if i want a chance at winning this i have to learn what the old mans proposal is, then i can work around that.
"may i ask you, what do you propose we do to save the ninja world"
"well revealing that this early would make things boring wouldnt it? the mystery of my idea raises tensions" hes right, not knowing what hes planning makes me both curious and worried, i cant let him see that it gets to me, my curiosity could be my downfall, the old man could use that to his advantage but if i act like it doesn't bother me i can keep up my facade of not being interested and he wont be able to use that.
"youre right" i make sure to crack a smile "knowing what your plan is would take away from the excitement" he chuckles, it seems like he bought it.
"mikku do you know who king is?"
"no" i blurt out, i didnt think, that through, the old man threw a complete curve ball at me with that question and my obvious lie just set me back
"so you do know him." he sits up straighter "this makes things much more interesting"
"and why is that"
"i suspect that youre working with king and your proposal of a tournament to appoint the leader of all of the villages is part of kings plan."
"im not working with king" i snarl "hes been responsible for several of my friends deaths"
"i sense true anger at the very thought of you working with him, you arent a 10 i can tell that much, and from your visceral reaction to my accusation i can tell you arent working for king. mikku what is your true goal" hes backed me into a corner
"how do you know king" i suspect he's one of kings men.
"thats simple, i made him." made him? "you look confused, king was the product of experimentation, my colleague was killed by king but i managed to escape, im number 2." this frail old man is dangerous, i cant figure out what his true motives are but the fact that hes even telling me this much worries me.
"do you know who number 1 is"
"i might i might not" the old man hasnt blinked since he began to reveal the truth of his connections with king, its unsettling. "mikku i believe that the solution you came up with is a good idea, it will draw the rest of the 10 out"
i can tell that theres more to his plan than just that, why would he be so casual with revealing information about king, it may be for intimidation but i feel like there's something more to it, hes smart, way too smart.
"all in favor of uniting the clans as one and choosing the leader through a tournament raise your hands" the old man sounds cheerful now and his hand raises first, theres a few moments of silence before the rest of the room follows until im the only one with a hand down. i dont understand what just happened, i dont trust the old man, he was able to end this meeting in mere minutes. i feel uneasy, the old man has to have some kind of ulterior motive, right? but what if he doesn't? maybe his plan was to get me to overthink it, what if this was a red herring completely. the old man has won this battle with little effort, he will not win the war.