Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

With a hissing sound.

His throat was cut open by a sharp blade, and blood gushed out.

Nara Shizuku tried to speak, but could only make a hissing sound as it choked on water.

He stared at the deer shadow, the playfulness gone from his eyes, replaced by boundless terror.

At this family meeting, he only wanted Nara Shikakage to pay the price, to force Nara Shikaku to back down, and to gain the recognition of the entire Danzo faction!

But I never imagined that I would die here!

All his thoughts and ideas were gradually flowing away with the blood at this moment.

In his last second before death, he suddenly thought of something.

—Did I betray them?

……

No one expected that Nara Shizuku would betray his clan and Konoha!

To my even greater surprise, he actually admitted it!

Even more unexpectedly, not only did he admit it, but he also wanted to attack the clan leader's son!

Unbelievable! Lu Ying actually killed him!

A series of unexpected events occurred one after another, leaving all the Nara people present with blank minds.

What are all these things?

Even though Nara Shikaku had already prepared himself mentally, his eyes widened at this moment, looking at his son one moment and the corpse the next.

When he noticed Lu Ying looking at him with a slightly reproachful gaze, Lu Jiu finally snapped out of his daze and said with dry lips:

"From this moment forward, no one is allowed to leave this place! Including members of your own tribe outside!"

"As the head of the Nara clan, I must conduct a thorough and rigorous investigation into the matter of the village's betrayal."

"Anyone who dares to make a move will be punished for treason!"

Before the words had even finished and before the Danzo faction members could react, the Nara clan ninjas, who had been hiding in the shadows, sprang into action.

At this moment, some people realized that Nara Shikaku was ultimately the head of the Nara clan.

Even though he doesn't usually appear authoritative, the power he wields is still the strongest among the Nara clan.

The elders in the upper echelons exchanged glances, each seeing a certain meaning in the other's eyes.

—A major event is about to happen to the Nara clan!

As members of the clan leader's faction, they naturally couldn't oppose Shikaku's actions, especially since Shikaku had already started doing them!

Therefore, they chose to cooperate without any burden.

"No one is allowed to resist!"

"We await the clan chief's instructions!"

"Behave yourselves!"

……

The matter happened very quickly, and it was dealt with very quickly as well.

After suppressing all the clansmen who attempted to resist, Shikaku immediately gathered his confidants and prepared to go to the Shizuo family in Nara to conduct an investigation.

He didn't know how Shikakage managed to get Nara Shizuka to confess.

But since the other party has confessed, he has no choice but to investigate in detail!

Before setting off, he summoned Lu Ying to his study.

When the two were alone, Shikaku looked at Shikakage, his heart filled with complex emotions.

"Sigh, Deer Shadow..."

Lu Ying knew what his father wanted to say, but he smiled and spoke casually:

"Dad, it's too late to turn back now."

"Let's proceed according to our previous plan."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiu sighed. He hadn't expected Lu Ying to go this far.

But after all, he was his own son, so he would only trust and help Lu Ying unconditionally.

"Fine, what can I do? I'm your father."

"Since you have ambitions for the Hokage position, I will do everything in my power to pave the way for you!"

"The Senju clan deserves the Hokage position, the Sarutobi clan deserves the position, and so does my Nara clan!"

Of course, Shikaku was only trying to convince himself by saying that.

He genuinely didn't want to get involved in the Hokage position.

The reason why the Nara clan has been able to prosper to this day, and why Nara Shikaku has been able to become a highly influential Jonin, is because he abides by the rules—never coveting the position of Hokage!

However, this rule has now been broken by his own son.

He had to go through with it, even if it meant gritting his teeth!

"That's right, we need to have some ambition!"

Lu Ying grinned, revealing her pearly white teeth:

"But we have to take it slowly and get the Nara clan under control first."

"Although the Ino-Shika-Cho trio have been allied since ancient times, it's best to be cautious. Let's wait until the time is right before telling them that our Nara clan is preparing to take the Hokage position."

Lu Jiu rolled her eyes at him and said disdainfully:

"Do you think I'm a political novice?"

"Behave yourself for a while, don't cause any more trouble. Cleaning up your messes is exhausting..."

Shikaku meant it sincerely.

Lu Ying loved to cause trouble even when she was born.

Although things calmed down a bit later, they've started again recently.

Lu Ying idly played with the chess pieces:

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

After Shikaku left, Shikakage stared at the chessboard in front of him and began to organize his thoughts.

Cleansing out Danzo's faction within the family was something he had decided to do long ago.

Because he will inevitably become the head of the Nara clan in the future, he cannot allow Danzo to place his own people around him.

So it's always better to resolve it sooner rather than later.

However, he hadn't planned to clean house so soon.

Let's talk about it after I become the clan leader.

The main reason he changed his mind was because Shikakage realized that he had not yet fully adapted to the rules of the ninja world.

After all, his more than twenty years of life experience in his previous life had long shaped his values ​​into a civilized one.

Although he lived in Konoha for twelve years, he did not come into much contact with the darkness of ninjas during those twelve years.

It must be said that since the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha's level of protection for children has indeed far exceeded that of other villages.

Shikamaru's accident may seem like a minor matter.

This was actually a test of his bottom line. If he didn't retaliate strongly enough, some people would only become more aggressive in the future.

Shikakage had enough confidence in himself because of the system, but he didn't want to be surrounded by skeletons when he stood at the top of the ninja world.

Therefore, cutting off the claws of those with ulterior motives is imperative!

As Lu Ying kneaded the square chess piece, he pondered silently.

—Nara Salt Water’s “betrayal” was something I made him admit by controlling Kotoamatsukami.

We need to find a way to make this a reality.

Just kidding. As a powerful young member of the Nara clan, what need is there for him to betray his clan and Konoha?

This is why so many clansmen were shocked by the Nara-Shizuku rebellion.

They are not like the Uchiha or Hyuga clans, whose preferential treatment of their clansmen is extremely high compared to the rest of the village.

With Kotoamatsukami and the memories of Shikakage's past life, it wouldn't be difficult to turn a 'false accusation' into a 'fact'.

He quickly found a new scapegoat.

To his surprise, he no longer had to splash dirty water.

……

"You're saying you found letters at his house in Shizuo, Nara, informing him of his secret communication with Orochimaru?"

Inside the study, Lu Ying tilted her head and looked at her father, her eyes clear yet bewildered.

"Yes, that's right."

Shikaku took out a secret letter, his expression serious, and his eyes were full of surprise and pride as he looked at Shikaku.

"I didn't expect you to have discovered his betrayal so early on."

"Thank goodness you were here, otherwise if the Anbu and Root had discovered us first, our Nara clan would have paid a heavy price."

"Um...oh...um..."

Lu Ying responded blankly, looking at the letter, truly unable to understand Nara Salt Water's thought process.

—Ninjas, they really are all guys with something wrong with their brains.