"It is with great sadness that we say farewell to what is most probably the greatest warrior the Earth Kingdom has ever seen," Toji was silent as he stood at the front of his class, faking himself looking sad and trying to stay strong as the principal spoke from the podium.
"General How was a man that was an example to everyone, both to civilians and to the soldiers. He was an inspiration, a role model and a legend to every student that was in this esteemed academy, is in this academy and will join us in this academy."
'Damn, couldn't help boasting about the school's reputation there, huh?', The boy thought with a subtle smirk, deciding to keep the emotions from his face as every student around him looked dismayed to have lost such a role model to them all.
"I am certain that he was watching over us from the Spirit Realm and I can only hope that we are able to make him proud," Some students bowed their heads in silence and some even shed tears, but Toji just stood silent as he stared at the Earth Kingdom banner fluttering solemnly above the courtyard.
'Make him proud. If he's really watching, he'd probably be screaming at that to look at me,' Toji thought before blinking as a hand touched his shoulder, glancing back at the person to see it being a chubby brown-haired boy and one he recognized from his class.
'Bao, son of a minor noble. Would have been a good cover as a close friend, but he's too loud, honest and naive for me to talk to him longer than a few minute.'
"You okay? I-I know you talked about how much you looked up to him."
"Y-Yeah, I'm…I guess I just didn't expect to hear this today," Toji spoke lowly, even adding a little tremble in his voice as Bao nodded.
"I don't think anybody did. It was General Sung and now General Hung. Daddy says he's not sure who's going to protect us if something really big happens."
"M-Maybe…maybe it's time then that we start becoming the ones that protect instead of needing protection. That's…that's what General How would have said at least," Toji said with a shaky smile, which made Bao along with the few students around blink in awe at the maturity of their fellow student.
"Y-Yeah, we're going to be the ones who lead this time," Bao nodded as he walked away, Toji keeping his nerves hidden as he had almost thought the boy was there because he suspected him.
To be truthful, Toji was just waiting for when the Dai Li would come for him since he was the new guy and since all of this was happening just after he joined, it wouldn't be weird to think that he had something to do with it.
'Well, it's a good thing I planned ahead,' Toji thought with his gaze fixed on the banner and the memorial still continuing even as his mind raced.
Two generals, one of which is a war hero, is enough for the year. Any more and Toji would risk tipping off the Dai Li that it was indeed him that took them out.
A third of his targets were gone and the other two-thirds were most likely going to convene and speak of what to do next, which means that they would be less focused on parts of the city.
'Parts that I could sneak into,' Toji thought as the principal finally ended the memorial, the teachers beginning to escort their grieving students back to class as Toji silently fell in line.
Looks like it's time to make a trip to the administrative wing.
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It was long after curfew ended and the city was quieting that Toji raced through the city pathways, keeping an eye out for any hidden shadows on the rooftops while making sure to stay away from the light.
The lanterns on the buildings had been dimmed to soft glows barely strong enough to light its surrounding areas and Toji's footsteps were quiet as he moved like a shadow clinging to the walls.
'Duck left…keep going and Dai Li Patrol in three…two…one!', As he finished counting, Toji smirked as Dai Li crawled across the rooftop, each of their movements almost silent if not for his enhanced senses catching the shifting of dust and tile beneath their limbs.
The one thing about the Earth King and their military is that like their way of earthbending, they are steadfast on tradition if tradition is still working. Unfortunately for them, sticking to tradition means they become very predictable and predictable enemies are the easiest to manipulate.
Therefore, it was thanks to his memorization of Dai Li patrol times and their specific movement pattern that Toji easily walked through the hallways, sticking to the shadows and making his way to the administrative wing like it was nothing.
However, the door to it was locked as he expected and the boy smirked as he turned and walked to the window on the side of the building that he had opened from the inside during their lesson on learning the great generals of Ba Sing Se.
'I swear, they really need to start checking on security,' Toji thought with a hum as he opened the window and slipped in, keeping it just ever so slightly open as he exhaled slowly and began walking to the far back.
While most would have been in awe at the dozens of busts and oil paintings of former generals and war strategists, Toji was here for one thing and one thing only, smiling as he saw the door that he was looking for.
'Restricted Sector: Strategic Military Communications…Did they really expect that to not want people to go in?', Toji exhaled slowly as he knelt next to the door handle while taking out three hairpins that he had stolen from his house steward.
With practised ease from doing this process hundreds of different times, Toji masterfully worked on the lock and was patient since no one checked this part of the academy. It did not take him long before he heard the lock clinging, softly pushing it open a bit while glancing around inside.
'No traps, no decoys. That can't be it,' The boy was not convinced that that was all the Earth Kingdom was using to hide some of their most important secrets, slipping in through the door and closing it behind him.
As the door closed behind him and the scent of dust, ink and aged paper made him scrunch his nose, Toji remained still for a few seconds and listened just in case there was something he needed to be wary of.
However, it appeared that his worries were for naught as nothing came for him before he walked to the far left, right for the sole metal filing cabinet that stood taller than he did.
'Triple bolted. Not worth picking. Well, I was hoping that I didn't leave any trace, but this calls for something a bit more heavy-handed,' Toji thought as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black vial.
Shaking its contents and hearing the hiss from inside as he popped open the cork, Toji dipped the acidic spirits inside of the vial into the lock before letting it do its job as he walked over to the centre desk and began scanning the scrolls on top of it.
'These guys are really incompetent,' Toji thought as he stared at the private files underneath the many scrolls, picking out the three that he needed for his next three targets.
General Yiwen, General Khieu and General Duanmu, the last three remaining members of the Council of Five.
Just like how How was seen as the war hero, these three were the pillars of Ba Sing Se's military command, each having won a Medal of Honour after successfully warding off a Fire Nation siege.
'Sung would have gotten his medal this year if he warded them off. A shame,' Toji thought as he flipped through a document marked Green Shield before his eyes narrowed as he read the details.
Effective immediately: In response to the loss of Generals How and Sung, General Yiwen is to return from the Eastern Front. All operations in the Si Wong District are to be suspended until the Earth King reconvenes. General Khieu is to lead internal investigations to find the culprit and General Duanmu will reinforce the border outposts between the rings and outposts in the Lower Ring.
'Well, I was hoping to catch Yiwen before he got back, but from the date on this, I guess he was already called back right after they found out about Sung's death,' Toji hummed before turning as a soft pop came from behind him, turning and walking back to the cabinet as the acid finished eating away parts of the lock.
Most of the files inside were not worth his attention as he put them back, but what caught his attention was the one labelled Royal Rendevous and as he opened it, Toji had to admit that he was shocked by what it contains.
'So, all three generals along with the two that I had taken out were going to come tgoether and use their combined military and political power to take out Long Feng once and for all. That is because Long Feng…is actually the ruling force of the city and the Earth King is no more than a puppet? Oh, this just got juice,' If this was true, then Toji had an absolute gold mine in his hands which, if sold to the right person, could make him a very wealthy man.
Looking back at the file after stopping his daydreaming, Toji looked at the date that this coup was going to happen only to grimace as he saw the time, reading once to make sure he was correct.
'Five years from now? I'm sure that with How and Sung's death, that figure is going to get pushed back even more. Hah, I guess I have to work in that time frame,' Toji thought as he placed the file in his pouch as well, making sure not to crumble the page before he raised an eyebrow at another file named Mountain Veil.
The paper was stamped with General Duanmu's crest and as Toji picked it up and read through it, he froze as he got halfway through it.
Ongoing intelligence collection on radical separatist elements within the Middle Ring. Assets embedded in key noble families. Authorised surveillance on select academy students.
Suspected Sympathiser: Student file #7631-Delta.
Quickly flipping to the next page, Toji just nodded slowly as he saw a rough charcoal sketch of himself as well as more details on his student life and another smaller note.
Monitor from a distance. Do not engage. Report upward if behaviour escalates.
'I see. That's why Khieu was put on internal investigations. The Academy itself was bait to try and weed out these radical separatist elements and now I'm a suspect for being one,' However, since he was only a suspected sympathiser, Toji knew that meant that they were still a bit disorganized after what happened.
Also, he was not fully on their radar, but he now had to isolate, expose and remove his targets before they started purging and reshuffling the board.
'Actually, this just makes it easier,' Toji thought with a smirk as he put his file away as well, closing the cabinet before leaving the entrance to the wing wide open as he began sneaking his way back to his house.
'After all, the more times I throw a wrench in their plans, the more attention Khieu would waste on finding his targets in the wrong spots.'
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It was almost morning when Toji was still seated at his desk, a large charcoal map of the city spread out wide on it with numerous coloured paths and iron pins marking off routes, targets, escape paths and dead zones.
'Yiwen in the Palace Sector, Khieu in the Lower Ring Intelligence Outpost and Duanmu in the Middle Ring,' Toji hummed as he placed a red pin in said spaces for each target, standing up and walking back while thankful for the fact that he locked his door and closed the blinds to his window.
'Internal investigator means that he'll be too paranoid to expose himself, but paranoia makes people easy to bait. Duanmu would be the easiest as he is in the Middle Ring with wide exposed roads and reinforcements that would arrive a little too late.
Yiwen would be the hardest since the man was the oldest and most experienced out of the three. However, because of his gruff nature, all of his guards are tired and underpaid from long shifts. Actually, this should be possible.'
"Time to finish off this chapter in my life,"
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Duanmu frowned as he sat in his chamber, two elite soldiers standing guard at the outside while he looked through the maps on his desk.
The death of two of his closest friends was something that had shook him, but as one of the Council of Five, Duanmu had to force himself through the grief and continue on with his work.
Right now, he was busy scanning through the maps of the Middle Ring and the many outposts they had stationed inside of it since it is one of the choke points they have in case the Outer Walls and the Lower Ring falls.
'Hmm, we'll need to reroute supplies from the Easter Depot if that outpost near Lake Jian is to hold another siege,' Duanmu thought grimly as he traced a finger along the parchment before grimacing as his headache spiked for a moment.
Leaning back and rubbing hs temples, Duanmu wondered just how things went this quickly in the span of a couple of months ever since the Fire Nation began their siege.
'No need to start stressing now, Duanmu. Remain calm as the Middle Ring cannot falter,' The man thought as he sat back up, going back to work on the map only to stop as he heard something.
It was a soft sound that came from below, Duanmu leaning back slightly and looking down just in time to feel the floor rumbling, realizing what was happening as he stood up the moment a tile cracked.
"Guards!", The man barked, but it was too late as the entire floor exploded upwards, sending out a wave of flame and wind that destroyed the entire building he was in.
Duanmu gasped as he was sent flying upwards and into the ceiling, falling back onto the jagged flooring with a rough grunt before stifling his pained scream as the rubble crushed his legs.
The man was barely awake as he began to try and pull himself away, but he didn't get much time before soft footsteps drew near, the general looking up to see a crossbow held to his forehead and a smiling boy on the other side.
"Y-You! You're-!"
"Your death. Goodbye," Cutting the man off, Toji pulled the trigger and killed the General right then and there, ripping his bolt back out and stabbing it through his brain before nodding as he began making his way out of the destruction.
'Target No. 1 eliminated. Method: Death by bolt and rubble,'
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General Khieu was a very cautious man as he looked through a document that the Dai Li had taken from a refugee who had no idea where they got it.
Considering the document showed the patrol route of a Dai Li unit along the Upper Ring, Khieu found it hard to believe that the man had just 'found' it in his pocet.
"Either someone had given this to him or someone had placed this on his person. The question is…which one was it?", Khieu muttered as he stood up, walking over to his cabinet and pouring himself another small glass of wine that he downed in one gulp.
Usually, he would not care for this, but it was rare that he was given the opportunity to drink let alone have more than one to help himself concentrate.
Pouring another larger glass, Khieu took it easy as he walked back to the document only to frown as his vision began to spin slightly.
"And here I thought you would be more cautious than this," The man spun around and nearly fell over as he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.
Toji easily caught his wine glass and placed it down on the table while Khieu gagged as he felt his throat closing up and his muscles locking up, the young boy smiling as he squatted next to the man with a can of gasoline over his shoulder.
"Don't try. That's a potent neurotoxin taken from the Spotted Wasp-Spider in the Si Wong Desert. It acts fast and locks up every muscle in your body so your heart should be stopping within the next ten seconds. However, you're still going to feel pain after that so I suggest you brace yourself," Toji spoke as he turned the can of gas, throwing it over the man as well as the entire office.
"Honestly, I wish we could spend more time, but I got one more place to be. Bye~", Sparking the flint and steel, Toji stood up and walked out the front door as the room caught on fire, the last thing Khieu saw being the corpses of his guards lying outside before his vision was obscured by flames.
'Target No.2 eliminated. Method: Toxin and Fire'
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Yiwen was not panicking as his men escorted him to his safe chamber, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone that would try to follow as he walked into the room before his guards closed it behind them.
"Can you believe this? Someone actually thinks that they can take on the mighty Ba Sing Se and win. Ha! The fools will rue the day they made an enemy of us when I find them," The veteran spoke as he paced, his guards standing at the corner and glancing at each other before they all moved as one.
"For the people." With a swift punch, the ground under Yiwen erupted and slammed him into the ceiling, blood dripping from his lips as he fell back onto the ground before gagging as four stone spikes stabbed through his chest and obliterated his heart.
"N-Now for the second step, right?", Yiwen heard one of his guards asked, slowly looking up to see the resolved looks on all four men's faces as they reached up and spoke one final sentence before bringing it down upon their heads.
"Death to those who defy the Hunter."
'Target No. 3 eliminated. Method: Death by Cave-in.'
A/N: The puppet master Toji strikes and this time, he make sure to take out the targets that he needs to without doing anything.
Next chapter: The Final Target and the Long Con. This is what I meant when I said that this part is going to be long.
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As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next chapter...
Ba-Bye~!