Over the previous evening Kitsune Nitsuki was working with Usagi Tomoe in her room when she managed to notice a scrap of paper that she was working on containing an odd series of symbols. With their deepening relationship Tomoe decided to trust her and shared that she was working on a code, without divulging its origins. Kitsune then shared this with the rest of the party. Working together they were able to decipher it to:
"OUR MASTER HAS LEARNED OF AN INVESTIGATION OF OUR WORK IN FOREST SHADOW
CITY. DEFEND OUR AGENT BY KILLING THE MAGISTRATE AND GIVING THE
APPEARANCE OF SUICIDE."
Waking the next morning, the sound of thunder clearly announced that rain had come. Much of the day was spent in the cold drizzle as the Scorpion spent most of the morning with a small force probing and attempting to take down the outer palisade. Both Mirumoto Tetsuzae and Ichiro Bando distinguished themselves in combat on the walls while Kasuga Osamu stayed inside searching through Tomoe's room in hopes of finding the scroll. After several hours the Scorpion fell back just before the rain worsened.
At dusk the Bayushi Tomaru's forces finally attacked in earnest, bringing everything they had to bear. They were able to break a hole in the palisade and exploit it, but could breach the castle walls before the fall of night. During the attack, however, a ninja snuck into the castle and ransacked Usagi Ozaki's room before encountering Osamu as she snuck into Tomoe's chambers. After being injured by Osamu, she fled before finding herself cornered and taking her own life with poison. Another ninja was found shortly after having hidden himself in Usagi Oda's quarters before being dispatched by household samurai. Not long after this, as the fighting was winding down, it was discovered that the well had been poisoned.
The infiltration of the castle scared Tomoe enough to bring her to finally trust the rest of the party. She revealed the scroll, hidden behind a mirror angled to make the box it was contained in appear empty, and asked the party for their advice.
The party took advantage of a hidden tunnel that Takeshi had revealed to them and slipped out of the castle to find the Scorpion Magistrate Shosuro Rei and hopefully negotiate a deal. She was able to convince Tomaru to back down in exchange for the following:
- At all times in the future, he is acknowledged as the victor and praised for his mercy
- He was to be given the original copy of the scroll
- A marriage was arranged between Tomoe and himself
Despite some reservations, the Hare were willing to agree to these terms and Tomoe surrendered herself to Tomaru along with the scroll. Not fully trusting the Scorpion, Usagi Ozaki escaped out of the secret tunnel with the ancestral sword Kennou in order to ensure the future of the Hare line. Taking a copy of the scroll with him, he intended to investigate Mori Kage Toshi.
With the Scorpion army decamping, the magistrates left the next morning heading for Ryoko Owari.