Asuma?
Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose heart had been ashen and who had completely lost the will to live, felt a flicker of hope rekindle within him upon hearing Asuma's name.
I'm still not alone.
I still have Asuma, I still have Konohamaru!
It was like a drowning man seeing a straw; though it couldn't keep him afloat, it was a glimmer of hope.
After Utatane Koharu finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately turned to look at the square box.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had filled the Uchiha Clan Estate with surveillance cameras, after Yuuki took the stage, at his signal...
Hiashi also sent a surveillance package to the Sarutobi Clan Estate.
While the Byakugan is useful, no one else can see through it. Surveillance cameras are better; not only can others see, but they also leave evidence.
For example, evidence of the Sarutobi Clan's coup.
The screen in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi at this moment showed footage from one of these surveillance cameras.
Unlike Utatane Koharu, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately recognized one of the figures as his son, Asuma.
Inside the Sarutobi Clan Estate.
A considerable amount of time had passed since Asuma's sneak attack, and now Asuma's clothes were tattered.
His exposed skin was covered in burn marks from flames.
Within Konoha, when it comes to playing with fire, the Uchiha Clan is undoubtedly the strongest, but if we rank second, the Sarutobi Clan cannot be overlooked.
Asuma's hair was almost completely burned off, his face utterly scorched, a vivid red, with dense, charred black spots covering his entire face.
As one of Konoha's extremely rare Wind Release Ninja, Asuma was quite skilled with his Wind Release Chakra.
Wind Release is countered by Fire Release.
However, discussing toxicity without mentioning dosage is pure hooliganism.
In the original work, Madara's Great Fire Annihilation clearly suppressed Water Release.
Asuma, as the only Ninja of the Sarutobi Clan, besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was truly capable, possessed a mastery of Wind Release that those so-called Elite Clan members could not imagine.
Asuma was also quite proficient in Fire Release, far surpassing many of his clan members.
Logically, Asuma shouldn't have been in such a tragic state, looking on the verge of collapse after only eliminating a third of the people.
Asuma was enduring an agony only he could comprehend; with every attack, every hand seal...
He wasn't facing enemies, but familiar clan members, many of whom were Asuma's elders, people who had watched him grow up.
Asuma had almost given up dodging, simply enduring by coating his body with Chakra.
He wanted to die!
That's right!
Asuma no longer wanted to live; the coup, the rogue Ninja, none of it mattered to him anymore. He just wanted to complete his mission as quickly as possible and then die.
Despite all the mental preparation, despite repeatedly strengthening his resolve...
The moment he finally unleashed his Ninjutsu on his own clan members, Asuma was still overwhelmed by an boundless guilt.
His clan members wanted to make a mistake, and Asuma stopped them.
Thus, Asuma became the sinner.
Whether it was regret or evasion.
Asuma believed he was guilty; living was an agony, and death was liberation!
His body was covered in burn marks from flames; it hurt, but it was just right, the physical pain temporarily suppressing the internal anguish.
With the internal and external pains in a strange balance, Asuma's eyes turned cold again.
Only two-thirds left!
After tonight, the Sarutobi Clan would have no coup, no rogue Ninja, only internal strife within the clan.
And the surviving clan members would begin new lives!
Blue Chakra blades, over a meter long, emerged from his hands, and he lunged again towards his next target.
The clan member targeted by Asuma quickly formed hand seals, attempting to block Asuma's attack, while other Sarutobi Clan Ninja, who had already formed seals, launched Ninjutsu to try and stop Asuma.
Keep pushing in!
Just two more times, and you traitor will definitely die!
This was the inner thought of a certain Sarutobi Clan Ninja.
But the result disappointed him; Asuma did not, as before, recklessly take the Ninjutsu head-on.
After skillfully dodging the Ninjutsu's range, Asuma immediately changed targets, charging at a Sarutobi Clan Ninja who had just finished releasing a Ninjutsu, then swung his hand.
With a swift cut.
The Ninja was split in two, the cut smooth and clean.
No longer stubbornly taking Ninjutsu head-on, Asuma finally displayed his true strength as a Konoha Elite Jonin.
He was far beyond those so-called elites who became Jonin through clan connections, or who, after becoming Ninja, simply stayed in Konoha's offices.
Asuma, who had been cultivated in a greenhouse for the first dozen years, finally showed his true talent after venturing out into the world.
He couldn't compare to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but he far surpassed ordinary Sarutobi Clan Ninja.
Ordinary Kunai could not block the Chakra blades in Asuma's hands, and those who couldn't use Ninjutsu without hand seals had only one outcome once Asuma got close: sliced in two.
The battle in the Sarutobi Clan Estate continued.
In the Council Hall, after only a few seconds of observation, Hiruzen Sarutobi roared with boundless fury.
"Uchiha Tomoki, you are despicable!"
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