Singing as He Fought

"As expected of a great Nobles from Kyoto—you even know Lord Danzo's name. Old man, there's no escaping your fate today!"

Seeing that Shinhiko Kōzuki had named Danzo, the assassin from Root laughed as well. Today, Root had joined forces with Sunagakure and Iwagakure, determined to make this place Shinhiko Kōzuki's grave.

"A failure who lost the contest for the Hokage position, who spends his days hiding in the Kage and sees nothing beyond his little patch of Konoha. I truly cannot understand why you would follow such a loser."

As the leader of the Hardliners, Shinhiko Kōzuki naturally made sure he thoroughly understood Konoha, the Land of Fire's most powerful armed force. Though Root had spent years carrying out missions even more deeply concealed than those of the ANBU, uncovering its workings was hardly difficult for him.

Ever since learning how Root had been founded and what it did, Shinhiko Kōzuki had wanted to ask its members what they could possibly gain by following someone like Danzo.

When the Iwagakure and Sunagakure ninja had laid their ambush precisely along his route home, Shinhiko had already guessed that Danzo was the mastermind behind today's plot to kill him. What he had not expected was that Danzo would be so shameless and brazen as to send assassins after a noble of his own country.

Just as Madara Uchiha had said, whatever Shinhiko Kōzuki's political views might be, once Konoha accepted the mission to protect him, it had to do everything possible to keep him alive—not merely because he was a noble of the Land of Fire, but for the sake of its own reputation. Otherwise, the Land of Fire's trust in Konoha would inevitably face a crisis. Now, however, Konoha's own people were secretly acting against the Hokage's wishes, casting yet