After chakra was channeled into the kunai, the arm turned back into a swarm of insects and vanished, leaving only the Flying Thunder God kunai behind.
White Ram left the castle and hid in an attic he controlled somewhere in the capital. Through the window, he watched the distant keep.
One side of the capital was the brilliant, brightly lit castle, glittering with gold.
The other side was the slums.
One bright, one dark.
The contrast was painfully clear.
White Ram wondered whether Lord Fox would have time to come here. Lord Fox was busy dealing with the Stone on the front line.
If there was no news tonight, he would retrieve Lord Fox's Flying Thunder God kunai.
Inside the castle, Yako appeared with Body Flicker Technique, grabbed the kunai, then immediately sank into the ground with the Mayfly Technique.
The war in the Land of Grass was entering its final stage. The frontline forces were scattering to pursue the Stone and planning their advance into the Land of Earth.
The Sannin had not caught up to him yet, so Yako had time to make a few arrangements.
After infiltrating the Daimyo's bedchamber, Yako saw only two people inside.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
And the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water.
Yako thought to himself—
Since I'm already here, I might as well.
A double blessing.
The two men had avoided ninja for their private discussion. There were no Guardian Ninja beside the Fire Daimyo.
The Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water was speaking.
"Daimyo, I am very old now. Over eighty. I originally thought I would never again leave the capital of the Land of Hot Water.
But the changes in Konoha Village have left me deeply uneasy.
They created something called teleportation shrines. I looked into it. They are based on Konoha's forbidden Flying Thunder God Technique and allow others to borrow the power of Flying Thunder God to teleport.
The reason I was able to come here this time was also because of those teleportation shrines.
I traveled from the capital of the Land of Hot Water to Konoha Village, then from Konoha Village here, saving more than half the journey.
Those ninja not only refuse to share such a useful thing with us nobles, but they even want to change the Guardian Ninja system.
What they seek is too great.
They want ninja to appear freely in every town, erase the limits of distance, and control every city.
Konoha no longer needs nobles to maintain the operation of the state. They can do everything themselves. Then what are we supposed to do in the future?"
The Fire Daimyo's voice was like that of a drake. When he was young, he had indulged in too many maidservants and damaged his body.
In a hoarse voice, he said, "I have contacted Konoha's Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He promised me that the structure of one nation, one village will not change.
Those ambitious ninja inside Konoha who are shouting for reform—Sarutobi Hiruzen will deal with them.
Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water, you need not worry either. Once the Shinobi World War ends, I will personally go to Konoha Village to ensure Konoha does not act recklessly.
One nation, one village is the system established by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Those ninja need only serve properly as the Land of Fire's weapons.
As for ruling the nation, that should remain with us nobles."
"Indeed," the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water said. "Konoha Village is simply too strong. So strong that the other great ninja villages must join hands to oppose it.
Is an overly strong Konoha Village truly in our interest?"
The Fire Daimyo did not discuss that topic directly.
Instead, he said, "Ninja excel at assassination, and they also fear assassination.
Most of the time, ninja curl up inside Konoha Village. When they have no missions, they rarely wander around the Land of Fire.
Ninja not leaving Konoha lightly is the foundation of one nation, one village.
These teleportation shrines will have an enormous impact on the shinobi world. We—"
Before he could finish speaking, the tip of a kunai emerged from the Fire Daimyo's chest.
The four-edged blade tip was like a tiny pyramid, gleaming with blood.
Seeing the kunai, the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water tried to scramble up in terror and call for the Guardian Ninja.
However, the four-edged tip of a kunai also emerged from his chest.
The kunai had stabbed in from his back, pierced his heart, then emerged through the gap between the ribs at the front of his chest.
The two Daimyo stared at each other in horror.
They had not expected the ninja to be even more extreme than they imagined.
They had directly resorted to killing.
Perhaps Sarutobi Hiruzen's promise had only been a delaying tactic…
White Ram did not feel the slightest trace of sleepiness. He had been watching the castle the entire time.
Lord Fox's figure suddenly appeared, blocking the window.
"White Ram, things are finished at the castle. Take my Flying Thunder God kunai and return to the village. Help me keep watch over it. I'm going back to the front line first."
White Ram accepted the Flying Thunder God kunai and thought to himself that this was what true security felt like.
He still wanted to ask something, but Lord Fox had already vanished.
White Ram waited for a short while.
Soon, a piercing alarm bell rang out.
The Daimyo were dead.
The person Lord Fox wanted to kill had indeed been the Daimyo.
With Lord Fox's strength, the Guardian Ninja would not even know who the killer was.
Inside the castle, everything fell into chaos.
Guardian Ninja Captain Sarutobi Seihi stood outside the bedchamber with an ugly expression, staring at the two corpses on the floor and the bloodstains beside them.
Blood had spread across the floor and was already half-dried.
Guardian Ninja came to report one after another. Whether it was the Hyūga Guardian Ninja or the Inuzuka Guardian Ninja, none of them could find any clues.
The Daimyo's eldest son, the First Prince, hurried to the bedchamber.
"Captain Seihi! Who was it? Have you still not found the killer?"
Sarutobi Seihi said, "The Daimyo and the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water had important matters to discuss and forbade us from approaching.
The Guardian Ninja and I were stationed on the walls around the bedchamber. We do not know the details of what happened inside.
The killer is very strong and possesses top-tier infiltration ninjutsu. Even methods such as the Byakugan and ninja hounds failed to discover them."
"I don't want to hear your excuses!" the First Prince said furiously. "Two Daimyo died deep within the heavily guarded castle. Aside from Konoha Village, shouldn't the capital's castle be the safest place in the shinobi world?
You must find the killer. You must raise the defense level. You must guarantee the safety of the Daimyo family and the nobles!"
Sarutobi Seihi had failed in his duty, so he did not argue.
"This matter is too grave. I will notify Lord Hokage and ask him to decide."
"Of course the Hokage must come personally! They all say Konoha Village is becoming stronger and stronger, but from what I see, is Konoha merely bluffing? Why can't you even properly guard a single castle?"
Only after the First Prince had walked far away did Guardian Ninja Hyūga Masue say to Sarutobi Seihi:
"Captain, Konoha has been protecting the Daimyo family ever since this First Prince was born.
Has this fool started taking that protection for granted?"
"Do not be rude. That is the future Daimyo of the Land of Fire!"
After being reprimanded, Hyūga Masue felt extremely dissatisfied.
Future Daimyo of the Land of Fire?
What did that matter?
As far as he knew, Lord Fox wanted to abolish the Guardian Ninja system and use the teleportation shrines to directly control the Land of Fire, rather than indirectly controlling it through the Daimyo and nobles.
He had long since had enough of being a Guardian Ninja, trapped in this castle and taking shifts day and night.
Who exactly killed the two Daimyo?
The Shinobi World War was raging fiercely. Those people could not deal with Konoha Village or the troops on the front line, so they picked the soft target and attacked the Fire Daimyo, striking at Konoha's supply line.
Sarutobi Seihi said, "Notify Lord Hokage at once! Ask Lord Hokage to decide!
What a pity that there is no teleportation shrine of Lord Fox in the capital of the Land of Fire. Otherwise, we could send the news back immediately.
I heard there is a teleportation shrine on the Land of Hot Water front. Use the village's teleportation shrine as quickly as possible to inform Lord Hokage of this terrible news."