Two days later, back in the Gotoshi, Tsubaki has returned to Kinzoku‑dojo with the enslaved Maria, and Kaede is joined at Tsuchi‑dojo by Danny. They each have enough Kage Byōgenkin to last three days on top of the day that's left, so Kaede arranges for Arata Bando to provide more to Tsubaki as well as her, in exchange for both reporting their findings directly to him. Tsubaki refuses at first, but changes her mind when Kaede points out that if the virus wears off, Maria will likely kill Tsubaki at the first opportunity.
The next day, after redosing them with Kage Byōgenkin, both Tsubaki and Kaede send their enslaved Scarves out on their first missions.
As the shadows lengthen across the city of Mokuzaihanto, a figure shrouded in a midnight blue cloak bearing the mark of Mizu slinks silently and almost imperceptibly from shadow to shadow, working her way across the city to Mokuzai‑dojo in the east. Taking advantage of the thinning crowds, the stealthy figure makes haste to the edge of the dojo's territory. There, she finds a safe spot to hide, and waits for the right moment.
Ten minutes later, the moment occurs. The cloaked figure sprints across the wide road that circumnavigates the dojo, slides down the embankment on the other side, and disappears into a service tunnel. Seconds later, two guards on security patrol pass the entrance to the tunnel. As they pass the opening, the first guard stops.
"Did you hear something?" he asks his colleague.
"Probably just the wind," the second guard replies.
"Sounded more like something scurrying to me," the first guard opines.
"OK, probably just a rodent heading to its nest," the second guard self‑corrects.
"I'm going to check in here, just in case," the first guard decides, heading towards the tunnel.
"See anything?" the second guard asks.
The first guard enters the tunnel, stopping about twenty feet in to shine his torch around. "You're right, it's just a rat heading home," he confirms as he watches a rodent disappear into the gloom.
"See? What did I tell you?" the second guard smiles smugly.
"Never hurts to be sure," the first guard cautions as he heads back out to rejoin his colleague.
As the guards resume their patrol, the cloaked figure drops from the ceiling, and continues her journey down the tunnel.
Meanwhile, in Kinzokumori, a second figure shrouded in a midnight blue cloak bearing the mark of Mizu works his way towards the imposing fortified wall of Kinzoku‑dojo. While not as skilled in stealth as his compatriot on her way into Mokuzai‑dojo, he's finding it easier to make progress, as the city's citizens keep their distance from the dojo. However, he's still at risk of detection by the guards that patrol the top of the fortified wall. Fortunately, by sticking close to the wall, he remains out of sight of them.
The figure slows as he approaches one of numerous gates in the wall. Taking care to remain out of sight of the guard closest to him, he closes within strike range. Once in position, the figure produces a hanbo from under his cloak, slowly raises it into position, then swings it with all his strength into the guard's face. As the guard falls backwards, blood pouring from his broken nose, the figure leaps into the guard post and pins the guard to the floor, clamping a hand over the guard's mouth to keep him from calling for help or raising the alarm. The figure then produces a small pen‑like device, places the tip on the guard's neck, and presses the button on the other end.
Seconds later, the guard loses consciousness.
The cloaked figure recovers his hanbo, stands, straightens his cloak, then continues into the dojo.
Half an hour later, deep in the heart of Mokuzai‑dojo, the cloaked female is using the ductwork to make her way towards her destination: the armoury. However, progress is halted by the ductwork ending. Left with no choice but to drop into the corridor below, the cloaked figure retreats to the nearest grille, silently unscrews it, and stows it safely inside the duct. She then unsheathes her tanto and uses it as a mirror to see what awaits her. Four guards: easy peasy! The figure takes out a flash grenade, pulls the pin, drops it into the corridor below, then looks away and screws her eyes shut.
The flashbang detonates on impact with the floor, instantly blinding all four guards. In the ensuing confusion, the cloaked figure drops from the duct, discards her cloak, unsheathes her ninjato, and slays all four guards with elegant precision. Without pausing, the figure, now revealed to be a petite olive lynx in a teal skater dress, sheathes her weapons and heads to the door of the armoury. Utilising the skills taught to her by her best friend, the lynx makes swift work of picking the lock. With the armoury open to her, she drags the four corpses inside, closes the door, and locks it.
Hard part's over. The lynx unslings four compact explosive devices from her belt, and places each of them in strategic locations in the armoury. With the explosives placed, the lynx returns to the door she entered through. Placing an ear against the door, she's relieved to hear nothing outside. The lynx unlocks the door, exits the armoury, then relocks the door from the outside before injecting a small syringe of resin into the lock. The resin hardens in seconds, permanently rendering the lock unusable.
The lynx's ears prick as she hears approaching guards. Oh poo. With no time to waste, the lynx flees the scene, just making it around a corner and out of view before two guards arrive outside the armoury.
"Where is everybody?" the first guard asks.
The second guard looks around, and soon notices the streaks of blood all converging on the armoury door. "Raise the alarm!" he commands. "I'll find the intruder!"
But it's too late: the lynx is already back in the ductwork, making her escape.
Meanwhile, in the depths of Kinzoku‑dojo, the cloaked male is close to his target: the power generators that provide the entire dojo with all the energy required to run it. However, his progress is stalled by the presence of six guards in front of the main door. Knowing there's no other access, the figure crouches in the shadows, his hanbo placed on the floor against the wall, and pulls out a compact pistol loaded with darts that carry a potent cocktail of relaxants and hallucinogens.
The first guard goes down with the first shot, the drug cocktail taking hold in seconds. Soon after, four more guards fall victim. However, the figure misses with the sixth and final shot. Before the last guard can call for backup, the figure grabs his hanbo and charges. The guard is taken by surprise, and within seconds, he's bundled hard to the floor, face down. The figure then strikes the base of the guard's spine hard with his hanbo, temporarily paralysing the guard from the waist down.
Discarding his cloak, the figure, now revealed to be an ochre badger in a navy‑blue vest and black trousers, heads to the door and enters the power generator room. Once inside, he unslings four compact explosives from his belt. Over the next few minutes, the badger places the explosives at strategic locations, two each on the two generator turbines. With the explosives placed and armed, the badger wastes no time escaping and fleeing the scene.
Half an hour later, both badger and lynx are back outside the dojos.
"All set here," the badger reports to the lynx via radio. "You ready?"
"On your mark," the lynx replies.
"On three," the badger informs. "One… two… three!"
Deep inside Mokuzai‑dojo, the explosives placed by the lynx detonate. The explosions, though small, are enough to trigger a chain reaction, and seconds later, the entire armoury detonates violently, destroying the building, severely damaging the surrounding buildings, and killing many unlucky enough to be in the path of the debris.
Deep inside Kinzoku‑dojo, the explosives placed by the badger detonate. The explosions, though small, are enough to destroy both generator turbines. A second later, the entire dojo falls dark and silent.
A few minutes later, Ryoichi arrives on the scene of the devastation. Shocked by the scale of destruction, he doesn't notice the tattered remains of the Mizu cloak he's standing on.
"Dai‑sensei Nakano!" someone calls.
It takes a moment for the voice to register, but eventually Ryoichi turns to see the voice belongs to Senator Nakahara's appointed representative. "What… What happened?" he asks, almost overcome with shock.
"A senseless and violent attack," the representative reports. "We're already trying to work out who's responsible."
"Any clues?"
"No so far‑ Excuse me, you appear to be standing on something of interest."
Ryoichi looks down to see the tattered remains of a Mizu cloak. "No…"
"It seems that your ally is moving against you," the representative concludes. "Of course, I'll have to inform the senator."
Ryoichi nods silently in agreement, his eyes fixed on the cloak.
In her inner sanctum, Tsubaki's workout is interrupted by being plunged into total darkness. With no visual clues to work with, the tanuki loses her balance and hits the floor hard. "Kitsune damn you Kaede! Why, of all things, the generators? You could have warned me!"
A few moments later, the inner sanctum is bathed in a dim red glow as the emergency lighting activates itself. Fuming, Tsubaki gets up and storms out of her sanctum, and doesn't stop until she arrives at the generator room, where she is met by Senator Maki's representative.
"Who dares do this to my dojo‽" Tsubaki bellows before the representative can speak.
"You won't like this," the representative informs, handing Tsubaki a midnight blue cloak bearing the mark of Mizu.
Tsubaki snatches the cloak. "Chika," she growls, deeply and aggressively. I think that was convincing enough.