Koichi Shido fell onto a couch in Akito's residence with a loud creak and waved off the maid who instantly came to serve him. He was in a foul mood, and rather than sex or wine, his eyes briefly wandered toward her tempting neck.
But Akito, the useless fool, had already confessed that this girl was his favorite in the bedchamber before he lent her to him for his own personal pleasure. Unfortunately, putting his hands around her neck before squeezing the life out of her would be rude. If nothing else, he strived to be a good guest.
For a moment, he struggled with the temptation to ask Akito to procure a street urchin girl for him, but as the man sat opposite him in the armchair, he spoke and distracted him.
"Lord Koichi, old Ebizo is just trying to act tough and show no weakness. Suna is in dire need of funds. Give me a few days, and I will personally resolve the situation."
"Oh? You are quite confident." Shido offhandedly spoke, and changed his mind as he jutted his hand with an empty glass toward the pretty woman standing to the side. She quickly stepped forward and filled his glass with wine.
Hmm. She was quite well trained. And now that he looked closer, she indeed looked good. Maybe he should take Akito on his offer and tonight-.
"Naturally! Have no worries, Lord Koichi. I was chosen to be your contact in Sunagakure because of my competence!" Akito proudly proclaimed, ignoring how Shido leered at his favorite maid.
Shido's cheek twitched in slight irritation as he turned back toward Akito and took a long sip from his glass. "Indeed." He slowly nodded.
'What an idiot. He was chosen because he was the most gullible fool on the council, willing to betray the place that gave him everything.' Shido inwardly snorted, but he still had to give the man the necessary lip service.
"I am glad that I can depend on your help." He said in a relieved tone and gave Akito a small smile that deliberately fell into a deep frown just a moment later. He opened his mouth, and in his vindictive mood, he almost tasked Akito with kidnapping that Temari girl for the Daimyo.
Hell, he might fuck her himself and just tell the Daimyo she resisted and ran away on the way to the capital after he would have sent her broken back to her husband.
That seemed like a great repayment for his insult.
But he stopped himself in time and reminded himself that he was not dealing with unruly minor nobles here. Dealing with ninjas required more finesse and caution.
Honestly, he didn't mind the insult that much. He was more irritated that his manipulations did not have the intended effect because of it. Sadly, it was the principle of the thing. If he didn't retaliate, that would show weakness.
But how to do it? That was the question.
Wordlessly staring at Akito, Shido made up his mind after a long while of thinking. The man was still going on about his plans to bring Suna's higher-ups to their side, but Shido knew it was all bluster and no substance. He wouldn't have been able to hold onto his position for so long if he weren't smart and observant enough.
Akito might not have realized it, but Ebizo's attitude today was not going to change. For some reason, the old man was totally sure of Sunagakure's continued survival, budget or no budget. He wasn't going to get what the Daimyo wanted, no matter how much they negotiated.
He turned toward the maid, "Could you bring me a pen and a blank scroll, please?"
That finally stopped Akito's irritating yapping.
Shido turned toward him as the maid bowed and went to do her assigned task. "I will need one of your most reliable ninjas to run a delivery mission for me." He told the man, who instantly nodded his agreement, waving his hand.
Shido's eyebrow rose, only for a ninja to appear next to Akito's armchair, making his heart jump in surprise. He gasped and put his meaty hand over his chest while trying to calm his breathing.
Noticing Akito's small smirk, Shido secretly gritted his teeth. Ninjas, oh, how he hated them.
'We will see if you will still find your situation amusing in a few months.' He grouchily thought, trying not to glare at Akito.
"Hanataro here is the fastest of my subordinates. He will get your letter to its recipient very quickly, Lord Koichi." Akito patted the kneeling ninja on the shoulder with a grin, "Where to is he going to run, though?"
"The letter will be for Madame Misaki Hari in the Capital," Shido told them as he leaned against the backrest of the couch. Seeing that the answer stirred Akito's curiosity, Shido decided to continue, "We have a... cooperation, let's say."
"A mistress, I see." Akito chuckled and nodded, giving Shido a knowing look.
Shido almost rolled his eyes at him. Yes, she was a mistress. Just not his. He wondered if he would have the balls to proclaim that if he knew the woman spent most of her nights on all fours in Daimyo's bed.
"She will secretly convey the letter to the Daimyo." Shido said, ignoring Akito's childishly suggestive looks and wiggling of his eyebrows. Pretending to be a friend to the man was exhausting, and he wasn't in this thrice-damned village even an entire day.
Conveniently, Misaki Hari was not just the most used bitch of the Daimyo, she was also Iwagakure's spy in the Capital. The gullible girl still believed nobody noticed.
These ninjas thought the normal people were all stupid or something, but they were forgetting which hands fed them. They oftentimes forgot who held their leash. And then, they acted like Sunagakure did today.
That was not going to be tolerated. Shido decided that his retaliation needed to be more severe than just assassinating the Konoha ninja who insulted him or kidnapping his wife.
As the maid brought him the pen and a scroll, he started crafting the letter. His eyebrows furrowed as he started remembering the precise positions of Sunagakure border outposts before putting them on the paper, before writing a request to the Daimyo to reduce the supplies provided to them in retaliation.
It was information that wouldn't hurt the Land of Wind too much, but Iwagakure was going to find it very interesting.
The fact that he was doing it in front of an unsuspecting Suna ninja almost made him giggle. It was risky, but oh, so satisfying.
These border outposts were not as well hidden as Suna might think. They still required supplies. Supplies that were provided by normal merchants. And those could be easily tracked by the government with some effort. As a high official and Daimyo's trusted friend, Shido had access to a lot of intel about these things.
It was time to put them to good use. Suna was due for yet another brutal conflict with Iwa. That should humble them enough to come back, begging their noble overlords for scraps again.
Now he only needed to make them sound weak enough for Iwa to pounce.
With a satisfied hum, Shido described Sunagakure's attitude to the Daimyo's orders, making sure to sound like a whiny little bitch and sprinkle a threat or two about how this would not stand and how they needed to be punished for their defiance!
The Daimyo wasn't going to take it too seriously. They exchanged letters where they insulted anybody who pissed them off quite often. It was a great activity for keeping their friendship going strong even after so many years. But Misaki Hari? She was going to convey the contents of the 'secret' letter to Iwa.
Hopefully, Iwa would see this breakdown of relations between the Wind Daimyo and Sunagakure as a weakness. A moment to strike. And if not? The flames could still be stoked some more later.
Shido had seen his father doing something similar when the villages were on the verge of the third ninja war. The ninjas could be easily manipulated if one knew how to leverage their spy networks against them.
The normal people had their own way of fighting. Cowardly, it might seem, but Shido always believed that if you can't fight the freaks, then just pit them against other freaks, so they will be more interested in slaughtering each other and pay you no attention.
"Here." He finished the letter before rolling up the scroll and handing it to the delivery ninja. "I pray for your safe trip, young man." He sweetly smiled at him and Akito.