A wet rip.
The kunai sliced clean through Nara Shiozuki's throat. Bright arterial blood sprayed out in thick pulses.
He tried to speak, but all that came out was a wet, gurgling choke.
His eyes—wide with raw terror—locked onto Shikage. The earlier mockery was gone. Nothing left but pure, animal fear.
All he'd wanted today was to make Nara Shikage pay, to force the clan head to back down, to cement his own place inside the Danzō faction.
Never in a million years did he think he would die here.
Every plan, every ambition, bled out with the rest of his life.
In his final second, one last confused thought flickered through his dying mind.
—Did I… actually betray them?
...
No one had seen it coming.
Nara Shiozuki—traitor to the clan and to Konoha?
Even worse, he'd confessed it himself.
And then—then—he tried to attack the clan head's son right in the middle of the council chamber.
And Shikage had just… killed him on the spot.
The chain of shocks left every Nara clansman's brain completely blank.
What the actual fuck was happening?
Even Nara Shikaku, who had been mentally prepared, stared with wide eyes—first at his son, then at the corpse on the floor.
When he caught Shikage shooting him a slightly annoyed look, Shikaku finally snapped out of it. His voice came out dry:
"From this moment on, no one leaves this room! That includes everyone outside in the courtyard!"
"This concerns treason against the village. As clan head, I am ordering a full, thorough investigation."
"Anyone who moves without permission will be treated as a traitor to Konoha!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the hidden Nara operatives—loyal to the main branch—swarmed out of the shadows.
Only then did some of the Danzō faction realize the truth: Nara Shikaku was still the clan head.
He might not act domineering every day, but the real power in the Nara clan had always rested in his hands.
The elders at the head table exchanged quick glances. They all read the same message in each other's eyes.
—The Nara clan is about to go through something big.
As members of the clan-head faction, they had zero reason to oppose Shikaku. Besides, he had already started.
So they backed him without hesitation.
"No one resists!"
"Stand by for the clan head's orders!"
"Stay quiet!"
...
Everything moved fast.
After the few who tried to fight back were brutally suppressed, Shikaku immediately gathered his most trusted people and headed for Nara Shiozuki's residence to begin the search.
He still had no idea how Shikage had forced that confession.
But a confession was a confession. A full investigation was now mandatory.
Before leaving, he pulled Shikage into the study for a private talk.
Once the door closed, Shikaku looked at his son with a complicated mix of emotions.
"Sigh… Shikage…"
Shikage already knew what his father wanted to say. He just smiled, casual as ever.
"Dad, it's done. No turning back now."
"Let's stick to the plan we made before."
Shikaku let out another long breath. He hadn't expected his son to go this hard.
But he was his son. That meant unconditional trust and support.
"Fine. Guess that's what dads are for."
"If you really want the Hokage seat, I'll clear the entire road for you."
"The Senju sat on it. The Sarutobi sat on it. The Nara clan can damn well sit on it too!"
Of course, Shikaku was mostly trying to convince himself.
Deep down he had never wanted any part of the Hokage struggle.
The Nara had stayed strong for generations precisely because they followed one iron rule: never reach for the hat.
Now his own kid had shattered that rule.
And Shikaku had no choice but to back him all the way.
"That's the spirit!" Shikage grinned, flashing perfect white teeth.
"But we take it slow. First we clean house inside the Nara clan."
"The Ino-Shika-Chō alliance has been rock-solid since the Warring States, but we still play it careful. Once the timing's right, then we tell them the Nara are going after the Hokage seat."
Shikaku gave him a flat stare.
"You think your old man's a political rookie?"
"Keep your head down for a while. No more stunts. Cleaning up after you is exhausting…"
He meant every word.
Ever since Shikage was born, the kid had loved stirring shit.
He'd calmed down for a few years, but lately the chaos was back in full swing.
Shikage idly rolled a shogi piece between his fingers.
"Don't worry. I know where the line is."
After his father left, Shikage stared at the chessboard and started putting the pieces of his plan together.
Purging the Danzō faction inside the clan had always been on his list.
He was going to be clan head someday. No way in hell was he letting Danzō keep spies inside his own house.
Better to rip them out early.
He just hadn't planned on doing it this soon.
He'd figured he'd wait until he actually took over.
The reason he moved early was simple: he'd finally realized he still wasn't fully used to the shinobi world's rules.
Twenty-plus years of his previous life had shaped his morals around modern civilization.
Even after twelve years in Konoha, he hadn't really been exposed to the village's darker side.
Truth was, after the Third Great War, Konoha protected its children far better than any other hidden village.
The Shikamaru incident looked small on the surface.
In reality it had been a test of his bottom line.
If he hadn't hit back hard enough, the same people would only push harder next time.
Shikage trusted his system to carry him to the top of the shinobi world.
But he didn't want to reach that peak standing on a mountain of his own clansmen's bones.
So cutting off the claws of anyone who wanted to test him had become non-negotiable.
He rubbed the square shogi piece, thinking quietly.
—Shiozuki's "confession" was forced by Kotoamatsukami. I made him admit it.
—Now I need to turn that fake confession into cold, hard fact.
Seriously, why would a powerful young leader inside the Nara clan suddenly betray his own family and Konoha?
That was exactly why everyone had been so shocked.
The Nara weren't the Uchiha or Hyūga. Their side branches were treated extremely well—best treatment in the entire village.
With Kotoamatsukami and all the intel from his past life, turning a frame job into reality wasn't hard at all.
He already had a new scapegoat lined up.
What he hadn't expected was that he wouldn't even need to plant evidence.
...
"You're telling me you found letters in Shiozuki's house proving he was secretly communicating with Orochimaru?"
In the study, Shikage tilted his head, staring at his father with clear, slightly dumbfounded eyes.
"Mm. Correct."
Shikaku pulled out a hidden letter, expression grave, but his gaze toward Shikage was full of shock and pride.
"I can't believe you already knew he'd turned traitor."
"Good thing you caught it early. If Anbu or Root had found out first, our Nara clan would've paid a heavy price."
"Uh… yeah… right…"
Shikage answered in a daze, staring at the letter.
He genuinely couldn't understand what the hell had been going through Nara Shiozuki's head.