[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Ten'ei, a small village sitting at the southern end of Kusagakure, was known for its difficult economic history. The people at this end of the nation often went without others had and this was of great concern. A particular issue that had arisen was the subject of medical aid. With only ten shinobi stationed at that remote corner, their access to more sophisticated medical techniques was limited. Though civilians, too, studied medicine and engaged in treatment, those facilities could sometimes be found lacking, irresponsible, and negligent. Remote villages were not known for their exceptional educational capacity and most often village clinicians were more likely to be from a family practice, the knowledge of stitching and sewing passed down across generations. 

It was for this reason that the Lord of Kusagakure and Kuebiko found themselves in Ten'ei today. It was their responsibility to perform an inventory of the village's medical infrastructure. 

On arrival, the village head helped to direct them to the foremost hotspot of all medical interactions in the village - a meager clinic. It was little more than a small wooden building. The two began to analyze the situation. 

Kuebiko was partway through an analysis, writing notes on a scroll. 

"I think one of the primary concerns is the lack of space. If a disease were to roll through this village there would be little way to keep them appropriately separated and provide adequate care. The beds are practically on top of one another and in an emergency that could-" 

A guard burst in, frantic, and began babbling to the village head. 

"Sir, we have a situation. On the outskirts of the town, a group has formed. They're making demands. We haven't been able to apprehend them, as they've taken several hostages." 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

In the last century or so, it became clear that shinobi were very valuable assets to have, but even in the modern era the true potential of medical shinobi has yet to be realized. Yamato somewhat understood their capabilities, which was why he was personally helping in checking Ten'ei's medical facilities. The Daimyo was typically responsible for more civil matters such as this, but Yamato had suggested that perhaps he could lend a hand in aiding the impoverished village.

The Kusa Lord had been to Ten'ei a few times before, but each time he saw the village he was surprised by just how poorly it was faring. It seemed to persist in a vicious cycle. It was hard to support logistically, which caused bitterness in the people. The bitterness usually manifested itself in discord and defection, which in turn made the village harder to support logistically.

Yamato pushed those grievances to the back of his mind as he returned his attention back to his primary task, one that he was being helped with by Kuishinbou Kuebiko. Truthfully, he felt a bit uneasy having someone from that particular clan by his side but... he was part of the Medical Corps and from what he understood it was only females of the clan who inherited the rather unsavory abilities. Reservations aside, Yamato had to also admit that Kuebiko was more than competent in the medical field, the white-haired lord nodding thoughtfully as Kuebiko gave his candid analysis on Ten'ei's situation, at least until they were interrupted. It was a hasty message, but Yamato was able to catch all the important bits, hands gripping his purple book as he came to an equally quick decision.

"Which end of the town?"

The guard was clearly surprised to be questioned by the diminutive figure though he still answered upon seeing the headband.

"Er, to the northeast. Sir." Yamato nodded before speaking to the village head. "Chief, Kuebiko and I will begin heading there now, you go round up as many ashigaru as you can spare along with any shinobi you see and meet us there."

Yamato waited until his orders were acknowledged before heading out of the clinic at a quick pace, making sure he was side to side with Kuebiko as they traveled to the northeastern part of the village.

"You've got a strong sense of smell right? I don't suppose you can pick out those defectors from here can you..."

He knew what the Kuishinbou clan sensors were capable of, so he knew it was a bit of a stretch for Kuebiko to already know who was friend or foe, but he wanted to gather as much intel on the situation as possible before engaging. If the medic had no substantial information to give, he'd simply carry on towards the reported area, making sure to remain hidden once he spotted the ruckus. It was obvious where the now bandits were setting up shop, a dozen or so ashigaru already setting up a perimeter around the house that they had turned into their makeshift hideout. The house was isolated from the rest of the village, which meant it'd be difficult to sneak up on it. There were a few defectors standing on the outside, making sure the ashigaru stayed back, but Yamato was sure there were more on the inside with the hostages as well, in fact, he could see at least one more defector peeking out the window from this angle.

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

An emergency situation arising wasn't unexpected, especially in a place like Ten'ei. The village was filled with a constant strife, playing over and over again. It made his heart ache, to think of the people living here under a repeat cycle of duress. Finding conflict arising in the village again worried him greatly. People being held hostage could mean people dying. He wanted to see to it, to the best of his ability, that it did not come to that situation. Ensuring the safety of the people of Ten'ei was part of why they visited here today in the first place. One way or another, they would have to accomplish that goal and get everyone, including the defectors, out of here safely. 

He followed next to Yamato, matching his steps. When asked about the sense of smell, he took a moment. Breathe in, slowly. He didn't know friend from foe, naturally, so picking up much information was going to be difficult, even if there was a downwind carrying anything. 

From what he could catch, there was a lot of people collected in the direction they were heading. A good sign that the location they'd been given was the right one. 

"We're headed the right way," he answered. "No blood. That means there haven't been any injuries yet. That's good. Hopefully we can keep it that way." The genuine relief written across his face was plainly visible. 

Arriving on the scene, the tension was clear. Multiple defectors outside, poisoned to react and call out to their companions if any kind of frontal move was made. If any ashigaru made an impulsive decision, it could turn negative quickly. This had to be handled delicately. 

"I can't tell exactly how many are inside from here," he admitted. "If I got a bit closer, I might be able to tell what rooms they were concentrated in, but I'd rather not advance until we've assessed the situation more clearly." He could see the precariousness of it. Everything hanging in the balance. The smell of sweat and fear. The smell of potential bloodshed just around the corner. 

"My lord, should we ask the ashigaru what the demands are? I think we should make it a priority to ask the village guard not to respond with force, but I will of course act to your discretion." The hesitation towards violence was uncharacteristic for one of his clan. He knew what his parent's plan would be. A frontal assault, tear them apart. Anything else made a cowardly warrior. 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

On the way to the location, Kuebiko was able to confirm that they were, at least, headed in the right direction, and that there didn't seem to be any injuries quite yet. Upon arriving on the scene, the Kuishinbou gave his own take on the situation, one that advised caution before action.

"I'm uhm... inclined to agree. Hostage situations are... usually a stalemate of sorts, and our priority should be saving the civilians before attempting to deal with the hostage-takers."

The young lord nodded before leading the way to an ashigaru who seemed to taking the initiative, his hands holding a spear tightly, but his posture and actions seeming to convey that he was keeping the rest of footmen from closing in. He noticed the pair of shinobi approaching and gave an awkward sort of salute, clearly unaware of who Yamato was but still acknowledging that shinobi typically were better equipped for these sort of scenarios.

"As you were. Anything you can tell me about the situation? Number of hostages and hostiles? Demands?"

The key to any sort of meaningful preparation and planning was having as much information as possible, and Yamato wanted it all.

"Sir! There are 5 hostages inside, 2 men and 3 women. There are 6 hostiles on the outside keeping us back with an unknown number on the inside, though we believe it's about another 6. They've demanded... one million ryo or valuables equal in worth which we..."

Yamato nodded in understanding, biting the tip of his thumb as he thought, with his other hand gripping his purple book tightly.

"Kuebiko, how close would you need to be to get an accurate sense of where the hostages are? Along with how many hostiles are on the inside."

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Two men, three women. No children. That was good. It demonstrated that the capturers had some level of moral sanctity and probably did not want to stoop below more socially accepted bounds than they already had. This was an expression of a deep frustration, not of a random cruelty or selfishness. Their methodology was obviously lacking. Base and angry, relying on fear in absence of the ability to negotiate. It frustrated Kuebiko deeply how much of the world was run on violence and violence alone. 

Twelve potential foes, twelve negotiators for their side, in total. That could become tricky to deal with, especially depending on how cohesive their leadership was. 

"I might be able to do it from here if I had belongings from those captured," he admitted. "People generally smell the same unless you know what in specific to look for." That was what made him a good tracker for the shinobi forces. He could recognize an ally by scent, or smell something of theirs from back home and hunt them down across great distances. If he knew what he was looking for, he could pinpoint them exactly and better find that distinction between friend and foe. 

"I can tell from the general distribution that the majority of the people are in the back of the house. My prediction would be a washroom or bedroom, something away from main doors and with easily defensible entrances and exits. No easy windows for them to escape from or us to sneak in through. Given our hostage count..." 

He stopped again to try to gather information, brow furrowed in thought. "Six seems an accurate count to me. Err on the side of caution and assume eight, just in case their scent is somehow suppressed or mingling with the others."

With that established, he would move into other considerations. 

"One million ryo. I'm not sure where he thinks the village head would obtain that kind of money." Some conspiracy that the head was sitting on vast sums of money? It was always possible. Political corruption could go unnoticed for a long time. But it seemed unlikely to him in this case. "Do you think we would be able to talk to them?" 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

The lead footman chewed his upper lip as Yamato and Kuebiko had a brief aside right before him. It wasn’t as if the shinobi were going out of their way to exclude him from the conversation or anything, but their discussion left little opportunities for him to chime in, at least not with anything meaningful.

Yamato continued to listen carefully, the biting of his thumb becoming less anxious as the Kuishinbou gave some more definitive information. They were most likely in the back of the house, and the young lord agreed with the idea of assuming that there were 8 hostiles, just to be on the safe side.

"I imagine one million ryo is attainable if the entire village was to be scoured… but I get the sense that the demand wasn’t meant to be reasonable to begin with. Speaking with them… er… might be possible. But I wouldn’t count on them truly giving themselves up. They’ve already gone past the point of no return. They may be receptive to some more negotiations though...”

The Kusagakure Lord’s voice trailed off as he seemed to think deeply once more, eventually arching his eyebrow in Kuebiko’s direction.

"I don’t suppose you wanted to take a crack at speaking with them?”

Yamato doubted that was what the Kuishinbou had meant, but because of the high stakes it was worth exploring every avenue available to them that didn’t involve running in weapons first towards the defectors. Regardless of Kuebiko’s reply, Yamato would turn back to the head ashigaru, expression lighting up as he came up with a temporary solution.

"Gather up as much pocket cash that you can from the rest of the soldiers present, don’t worry I’ll ensure they’re reimbursed. But maybe we can pool together our money and exchange it for at least one of the hostages for now?”

The footman tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment before eventually saluting and complying, heading off to speak to the other ashigaru who held a perimeter around the house.

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Did Kuebiko want to speak with them? He was no diplomat or crisis negotiator. While he was incredibly sympathetic and was certain he would have their interests and safety in mind, he was also not an expert in the area of defusing dangerous situations. His expertise primarily laid in preventing them from forming in the first place or cleaning up after they had already failed to be contained. As such, the offer made him slightly nervous. What if he made a mistake? The hostages' lives were on the line. So were the criminals. There was so much potential for harm here. 

"I can certainly attempt," he finally settled on. "Though they might not respond as well to the conversation of an outsider... I'd prefer having one of you join me, at least," he informed the head ashigaru. 

He reached into his own pocket to pull from it some of his own money, intent on chipping in to the pool if the locals forces were to be expected to do so. It would demonstrate some good faith desire to participate and would hopefully prevent the ashigaru feeling resentment, as though the shinobi had snuck in on their operation. 

With that contributed to the negotiating pool, he would step up to the perimeter line. 

"Excuse me. I assume the leader of your group is inside, but can I know who is handling the guard?" Kuebiko called to the defectors. "We want to talk with you." 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

It seemed Yamato's offer to have Kuebiko go speak to the defectors came as more of a surprise than the lord anticipated. In the end though, the Kuishinbou agreed. Pocket money was rounded up from the surrounding footmen, and Yamato made sure to put his cash into the pool as well. He was originally going to hand the entire stack to Kuebiko, but because he requested the head ashigaru go with him, Yamato motioned for him to hold onto all the cash. The footman seemed a bit uneasy about being saddled with even more responsibility, but his training was sound and he followed Kuebiko to the perimeter.

The defectors that saw this movement immediately went on guard, only showing mild surprise when they realized that one of the shinobi they had been keeping an eye on was negotiating so readily. The three defectors on this side of the perimeter eyed each other for a few moments, clearly not so organized to have someone in charge on the outside, but through some gestures the closest one did eventually step closer to Kuebiko, keeping his rusty shortsword well in between himself and the shinobi.

"There's nothing to talk about, either ya got the money ready or ya don't. And the poor saps inside get nicked."

From here, the defector could clearly see the stack of money in the head ashigaru's hands, and he could easily see tell that it wasn't even close to one million ryo. Probably somewhere in the ballpark of 50-100 thousand ryo instead.

Yamato kept his distance, but also maintained a careful watch on the proceedings. He fiddled anxiously with his purple book, wondering if Kuebiko would be able to successfully negotiate the release of at least one of the hostages for now.

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Yamato stayed back for now, wisely. If things turned nasty, it would not do for the lord himself to come into such danger. One stray swing of a rusty sword... Yamato was a competent man, but accidents could befall anyone, especially with tension mounting high. The defectors appeared to be wound tight, nervous, rightfully cautious, and at least slightly hostile. They wanted to come off like serious business, like they were truly threats. The reality of the situation was that they probably did not want to kill their hostages at all. Not to say that they wouldn't do it if pressed, but they were probably not as eager to do so as they would pretend to be in negotiations. 

"That kind of money can take a while to gather. We would need more time to obtain all of it and were hoping that we could open talks with this," he said, motioning to the money the ashigaru held. "Everyone here is interested in making sure this gets resolved. This is money from myself and all the ashigaru here. We wanted to know if we could trade this for one of the hostages. Could you please ask your comrades about this trade?" It truly was the most money that they could gather on quick notice. Money did not appear from nowhere, as much as many thought it did. This was not a particularly plentiful village. There was no million ryo to find immediately. Surely these defectors understood that on some level.  

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

The defector continued to eye Kuebiko suspiciously as he laid out his explanation and proposal. His eyes flickered constantly from the shinobi to the ashigaru to the money, his grip on his weapon never loosening for even a moment. He didn't answer right away, it was clearly was very carefully weighing the pros and cons of this preliminary exchange. As long as the defectors had at least one hostage, they had a card to play, and it would be nice to have some cash in hand already... The negotiating criminal eyed the cash one more time before gesturing towards the house with a turn of the head, grumbling for Kuebiko and the ashigaru to remain in place.

"Alright you wait here... we'll see."

He didn't turn away from Kuebiko and the ashigaru, backing up a few steps to ensure some safety before finally facing the makeshift hideout. He dipped into the front door of the house, well out of sight and leaving everyone outside anxiously waiting. Yamato's fidgeting grew even more restless, his thumb back in between his teeth as he kept watch on the entrance for when the defector would return.

Nervous patience was rewarded after only a minute or when the front door opened again, slowly. The person who came out first wasn't the defector who had gone in, but a rather elderly old woman, followed closely by the familiar criminal face. He had his shortsword held just an inch away from the old woman's back, his lips moving slightly as he quietly ordered her in the right direction, towards where Kuebiko and the ashigaru would be waiting. He didn't close the gap entirely, leaving a good 4-5 meters left before calling out to the head footman.

"Oi! Take one step forward and put the money down! Then get back to the perimeter, both of ya! Reeeeal slow!"

The ashigaru was rightfully taken by surprise, looking to Kuebiko and Yamato for confirmation before ultimately doing what was asked. It would only be after both negotiating individuals complied with the commands that the defector would move forward with the hostage again, gingerly picking up the money before finally giving the old woman permission to make her way to the perimeter. Her old age and poor constitution meant that she didn't move all that much faster compared to when being threatened by the defector, but she still made it to the edge in good time. She practically collapsed into Kuebiko's or the ashigaru's arms, whoever seemed to be more available to catch her.

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

The moments between his agreement to negotiate and his going inside seemed to stretch on forever, Kuebiko's heart drumming at a steady if quick pace against his ribs. It was the feeling of being in fight even though there was no current physicality to this exchange. Soon enough, he returned with a hostage and Kuebiko all but held his breath as the money changed hands and the woman was delivered across the perimeter line and to safety. He reached out his arms to catch her as she collapsed, consumed by the exhaustion of fear. 

"There we are. You're alright," he said, cradling her carefully. She would have important information from the inside that would help with their negotiations, but in her current state she would not do particularly well. She would need a moment to breathe, but they also hadn't much time to spare. They would have to carefully straddle that line in working with her. 

Kuebiko moved her a bit away from the boundary line to find her somewhere to sit and rest. He offered her some water. 

"Can you watch her?" He asked the ashigaru. Once that was confirmed, he would leave her temporarily to return to Yamato's side. The two needed to convene on what to do next. 

"That is one hostage free, my lord. Talking with her will obviously yield important information on the state of things inside. I wanted to ask your opinion on how we should proceed. Should we send for more money to be gathered to negotiate further hostages trading hands? Or should we focus on seeing if she is able to identify anyone inside?" 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

Yamato let out a sigh of relief as the first of the hostages was safely recovered, moving closer when he noticed that Kuebiko seemed to wish to speak to him. As he moved, however, he noted just how hungrily the bandit who had released the hostage took the money before scurrying inside, no doubt to report what had just happened. The young lord gave Kuebiko a small forced smile as they reconvened, nodding thoughtfully as he digested what the Kuishinbou asked. The silence stretched from one moment to several seconds as Yamato considered many different possibilities before seeming to come to a decision.

"As well as that seemed to work, I don't believe that continuing to negotiate for more hostages one by one will continue to work. For one, gathering the funds will take too long, and more importantly... we must consider the end game. There's no scenario where they trade away all of their hostages. They've either realized it by now, or they will, but once they don't have leverage, we'll move in to take them down. Before they create a concrete plan to take hostages with them out of the village boundaries, we must move in and rescue the civilians. Go ahead and see if the elderly woman is calm enough to give us some intel about the inside, and then we'll quickly form a plan and attack."

Yamato gestured to the hostage they had just negotiated for, who was still be consoled by the head ashigaru. He began moving towards her himself so that he could hear the ensuing conversation.

Extra notes;

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

The lord was right, of course. This would not be a sustainable game plan, repeating this pattern. They would maybe be able to convince them to allow it for one of two more hostages, but after that the negotiations would be shut down until the full amount was handed over. Even then, they were extraordinarily unlikely to hand over the last hostage until they were already well out of danger and were able to make their escape with unrecoverable funds. That situation could not be allowed to pass, as the people of Ten'ei would rightfully feel that the shinobi had failed them if it did. The stand needed to be made quickly. 

Nodding his agreement, Kuebiko returned to the elderly woman alongside Yamato. 

"Hello. I understand you just went through something very troubling, but I was hoping you would be able to tell us about this situation," Kuebiko greeted her. "May I ask your name?" 

"It's Tokugawa Chō," the woman introduced herself, stammering a bit over her words, clearly still strained and exhausted from all the excitement. "Thank you for getting me out of there. Thank you. You know, all those men in there, they're good young men, they are. I've never seen them act like this, no... You're going to be able to get all the others out, right?" 

"We're going to do our best, Tokugawa-sama," Kuebiko assured. "Do you know the men in there? Could you tell us who is leading them?" 

"I know some of them. The ones pulling the most weight seem to be the Shibata boys. Sweet young men. I think they both just lost their jobs. One of them has a little boy, very sick, I believe..." 

"If he hasn't been able to afford specialized treatment for his son, that might be a major trigger for this uprising," Kuebiko speculated to Yamato. "The medical infrastructure here isn't strong enough to support continuous care for a chronically ill child. It's likely that he was using his income to buy medicines from merchants that he can't afford anymore. Tokugawa-sama, can you tell us more about the situation inside? Where are the hostages being kept?" 

"Most of us were being kept in a back room - I think it was a- a storage closet, but it had been emptied out. There were two men outside it keeping an eye on us." 

"And do you know the other hostages?" He asks. "Can you give us an idea of their age and general state? Are they all alright?" 

"Most of them were elders like myself. A few young women." No children. That was a relief. "No one got hurt, at least not more than a bruise, but they were all in quite the state." 

"Thank you for your help. We're going to do what we can to get everyone out." Kuebiko offered her a bow, then stepped back to reconvene with Yamato. 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

The white-haired lord was especially attentive as Kuebiko gently coaxed information from the elderly woman, remaining respectful of her boundaries. All the time they had been dealing with the situation, Yamato's mind had been churning furiously to come up with a course of action that would save the hostages while eliminating as much risk of harm to them as possible. It was when Tokugawa said one particular snippet of information that all the pieces came together in Yamato's mind, the fidgeting in his posture finally ceasing as he eagerly waited for Kuebiko's ear. The young lord made sure to pull in the head ashigaru once Kuebiko was ready, laying out his plan confidently while writing some seals onto a blank tag.

"The intel Tokugawa gave us was phenomenal. Now we know two key things. One, only two guards are currently assigned to watching the hostages directly. And two, they aren't even doing that properly. They're standing outside of the room." Yamato finished working on his tag and hastily handed it off to Kuebiko before continuing with his plan. "The ashigaru and I will grab the attention of the defectors from out here. We won't do anything aggressive just... something to keep their attention occupied. Kuebiko, you must find an opportunity to get atop the roof and cut your way into the supply closet. You can do so stealthily yes? Especially using a chakra scalpel?"

The question definitely was more on the rhetorical side, but there was still room for Kuebiko to interject at the point. If he didn't, Yamato would continue.

"Once I sense you're inside, I'll activate that seal, that'll create a clone to aid you in getting the hostages out. Whether you go quiet or loud will depend on the situation when you do make it inside, but I'll leave it to your digression, does this sound like an agreeable plan to everybody?"

If there were objections at this point Yamato would happily hear them out, but if there weren't he'd move with the head ashigaru to notify the other footmen, giving Kuebiko one last nod for good luck. It would take another minute or so of organization to fully execute the plan, but eventually most of the perimeter ashigaru would have gathered towards the front of the house, forming up and drawing the gaze of the now unsettled defectors. Most of them moved to be closer to the bulk of the soldiers, leaving only 2 defectors near the back of the house, though their attention was still mostly towards where the action seemed to be brewing.

Extra notes;

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:
NAME: Fuuinjutsu: Fuuin no Bunshin 封分身[Sealing Technique: Clone of Sealing]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Fuuinjutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
HANDSEALS: 1 - U/Hare
DESCRIPTION:
The jutsu requires a medium that the user can write the symbols (封分身) on, including tags. The user seals away chakra within the medium and can later activate the seal using the Hare handseal.

The activation creates a clone with physical substance at the location of the seal. Like Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the user's chakra is spread evenly among clones, and the clones are capable of limited physical attacks. However, the Sealing Clones are only capable of performing fuuinjutsu that the user knows, can't stray too far from the user, and are easily defeated by any weak attack. Once the clone is injured, it disperses, returning its chakra to the user, but not any knowledge it gained during its duration.

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

The particular catching of details was very good on Yamato's side. Kuebiko had personally been too concerned with the sick son to immediately process much of the potential strategic elements, but Yamato was right on it. That was why he made a decent leader, Kuebiko supposed. That ability to process information quickly and turn it into a macro strategy - it was something all shinobi needed to be good at, but those of elevated positions usually needed to be even better at. 

"I should be able to do that," Kuebiko confirmed, nodding, contemplative. It was a dangerous maneuver, but not necessarily the worst one possible. Hopefully only he himself would be at risk if things went awry and he was caught - he'd just have to back up and negotiations would become more difficult. It didn't seem like the defectors really wanted to hurt the captives, just that they would if absolutely pressed. Stealth was something most shinobi excelled in, even though it wasn't necessarily his primary focus. 

He moved out towards the back of the hideout, waiting patiently in hiding for the distraction from up front. When a nervous energy began and it seemed everyone was focused on the frontlines, Kuebiko began his approach. 

With his sensitive sense of smell, he was able to keep a good read on the position of the two defectors still at the rear and slowly creep past them. 

He scaled the wall, quiet enough to avoid making noise, and sat atop the roof. 

Chakra scalpels were meant for softer flesh and not for carving through roofs, so he had to apply a lot of focus to making it break through the firmer material. Eventually, he was able to get down to the last sliver and flip the section of roof open, allowing him a path in. Now he just had to be sure the defectors had actually kept their attention on Yamato and the ashigaru.