Chapter 59 The Remains of the Fourth Generation
The Shadow of the Fourth Hokage After the village's Jonin squad received the mission, it took the messenger a full 20 minutes to see less than 40 Jonin soldiers gather because they needed to assemble temporarily.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Although the village's Jonin squad usually had about 150 Jonin, after deducting those who were on missions outside and those from the Ino-Shika-Cho, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans, only about 60 people remained. Apart from the Utatane, Mitomon, and Sarutobi clans, most of these 60 people came from small ninja clans within the village, such as the Gekko clan.
Those who were willing to attend were all ninjas from the Utatane, Mitomon, and Sarutobi clans. The lesser ninja clans and commoners had all been dragging their feet and hadn't shown up, their excuses readily available—martial law in the village, they couldn't leave.
"Never mind the others not coming, let's set off," said a Jonin from the Sarutobi clan.
The others nodded and headed towards the village.
However, as soon as they stepped out, they were stopped by a ninja unit of nearly a hundred.
The leader stood at the very front of the group, his posture swaggering, the senbon dangling from his mouth gleaming coldly under the streetlights.
"Genma Shiranui?" Since Nara Shikaku's promotion meant his replacement, the Jonin squad leader was absent, and Sarutobi Koji, a Jonin from the Sarutobi clan, had temporarily assumed command. Upon seeing the newcomers, he frowned, but patiently spoke, "You've come at the right time. We're short-handed right now, so hurry and come with us to suppress the Security Department's rebellion."
"Is that so?" Genma Shiranui raised an eyebrow, speaking somewhat casually, "But I've heard that the Security Department is suppressing thugs who spread rumors to slander village heroes and are attempting to force the Security Department to resign using violence. Are you Jonin gentlemen going to help those thugs?"
"Genma Shiranui! Watch your tone! You're just a Special Jonin!" Mitokado Tsuki, a Jonin from the Mitokado clan, roared from the Jonin squad.
"Heh, Mitokado-sama, you have quite the airs of a high-ranking official." Genma Shiranui suddenly spat out the senbon he'd been holding in his mouth. The senbon shot out like a bullet, embedding itself almost instantly at the feet of several people. It was driven several inches into the ground and was still wobbling slightly, causing the faces of the Jonin squad to darken sharply.
At this moment, a scarred man beside Genma Shiranui chuckled disdainfully, "Genma, if we had known that Jonin had such authority, we would have really missed out on all these years of not taking the exams."
"Do you want to join the Uchiha in a rebellion?" Kuwatasuki, a member of the Jonin squad, shouted sharply.
"Don't give me that. All I know is that the village is under martial law tonight, and no one is allowed to wander around," Genma Shiranui said expressionlessly.
"That's the Hokage's order!" Koji Sarutobi hissed angrily.
"Is this the Hokage's order?" Genma Shiranui's eyes turned cold. "If the Fourth Hokage weren't dead, how dare you, a useless piece of trash who hasn't accomplished anything, use the Hokage's name to pressure us?"
"The Fourth Hokage..." Kouji Sarutobi carefully examined the opposing team, noticing that some were former direct subordinates of the Fourth Hokage, while others had received favors from him during the Third Shinobi World War.
"Genma, why waste words with them? Let's fight! Even if it costs us our lives, we won't let them pass. The Fourth Hokage only has one disciple left; we can't let him be bullied like this anymore." The more hot-tempered Raido Namiashi drew his weapon.
"You're courting death." Kuwata Utatane's face was extremely grim as he drew his weapon, ready for battle.
Seeing this, Genma Shiranui took a deep breath. He knew that it was time to fight desperately. Although his side had more people, apart from a few members of the Fourth Hokage's direct Shadow Guard, the rest of them were not Jonin level. To keep the enemy here would naturally come at a great cost.
The two groups of people were about to clash, but at that moment, a sound like a thousand birds singing broke the silence. A blinding flash of Lightning Release appeared, and a white-haired figure holding lightning instantly appeared in the middle of the two groups, stopping the fight. A man with a bean-shaped haircut wearing a green bodysuit also arrived shortly after.
"Kakashi?" Sarutobi Koji's expression instantly turned grim upon seeing the newcomer. If it were just Genma Shiranui and his group, the thirty or so Jonin present were confident they could handle them. However, with Kakashi and Mite Kai joining the fray, the situation was completely reversed. Kakashi and Mite Kai were both elite Jonin of the village, and with the assistance of nearly a hundred Special Jonin, they were fully capable of wiping them out.
Genma Shiranui, seeing Kakashi whom he hadn't formally interacted with for years, smiled.
"Finally decided to show yourself?" Genma chuckled. "I thought you were going to be a coward for life."
"Thank you." Kakashi turned back to look at his former teacher's subordinates, his heart filled with emotion.
"How's that child been lately?" Raido Namiashi asked.
"He's doing fine, but he's getting old, and his mischievousness is a bit of a headache," Kakashi chuckled. "You can come visit sometime."
Kakashi understood that it was probably his recent act of adopting Naruto that had emboldened them to stand up for him now.
"Enough of that, Kakashi. Now that you're here, we're in your hands. Just give the orders," Genma Shiranui said with a smile.
Kakashi nodded, then looked at the Jonin team. With his mask removed, Kakashi's face was somewhat androgynous, but at this moment, he already possessed the authority of a superior: "Jonin team members, let's leave it at that. I will explain to the Third Hokage, how about it?"
"Kakashi, you…" Sarutobi Koji wanted to deny it, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Lightning Release began to crackle on Kakashi's hand. Sarutobi Koji
's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. Although he and Kakashi were both Jonin in rank, over the years, the number of Jonin-level ninjas who had died from Kakashi's S-rank self-created ninjutsu was probably close to three dozen. He didn't want to personally experience the power of the Lightning Release.
"Then you can go explain to the Third Hokage yourself." Sarutobi Koji snorted coldly and turned to leave. The other Jonin ninjas, seeing this, could only return the way they came.
"Kai, could you stay here for me? I'm going to the Hokage Building." Kakashi, seeing him leave, extinguished his Lightning Release and said to Mite Kai.
"Alright, leave it to me!" Mite Kai grinned, giving a thumbs-up. Although he was still clueless about what had happened, he knew one thing: someone had intervened to clear Kakashi's name tonight, and as Kakashi's lifelong friend, he naturally had to help.
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(End of Chapter)