Bloody Ceremony

"Yamano."

"The ceremony continues."

Chiba Ran's voice was calm, rippling across the blood-soaked plaza like a gentle wave.

The Chief Ceremonial Officer Yamano, sprawled on the ground, shuddered. He scrambled up on hands and knees, his legs trembling uncontrollably from fear.

In a scene like this, continue the coronation ceremony?

But when he looked up and met Chiba Ran's gaze, the hesitation and fear inside him vanished in an instant.

Trembling, he picked up the Ceremonial Scroll, forced himself not to look around, and raised his voice high.

His shrill voice carried clearly across the deathly silent plaza.

"--Bearing Heaven's mandate, answering the people's will!"

The moment those words rang out.

Hundreds of Hidden Guards turned into reapers of death in an instant.

No orders. No shouts.

Aono Saku, at the lead, simply made a single wave of his hand.

The slaughter began.

Pshh!

A black blade sliced across a desperado's throat, blood spurting like a fountain.

The man clutched his neck, unable even to scream.

"--Now stands Lord Chiba Ran, virtuous and capable, might spreading across the four seas!"

Yamano's voice trembled.

On the other side, a Root ninja had just finished forming hand seals when a poisoned black blade pierced through his chest.

He looked down at the blade tip protruding from his body, his lips twitching, then fell stiffly.

"--Rectifying the court, abolishing corrupt governance!"

Two Hidden Guards flanked left and right, their long blades crossing.

A head shot into the air, madness still frozen on its face.

The headless body swayed twice, then crashed to the ground.

Ceremonial Officer Yamano closed his eyes, not daring to look, mechanically reciting the scroll.

He also didn't dare to listen to the sounds of slaughter behind him.

"--Let the people live in peace, let the nation prosper forever!"

The sound of blades cutting flesh. The crisp crack of breaking bones. The deathbed screams.

All of it mixed with the solemn words of praise from his mouth.

On one side, hymns extolling the new king's virtues. On the other, a hell of severed limbs flying everywhere.

This jarring contrast left everyone on the viewing platform speechless.

When the last rebel's head was severed, only wails and heavy gasps remained in the plaza.

At that moment.

In the Konoha viewing area.

The Hidden Guard Leader who had stopped the Konoha ninjas slowly turned around.

His gaze was like a torch, piercing past Minato Namikaze, passing over Hiruzen Sarutobi, and finally locking onto the man with the ashen face.

That one-eyed man, Shimura Danzō, whose eye was bloodshot with fury and terror.

"Fourth Hokage-sama." His voice was ice-cold, devoid of any emotion. "The rebels have appeared. It is time for you Konoha to clean house."

At these words, the Konoha ninjas' hearts shook violently!

All eyes stabbed toward Shimura Danzō.

"Danzō!!" Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a grief-stricken roar.

The moment Shimura Danzō was singled out, he knew everything was over.

Without a moment's hesitation, he spun around and fled!

"Stop him!"

"For Konoha!"

Several quick-reacting Konoha ninjas roared and gave chase.

Among them were Hyuga, Uchiha, Yamanaka, Aburame...

And some ninjas who had long been dissatisfied with Danzō.

This was the best chance to pledge loyalty to the new Daimyo!

"Protect Lord Danzo!"

The few remaining Root loyalists beside Danzo roared, turning to face the pursuers without a hint of hesitation.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"

"Secret Technique: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Yet they faced dozens of furious Konoha comrades.

One Root ninja had just spat out a Wind Blade when a Hyuga clansman struck his major chakra points with Gentle Fist, freezing his chakra instantly.

The next second, three or four kunai pierced his throat.

Another Root ninja from the Yamanaka Clan tried to control an opponent but took a kick to the head.

It crushed his skull, brains splattering.

The battle started fast and ended faster.

In just a dozen breaths, those few Root loyalists all lay in pools of blood.

Shimura Danzo was surrounded in the center of the plaza.

He clutched his right arm, still seeping blood, breathing heavily, his one eye sweeping venomously over everyone around him.

"Danzo! You bastard! What exactly are you trying to do!" Council Elder Utatane Koharu trembled with rage, pointing at him and shrieking accusations.

"You've disgraced Konoha completely! Surrender now!" Mitokado Homura's face was also flushed red with grief and anger.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward slowly.

He looked at this old comrade—both enemy and friend, rival for a lifetime—now in such a pathetic state, his heart a tangle of emotions.

He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Strike?

His mind flashed back to war-torn years, two boys back-to-back, sharing the last Military Rations Pill.

"Hiruzen, hang in there. You have to survive."

"Danzo, we'll protect this village together, until we die!"

The old vows still echoed in his ears, yet now he was supposed to kill this dear friend who grew up with him with his own hands?

He... couldn't do it.

The slaughter on the plaza had ended.

Ceremonial Officer Yamano's prayer reached its final line.

"—Now ascending the throne, ruling the realm! May the Will of Fire shine upon all lands!"

He finished, his legs giving out as he collapsed to the ground.

The entire plaza fell into an eerie silence once more.

Chiba Ran took the prayer scroll.

Holding the National Stone in one hand and the scroll in the other, he walked slowly to the edge of the high platform.

"Hey, isn't this over yet?"

In an instant, all eyes fixed on him.

Then, they shifted to the besieged Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi walking toward him.

At this moment of universal attention.

The Hidden Guard Leader appeared like a ghost at Hiruzen Sarutobi's side.

"Third Hokage-sama." His voice was low but stabbed deep into Hiruzen's heart. "This is Konoha's internal affair, a blight you yourself indulged."

He raised a hand.

First pointing to the civilians trampled to death in the chaos, then to the Four Nations Delegation.

The delegation members wore expressions of amusement.

"Everyone is watching."

"It's up to you to cut off this poisoned limb yourself, to prove to the world that Konoha can still be saved."

"Or else..." His voice dripped with mockery. "Shall my lord take action himself, to clean house for Konoha?"

"And announce to the world that you Konoha ninja can't even deal with your own traitor?"

These words struck like daggers to the heart!

His body jolted violently, darkness swimming before his eyes.

He understood what the man meant.

If he didn't act, the Daimyo would.

By then, Konoha would be utterly ridiculed, never able to hold its head high again.

For the Daimyo himself to step in and purge a Hokage advisor—what greater humiliation could there be?

He could even feel the stares from the envoys of the other nations all around him.

Those gazes were mixed with pity, schadenfreude, and contempt.

Konoha's glory, the Hokage's dignity—in this moment, they were trampled into dust.

The Hidden Guard Leader's voice rang out again, not loud, but clear.

"Show us the spirit of the Shinobi Hero, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

"Let everyone see if your fangs have truly been worn down by the years."

"This is for Konoha!"

For Konoha?

Those four words utterly shattered the defenses within Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart.

For those four words, he had compromised his entire life, endured his entire life.

And now, for those same four words, he had to kill his own friend with his own hands.

The Konoha ninjas around him said nothing, but some of them no longer hid their killing intent.

"Do it, Sarutobi!" At the end of the road, having seen the situation clearly, Shimura Danzō actually smiled in resignation.

That smile was mixed with relief, reluctance, and self-mockery.

He straightened his hunched back, as if returning to that era of blazing war, standing shoulder to shoulder with the friend beside him.

"To die by your hand—I've no regrets!"

A thunderous roar echoed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, countless fragments of memory exploding before his eyes.

The oath they'd sworn as boys, sharing rice balls back to back, was crushed by the cruelty of reality.

He jerked his head up. In those clouded old eyes, all warmth vanished in an instant, leaving only endless sorrow and blazing fury!

The aura of a Kage-level powerhouse erupted from him.

The ninjas closest to him couldn't even keep their footing, forced back step after step by that overwhelming pressure!

A cry, suppressed to the extreme and mixed with rage, pierced the heavens.

"Danzō!!!"