Morning light pierced the night and dyed the daimyo's residence in pale gold.
En Masamune was dragged in by Tōma. The nobleman who had been so ambitious not long ago now looked ashen. His rich robes were covered in dust. The hem even showed a spreading dark stain.
He was nearly limp on the floor, tears and snot streaming down his face, letting out broken wails toward his brother seated in the place of honor.
"Honored brother, spare me. Spare me. It was all Kazuma. He controlled me with genjutsu. I knew nothing. I knew nothing at all."
En Masamune's voice was especially grating in the empty hall.
The daimyo looked down at him. The usual gentle expression on his face had vanished completely. He tilted his head slightly toward Shuji standing quietly to the side. "Jōnin Shuji, I wish to speak with my brother privately. Could you..."
Facing the daimyo's request, Shuji naturally understood. He stepped out. Of course, there would be no scenario where En Masamune suddenly turned and killed his own brother during their conversation, because Tōma stayed behind.
The only one who needed to avoid this slightly was Shuji, the Konoha shinobi.
The hall doors closed gently behind him, cutting off En Masamune's increasingly miserable wails.
The daimyo slowly rose and paced to stand before Masamune. He looked down at his wretched appearance, voice impossible to read. "Masamune, lift your head."
En Masamune only kowtowed harder. His forehead reddened. His words made no sense.
"Masamune, why did you believe such delusions? Why did you think that was a viable path?"
"Kill the Hokage and have the daimyo directly command Konoha's shinobi. How could such a plan possibly succeed?"
"From the very establishment of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, Kazuma proposed this to me. I never agreed, yet I did not investigate deeply either. I thought it was a momentary madness, his loyalty misplaced. I never imagined he would actually convince you."
En Masamune only kowtowed, repeating "genjutsu" and "forced" incoherently.
The daimyo sighed softly. His gaze seemed to pierce the hall's ceiling and fall on the distant past.
"The Third is already very accommodating, Masamune. Father never told you about the Second Hokage, did he?"
En Masamune's crying grew quieter without him noticing. He seemed to sense something. His body shook harder.
"Back then, after the First Hokage died, the power that suppressed the world vanished. Grandfather briefly entertained certain thoughts. He tried to reclaim some authority."
"Masamune, have you heard of Konoha's ANBU?" The daimyo's tone was so level it sent chills. "The full name is the Assassination Tactics Special Squad."
"During that time, the most loyal and capable samurai retainers in the daimyo's residence disappeared one by one. Without a sound. Not a trace to be found. Grandfather, even surrounded by guards, often could not eat or sleep in peace. It was as if shadows were everywhere."
"In the end, Grandfather went to the Second Hokage himself and requested that shinobi be dispatched to guard the daimyo's residence."
"From that point on, everything returned to calm. A boundary was drawn. The daimyo handles governance and supply. The Kage handles war and protection. Each to their own duty. No interference."
"Is this balance and peace not good?" The daimyo withdrew his distant gaze and looked back at his brother, huddled in a ball, confusion in his tone.
"We have no power, so we focus on our strengths. Farming, trade, governance. Everything shinobi need to survive and fight—grain, funds, supplies, mission pay—which of these does not require the Land of Fire to provide?"
"We provide the foundation for their survival and combat. Naturally we can also, within the rules, command their power to ensure our safety. That is the lasting way."
"Alas, the Guardian Shinobi Twelve were still too many after all."
"Tōma."
"Here."
"From now on, I will trouble you and Kitane to take greater care."
"As you command."
The daimyo no longer looked at the brother on the floor.
"Make it quick. Do not let him suffer too much."
Shuji had no interest in what the daimyo planned to say to his brother. He walked out of the hall and down the steps. In the corner of the courtyard, a bit of crimson flickered on and off in the pale light.
Sarutobi Asuma crouched there. More than ten cigarette butts lay scattered at his feet. The man was shrouded in gray-white smoke and an even heavier dejection.
"Senior Asuma," Shuji approached.
"No, do not call me that." Asuma took a sharp drag and ground the butt into the blue stone. "I am too disgraceful already."
Shuji leaned on the railing nearby. "What kind of person was Kazuma?"
Asuma lifted his head and looked at the sky. His Adam's apple moved. After a long time, he said, "At this point, discussing him has no meaning."
Shuji closed his eyes to rest. He had gone another night without sleep. He was tired.
This attitude of not pressing at all made Asuma feel an inexplicable irritation.
He pulled out another cigarette and lit it, then took a hard drag.
"He was a man whose convictions were far firmer than mine."
"At this point, you discussing him has little meaning," Shuji said, eyes closed, repeating what Asuma had just said.
"Cough, cough..." Asuma choked and gave a bitter smile. "You really hold a grudge."
"Your silence and wavering added quite a bit to my workload, Senior Asuma." Shuji's voice was calm and without accusation. He was just stating a fact.
The hand holding the cigarette froze. Asuma lowered his head and stared at the ground. After a long time, he forced a long, trembling breath from his lungs.
"Sorry."
In the smoke, his face blurred. His voice also became distant. "I just never understood. Why is the village always caught in this cycle? War, compromise, sacrifice, then brief peace, then war again. Endless."
"Kazuma said it was because the 'jade' is not singular. The Land of Fire has two leaders, the daimyo and the Hokage. Their wills cannot unite, so power scatters, internal friction happens, and enemies find openings."
"He chose the daimyo as the one and only 'jade' to be honored. Seeing that the current daimyo had no such intention, he wanted to help a willing daimyo ascend."
Shuji opened his eyes and looked at Asuma. His meaning was clear. The Third Hokage is your father. You chose the daimyo too?
"Protecting the daimyo got many comrades killed. Father scolded me. He said I failed to distinguish priorities and disregarded my comrades' lives."
"I do not understand. If my wrong choice in protecting the daimyo led to comrades dying, that was my error."
"Then why could Father, to appease the Hidden Cloud's anger, sacrifice Hyūga Hizashi, who had done nothing wrong? Is Hizashi not a Konoha shinobi, not our comrade?"
"If I was wrong, then Father, is he not..." Asuma could not continue. He only took a hard drag, as if trying to inhale all his tangled thoughts and crush them in his lungs.
"I did not understand, so I left the village."
Shuji listened in silence. Only when Asuma's emotions had somewhat calmed did he slowly speak. "Now, how do you view Kazuma's actions?"
Asuma smiled bitterly and shook his head. "A fool who took the wrong path. His convictions may have been real, but his methods were terribly wrong. He even stopped at nothing, causing an irreversible tragedy."
At that, he said to Shuji, "There is something you must know. About the disturbance at the Fire Temple."
"The one who caused that disturbance was a child named Sora."
"He is Kazuma's son. That child seems to have the Nine-Tails' chakra sealed inside him."
"It was Sora's sudden rampage that completely tied me and Chiriku down at the Fire Temple so we could not break free."
Nine-Tails chakra? Shuji stood straight at once.
"Senior Asuma, wait here a moment."
Shuji strode back toward the hall and met Tōma pushing the door open as she stepped out. She nodded slightly to Shuji and stepped aside to let him pass.
Inside the hall, calm had returned, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Lord Daimyo, there is a situation at the Fire Temple. Please allow me to take my leave temporarily and go investigate."
The daimyo nodded slightly without probing. "In that case, Jōnin Shuji may go. Kitane and Tōma guard my side."
Shuji bowed again, quickly withdrew from the hall, and returned to Asuma. "Senior Asuma, take me to the Fire Temple. Now."
Asuma nodded. "All right."
The two figures vanished quickly outside the daimyo's residence gate.
The Fire Temple's damage far exceeded the daimyo's residence. Among the broken walls and ruins, monks silently cleared the battlefield and treated the wounded.
Chiriku stood before the main hall. Exhaustion and worry showed clearly on his face.
Seeing Asuma return, bringing Konoha's Shuji with him, Chiriku came forward.
"Chiriku, how is Sora? Is he all right?" Asuma asked urgently.
Chiriku's face showed shame. "I was about to send someone to inform you. Sora has disappeared."
"What?" Asuma was stunned. "Disappeared? How? Was he not unconscious?"
Chiriku sighed heavily, worry deepening in his brow. "That is exactly what is strange. I examined him carefully with others. The evil chakra in Sora's body vanished without a trace."
"As if that power never existed."
"Sora remained unconscious. The temple suffered heavy casualties. Everything was in chaos. Though I arranged people to watch him, I did not expect that in the brief gap while changing his bandages, when we checked again, the room was already empty."
"From the traces left at the scene, Sora did not wake and leave on his own. Someone forcibly took him."
Asuma slammed a fist hard into the charred broken pillar beside him, his face dark as storm clouds. "It is Kazuma. It must be him. He still has not given up."
"He took Sora. He must want to keep using the Nine-Tails chakra inside him."
Shuji listened in silence. His gaze swept over the devastated temple. "Senior Asuma, we should search the temple's surroundings and likely routes first to see if we can find any clues."
"If not, this must be reported to the village immediately."
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild