At this moment, in the First Highness’ study, Naruko was holding the Daimyo’s corpse and crying, while two root ninjas were guarding beside him.
On the other hand, Sarutobi Shinnosuke was forced into a corner by the other eleven guardian ninjas. A while later, a group of ministers rushed over after hearing the news and seeing the Daimyo who had already stopped breathing, their expressions turned ugly. They immediately questioned people in the room, “Who killed His Majesty?”
The gaze of all eleven guardian ninjas turned to Shinnosuke, and they looked vigilant. When the ministers saw this, they looked at each other in shock, which was then replaced by resentment.
“Shinnosuke, do you realize what you did? Is this yours or Konoha’s intention?” The finance minister immediately asked.
Shinnosuke replied solemnly, “I didn’t kill the Daimyo. Just now, I was in the hall, and the First Highness and His Majesty were in the study by themselves. I rushed inside after I felt chakra fluctuations, and discovered that the First Highness had already killed His Majesty using Earth Style – Ground Thorns. When I was just about to capture the First Highness, these two… Anbu Ninjas came in.”
After listening to Shinnosuke’s explanation, everyone was startled, and their gazes moved to Naruko, who was still crying. Looking pale, he slowly raised his head and looked at Shinnosuke with a lifeless look.
“Haha… Is Nahara so impatient? What benefit did he give you to make you take such a big risk to frame me?”
Shinnosuke frowned and solemnly said, “Your Highness, your method is too clumsy. I have no reason to kill His Majesty. On the contrary, you have the motive. Because His Majesty wanted to pass his position to the Second Highness, you deeply resented him.”
Naruko’s eyes were filled with misery. He hugged the Daimyo’s corpse and trying to suppress his emotions, he said while sobbing, “How can I ruthlessly kill my biological father?”
The finance minister narrowed his eyes and asked Shinnosuke, “Why were you in the room?”
Shinnosuke answered calmly, “The First Highness asked me to wait in the room to safeguard him.”
When the finance minister heard Shinnosuke’s answer, he angrily replied, “Don’t you feel there are too many loopholes in the excuses you made? When there are four guardians outside, is there any need for you to stay in the room?”
Then, he asked the guardians who protected the Daimyo at night, “What did the four of you see when you came in?”
The oldest guardian answered solemnly, “When we came in, we only saw the First Highness holding His Majesty’s corpse. And Shinnosuke was about to attack the First Highness, but he was stopped by two Konoha Anbus, who jumped in from the window.”
“They were sent by Danzo-sama to protect me. As for the reason, even I don’t know,” the First Highness casually explained.
When the finance minister heard this, he frowned. This matter was getting more and more complicated. Perhaps, the Daimyo was just a victim of the power struggle in Konoha.
At this moment, Nahara came to the study with a group of his attendants. “What happened to father? Is he alright?”
When Naruko heard this voice, a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes. However, just after stepping into the study, Nahara saw his father’s bloody corpse and blood all over the room.
His eyelids twitched, and he was so scared that he fainted. Fortunately, the attendants caught him in time.
The ministers frowned seeing his reaction and hastily instructed, “Take the Second Highness back to rest.”
The identity of the two people present on the scene was very special. One was Hokage’s son and the other was the Daimyo’s son. Without irrefutable evidence, it was impossible to arrest them. The situation fell into a stalemate for a moment, and the ministers were helpless.
After some thinking, the finance minister asked, “How can you two prove you are innocent?”
The First Highness shook his head and said, “Everything happened suddenly. I have no way to prove my innocence. At first, I thought that Shinnosuke colluded with Nahara, but looking at his reaction now, there might be other reasons. However, I think we can search Shinnosuke’s residence to see if there are any clues.”
One of the guardian ninjas said coldly, “I’ll go and check. Before the truth is revealed, no one is allowed to leave. The Fire Capital is hereby place under martial law.”
Other than Shinnosuke, the other guardian ninjas were nurtured by the Daimyo, using many resources. They were loyal to him from birth, and many ministers also trusted them.
Unlike later in the Naruto Universe, when Asuma became a guardian ninja, the guardian ninjas were divided into moderates and radicals. One was loyal to the Daimyo, and the other was loyal to the Hokage.
After a while, the guardian ninja returned to the study with a gloomy look, holding a piece of paper in his hand. It was the pledge that Nahara had written for Shinnosuke earlier.
“I found this in the hidden compartment of his bedroom.”
When Shinnosuke saw it, his heart thumped and he cursed inwardly, “Damn it, I was manipulated.”
The guardian ninja handed the pledge to the others to look at. Sure enough, everyone’s gaze changed while looking at Shinnosuke after that.
The finance minister’s eyes were filled with frost, and he asked, “How do you explain this? You are the First Highness’ guardian. Why would the Second Highness give you this written pledge? When did your relationship with him become this good? What deal did you two make?”
Shinnosuke was sweating profusely, his chest filling with anger. He gritted his teeth and roared at Naruko, “This was your intention from the beginning…”
Naruko lowered his head and didn’t even look at Shinnosuke. He just kept breathing heavily and muttered with resentment, “Nahara… why… why did you do this…”
Shinnosuke knew he couldn’t win the argument here. But his identity was special. Even if he was implicated now, he could wait for Sarutobi Hiruzen to send someone to help him find the truth.
Presumably, Naruko’s inferior means would come to light under Konoha Anbu’s investigation. So, he said, “I know you all don’t believe in me, but no matter. I’ll not leave the Fire Capital and you all can investigate the specific details.”
However, just after he spoke, Naruko smiled coldly and raised his head, “That’s interesting. Even at this stage, you are stubbornly refusing to admit your mistake. Then, I suggest inviting a ninja who can check memories to look into your memories. But this ninja can’t be from Konoha.”
The ministers looked at each other in dismay. Looking into memories could cause heavy damage to the spirit. Shinnosuke’s identity was important, so among the ministers, who had always been accustomed to weighing the pros and cons, no one dared to agree.
On the other hand, for the eleven guardian ninjas who were loyal only to the Daimyo, this was a very good suggestion. A guardian ninja immediately replied, “I can do it. Some time ago, I learned ninjutsu of looking into memories. Let me do it.”
As soon as he spoke, Shinnosuke quickly made hand seals. Then, he sunk into the ground and disappeared in front of everyone. Since the situation had escalated to this stage, he couldn’t stay and let others look into his memories.
Not to mention the serious side effects, he knew all kinds of information about Hiruzen, which were all top-secret. How could he let others know about it?
But for everyone else, his action of fleeing like this was the same as being scared of something being found out.
“Capture him.” The eleven guardian ninjas had a tacit understanding. Five stayed behind to guard the study, and the remaining six disappeared in unison, chasing after Shinnosuke.
