Heavy snow began to fall from the sky again.
The Lord Elder of the Land of Fire was riding in a carriage, which made loud noises as it sped along the road.
However, the interior of the carriage was dead silent.
The Lord Elder's usually calm face was completely twisted and deformed, and the scar under his right eye still had traces of blood, making his expression look even more ferocious.
Yes, he had just narrowly escaped death with the remnants of his family.
His family was eating hot pot and singing songs in the carriage when they were intercepted and killed by a group of elite, fully armed ninjas. If it weren't for the dozens of guards desperately resisting, the Lord Elder felt that he would probably have been beheaded by now.
At the time of the assassination.
The Lord Elder deeply felt the powerlessness of ordinary people facing ninjas.
As ordinary people, they were as weak as chickens waiting to be slaughtered, and ninjas could kill them easily with just a movement of a finger.
This feeling was terrible, very uncomfortable.
—He had always been a high and mighty existence, and even the Kage of a village had to be respectful when meeting him.
However, this is reality.
He had a thrilling walk on the edge of death this time!
The shocked and angry Lord Elder of the Land of Fire met the Daimyo almost as quickly as possible, ignoring the decency he usually cared about.
Hearing that the Lord Elder urgently requested an audience, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire did not neglect him and quickly received him.
"Your Highness, someone wants to kill me!"
"My wife who shared weal and woe with me is dead, my youngest son is dead, my granddaughter.... even I..."
Seeing the Daimyo of the Land of Fire at the first moment.
The Lord Elder began to shout, bursting into tears as he spoke.
His current state was very bad. The joy of escaping death disappeared completely, replaced by endless grief.
He survived!
But his family, especially his wife who shared weal and woe with him, his most beloved youngest son, his granddaughter.... all died at the hands of ninjas.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire's face quickly became ugly.
The assassination of a heavyweight minister like the Lord Elder by ninjas was an extremely rare case even in the Warring States period.
Now the Land of Fire is peaceful. The domestic ninja forces have either been incorporated by Konoha or absorbed by the Akatsuki Ninja Village, and those rogue ninjas have all become rats crossing the street under the joint strangulation of these two ninja villages.
Now a group of ninjas from nowhere appeared and assassinated the Lord Elder's whole family.
This absolutely cannot be the work of rogue ninjas!
Someone deliberately plotted this assassination.
But this is not assassinating the Lord Elder; it is clearly slapping my face!
"Rebellion!!"
"All rebellion!!!"
"Catch!! Catch all these people and the masterminds behind the scenes, don't let a single one go!"
"Call the Hokage, call the Kōkage, let them investigate for me!"
At this time, the anger in the Daimyo's chest was weaving wildly, his cheeks were flushed, and his emotions looked extremely agitated.
The attendants waiting outside the door lowered their heads trembling one by one, looking at their noses, noses looking at their hearts, daring not make a sound.
After venting for a while.
The Daimyo regained his rationality slightly. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the wretched Lord Elder.
"Lord Elder, who do you think took action this time?"
"Is it the Akatsuki Ninja Village...."
The name of the Akatsuki Ninja Village was mentioned first.
There was no helping it.
Uchiha Makoto has a criminal record.
He has done such bold and reckless things trampling on the red line once, and doing it again now is just adding another sin to himself.
Facing the Daimyo's inquiry, the Lord Elder of the Land of Fire did not speak immediately. He carefully recalled the details at that time in his mind.
Unfortunately, everything happened suddenly, and these memories did not allow the Lord Elder to get any useful conclusions.
At that time, in the blink of an eye, a guard beside him had already died on the spot, and the remaining memory was only escape.
The only thing that impressed the Lord Elder deeply was the "Nine Bamboo" mask.
Now he could only analyze and deduce logically based on his past experience.... If he died, who would benefit?
The Akatsuki Ninja Village?
In all fairness, the Lord Elder believed he maintained a relatively good relationship with the Akatsuki Ninja Village, and the business dealings of their family with the Akatsuki Ninja Village were increasing day by day.
... Who doesn't like money?
But this is actually a statement of attitude.
However, the suspicion on the Akatsuki Ninja Village has still not been cleared.
After all, he secretly contacted the Uchiha clan behind Uchiha Makoto's back, giving advice to the Uchiha clan in secret, and launched several rounds of political attacks on the Senju clan.
The Lord Elder was also confident that he did this matter airtightly, even dealing with everything on the Uchiha clan's side.
But what if?
Nothing is absolute in the world.
But he couldn't figure it out for a while.
Even if he was leaked to Uchiha Makoto by those few elders of the Uchiha clan, this shouldn't be the reason for the Uchiha clan to assassinate his whole family.
He was helping the Uchiha clan!
One line of thought blocked, the Lord Elder quickly changed his thinking and targeted Konoha.
Compared to the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
The possibility of Konoha launching an assassination is higher.
The Senju clan... their suspicion....
But the Lord Elder still couldn't figure out some things in his mind.
Senju Hashirama doesn't seem like this kind of person. Clearly, he is already the Hokage, and his own strength is so powerful. If he wanted to resolve the dispute, he didn't need to take action against him at all.
Could it be Senju Tobirama?
But does he have such great guts and strength to take action against him?
Isn't he afraid that the Uchiha clan will take this opportunity to stab him again?
One careless move... could be a huge disaster.
This is really very strange!
Konoha, Akatsuki Ninja Village, those key suspects all have suspicions of committing the crime, but the motives for committing the crime all have unreasonable points.
It can't really be a group of rogue ninjas from nowhere who ate the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard and dared to attack his family?
Thousands of thoughts ran through the Lord Elder's mind. He felt as if he were in a fog.
—Who could have thought that this assassination was a masterpiece jointly planned by a pair of mortal enemies who colluded in secret!
"Your Highness... I am not a ninja and cannot distinguish the source of the ninjas...."
"But this time, I must find out the truth."
"If this revenge is not avenged, what face do I have to continue staying in the position of Lord Elder!"
The Lord Elder of the Land of Fire couldn't figure it out for the time being, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
No matter who planned this matter behind the scenes, he would make the person behind it pay the due price.
"Lord Elder, I will order a thorough investigation into this matter!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
The Lord Elder nodded with red eyes.
Things have come to this, and this is all he can do.
Just pity his wife, son...
The distraught Lord Elder finally left the Daimyo's bedroom, and the Daimyo looked at the Lord Elder's back with indescribable feelings.
....
Thanks to the rapid development of the media industry.
The news that the Lord Elder's whole family was assassinated by ninjas exploded and instantly became the focus of the entire Land of Fire.
At such a joyous festive time, such an atrocity occurred. Not only were the nobles indignant, but even ordinary people were angry about it. It can be said that the anger of the entire Land of Fire was ignited, and the pressure quickly fell on Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
The most nervous person now is Senju Tobirama.
Uhm.... Actually, from the day Danzō returned after completing the mission, his nervous and uneasy mood has never stopped.
He even thought about silencing witnesses.
Yes.
That is to kill all the insiders of this matter who can be killed.
However, this thought was dispelled by him not long after it appeared.
To do such a treasonous thing without leaving evidence, the ninjas executing this matter must be powerful and loyal to Senju Tobirama.
Such confidants cannot be killed.
Of course... silencing witnesses now is also a very stupid thing.
Just after the Lord Elder's whole family was assassinated, several ANBU ninjas died inexplicably in Konoha ANBU. Anyone can see there is a problem.
And now the development of things is moving in the most dangerous direction.
The news of the assassination of the Lord Elder's family is still spreading widely in the Land of Fire, public grievances are boiling, and the Daimyo has personally conveyed the order, requiring the Hokage and Kōkage to lead teams to investigate this matter personally.
And the Uchiha clan in Konoha is also rubbing their fists, claiming that they must seek justice for the Lord Elder's family and kill the thieves with their own hands!
Senju Tobirama's big heart was also pounding because of this.
So, after thinking about it, he decided to contact Uchiha Makoto overnight. He, the Kōkage and mastermind behind the scenes, should also be of some use.
"Senju Tobirama, do you need something from me?"
"I've been very busy recently, haven't even slept well. A bunch of half-dead scared nobles have almost squeezed my office bursting. They demand to solve the case as quickly as possible, making me work overtime!"
"Clearly I'm already on holiday... truly distressing."
Before Senju Tobirama had time to speak.
Uchiha Makoto's complaining voice came from the phantom in front of him.
He was complaining about working overtime... Although Uchiha Makoto often worked overtime, working overtime during the New Year was really an extremely painful thing.
Clearly, he wanted to spend more time with Uzumaki Tsubaki and his son.
"You bastard!"
"Who do you think caused things to be like this now?"
"Isn't it because you insisted on attacking the Lord Elder? Otherwise, would I need to be so busy during the New Year?"
Hearing Uchiha Makoto's lazy voice, Senju Tobirama got angry immediately.
If it weren't for this bastard Uchiha Makoto forcing him to assassinate the Lord Elder's family, he wouldn't have to be frightened during the New Year.
"Tch~ It wasn't me who did it!"
"What do you mean, you don't want to sell me out, do you? Believe it or not, I'll perish together with you!"
Uchiha Makoto picked his fingers casually, speaking jokingly.
Of course, he knew very well why Senju Tobirama contacted him urgently at this time—a little panicked.
And Senju Tobirama on the other side heard Uchiha Makoto's irresponsible speech.
He was really trembling with fear.
Because Uchiha Makoto, this naturally evil Uchiha brat, indeed had the possibility of selling him out. And as the Kōkage of the village, Uchiha Makoto was the number one in the Akatsuki Ninja Village, while he was not even the number two in Konoha.
Even if they sold each other out, Senju Tobirama knew he might die without a burial place. Even if he survived, it would be life imprisonment.
And Uchiha Makoto wouldn't have much loss.
As long as he denied it to death, even the Daimyo had no way to sanction him.
"You think you can perish together with me? I am the Kōkage. I haven't been defeated, why should I be judged?"
"I don't care, you must be responsible for me!"
"As a man, where is your responsibility? You can't go back on your word!!"
Uchiha Makoto said deliberately.
This could be considered adding some flavor to his boring overtime.
As expected.
Senju Tobirama's roar came immediately from the other end of the ring.
"Then beg me."
"..... I beg you, okay? Don't joke with me at a time like this."
"Tobirama, where has your backbone gone? I thought you would be stubborn for a while before giving in. How boring."
"I still prefer your rebellious look before."
Senju Tobirama was used to Uchiha Makoto's shameless bad taste.
This time it was a light-speed plea for mercy. (Uhm.... poor Senju Tobirama has been trained well)
Uchiha Makoto curled his lips somewhat uninterestedly. He still liked the rebellious Senju Tobirama before, being stubborn for a while, and then reluctantly giving in.
That would be interesting.
"What to do now."
"I'll find a way with my brother. You absolutely cannot drop the ball there. And the Uchiha clan is also eyeing covetously."
"And the wave of public opinion, must find a way to calm it down. The bigger the trouble, the harder it will be to end this matter."
Senju Tobirama let out a long sigh of relief.
Sooner or later, he would kill Uchiha Makoto, and before killing him, he would play with him fiercely for a few years just like he played with him!!
But... that's for later.
The most critical thing now is to solve the immediate matter.
So Senju Tobirama rambled on for a while, saying all the methods he could think of.
And Uchiha Makoto had already heard it; Senju Tobirama was indeed anxious this time.
However, Senju Tobirama being so panicked was indeed excusable.
Because the situation now is indeed quite bad.
Especially in terms of public opinion.
Even Uchiha Makoto didn't expect the public opinion to come so fiercely this time.
He not only underestimated the status of the Lord Elder in the Land of Fire but also underestimated the influence of a major vicious incident occurring during the New Year.
Of course... there must be someone fueling the flames in this.
Not just the Daimyo, the Lord Elder, but also competitors who had conflicts with the Akatsuki Ninja Village in the business field.
Many people have been unhappy with the Akatsuki Ninja Village for a long time.
Seeing the opportunity now, they naturally attacked ruthlessly immediately.
—Public opinion has even begun to question whether Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village have the ability to protect the Land of Fire.
Such remarks are simply like slapping the ninja village in the face.
However, although these waves of public opinion exceeded Uchiha Makoto's expectations, they were actually within a controllable range.
He still had a big news to divert attention that hadn't been exposed to the outside world.
—The marriage alliance between the Kōkage's son and the Hokage's granddaughter. The marriage alliance between the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan is something that has never happened in a thousand years.
Once this matter is exposed.
Many people will lose sleep over it.
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