"Well that's... gross..." an understatement if there ever was one. Naruto crinkled his nose as the armor containing the warrior fell apart now that there was no longer anybody inside to hold it together. After a moment or two, he sighed. "And it looks like I'm back to square one."
Man, that really sucked. After all the work he had put into capturing this prick alive, the idiot had to go and use some kind of acid to melt himself. The jerk. Life was so unfair sometimes.
'Maybe not.'
'What do you mean, Kyuubi?'
'I mean we still have that Kōmei guy around,' Kyuubi said in that 'duh' kind of tone that she used when saying something she thought was obvious. 'You could interrogate him or...'
'No,' Naruto decided after a moment's thought. 'Somehow, I don't think he knows anything. He may suspect something, but I don't think he knows what's really going on.'
'You do know that everything that has happened points towards him being the culprit, don't you?'
'Which is why he couldn't possibly be the culprit,' Naruto reasoned. 'So far all of the evidence is pointing directly at Kōmei, so much so that it's like painting a bull's eye on his back with the words 'Here I am! I did it!'. It's too obvious, almost like...'
'Someone's trying to set him up to take the fall,' Kyuubi finished for him.
'Exactly, there is simply too much evidence pointing towards Kōmei's guilt for him to be truly guilty, which means that someone is setting him up so that whatever plans this hidden player has in the works goes on unnoticed.'
'So then, what do you plan to do?'
'Well,' Naruto said, a predatory smile growing on his face. With the whisker marks on each cheek stretching across his tanned skin, the spiky headed blond truly did look like a kitsune about to play a prank. 'When setting a trap, it's always good to use the correct bait.'
XXXX
Naruto once more found himself sitting in seiza position within the room that he had first met Mōsō. Just like last time, said man was sitting before him, his happy smile etched upon his plump looking face. This man really did remind the blond Uzumaki of a clown or jester with that smile.
"I would like to thank you on behalf of Tori no Kuni for solving the mystery of the Cursed Warrior," Mōsō was saying. At least, that's what the blond thought he was saying. Naruto was only paying half attention to the man. He had already heard this spiel before back in Nami no Kuni after the battle on the bridge. He hadn't felt like listening to anybody's platitudes then, he didn't feel like listening to them now. Albeit, for different reasons.
Sitting beside Mōsō was none other than Chishima, the guy who even now kind of reminded Naruto of a puppy. The fact that he was looking at Mōsō like he was the sole center of the universe really only hammered that fact home.
Really, sometimes he wondered about that guy.
'Naruto...'
'Right. Focusing.'
"You're welcome," Naruto responded automatically simply to be polite. Ugh, diplomacy. The one reason he might actually rethink his decision to be Hokage. It wasn't necessarily that he minded diplomacy per se, just that he didn't like having to actually think about what he was going to say before he spoke. If people got insulted or offended by what he said, that was there problem. They should learn to be more secure about themselves and take his words with a grain of salt, dammit! "I'm just glad I was able to figure things out so quickly and before anyone else was seriously hurt."
"And you did a marvelous job," Mōsō continued heaping on the praise. Really, didn't this guy know when enough was enough? "Chomei has already made his confession. It seems the Cursed Warrior was all a ploy to stir up unrest from the public so he could seize the Daimyo's throne."
'Naruto...'
'I know.'
"I'm surprised you managed to get a confession out of him so soon," Naruto rubbed his chin in a look of thoughtful contemplation. "I mean, it's only been a few hours since I brought him in." He sighed. "And here I was thinking he would have held out a little longer."
"Well, Chomei has always been more of a tactician than a warrior," Mōsō answered with that damnable smile. Was there ever a time when this guy was not smiling? "I suspect he realized that once we managed to bring out all the evidence, he would have no chance of stealing the throne. In this case, simply admitting to his wrongdoings will earn him a lighter sentence."
Which essentially meant that instead of outright executing him, they would allow him to commit seppuku. Basically they were going to let the guy commit ritualistic suicide by disemboweling himself in front of a group of witnesses. Not exactly what Naruto would call a consolation prize.
So much for lighter sentences.
"So the bad guys been caught and it looks like peace will soon return to Tori no Kuni," Naruto hummed.
"Indeed," Mōsō stood up from where he sat and walked over to the open shoji screen doors so that he could gaze upon the land outside of his humble home. "Peace will come to this beautiful country now that the terror and unrest Chomei tried to set upon our society is gone. And with it, your mission is now complete." The man turned his head, offering Naruto that ridiculously large close eyed smile. "I hope you have a safe journey home."
"Thank you," Naruto said, standing up along with Chishima as the meeting between himself and the odd fat man concluded. With those last pleasantries finished, Naruto found himself walking back to the room he had been allowed to stay in. It was a small room, with the only equipment inside being the futon he had set out and a couple of scrolls he normally carried with him at all times.
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