Capítulo 79: Madara's Politics

Today was not a good day, and if things were left unchecked… it wouldn't be a good week, month, year, or even over that!

Last night, Ba Sing Se had the 'pleasure' of receiving the pest called Madara Uchiha within its walls, and to Long Feng's dismay, they couldn't even kick him out lawfully considering that the pest owned a large plot of land in the Upper Ring of the city.

ANYWHERE ELSE and there wouldn't be an issue… but no… it HAD TO BE in the Upper Ring, it was almost like that damned human-skinned monstrosity knew how to play this game well.

Oh yes, the Dai Li did a long and detailed investigation about the "Ghost", even to this day, Long Feng dreads picking up any reports piled up in the code-named "Ghost Files" within the Dai Li headquarters.

They knew that Madara wasn't normal, they knew that Madara was beyond powerful, they knew that Madara wasn't pro-Fire Nation, they knew where he lived, they knew his close circle, of course they knew…

That's why after such a long, painstaking, and shrewd deal with the Fire Nation, both of them decided to turn a blind eye to the raid on the Uchiha Resort.

Were they expecting it to work? Of course not, they knew that Madara survived elite troops of firebenders when he was fucking eleven years old!

Their goal? Keep him there, afraid to leave for the safety of his people and interrupt their plans, on both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom sides.

It's fine to be an anomaly as long as he didn't interact with the rest of the world…

But now they knew something more dreadful than any other knowledge they had about the guy…

They knew that Madara knew…

And not only that… Madara left anyway! He is now in this very capital, and Long Feng wasn't fully prepared to deal with him.

He first decided to send Joo Dee, Madara can't possibly know that she is a Dai Li agent, right? It would be impossible considering that Joo Dee 'training' just finished a few days ago.

He was hoping that Joo Dee would take them on endless tours around the city, considering that Madara himself had never come here before… it felt like a suitable excuse to keep him busy…

However…

"Nice Palace."

The pest was now RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! And Joo Dee could be seen behind him, sweating and worried, trying her best to keep the smile that she was conditioned to always have.

She had ONE JOB, and it didn't even last for an HOUR!

Not only that, the bastard didn't come alone, Kaliya the waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe and Lei from Gao Ling, a former Beifong attendant, were with him!

With narrowed eyes and a respectable stance, Long Feng decided to maintain pretenses.

"I am well aware that Joo Dee already welcomed you to our beloved city, but I wish to once again welcome you to the Earth Kingdom's capital, Madara Uchiha."

He did a slight bow but made sure that Madara understood that this wasn't a simple city, but the capital of the Earth Kingdom.

Poor bastard believed that it would make a difference…

He could see Madara nodding with his little posse, and nonchalantly looking around like this was some sort of zoo, or exhibition of sorts.

'This is the Royal Palace, show some respect!'

Of course, he wouldn't say such words, he didn't care if Madara started a war really… as long as the ground zero of said war wasn't at Ba Sing Se or even worse… the Royal Palace…

'We can deal with that later, first… we need to make sure he leaves this city as soon as possible'

"I came here to have a chat with your King," said the young man in front of him.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible, the Earth King is dealing with many issues lately and you can probably understand the reason why, considering the state of the world right now..." Said Long Feng with a poker face.

"And I'm afraid that I can't take that as an answer" Replied Madara with a polite smile that made Long Feng grind his teeth.

Before the Dai Li leader could say a word, Madara walked past him straight towards the throne room.

'It seems that we will have to improvise…' Long Feng could only sigh and make a subtle sign with his fingers.

In a few seconds, the whole hall was filled with Dai Li agents surrounding the trio of "Tourists"

"Hoooo…" Madara's smile grew "You sure you want to start this here?"

Long Feng's heart skipped a beat, he could swear that he felt happiness and satisfaction from Madara's words alone!

"I am the one that should be asking that with you barging into the Royal Palace… aren't you afraid of being labeled as a terrorist and attracting the resentment of the whole Earth Kingdom due to some impulsive choice?" Asked Long Feng while turning towards Madara, doing his best to keep his poker face.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Madara shrugged and smirked "Worst case scenario I join the Fire Nation's side after I escape… or if I manage to take over... I can use it as a gift and proof of allegiance."

They both knew that it was bullshit, it was impossible for Madara to join any side of this war after the Resort incident… but it didn't diminish the threat one bit, and made Long Feng gulp nervously.

"Remarkable that you don't even consider the possibility of getting caught and eliminated" Said Long Feng doing his best with his facial expression to not look scared.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

A loud laugh echoed through the palace;

"That was a good one…" Madara said after laughing, before turning to Lei who was shaking his head wryly, and Kaliya who also laughed with him "Yup… that was a good one…"

…

Silence remained for some long awkward seconds before Long Feng decided to use the one trump card that they had.

'Since subtlety doesn't work...'

"I am well aware that you could escape the city with little to no issues" the Leader of the Dai Li gave an accepting nod "But you are forgetting something very important…"

That seemed to pique Madara's interest.

With a grin, Long Feng continued "Even if we cannot stop you here… you still have your people working within your manor in the Upper Ring, not only that… you would bring disaster to your people back at "your" lands as consequence."

Clapping his hands behind his back, with a victorious gaze towards Madara and his team;

"So, I recommend that you avoid such dreadful scenarios to your people, they are innocents after all…"

His action prompted all the Dai Li agents to assume their stances, ready to launch their "stone gauntlets" towards them.

Madara just stared at him, and then at every single Dai Li agent around… as his eyes started glowing red.

'So, the intel was right, he has some weird eyes…'

He saw the intruder taking slow steps toward him but didn't mind, they had a checkmate in this situation… if they couldn't destroy Madara, they would destroy everything Madara has…

'Obediently get out of here, or we will make sure you regret...'

"Threatening me with my people and my lands huh? That's smart..."

For some reason, Madara didn't sound affected at all, and Long Feng's brain started running on overdrive trying to understand what Madara could possibly have to maintain his calm here.

"It's not a threat, we simply recogni- ugh!"

In less than a second he felt a strong grip around his neck, his feet dangling above the ground and his throat squeezed so hard that he couldn't even breathe!

Looking around he saw all Dai Li agents standing like statues, with glazed eyes and empty facial expressions;

"!!!" saliva started leaking from his lips and Madara kept staring at him.

"Then go ahead and do it"

For a few seconds there was only the sound of chocking echoing through the Palace Halls.

Long Feng kept trying to free himself, both of his hands gripping Madara's arm trying to push himself away, but the monster didn't even bulge!

"You won't do it… you wanna know why?... because If I get a whiff of a single worker or family member of mine… suffering ANY injury... no matter how minor, could even be a strand of hair missing for all I care… I will come back, and there won't be any words to be said anymore."

Long Feng's eyes widened as his skin started to turn purple from the lack of air.

"So, if you value your little city and the little bit of power that you have… you should go out of your fucking way to keep them safe… because if there's ANYTHING out of place… I won't even care if you are the ones who did it or not… you will come to understand that I am way scarier when I have nothing more to lose… understood?"

Madara's voice grew lower pitched and somber, and Long Feng could feel the tips of Madara's hand starting to burn through the skin of his neck.

"Don't mistake me for the Avatar, I don't care about balance, and I don't care about your people… If I get a single hint… a whiff… or if I even have a bad dream about it happening… I will annihilate Ba Sing Se with all its inhabitants, erasing you all from the fucking map, nod if you understand."

Long Feng could only nod and hope that the fingers burning through his flesh would not leave permanent damage at this point.

"Good" Madara concluded as he let go of the middle-aged man's neck.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH" Long Feng fell on his knees doing his best to fill his lungs again, but couldn't stop from casting a furious gaze towards his assailant;

"You would… cough… destroy the lives of millions… cough… of innocent people?!"

"Yes, I would," Madara said without skipping a beat, and then continued "A single strand of hair from my people is worth more to me than all the lives in this world… so keep that in mind the next time you decide to act against me Long Feng" Concluded Madara as he signaled for his team to follow him towards the exit of the Palace;

Outraged Long Feng shouted "YOU CAN ESCAPE US, YOU MAY EVEN OUTMATCH US, BUT YOU ARE BUT ONE MAN! EVEN IF WE CAN'T DEAL WITH YOU… OLD AGE WILL!"

His frustration, anger and rage growing more and more as Madara didn't even stop on his steps

"THE EARTH KINGDOM HAS BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS! YOU MAY BE ABLE TO OUTMATCH US BUT YOU CAN'T OUTLAST US!" Long Feng gave final shot before his eyes started getting blurred.

Madara stopped walking and turned his head to look over his shoulder, staring at Long Feng "You really think so? Say one more word and we shall see if you are right…"

GULP

Long Feng gulped hard at that and remained in silence.

"That's what I thought."

The last thing Long Feng saw before passing out was the silhouette of Madara, Kaliya, and Lei walking through the Palace doors.