54th Year of the Konoha Calendar

At the end of February, a shocking incident shook Konoha Village. The special envoy from the Daimyo's palace, Saikei Hiraimiya, was assassinated within the envoy residence. This explosive news spread like wildfire, stirring the waters of the Land of Fire with turbulent undercurrents... or so it seemed.

However, before any upheaval could truly take hold, the Daimyo's official response quickly dispelled the tension. The Daimyo, in a swift move, reached out to the Fifth Hokage, expressing regret over his poor judgment in appointing the envoy. He offered a generous sum to compensate the envoy's family, recalled his deputy envoy and other staff from the residence, and sent a fresh team to Konoha.

Even the Hiraimiya family—a notable and prestigious clan in the Land of Fire—opened their doors to allow Konoha's shinobi to conduct a thorough search, confiscating or destroying any remnants of artifacts related to the Jashin cult left by Hiraimiya Saikei and his subordinate Ogawara Emon.

Beneath the surface, however, the covert division, known as the "Hunter Unit," sharpened their claws and began a mission to track down and investigate the Jashin cult across the borders in the Land of Hot Water.

And with that… the matter was closed.

The world continued as usual. Konoha's shinobi remained active throughout the ninja world; the noble families of the Daimyo's court indulged in their pleasures. Cherry blossoms of spring withered, and summer's cicadas filled the air with their calls. By the end of May, time had quietly slipped away.

"Damn noisy things."

Kazuma flung a shuriken, silencing a cicada perched on a cherry tree in the courtyard. Yet his peace was short-lived; the trees around the palace grounds were thick with cicadas, and their relentless calls filled the air. His throw merely subdued the nearby noise, leaving the distant hum lingering in his ears.

"Kazuma, what's been going on with you lately? Losing your temper so easily… you can't even control your emotions anymore?"

In the hallway, Kazuma walked alongside another figure.

"You're still hung up on that incident?" the man asked.

"Forget? Why would I? Konoha overstepped by demanding that His Excellency, the Daimyo, apologize. It's an outrageous insult! Asuma, aren't you, as a servant of His Excellency, ashamed?" Kazuma's cold gaze fell on his companion.

"Asuma shook his head, disagreeing. "Ashamed? Kazuma, you're overreacting! There's no need to take it so far."

"Oh? So, your heart still lies with Konoha?"

"I am a Konoha shinobi by nature. And, to be clear, I'm only speaking on the matter at hand. It's you, Kazuma—you've blinded yourself with resentment to the point where anything related to Konoha annoys you."

"Hah!" Kazuma scoffed. "You claim to be a Konoha shinobi, yet your own father, your family, was betrayed by Konoha. Your father led Konoha to greatness, but he's the only Hokage in history to be overthrown and die mysteriously. Most of your clan perished on the battlefield. And yet… you still consider yourself a Konoha shinobi?"

The words sliced into Asuma Sarutobi's deepest wound, forcing a pain he had tried to numb for so long to resurface.

Since his father's burial, he had left Konoha and had not returned for almost a year.

"Kazuma! You're asking for a fight!" Asuma halted, glaring fiercely at Kazuma, his eyes storming with barely restrained fury.

"No courage to confront the real culprits, so you're picking a fight with me? Is this all you have in you, Asuma?"

Kazuma sneered, facing Asuma without fear and continuing, "Come on, show me how far your Wind Release techniques have come. Let's see if you can shatter my hardening technique."

"You're no different."

Asuma did not engage physically, mindful that this was the Daimyo's palace—a place where fighting was strictly forbidden. But refraining from violence didn't mean he would let this slide. "If you're so disgusted with Konoha, why don't you just go after them yourself? Why brood about it every day?"

"To handle foreign threats, one must first have internal stability. Without you and Diraku in my way, I would've acted long ago."

Kazuma's expression darkened.

"Hah!"

Asuma gave a derisive snort.

"If you can't even handle me and Diraku, spare yourself the trouble of fantasizing about fighting Konoha. It'll get you killed."

"So, you've resigned yourself to be helpless against those who overthrew your father, then? Doesn't matter that he might be weeping in the afterlife, huh? Haha, having such a weak-willed son is truly the misfortune of the Third Hokage!"

This barrage of words made the veins in Asuma's forehead throb. He had to muster every ounce of restraint not to strike right there.

"Kazuma, this is the last time. If you bring my father into this again, you won't walk away unscathed." With a final warning, Asuma turned to leave, his pent-up anger almost visible, simmering beneath his brow like a volcano.

Watching Asuma's retreating figure, the fury on Kazuma's face gradually faded, replaced by a slight smirk, which quickly returned to his usual impassive expression.

Not entirely untouchable after all.

If there was a chink in his armor, then there was a chance to deal with Asuma without resorting to violence—or, potentially, even persuade Asuma to join their side. Even if he couldn't win him over, keeping Asuma and his moderate faction from interfering with their plans would be a success.

To handle foreign threats, one must first secure internal stability.

Kazuma's intentions were genuine.

Among the Daimyo's elite Guardian Twelve, a rift had developed due to ideological differences. Asuma led the moderates, believing the Hokage and Konoha held their place and significance. In contrast, Kazuma led the radicals, who felt the Daimyo should control the power of the shinobi directly, with Konoha's authority under the Daimyo, rendering the Hokage redundant.

The factions had clashed repeatedly, though, to date, they had restrained themselves, limiting conflicts to verbal spats alone.

The reason for this is that neither faction is fully confident they can overpower the other. If an all-out conflict erupts, neither side is likely to claim a decisive victory; any success would be a pyrrhic one at best, and mutual destruction is a real possibility.

That's why Kazuma prefers to avoid using force to settle things with Asuma Sarutobi and the moderate faction. Even if he could defeat them, his remaining power wouldn't be enough to pose any real threat to Konoha. However, if he could win the moderates over to his side, it would greatly enhance his chances of destroying Konoha.

The four members of the moderate faction specialize in a terrifying, destructive Lightning Release forbidden technique.

That kind of devastating power…

Kazuma couldn't help but covet it. In the split between the Twelve Guardian Ninja, the radicals generally hold the advantage in one-on-one combat skills over the moderates. In a direct clash, only Asuma Sarutobi and Chiriku could likely match the radicals' attacks without being outmatched.

However, the moderates' Lightning Release technique could wipe out the radicals if fully deployed.

Of course, this technique has significant limitations and isn't perfect, and Kazuma is grateful for that imperfection. If not for its severe limitations, the moderates, for the sake of maintaining stability, might have wiped out the radicals long ago—their conflict has been simmering for some time now.

"Still… relying on others is too uncertain; ultimately, I have to depend on myself."

Kazuma couldn't forget how freely the man claiming to be Madara Uchiha had entered and exited his residence, leaving him with an unsettling feeling of helplessness. Kazuma desperately wanted to become stronger, so if he ever met someone like that again, he wouldn't be paralyzed with fear.

"Forbidden techniques, secret arts… what should I do?!"

Kazuma walked back, mulling over how he could grow stronger.

Taijutsu wasn't an option—he had already honed his body to the peak of its limits. The room for further advancement was slim unless he found some technique that could unlock the body's potential, but such techniques were rare, and even the archives didn't contain many.

Genjutsu was out as well; he simply lacked talent in that area.

After much thought, he concluded that ninjutsu was his best bet. Focusing on his forte, Earth Release, offered the most potential for strengthening himself. If he remembered correctly, there was an Earth Release forbidden technique in the archives. Once the thought struck him, he couldn't resist; he immediately changed course, heading for the forbidden archives deep within the mansion.

When he reached the entrance to the archives, Kazuma noticed a fellow agent standing guard, with hidden presences monitoring the area. It dawned on him that he couldn't enter without authorization from the daimyo. This archive held forbidden techniques, secret arts, and other materials collected by past Fire Country daimyos from all across the Shinobi World.

It was this forbidden archive that upheld the strength of the Daimyo's Intelligence Bureau.

Kazuma stood at the entrance, hesitating—should he request authorization from the daimyo, or simply head back?

As for forcing his way in or sneaking past, that was out of the question.

"Kazuma?"

Just as he was about to turn back, someone emerged from the archive.

"Yabe-sensei, long time no see."

Seeing who it was, Kazuma halted and politely greeted him.

The man, Yabe Saburo, was a large, one-eyed elder with a deep scar across his face—a veteran member of the Bureau and one of its founding agents. He had even trained Kazuma and others in their early days, but as he aged, he retired from training newcomers and was assigned to guard the archive by the daimyo himself.

"Kazuma, are you here to study forbidden techniques?"

Yabe asked bluntly.

"Recently, I've felt a need to overcome my own limitations, so yes, I'd like to try learning a forbidden technique. But I just realized that I don't have permission from the daimyo…"

"Come in with me!" Yabe gestured.

"Huh?"

Kazuma froze, caught off guard.

"Why are you standing there? If you want to study a forbidden technique, come in already."

"But… I haven't gotten permission…"

"The daimyo granted permission a while ago," Yabe said impatiently, grabbing Kazuma and pulling him in. "Two months ago, the daimyo told me you're driven and ambitious and would probably come to study the forbidden techniques. He said to let you in if I saw you. Frankly, if I hadn't personally brought you in from the orphanage, I'd think you were his son!"

"Two months ago?"

That would be not long after he returned from Konoha. As Yabe pulled him along like a puppet, Kazuma felt a wave of emotion.

So the daimyo had granted this permission two months ago?

Such a favor! A surge of loyalty filled him—he wanted nothing more than to rush to Konoha, eliminate the Hokage, and help the daimyo consolidate his power to rule the Fire Country completely.

"…Also, remember the rules here: only you have access to this archive. No bringing others in, and no sharing any forbidden techniques you learn here. When you leave, a seal will be placed in your memory as a safeguard… Kazuma, are you listening?" Yabe's stern voice interrupted Kazuma's drifting thoughts.

"Oh! Yes, Yabe-sensei, I'm listening. I won't break any rules."

Kazuma rubbed his ringing ear.

"Good, good. This is the archive where we've stored all forbidden techniques and secret arts collected over the years. You can study them all; there's no time limit, and the daimyo has granted you unrestricted access. Though, honestly, it won't take long to go through everything here."

At the center of the room was a four-level bookshelf with numerous small compartments, each holding a single scroll, although many compartments were empty. The Fire Country daimyo's efforts to collect forbidden and secret arts over the years had yielded only a modest collection—barely enough to fill one bookshelf.