[Spoilers]I just thought of something....[Kabuto's course of action?]

[Nathander]

I was just re-reading 484 when I thought of something I initially hadn't during my first read.

Hinjo states that the fleet will have to find someplace to dock soon, or they'll otherwise starve due to having too few supplies/rations onboard. Considering the citizens of Azure City have shown a growing amount of distrust/uncertainty in Hinjo's ability to rule, I doubt they'll be all that happy to hear that, after barely escaping the city, starvation may not be far behind.

What I'm wondering is this; while being nobility doesn't make him some kind of genius, I'm assuming Kabuto will know when it's a good time to act and possibly shift people in his favor. Due to the fact that he probably has incredibly high ranks in charismatic skills such as Diplomacy and Bluff, I would think that if the "starvation" angle was to get out to the citizens, he may have a fairly easy time convincing them of his superiority as a leader over Hinjo. And, if he should succeed...then so what if the now ignored, and unwanted lord, was to go missing, or the Northerners that had been with him?

Just my thoughts, though they're probably wrong.

[dish]

I guess it'll depend on whether Kabuto himself prepared any supplies/safe haven for the Azure City refugees. If he did, he's in a strong position to act.

[David Argall]

The nobles were planning to sit on the water until the army went away. That means they should have packed a good amount of food.
Hinjo likely took the position of just packing the ships with people since presumably any left behind are dead or slaves [quite possibly both]. Since the city should not have enough ships to carry its entire population, these ships should be short of supplies. Hinjo was hoping to come back in a day or two, not the week or two the nobles had in mind. Again, he chooses putting on more bodies rather than more food.

However Kabuto is not concerned about the common rabble. Whether they starve or not is not going to change his chance for the throne. What he seems to fear is that if he openly attacks Hinjo, he risks open attacks on his rule, both current and future promotion. So he has to "keep his hands clean", and attack Hinjo indirectly.

[Lavidor]

This has probably been mentioned before, but the speech bubble of the guy who's giving orders looks like a red archfiend, as seen here, but in different eye color.

[woc33]

heh, here's a thought, Hinjo will be demoted by his people and will join the OOTS, that would rock! would be funnier if he takes Roy's place

[boomwolf]

it seems right...

so the red demonlord (or whatever they are) is helping kabuto?
so there aree more then 3... was talking to yellow, orange and purple ones...now we know there is a red one too (or at least we spculate...)

[Ithekro]

One serious problem for Kabuto is that he probably does not know what happened to the city (nor the gate if he is aware of that at all). If the city is now hidden by Xykon as some suspect, then his plans to retake the city after overthrowing Hinjo will be for nothing.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

A thought...

For Hinjo to join the OotS, he would first have to be unemployed. But even if Hinjo gets the boot by Kubota, only Hinjo's perminant death would keep him from ever being able to come back later.

Even if Kubota takes over, nothing says he will be able to keep the throne for very long, especially if he isn't able to get past Xykon's Cloister spell.

Some dictators take command of a country, and stay there forever, others have a shorter reign. I'd mention real life examples, but that smacks of politics, so just fill in your own blanks.

But even with demonic counsel, Kubota probably won't die of old age.

[David Argall]

it seems right...

so the red demonlord (or whatever they are) is helping kabuto?
so there aree more then 3... was talking to yellow, orange and purple ones...now we know there is a red one too (or at least we spculate...)

Definitely speculation. We only know of the three and none has the apparent eye-speech color. A 4th could be off camera, but it would be off camera. And our writer does like fairly long term hints, which would suggest he would have put him on camera if he had a serious future role.

[Caractacus]

Definitely speculation. We only know of the three and none has the apparent eye-speech color. A 4th could be off camera, but it would be off camera. And our writer does like fairly long term hints, which would suggest he would have put him on camera if he had a serious future role.

Unless that WAS the long-term hint. If he had been on-camera, maybe it would have been not really a hint any more, especially if he were speaking...

Kubota could now find an ally in the LG...

[HomerHT]

*chuckles* I think a few too many people in this thread have been reading Naruto...

[David Argall]

Unless that WAS the long-term hint. If he had been on-camera, maybe it would have been not really a hint any more, especially if he were speaking...

Kubota could now find an ally in the LG...

This is well past the point where one starts deriving facts from conclusions.

Our available evidence says this is somebody new. And newcomers appear fairly often in this comic. At the moment, the idea this is a devil, not demon, seems promising, but there are all sorts of other possibilities.