Chapter 254 : Proving their Innocence

[A/N: Bonus Chapter! 2832 Power Stones last week. Keep it up guys :-)]

Fujin received all the memories and sighed, 'I don't mind killing the greedy Nobles. None of them have their hands clean. But killing innocent ones always leaves a bad taste.'

Though the training in Anbu wasn't as messed up as Root training, it still was quite dark. Every new Anbu was made to kill a few innocent people on missions by the Anbu Captains. Of course, their deaths would benefit Konoha in some way, but they themselves didn't harm Konoha or anyone else. Hence no one would think that they deserved death.

Under normal circumstances, every new Anbu would be made to do this within a month of joining the Anbu. However, since Fujin's group was much younger with ages of just 12 and 13, they were asked to do this on a mission around six months after joining and after they had already completed a few missions. Despite not liking it, all three did it.

After the first time, the Anbu commander would ensure that every once in a while, the Anbu ninjas would receive a mission that would include killing innocent civilians. It would be asked of them in a very subtle manner. The method was the complete opposite of the Root. Eventually, after years of serving in the Anbu, the Anbu ninjas would begin considering this as normal.

Fujin, despite his intelligence and knowledge about the Naruto world, didn't notice this subtle scheme. But, to be fair, he wasn't the only one. Every Anbu ninja, including the likes of Kakashi and Itachi, was subtly influenced over the years. However, since Fujin's time in the Anbu wasn't very long, he wasn't influenced to an extreme end and would avoid it if he had the option.

Of course, if anyone couldn't do this, they were allowed to leave the Anbu. However, the instances of someone leaving Anbu, for this reason, were very low. The main reason was that Hiruzen would be very careful while selecting ninjas into the Anbu ranks. This was why someone like Might Guy was never invited into the Anbu.

Daimyo's Estate -

12 Nobles accompanied by 12 Samurais arrived in Daimyo's office. All reported the assassination angrily and demanded to the Daimyo to take action against Suna ninjas and the village as well. The entire room was in complete chaos!

The Wind Daimyo sighed. He wondered, 'What are these lunatics doing? Do they want to rebel against me? Or is it really someone else who is pushing the blame on them?'

The Wind Daimyo was confused. At the same time, he was a bit fearful. After all, even though he held the authority, in terms of power, he was no match for the Kazekage. If the Kazekage decided to kill him, it wouldn't matter how many Samurais he hired to protect himself.

However, he shook his head and concluded, 'No, if Rasa attacks me, then he will have to face retaliation from the other Daimyos. Though their Kages don't have to listen to them, they will as they could all plunder Sunagakure together and divide the benefits among themselves.

The only fear is if three or more Kage decided to revolt against their Daimyo. In that case, we will be history. However, the other Kages haven't shown any such indications yet. So Rasa would not dare to make a move against me yet.'

Though he didn't want to take action, he couldn't let the grievances of the 12 Nobles go unanswered. He instructed, "Call Baki and the other Sunagakure ninjas. Hajime, increase the defenses of the estate."

Hajime nodded and said, "It will be done, Lord Daimyo."

He immediately got to work. Soon, over 50 Samurais arrived at the Daimyo's mansion and took positions. Hajime stayed by the Wind Daimyo's side.

Baki received the message. He frowned and wondered, 'What now? Does the Daimyo have any problems with us staying here?'

He gathered all his subordinates and went towards the Daimyo's estate. Fujin was sitting in a restaurant near Daimyo's estate using Hiroshi's appearance. He noticed the twenty Suna ninjas running towards the estate. He wondered, 'Will they be imprisoned? Or will Baki manage to convince the Daimyo? Sigh, I want to watch their meeting. It'll be fun for sure.'

Baki and the rest entered the estate. A frown formed on Baki's face. The remaining Suna ninjas also became alert. They could see that the number of Samurais in the mansion had increased a lot.

They walked to Daimyo's office. As soon as they did, the eyes of the Nobles widened. Kojiro pointed at one ninja and screamed, "It was him! This bastard killed my daughter! I want him dead!"

The other 11 Nobles also screamed at the same time while pointing towards other ninjas. The room became complete chaos once again and was drowned in their screams.

The Sunagakure ninjas were dumbfounded at the accusations. Baki had a bad feeling.

The Daimyo commanded, "Quiet down!"

Soon, the entire room became quiet. However, the nobles kept looking at the Sunagakure ninjas with hateful gazes. If looks could have killed, then all Sunagakure ninjas would have already been dead!

Daimyo said, "How would you explain this, Baki?"

Baki replied, "I have no idea what you or they are talking about, Lord Daimyo."

The Daimyo frowned. He analyzed, 'From his expression, it looks like he really doesn't know anything. The faces of others are clueless as well. But, do they really not know anything or are just acting?'

He said, "Do you really not know? Twelve of your subordinates assassinated family members of these nobles. And you say you have no idea. Has the Kazekage decided to break all ties with me?"

Baki's bad feelings increased. He quickly replied, "That's impossible. Why will we kill them?"

He looked at the nobles and identified a few. He added, "Some of them have a good relationship with our village. We have no reason to destroy our ties with them."

Kojiro screamed, "You found out about my trade deals with Amegakure. You killed my daughter to make me stop doing that despite that trade deal having no adverse impact on Sunagakure."

Another Noble screamed, "Bastard, I don't even have any trade deals with any other country. Still this lunatic falsely accused me and killed my wife!"

The Suna ninjas immediately defended themselves and said that they didn't kill anyone. Soon, a verbal argument broke out.

However, Baki was silent. He was sweating as he realized, 'Don't tell me… The previous attackers kept hiding in the city until we dropped our guard down. In the meantime, they must have seen us and decided to disguise themselves as us to kill their next target. Additionally, there were two more attackers this time.

The previous time, we were only suspected due to the use of the Wind jutsu. However, this time, their suspicion will be entirely on us. Due to the rage of losing a loved one, they won't even listen to any explanations.'

Baki stopped his subordinates and said, "Lord Daimyo, you know that ninjas are able to transform into others. I believe that the culprits of the previous assassinations disguised as us so that our relations will deteriorate further."

Kojiro snorted, "Sure they can transform. But can they replicate their voice as well? Even if they can, how can they replicate his voice so perfectly? Even if someone transformed, it will have to be someone from your group!"

Baki was stunned. He muttered to himself, 'Don't tell me that we interrogated all the culprits and still didn't notice them? How else could they replicate our voice?'

However, Baki shook his head and said, "We have been very active in the Wind Capital recently. It isn't surprising that they could have overheard us."

Kojiro's anger kept soaring. He said, "Good good. So what you mean to say is that you are so incompetent that not only could you find the previous culprits, but instead you allowed them to completely disguise themselves as you? And you call yourself a ninja?"

This insult angered many of the Sunagakure ninjas. They immediately argued back and said how competent and capable they were.

Kojiro replied while pointing at a ninja, "If that's the case, then my daughter was murdered by none other than him!"

The Sunagakure ninjas were left speechless. Though they were much stronger in strength, when it came to debating, they were no match for the Nobles who spent all their time scheming for benefits. After all, not every ninja could scheme or argue as well as a Kage could.

Baki stepped in once again and said loudly, "This is a pointless argument. I can assure you that none of my ninjas were involved."

He looked at the Nobles and said, "One by one, point out the ninjas you saw in your mansions and at what time. I will ask them where they were at that time and we will verify. That will prove that my men are innocent."

Before the Nobles could say anything, the Daimyo nodded, "Alright, let's do that."

The Nobles complained but the Daimyo said, "We will first have to know the truth. Your loved ones won't rest in peace if the real murderers roam free while we punish the ones who didn't."

[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]

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