Minato's warning echoed in Makiya's ears. He reached out and placed his hand on Minato's forehead.
"You don't have a fever, so why are you talking nonsense?"
Minato swatted Makiya's hand away. Realizing Makiya hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation, he recounted everything about his interrogation in the capital.
Because the details were so absurd, Makiya suspected Minato was messing with him, but the anxious expression on his face wasn't fake, and Minato wasn't the type to joke about such things.
It was absurd—completely ridiculous. But then again, considering the nobility in the ninja world were all bizarre products of generations of inbreeding, it wasn't all that surprising.
Their intellectual ceiling was so low that their heads might as well be pointed; their left and right brains were in a constant struggle, leaving them unable to even speak coherently.
This was also reflected in the great ninja clans. To maintain bloodline purity and increase the chances of awakening Kekkei Genkai, clans like the Uchiha also practiced intermarriage.
Take Fugaku and Mikoto, for instance; if you traced their lineage back three generations, they probably shared the same great-grandfather.
Thinking about it that way, Itachi Uchiha's behavior became somewhat logical. One couldn't expect too much given their intellectual limits. Sasuke's birth was purely a fluke; in a clan full of paranoiacs, Sasuke's personality and worldview were already remarkably close to those of a normal person.
"Minato, I don't understand why you're so afraid of the Daimyo. To me, those damn nobles are nothing but a pile of garbage. I can't even be bothered to list the things they've done. It's an act of mercy that I haven't gone looking for trouble with them, and yet they dare to target me?" Makiya waved his hand, signaling Minato not to worry. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If that idiotic Daimyo actually dares to issue a bounty, I'll wipe out his entire family that very night."
"Makiya, absolutely not!" Minato felt his heart skip a beat. Makiya's words were treasonous, sending a cold sweat down his back. "The Daimyo is of such high status. How could you even think like that?"
Fearing Makiya wouldn't take him seriously, he added, "To many ninjas, the Daimyo is the 'King' they must protect at all costs. It's fine to say those things in front of me, but never say them out loud elsewhere."
Makiya found Minato's attitude hard to fathom. Why should those possessing transcendent power submit to a mere mortal?
In a world where strength was everything, those capable of refining chakra were destined to be superior from birth. Weren't those unable to become ninjas essentially born disabled?
And now, this naturally 'disabled' pig actually wanted to punish him?
Makiya was laughed at the Daimyo's audacity and gestured for Minato to relax. "It's fine. Don't worry about this. I'll handle the nobles and the Daimyo."
Minato swallowed hard. "How do you plan on handling it?"
'By getting rid of the person who created the problem, obviously!'
Makiya didn't say it aloud, simply smiling to show he had a plan.
Minato didn't get a clear answer, and since he couldn't change Makiya's mind, he could only leave with a heart full of worry.
He planned to gather Hiruzen and several elders to discuss how to execute the Daimyo's orders behind closed doors. Although elders like Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were somewhat soft when dealing with external affairs, their ability to handle internal issues was still commendable. Minato intended to draw upon the wisdom of his predecessors.
After Minato left, Makiya's expression darkened. He had still underestimated the status the aristocratic class held in people's hearts. He wondered just how much these nobles had brainwashed the populace over the years to make even those with transcendent power willingly risk their lives for them.
It was beyond absurd.
But Makiya remained steadfast in one belief: political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. In a world of transcendence, overwhelming strength was everything. There was nothing a massacre couldn't solve.
After sitting cross-legged and thinking for a moment, Makiya stood up and left the training ground. He grabbed a trench coat, wrapped himself up tightly, put on a pair of sunglasses, and left through the east gate, strolling through the streets.
From the Uchiha compound to the commercial district, and from the Konoha Public Bath where he once caught Jiraiya to Ichiraku Ramen, Makiya's Sharingan quietly activated behind his sunglasses. He projected his ocular power into the mind of every villager he passed.
"Good grief, they actually all think this way? They've completely lost it." The information he gathered left Makiya stunned. Hypothetically, if he were to kill the Daimyo, ninety percent of the Konoha villagers would choose to be his enemy.
The remaining ten percent would fight him to the death...
In other words, if Makiya wanted to kill the Daimyo, he would have to destroy Konoha along with him. With Makiya's current strength, Konoha was no match for him—unless the owner of Ichiraku Ramen happened to be an Otsutsuki.
On the contrary, the Uchiha and Hyuga clans were quite unique. The hawks within the Uchiha clan, who were always shouting about a coup, were arrogant and relied on the power of the Sharingan. The Daimyo's position in their hearts was precarious, and he didn't even rank higher than the Clan Head or the Great Elder.
After surviving three Great Ninja Wars, these people were blindly obsessed with Makiya, caring little for who the Hokage was.
The Hyuga clan was even more peculiar. The Head Family only pledged loyalty to one entity: the successive clan heads. Most of the branch family members submitted to the rule of the Head Family. While a small portion harbored rebellious thoughts, none of them cared about the Daimyo either.
Draining the last bit of water from his glass, Makiya poured the remaining ice cubes into his mouth and crunched them before leaving the barbecue restaurant.
The moment he stepped out of the door, his ocular power ceased to maintain its grip. The exquisite genjutsu dissipated. The ninjas and civilians dining in the shop only felt a momentary blur before their eyes, noticing nothing unusual. The lively atmosphere paused for a heartbeat before they resumed eating and drinking heartily.
The proprietress watched Makiya's departing back with a look of pure disgust. She hated customers like him most—entering the shop only to order two small skewers and a glass of ice water, then sitting there for half a day, taking up space without bringing in any real profit.
As she wiped the table with a rag, she suddenly found a banknote under the tray of the two skewers. The string of zeros and the Daimyo's portrait on it looked particularly pleasing, and she immediately beamed with joy.
Retracting her previous thoughts, she decided she loved customers like him the most—generous, informal, and the easiest to serve.
Wandering aimlessly, Makiya kept his head down, contemplating his next move. Suddenly, he noticed the path beneath his feet felt familiar. Looking up, he realized he had unknowingly arrived at Grandma Mako's front door.
If there was anyone Makiya cared about most in current Konoha, Grandma Mako was undoubtedly at the top of the list. When he first transmigrated and started as an orphan, life hadn't been easy; he had relied entirely on Grandma Mako to pull through the toughest times.
Pushing the door open and entering the courtyard, the familiar space was, as always, filled with the laughter of children. Grandma Mako was busy in the kitchen, preparing snacks and sweets for them.
"Brother Makiya is back!"
"It's Brother Makiya!"
"Stupid, you're supposed to call him Elder-sama."
"Why? I'm going to call him Brother Makiya."
"..."
The children happily crowded around him, encircling Makiya with their raised hands. The younger ones grabbed his hands, peeking around to see where the snacks were.
Every time Makiya visited in the past, he would be carrying large bags of treats.
Makiya realized then that he had come empty-handed. Letting go of the children's hands, he activated Flying Raijin and vanished.
While the group of children stood there in dazed confusion, Makiya's figure reappeared, cradling a large pile of freshly bought snacks.
The children's eyes lit up instantly. They cheered and jumped as they took the bags, skipping toward the corridor to share the joy of opening their prizes.
The children's clamor reached the kitchen. Grandma Mako poked her head out to look, and upon seeing Makiya, a smile bloomed on her face. "Oh, it's little Makiya! You bring so many snacks every time; you're going to spoil them."
"They're just kids; it's natural for them to like snacks." Makiya smiled and handed the remaining bags to Grandma Mako. "These are some supplements suitable for the elderly. I made them myself."
"Good, good. My, little Makiya really has grown up." Grandma Mako took the bags and ushered Makiya inside, serving him steaming red bean soup and tri-color dango.
These were the most popular snacks among children—sweet, delicious, and nutritious. Makiya hadn't been fond of sweets originally, but after eating with the old woman since he was young, he had eventually grown accustomed to them.
After chatting for a while, Grandma Mako casually asked about Obito's situation. "How is little Obito doing lately? He hasn't come back to visit in quite a while."
"Obito..." Makiya paused. "His teacher, Kakashi Hatake, entered the Anbu, so their team's missions have increased as well. That fellow is very busy."
'Busy, my foot.' The guy spent all day following Rin Nohara around, so infatuated that he practically wanted to hang onto the girl's shadow.
Makiya didn't need to personally investigate the village's affairs; all sorts of intelligence were proactively reported to him by clan members who wanted to follow him. Regarding Obito's recent state, the reporting clan members were quite disdainful.
As a member of the dignified Uchiha clan, he didn't have an ounce of pride, acting like a total simp for a commoner girl all day long.
Makiya didn't know what Rin Nohara was thinking either. Her attitude toward both Obito and Kakashi was very ambiguous. She would blush when seeing Obito, yet was also extremely concerned about Kakashi. When Kakashi became an Anbu squad leader, Rin even dragged a reluctant Obito along to host a promotion party for him.
In short, Makiya couldn't figure out Rin's heart.
"Little Makiya, something is on your mind, isn't it?" Grandma Mako took a sip of red bean soup and gently held Makiya's hand. "You can tell me anything. No matter what you do, Grandma will support you."
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