"Ninjas should not be demeaned. They should not be restrained. The world should be led by us!"
"I will ignite the revolution! People like you who stand in the way of the world's transformation—how do you think they should be dealt with!"
Gengo shouted passionately as he pointed at Sai, who was bound to a cross.
Below the stage, the brainwashed figures in black robes erupted with fury:
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! (′д｀σ)σ"
"Transformation requires blood and sacrifice!"
"Kill him!"
On the stage, Gengo was very satisfied with their reaction. He pressed his palm down slightly, signaling everyone to quiet down.
"Ninjas should become the leaders of nations!"
"The sun of the new era will rise from the Land of Silence!! ୧⍢⃝୨"
After speaking, Gengo swept his gaze across the crowd below and waved his hand, signaling that Sai could be executed.
However, just as one of the black-robed figures who had received the order was about to act, Shinju chose to strike!
"Wood Release: Vine Domain!!"
"Crash—crash—crash…"
Hundreds of wooden vines suddenly burst from the ground, instantly binding every black-robed figure present!
Gengo's expression changed dramatically: --003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)
"What?!"
"Wood Release?!"
"I expected Konohagakure to send someone to rescue him, but I didn't expect the Sixth Hokage to come in person… (≖╻≖;)"
Gengo swallowed hard, then suppressed the tremor in his voice and forced himself to speak calmly to Shinju.
"But it's even better that you came, Shinju-sama. You are now the strongest in the ninja world, and you should be thinking about change for ninjas. |•--0027---0027•)و✧"
"Now that the great war has ended, the world's structure is unfavorable to ninjas."
"Ninjas possess chakra far stronger than civilians. We shouldn't bow beneath daimyo, shouldn't be shackled by foolish secular rules. We should create a new era… ❛‿˂̵✧"
"Shinju-sama, you—"
Before Gengo could finish, Shinju lashed out with a wooden vine and tied the guy's mouth shut!
"I knew long ago there was something wrong with your speeches… You mixed chakra into your voice to bewitch people's hearts. Clever trick, just used in the wrong place." Shinju curled his lip.
"Mmmph—mmph—mmph—!" Gengo struggled desperately to make a sound.
Shinju said impatiently, "I know what you want to say, but the peace we have now wasn't easy to come by. You want to recklessly start a war? Not happening. (ー_ー)!!"
"The world order, the fate of ninjas… You shouldn't dress up your selfish desires with such high-sounding words. Ծ‸ Ծ"
"Enough talk. You're coming back to Konohagakure to rot in a cell! (▼ヘ▼#)"
With that, Shinju directly used the vines to choke Gengo unconscious.
After finishing all this, Shinju walked up to the cross and untied Sai.
"Sixth…" Sai opened his eyes, deep confusion filling them.
The next instant!
"Whoosh!!"
Sai drew a blade and suddenly stabbed straight at Shinju's chest!!
Shinju sidestepped nimbly, then backhanded Sai square on the forehead!
"Smack!"
"Crash!!"
Sai was sent flying more than ten meters, slamming into the wall beside him with a loud boom!
"Sai, your will really isn't firm. You actually fell for Gengo's voice-based genjutsu…" Shinju sighed leisurely, picking up Sai's body from the ground like a dead dog…
Flying Thunder God activated!
...
Konohagakure.
Hokage Office.
Tsunade passed by and planned to step inside to see how Shinju's work was coming along.
She pushed the door open—there was no sign of Shinju inside at all!
Only Naruto, with his head of blond hair, was sprawled across the desk fast asleep!
Beside Naruto, Shikamaru stood holding a stack of documents, his face full of speechless resignation!
Seeing this, Tsunade stormed in. "What is going on here? You'd better give me a reasonable explanation! (눈益눈)"
Naruto jolted awake from his dream, hastily wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and greeted her.
"Ah… Granny Tsunade's here. Please, have a seat…"
"I can't sit. Where's Shinju?! ꐦ≖ ≖" Tsunade's fist slowly clenched!
As her words fell—
"Whoosh—!!!"
Shinju appeared inside the Hokage Office along with over a hundred black-robed people. The not-so-large office was instantly packed to the brim!!
Tsunade became even more irritated: (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)
A few minutes later, after all the black-robed figures had been thrown into prison, Shinju finally had time to answer Tsunade's questions.
"Three days ago, the Tsuchikage sent a letter saying they'd found the reason why ninja alliance missions have sharply decreased recently. I—"
After listening, Tsunade finally relaxed. "I see. I thought you'd slipped out again to go have fun."
As Shinju helped Tsunade sit down, he said gently,
"Sensei, I've been Hokage for half a year now. You still come by to check on me from time to time—it kind of feels like you don't trust your own student…"
Tsunade replied, "If you didn't keep stirring up so much trouble, I wouldn't come. →_→"
Shinju said, "What trouble? Ever since taking office, I've been diligent and conscientious. Whenever there's a problem, I want to handle every single one personally. Sensei, it's time for you to let go."
Tsunade thought it over carefully and felt that Shinju had a point. "Alright, then."
"Oh right, how do you plan to handle the situation in the Land of Silence?"
"The former daimyo of the Land of Silence was killed by Gengo. Now that you've captured Gengo, the country is leaderless—it'll only become more chaotic…"
Shinju was just as troubled.
"Gengo sheltered rogue ninjas from various villages, brainwashed them to serve him, and intended to start a war. That's why I captured him. Letting him go back is impossible…"
Tsunade frowned. "That makes it tricky. Our ninja village can't directly interfere in another country's internal affairs, so… do we just let the Land of Silence fall into chaos?"
Shinju shook his head. "That won't do either. The aftermath still needs to be handled properly…"
...
Outside Konohagakure.
Shinju met with Karin, Suigetsu, and the others.
Jūgo asked in confusion, "Where's Sasuke?"
Shinju replied, "Sasuke went out on a mission."
Meanwhile, Karin stared straight at Shinju with sparkling eyes.
"Ever since Shinju became the Sixth Hokage, he seems even more handsome and imposing! (´◊ω◊｀)"
Suigetsu snapped, "Don't get starry-eyed!"
As he spoke, Suigetsu looked up at Shinju. "So, why did you call us here?"
Shinju got straight to the point.
"The leader of the Land of Silence was taken away by me. Right now, the country has no one at the helm."
Suigetsu: (´◊ω◊｀)
"You want us to become the leaders of that country?!"
"Shinju, I knew you had good taste from the start! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
Shinju shook his head.
"You misunderstood. I want you to go to the Land of Silence to quell the unrest… and see if there's a suitable leader you can support."
Jūgo nodded. "Since it's something Shinju entrusted to us, I'll definitely give it my all!"
Karin reached out to hook her arm around Shinju's.
"Since Shinju's asking, I'll help this one time… (｡◝ᴗ◜｡)"
Shinju deftly dodged her hand and said with a smile,
"Don't worry, I won't make you work for free. If you have any demands, just say them. (•̀⌄•́)"
Suigetsu said, "I want a treasured blade from Kirigakure! ´∀`"
Karin said, "I want to go on a date with you! ´▽`"
Shinju: "…"
"Let's just make it a monetary reward."
As he spoke, Shinju suddenly remembered something.
"Oh right, the three of you handling this alone might be tough. In a few days, I'll assign you some additional manpower."