The atmosphere within the Daimyo's residence was heavy. All of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, with the exception of Uchiha Kokuya, were gathered in the main hall, seated on two sides. At the head of the room, the Daimyo sat, gently fanning himself, his expression blank as he stared at the objects placed in the center of the hall.
These were five corpses, all elite samurai from the Daimyo's family, and specifically chakra samurai trained under the Guardian Ninja captain, Tobi. They had been discovered dead in their rooms that morning, without a single wound on their bodies, having inexplicably perished.
The Daimyo was furious. Chakra samurai were incredibly valuable personnel, and training even one was a difficult task. Although Tobi had a quick method, it also meant that the resources required were significantly greater than normal. If he weren't the Daimyo of a nation, he wouldn't be able to cultivate so many chakra samurai.
Now, five of them had suddenly died, and they were the most outstanding among the chakra samurai. How could the Daimyo not feel heartache? What worried the Daimyo even more was the inexplicable manner of their deaths. Such a bizarre incident was truly frightening, and he was eager to know the reason behind it.
The Daimyo had summoned the Twelve Guardian Ninja to ask for their opinions. The physicians in the Daimyo's residence had not found the cause of death for the samurai, and therefore suggested consulting ninja skilled in such strange techniques.
"Have you found anything, Master Tenichi?" the Daimyo asked, looking at Tenichi, who was from the Fire Temple and one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
As a monk from the Fire Temple, Tenichi had some knowledge of medical secret arts. After a thorough examination, he found no clues on the deceased. Their hearts seemed to have simply stopped, without any discernible reason.
"I am very sorry, Your Highness, for disappointing you," Tenichi said, indicating that he, too, could not determine the cause. He clasped his hands together and bowed to the Daimyo.
"Never mind, never mind," the Daimyo said, frowning slightly and waving his hand, signaling Tenichi to step aside. "Master Tenichi is not a professional medical ninja after all. However, your Konoha Ninja Village's medical ninjutsu is recognized as the best in the ninja world, yet you also haven't found the cause of death for these people. What's going on?"
Previously, the Konoha Ninja Village had sent medical ninja from the hospital stationed in the capital to examine them, but they similarly failed to find the cause of death. If a conclusion had to be forced, it was sudden death from unknown causes. Such a result was unacceptable to the Daimyo.
"Please calm your anger, Your Highness. We will immediately inform the village and dispatch even more skilled medical ninja," the elder Hyuga Hiashi replied on behalf of everyone to the Daimyo's question. Although he said this, he had no confidence in whether they could truly determine the cause of death for these individuals.
Hyuga Hiashi had observed the bodies of these individuals using his Byakugan,
but found no unusual chakra. This indicated that it was not a death caused by ordinary secret techniques. If it were some kind of bacteria, virus, or poison, then it would be very troublesome.
On a side note, Hyuga Hiashi was somewhat concerned about the unusual meridian structure within these samurai's bodies. This might be Tobi's secret training. Although there was no evidence, he always felt that there was something amiss.
However, it probably had nothing to do with the mysterious deaths of these samurai. The first time Hyuga Hiashi saw chakra samurai in the past, he later found an opportunity to observe them and concluded that they used certain secret methods to stimulate the chakra meridians within their bodies, thereby quickly mastering chakra.
There might be various future repercussions, but since the Daimyo was willing, Hyuga Hiashi couldn't say much. And since past chakra samurai also had such meridian structures, then it might not be the cause of death.
Of course, it's possible that the stimulation from this secret method manifested early in these deceased samurai. If that were truly the case, Hyuga Hiashi would be genuinely pleased, as Tobi would undoubtedly be bringing trouble upon himself. Not only could it lead to the Daimyo losing these troublesome chakra samurai, but it might also cause Tobi to lose trust.
Just as Hyuga Hiashi finished speaking, a voice came from outside the hall: "No need, I've already found the cause of their deaths."
Everyone immediately looked to see Tobi striding into the hall. Due to the Daimyo's trust, Tobi was practically the head steward of the Daimyo's residence. He could wield immense influence within the residence, and no one dared to oppose him, even in front of the Daimyo. Tobi's behavior was somewhat audacious, yet the Daimyo didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
The Konoha ninja sometimes felt that the Daimyo's trust in Tobi was truly excessive. They had initially tried to sow discord between the two, but it was completely useless and only risked incurring the Daimyo's wrath. They eventually gave up.
Everyone understood that as long as the Daimyo still trusted Tobi and believed Tobi had the ability to help him deal with the Konoha Ninja Village, then no matter how outrageous Tobi's behavior became, the Daimyo could ignore it. As for whether there would be a reckoning later, that would be after the Konoha Ninja Village had been suppressed.
Until the common enemy, the Konoha Ninja Village, disappeared, the Daimyo and Tobi would likely not cease their cooperation, unless the Daimyo realized that Tobi was actually threatening his position and had to be dealt with.
"Oh?" The Daimyo heard Tobi's words and immediately leaned forward slightly, staring at Tobi and asking, "Is that true? You found the cause of their deaths?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Tobi replied respectfully. "I believed there must be clues in their homes, so I went and thoroughly investigated. Initially, I couldn't find any traces of secret techniques, and I almost gave up. But by chance, I finally discovered the cause of their deaths."
"What is it?" the Daimyo asked eagerly.
"It's this!" Tobi pulled out a bag from his person and took out some pills. "These are the secret medicines I use when training Your Highness's samurai. I accidentally bumped one, and it fell to the ground. As I was about to put the secret medicine back, I noticed something amiss. Some of these are not my secret medicine at all!"
"You mean someone swapped the secret medicine with poisoned pills?" the Daimyo asked, frowning slightly.
"That's what happened, and it's not a simple poison. Hiashi-dono, could you please use your Byakugan to take a look?" Tobi suddenly said to Hyuga Hiashi.
Hyuga Hiashi frowned, looking at Tobi, unsure of his intentions. The Daimyo also instructed him to use his Byakugan, so Hyuga Hiashi slowly took a breath, activated his Byakugan, and looked at the secret medicine in Tobi's hand.
"Inside… it seems to have a special chakra. No, is this even chakra?" Hyuga Hiashi looked closely and immediately saw the problem.
"Exactly. This energy is very similar to chakra, but not entirely the same. I believe this might be why the exact cause of death for these samurai wasn't found, and there was no trace of this energy left in their bodies after death, so chakra detection methods couldn't find it," Tobi nodded slightly.
"Then who exactly did it!" The Daimyo, seeing that the two had something substantial to say, concluded that this was the case and began to inquire about who was responsible.
"After I found these secret medicines, I investigated, and now I have a suspect," Tobi immediately stated a person's name.
"Why him?" The Daimyo frowned slightly. Tobi had just named a local lord. He had originally thought it might be ninja causing trouble, perhaps even Konoha ninja secretly, but he hadn't expected a nobleman to be named.
However, this local lord was known to be close to the Konoha Ninja Village, and the Daimyo didn't have a good impression of him. He was just curious why it was this person.
The other Twelve Guardian Ninja were also very curious, awaiting Tobi's explanation. Seeing everyone's gaze, Tobi didn't keep them in suspense and said, "It's very simple. Your Highness may not know, but these five individuals went out for training some time ago, and they went to this lord's territory. The secret medicine I use requires them to guard it strictly and not show it to others easily. Later, under my strict interrogation, the others finally revealed that during that training, this lord secretly asked them to see the secret of their strength. They were swayed by his sugar-coated words and took out the secret medicine to show him. I believe he secretly swapped the secret medicine!"
"That doesn't make sense, why would he do that?" Fujimura Yuki couldn't help but say, "People died like this, and we're definitely going to investigate. We might even find him out. Why would he do that?"
"Who knows? But I heard that the Jashinists, who were once active in the Land of Hot Water and had disappeared for a time, are active again. And they seem to use strange secret medicines. Perhaps this lord has some connection with the Jashinists?" Tobi said slowly.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present's expressions changed. Jashinists were not a good term. Back then, because of the extermination of these people, Jashinists had become like rats on the street, everyone knew they were a group of fanatical religious lunatics. If Jashinists had any connection with a local lord, that would be a major issue.
"Do you have any evidence, Tobi-dono? You can't just say things carelessly. You're slandering a nobleman!" Hyuga Hiashi said with a serious expression.
"I'm just speculating, no solid proof. Why are you so anxious?" Tobi spread his hands. "Are you so anxious because you know something insider?"
"What could I know?" Hyuga Hiashi frowned slightly, then immediately realized that this local lord was on good terms with the Konoha Ninja Village. If he appeared too eager here, it might cause the Daimyo to misunderstand.
Hyuga Hiashi secretly glanced at the Daimyo above, and indeed saw the Daimyo's cold gaze directed at him. He looked at Tobi and said, "I'm just saying that no one should be subjected to groundless accusations, especially a local lord who manages the region for Your Highness. Even if he has no merits, he has worked hard and should not be judged lightly."
"I haven't made a conclusion, just presented a suspect," Tobi said. "It seems that not long ago, your Konoha Ninja Village attacked a Jashinist stronghold, but I heard some people escaped. Perhaps these people are seeking revenge, and they have been operating in the regions for many years, possibly infiltrating their forces into the country. Just like back then, in the Hidden Cloud Village, there were many Jashinists. Heh, even a ninja village has Jashinists mixed in, tsk tsk."
The latter half of the sentence seemed to be mocking the Hidden Cloud Village, but everyone suspected that Tobi was being sarcastic, implying that Jashinists might also be mixed into the Konoha Ninja Village.
"Why do you suspect him? There are many possibilities, aren't there? You said to have the samurai guard the secret medicine carefully, but ninja have many methods. Why couldn't they have found the secret medicine carried by the samurai elsewhere and then swapped the contents?" Uchiha Ken asked.
"I said, I'm just providing a suspect. Why are you so eager to argue? Ah, I remember this lord seems to have a cooperative relationship with your village, right? Is that why you're defending him? That won't do. If this local lord really has a connection with the Jashinists, your Konoha Ninja Village would be condoning evil," Tobi said with a smile.
"I'm not…" Uchiha Ken had just started to speak when Asuna raised her hand to stop him.
"Indeed, according to what you just said, this local lord does have suspicions and should be thoroughly investigated. But we also cannot ignore other possibilities, can we?" Asuna said seriously.
"Miss Asuna makes a good point," Tobi nodded slightly, his gaze behind the mask carrying a hint of malice. He truly wanted to take the life of this daughter of Fumori masaki. She had fortunately survived the last explosion, and he hadn't found an opportunity since, but that would change now.
Tobi—Uchiha Kokuya—was very eager to personally eliminate Asuna, absorbing her soul into his Mangekyo Sharingan. Then, when fighting Fumori masaki, if he encountered a life-or-death crisis, he would use his daughter's life as a substitute. The thought alone was exhilarating.
Asuna knew that Tobi held malice towards her, and she remained vigilant. However, this was not the time for a physical confrontation. She understood that if this matter wasn't handled properly, it would cause immense trouble for the village. Although not directly related, once tainted, it would damage the reputation of the Konoha Ninja Village.
"I suggest that the Daimyo's residence and our Konoha Ninja Village jointly send people to investigate. Both sides will supervise each other to ensure no favoritism or cover-ups. How about it?" Asuna said.
The Daimyo glanced at Tobi, and seeing that Tobi had no objections, and also feeling that this was a better method, he nodded: "Good, then let the Daimyo's residence and the Konoha Ninja Village jointly send envoys to investigate."
"Our side will be represented by the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Hmm, I, Miss Asuna, and Miss Mizuki will go together. How about that? I believe in the character of Miss Asuna and Miss Mizuki. Even though you are from the Konoha Ninja Village, you wouldn't engage in corruption regarding this matter. After all, you are now the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Daimyo's residence," Tobi chuckled.
"As long as Your Highness commands, we naturally have no reason to refuse. Whether they are people from the Daimyo's residence or the Konoha Ninja Village, we will investigate fairly, not wronging a good person, nor letting off a bad one!" Asuna stared at Tobi, enunciating each word.
"That's for the best," Tobi silently watched Asuna, the corners of his lips slightly upturned behind his mask.