The Twelve Guardian Ninja - Kazuma

Minato Namikaze did not sleep all night, busy preparing documents to handle this audit.

He had to at least maintain the appearance of impartiality.

Simply flipping through the records and war merit statistics from that time revealed the underlying issues.

The assessment of certain battlefield achievements was completely groundless, decided solely by the word of the supervision squads.

Even the merits of the supervision squads themselves were self-assessed. Most of these squads were composed of members from the Sarutobi Clan.

I am judging myself?

This was the greatest grievance and the most significant problem.

At this moment, the news brought to him by the Flying Thunder God squad—that the Daimyo had also sent people to participate in this audit—made him even more cautious.

Fortunately, the Third Hokage sent word that he was willing to provide financial compensation and make amends in other areas.

Only then did Minato Namikaze feel a sense of psychological balance, finding phrasing he could accept.

He spent the entire night busy crafting a result that everyone in Konoha could accept.

In the end, if there truly was no other way, he would have to wrong a few people.

Shinichi Hyuga slept very well, and early the next morning, he continued to watch his clansmen begin their drills on the training grounds.

He could also use his Byakugan to watch the play that had yet to finish.

After yesterday's events, the clansmen were even more supportive of Shinichi Hyuga.

Hokage Building.

In the same conference room as yesterday, Minato Namikaze stood in the center, looking exhausted.

The other Konoha elders looked no better; clearly, none of them had slept well.

The other ninja clans and Jonin had also arrived.

The attitude they displayed today was completely different from yesterday.

Yesterday, under the leadership of the Third Hokage, they had pressured the Uchiha Clan. Today, they were carving out a portion of the interests that should have been theirs from the Third Hokage's own share.

This left the once-united Konoha ninja clans filled with mutual distrust.

Yesterday, every clan had reviewed the questions raised by Shinichi Hyuga, and the conclusion they reached was that they needed to be wary of the Sarutobi Clan.

With such an intuitive map placed before them, they were forced to suspect the dealings of the Third Hokage; these were all annexations that had occurred during his tenure.

As the attitudes of these people fell into the eyes of Sarutobi Hiruzen, he could only sigh. Shinichi Hyuga was indeed a scourge; the prestige he had accumulated over a dozen years had already been destroyed.

Even the clans that had previously leaned toward him were now guarded against him.

The Sanada Clan and Takeda Clan, which he had used most effectively, had also been ruined by Shinichi Hyuga—truly detestable.

Now, he would have to sacrifice even more of the Sarutobi Clan's interests to appease the people before him.

"Minato, everyone should understand the general situation."

"I admit that the Sarutobi Clan had lapses in duty during the war, and I am willing to divide up our interests to compensate everyone present."

"Just grant this old man one last shred of dignity."

"The intervention of the Daimyo is not good for any of us, wouldn't you agree?"

The wrinkles on the Third Hokage's forehead formed a fan shape as he began his pathetic plea, speaking with pointed intent.

When you are beaten, you must stand at attention; he had to admit his faults and quickly re-aggregate the interests of these people.

Otherwise, if the envoy sent by the Daimyo participated, the outcome would be even more unfavorable for him.

He signaled to some of the people around him, directly limiting the scope of this audit to these specific documents.

According to the documents he had "forged," no major problems would arise; this was exactly the kind of thing their clan excelled at.

The vast majority of them had already received compensation from Sarutobi Hiruzen and had been warned.

With both carrots and sticks applied, no one wanted to make a big scene.

Soon, the situation returned to the control of the Third Hokage.

Everyone reached a consensus: do not let the Daimyo's people get involved.

Far away at the Hyuga Clan, a look of realization appeared on Shinichi Hyuga's face, his Byakugan piercing through the obstacles to land inside the conference room.

"Twelve Guardian Ninja—Kama! Let's see how you perform."

The villain of the future who would sacrifice his own child just to destroy Konoha?

A strange sound echoed from the conference room.

Thud.

Thud.

The sound of a hard object striking the floor echoed through the room.

A figure appeared at the entrance of the conference room, interrupting the Third Hokage mid-speech.

He had white hair, eyes narrowed into slits, and a cloth sash wrapped around his waist bearing a large "Fire" character. In his hand, he held a monk's staff.

The sound from moments ago was exactly that: the staff striking the ground.

"Kazuma!"

Seeing the newcomer, the Third Hokage felt his heart sink; he sensed trouble.

Kazuma was a radical among the Twelve Guardian Ninja who believed that the Hokage was an unnecessary existence and that both the ninja village and the ninjas themselves should operate under the leadership of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

He had not expected the Daimyo to send him here.

How detestable! He had originally planned to have Asuma join the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and when the Daimyo succession took place, he would ensure a successor favorable to him took the throne, eventually forcing Kazuma out.

Now, everything had changed.

It seemed that this time, he would have to concede even greater interests.

"Is this the answer you have all arrived at?"

Kazuma's gaze swept over those present, and upon seeing the report already drafted on the table, a flicker of frustration crossed his eyes.

He grew increasingly wary of the Third Hokage.

In just a single day, he had managed to handle the crisis.

Before arriving, Shinichi Hyuga had already issued him a warning based on his own investigation.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had actually begun to interfere with the Daimyo's succession, and furthermore, he was backing the second prince—a candidate for the future Daimyo who held him in extreme disdain.