Although the first step of Azula's plan was to isolate Danzō from the rest of the village and secretly control his actions without his knowledge, that didn't mean she was taking things one step at a time.
How could she, with her Shadow Clones?
At the very moment one of her clones was 'tipping' Koharu, another appeared at the capital of the Land of Fire, the Daimyō's city.
•••
Yoshiyuki, the Fire Daimyō, was exhausted. His ministers had spent the entire meeting shouting at each other.
The past few days have been tense. With the war between Kumo and Konoha finally over, one uncomfortable truth had become impossible to ignore: Konoha's current strength was slipping out of their control.
He couldn't help but think about Azula. In less than a year, she had already given him this kind of surprise.
At this point, it was no longer about controlling Konoha. It was about protecting themselves and staying out of the potential internal conflict between her and Hiruzen.
He genuinely liked the monkey because Hiruzen was easy to control.
But none of his advisors dared to openly support him anymore. Because an Uchiha holding a grudge against you? That Uchiha Matriarch, no less? That was a guaranteed death sentence.
"But what should I do?" he muttered to himself as he walked toward his quarters. "Do I summon Hase and Aida? Or do I read the new manga?"
It was a truly difficult question.
Hase and Aida were his 27th and 28th concubines, freshly arrived. He hadn't even enjoyed them for a full week yet.
But Azula's new work had reignited his love for manga.
The guards accompanying him made themselves even smaller than usual. Talking about the Daimyō's concubines, especially in any sexual context, was enough to get yourself and your entire family executed.
They finally felt relieved when he entered his quarters. No more having to hear or see him. They could relax now. After all, who would be foolish enough to ambush the Daimyō in his own chambers?
•••
"Good evening, Lord Yoshiyuki." Azula was casually sitting on his favorite silk cushion, legs crossed, one elbow resting on his lacquered reading table. "I hope I'm not interrupting your… difficult decision."
"Y-you… y—!" His first instinct was to scream at her for touching that cushion. That cushion!
Then fear hit him. Someone was in his private quarters, where no one should be.
He spotted the Konoha forehead protector and immediately tried to identify which reckless ninja would dare such a thing.
Then he saw who it was.
Azula.
His brain short-circuited. Too many shocks at once, especially on top of the fear already crawling up his spine.
He wanted to scream for his guards. But he isn't a fool. Not completely.
Azula was, by current consensus, possibly the strongest ninja alive. If he called for help, his guards wouldn't just die for nothing, they might make her angry enough to finish him off too.
Azula had no idea what was going through his head. But when he didn't scream, she nodded approvingly. "It seems you're more courageous than I expected."
She remembers that he had faced assassination attempts before. In fact, it wasn't strange at all that he could keep his calm as long as she showed no hostility or outright menace.
Azula didn't wait for him to find his voice. She simply slid a folded document across the table.
"I'll make this simple, Lord Yoshiyuki. The war with Kumo is over, provided Konoha has a Hokage they're willing to negotiate with. That Hokage is me."
She tapped the paper. "This is a draft of the peace treaty. It guarantees the Land of Fire exclusive trade rights with Kumo for the next ten years, a non-aggression pact, and reparations for the villages we lost."
Yoshiyuki's eyes flicked to the paper, then back to her.
"And what do you want from me?"
Azula put on an 'angelic' smile. "Nothing much. Just an official letter from you endorsing me for the Hokage position. You know, so I can sign the peace treaty before Kumo changes its mind."
'Changing its mind, my foot!' He wanted to curse. 'Everyone knew that even if Kumo hadn't signed the treaty yet, with the Raikage conceding, they no longer had the backbone to face Konoha.'
His brain worked quickly, scrambling for a solution. "It was established before the founding of the village that the Daimyō can only approve or reject the Hokage selected by the village, he cannot personally interfere. If I were to express my support, it would completely violate that accord."
He hoped, slime that he was, that this simple fact would make her back down. But her permanent smile only sent chills down his spine.
"I'm not really asking you to," she said, her tone turning domineering. "I'm telling you to."
She activated her Mangekyō Sharingan and planted mental suggestions in his mind. It was only a clone, true, but it was Azula's clone. More than enough to handle a Kage if the latter wasn't careful.
Controlling the Daimyō was one of her objectives. She planned to abolish the position entirely in the future. But for now, she could use it to her advantage.
The Sharingan pattern flickered briefly in Yoshiyuki's eyes, he didn't notice. He had already forgotten she even activated it.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to hide his discomfort. "Yes… it's time for the new generation to take the mantle. I'm sure that under your leadership, Konoha will enter its most prosperous period."
He praised her while cursing her internally. Never in his life had he been threatened like this, ordered so domineeringly to do something he didn't want to do.
But the worst part? He didn't even dare show his displeasure.
'No,' he thought. 'She has to be dealt with, no matter the consequences.'
Where he couldn't see, Azula's lips curved upward. Everything was going according to plan.
She had recently learned to plant mental suggestions into someone's mind, subtle commands that would make the victim act according to a certain pattern under specific conditions.
For example, Yoshiyuki could think about dealing with her. But the moment someone suggested it, or the moment he moved to act, he would feel an inexplicable wave of fear. He would find that fear natural and back down, being more 'cautious'.
In reality, it was her mental suggestion taking hold.
And just like that, the second step of her plan, to box in Hiruzen with everyone in the village who held influence apart from his old friends, began with a single letter from the Daimyō.
(END OF THE CHAPTER)
I want to continue but the next part is the next day, the chapter is already doing a lot of spatial jumping, from Koharu to the Daimyō's palace, while maintaining the same temporal moment ("At the very moment..."). I felt adding a full day transition on top of that would make the chapter feel fragmented rather than cohesive.
In fact, this is what is limiting me from writing long chapter but anyway, I've locked in.