"I used to be a Hokage—until I took an arrow to the knee. No, wait, two arrows." —Shimura Takeshi
Those two arrows didn't just wound Takeshi badly—they also did great damage to Uchiha Hikari's ears.
As for why...
After confirming that no new arrows were incoming, Takeshi, who had just been shot twice:
"You son of a—! May your sons be born without—! And your daughters—￥%!@￥%%,%#￥!@@!#!#4...!"
The stream of foul curses made Uchiha Hikari wish he could just toss this filthy creature out and let the unknown archer finish the job already.
Held tightly in the hand of Susanoo, Takeshi was fuming.
Sure, he was a Jinchūriki and could heal his wounds on his own.
Sure, he'd been through anti-torture training and could endure a certain amount of pain.
But the problem was—the places that archer had hit were far too precise. So precise that Takeshi wanted nothing more than to strangle the damn ambusher with their own bowstring.
To think that he, the Fifth Hokage, had been forced to kiss the ground in front of everyone—face first—and even got a bloody nose from it.
What humiliation. Absolute humiliation!
And with Uchiha Hikari witnessing the entire thing from start to finish! If not for being restrained by Susanoo's hand, Takeshi would've jumped out himself and let the enemy finish him off with another arrow just to be done with it.
While Takeshi was still cursing up a storm, the daimyō and nobles who had left the palace earlier were now holed up inside a safe house.
Their protection was handled by a mixed guard of shinobi and samurai.
All the shinobi came from Konohagakure—the old subordinates who had followed Koharu and Mitokado Homura when they were "expelled" from the village.
Through a viewing slit, they could all see the frozen city outside.
"This is terrifying... Is this the power of the Fifth Hokage?"
A Konoha shinobi muttered under his breath.
The samurai beside him looked curious.
"How do you know it's the Fifth Hokage's doing?"
"In all of Konoha, only the Fifth Hokage and his younger brother can use Ice Release. His brother's still too young, so the only one capable of this is the Hokage himself."
The samurai nodded in understanding, just about to ask another question—when a sudden sharp pain stabbed through his waist.
He turned his head with difficulty, his eyes wide in disbelief at the scene beside him.
The very shinobi who had just been joking shoulder-to-shoulder with them—had suddenly drawn their blades and begun cutting them down.
Completely caught off guard, the samurai fell one after another, not even managing a scream.
"All cleaned up?"
Senju Yoshika walked over and asked Sarutobi Mitsume, who had just arrived.
"All done. Only the two samurai by the daimyō's side remain."
"Their advisors will handle that. Our job is to seal this place off completely."
No sooner had Yoshika finished speaking than a commotion erupted from the daimyō's hiding place.
The two exchanged a glance, then kicked open the door. Inside, they found the daimyō collapsed on the floor, drenched in the blood of his two slain guards.
As for Koharu and Homura—there was no trace of their usual gentle demeanor. Both held kunai, glaring viciously at the cowering nobles, warning them not to move.
At Koharu's waist hung a kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God seal—belonging only to Namikaze Minato.
Moments later, a flash of yellow light swept across the room, and Minato appeared at their side.
"Thank you for your hard work, Advisors."
Minato's tone was serious as he greeted the two elders.
"Hmph. When will your men arrive?"
Koharu, accepting his greeting with composure, asked directly about the reinforcements.
"The main force has already set out. They'll arrive within three days."
Minato glanced at the trembling daimyō and lowered his voice. "And how should we deal with the daimyō...?"
The two advisors exchanged surprised looks.
This polite, sunny young man—when had he turned into such a black-hearted schemer?
"That will be handled by Danzō-sama. Remember, under no circumstances can this matter be traced back to the Hokage."
Koharu whispered to Minato, then turned to glance at the daimyō with complicated eyes.
Truth be told, she hadn't wanted things to come to this.
After all, this daimyō had always maintained good relations with Konoha—especially during the Third Hokage's administration. He had never overly restricted the village's development. Every ceasefire had been initiated by Hiruzen himself.
Unfortunately, the current Hokage, determined to free Konoha's finances from noble control, had set his sights on the Fire Country aristocracy—forcing this daimyō into the enemy's camp.
"We'll take our leave."
The two advisors shared a weary glance, then bowed to the daimyō before withdrawing.
"T-treason... this is treason..."
The nobles trembled in fear. They all knew of Namikaze Minato's reputation—none dared to resist.
This was the man who had singlehandedly faced the full force of Iwagakure's army—a hero of the Third Shinobi War.
What could a bunch of pampered nobles possibly do against someone like him?
"W-we surrender! From today onward, I will serve Hokage-sama as my foster father—no, my true father! Please, forgive my sins!"
Some, their spines softer than jelly, didn't even care about decorum anymore. They kowtowed over and over, begging Minato for mercy.
"Bang."
The door was pushed open again.
This time, the newcomer was someone every noble recognized.
But the moment they saw that familiar face, their blood turned cold—and a few almost dropped dead on the spot.
Shimura Danzō had arrived.