Kazemori Masaki and his party soon arrived at the Capital. The Konoha Combat Unit waited outside; entering would only unsettle the people. In any case, no formidable forces remained within the Capital. The Daimyo Mansion's elite Chakra Samurai were unavailable, and the remaining ordinary samurai posed no concern.
An official in the Capital was the first to meet Kazemori Masaki and the others. He had also received Masaki on his previous visits to discuss state affairs and held Konoha Ninja Village in high regard. Then again, after everything that had happened, there was probably no one left in the Capital who thought well of the Daimyo.
Of the lords and officials determined to follow the Daimyo, the former had all been wiped out by Katsuya Uchiha in the Town, while the remaining officials had fallen from power within the Capital. Although formal appointments from the Daimyo had yet to arrive, most officials in the Capital already treated those men as nonexistent. They could only tremble in their mansions, awaiting judgment.
"Lord Hokage, I never imagined something like this would happen," the official said to Kazemori Masaki with a bitter expression. "Fortunately, you discovered Tobi in time. Ah, no, his real name was Katsuya Uchiha, wasn't it? That bastard deserves a thousand deaths, yet he managed to escape."
"Our lapse in vigilance allowed him to survive," Kazemori Masaki said. "To be honest, we were negligent in letting him worm his way into the Lord Daimyo's confidence."
"Even so, if the Lord Daimyo hadn't remained so wary of your Konoha Ninja Village, how could that man have gotten close to him?" The officials were no fools. They did not believe the Daimyo had been under genjutsu when he appointed Katsuya Uchiha to his side. After the Daimyo's genjutsu was dispelled, the Guardian