Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

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"...They actually made a move?"

The Fifth Hokage, Akimichi Torifu, was at home having breakfast. Last year, when the great war broke out on the front lines, he practically ate and slept in the Hokage Building. However, after the war ended, the Hokage couldn't stand the tense atmosphere of the Hokage Building, which made it difficult to get any rest. So, he started a life of clocking in and out on time whenever there was nothing important to do.

however,

I had only eaten half of my breakfast when Nara Shikaku burst in with news that made it impossible for me to sit down and eat in peace.

I glanced longingly at my half-eaten breakfast.

Akimichi Torifu sighed.

"Shikaku, let me get ready, shall we go to the Hokage Building together?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Nara Shikaku agreed and patiently waited under the eaves.

······

"Grandpa Jiraiya, that's the police department's emblem, right?"

After finishing breakfast, Naruto, who had just stepped out of his house on his way to the Ninja Academy, happened to see the fireworks going off. He had moved to Jiraiya's apartment in Konoha. As one of the Legendary Sannin, even though he wandered around and rarely returned home, the village still had a rather luxurious apartment reserved for him, and someone would come to clean it regularly.

"Ah! It seems so."

Jiraiya yawned and gave a rather casual answer.

He reached out and ruffled Naruto's carefully styled hair, saying lazily, "Alright, hurry up and go to school! What happens over there has nothing to do with a kid like you. The adults will take care of that! Just do what you're supposed to do."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Naruto pushed away Jiraiya's large hand, tidied his hair again, and gave a perfunctory reply, but he really put the fireworks matter out of his mind. After tidying up his messy hair, he set off for school.

Once Naruto's figure disappeared down the street,

Jiraiya scratched his head, rested his elbow on the stairwell railing, and silently watched the direction where the fireworks were rising. After a while, he turned around, staggered into the door, and slammed the door shut. No matter what happened, as long as Konoha was not in chaos, it was none of his business to get involved.

He was too lazy to get involved in the power struggles within the village!

[Chapter 261. Ambushing an Old Nobleman in His Sixties (Please Subscribe! Please Vote!)]

The distress signal had already stirred up a storm in the village. As the special envoy, Hiramiya Nariaki could not possibly remain in the dark. As early as when the tea room collapsed, he had already stepped out of his room at the reminder of his confidant and stood in the courtyard, gazing at the location where the smoke and dust were rising.

"What exactly is going on?"

"A bunch of useless idiots, can anyone tell me what happened at the teahouse?"

"Where is Ogasawara Uemon? Why haven't we been able to contact him yet?"

Hiramiya Nariaki was furious beyond measure.

The old man was so angry that his beard bristled, and he berated his subordinates mercilessly. But beneath this angry and arrogant aura, his heart was filled with unease and anxiety. News from the teahouse had completely died out. Not only could he not contact Ogasawara Uemon, but the subordinates he sent to gather intelligence at the teahouse had also never returned.

seem,

The tea room area turned into a black hole.

It swallowed up all the information.

He had no idea what was happening in the tea room, but he knew very well that if what was underneath the tea room were exposed, it would most likely cause trouble.

Subconsciously, he recalled what Ogasawara Uemon had said before, "There was murderous intent in his eyes when he looked at you, sir." A chill ran from his heels to the back of his head. Could it be that Kazuma? Had he discovered the secret of the tea room and was planning to kill Ogasawara and himself?

Once this thought took root stubbornly in his mind, it could never be shaken off!

Even with such a large and clearly visible distress signal floating in the air, Hiramiya Saiki resolutely refused his subordinates' request to seek help from Kazuma, who was the vice envoy. After some thought, he instead ordered his subordinates to evacuate the embassy and ask the Konoha ninjas for help!

He understood it very well.

The Konoha ninja wouldn't act rashly against him. Even if what happened at the teahouse was exposed, no matter how angry Konoha was, they couldn't just bypass the Daimyo and execute him. On the contrary, Kazuma, who was a confidant of the Daimyo, was a bigger threat. He was a vicious dog raised by the Daimyo.

“Go in the opposite direction from the tea room.”

Hiramiya Nariaki suppressed his panic, tried his best to sort out his thoughts, and made a decision very quickly.

"But there's a wall over there..."

One of the subordinates said instinctively.

"Fool, doesn't pushing down the wall create a road? Or are you saying you can't even break down a single wall?"

Hiramiya Nariaki was furious. How come he never noticed how useless these guys were? They were dim-witted and incompetent, simply... sigh! But there was no room for criticism at this point. His chief bodyguard, Ogasawara Uemon, was not around, so he could only rely on these useless people to protect him.

Although not all nobles were powerless.

However, Hiramiya Nariaki had been pampered since childhood. Although he had dabbled in things like archery, kendo, and horsemanship, it was all just superficial practice for a few days; he was all show and no substance. Plus, he was already over sixty years old…

Even though he and Ogasawara Eemon were using the secret rituals of the Jashin cult to modify themselves, being unable to fight ultimately meant he was still unable to fight.

The pristine white wall was quickly breached. As one of the most powerful nobles in the Land of Fire, Hiramiya Nariaki had several capable subordinates, including wandering ninjas, members of small clans, and samurai. With such a group working together, breaching the wall was not a difficult task at all.

only--

"Lord Hiramiya, where are you going?" A leisurely voice came from both sides of the opening. Upon hearing this voice, Hiramiya Qijing shuddered violently as if stung by a scorpion. It was actually Kazuma!

Immediately, the old man regained his composure, took a deep breath, and said:

"Kazuma? You've come at the right time! The enemy has launched a surprise attack on the embassy. Ogasawara is under a lot of pressure. You need to go and support him!"

What appeared on the other side of the wall was indeed a horse.

The moment the police department raised the distress signal, Kazuma realized that he could not delay any longer. If he waited any longer, he would miss the chance if the experts from Konoha arrived. So he didn't even bother to appreciate the highly entertaining taijutsu battle between Kaguya Kimimaro and Ogasawara Uemon, and rushed over to block Hiramiya Saiki, who was trying to escape.

"enemy?"

Kazuma sneered at Hiramiya Nariaki, "I just came from the tea room. There were no enemies, only law enforcement officers from the Konoha Police Department. Ogasawara doesn't need any support at all. He's just courting death. But I'd like to ask Lord Hiramiya, do you really know how much trouble your actions will cause the Daimyo if they get exposed?"

"Kazuma!? What do you mean?"

Hiramiya Nariaki's face instantly darkened, and he stared at Kazuma with a fierce, wolf-like gaze.

"You ask me what I mean? Don't you understand human language? I'm asking if you thought about how badly your actions would affect the Daimyo when you were arbitrarily arresting people in Konoha?" Kazuma roared like a raging beast. It wasn't just Hiramiya Nariaki who was angry; his anger was no less than Hiramiya Nariaki's.

"As a special envoy, you represent His Majesty's face in Konoha. To outsiders, your every move reflects the Daimyo's will. But instead of maintaining your integrity, you have willingly degraded yourself, trampling on His Majesty's dignity. It's simply... disgusting!"

After a barrage of criticism,

Kazuma regained his composure, let out a soft breath, and looked at Hiramiya Nariaki, whose raised arm was trembling with anger, and said coldly, "Forget it, there's no point in talking to a selfish and disloyal beast like you. For the sake of your lord... please stay here obediently!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

A kunai slipped out of Kazuma's right sleeve.

This time, Hiramiya Nariaki finally understood what Ogasawara Uemon meant by "killing intent." Kazuma wanted to kill him, and just as their eyes met in the air, he realized that saying anything was useless; at this moment, only the knife in his hand mattered.

"Stop him!"

Hiramiya Qijing shouted loudly.

Although his guards weren't very skilled, they were undeniably loyal. Even though they knew they were no match for Kazuma, they still charged forward. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hiramiya Nariaki turned and ran—heading towards the tea room.

at this time,

Forget about finding the Konoha ninjas. It's more reliable to go find Ogasawara than to search for them. Even if Ogasawara's situation might not be much better, and the tea room might just be another desperate situation, he would never give up as long as there is even a one in ten thousand chance.

As his body aged and he felt his energy waning, after his sixtieth birthday, Hiramiya Nariaki realized more and more deeply the preciousness of life and the terror of death!

He doesn't want to die!

So when Ogasawara Uemon came to him with the secret to immortality, even though he knew that Ogasawara Uemon was burdened with many troubles, he still chose to cooperate with Ogasawara Uemon without hesitation for a second, agreeing to almost all of the other party's demands.

In order to survive, he began to worship and believe in an evil god with unprecedented devotion—a god that was clearly not a good one. He did not hesitate to use human lives to pave his way to immortality.

and also,

Hiramiya Saiki, who was over sixty years old, ran very fast.

His agile gait didn't seem like that of a pampered, sixty-something-year-old nobleman who was used to a life of luxury and always traveled by sedan chair or carriage. His speed was almost as fast as a ninja who could race a steam train. Kazuma was taken aback by this sight.

only--

Such struggles are ultimately futile.

The difference in strength is so great that it can be described as a world apart.

Kazuma wiped the blood off the kunai and chased after Hiramiya Nariaki. Behind him, the still-warm corpses lay motionless on the ground, large patches of blood gradually staining the ground beneath them.

"Lord Hiramiya, stop struggling in vain! Doing so will only cause you more suffering!"

The kunai flew like a shooting star, accompanied by a soft sigh, and struck Hiramiya Saiki squarely in the back of the heart. The powerful kunai pierced deep into his body, causing the sixty-something-year-old nobleman to stumble and fall to the ground with a thud. The old man was furious and glared back at Kazuma.

You, a young ninja in your twenties, ambushed me, a nobleman in my sixties! You have no sense of martial ethics!

and,

It hurts!

It hurts like hell!

However, Hiramiya Nariaki knew that there was no time for him to complain or curse. Enduring the pain of his heart being pierced, he got up and continued running, the kunai stuck in his back swaying with his movements.

"What the hell?"

Kazuma was startled by the kunai that was swaying up and down and left and right!

Good guy,

Is this what they call immortality?

Even if it pierced his heart, he was fine?

After a moment of hesitation, he and Ma Yang threw two shuriken, which landed precisely on Hiramiya Saiki's right calf and thigh. Since even piercing his heart couldn't kill him, they would first restrict Hiramiya Saiki's Ito ability, and then figure out a way to deal with it.

Hiramiya Nariaki fell down again.

However, this time the shuriken stuck in his calf and thigh muscles hindered his movement. He reached out to pull the shuriken out, but the short delay was enough for him and Ma to catch up. At this point, they were still a little distance from the teahouse.

Only then did Hiramiya Nariaki pull out the two shuriken that were stuck in his calf and thigh muscles.

Another kunai pierced deeply through his right wrist.

"Kazuma, do you know what you're doing? If you dare kill me, you'll be making an enemy of the Heima family. Even the daimyo can't protect you." Knowing he couldn't escape, Hiramiya Nariaki still didn't give up the struggle, trying to persuade Kazuma with words, even though he knew the chances were slim.

"Don't worry, Lord Hiramiya. It was Ogasawara who killed you, and it has nothing to do with me. As for the Hiramiya family possibly taking their anger out on me... do you really think they'll have time to do something like that? And do you really think those unworthy descendants of yours would provoke the daimyo's guards for the sake of a dead man? They're busy vying for the position of head of the family!"