"You an to say that the recent deaths of our clan mbers weren't accidental? "
Hearing Shimura Naoya's words, Shimura Atsushi's expression turned to one of shock and doubt.
Lately, several mbers of the Shimura Clan had died while on missions.
He had thought it was just a streak of bad luck that had led to these casualties.
But judging from the Clan Head's words, these deaths weren't re accidents after all.
"How could there be so many accidents? "
Shimura Naoya gave a cold snort.
If accidents happen too often, then they are no longer accidents.
Now that even Shimura Tomohisa had been killed, he no longer believed this could be explained as re misfortune.
This wasn't a coincidence. It was a systematic assassination targeting the Shimura Clan.
"But the investigations into those deaths found no irregularities. Everything pointed to them being genuine accidents," Shimura Atsushi frowned.
Any ti a shinobi died on a mission, both Konoha and the Shimura Clan would conduct investigations.
All the investigations so far had concluded these deaths were due to accidental causes, with nothing unusual found.
"That's only because the culprit covered their tracks too well for the investigation to uncover anything."
Shimura Naoya sneered coldly.
An investigation doesn't always reveal the truth. If soone is skilled enough, they can conceal their tracks perfectly.
Before Tomohisa's death, Naoya hadn't been sure.
But now, with Tomohisa gone, he was nearly certain—
The recent deaths of Shimura clan mbers were no accidents.
"Then… if these deaths weren't accidents, which force is targeting the Shimura Clan? "
Shimura Atsushi, gradually persuaded by Naoya's reasoning, couldn't help but wonder.
The number of deaths in recent weeks far exceeded normal levels. And now even an elite jonin like Tomohisa had been killed.
Just as Naoya said, this could no longer be explained by coincidence.
But that only raised more troubling questions.
"What hostile forces has the Shimura Clan provoked lately…? "
Naoya frowned deeply, sifting through recent conflicts.
One na surfaced in his mind.
"The Uchiha Clan."
The most provocative thing the Shimura Clan had done recently was post bounties on mbers of the Uchiha Clan in the black market.
The Uchiha Clan certainly had motive to retaliate.
"No, impossible. The Uchiha Clan couldn't have traced it back to us."
He shook his head in denial.
He was confident he had left no trail. The Uchiha could never know the bounties ca from the Shimura Clan.
"If it's not the Uchiha Clan, then who is it? "
His brow furrowed even deeper.
Besides the Uchiha, the Shimura Clan had clashed with other clans from ti to ti.
But those conflicts had never been serious enough to warrant such deadly retaliation.
And most of those clans didn't have the power to attack the Shimura Clan like this.
"Also… why would that rogue from the Yuki Clan target us? "
"Is it a personal grudge, or was he hired by so other force? "
The appearance of the Yuki Clan rogue only deepened Naoya's confusion.
He was certain the Shimura Clan had never provoked the Yuki Clan. He couldn't understand why a rogue from the Yuki would attack them.
Suddenly, a possibility crossed his mind.
"Could it be… an enemy that Danzo brought upon the Shimura Clan? "
Since Danzo's leadership of the Root division, he had made countless enemies in the shinobi world.
What if one of those enemies, upon learning of Danzo's death, decided to take revenge on the Shimura Clan?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seed. Bitterness rose in his heart.
Danzo was dead. He left nothing but a ss behind for the Shimura Clan to clean up.
"It must be an enemy that Danzo provoked."
Hearing Naoya's reasoning, Shimura Atsushi's face turned strange.
It turned out that this enemy was sothing Danzo had left behind for the clan.
Because of Danzo, the Shimura Clan had grown powerful and influential in Konoha.
And now, because of Danzo, the Shimura Clan had beco the target of a mysterious enemy.
"Clan Head, should we have our shinobi stop taking missions outside the village for now? "
"No. Hiding won't solve anything."
Naoya shook his head, his eyes flashing coldly.
"Since we've already guessed there's a force targeting the Shimura Clan, we'll drag them out into the open."
"But… this enemy is clearly no ordinary group. I'm afraid our Shimura Clan alone won't be able to face them."
Atsushi voiced his concern.
"In tis like this, we borrow strength. Our Shimura Clan is aligned with the Third Hokage's faction—how could the Third Hokage sit idly by? "
Naoya's gaze sharpened.
"And even putting that aside, our clan mbers are Konoha shinobi. The Third Hokage cannot simply abandon us."
Leaving the Shimura compound, Shimura Naoya headed to the Hokage's Tower.
After reporting his presence, he was admitted into the Hokage's office, where he t the Third Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, I suspect..."
Naoya laid out his suspicions.
After listening, the Third Hokage fell into thoughtful silence.
Though it was only a hypothesis, he had to admit—it was a very plausible one. Especially in light of Tomohisa, an elite jonin, being killed.
"Your reasoning does hold so rit. Lately, the deaths of Shimura clan mbers on missions have indeed been far too frequent."
"There is a real possibility that so unseen force is deliberately targeting your clan without being exposed."
He spoke slowly, clearly agreeing with the saying:
Too many coincidences an it's no coincidence.
"Hokage-sama, the Shimura Clan is willing to act as bait. Please send your forces to uncover the group behind this."
Naoya requested urgently.
"To expose the hidden enemy? "
The Third Hokage gave Naoya a deep look.
With his experience, how could he not see that Naoya was trying to use him to deal with the Shimura Clan's enemies?
His first instinct was displeasure. He wanted to refuse.
But the Shimura Clan was part of his own faction and a vital part of Konoha. Refusing now would chill the hearts of his loyalists.
"…Fine. I'll send forces to secretly protect Shimura shinobi during their missions."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Naoya's face filled with excitent and gratitude.
But inwardly, he felt no gratitude at all.
He knew the Third Hokage's reluctance very well.
This incident had likely planted seeds of suspicion against him and the Shimura Clan in the Hokage's heart. In the future, things would not be easy for them.
But Naoya had expected this from the start. He still chose this path.
Because against an enemy hiding in the shadows, the only way to fight back was with the power of the Third Hokage.
As for whatever bad blood this would leave with the Hokage, that was a problem for the future.
If they couldn't survive this crisis, then the future wouldn't matter at all.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at spatreon/c/Xentronix
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