Gengetsu had come to the Daimyō's Residence this time not to apologize or submit, but to overthrow the daimyō's rule.
Thus, Gengetsu wasted no words and struck directly, killing Fujiwara Taiga.
Scarlet blood sprayed straight onto the Land of Fire's daimyō.
One second, the daimyō had been loudly berating Gengetsu; the next, his entire body was stained red with blood.
The daimyō's face, coated in thick white powder, froze.
"Ah! What have you done!"
Only after a full two or three seconds did the Land of Fire's daimyō finally react, letting out a scream.
After all, he was the daimyō of the entire Land of Fire, its most exalted person!
From birth until now, he had enjoyed everyone's prostration and reverence. When had he ever seen such a bloody, terrifying sight?
What he found even harder to accept was that this Hokage of Konoha actually dared to mercilessly kill one of the Land of Fire's highest-ranking nobles right before his eyes!
"This is bad! Protect the daimyō!"
The instant the daimyō screamed in terror, twelve dark figures rushed out from all around, tightly shielding the panicking daimyō in their midst.
These twelve people were the private organization responsible for the security of the Daimyō's Residence.
The Twelve Guardian Ninja!
Upon seeing Gengetsu actually dare to kill someone in public and threaten the daimyō's safety, the Twelve Guardian Ninja rushed out at once.
Among the Twelve Guardian Ninja was a bearded young man wielding a pair of Chakra Blades.
This young man was none other than Asuma Sarutobi, the son of Konoha's Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi!
"Guardian Ninja, attack!"
"Seize him! Tear this outrageously insolent bastard to pieces!"
Seeing the Twelve Guardian Ninja appear, the Land of Fire's daimyō immediately roared hysterically.
The Land of Fire's daimyō was furious now, utterly furious!
I am the great daimyō of the Land of Fire, the most exalted, most noble ruler of this land!
And what is Uchiha Gengetsu?
Merely a Hokage of Konoha, within the Land of Fire!
Ultimately, Konoha is nothing more than a military organization hired by the Land of Fire, and the Hokage is my subordinate.
Yet now, this subordinate dares to kill someone before me, and one of the Land of Fire's highest-ranking nobles at that!
This is sheer insolence, utter lawlessness. He has no regard for me as daimyō at all.
Today, this hateful ninja must be taught a harsh lesson, so he knows who truly rules this country!
"Yes, Lord Daimyō!"
Hearing the Land of Fire's daimyō's order, the Twelve Guardian Ninja did not hesitate. Each tightened their grip on their weapon and darted forward, completely surrounding Gengetsu and the others.
"Uchiha Gengetsu! Surrender without a fight!"
Asuma Sarutobi stepped forward from among the Twelve Guardian Ninja and shouted.
In Asuma's view, although Gengetsu was the newly appointed Fifth Hokage, they had twelve fighters at the elite jonin level here.
Twelve against one. The advantage is ours.
Facing Asuma's confident demeanor, Gengetsu spoke with utter disdain.
"So you're the son of that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi?!"
"You're a Konoha ninja, yet instead of serving your village, you came here to be the daimyō's dog. What a piece of trash!"
The Uchiha Clan's arrogance was on full display in Gengetsu.
Never mind Asuma Sarutobi-even if Hiruzen Sarutobi himself stood before him, Gengetsu would curse him just the same!
"What did you say! Damn you!"
"Die!"
Hearing Gengetsu publicly insult his father as an old bastard and call him a worthless dog of the daimyō, Asuma Sarutobi flew into a rage.
From childhood onward, he had carried the prestige of being the Hokage's son. Wherever he went, people respected him. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
Seething with fury, Asuma did not hesitate. Gripping his sharp twin Chakra Blades, he was the first to charge at Gengetsu.
As Asuma Sarutobi charged fiercely toward him, Gengetsu's eyes remained filled with disdain.
Just as the Chakra Blades were about to touch Gengetsu.
Gengetsu shifted slightly to one side, easily dodging Asuma Sarutobi's attack.
Immediately afterward, Gengetsu lashed out with a vicious kick.
Bam! "Aah!..."
Accompanied by a piercing scream, Gengetsu's kick landed squarely on Asuma's chest.
Terrifying force erupted in an instant. Asuma Sarutobi's breastbone snapped with a sharp crack, and his entire body flew backward.
Crash...
Asuma Sarutobi slammed heavily into the courtyard wall of the Daimyō's Residence over ten meters away, smashing a huge crater into the solid wall as countless pieces of rubble tumbled down.
One move!
Just one move.
Asuma Sarutobi, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, had been sent flying by a single kick from Gengetsu!
"So weak!"
"How did someone as weak as you get into the Twelve Guardian Ninja?"
"Don't tell me that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi bought you your position!"
Watching Asuma Sarutobi struggle painfully amid the rubble, Gengetsu mocked him with utter disdain.
"Damn you! Uchiha Gengetsu! You!"
Hearing Gengetsu's mockery, Asuma Sarutobi was furious.
But before he could retort, a burst of intense pain shot through his chest.
Then he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply to the ground again.
"Asuma!"
"Damn you! You dare hurt one of us! Everyone, attack together and take him down!"
Seeing the gravely injured Asuma Sarutobi, the other members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja were all furious.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, they all unleashed their fiercest attacks on Gengetsu.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
"Wind Release: Gale Technique!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear!"
"..."
For a moment, countless ninjutsu blanketed the sky, raining furiously down on Gengetsu like a violent storm as a series of deafening explosions rang out.
As members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, each of them possessed strength around the elite jonin level. They were all extremely powerful.
Especially now, with eleven of them attacking together, their combined offensive power was all the more ferocious.
Rumble!
With a tremendous roar, the raging ninjutsu engulfed Gengetsu, throwing dust and smoke into the sky.
"Did we get him?!"
"Hmph! He took the ninjutsu attacks of all eleven of us head-on. Even a Hokage couldn't possibly survive!"
"Exactly. No one could survive an attack like that!"
"Daring to cause trouble at the Daimyō's Residence-he was asking to die!"
"..."
Watching the dust and smoke ahead, the members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja could not help smiling in victory.
In their view, under such ferocious attacks, even Gengetsu, a Hokage, could not possibly survive.
But had their attacks really been effective against Gengetsu?!
Clearly not.
Whoosh!
A light breeze blew past as the smoke slowly dispersed.
Gengetsu stood there completely unharmed, without even a corner of his clothing singed.
Gengetsu raised his head slightly. At some point, his originally black eyes had transformed into scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan.
At the same time, a ring of deep-red chakra bones had appeared around Gengetsu!
Like an indestructible absolute defense, these deep-red chakra bones had blocked the entire overwhelming ninjutsu bombardment.
This was the ultimate power of the Mangekyō Sharingan-Susanoo!
"This! What ninjutsu is this?!"
"What terrifying chakra! Is that really an amount of chakra a human could possess?!"
"Look at his eyes! Those aren't ordinary Sharingan at all!"
"..."
Seeing the manifested Susanoo for the first time and feeling its oppressive presence, as though it could destroy heaven and earth, the twelve Guardian Ninja could not help crying out.
"Are you finished attacking?!"
"Now it's my turn!"
As Gengetsu's words fell.
Boom!
The enormous chakra within Gengetsu erupted without restraint, and the Susanoo around him, previously no more than ribs, began expanding at a terrifying speed.
Countless streams of deep-red chakra frantically intertwined and condensed-meridians, flesh...
Soon, before everyone's stunned eyes, the deep-red chakra took the form of a skeletal giant's upper body, dozens of meters tall!
This was the second stage of Susanoo.
"What terrifying chakra! This..."
"Lord Fifth! What ability is he using?! I've never heard of a ninjutsu like this in the Shinobi World!"
"It's terrifying. In front of Lord Fifth, I feel like an ant!"
"..."
Feeling the terrifying chakra erupting from Gengetsu, the ninja from the Ino-Shika-Cho and other clans also began discussing it in shock.
Hearing this, the Uchiha Clan ninja in the group straightened their backs and declared loudly, their faces full of pride:
"Look closely! This is our Uchiha Clan's ultimate power, a divine power that only those who awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan can master-Susanoo!"
"What Lord Fifth is using now is the power of Susanoo!"
Under everyone's awed, fearful, and stunned gazes, Gengetsu began his attack.
The enormous deep-red Susanoo slowly extended its massive hand.
Hum!
Extremely terrifying deep-red chakra rapidly gathered in the giant's palm.
In the blink of an eye, this chakra transformed into three enormous deep-red tomoe.
"Yasaka Magatama..."
Immediately afterward, the tomoe in Susanoo's hand were hurled out at high speed.
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