After reading the letter, Minato remained silent for a long time. Eventually, he chose to follow the 'suggestion' in the letter and established several idle positions to let the Sarutobi clansmen who were unwilling to contribute retire comfortably.
When the office was finally empty, Minato looked at the contents of the letter and frowned. The noble's tone was arrogant, painting the image of a haughty, overbearing master. Minato's worldview was already set, and although he found it unpleasant, he didn't see anything fundamentally wrong with the dynamic—except for one thing...
As luck would have it, in the final sentence of the letter, the noble had used a convoluted way to insult Makiya!
This was a serious matter. Originally, Minato had planned to mention the situation to Makiya in passing and let it go. Now, it seemed he couldn't let Makiya know about this at all, especially not the insults in the letter.
Minato knew Makiya too well; the man was never one to take a loss lying down. If he ever saw that sentence, Minato couldn't even imagine what might happen.
After much deliberation, Minato eventually pulled out a brazier and let the letter turn to ash in the flames.
Everything seemed peaceful. As Minato thought, Makiya didn't have the energy to pay attention to where a group of Sarutobi clansmen were being sent. The matter appeared to have blown over.
Until one evening, while Makiya was training the Uchiha clansmen in the Military Police building, Tekka walked in with a dark expression.
"Tekka, what's with the rush?"
"Lord Makiya, this bastard is insulting you." Tekka dragged a drunkard in like a dead dog—it was Yusuke Sarutobi.
The man had been causing a scene at a barbecue restaurant while drunk and was stopped by the Military Police. Relying on his strength as a Jonin, he had refused to cooperate until Tekka personally showed up to forcibly take him down.
Yusuke Sarutobi, who already disliked the Uchiha, used his drunken stupor as an excuse to start cursing. He claimed that Makiya was only tough when bullying his own kind and didn't dare to utter a word after being insulted by a noble, only knowing how to show off in front of the villagers.
"Insulted by a noble?" Makiya's head was full of questions. "When was I insulted by some damn noble?"
"Hmph, you don't dare admit it in front of your own clan?" Yusuke Sarutobi sneered, exhaling a thick stench of alcohol. "What's the use of being strong... *hic*... With one word from the nobles, I'm... *hic*... restored to my original post... You're a joke..."
The surrounding Uchiha clansmen gathered, whispering among themselves.
Makiya narrowed his eyes, having no intention of wasting words with this waste of space. His Sharingan activated, and he poured his ocular power into Yusuke Sarutobi's mind.
Under the interrogation of genjutsu, Yusuke Sarutobi revealed everything down to the color of his underwear. Makiya extracted a massive amount of memory from his mind.
Upon seeing the letter written by that high noble, Makiya's face darkened. He turned to Tekka. "Drunk and disorderly, provoking trouble. Lock him up for fifteen days."
"Yes, sir!"
Tekka led the genjutsu-trapped Yusuke Sarutobi into the depths of the Military Police building. Makiya dusted off his clothes and turned to his clansmen. "That's it for today's guidance. You're free to practice on your own."
With that, Makiya vanished with a flash. The remaining Uchiha looked at each other. Some of the more perceptive clansmen sensed that something big was about to happen and rushed toward Patriarch Fugaku's house.
In the Hokage's office, Minato was exhausting himself over the stacks of paperwork when his door was suddenly pushed open. Makiya marched in, looking furious.
"Minato, what's the deal? Some noble is acting like a prick and you didn't even tell me?" Makiya took the initiative, his words leaving Minato stunned.
"Acting like... Makiya, watch your language, please." Minato immediately realized that Makiya had found out about the letter. He hurriedly pulled him over to sit on the sofa. "It was just a couple of comments. Even as the Hokage, I get nagged by them all the time. Look, I have a whole stack of complaints from nobles here. Some say our ninjas have bad service attitudes... some say I'm an incompetent Hokage... all sorts of things."
Minato pulled a stack of letters from the corner of his desk, all written on expensive, high-quality paper. "The nobles control the resources of the entire Land of Fire. Being scolded by them won't make you lose a limb. Just endure it, and it'll pass."
Konoha was essentially the 'army' or mercenaries of the Land of Fire. They didn't produce their own goods and couldn't be self-sufficient. Their basic needs were heavily dependent on the supply from the Land of Fire, and their economy was completely controlled by the Daimyo. In normal times, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire could even directly appoint a representative to rule Konoha.
The structure of the ninja world was highly distorted. At least in Makiya's eyes, having such a political system in a world of superhuman power was an insult to chakra and natural energy.
Usually, the two sides didn't interact much, and Makiya didn't bother with them. But since someone high and mighty had come looking for trouble, Makiya didn't mind acting on behalf of heaven to clear out some slave owners and show them why the flowers are so red.
Makiya shook his head and reached out toward Minato. "Where's the letter?"
Minato couldn't play dumb anymore. After hesitating for a long time, he finally confessed. "The letter... I burned it. I was afraid you'd be angry if you saw it..."
Makiya shook his head and stood up to leave the office. "Forget it. It doesn't matter if the letter exists or not."
Minato's heart skipped a beat, and a premonition of doom clouded his mind. "Makiya, what are you planning? For heaven's sake, don't do anything stupid!"
"Don't call me Makiya. From now on, call me Huang Chao!" Leaving those words behind, Makiya released golden flames that transformed into a flying sword. With a swift movement, he stepped onto it and soared into the sky.
"Huang Chao? What does that mean?" Minato didn't understand the underlying meaning of Makiya's words. He stood by the window, watching the streak of golden light exit Konoha and leave a brilliant trail in the sky, his heart filled with worry.
He wasn't worried about Makiya's safety; he was worried the man would do something irredeemable in a moment of impulse.
If Makiya impulsively killed a high noble, he would be making an enemy of the entire ninja world!
In a major city within the Land of Fire.
A massive noble estate occupied a third of the city. The remaining two-thirds were commercial districts, which also belonged to the high noble. Commoners could only do business in the city but had no right of residence; their actual homes were all outside the city walls.
Inside the noble mansion, the noble who had previously written to 'reprimand' Makiya was currently slumped on a massive throne in the main hall. Leaning against expensive cushions, he was living a life of drunken luxury, watching scantily clad dancers perform to music. A maid beside him constantly fed him fruit, making for a very cozy scene.
Clatter.
A maid beside him, overcome with exhaustion, accidentally knocked over a wine cup. The fine wine spilled out, soaking the corner of the noble's robe.
"I... I'm so sorry, My Lord! I didn't mean to..." The maid hurriedly bowed her head, kowtowing repeatedly to beg for mercy.
The noble's expression didn't change at all. He didn't even spare the maid a glance. He simply waved his hand. "Give her to Jifu as a wife. Make sure you all watch them consummate the marriage."
"Yes, My Lord!" A samurai clad in armor accepted the order and began dragging the maid out.
The maid cried out for mercy, but her mouth was covered by the samurai as her tears flowed uncontrollably.
Jifu was a ninja dog raised by the noble. It was the size of a small hill and possessed an overwhelming, oppressive presence; it even ate humans sometimes. The maid's fate was easy to imagine.
This was the nobility of the ninja world. They held absolute power over commoners, and the gap in their status was like night and day, comparable to the Celestial Dragons in the world of One Piece.
The noble system was deeply rooted. It had persisted in the ninja world for years without fading. Even the alien Kaguya had to submit to the 'Emperor' back in the day. The idea of innate nobility was carved into everyone's genes. Even when faced with oppression, commoners had no thought of resistance, even if they possessed the miraculous energy known as chakra.
One could only say that the ninja world had its own unique circumstances. The original author wouldn't have dared to draw anything else.
A speck of golden light descended from the heavens, and a booming sound echoed throughout the entire city.
The commoners in the commercial district stopped in their tracks. After a moment, they resumed their activities. In their view, the noble lords must have come up with some new way to play. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
This kind of commotion had happened before. The noble lords would order their subordinate ninjas to fight each other for entertainment. The noise of ninjutsu would go on for half a day; they were already used to it.
"Who's there?"
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Damn it, is the Land of Lightning attacking?"
"What the hell are the Konoha trash doing? The enemy has appeared in our heartland, and there wasn't even a single warning?"
The samurai within the estate went on high alert, drawing their polished long blades to surround Makiya. Ninjas kept by the noble appeared on the rooftops, gathering chakra as they prepared to strike.
Makiya surveyed his surroundings. In his perception, the energy levels of these ninjas and samurai were incredibly low, as fragile as total pushovers that would crumble at a single touch.
As a good person, he couldn't bear to see people throw their lives away for nothing, so he gave a kind reminder: "A word of warning: those who stand in my way will die!"
With that, he lifted his leg and began walking toward the massive palace directly ahead.
"Halt! Lord Ishi's carriage is ahead. You are not allowed to disturb His Lordship!" a samurai shouted harshly, stepping forward with his blade drawn.
"Wait, look at the symbol on his sleeve. He's a Konoha ninja!"
"It's true! Looking at the pattern, he is definitely a ninja from Konoha!"
"Strange. Isn't Konoha our dog... our army? Why would he appear here?"
Upon seeing the Uzumaki symbol on Makiya's sleeve, the group of samurai seemed to find their spirit. Their voices grew bolder as they formed a line in front of Makiya. "This is your final warning, Konoha ninja! Stop here, or you will face His Lordship's wrath!"
"Noisy." Makiya frowned. He flicked his hand, scattering golden flames. The blazing fire lunged toward the crowd. To these samurai, a casual strike felt like an apocalypse.
The ultra-high temperature instantly melted the armor on their bodies. One by one, the samurai turned into human torches, rolling on the ground as their screams echoed throughout the estate.
"They've revolted! The Konoha ninja have revolted!"
"Attack! Kill him immediately!"
"Damn it, is this an enemy ninja in disguise?"
"Possibly. Look at the clan crest on him. He's from the Uchiha clan. I think I recognize him."
The alert ninjas roared, using various means to block Makiya's path. For a moment, wind and fire surged, and walls of earth and water rose, vowing to crush Makiya into dust.