Chapter 161

"You, you all..."

No matter how slow the daimyō of the Land of Waves was, he had now realized something was wrong.

Cold sweat poured from him as he tried to drag his large legs and run outside, but he found himself unable to move. He could only watch helplessly as the assassins beside him questioned the ninja he had hired.

"Have all the intel been collected?" Gensou asked without surprise.

The leader of the group immediately presented a scroll and said, "Clan leader, all the intelligence on the Land of Waves has been fully gathered."

Gensou nodded, took the scroll, and began reading it.

Moving Jomae Village to the Land of Waves had been a snap decision, but that didn't mean they wouldn't gather relevant intelligence afterward.

The internal structure of the Land of Waves, its factions, geography, diplomatic relations, and so on—none of it could be ignored just because it was a small country.

After all, with Jomae Village settling here in the future, they had to completely control the Land of Waves.

At that time, the daimyō of the Land of Waves felt he had done too many evil deeds, and the few samurai around him might not be enough to suppress the increasingly rebellious commoners. So, he decided to hire ninja.

Given the relationship between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire, the daimyō initially intended to hire ninja from Konoha.

However, after hearing that it was to suppress ordinary civilians, Konoha, now led by Tsunade, who had a reputation to protect, refused the request.

The daimyō had no choice but to hire another ninja organization, and by "coincidence," he ended up hiring the Team Highrock.

The daimyō of the Land of Waves was pleased with this ninja organization, rumored to even dare to target the Fourth Raikage for a mission. He entrusted many matters of his country to them.

As a result, the Team Highrock, having infiltrated, gained a deep understanding of the internal workings of the Land of Waves.

No powerful organization is built overnight; it always has deep roots behind it.

The Team Highrock, known in the ninja world as the "ninja who hunt ninja," had once taken on a mission targeting the Fourth Raikage. They killed one of his guards, and if not for the chance encounter with Tsunade, who treated the Raikage and his guards from a secret technique, the results would have been even more remarkable.

An organization like this naturally wouldn't have members from common origins.

In fact, the Team Highrock's foundation lay with the Hagoromo clan.

Five members of the clan, each skilled in fire, earth, wind, water, and lightning chakra nature transformations, could combine to use the "Explosive Beetle" secret technique, which even the Fourth Raikage fell victim to. This made the Team Highrock, aside from Jomae Village, another powerful weapon of the Hagoromo clan.

Jomae Village managed intelligence, while the Team Highrock handled the killing.

The Hagoromo clan had survived in the ninja world for so long thanks to these two forces.

The outside world didn't know that since its inception, the Team Highrock had gone through several generations of members.

Some retired due to injuries, while others died on missions.

Regardless, to use the "Explosive Beetle" secret technique—something only a few Hagoromo members could master—the Team Highrock always maintained a five-member team.

The current generation of the Team Highrock, who had once caused the Fourth Raikage so much trouble, had remained unchanged.

A few minutes later.

After quickly finishing the scroll, Gensou rolled it up and tapped the daimyō of the Land of Waves on his fat head, laughing lightly:

"You've really done it all—pointing at deer and calling them horses, seizing wealth by force, forcing good people into prostitution, hunting people for sport... you've committed every possible evil."

At this moment, the daimyō realized he could speak.

Forcing down his unease, he tried to maintain his dignity as the daimyō and explained:

"As the daimyō, it is within my right to decide life and death matters in my land. You are merely ninja; just be good weapons and stop worrying about things that don't concern you."

"Is it about the money? I can double the payment I offered!"

Neither Gensou nor the Team Highrock moved.

Seeing this, the daimyō gritted his teeth and, with great reluctance, said:

"Not enough? Fine, I'll triple it! But that's the limit. You ninja are so greedy!"

Still, what awaited him was the same unnerving silence.

Finally, the daimyō of the Land of Waves couldn't control his fear anymore, raising his voice to shout:

"I am the daimyō! If something happens to me, all the daimyō and the five great ninja villages will not let you go!"

Gensou watched quietly and finally spoke.

In a calm voice, he said, "I've killed quite a few daimyō in my time."

"What?"

The daimyō thought he had misheard.

Gensou kindly clarified, "I mean, don't worry, I'm quite experienced in killing daimyō."

The daimyō of the Land of Waves: "..."

"You're mad! You're all mad! Guards! Somebody help!!!"

Seeing Gensou's calm face, as if he had indeed killed many daimyō, the daimyō of the Land of Waves shook his head frantically and shouted for his guards with all his might.

But inside the hall, the musicians and dancers continued their performances, while the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Ignoring the daimyō's tearful and snotty face, Gensou gave his orders to the Team Highrock: "Prepare to handle the daimyō's aftermath. Afterward, let his four-year-old son take over."

"Yes!"

The Team Highrock responded in unison.

"Mad! They've all gone mad!"

The daimyō, who heard his own death being calmly discussed, was in a stupor. The world suddenly felt too strange, too insane.

Even at Gato's most arrogant, he never intended to take his life.

These people in front of him… they were all completely insane!

The daimyō wanted to say more.

But Gensou had lost interest. He picked up the daimyō's recently emptied wine cup and slammed it onto his head, embedding it deeply. Blood splattered everywhere.

With a thud, the once mighty daimyō rolled his eyes and fell, no different from the commoners he had killed.

"Announce that the daimyō drank too much and died of alcohol poisoning," Gensou said as he dusted off his hands. After giving his final instruction, he casually walked away.

Only after Gensou's figure disappeared did the five members of the Team Highrock stand up. They glanced at the daimyō's body, then at each other.

In truth, they weren't as calm as they appeared.

They had never imagined killing a daimyō, and this was their first time witnessing it in person.

Even now, the five were still in shock.

Although they had heard stories of their clan leader casually killing daimyō and nobles during the Warring States period, seeing it firsthand was a completely different experience.

The Team Highrock could only admire their clan leader's prowess.

In retrospect, they could understand why the clan leader had been ganged up on at the Valley of the Gods.

Soon, the leader of the Team Highrock coughed a few times, waking up his teammates: "Ahem! Now, let's handle the daimyō's affairs as the clan leader instructed."

"Yes!"

The usually unruly Team Highrock had been tamed.

They had no choice.

The 'chicken' used to warn the monkeys was far too shocking.

(End of Chapter)