of what I'm going to have to do, and how I'l deal with Raiko after this. As Ibiki told me, it would be easy to see my hand in this if you looked in the right places, and after what I'm going to do I'll have a lot of people looking.

I find that I've grown fond of Lady Sorano during my time tutoring her. She's an insufferable wit, yes, but beneath that she's a very caring person. After everything I've done to Taizo, it feels as if I'm betraying her by going through with this plan…

I'm lost in my thoughts for several minutes before I hear someone walk into the alley in front of me. "Raiko?'' It's Yusei, and his men come in a few steps behind him.

"Yusei. You have a moment to talk?" He nods, and walks a few steps closer.

"How'd you get to Yotsuki before us? We only got to mid-level people like Ogata, even with that list you gave me."

"I got a tip from one of my sources. It turned out he was watching one of his cookie jars under a fake name, and I got him there. Listen, Yusei… I think it's time for me to get out of here."

"I'm not convinced you've been here long enough," Yusei says with a sigh. "Besides those listed points, there's so much we could use your position for-"

"That's true, but after what I did to Yotsuki I can't stay for long. Doing what we need to do leaves a trail and mine goes through places you wouldn't understand and can't go to. Look… I may not be here long enough to get to everything you want, but I think I've made a connection with Sorano."

"What about the economic and diplomatic points?"

I hesitate for a second. "She understands them, but… I don't think she accepts them as her own. She isn't the type of person you can force things on."

"Then what good has this been?! My father dies, by your hand, for nothing; we become just another bunch of rebels who get squashed to cover up the truth-"

"She's seen the truth! And if she's going to push for it and remember it, then this needs to happen. She might not be like your father, Yusei, but I'm certain she wouldn't rule like hers. She has the interest to make the Land of Fire into something more than it is now, and she being who she is, that's the best we can hope for."

Yusei gives a disgusted sigh, closing his eyes and folding his arms. "...What do you have in mind?"

I gulp, then clear my throat and lay out my plan...