Kiba turned his head to Okuri. “I put Daichi’s head in the usual spot.”
The massive warrior chuckled. “Good. Can’t have any traitors alive when I’m in charge.” He enjoyed this moment, being able to talk in front of a camera. Whatever he said would be heard nationwide, whatever he did would be broadcasted live, and when he won, every family, every Samurai, every civilian, would know that he was in charge of the military from this day forth.
“TRAITORS!!!” Isamu shouted, pointing a finger at the group. “You rebel against every known authority, yet you claim treachery of and kill an innocent man!”
“Oh please, don’t flatter that dead worm.” Okuri sneered. “He was going to kill us all, and claim the positions of both Shogun and Emperor.” This sent a ripple of shock through the crowd, and it seemed to puncture the heart of Isamu. “Mind you,” he said, walking forward slowly, “I have no idea how he was going to kill me. But don’t worry, I’m not like Daichi. I’m going to kill all 3 of you, right here, right now, with no help from anybody. I’ll take the position of Shogun and leave this whole ‘Emperor’ business for some other sucker.”
“Are you mad?!?” shouted the Emperor.
“Maybe….if I was interested in your job. I could never stand being Emperor, bossing around civilians all day. It would be like leading talking sheep, having to tell them how to do every little thing and compromising when they disagree. You spend all day in courts, deciding how to punish criminals, but if there is enough evidence, can’t you save yourself the trouble and give them their sentence on the spot? Or better yet, why not have a set of rules that say how you are punished for crimes? That way, all you’d have to do is find the evidence and jail them without a thought!”
“You make me sound like some sort of child who wastes time for his own amusement!”
“And maybe you are! Or maybe you’re just a puppet of your own council! It doesn’t matter to me: your death just means one less person in my way!”
“You….” Katsuro said, pointing his own finger at him, “what makes you think you can just come along and make yourself Shogun?!”
“Well, it’s still the law that I can just kill you and….oh, you mean what makes me think I’d be a better Shogun than you? Well,” Okuri said, cracking the bones in his neck, “you have never stood up for the rights of your own people-your own Samurai-instead you let the Emperor make those decisions.”
“We have the authority to kill criminals!” shouted Ryota. “We have more authority than most of the police do….even as ronin!”
Osamu pointed his finger at the 3 leaders. “It’s because of you that I still have to pay taxes! But…that will change!”
