Hearing the daimyo's words, the respect on Kazuma's face instantly peeled away. The current daimyo could not be counted on after all.
"Destruction? No, Lord Daimyo, you cannot see..."
His words cut off abruptly.
A sudden gust swept into the sleeping hall's veranda. The daimyo stumbled unprepared and fell awkwardly to the floor.
In the howling wind, several wind blades slashed toward Kazuma's group.
Kazuma reacted extremely fast. His hands slapped the ground. A thick earthen wall rose with a rumble and blocked ahead. The wind blades struck the wall, cutting half a foot in. Shattered stone flew.
Yet the next instant, a thin, bright water line silently pierced the earthen wall and passed across a traitorous Guardian Shinobi's neck.
Blood gushed immediately. The man collapsed heavily.
"Scatter!"
Kazuma shouted. The two remaining traitors instinctively dodged to the sides.
Kazuma himself, at the moment he called out, lunged toward the daimyo on the ground.
Though Kitane and Tōma did not know who the reinforcement was, seeing Kazuma's movement, they threw themselves forward without hesitation to block him.
Just as Kazuma's fingers were about to touch the daimyo's collar, another water line arrived silently, forcing him into an awkward roll to barely avoid it.
Kitane and Tōma seized the chance and stepped up, left and right, shielding the daimyo behind them.
Wearing a Konoha standard jōnin vest, dark red bloodstains not yet fully dried on his body, Shuji landed quietly in the dissipating dust and fading wind.
"Jōnin Shuji!" Hope flared in the daimyo's eyes.
Raijin Shininshū, with two of its four members killed by Kazuma's group, could no longer use the Raijin Raijin no Jutsu. Konoha reinforcements were still far off in the near term.
His final attempt at persuasion had failed. The daimyo had despaired, thinking he would die tonight.
He never expected Shuji, who had already left, to return.
Kazuma's face darkened. Before launching the attack, the four of them had gone to Shuji's room to confirm he had left.
Judging by the blood on him, he had probably run into Enjishi and Teppei sent to intercept him.
But now Shuji was alive and looked unharmed, while his two men had no word. That meant they were dead.
The Konoha envoy's strength exceeded expectations, and one more of his side had been killed by the surprise attack, leaving only three. The other side, excluding the daimyo, also had three.
If they kept tangling here, their dream would have no chance of coming true. Kazuma and the two remaining comrades exchanged rapid glances and reached silent consensus in an instant.
Kazuma threw several kunai wrapped with explosive tags toward the daimyo's position. The other two traitors launched their attacks at the same time.
Yet at the moment the attacks were sent, Kazuma himself did not charge forward. His hands formed seals rapidly, and his body sank into the shadows as if melting into the ground, disappearing without a sound.
Tōma took the daimyo and dodged the explosive tags. Shuji and Kitane engaged the two Guardian Shinobi. In moments, Shuji finished one. Kitane followed and killed the other.
Kazuma had vanished without a trace.
The corridor returned to silence, only the heavy scent of blood and rough breathing remaining.
Only now did Kitane and Tōma have time to grieve their fallen comrades.
The daimyo stood with the two Guardian Shinobi's support, still shaken.
Shuji spoke. "Lord Daimyo, though most of the traitors have been eliminated, one has escaped. There are likely more of their remnants in the Fire Capital, and the daimyo's residence must be purged immediately to stabilize order and prevent further unrest."
"We will do it," Kitane said gravely.
Shuji had proven his stance and ability with action. No more words were needed. Kitane took Tōma and left quickly to handle the aftermath.
"Many thanks, Jōnin Shuji." The daimyo drew a deep breath and tried to smooth the wrinkles in his robe. "If you had not perceived the danger and returned, I would not have survived tonight."
"After I left the Fire Capital, I was ambushed, so I judged something might happen tonight and returned at once."
After a brief explanation, Shuji asked, "Where are Senior Asuma and Master Chiriku?"
These two had neither participated in the guard nor joined the traitors. Their absence was quite suspicious.
The daimyo said, "Not long before the traitors struck, the Fire Temple suddenly sent urgent word. There seemed to be a major incident. Chiriku worried for the temple's safety and begged me to return and deal with it. Asuma also volunteered to go along and assist."
"At the time, I did not think much of it and granted permission. Who knew that as soon as they left, these traitors..."
Shuji understood. The Fire Temple incident must be connected to the Guardian Shinobi who staged the coup, using it to draw away Asuma and Chiriku. That also proved the two were not part of the coup faction.
That would make things easier to handle afterward.
"Jōnin Shuji, do you need to support the Fire Temple immediately?"
After a moment's thought, Shuji shook his head. "No need. Ensuring your safety and the Fire Capital's stability is the top priority. The Fire Temple has many monk shinobi, plus Master Chiriku and Senior Asuma. They should be able to handle it."
Now it was basically confirmed six Guardian Shinobi had betrayed. Five were dead. One had fled, whereabouts unknown. Before fully purging the daimyo's residence and potential threats in the Fire Capital and ensuring the daimyo's safety, he could not leave.
As for the Fire Temple, he could only trust Chiriku and Asuma's abilities.
Outside the Fire Temple.
The scene was far more brutal than Chiriku and Asuma had expected. Houses collapsed. Fires blazed. Cries and roars intertwined.
A small figure ran wildly through the ruins, destroying everything, wrapped in an ominously thick dark red chakra cloak.
This chakra was all too familiar to Konoha shinobi who had experienced the Nine-Tails' rampage.
"That is... the Nine-Tails' chakra?" Asuma dodged flying debris, his face full of shock.
Chiriku's expression was grave. "And this chakra is eroding the host. We must stop him quickly."
The Fire Temple's monk shinobi formed an array to try trapping the berserk figure, but their sealing techniques seemed powerless before the violent tailed beast chakra. They were forcibly broken through multiple times.
Chiriku and Asuma positioned themselves left and right.
"Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder!"
The solemn image of a thousand-armed Kannon appeared behind both men at once. Buddhist chanting sounded low. Buddha's light flickered faintly.
The next moment, countless golden fists condensed from chakra rained down like a violent storm at speeds the eye could barely track, bombarding the dark red figure.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dense, drumlike impacts exploded.
The violent figure's charge was forcibly stopped by this sudden fierce assault. It let out a pained, furious roar. The chakra cloak around it fluctuated wildly, flickering on and off.
An elderly monk saw the opening and ordered the Fire Temple's monk shinobi to take positions at eight corners.
"Evil-Sealing Formation!"
A powerful sealing formula locked down the small figure again. Taking advantage of the gap, Asuma finally saw through the chakra cloak to the person inside.
"This... this child is... Sora?" Asuma cried out, almost unable to believe his eyes.
As a fellow member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, Kazuma had asked to send his child to live at the Fire Temple because he had no time to care for him. Chiriku naturally would not refuse.
But why... why did he have the Nine-Tails' chakra?
And why would Sora go berserk tonight...
Could it be...
Asuma could not help clenching his teeth. To go this far, even disregarding his own child's life, Kazuma...
In the Evil-Sealing Formation, the chakra on Sora's body rolled and contracted violently under the continuous bombardment of Thousand-Armed Murder and the suppression of the formation, as if making a final struggle.
Chiriku also heard Asuma's cry. His expression grew unusually heavy, but the thousand-armed Kannon image behind him swung its fists faster and more urgently.
After an unknown time, the dark red chakra finally receded like a tide, slowly withdrawing into Sora's small body.
The monk shinobi exhausted their last bit of strength and collapsed to sit on the ground, gasping heavily.
Sora in the formation lost all power. His small face was pale as paper. His eyes closed tight. He fell forward limply.
Asuma stepped forward and caught the child, confirmed Sora was only unconscious and his vital signs were relatively stable, then handed him to Chiriku.
"Chiriku, I leave Sora in your care. I must return to the Fire Capital immediately."
Chiriku took the child. "I will handle things here. Asuma, be careful."
The problem was Kazuma's child. Both had some idea of the situation. But with the Fire Temple's condition, Chiriku truly could not return to help. He could only leave it to Asuma.
Asuma said no more. He turned into a black shadow and dashed toward the Fire Capital at top speed.
Yet when he returned to the daimyo's residence, heart full of anxiety, what he saw was a scene where the battle had already ended.
Kitane, still guarding, was cold in attitude but told Asuma everything that had happened there: Shuji's timely return, the traitors' execution, and Kazuma's solo escape and disappearance.
Asuma's feelings were mixed beyond words. He felt relief that the daimyo was safe, worry over Kazuma's escape, and indescribable guilt.
If he could have made a decision earlier, Saito and Nauma might not have died.
Carrying a guilty heart, Asuma came to meet the daimyo and saw Shuji speaking quietly with the daimyo outside the hall.
Seeing Asuma return, the daimyo showed concern. "Asuma, you are back. How is the Fire Temple? Where is Chiriku?"
Asuma's guilt deepened. After bowing, he said, "Lord Daimyo, the Fire Temple incident has been temporarily settled. Chiriku is unharmed and handling the aftermath."
"As for tonight's events, I..."
He drew a deep breath, deciding to confess his interactions with Kazuma and his unclear stance.
Shuji beside them suddenly spoke. "Senior Asuma, the Fire Temple incident has just been settled. You have rushed about and worked hard."
"But right now the traitor is still at large. Please assist Lord Kitane in stabilizing the situation."
The daimyo looked at Shuji, then slowly nodded. "As Jōnin Shuji said, Asuma, go help Kitane and the others."
The usually polite junior looked at him with some severity. For some reason, Asuma felt a little afraid.
The daimyo's order made him finally swallow the words he had been about to speak.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild