Chapter 156: Change of Plans

I hurried to Tsubasa's side, swatting the dagger aside so hard that I think I broke his hand, but it didn't matter.

Tsubasa remained quiet despite the immense pain, showing his strong will.

Still, I asked, "Why would you do that!"

Tsubasa, of course, did not reply. Instead, his skin started turning red, and the temperature started increasing rapidly.

I quickly jumped away as an inferno of flames exploded out of him. I quickly formed a wall in front of me with blood mixed water, shielding me from the explosion.

But it was not ordinary attack as the flames did not immediately go out, and instead ran down everywhere around us, burning much hotter than normal flames.

Not really wanting the front of the city's gate to be ravaged, I used a good chunk of chakra, larger than what I would need to make an S Rank Jutsu, and unleashed a torrent of water out.

It mixed with the already present water to quench the flames, and return our surroundings to calm and quiet. Unfortunately, all that remained of Tsubasa was a charred corpse.

Shaking my head with a sigh, I stomped on the ground, caving it in slightly to let his body in, before closing it again.

Just like that, the leader of the rebellion, Tsubasa, had died and gotten buried. And the fucker didn't even give me a fight.

Shaking my head, I jumped from where I stood, breaking through the sound barrier as I flew towards the Daimyo's palace.

Lowering the impact of my landing with chakra, dust rose around me as I quickly walked inside. However, the moment I got inside, my worries were proved true.

The corpse of two guards laid in a corner. They had just been killed.

I sped up, but as I did I felt a burst of strong chakra come from within the palace. No longer caring about anything else, I literally ran through the walls, as they were as firm as paper before me.

I quickly arrived at the place where the large chakra had come from, and as I burst through one last wall, I was within the Daimyo's chambers.

"What… what have you done!"

Sprawled over me were three bodies. Three bodies I easily identified.

The Daimyo.

Mistress Shijimi.

And… Takashi.

His eyes were wide open, showing both shock and fear.

And standing between their bodies, was a man, calmly wiping his blade. It was Danzo Shimura.

Danzo sheathed his blade and asked, "What?"

In my fury, I let out my far superior chakra, and said, "You killed them! You killed your Daimyo! You destroyed my fucking plans!"

Danzo snorted, "Things rarely goes as planned. Besides, I did this for the better of the realm."

I questioned angrily, "The better of the realm? You killed its leader!"

Danzo shook his head, "No, I killed the unworthy. I knew you would end up passing the power to one of those mongrels. But look at us. For decades now we have been ruled by those incompetent, rotten fools."

Clenching my sword's handle, I replied, "I had been grooming Takashi! He would have made a great leader!"

Danzo snorted, "For once, you are being quite foolish. How can you not see that the country already has the best leader it could ask for? You have done more for this country than no one has ever had. You alone deserve to be at its head."

Squinting my eyes, I asked, "With you as an advisor, I reckon? Or maybe… the Hokage?"

This was meant to be a slight against him, but he merely chuckled, "I'm afraid I won't be able to help you in your task. Still, I would like you to know that in my eyes, you have gone far beyond Lord Second, Lord First, or Madara Uchiha."

As he said that, he opened his kimono wide, revealing a complex set of seals on his chest. Without any hesitation, he stabbed a single finger into his guts, which happened to be the center of all the seals. This caused them to activate as they quickly started spreading through his body.

My eyes widened in shock seeing this, and I asked, "What you just said… YOU were behind the rebellion?"

Danzo laughed and replied as his last words, "Sayonara, Queen of Flowers."

And with that, the black inscriptions on his bodies quickly spread out, forming a black sphere around him that expended out. I was forced to jump back to avoid it as it turned into a large explosion.

Then, as the dust settled, all that was left was a gaping hole.

I… Fuck!

"He was right, you know."

Clenching my teeth, I muttered, "Not now, Jashin."

Still, he persisted, "I already told you time and time again, you are the worthy Queen. The people love you, want you to be their ruler, and rightfully so. You could have taught that kid everything you wanted, he still would have failed to even come close to you."

"I said, not fucking now!"

But Jashin continued, "But I have to say it. I'm sorry you lost your friend, but that is the way things are. Do you think anyone else than you could unite people to stand against the Sages? You saw how the country was when you arrived. And yes, maybe Takashi would have made a good ruler, but what about his son? His grandson? Do you honestly believe they wouldn't fall back into their bad ways?"

I felt like yelling at him, destroying everything around me, but in the end, I merely sighed, and sat down at the edge of the hole.

I said, "The common people may like me, the ones truly in power definitely don't want to see me up there, because for once they would have someone truly more powerful than them above them. You also heard what they said about me. What they thought of me."

Jashin snorted unhappily, "Who cares what those morons think."

I shook my head and replied, "It matters. If they ally themselves against me, then they will make me fall."

Jashin mumbled, "You know a way to overpower them."

I sighed, "Even if I do defeat them all… isn't the entire point of ruling over the world to unite it? But if I defeat or kill them, what will be left to unite?"

Jashin replied, "If you do kill Shinigami's host, it will largely push their plans back. Then, with time, you will see your warriors grow. Besides, you aren't alone. You still have powerful allies, for example those 11 officers of yours. They can grow to become quite powerful."

I said, "I… I'm tired of shouldering everything for everyone, and getting shit on for it."

Jashin appeared on my shoulder, and said, "But you can't just abandon, can you? Because you know that if you let them be, they will get destroyed. So the question, to me, is rather simple."

I got up, and Jashin uttered, "Would you rather be hated and save everyone, or run away and die like a rat?"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, but then I heard someone say from the door, "Lady Shogun…"

I turned around to see Shun, who looked at the chamber with wide eyes. Behind him though were two men, who held a young man firmly.

It wasn't just any young man either, as I recognized him to be Nawaki's son.

"What?"

Shun gulped, and said, "We found a member of the Akatsuki… What should we do with him?"

I approached them, and took the unconscious boy's face in my hands. After a moment, I let go of it, and said, "The Daimyo and his family were killed by the rebels as a last stand effort."

"""What?!"""

The three all asked aloud, and I said, "Not even corpses were left… with the Daimyo's lineage gone, a new leader needs to be found. This boy will lose his head on the day of my coronation."