Sarutobi Yasukuni, Sarutobi Zashikoku, Sarutobi Tanaka, Sarutobi Aoyama, and Sarutobi Tsukiji Hongan.
Known collectively as the Five Sarutobi Tigers, they were outstanding representatives of the younger generation of the Sarutobi clan’s Guardian lineage.
At the very least, they were highly regarded within the Sarutobi clan.
But today, the Five Sarutobi Tigers were in a thoroughly foul mood.
On the territory of Konohagakure, the five of them were the cream of the Sarutobi clan—the Sarutobi Five Great Talents, Konoha’s Five Rising Stars, the Five Supernovas of the Land of Fire.
And yet they had actually been bullied.
The reality was that Konoha’s authority could not even extend beyond the village gates.
Once they reached the territory of Nanga, nobody even knew who they were.
"Zashikoku, the Uchiha clan is far too arrogant."
Sarutobi Yasukuni was still fuming over what had happened that day.
They had come to Nanga as Shin’nosuke’s representatives to negotiate a matter.
Konoha’s defensive preparations had consumed a tremendous amount of supplies. Although Konoha had money now, it did not produce enough goods of its own, so most supplies had to be purchased from traveling merchants.
However, the roads leading to Konoha had all been fitted with checkpoints by the Uchiha.
The merchants certainly weren’t going to absorb the additional costs themselves. As a result, Konoha’s prices had been steadily rising.
Sarutobi himself didn’t care.
That was precisely the effect he wanted. He hoped to inflate Konoha’s currency and then transform the village’s economic system.
Shin’nosuke, however, couldn’t ignore these additional expenses.
Every purchase was being skimmed by the Uchiha. Every time the Uchiha took a cut, that was one less cut for the Sarutobi clan.
And the difference was anything but insignificant.
So Shin’nosuke had used the Hokage’s official writ to dispatch the Five Sarutobi Tigers to Nanga to negotiate the matter of taxation.
There was nothing wrong with setting up checkpoints.
But they had to pay taxes.
After all, the checkpoints had excellent money-making infrastructure and entertainment facilities. The profits there weren’t limited to the goods being transported. There was also the money the merchants spent while passing through.
Shin’nosuke was practically drooling over it.
He also knew that the negotiations might not succeed.
But that was how things worked.
If you didn’t try, you were guaranteed to fail.
If you tried, there was always a chance it might work.
And if it did, that would be an unexpected windfall.
Besides, they weren’t without grounds for their request. As long as the Uchiha cared even a little about Konoha’s laws, they would have to give him something.
At the same time, this would allow him to test the Uchiha’s attitude.
If the Uchiha backed down, he could become even more aggressive.
If they refused to back down, then all of this could later be added to the list of crimes used to justify taking action against them.
Entrusting the matter to the Five Sarutobi Tigers was perfect.
When the five heard that, if a tax-collection office could be established in Nanga, one of them might even be appointed as its highest-ranking official, they immediately thumped their chests and accepted the mission.
It was only the Uchiha.
The Sarutobi clan had kept them in check for so many years. Surely they couldn’t possibly turn the world upside down now.
The Five Sarutobi Tigers set off full of confidence.
But once they arrived in Nanga, they were completely at a loss.
The entire area surrounding Nanga Shrine was operating in perfect order. Social order was maintained everywhere they looked.
The problem was that they simply couldn’t find anyone responsible for the place with whom they could discuss the matter.
The rogue shinobi and missing-nin who had once been active throughout Nanga had disappeared.
The civilians living in Nanga voluntarily followed the established rules. Very few people violated them.
Even when occasional disturbances occurred, it was the student inspection squad of the Iga Forty-Nine Academy that handled them.
It was almost as though all the shinobi had been confined inside Nanga Shrine itself.
Groups went in one after another.
And no one ever came back out.
The five couldn’t even find anyone with whom they could negotiate, let alone accomplish this lucrative undertaking.
Surely they couldn’t discuss something as important as collecting tariffs with the cook from the Takayanagi family on Fourth Street, Osaka Checkpoint, in the Kansai District of northwestern Konoha.
And yet that cook was the most influential person they had managed to meet in Nanga.
After making a circuit around one of Nanga’s checkpoints and reaching this conclusion, the five decided to head directly to Nanga Shrine and meet the Uchiha’s highest-ranking authority, Uchiha Kei.
Surely the Uchiha wouldn’t avoid meeting them this time!
"There’s no point hiding!"
Sarutobi Yasukuni sneered at what he saw as the Uchiha’s cowardly behavior.
They actually didn’t dare face the Five Sarutobi Tigers?
But the moment they stepped onto the grounds of the shrine, before they could even put on airs, they were spotted by Tenzen , who happened to be on patrol.
Fortunately for them, Tenzenhad only just learned how to open the Eight Gates. His body was still somewhat weakened, and he couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.
So he simply threw them out.
That was it.
After landing face-first in the dirt, Sarutobi Yasukuni waited until Tenzenhad left before voicing his complaint against the Uchiha.
"Zashikoku, the Uchiha clan is far too arrogant."
Sarutobi Zashikoku, who had been instantly defeated by Uchiha Tenzenwith one hand when all five of them had charged together, was still shaken.
"Yasukuni, this is still Nanga territory. Let’s talk after we get outside!"
And so, after being given the cold shoulder, the Five Sarutobi Tigers slunk away.
The farther they traveled from Nanga Shrine, the more resentment built in their hearts.
They understood that politics without personal connections was short-lived, while a world without money was one where nobody could survive comfortably.
Their clan leader was involved in politics.
They were involved in the underworld.
By refusing to cooperate with them, the Uchiha were cutting off their livelihood.
This matter wasn’t over.
They would definitely report it when they returned.
Only Sarutobi Tsukiji Hongan remained deeply uneasy.
What exactly were the Uchiha planning?
Why did everything appear calm on the surface, while beneath it they were gathering their strength?
What were all those shinobi gathering inside Nanga Shrine for?
And why were they not even allowing outsiders to approach?
Wasn’t that an excessive level of vigilance?
Not a single implication of these developments was reassuring.
A storm was brewing beneath the calm.
Tsukiji Hongan didn’t believe the Uchiha would simply act according to Old Man Hiruzen’s plans.
After all, Hiruzen had miscalculated more than once or twice.
And the Uchiha had done unexpected things more than once or twice as well.
Could it be that before the old man even finished the memorial ceremony, the Uchiha would make the first move?
Surely not.
Surely not...
With each of the five harboring their own thoughts, they continued toward Konoha.
Before long, they reached the border between Konoha and Nanga.
Then they saw it.
A group of children dressed in Nanga uniforms were beating up children from Konoha.
The Five Sarutobi Tigers recognized those uniforms.
After spending the day in Nanga, they had learned exactly what they represented.
They were the uniforms of the Shinsengumi.
They represented the Uchiha clan’s iron will and glory.
Judging from the children’s appearance, their skill, and their clothing, there was no way the five Sarutobi could believe that these children weren’t relatives of some powerful Nanga shinobi.
Sarutobi Yasukuni immediately felt his blood boil.
It was one thing for the five of them to be bullied in Nanga.
But now that they were practically back on Konoha’s territory, how could they stand by and watch children of Konoha civilians being bullied by children of the Uchiha?
"Stop! What are you evil little brats doing?!"
Sarutobi Yasukuni righteousfully stepped in to stop the bullying.
The Five Sarutobi Tigers rushed toward the scene.
Seeing Konoha shinobi arrive, the five children from the Yakushi family quickly retreated, keeping a safe distance from the Konoha shinobi.
Sarutobi Zashikoku was the first to arrive.
Looking at the miserable state of the Konoha children lying on the ground, Zashikoku was furious.
The grievances he had suffered in Nanga that day had to be vented on these people.
Just a bunch of little brats relying on shinobi techniques to bully ordinary people.
What a bunch of scum.
You could tell what someone would become from the moment they were young.
These Uchiha children clearly didn’t deserve to grow up.
Evil was carved into their very bones.
"Brats from Nanga! Who gave you permission to cause trouble on Konoha’s territory?"
As he questioned the five children from the Yakushi family, Zashikoku prepared to form hand seals.
Of course, he had no idea that these children were former orphans of Konoha.
He assumed they were young masters from some wealthy or aristocratic Uchiha family.
Seeing Zashikoku’s reaction, Aoyama also prepared his hand seals.
His thoughts were somewhat more practical.
They had come here to negotiate the tax-collection matter, but they couldn’t even find anyone responsible.
So why not kidnap a few children from a wealthy, powerful, prestigious family and use them to force the Uchiha to negotiate?
They wouldn’t dare do such a thing in the heart of Nanga.
But this was Konoha territory.
These children were young, already capable of molding chakra, and dressed in fine clothes.
They were the perfect targets.
Nobody would believe that a group of well-fed, well-dressed children who could use ninjutsu were ordinary civilians rather than members of some noble family.
What were ordinary civilians supposed to look like?
Just look at the Konoha people in tattered clothes, rolling around in the mud.
That was what commoners looked like.
"Brats, surrender peacefully. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that you won’t get hurt. This is Konoha territory, after all. You have nowhere to run."
Aoyama resorted to threats.
If they could avoid fighting, that would obviously be best.
They would still have to negotiate later.
There was no reason to create a huge grudge before that.
The five Yakushi children exchanged glances and began forming hand seals as well.
Although they didn’t know any actual ninjutsu, they knew how to perform hand seals.
For shinobi clans, ninjutsu techniques were closely guarded secrets. Aside from ordinary techniques that had spread throughout the shinobi world, nobody knew the hand-seal sequences of another clan’s techniques.
The Sarutobi clan didn’t have the Sharingan, so they couldn’t tell that the Yakushi children’s hand seals were nothing but meaningless motions.
Their bluff actually worked.
The Yakushi children continued retreating while questioning them in return.
"Konoha territory? What makes you say that?"
"Do you have a land deed?"
"Do you have a property certificate?"
The five Sarutobi were stunned.
Since when did occupying territory and dividing spheres of influence require paperwork?
Seeing their reaction, Yakushi Kabuto became even more provocative.
"You don’t have anything, so what are you even barking about?"
The words were exceedingly rude.
They immediately pushed Sarutobi Yasukuni over the edge.
All day long, they had been subjected to one ridiculous obstacle after another.
In Nanga, they had been pointed at and called rude.
They had been told off for not knowing how to queue.
Not just once, either.
And now they were back in Konoha.
How could he possibly swallow this humiliation?
They were only a few little children, yet they dared question them.
The authority of shinobi could not be challenged!
"Impudent brat! Do you even know who you’re talking to?"
The Yakushi children were far too confident.
So confident that even the five Sarutobi felt they should first find out exactly who they were dealing with.
Everyone should compare backgrounds first.
Then they could decide what to do.
Yakushi Kabuto kept shifting his body around, concealing his brothers’ hand seals and preventing the Five Sarutobi from seeing what they were actually doing.
His goal was to create a false sense of danger.
When Kabuto heard the shinobi elder asking who they were, he understood immediately.
These people were also a group whose confidence wasn’t backed by much substance.
People like that usually weren’t particularly capable.
The less afraid he appeared, the safer they would be.
"Hmph~ Then do you know who you’re talking to?"
Kabuto looked at Sarutobi Yasukuni with an expression that practically screamed, I’m the boss, and he’s the second-in-command.
Sarutobi Yasukuni was stunned.
The other side clearly wasn’t intimidated.
How much confidence did they have?
Were they actually planning to compete with the Sarutobi clan in terms of connections and background?
Sarutobi Aoyama, however, was delighted.
It seemed they had caught a big fish.
If these were children related to some major Uchiha figure, kidnapping them and taking them back would be a tremendous achievement.
And even if something went wrong, he wouldn’t have to worry.
His old man would protect him.
They didn’t have red eyes, so they definitely weren’t members of the main Uchiha bloodline.
If they were merely moderately important, that would still be fine.
At the very least, they would give the Sarutobi five an opportunity to negotiate the tariffs.
And if they turned out to be nobodies...
Well, sorry, brats.
The humiliation Aoyama had suffered today would be vented through them.
"Who are you?"
Sarutobi Aoyama lowered his hands and asked solemnly.
The answer from Yakushi Kabuto would determine what they did next.
By this point, the five Yakushi children had already moved little by little toward the Nanga side of the border.
When Kabuto heard Aoyama’s question, he burst out laughing.
"Oh? You actually don’t know who we are? Well then..."
"Run!"
Kabuto suddenly shouted.
The five Yakushi children poured all their chakra into the soles of their feet.
Whoosh!
They vanished from beside the Five Sarutobi and sprinted toward their two older brothers, who were working in the fields.
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