After all, when attacking Li Anshi's three subordinates, the assailant had used taijutsu, leaving no trace of chakra.
Yes, the kind that didn't even require chakra to enhance the body.
"Wait, this place is?"
Having found the destination, Homura Mitokado finally let out a breath of relief.
But when he looked up and saw the familiar place, his expression changed instantly.
"How could it be?"
Not just Homura, but even Koharu Utatane's face showed an expression of disbelief.
Only Li Anshi, upon seeing where they were, had a look of understanding on his face.
This was the Shimura clan's compound in Konoha!
The ninja village was, after all, a product of the transition from the Warring States period.
Many ninja clans had joined the village and had their own "clan grounds" within it.
This "clan ground" was equivalent to the clan's "territory" within the village.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary people and ninjas from other clans were not allowed to enter.
If one entered another's clan grounds without an invitation, they could be killed as an "intruder."
Such a death would not be protected by the village.
After all, why would you trespass on someone else's clan grounds for no reason?
Were you coveting something from another clan?
A bloodline? A ninjutsu? A secret technique?
This was a taboo in the ninja world!
No ninja clan would ever allow the foundation of their existence to be leaked.
After all, no one knew what kind of disaster would befall their clan if the things they relied on for survival were exposed.
"As I thought…"
When Homura Mitokado was tracking the trail and heading towards the village, a guess had already formed in Li Anshi's mind.
In all of Konoha, if it wasn't a spy from another village, then only Danzo Shimura would covet the secret of the flying dagger and make a move on his three students.
In Li Anshi's memory, decades later, Danzo would use the "Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal" to control "Root," gathering the children of Konoha's major ninja clans. He had even collected the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan and the cells of the First Hokage.
It could be said that Danzo Shimura alone represented seventy percent of Konoha's darkness.
The other thirty percent was Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence of him.
Swish—
A flying dagger slid from Li Anshi's sleeve into his hand.
In an instant, his "Dagger Perception" was raised to its limit.
The auras of all living beings within a hundred-meter radius were captured by him.
The trajectories of countless flying daggers spread out from him as the center.
Beside him, the expressions of Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane changed.
The moment Li Anshi held the dagger, they felt as if they had been plunged into an ice cellar.
Their necks, in particular, felt as if they had been pierced by a dagger, and the hairs on their bodies stood on end.
Fortunately, this feeling lasted only for a moment.
"This is the Little Li Flying Dagger?"
Homura and Koharu glanced at each other, still seeing the fear in the other's eyes.
To hear about it a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once.
They had known before of the power of Li Anshi's Little Li Flying Dagger, how he had slaughtered nearly a thousand Cloud ninjas by himself.
But in that brief moment, they understood why the Cloud ninjas were so wary of him.
The Third Raikage, A, had damaged his own, and his village's, prestige to issue a "special pardon" for Li Anshi, creating the first existence in the ninja world that could make ninjas abandon their missions.
It could be said that the Third Raikage had set a precedent, breaking the psychological lock that bound ninjas to complete their missions even unto death.
It was foreseeable that in the future, there would be a second, and a third, person to receive a "special pardon."
After all, the ninjas of a village were a part of its strength.
If they couldn't retreat to preserve themselves when facing a strong enemy, then after the ninjas of other villages abandoned their missions to save their lives, their own village's ninjas would surely suffer heavy losses when they encountered the enemy's powerhouses.
Thus, the number of ninjas on both sides would surely show a huge gap over time.
More importantly, there was the matter of morale!
What? The lives of ninjas from other villages are lives, but the lives of Konoha ninjas are not?
At that time, if the hearts of the Konoha ninjas were divided, how many would be willing to die for the village?
"Wait, Anshi!"
Just as Li Anshi was about to make a move, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sounded from behind him.
"Anshi, can you let me handle this matter first?"
Hiruzen was naturally very concerned about the disappearance of Li Anshi's subordinates.
Although he hadn't gone with them to track the trail, he had been watching them with his "Telescope Technique."
When he saw the direction they were heading, he guessed what had happened.
He never would have thought that just after he had told Danzo to keep a low profile for a while and not do anything to attract criticism, Danzo would give him such a "scare."
What a joke!
In the Hokage's office, in order to make Li Anshi keep his ninja status, he was even considering creating more "bonds" for him in Konoha.
Whether it was Tsunade or Li Anshi's three students, they were all people Hiruzen was preparing to use heavily to ensure Li Anshi maintained a friendly attitude towards Konoha.
But what about Danzo?
He had bypassed him and made a move on Li Anshi's three subordinates.
Did he think the mistakes he had made weren't big enough?
Of course, as a friend of many years, Hiruzen still wanted to give Danzo a chance.
Otherwise, if he let Li Anshi charge into the Shimura clan's grounds, the entire clan would probably be bathed in blood today.
Hiruzen wouldn't even be surprised if the entire clan was exterminated by him.
According to the intelligence from his battle with the Cloud, Li Anshi carried at least three hundred flying daggers on his person.
This meant he could kill more than three hundred ninjas in a short period of time!
The Shimura clan were also ninjas of Konoha.
Hiruzen believed that not everyone in the clan was like Danzo.
Li Anshi turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi, silent.
"Anshi, trust me. I will give you a satisfactory explanation."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said to him sincerely.
As the "Kage" of Konoha, he had to consider the entire village.
Li Anshi was Konoha's deterrent against other villages, but Hiruzen didn't want the ninjas of Konoha to also be within that range of deterrence.
If Li Anshi made a move on the Shimura clan today, even if he was in the right, how would the other ninja clans in Konoha view him?
The original intention of establishing Konoha was so that children would no longer have to go to war.
Similarly, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha also hoped that everyone in the same village could love each other like a family.
How could a family kill each other?