The Blade Had Always Hung Over Their Heads, So It Was Time to Demand an Explanation

"What?" The fat nobleman stared incredulously at the pair of things in Naruto's hands. "What proof do you have that you're Konoha High Command?"

"Evidence? Are you out of your mind?" Naruto finally bared his fangs, kicking a ninja away. The ninja's chest caved in, and he was on the verge of death.

This incredibly ferocious scene immediately stunned everyone. The Intelligence Department ninjas generally don't carry out overly dangerous missions, nor do they use excessive force.

Ino, on the other hand, didn't react much; she wasn't a delicate flower. Having gone through life-and-death situations with Shikamaru Choji then, what surprised her was Naruto's procedural justice.

Although somewhat reluctantly, his words immediately reminded Ino the ninja village was an institution of violence. Nobles had power, but they were not without fear.

The Hokage is on equal footing with the Daimyo, and in fact, the Hokage from a powerful clan holds a higher position than the Daimyo. The law enforcement authority of Konohagakure extends beyond the Konohagakure itself.

Even in the Land of Fire, under special circumstances, with the approval of higher-ups, ninjas can attack anyone without restriction.

The conditions that trigger these special circumstances are either ninjas committing crimes or hiring ninjas to commit crimes. In fact, these nobles were quite wary of Konohagakure Village.

Seeing Naruto casually take down the men he had brought, the fat nobleman suddenly came to his senses. But before he could react, Naruto was already in front of him.

"What are you going to do?" The fat nobleman shrank back.

Upon hearing this, Naruto turned to look for Yamato, only to find that he had chickened out. Kicking a thug and kicking a nobleman are completely different things, worlds apart.

This is where the importance of a loyal lackey becomes apparent. Naruto used to not understand why villains liked to parade around with a bunch of lackeys.

Now he understands: a lackey may not be particularly strong, but he'll definitely step up when needed. If he had to do all the manual labor himself, his prestige would instantly drop by half.

Left with no other choice, Naruto had to do it himself, kicking the fat man to the ground.

With a loud bang, the fat man's face instantly blossomed into a bloody mess. Blood streamed down his face, his expression was utterly miserable, and he screamed as he scrambled backward on the ground like a fat pig.

"You actually attacked a nobleman, you madman, you trash! I want you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Naruto kicked him again, though with less force. It was a brutal, physical kick; the more he cursed, the harder he kicked, and blood splattered everywhere.

Naruto looked around and, seeing everyone staring in disbelief, bent down and lifted the fat man, who looked like a dead pig. A hint of malice flashed in his eyes as he spoke coldly.

"You fat pig, you can't just say whatever you want! It was you who tried to assassinate me, a weak Konoha High Command. How dare you turn the tables and slander the fair Konoha High Command!"

As he spoke, he slapped him repeatedly until he was completely speechless.

"You want more evidence? I'm telling you, I am the evidence!"

With a thud, he tossed the fat nobleman to the ground, grabbed a napkin from the table, and wiped his hands. He gestured for Ino to stop Ino from approaching, then turned to the fat nobleman and spoke.

"You couldn't possibly do something this complicated by yourself. There must be accomplices behind you. Will you confess yourself, or should I just get it out of you?"

"Damn it! Sono... Son Kazu- sama will stand up for me!"

"Yes, Son Kazu assigned you to manipulate ninjas to commit crimes, attempting to kill the Intelligence Department ninjas and eliminate the Konoha High Command." Naruto nodded. "Very good, the testimony is obtained."

"I didn't say that!" the fat man shouted.

Slap! The fat man was slapped hard across the face, his mind going blank for a moment. When he came to his senses, he met Naruto's cold gaze and felt a chill run down his spine.

A sudden chill ran down my spine; this man really would beat me to death. Seeing his completely nonchalant attitude, what if we couldn't hold him accountable?

"I already said it."

The fat nobleman was eventually carried out, looking quite pitiful.

After the commotion subsided, the Intelligence Department members exchanged bewildered glances and quickly left the ransacked Barbecue restaurant. As for compensation and bills, this amount was nothing more than a drop in the ocean for the well-funded Intelligence Department.

Back at the camp, everyone remained dejected.

Although Naruto's sense of justice was rather thuggish, he did manage to beat a nobleman half to death, and only Naruto could remain completely unaffected by it.

Ino has a separate office in the Intelligence Department's camp. At this moment, Naruto is sitting obediently in his seat, watching Ino pace back and forth in the office.

"I've gotten myself into trouble," she said.

"Calm down, Ino, it's okay," Naruto comforted her. "The procedure was legal, it was a completely just act, I don't know what you're worried about."

"I was worried about you, really," Ino rolled her eyes at him and stopped walking. "What if those nobles ganged up on the village?"

"Kakashi will be very troubled, Shikaku- sama will be very troubled, and Lord Yamanaka will be very sad to find out that his daughter is having a hard time and not telling him." Naruto shrugged.

"You!" Ino was utterly exasperated; he was still in the mood for jokes at a time like this. "Do you even know how arrogant those nobles are? What if..."

"Oh, then let them come," Naruto.

Ino took a deep breath, looking at his helpless expression. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She didn't even know what she was worried about; she just felt an unknown pressure looming over her.

She didn't know how to handle the situation. Perhaps she could use it to get the nobles to back down, but it was more likely to provoke a furious counterattack from them.

Perhaps I should tell my father about this and listen to his advice.

The opponent was a nobleman, not a ninja. In the secular arena of power, ordinary ninjas would be completely unable to fight freely here; it was a completely unfair battle.

Naruto can attack nobles with impunity only because he follows due process. However, this grudge will be held against the Intelligence Department, undoubtedly increasing the difficulty of the project.

The problem is, even if we swallow our pride today, this project simply won't get off the ground. The nobles are far too greedy, and dealing with them is far too troublesome.

So what am I afraid of? Things were already hopeless, so why should I expect those damned nobles to have any pity?

She looked up at Naruto, took a deep breath, and said.

"You're right, it's all those nobles' fault!"

"Yes, it's all those damned nobles' fault." Naruto looked at Ino. "If it weren't for their interference, the Communications Project in the Capital City would have already been launched."

"But the nobles are incredibly powerful, with countless men under their command." She sighed. "What should we do? Fight them head-on?"

Naruto on the edge of the table and knocked twice.

"If there are wandering ninjas causing trouble, then Konohagakure has the right to intervene. The Intelligence Department is also part of Konohagakure. The members under its command are also ninjas."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Ino was a bit confused. It was clearly the nobles who were obstructing the project's implementation, making exorbitant demands and trying to get something for nothing. But somehow, it had turned into a problem of ninjas causing trouble.

"What I mean is," Naruto stood up, picked up a document from the table, and began to write, "That fat guy who caused trouble today should just be a nobody. He ordered the ninjas to cause trouble."

"If nobles bully others by abusing their power, we can't do anything about it; that's always been the case in the Land of Fire. But if they instigate ninjas to cause trouble, that's a much more serious matter."

"I obtained his confession, in which he admitted to being instructed by someone behind the scenes. Those who can instruct nobles are naturally nobles themselves. So who do you think is behind it all?"

"The great nobleman, Son Kazu?" Ino didn't even need to think. She had seen that fat nobleman in the courtyard; he was one of Son Kazu's men. The answer was obvious.

"But what's the use?" she asked. "Are we supposed to go to his door with a confession and ask him? If he doesn't admit it, it's useless."

"Yes, we can just ask him directly." Naruto straightened up, took out the seal of the Uzumaki Clan Leader and stamped it heavily on the document. "This is a search warrant."

"Are you serious?" Ino was stunned.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Naruto pulled out another high-ranking seal and stamped it heavily. "We're ninjas, and ninjas should solve problems the way ninjas do."

"If you keep thinking about how to surpass your opponent in terms of power, you're just getting stuck in a rut. It's not that easy to defeat someone in their area of expertise."

"The best approach is to bring them all to the same level and solve the problem using our rules."

"That's true, but the other party is a nobleman." Ino clicked her tongue, her mind a little fuzzy. "Didn't you tell me not to act impulsively?"

"Ino, why do you think Konohagakure exists?" He shook the document with two seals.

"War. For the sake of peace, the First Hokage established the situation of clan conflicts, and then ended the war in the Shinobi World," Ino replied.

"This is the answer from the book. Do you know what Lord Tsunade said?" He suddenly smiled, thinking of a certain fat sheep who had already traveled the world.

"Have no idea."

"The First Hokage established the village because no one could defeat him; the Senju Clan was the strongest clan in the Shinobi World. As for why he left behind things like nobility, it's because the First Hokage only wanted peace and didn't want to waste time governing the Land of Fire."

As he spoke, he suddenly laughed again.

"The Shinobi World is not stable. Even someone as strong First Hokage can only focus on doing one thing well. So no matter how much power the other party has, there is no need to care."

"The purpose of Konohagakure's existence is to tell those noble lords who throw lavish parties Tenten that they may have power, but killing them won't make their power disappear."

"The knife is always hanging over my head."

As he spoke, he handed Ino the simply written search warrant, looking at her with a smile.

"Let's go."

"Where to?" Ino took the search warrant.

"I'll go and get justice for you. Konohagakure's current state was achieved by the First Hokage and Second. The nobles probably haven't seen justice served in a long time."

With that, Naruto pushed open the office door.

"Yamato, Matsuri, you two come here for a moment."

"Senior? What's the matter?" The two were confused and came over directly.

Ino had caught up by then, following behind Naruto with mixed feelings, still somewhat dazed. But subconsciously, she felt he was right, because that's what Lord Tsunade had said.

Only Lord Tsunade probably knows the thoughts of the First Hokage and Second.

"I'm afraid I need to go out on some errands. Are you two free?" Naruto asked. "It might take some of your time to come with us."

"I'm free." Yamato nodded.

"Me too." Matsuri nodded, unsure of what to say.

The scene of Naruto beating up the nobleman with his bare hands deeply shocked her young mind. Looking at the gentle-looking young man in front of her, she simply couldn't connect him with that lawless thug.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go." Naruto looked at Ino.

On the road.

"Where are we going, senior?" Yamato asked somewhat anxiously.

They had initially thought it was just a short trip to run some minor errands, but the more they looked at the route, the more familiar it seemed. Matsuri nearby, was even more alarmed, thinking to himself, "This isn't..."

"Let's go ask Son Kazu Sono a few questions, and while we're at it, we'll get an explanation from your team leader," Naruto said casually, grabbing Ino's hand.

"Your team leader suffered some injustice at the Son Kazu and the nobles' place. Wasn't that bullying an honest person? We should at least go and demand an explanation, right?"

"Ah, yes." Yamato was a little flustered, as if he had unwittingly gotten involved in something big.

"Are we just going to go in like this?" Matsuri stopped and looked up at the deep courtyard. "Should we send a formal invitation or something first?"

"If we have a search warrant, we probably won't need one." Naruto flicked the document in his hand and said cheerfully, "Wait a moment, I'll open the door first."

He said to open the door, not to knock.

With a deafening crash, the main gate of the Grand Noble Son Kazu was kicked open on the central avenue of the Land of Fire's Capital City. The entire gatehouse, along with half a wall, collapsed with a thunderous roar.

The deafening noise quickly alerted those inside, and a large number of ninjas and samurai rushed out. Some wielded swords, while others arrived in Body Flicker Technique.

"What happened?"

"Who! Who dares to attack Son Kazu Yuanhe's residence?"

"Damn it! Who are you?"

As the smoke cleared, Naruto calmly pulled out a search warrant, looked around with a smile, and read it aloud. He then saw the crowd fanning out around him.

"Based on the testimony of Nobleman Haruyama, accusing Nobleman Konohagakure of instigating ninja to cause trouble Son Kazu attempting to ambush Konoha 'Intelligence Department ninjas. The search warrant has been approved by Konoha High Command, and the evidence is conclusive. Immediate action is required."

"What nonsense are you spouting! Kill him!" a samurai shouted.

"Damn it! This guy must be insane!"

This time, Naruto didn't do it himself; he snapped his fingers. With a whoosh, more than a dozen coffins rose from the ground, and with a few thuds, the corpses emerged from them.

This is the noble courtyard of the Capital City of the Land of Fire. Within this area, the Impure World Reincarnation corpses were not particularly powerful in life, barely able to hold off samurai and ninjas.

The Impure World Reincarnation corpses were fighting with a group of ninjas and samurai, while Naruto had some free time to make a move. He turned around, looked at the three people behind him, and waved.

"Don't be afraid, it's just Genjutsu."

"Let's go in and take a look."