Asuma Sarutobi

Kazuma looked over several intelligence reports recovered from the Root corpses,

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, he spotted a familiar name in the reports,

and his brows shot up.

"Asuma Sarutobi? He's the Third's biological son?"

A cruel smile spread across his face. "Now that's interesting."

"Asuma's a Guardian Shinobi. If we send him to personally bring down that old fool, it'll make quite a scene."

Whether it succeeded or not,

it would deal a heavy blow to the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

When they were still some distance from the Daimyo Palace,

killing intent suddenly erupted from the dense woods lining the road.

"Itachi, stay alert!"

Might Guy warned, his thick brows drawn together.

Before he had finished speaking, several kunai came whistling toward him.

"Hmph. Pathetic tricks!"

Guy grinned, showing off his gleaming teeth.

His figure blurred in an instant,

and he dodged to the side or ducked at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, letting the kunai fly past him.

At the same time, he shouted, "Leaf Whirlwind!"

Guy kicked straight at the enemy on the treetop who had thrown the kunai at him.

With a dull thud,

the "rogue ninja" was sent flying several yards,

and only stopped after crashing through a large tree.

But the next moment, rogue ninja wielding all kinds of weapons surrounded Guy.

Guy shook out his leg and raised a thick brow.

"You rogue ninja dare attack us, the shinobi of Konoha!"

"Guy, watch out!"

Uchiha Itachi didn't go to Guy's aid.

Instead, he stayed close to the carriage carrying the Third.

The kunai in his hand were ready.

In the blink of an eye, he took down several rogue ninja who charged toward the carriage.

Ao, sitting in the carriage, watched Itachi's nimble movements with a flicker of approval in his eyes.

These minor skirmishes didn't warrant his intervention.

Just then, the ground shook violently.

Several rogue ninja formed Hand Seals together. "Earth Release: Earth Spear Spike!"

Countless sharp earth spears burst from the ground and shot toward Might Guy like a rain of arrows.

At this critical moment, a voice rang out: "Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!"

Two yellow walls of earth rose from the ground,

perfectly blocking every earth spear aimed at Guy.

"Guy!"

Seeing this, Uchiha Itachi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His eyes remained fixed on the rogue ninja watching them from all sides.

Kakashi appeared beside Might Guy.

"You lot don't look like ordinary rogue ninja."

"Looks like you're after the Third in that carriage."

Guy rolled his wrists, ready to cut loose.

He shouted, "Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Limit, open!"

A surge of green chakra burst from his body,

and Guy became a green whirlwind as he charged into the group of rogue ninja.

"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"

Screams rang out through the woods.

The rogue ninja fought without fear of death,

but they were no match for Guy with the Eight Inner Gates open.

Just then, a figure suddenly lunged at Uchiha Itachi.

Before he could get close,

Yatsuhashi punched him, scattering him into a cloud of flying dirt.

It was an Earth Clone made by one of the rogue ninja across from them.

"Careful."

At some point, Yatsuhashi had appeared beside Itachi.

Beneath the Eagle Mask, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan watched Itachi coldly.

At first, Itachi had thought the masked Anbu who saved him was Uchiha Shisui.

But on closer inspection, he realized it wasn't.

The moment their eyes met,

Yatsuhashi's cold gaze made Itachi's heart jump.

He looked at Yatsuhashi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, instinctively on guard.

The Anbu wearing the Eagle Mask before him

exuded a pressure

that rivaled even that of the Uchiha Clan head, Uchiha Fugaku.

The battle quickly drew to a close.

With the Eight Inner Gates open, Might Guy was like a green beast,

crushing the remaining enemies with overwhelming strength.

Kakashi, meanwhile, moved like a ghost, taking the rogue ninja's lives with the kunai in his hand.

Guy watched Kakashi and said, "Wait, Kakashi!"

Kakashi used his kunai to finish off another fallen rogue ninja.

His voice remained utterly calm.

"Guy, how can you call an Anbu member by name while he's on a mission?"

"This is the mission we accepted. We can't leave anyone alive, especially enemies who know our whereabouts."

Seeing this, Uchiha Itachi quickly finished off the rogue ninja around the carriage who could no longer move.

He looked at Yatsuhashi. "There are no problems. The enemy has been completely eliminated."

Yatsuhashi looked coldly at the blood on Uchiha Itachi, so young and already stained with it.

He thought to himself, What a naturally wicked little brat from the Uchiha Clan.

Itachi looked at the scar over Kakashi's left eye and couldn't help asking, "Your Sharingan... you didn't awaken it yourself, did you?"

"Yeah."

Kakashi made no attempt to hide it.

Itachi asked, puzzled, "Doesn't it feel strange to have a power that isn't yours?"

"You're not an Uchiha.

"But with the Sharingan you possess, you can use the same power as the Uchiha.

"Which side do you think you belong to?"

Kakashi smiled as he walked over. "I've never thought about it that way.

"A friend entrusted this Sharingan to me.

"It reminds me not to forget my comrades."

"Come on, Itachi."

Might Guy spoke, breaking the tense silence.

"Let's keep moving!"

The imposing outline of the Daimyo Palace was faintly visible in the distance.

A carriage rolled slowly along the road.

Behind it, however, lay the bodies of many rogue ninja.

"Urgh..."

A rogue ninja cried out in pain and was subdued by Yatsuhashi in moments, no longer able to fight back.

Yatsuhashi casually tossed him to the roadside.

Not far away, Uchiha Itachi was impassively finishing off the last of the enemies.

They had already lost count of how many times rogue ninja had attacked them.

"Guy!"

Yatsuhashi called out coldly to Might Guy, who was still fighting off a crowd of rogue ninja.

Ao, who had sat motionless in the carriage all along,

watched two figures standing on the road ahead.

For the first time, his expression turned serious.

"Chidori!"

With a sharp cry like a flock of birds,

Kakashi flashed forward like lightning,

wiping out the enemies surrounding Guy in an instant.

As the dust settled, the four of them stood in front of the carriage.

The ones blocking their path were none other than

Asuma Sarutobi, holding two swords, and Chiriku, wielding a staff.

Both wore cloth belts around their waists bearing the character for "fire."

They were the insignia of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

After all, anyone who became a Guardian Shinobi was among the elite of the elite.

And the Twelve Guardian Ninja were the twelve most outstanding of them all.

An air of arrogance and rebelliousness clung to Asuma.

He swept his gaze coldly across the group,

pausing for a moment on Might Guy's conspicuous green jumpsuit,

then passing over Uchiha Itachi, covered in blood,

before finally settling on Kakashi and Yatsuhashi.

The familiar fluctuations of their chakra gave him a slight jolt.

"Kakashi... and Yatsuhashi?"

Back at the Ninja Academy,

the three of them had been classmates.

Although Kakashi and Uchiha Yatsuhashi had both donned masks and become Anbu,

Asuma could still easily recognize them by their familiar chakra.

That Uchiha Yatsuhashi who had once monopolized last place at school,

the dead last who'd needed Orochimaru's special recommendation just to graduate...

Who would've thought that after all these years,

he would now be

an outstanding Anbu shinobi, just like Kakashi.

Asuma Sarutobi's voice was cold and distant. "Tell the old man to go back.

"The Daimyo won't change his mind. There's no need for you to go in and be humiliated."

Inside the carriage, the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, slowly lifted the curtain for the first time.

He and Ao stood before Asuma.

The pipe Hiruzen never went anywhere without trembled faintly in his hand.

"Asuma..."

Hiruzen's voice was old and weary. "I want to hear it from the Daimyo himself. Even if the answer is the worst possible one, I must hear him say it to my face."

"There's no need for that, old man."

Asuma's eyes narrowed. Blue light flashed across the Chakra Blade in his hand.

"The Daimyo has already decided."

Asuma took up a standard fighting stance.

"He sent me to tell you the final outcome. The Hokage system in Konoha ends here."

Beside him, Chiriku formed a Hand Seal with one hand,

A faint golden chakra glow began to shimmer around him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as Asuma pointed his blade at him.

"Asuma, is this your resolve?"

"No!"

Asuma corrected him coldly,

his icy gaze showing not the slightest hesitation.

"I'm carrying out the Daimyo's orders. As a Guardian Shinobi, this is my resolve."