A few days later, Sarutobi Shinnosuke finally returned to the Fire Capital from Konoha after completing his mission. As soon as he reached, his first stop was Naruko’s residence.
“Your Highness, I have delivered the letters.”
Naruko nodded and said with a gentle look, “You truly have worked hard. Go and instruct the attendant to go to Nahara’s place and invite him over here. I’ll honor what I promised you.”
Shinnosuke was overjoyed hearing this, “Many thanks, Your Highness.”
Not long after, Nahara came over to Naruko’s residence in high spirits. In recent days, his life had turned on its head, and he was living in a fantasy world. Every day, many people came over to his residence to flatter him. His father’s attitude towards him changed for the better, and everything was done according to his wishes.
Over time, even Nahara believed his father was going to hand over the Daimyo’s position to him.
In the past, Naruko had always displayed his intelligence and wisdom. He pretended to be diligent and studious all day long, and many people sided with him, which caused Nahara to live under his shadows. Nahara did not harbor any good sentiment for his elder brother, who had always been stepping on his head.
Now that the situation had reversed, he naturally wanted to take his revenge. Nahara entered the room and sat down arrogantly, “Naraku, why did you ask me to meet you?”
Nahara’s disrespectful address infuriated Naruko but there was little he could do.
“With just a little change, this incompetent brother of mine is actually being so impudent, addressing me by name? If he really became the Daimyo, wouldn’t he get rid of me first?”
Naruko himself didn’t realize that the way he thought was already very different from his past self. Although he was angry in his heart, he didn’t show it. He took a deep breath and after stabilizing his emotions, he said with a humble smile, “Nahara, I wanted to talk to you about something. Shinnosuke has protected me for so long, and I know him very well. He is an upright and remarkable ninja, who is very suitable to be the next Hokage.”
Nahara raised his eyebrows and asked doubtfully, “Why are you telling me this? It’s not like I know him.”
“Truly a worthless person who knows nothing.”
Naruko stood up and said while making tea for Nahara, “From childhood, I was stupid, not as intelligent as you. In the future, I guess Daimyo’s position will be yours. Since I have had a good relationship with Shinnosuke, I would like to ask you to write a pledge. The pledge is to express your support for him during the Hokage election after you become the Daimyo. Treat it as your elder brother begging you for the first time.”
After speaking, he pushed a teacup in front of Nahara. This humble gesture made Nahara feel particularly content. Even his hostility towards Naruko decreased. He picked up the teacup and blew over it, “It’s just the position of the village chief. I’ll agree to it.”
After speaking, he sipped on the tea but it was still too hot and burned his mouth. At that moment, Naruko got up to take a pen, paper, and an ink pad from his study, placing them in front of Nahara.
“Nahara, as the future Daimyo, I believe you’ll not go back on your words. But you have to write a pledge so that Shinnosuke will be loyal to you in the future. I presume you’ll not mind this tedious point.”
Naruko had already grasped Nahara’s temperament. As long as someone flattered him enough, and gave him a dunce’s cap to wear, he would wear it. Hearing these words, Nahara was overjoyed and nodded in agreement.
He then coughed lightly, straightened his collar, and picked up the pen to write the pledge. Once he was done, Naruko pushed the ink pad in front of him. Nahara didn’t think too much about it and just placed a fingerprint on the paper.
Naruko put the written pledge away as if it was a treasure. This careful gesture, for some reason, made Nahara feel dull in his heart. The person, who he always considered an opponent, suddenly surrendered before he made a move.
He immediately got up and said, “If that is all, then I’m leaving. Father is still waiting for me to have dinner together.”
Naruko hastily followed behind him and flattered, looking very humble, “Nahara, I’ll send you off.”
“Hmm.” After Nahara left, Naruko stared at his brother’s back and the smile on his face disappeared. Even he didn’t know how disgusted he was in his heart. He hated everything! Why was this trash regarded so highly, whereas he was discarded?
Nahara had barely walked out of the courtyard when Shinnosuke appeared in front of Naruko, staring at the written pledge. His eyes were full of desire. Naruko noticed his expression and smiled a little, handing over the written pledge to Shinnosuke.
Shinnosuke took the pledge and held it carefully. He was moved by Naruko’s action. “Your Highness… thank you.”
Naruko shook his head, “Never mind, I was just fulfilling my promise. This written pledge is very important. You shouldn’t keep it with you. Put it somewhere safe in the residence. Don’t lose it.”
Shinnosuke nodded. After he left, Naruko locked himself in the study room alone. And while practicing to make hand seals of the scroll, he muttered, “Emperor… solitary…”
“Sure enough, sensei was right. When it comes to benefits, no one can be trusted.”
Time passed by, a day at a time. Uchiha Tonan had already taught the orphans how to refine chakra. He had also taught them some basic taijutsu and a few simple C-ranked ninjutsu. The orphans’ aptitude, as expected, was no match for the children of the Konoha Academy. But they were better in terms of diligence, and they cherished this rare opportunity. Even though they couldn’t use all ninjutsu, they firmly remembered the hand signs and the theoretical principles.
Late one night, Tonan was reading a book in his study. Yoshiwara Ao stood quietly beside him, pouring tea and water. He didn’t even dare breathe heavily during the entire time.
Suddenly, Tonan’s eyes lit and he stood up. In the next moment, he came to the courtyard in a flash, looking in the direction of the Daimyo Residence.
He saw a colorful firework blooming in the sky above the Residence.
Has it begun…
Tonan closed his eyes and increased the perception range of Wind Communication, blatantly covering the entire Daimyo Residence. After a while, he opened his eyes, and the corners of his mouth slightly rose.
He instructed Ao, who had just come over from the study, “Ao, call all the servants in the house.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Soon, all the servants were gathered together, waiting for Tonan to issue an order. Tonan was sitting on a chair, and the sheathed chakra tanto was placed on the table beside him. After seeing everyone gathered, Tonan coldly said, “You all have helped me a lot during this time. But I have discovered that someone has leaked information about me.”
Immediately after he spoke, Tonan activated his Sharingan to capture the facial expressions of these servants. All the servants knelt in succession and looked terrified.
“My Lord, be fair, I’ve always been loyal to you. I’ve never leaked anything.”
“Yes, My Lord, if I’ve leaked anything, then may I be struck by lightning, and not have a good death.”
After working in the residence for so long, they knew Tonan’s character very well. All traitors would die miserably. For a moment, these servants were trying their best to prove their innocence, in fear of losing their lives.
Tonan looked at their expressions, and there were no suspicious changes other than sheer fear for their lives. Therefore, his expression softened, and he apologetically said, “It seems it’s not someone among you. I must’ve made a mistake.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief hearing this.
“It’s good that you all didn’t leak anything. This way, I can now silence you all at ease,” Tonan grabbed the hilt of the chakra tanto, and his figure suddenly disappeared.
Puff~ Puff~
After a few flashes, Tonan returned to his seat and sat down. And all the servants fell to the ground one after the other. He picked up a white cloth on the table and gently wiped the blood on the chakra tanto.
There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were expressionless. “It’s time to retrieve the net.”
He created a shadow clone to deal with the corpses in the next moment and his main body wiggled and turned into Abe Seimei.
