Chapter 247: Annihilation: Farewell, Lord Daimyō
The capital city of the Land of Wind, miles away from the desolate desert battlefield of Sunagakure, was a bubble of decadent peace.
At the Lord Daimyō's Residence, in the Grand Council Hall.
The corpulent Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind was reclining on his throne, a grotesque parody of power and leisure. He embraced two scantily clad hime (princesses), feeding them peeled grapes, while below him, a line of dancers moved with graceful, languid movements.
He drank fine, cold sake from a delicate porcelain cup, utterly carefree.
Below him sat more than ten of the Lord Daimyō's trusted council ministers.
These men, all fat, well-fed, and prosperous-looking, were also enjoying the singing and dancing, showering their lord with nauseating flattery.
"Lord Daimyō, truly, today's dance is more exquisite than any I have ever witnessed," Minister Tanaka declared, wiping grease from his chin.
"Indeed, indeed," Minister Sato echoed, bowing deeply from his seated position. "Only here, at your residence, Lord Daimyō, can one enjoy such unparalleled singing and dancing. A true bastion of culture!"
The Lord Daimyō listened to these hollow compliments, letting out a satisfied, proud, and slightly wheezing laugh. He raised his cup for a refill.
Just then.
CRASH!
A samurai guard, his armor dented, his face filled with unadulterated terror, stumbled into the hall from a side door, collapsing onto the expensive tatami floor.
"Lord Daimyō! This is terrible! Utterly terrible!"
The singing and dancing in the hall abruptly stopped. The dancers froze in place, their smiles plastic.
The self-satisfied smile on the Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's face instantly froze. He frowned heavily, his eyes narrowed in deep displeasure.
"What is with this panic?! This disgraceful display, interrupting my enjoyment! What an outrage!"
The Daimyō hurled a nearby silk cushion at the samurai. "Who dares to cause trouble at the Daimyō's Residence?! Drag this wretch out and chop him down for his insolence!"
The samurai, trembling violently, began to crawl forward.
"Chop… can't chop him, Lord Daimyō! They're too strong! Too many!"
"The people outside… they're monsters! Our brothers... our brothers can't stop them! They're falling like wheat before the scythe!"
"Useless! Absolutely useless dogs!" The Lord Daimyō cursed, slamming his wine cup onto the stone floor, where it shattered, spraying sake everywhere.
"A bunch of worthless, good-for-nothing soldiers! What use are you to me, your Lord Daimyō, for keeping you around?!"
Just as he was about to order the captain of the guards to lead the reserves to suppress the invaders...
BOOM—!!!
The massive, decorative main door of the council hall was kicked inward from the outside with a deafening crash! The heavy lacquered wood splintered, ripped from its moorings.
More than a dozen figures, their movements silent, their presence radiating a cold, bloody, inescapable murderous aura, slowly walked into the hall.
Leading the silent, disciplined force was Uchiha Kenji, his Sharingan blazing beneath his mask.
And behind Uchiha Kenji, walking with the calm, casual confidence of a tourist admiring a vista, followed Uchiha Akira. The Fifth Hokage strode forward with his hands clasped behind his back, as if strolling through a private garden on a pleasant afternoon.
All the ministers, the hime, and the remaining guards in the hall shrieked in fright at this sudden, terrifying scene. The dancers scrambled away, tripping over themselves.
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind sprang from his throne, his eyes bulging with a mixture of shock, confusion, and impotent rage.
He pointed a fat, trembling finger at Uchiha Akira and the Uchiha forces.
"You… who are you?! Ninja?!"
"How dare you! How dare you trespass into my sacred residence! Into my personal hall!"
"Guards! Guards! Protect me! Quickly seize these rebellious traitors for me! Execute them!"
He roared hoarsely, his face turning purple with effort.
But outside the shattered hall, there was only a chilling, absolute silence.
No one responded to him.
Because everyone who could respond to him—the samurai guards, the household shinobi—was already dead, lying in silent pools of blood outside.
Uchiha Akira's cold, purple Rinnegan gaze swept over the opulent, wasteful hall, finally settling upon the fat, flustered, pig-like Lord Daimyō.
Uchiha Kenji stepped forward, his voice cold, emotionless.
"Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind."
"We are here on the orders of the Fifth Hokage-sama, Uchiha Akira. We had urgent diplomatic and military matters to discuss regarding the invasion of your nation."
Kenji gestured back to the shattered door. "It was your guards who refused to see us. You who refused to receive the Hokage."
"Hokage?"
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind was stunned for a moment. He looked at the white and red robes on Akira.
"Konoha Ninja?!"
His rage returned, eclipsing his fear. The arrogance of a thousand years of feudal rule reasserted itself.
"Presumptuous! Truly too presumptuous!"
He pointed a shaking finger at Akira, scolding him angrily, his voice high-pitched and hysterical.
"A mere Ninja! A hound! Why do you not immediately kneel before me, your Lord Daimyō?! Have you forgotten your place?!"
"And you! You fought your way in! How many of my samurai and guards have you killed?!"
"This is insubordination! This is treason! Do you understand?! The highest crime against the nation!"
"According to the law, all of you should be captured and publicly executed!"
The remaining, terrified ministers in the hall also recovered their senses, seeing their opportunity to prove their loyalty. They glared at Uchiha Akira and his silent forces, shouting loudly in unison.
"Bold scoundrels! Why do you not quickly kneel and beg forgiveness from Lord Daimyō?!"
"A bunch of lawless Ninja! Do you really think our Land of Wind is a place where you can run wild and violate the law?!"
Listening to the noisy, frantic curses and posturing, Uchiha Akira simply curled his lips into a faint, chilling sneer.
He slowly walked a few steps forward, his boots crunching softly on the splinters of the door.
"You seem," Akira said, his voice quiet, almost bored, "to have not heard of my name. Or perhaps you choose to ignore it."
"Have you been enjoying yourself here for too long, surrounded by flatterers and dancers, that your ears no longer work?"
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind was utterly furious at Uchiha Akira's dismissive, contemptuous attitude.
"You… what kind of nobody are you?! How dare you be so presumptuous in front of me, your Lord Daimyō!"
The smile on Uchiha Akira's face grew colder. Sharper.
"The former Lord Daimyō of the Land of Fire," Akira stated, his voice now entirely devoid of humor, "also liked to shout and yell in front of me, just like you are doing now."
He paused, letting the implication hang.
"Do you know what his final fate was?"
"I had his head personally removed."
This single, casual sentence brought all the shouting, all the curses, all the frantic energy in the council hall to an abrupt, screeching halt.
The entire hall instantly fell into a heavy, deathly silence.
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's eyes widened to the size of saucers. His face filled with disbelief.
"You… what did you say?!"
"Killed… the Lord Daimyō of the Land of Fire?!"
"Impossible!" the nearest minister shrieked.
"This is absolutely impossible! A ninja would never dare!"
The Lord Daimyō is the living symbol of a nation! The most noble, untouchable person under heaven! Ninja are merely the hounds they keep!
How dare a mere hound claim to have bitten—to have killed—its master?!
Uchiha Akira looked at the Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's ghostly, terrified expression. He slowly, patiently elaborated.
"Oh, it seems your Kazekage, Rasa, truly went to great lengths to suppress that particular news, didn't he?"
Akira stepped closer. "Understandable. After all, if a barking, cowardly dog like you found out that the Ninja were now ruling the Land of Fire, I'm afraid your first move would be to cut Sunagakure's funding again, out of spite or panic. And we couldn't have that."
A terrible realization dawned in the Daimyō's eyes: This man is telling the truth. He is capable of this.
The arrogance of being in a high position for many years still allowed the Lord Daimyō to cling to a final, desperate thread of hope. He braced himself and roared, putting on a last, pathetic brave front despite his inner, bowel-loosening fear.
"You… you Konoha! Do you want to start a massive war?! The entire world will turn against you!"
"This is the Land of Wind! Not your Land of Fire!"
"As long as I, your Lord Daimyō, give the order, the Hidden Sand Village Ninja will immediately launch a war against Konoha! They will defend me!"
This was his last, ultimate trump card. The foundational contract of the Ninja World. As long as Sunagakure was there, bound by the contract, he didn't believe Konoha would dare to execute him!
However.
Hearing his desperate, final threat, the expression on Uchiha Akira's face became even more playful, more deeply amused.
"Hidden Sand Village?" Akira tilted his head.
"You don't need to count on the Hidden Sand Village anymore."
Akira smiled, a cold, terrible smile.
"Before coming here... I already conveniently, permanently dealt with the Hidden Sand Village."
"Otherwise," he asked calmly, spreading his hands, indicating the ease with which he had entered the country, "why do you think I would be here, in your capital, right now?"
"…"
The expression on the Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's face immediately became one of unadulterated, frozen horror.
The blood drained from his face at visible speed, turning him utterly, sickeningly pale.
"Hidden Sand Village… dealt with? Destroyed?"
This news shocked and terrified him even more than hearing about the death of the Lord Daimyō of the Land of Fire!
That was Sunagakure! One of the Five Great Ninja Villages! It was the entire foundation of the Land of Wind's standing in the Ninja World! The pillar of their defense!
And just like that… it was gone? Annihilated?
Thud!
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's legs instantly gave way beneath his obese body. He could no longer support himself. He collapsed, slumping heavily to the cold floor in a messy pile of silk and self-pity.
"Don't… please, please don't kill me!"
The Lord Daimyō scrambled backward, snot and tears streaming down his face, dragging himself forward to kneel desperately towards Uchiha Akira.
"Hokage-sama! Spare me! Please! Hokage-sama!"
He cried out hysterically, using his fat hands to slap himself fiercely on both cheeks, trying to show remorse. SMACK! SMACK! The sounds were loud and crisp in the silent hall.
"I was blind! I was ignorant! I deserve to die! But please, spare my life!"
"Hokage-sama, I… I even specifically looked after Konoha's business before! Many missions, I bypassed Sunagakure and directly entrusted them to you Konoha! We… we are our own people! We are allies!"
Uchiha Akira tilted his head slightly, his expression one of faint interest.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Precisely because of that, because of your subtle support, I specifically sent a messenger to notify you in advance this morning, wanting to meet with you and discuss future cooperation—a peaceful merger."
Akira's gaze slowly swept over the untouched fine wine, the exotic delicacies, and the terrified dancers still huddled in the corner.
"But your captain of the guards told my emissary that you were unwell and unable to receive guests."
Uchiha Akira looked down at the undignified, crying fat man slumped on the ground, his voice now full of profound mockery and disappointment.
"But from what I see now, Lord Daimyō, you look quite healthy. Quite comfortable here, enjoying the singing and dancing."
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind was dumbfounded upon hearing this. His mouth opened and closed silently.
He finally understood where the critical, fatal miscommunication lay! The guards, protecting their privilege, had sealed his fate!
"Misunderstanding! Sir! This is a huge misunderstanding! It was those dog-slaves who acted on their own! They deserve to die! I will kill their entire families right now!"
"Sir! I am willing! I am completely willing to surrender to Konoha!" the Daimyō cried out urgently, desperately.
"From now on, all! All missions! All financial contracts! All of the Land of Wind's vast resources will be given solely to Konoha!"
The remaining ministers, who had just been so imposing, were now utterly terrified, silently scrambling to hide behind the throne.
Uchiha Akira looked down at the begging, undignified fat man, speaking with cold impatience.
"No need."
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's desperate pleas for mercy abruptly stopped. He looked up, his face a mask of sudden, fragile hope.
Uchiha Akira said indifferently, simply.
"That sounds like entirely too much trouble for me to manage."
He smiled, a final, cruel smile.
"Isn't it simpler... to just annex the Land of Wind entirely?"
After speaking, Uchiha Akira slowly raised his hand. It was the signal.
Uchiha Kenji's figure, moving with blinding speed, instantly appeared before the kneeling Lord Daimyō.
Pfft!
A brief flash of crimson blood streaked across the hall.
The Lord Daimyō of the Land of Wind's fat, terrified head flew into the air, its eyes still wide and bulging in shock.
The political system of the Land of Wind ended instantly.
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