Chapter 342 – Matters of Position
Even though the three of them weren't in a hurry, Uchiha Kei and his team still arrived in the Capital of the Land of Fire by the next day.
The capital was indeed bustling—though still not quite at the level of Konoha. Still, it was the heart of the Land of Fire, prosperous and lively.
But to the three shinobi, such prosperity held little charm.
Frankly speaking, anything the capital had, Konoha also had.
And anything the capital lacked? Konoha could easily supply.
So even if some sights were new, none of it was interesting enough to distract them. They simply found an inn and settled down to rest.
Lying on his bed, Kei's mind replayed all the intel regarding the so-called Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Originally, he'd thought he might have remembered wrong—after all, Asuma hadn't joined them yet in the original timeline.
But Namikaze Minato and the others never corrected him, which meant their definition of "Twelve Guardian Ninja" was simply based on shinobi squad structure:
Four-man cells — one captain, three members.
Kei also knew very well that within this group, political factions existed.
For example, those four who could jointly perform a low-grade version of Lightning Style: Kirin.
They leaned toward supporting the Hokage.
Then there was Chiriku—the future head monk of the Fire Temple, eventually killed by Hidan. Another clear pro-Hokage supporter.
And finally, Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Third Hokage—bringing the pro-Hokage camp to six members.
Of course, Asuma was still in Konoha at this point. Kei wasn't even sure what stance the guy held right now.
As for the remaining six?
They belonged to the radical group who believed:
"A Hokage is unnecessary. Shinobi authority should belong entirely to the Daimyō."
Honestly, Kei barely remembered any of their names except Kazuma.
And the only reason he remembered that one was because Kazuma collected Nine-Tails chakra and used a technique involving resurrecting the dead.
Without those details, Kei wouldn't have remembered him at all.
Kei sighed internally.
"Even if they're divided into factions, the Twelve Guardian Ninja shouldn't exist anymore."
The Daimyō was just a normal civilian—
yes, his status was prestigious, but that didn't mean he needed a private elite guard force.
If he needed protection, Konoha could assign it.
There was no reason to waste valuable shinobi resources like this.
Still, having factions worked to Kei's advantage.
Those aligned with the Hokage deserved a choice:
Join Konoha… or leave the Land of Fire entirely.
Kei was no saint; he had never pretended to be.
But he respected strength.
And these Guardian Ninja did have ability—enough to justify recruitment.
If they refused?
If they chose to flee the Land of Fire?
Kei would allow it.
…Whether ANBU would track them down afterward was another story entirely.
And that certainly wouldn't require Kei's direct involvement.
A single hint from him would be more than enough for ANBU to "handle it."
---
A sudden knock knock knock pulled Kei out of his thoughts.
Recognizing the chakra signatures, Kei sat up and called for them to enter.
Ayaka and Kakashi stepped inside.
Kei raised a brow.
Shouldn't they be resting? The mission hadn't even formally begun—he hadn't laid out the operation plan yet. Neither of them actually knew what they were supposed to do.
"No interest in resting? So impatient?" Kei said lazily.
"And the capital is pretty lively—don't you want to look around?"
"I've got more important things to do than wander around," Ayaka replied flatly.
"And you're not interested either. The sooner we finish this mission, the better for all of us."
Ayaka clearly cared far more about her research than sightseeing.
And since she knew Kei already had a solid plan forming in his mind, she naturally didn't want to waste time lingering in the capital.
Kei understood completely.
Kakashi, too, seemed uninterested in anything the capital had to offer.
Since none of them wanted to dawdle, they might as well end the mission early.
It truly wasn't a difficult mission—
only two parts required actual finesse:
First, locating the Nine-Tails chakra.
Second, dealing with the Daimyō.
"How we turn that chakra into mine," Kei thought,
"is the real challenge."
Kei crossed his arms and nodded.
"Alright. Since everyone is eager, let's get to it. This mission isn't hard. Two obstacles only:
One: finding the chakra—
that won't take time; I can handle it.
Two: the Daimyō.
We need to give him a very clear lesson about who he's dealing with."
Kakashi asked, "So what's your plan, Kei? How are we approaching this?"
"Simple," Kei replied.
"According to Rin's intel, the one who has been gathering Nine-Tails chakra is Kazuma. He's my target."
He continued, tone flat and calm:
"There are twelve of them in total. Intel suggests that four of them together can perform a very powerful joint technique. So—"
"One squad per person?" Ayaka cut in, eyes glinting with interest.
"That could be fun. Difficult, but interesting—especially since you said we're supposed to kill them."
Kei gave her a sidelong glance.
She looked far too excited about that.
She had misunderstood, of course.
Kei did intend to "eliminate" the Twelve Guardian Ninja—
but not all of them needed to die.
Not before he confirmed who stood on which side.
"Good thought," Kei said, "but first we need to clarify something."
He leaned back slightly.
"We need to know who's grouped with who. Some people must be verified."
"You mean…" Ayaka's brow lifted.
"Each member of the Twelve has their own political stance?"
Kakashi stared blankly at the two of them.
Kei had only said one vague sentence, yet Ayaka instantly understood what he meant.
Their level of unspoken understanding was… absurd.
"Yes," Kei confirmed.
"According to intel, roughly half of them lean toward supporting the Hokage. The rest want the Daimyō to reclaim full authority over the shinobi."
"So you want us to split up," Kakashi reasoned, "identify which ones support the Hokage, and recruit them? And the others… eliminate them?"
Ayaka shook her head lightly.
"If Kei didn't already have intel, he wouldn't be making such a plan. His style is simple—
eliminate all threats, no loose ends. So if he's discriminating between targets, he clearly knows something."
Kei sighed dramatically.
"Talking about me like that—isn't that a bit rude?"
But he didn't deny it.
"I do have intel. I know which ones are more likely to support the Hokage, so I want to confirm their squad assignments."
Kakashi nodded, though inwardly he was stunned.
Ayaka's understanding of Kei was terrifying.
Just a hint, and she immediately read between the lines, correctly identifying Kei's reasoning.
Kakashi couldn't help thinking—
if Obito were still alive, would the two of them have grown that kind of unspoken silent communication?
He shook the thought away.
"Kei," he asked seriously, "how should we divide the targets? Maybe I should handle Kazuma and gather intel from him directly, since… this whole mission is partly for my sake?"
Kei shook his head.
"I already said—Kazuma is mine.
I'll take his entire squad as well."
He tapped the table lightly.
"If I'm right, Kitako, Minami, Nishito, and Higashi make up one team. They're the pro-Hokage group. You'll take that squad."
"Those four?" Kakashi nodded.
"Any additional intel?"
"That's your job now," Kei said with a small smile.
"Rin did all he could. You'll need to be prepared to fight—some of them might not be willing to talk until you prove your strength."
Kakashi understood immediately.
Power was the language of shinobi.
To negotiate, he would first have to show that he could negotiate.
Ayaka watched Kei with thoughtful eyes.
If Kakashi was taking the pro-Hokage squad, then she and Kei would be dealing with the radicals—the troublesome half.
But knowing Kei, he probably didn't care.
In his eyes, a problem was simply an obstacle to remove.
"Well then, I should prepare too." Ayaka stretched lightly.
"So—do we kill all of them, or just subdue them?"
"That's up to you," Kei said.
"Though I recall a monk named Chiriku—he's pro-Hokage. So…"
"And besides him?"
"No idea," Kei admitted.
"But whether there are or aren't others—"
He smiled faintly.
"—some casualties are acceptable, aren't they?"