Shigeru looked at Sakura and felt something pull at him that he didn't entirely welcome. She was already distraught, her composure barely holding, and what he had to say wasn't going to make it any easier. But softening the truth would only do her more harm. She was in this now, whether she had chosen it or not, and she needed to understand that clearly.
"Listen, Sakura," he began, keeping his voice low and even. "War is coming. I don't know exactly what Norihiro has planned, but this isn't simply a move against the North. He will have the three great samurai clans standing against him, and more than that, he will be standing against Kaguya-sama herself."
The color left Sakura's face so quickly it was almost painful to watch.
Kaguya. Their goddess, daughter of Amaterasu herself, the divine presence said to watch over all of Kastorian with both grace and terrible authority. Going against her wasn't strategy. It wasn't ambition.
It was madness dressed up as war.
