Chapter 155 — When the Village Turns Against Itself

"Isn't it funny? He asked for Chunin escorts for a job this simple."

The squad had just returned to Konoha when one of the shinobi spoke.

"Well, when the pay is this good, nobody's complaining."

His teammate shrugged.

It happened all the time. Whenever a noble's family member or descendant hired shinobi as bodyguards for a travel mission, they usually asked for Chunin or Jonin.

Most of the time, it wasn't because the mission was dangerous.

It was simply a way to show their family status.

"Kaito, why haven't we seen Shinosuke-sama for so long? It's always just Asuma these days."

One of the shinobi looked at Kaito as he asked.

Kaito was Asuma and Shinosuke's cousin. They had met and interacted with them many times before, but it had been a long time since they had last seen Shinosuke.

Kaito's smile disappeared.

"Are you making fun of my cousin, Taka?"

His voice became serious.

Everyone in Konoha knew about Shinosuke's condition.

After the incident with the Uchiha clan, he had barely left his house. He rarely even interacted with members of his own clan anymore.

And coming from Taka, who was also a member of Elder Homura's clan, the question sounded more like mockery than a simple question.

"No, no, Kaito. That's not what I meant."

Taka quickly raised his hands.

"I wasn't trying to make fun of him."

He paused before continuing.

"I just meant that whenever we chose a mission, Senior Shinosuke was always the one who gave us advice."

His expression softened as he remembered those days.

"I just... miss that."

Kaito looked at him for a moment before letting out a slow sigh.

"It's all because of those damn Uchiha."

His jaw tightened.

"What are you boys doing here?"

A voice suddenly came from behind them.

The group turned around.

"Uncle Soko."

Kaito straightened when he saw Sarutobi Soko.

Soko glanced around the street.

His expression quickly became worried.

He hurried over and grabbed Kaito by the arm.

"Shhh."

He lowered his voice.

"Do you boys have a death wish?"

Kaito looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, Uncle?"

"Don't you know what's happening inside the village?"

Soko looked between them, especially at Taka.

"What do you mean?"

"Look around. You'll understand."

The boys looked around.

It didn't take long for them to notice something was wrong.

People throughout the street were staring at them.

Some were whispering to each other.

Others simply watched them without saying a word.

But their eyes were filled with something that was impossible to miss.

Anger

Taka noticed several older villagers staring directly at him.

One old man didn't even look away as he was muttering something.

Taka's expression darkened.

"What are you looking at, old man? Do you want to figh—"

Before he could finish, Soko quickly covered his mouth.

"Don't make things harder than they already are, brat."

Soko grabbed Taka's arm and pulled him along, moving quickly to get them off the street.

"Who the hell are you yelling at, bastard?"

An angry voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

Soko didn't even turn around.

He simply closed his eyes for a moment forcefully as he felt the trouble.

The one thing he had been hoping to avoid had already happened.

"That bastard old man was looking at me, I—Mmph!"

Taka didn't even get to finish.

Soko's hand clamped over his mouth.

Kaito watched the scene in confusion.

But the fear on his uncle's face told him that this was far more serious than he had thought.

A young man suddenly stepped in front of them, blocking their path.

His eyes were fixed on Soko.

"Did your clan never teach you how to talk?

"Well, what can one expect? When they are only good at theft, cheating, and scamming?"

He sneered.

"What—"he then looked at Soko's face

"Is this what your great clan does? Breeding termites in number and letting them loose on the village?"

The young man's smirk made it clear that he was looking for a confrontation.

Soko's expression hardened.

"We don't want trouble."

His voice remained calm, but his fist tightened at his side.

"Whatever grievance you have, take it to the Hokage and the Elders. They'll answer for it."

He didn't wait for a reply.

Soko tried to move the boys past him.

The young man watched them leave.

He watched Soko drag all three boys away before laughing.

"Hahaha,"

"Look at them running."

His voice grew louder.

"They don't even have the guts to face us."

He turned toward the crowd.

"Running away from the battle, just like their young master!"

"Great Clan shinobi, my ass!" one of the villagers said in contempt.

Kaito's face darkened.

Taka clenched his teeth.

Even Soko's expression became grim.

"How dare you?"

Kaito suddenly broke free from Soko's grip.

He turned around and rushed toward the young man, a kunai already in his hand.

The young man didn't back away.

Instead, he smiled.

"You dare insult my clan, you sewer rat?"

Cling!

He pulled out his own kunai and blocked Kaito's attack.

Kaito's eyes widened.

He had thought the man was an ordinary civilian.

But he was a shinobi.

"You're a—"

Kaito couldn't finish.

The crowd erupted.

"How dare he attack us, that bloodsucker!"

"Beat him!"

"Don't let that bastard get away!"

The anger in the street suddenly turned into something much worse.

Kaito looked around.

People were rushing toward him.

Some were civilians holding whatever they could get.

Others were shinobi with kunai and swords.

His eyes widened.

"Breaking shit now, brat?"

The young man's expression changed from before.

From his look, Kaito felt everything was planned.

Behind them, Soko, Taka, and the other shinobi stared at the approaching crowd.

Sweat began to form on their faces.

None of them had ever faced an enraged crowd like this before.

"Kaito!"

Soko rushed toward him and grabbed his arm.

"Run!"

He pulled Kaito away as the others followed.

The crowd immediately started chasing them.

"Don't look back!"

Soko's voice was tense as he dragged them forward.

"Just run toward the clan grounds!"

By now, they had put a good distance between themselves and the main crowd.

But several shinobi were still chasing them.

"Aren't they afraid of rebellion?" Taka gasped between breaths as he continued running.

"Or are they seriously trying to start a rebellion?"

He glanced back at the pursuers before looking at Soko.

The headbands were unmistakable.

Konoha shinobi.

They were being chased by their own village's shinobi.

How could they openly attack other shinobi from the same village?

"The whole village is in chaos right now," Soko said without slowing down.

"There's a huge rift between the civilian shinobi and the clan shinobi. And our four clans have been hit the hardest."

Taka's expression became serious.

"We've already had several attacks against us this week."

Soko's voice tightened as he remembered the previous attacks from civilians.

"The Hokage and the Elders warned us not to move around the village unless necessary until they can calm things down."

"How dare they come after us?"

Kaito's voice was filled with disbelief as he found this much more shocking and confusing.

"Aren't they even afraid of what our clan can do to them?"

Soko glanced back at him.

"Look at them, Kaito."

His expression was grim.

"They're past being afraid of anything right now."

The Sarutobi compound finally came into view.

For a moment, relief appeared on Kaito's face.

They were almost home.

Then—

Clang!

Soko suddenly swung his kunai and knocked a shuriken out of the air.

"Where the hell do you think you're running?"

"Stop for a moment!"

One of the pursuers shouted mockingly.

They were catching up.

Soko's expression changed.

He immediately dropped behind the boys, putting himself between them and the approaching shinobi.

"Get inside fast!"

He pointed toward the compound.

"Tell the clan what's happening! Now!"

The pursuing shinobi reached them.

Several swords were drawn at once.

"You'll pay for my brother's life, you Sarutobi bastard!"

One of the shinobi roared as he charged.

His sword came down with all his strength.

CLANG!

Steel met kunai.

The impact sent a sharp jolt through Soko's arm.

"You people are makingggggg—"

Soko cut him off with a cold glare as he deflected the blade.

"Mistake."

The shinobi gritted his teeth.

"Our mistake was following that bastard's orders in the first place."

His eyes were red with fury.

"My brother died because of it."

He tightened his grip on his sword.

"And I'll make up for his sacrifice..."

His eyes locked onto Soko.

"...with your life."

His grip tightened around the sword. His eyes never left Soko's face.

He meant every word.

Soko stared back at him.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Soko risked a glance behind him.

Kaito, Taka, and the others had already reached the compound gate.

Good.

They were inside.

At least they were safe.

Soko's shoulders relaxed for the briefest moment.

Then—

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The voice thundered through the street.

Every head turned.

Soko's eyes widened.

At the other end of the street stood Jiraiya.

Behind him, the Konoha Guard Force had spread across the road, with several other shinobi standing behind them.

Jiraiya's expression was unusually serious.

The pursuing shinobi froze.

But the man in front didn't lower his sword.

His grip remained tight around the handle as he stared at Jiraiya.

Even with the Konoha Guard Force standing behind him, the anger in his eyes hadn't disappeared.

Jiraiya took one step forward.

His eyes moved from the armed shinobi to Soko.

"What the hell is going on here?"

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