Inside the inner residence of the Daimyō's estate where the Daimyō, his wife, and children lived—many soldiers and loyal ninja stood guard to protect him.
Among the ninja responsible for his protection, the most powerful group was the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
This was an elite squad composed of twelve top-level jōnin. Sarutobi Asuma was one of them.
Uchiha Fugaku remembered that the Twelve Guardian Ninja would one day be torn apart by internal strife, with only three of them surviving in the end.
From then on, the Twelve Guardian Ninja would be disbanded.
But for now, they remained intact.
Swoosh—
Using the Mayfly Technique, Uchiha Fugaku evaded both the soldiers and ordinary ninja and infiltrated the Daimyō's inner estate.
The inner estate was made up of a sprawling complex of grand palaces, all surrounded by tall walls.
It was magnificent and imposing.
Even though night had already fallen, it remained brightly lit, like daytime. Countless servants moved about, attending to the Daimyō, his many wives, and children.
It was not hard to see the extravagant lifestyle of the Daimyō.
"The most majestic palace in the center must be where the Daimyō lives."
Hidden inside the surface of a massive stone pillar—wide enough for two people to encircle—Uchiha Fugaku's eyes emerged as he activated the Mayfly Technique.
His gaze fell immediately upon the grandest palace in the center, deducing that this must be the Daimyō's residence.
"But my target isn't the Daimyō. It's Sarutobi Asuma."
Uchiha Fugaku activated the sensory ability of the Yamanaka clan and extended his perception outward, instantly enveloping a wide area within his awareness.
He sensed several faint chakra signatures inside the central palace.
He suspected that the chakra wasn't inherently weak—but rather, the individuals were deliberately suppressing their chakra to avoid detection.
However, they could not escape his sensory technique, which picked them up as faint signals.
"There's a cluster of strong chakra signatures in that direction—must be where the Twelve Guardian Ninja reside!"
His eyes shifted toward another building located right next to the grand central palace.
Within that building, he sensed several powerful chakra sources.
Each of these chakra signatures was at elite jōnin level.
It was easy to deduce that this was the residence of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Those not currently assigned to protective duties likely stayed here, ready to respond at a moment's notice should the palace next door be attacked.
"I'm not sure if Sarutobi Asuma is on duty right now, but I'll check the Guardians' residence first!"
Uchiha Fugaku sank into the ground and stealthily made his way toward the Twelve Guardian Ninja's quarters from below.
Soon, he had infiltrated the area suspected to be their residence.
He sensed that everyone in the building was currently gathered in a single room.
Following the chakra signatures, he tunneled beneath the room and carefully revealed only his eyes.
"Lucky."
There were four people in the room:
One was a bald monk dressed in a light moon-white monk's robe.
Another was a man with faint stubble on his face.
The third was a clean-shaven man with slightly longer hair.
The fourth was a woman.
Uchiha Fugaku's gaze landed on the man with faint stubble—Sarutobi Asuma.
Right now, Asuma did not yet sport the full beard he would be known for; he had only a light stubble.
"Chiriku, what's going on? Why has tonight's guard detail doubled in size?"
The woman, named Tōbō, was the only female among the Twelve Guardian Ninja and one of the Four Lightning Style Users.
She turned to the bald monk and asked.
The bald monk was named Chiriku, a shinobi from the Temple of Fire.
Hearing Tōbō's question, Chiriku's expression grew solemn.
"We received intel that a dangerous individual has entered the Daimyō's estate. There's concern that he poses a threat to the Daimyō's life, so more guards have been assigned."
"A dangerous individual? What kind of danger are we talking about?"
The long-haired, clean-shaven man asked in surprise. His name was Saitō, also one of the Four Lightning Style Users like Tōbō.
As members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, none of them were ordinary shinobi; each possessed elite jōnin-level strength.
Having lived and trained together for a long time, they shared perfect coordination.
The four of them together could temporarily match a Kage-level opponent. With eight of them, they could even overpower one.
So he was quite curious—what kind of person could warrant sending eight elite ninja to protect the Daimyō?
"His name is Uchiha Fugaku," Chiriku said gravely.
"Uchiha Fugaku? I've heard of him. The renowned head of the Uchiha Clan."
Tōbō frowned slightly.
"His strength is decent, but nowhere near the level of Uchiha Madara. Is he really worth mobilizing eight of us?"
"Now, that genius Uchiha named Shisui—that's someone whose talent is said to rival Madara's. He's a truly dangerous figure," Saitō added.
"Don't underestimate him," Sarutobi Asuma said with a serious tone.
"According to the latest intelligence from Konoha, it's very likely that Fugaku has already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and has been hiding his true power for years."
"He already awakened the Mangekyō and has been concealing his strength all this time?"
Both Tōbō and Saitō's expressions grew heavy.
As elite jōnin, they were well aware of how terrifying the Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan was.
After all, it was with these eyes that Uchiha Madara once swept across the ninja world.
After a moment of silence, Tōbō asked, slightly unsettled:
"If he's truly such a threat and suspected of targeting the Daimyō, is this intel trustworthy?"
"The information came directly from the Third Hokage. It should be reliable," Chiriku replied.
"Ideally, all twelve of us would be on duty to ensure the Daimyō's safety. But since protection is needed during the day too, only eight of us are on guard tonight."
"Let's rest while we can. Tomorrow, it'll be our turn to protect the Daimyō."
"Understood."
The other three nodded, stood up, and left the room for their bedrooms.
Sarutobi Asuma returned to his quarters, blew out the lamp, and lay down on his tatami mat.
Concerned that something might happen during the night, he did not remove his clothes and slept in them.
He also placed his twin blades beneath his pillow.
Unbeknownst to him, in the darkness of the room, a shadow silently emerged from the ground—without making a sound.
Blood-red eyes glowed in the pitch black.