Chapter 162: Distrust and Panic!

In the world of shinobi, the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village was centered around the Senju and Uchiha clans.

This led to the creation of the "One Village, One Nation" system!

Other countries and shinobi villages soon followed suit.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated...

The power dynamic became clear:

The Kage, as the village leader, controlled the shinobi and military forces.

The Daimyo, in an exalted position, controlled the finances.

Thus, during a Shinobi World War, the shinobi village needed funding from the Daimyo.

To Itsuki, this was utterly ridiculous.

"I put the money in my own pocket; I can use it anytime, right?

Why do I need to ask someone else for it?

It's like taking off your pants to fart!"

Moreover:

"Who gave these ordinary people the courage to place themselves above shinobi?

The nobles?

In Itsuki's view, the only good noble is a dead noble."

And so!

Under Itsuki's orders, the Fire Shadow Village began moving swiftly.

Before the other shinobi villages had time to react, Itsuki had already led his shinobi into action.

Their target: The Land of Fire!

The capital!

Upon confirming this information, the other shinobi villages and the human nobles preparing to confront the Fire Shadow Village were all dumbfounded.

"Unbelievable!

What is Fire Shadow Village trying to do?

Are they rebelling?

They're even daring to attack nobles!

Don't forget, they just defeated the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Cloud Village before this.

These are the number one and two ranked shinobi villages."

...

"They've rebelled, they've rebelled, they've rebelled!"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire, a somewhat effeminate man, was shouting repeatedly.

He banged his fist on the table, making a loud clattering noise.

When Fire Shadow Village was first established, he didn't pay it much attention.

Although he was somewhat dissatisfied because they hadn't reported to him,

when the "One Village, One Nation" system was formed, there was an agreement between both sides.

The Daimyo wouldn't interfere in shinobi matters.

If the Daimyo had any issues, he would directly contact the Kage.

The Kage was not supposed to meddle in the affairs between the Daimyo and the nobles.

Also:

Whenever a new Kage was appointed, they were required to visit the Daimyo and officially recognize him as their superior.

And so!

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire had been waiting!

Waiting for the Uchiha to come and pay their respects.

After all, even if Fire Shadow Village was established by the Uchiha, it was still situated in the Land of Fire, making it naturally their shinobi village.

The "Mokukage"? Well:

It should be up to him to confer the title.

From that point onward, the village would also be under his command.

But who knew!

Two years had passed, and there was no sign of any contact from them.

Seeing that the Hidden Leaf had invited Fire Shadow Village to participate in the Chunin Exams,

the Daimyo decided to take action.

He sent his emissary to establish formal relations with Fire Shadow Village before their influence grew.

And what happened?

His emissary was thrown out by the village.

They even threatened to start a war.

Outrageous.

The Daimyo turned to one of his advisors and said, "Have the Hokage deal with them."

The advisor quickly replied, "The Hokage is currently busy with the Chunin Exam preparations and might not have time to handle them."

"Hmph!"

The Daimyo snorted coldly, "Fine, let them deal with it once they have some free time."

The advisor carefully asked, "What about Fire Shadow Village? They said they're preparing for war. Should we make any preparations?"

The Daimyo responded with a mocking expression, "Do you really believe that?

Do you actually think these lowly shinobi tools would dare raise a hand against the nobles?

Hmph, they're only worthy of being our tools!"

The advisor said no more.

The Daimyo waved his hand, "Continue."

The dancing girls, who had been silently standing in the hall, resumed their dance.

The nobles sipped their wine, making comments and jokes, and eventually left with companions on their arms.

The next day.

A rapid knocking on the door woke the still-sleeping Daimyo.

He got up in a fit of rage, pushing aside the concubine beside him, and snapped, "What's going on?"

"It's bad news."

The advisor, looking flustered, said, "Fire Shadow Village has taken over Red Merchant City and hanged all the nobles."

"What did you say?"

The Daimyo's voice turned shrill, almost unbearable to hear.

...

"Look, look!!!"

Itsuki pointed at the gold and resources that had just been taken from the noble estates, clicking his tongue.

"It's piled as high as a mountain!"

"Well? Didn't I use that idiom correctly?"

The shinobi of Fire Shadow Village looked at him, feeling helpless.

He really did go through with it.

Except for the concubines and children,

everyone else was killed.

Including the elderly.

In Itsuki's words, "The malice in the eyes of these old fools was unhidden. As expected of old nobles, let's deal with them quickly. Otherwise, they'll just die of old age."

The Anbu, who served as Itsuki's bodyguards, showed no mercy.

They strictly carried out the orders of the Mokage.

The Anbu of Fire Shadow Village had only been established a year prior.

Led by Hayate Gekkō, there were about thirty members in total.

But their strength was anything but weak.

Itsuki had helped Hayate Gekkō improve his strength multiple times, and now he might not even lose against Kakashi.

Just moments ago, at Itsuki's command, they had lifted their blades without hesitation.

Even a child who had insulted Itsuki was instantly decapitated by Hayate Gekkō.

The Mokage's will was absolute.

Yet:

Seeing the mountain of money and resources, the shinobi had mixed feelings.

"Behind the crimson gate, wine and meat rot; along the road, bones of the starving freeze."

There were still many people in this city who couldn't get enough to eat, and each year, people starved to death, while the nobles lived in decadence and luxury.

Truly despicable.

With such thoughts in mind, the shinobi began moving the supplies swiftly.

The Mokage-sama had just said that everyone would get a share when they returned!

The amount of resources provided by the nobles in this one city was astonishing.

It was more than what the Hidden Leaf had sent Fire Shadow Village in two consecutive years.

Itsuki grew excited.

After organizing everything, he headed towards the next city without hesitation.

...

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire, trembling, looked at the man before him.

He was a samurai.

A samurai who had just escaped from Red Merchant City.

Itsuki had little interest in ordinary samurai, and didn't mind if they ran away.

Even the nobles could run, as long as they left their wealth behind.

"Say that again!"

The Daimyo's voice was on the edge of losing control.

"Fire Shadow Village shinobi, led by the Mokage, arrived at Red Merchant City. Without saying a word, they attacked. Within minutes, they breached the city walls, and then stormed the city, killing everyone who resisted."

"Afterwards, they captured all the nobles and publicly hanged them."

"All the elder nobles were also killed."

"Only the concubines and children were spared!"

Hearing this, the Daimyo fell silent.

The surrounding nobles also fell silent.

How many years had it been!

Even during the Warring States Period, such a thing had never happened.

A large-scale massacre of nobles!

Unprecedented!

"What are they trying to do, those from Fire Shadow Village?"

Finally, one of the nobles couldn't hold back anymore.

He stood up and roared in anger, "This is a betrayal of the entire shinobi world! They deserve to die!"

His words carried overwhelming fury.

But!

Beneath the surface, there was also a hint of unmistakable fear.

Death had never been so close to them!

These nobles, aside from dying of old age or accidents, never imagined they could be killed.

(End of Chapter)