"Yamano."
"The ceremony continues."
Chiba Ran's voice was calm, rippling across the blood-soaked square.
Chief Ceremonial Officer Yamano, sprawled on the ground, shuddered and scrambled to his feet with both hands and feet. His legs trembled uncontrollably with fear.
Continue the enthronement ceremony in a scene like this?
But when he looked up and met Chiba Ran's gaze, the hesitation and fear in his heart vanished at once.
Trembling, he picked up the Ceremonial Scroll, forcing himself not to look around as he raised his voice.
His shrill voice carried clearly across the deathly silent square.
"—By Heaven's mandate and destiny, in accordance with the people's will!"
The instant his words rang out.
Over a hundred Hidden Guards became grim reapers harvesting lives in an instant.
There were no orders, no battle cries.
Aono Saku, at their head, merely made a simple wave of his hand.
The slaughter began!
Splat!
A black blade sliced across an outlaw's throat, blood gushing out like a fountain.
The man clutched his neck, unable even to scream.
"—Lord Chiba Ran possesses both benevolence and virtue, his might extending across the four seas!"
Yamano's voice trembled.
Elsewhere, a Root ninja had just finished forming hand seals when a poisoned black blade pierced his chest.
He lowered his head to look at the blade tip protruding from his body. His lips twitched, and he fell stiffly backward.
"—He shall rectify the court and abolish corrupt policies!"
Two Hidden Guards flanked an enemy from either side, their longswords crossing.
A head flew into the air, madness still frozen on its face.
The headless body swayed twice before crashing to the ground.
Ceremonial Officer Yamano closed his eyes, not daring to watch as he mechanically recited the ceremonial text.
He did not dare listen to the sounds of slaughter behind him either.
"—May all people live in peace, and may the realm prosper forever!"
The sounds of blades cutting flesh, bones cracking, and dying screams.
All of it mingled with the solemn praises spilling from his lips.
On one side were hymns praising the new ruler's virtues; on the other was a hell of severed limbs flying everywhere.
The clashing sight left everyone on the viewing platform speechless.
When the last rebel was beheaded, only wails and ragged breathing remained in the square.
At that moment.
In Konoha's viewing area.
The Hidden Guard Leader who had blocked the Konoha delegation slowly turned around.
His blazing gaze passed over Minato Namikaze, skipped past Hiruzen Sarutobi, and finally locked onto the grim-faced man.
Shimura Danzō, whose lone eye was bloodshot with rage and terror.
"Fourth Hokage." His voice was icy, devoid of emotion. "The rebels have revealed themselves. It is time for Konoha to clean house."
The words sent a shock through the Konoha group!
Everyone's gaze shot toward Shimura Danzō.
"Danzo!!" Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a grief-stricken roar.
The instant he was singled out, Shimura Danzō knew it was all over.
Without the slightest hesitation, he spun around and ran!
"Stop him!"
"For Konoha!"
Several quick-reacting Konoha Ninja roared and gave chase.
There were members of the Hyuga, Uchiha, Yamanaka, and Aburame clans among them...
As well as some ninja who had long been dissatisfied with Danzo.
This was the best opportunity to prove their loyalty to the New Daimyo!
"Protect Lord Danzo!"
The few remaining Root loyalists at Danzo's side roared as they turned to face the pursuers, without a trace of hesitation on their faces.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
"Secret Technique: Mind Body Switch Technique!"
But they were facing dozens of enraged Konoha comrades.
A Root ninja had just spat out a Wind Blade when a Hyuga clansman struck all the major chakra points across his body with Gentle Fist, instantly freezing his Chakra.
The next second, three or four Kunai pierced his throat.
Another Root ninja from the Yamanaka Clan tried to control his opponent, only to be kicked in the head.
His skull was crushed beneath the blow, brains splattering everywhere.
The battle began quickly and ended even faster.
In barely a dozen breaths, the Root loyalists had all fallen in pools of blood.
Shimura Danzō was surrounded in the middle of the square.
He clutched his continuously bleeding right arm, breathing heavily as his lone eye swept 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 as she shrieked the question.
"You have utterly disgraced Konoha! Surrender at once!" Mitokado Homura's old face was flushed red as well, his voice filled with anguish.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward one step at a time.
Looking at this old companion—both friend and enemy—whom he had fought against for a lifetime, now reduced to such a sorry state, his heart was filled with complicated emotions.
He opened his mouth, but could not say a word.
Strike?
Images of the war-torn years flashed through his mind: two boys leaning back-to-back, sharing their last Military Rations Pill.
"Hiruzen, keep going. You have to survive."
"Danzo, we will protect this village together until the day we die!"
Those old vows still rang in his ears, yet now he had to personally kill the dear friend who had grown up beside him?
He... could not do it.
The slaughter in the square had already ended.
Ceremonial Officer Yamano's recitation had reached its final line as well.
"—Today he ascends the throne and rules all under heaven! May the Will of Fire illuminate the eight lands!"
After finishing, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
The entire square fell into an eerie silence once more.
Chiba Ran took the Ceremonial Scroll.
With the National Stone in one hand and the ceremonial text in the other, he slowly walked to the edge of the elevated platform.
"Hey, isn't this over yet?"
In an instant, every gaze converged on him.
The next moment, they focused on the surrounded Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi as he walked toward him step by step.
At that moment, beneath the eyes of the crowd.
The Hidden Guard Leader appeared at Hiruzen Sarutobi's side like a ghost.
"Third Hokage." His voice was not loud, yet it stabbed fiercely into Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart. "This is Konoha's internal affair, a festering evil born from your own indulgence."
He raised a hand and pointed.
First, he pointed at the civilians trampled to death in the chaos. Then he pointed at the Four Nations Delegation.
The delegation members all wore expressions of people enjoying a show.
"Everyone is watching."
"Will you personally cut away this tumor and prove to the world that Konoha can still be saved?"
"Or..." His voice carried a mocking edge. "Will you force my lord to act personally and clean house for Konoha?"
"To announce to the world that Konoha Ninja cannot even deal with their own traitors?"
Every word struck straight at the heart!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's body shuddered, and his vision went dark in waves.
He understood what the other man meant.
If he refused to act, the Daimyo would.
And when that happened, Konoha would become a complete laughingstock, never able to raise its head again.
For the Daimyo to personally deal with a Hokage's advisor—what humiliation could be greater?
He could even feel the gazes from the delegations of other nations all around him.
Those gazes were mixed with pity, schadenfreude, and contempt.
Konoha's glory and the Hokage's dignity were trampled to pieces in that moment.
The Hidden Guard Leader's voice sounded again, quiet but clear.
"Show the bearing of a Shinobi Hero, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"Let everyone see whether your fangs have truly been worn flat by time."
"This is for Konoha!"
For Konoha?
Those four words completely shattered Hiruzen Sarutobi's last line of defense.
For those four words, he had compromised his entire life and endured his entire life.
And now, for those same four words, he had to personally kill his friend.
The surrounding Konoha Ninja said nothing, but some of them no longer bothered to hide their killing intent.
"Do it, Hiruzen!" Having reached the end of the road and seen the situation clearly, Shimura Danzō actually smiled in resignation.
That smile was mixed with relief, unwillingness, and self-mockery.
He straightened his hunched back, as though he had returned to those war-torn years, standing shoulder to shoulder with his dear friend.
"It won't be a loss to die by your hand!"
A thunderous boom went off in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, and countless fragments of memories exploded before his eyes.
The vows they had made while sharing rice balls back-to-back in their youth were crushed to pieces by the cruelty of reality.
He suddenly raised his head. All warmth vanished in an instant from his clouded old eyes, leaving only endless sorrow and fury!
The aura of a Kage Level powerhouse erupted from him.
Some nearby ninja could barely stay on their feet, forced back again and again by that immense pressure!
A cry of grief mixed with rage, suppressed to its limit, rang out beneath the heavens.
"Danzo!!!"
Before you continue