Twelve Guardian Ninja

"Understood!"

"Got it!"

It's all the Third Hokage's fault! It's all his fault for not telling us! If we had known earlier that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's child, how could we have ever treated him like that?

Some parents thought about how they usually went to the Ninja Academy to pick up their children after school, and every time they saw Naruto, they had to say a few words. Not only that, but they even taught their children right in front of Naruto not to get close to him...

At the mere thought of this, they felt extremely conflicted.

Prompted by some agitators, villagers who believed whatever they heard and felt guilty shifted all the blame onto the Third Hokage, who had concealed Naruto's identity.

Seeing this outcome, Takuya on the platform flashed a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

In this way, the Third Hokage's prestige would plummet.

It was all benefit to him and no harm.

While the Hokage Ceremony was being held in Konoha, the imperial court in the Capital of the Land of Fire also received news from the village.

"What? Konoha changed its Hokage?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire, who had just received the news, was so startled that even his fan froze mid-air.

At that moment, a shout suddenly came from outside.

A middle-aged man dressed like a noble strode into the hall without waiting for the Daimyo to summon him.

Seeing this person, the Daimyo flashed a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes, pointed his frozen fan at the newcomer, and was just about to unleash a harsh scolding when he heard the man say:

"Report to the Daimyo, something major has happened!"

Seemingly aware of the Daimyo's temperament, the middle-aged man quickly spoke before the scolding could start.

The Daimyo blinked, took a deep breath, and asked, "What major event? Speak quickly."

"Replying to the Daimyo, it is like this. There is news from outside saying that the Uchiha Clan of Konoha has launched a coup. Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha Clan, successfully assassinated the Third Hokage and became the Fifth Hokage himself."

A trace of shock flashed across the Daimyo's eyes. No wonder the letter brought by the Konoha ninja said a new Hokage had been chosen; without even seeking his consent, they had already held the Hokage Ceremony.

Turns out this new Fifth Hokage was a rebellious traitor?

The Konoha ninja waiting to the side looked somewhat displeased. "My lord, you can eat your words casually, but you cannot speak carelessly. It was the Third Hokage who failed to do his duty, condoning his own disciple's human experiments and wildly swallowing up property within the village, turning Konoha upside down. Our clan head is setting things straight and bringing back order. Anyone with eyes can see that only when the senile Third Hokage steps down will Konoha have a better future!"

The middle-aged man took a look, spotted the Uchiha clan crest on the Konoha ninja's clothes, and enlightenment struck his mind.

Turns out he was a ninja from the Uchiha Clan.

He shuddered inwardly. Speaking ill of people right in front of an Uchiha seemed like a rather bad idea.

These ninjas were all killers who blinked at nothing; in case they retaliated against him...

He hurriedly explained, "Little brother, please do not misunderstand at all. I am merely here to report this intelligence." As he spoke, he looked righteously at the Daimyo and said, "Daimyo, this is all just wild rumor from the outside. I do not know much."

The Uchiha clan member let out a cold snort and said nothing more.

Sitting on the throne, the Daimyo wore a somewhat gloomy expression. This damned Konoha ninja actually dared to threaten his subordinate minister right in front of him—truly utterly audacious.

What he failed to notice was that the members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja standing behind him to protect him all changed expression slightly.

The Twelve Guardian Ninja did not guard the Daimyo day and night; instead, they protected him in rotating groups.

Today, there were four members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja protecting the Daimyo: Kitane, Natsuhi, Seito, and Tō'u.

The four of them also had a title in the outside world called the "Lightning Release Four", and they could jointly execute the ninjutsu Lightning Release: Thunder Dream Thunder Person. Their strength could not be underestimated, and they had carved out quite a big reputation in the outside world.

Tō'u was the only female among the four, and she said in a low voice, "This is bad. If Asuma finds out about this, he might go back to get revenge, right?"

Kitane's eyes widened. "That won't do! How could Asuma succeed all by himself? That's the Uchiha! The number-one noble family in the Ninja World!"

"No, you guys keep guarding. I'll go find Asuma and tell him not to be rash," Tō'u said, glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the Uchiha Clan ninja with crossed arms below.

"Alright, don't worry. The Daimyo is guarded by the three of us. Go quickly and find Asuma, and tell him not to act rashly," Seito agreed.

A bond had formed among the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and they cherished each other deeply. If Asuma found out that his father had been killed, given his temperament, he would undoubtedly run back to take revenge without a second word.

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, had died at the hands of the Uchiha Clan—how could Asuma take revenge on his own?

As Asuma's colleagues and friends, they did not wish to see Asuma die a vain and miserable death.

Tō'u nodded, used the Body Flicker technique to vanish from the spot, and ran out of the palace to find Asuma.

Soon, Tō'u found Asuma Sarutobi at their place of residence.

This large estate was a dwelling granted to the Twelve Guardian Ninja by the Daimyo, with one room for each person.

Standing by the window, Tō'u breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw Asuma soundly asleep on the bed inside the room.

Good thing, good thing.

Tō'u patted her chest, thinking it was fortunate that Asuma and the others had been on the shift rotation last night, and right now happened to be their time to rest and sleep.

Precisely because of this, Asuma had not learned the news of his father's murder at the very first moment.

Thinking of this, Tō'u did not rush to go in. Instead, she went to the other rooms first to wake up the rest of them.

If it were just her alone, she might not be able to stop Asuma.

Having worked as colleagues with Asuma for so long, she knew his strength was not weak—at least much greater than hers.

She lacked the confidence to stop an enraged Asuma from leaving.

Therefore, she decided to summon everyone else first, and then find Asuma to break the news of his father's death to him.

That way, stopping Asuma should be more than enough.

The first person she sought was Chiriku, who lived right next door to Asuma.

Chiriku was the head priest of the Fire Temple, and his head carried a bounty of thirty million ryo on the black market. Among the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he held the highest black market bounty, and his personal strength was also exceptionally refined, winning the recognition of several of them. He was on par with Asuma Sarutobi.

Without even knocking on the door—not wanting to make a sound and wake up Asuma next door—Tō'u pushed open the door and slipped directly into Chiriku's room.

Chiriku possessed plenty of vigilance, or perhaps he wasn't even sleeping at all. The moment Tō'u pushed the door open and entered, he sat up from the bed and looked toward the figure at the doorway with a guarded expression.

"Who is it?"

Chiriku called out in a low voice.

Knowing he carried a thirty-million-ryo black market bounty, he remained exceedingly vigilant even within the imperial palace.

Without this sense of caution, he might have long since been killed by bounty hunters eager for the reward, his head traded in for the bounty.

"It's me!"

Tō'u let out a hiss, signaling Chiriku not to make a noise.

Recognizing the newcomer, Chiriku lowered his guard and asked in puzzlement, "Tō'u, aren't you supposed to be guarding by the Daimyo's side right now? What brings you the free time to come to my quarters?"

Chiriku's expression shifted slightly. Thinking of a certain possibility, he quickly pressed his palms together in front of his chest and chanted a quick Buddhist prayer.

Tō'u stared in utter bewilderment, clueless as to what Chiriku was suddenly doing, until she heard his next sentence, which caused her face to flush red.

"Tō'u, this humble monk is a man of the Buddhist path and stays away from worldly desires of women~"

Chiriku said with a compassionate expression.

Watching Chiriku utter those words with such a solemn face, Tō'u spat out, "Bald monk, what nonsense are you spewing! I'm here for a completely different matter!"

Realizing Chiriku had misunderstood, Tō'u quickly walked over and lowered her voice to clarify and explain.

Hearing this, enlightenment dawned on Chiriku!

Frowning, he said, "Asuma's father has been killed?"

He drew in a sharp breath. Others might not know about Asuma's father, but they, the Twelve Guardian Ninja, all knew that Asuma was the youngest son of the Third Hokage of Konoha in the Land of Fire.

In other words, that lord had died?

"What happened?"

Chiriku asked in a deep voice about the subsequent events.

Tō'u said, "I heard it from others as well. They said the Uchiha Clan in Konoha launched a coup, and the clan head of the Uchiha Clan assassinated the Third Hokage and then took the position of Fifth Hokage himself." Seeming to recall something, Tō'u quickly added, "Right, there is actually a member of the Uchiha Clan inside the palace right now."

"Here for what?"

Chiriku stood up instinctively, worried that after assassinating the Third Hokage, the Uchiha Clan might also want to assassinate the current Daimyo?

If the Daimyo died, the Land of Fire would plunge into total chaos.

Tō'u waved her hand and said, "Don't worry, the Uchiha clan member who came is only a Jonin. With Seito and the other two there, the Daimyo is completely safe."

Hearing this, the worry in Chiriku's heart did not vanish; instead, he furrowed his brow and said, "The Uchiha Clan possesses the Sharingan and masters profound genjutsu. Rumors say the Uchiha Clan virtually never loses one-on-one. Seito and the others..."