"So, you're the one who wants my head?"
A simple question from Whitebeard, filled with his dominating presence, instantly made the situation tense. The Daimyo of the Land of Grass stared wide-eyed, gaping up at Whitebeard's massive and imposing figure. The kingly aura emanating from Whitebeard made everyone feel like a giant boulder was pressing down on their hearts.
The scene fell silent instantly!
"G-Giant?"
"Gulp!!"
The Daimyo swallowed hard, all traces of his noble demeanor gone. Fear surged through him, causing him to retreat. In his panic, he stepped on several of his retainers' feet, and his several hundred pounds of weight made them wince in pain, though none dared to voice it.
Sweat poured down the Daimyo's fat face like rain, and he instinctively fanned himself, trying to cool down in the night breeze.
He only felt somewhat safe after putting ten meters between him and Whitebeard.
"What are those ninjas doing? I pay them nearly 100 million ryo in military funds annually, and this is how they protect me? They should be court-martialed!" he cursed the useless Kusagakure ninjas in his panic.
The retainers surrounding Kushina were equally tense. They looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the Daimyo saw someone dressed as an Anbu ninja. Like seeing a savior, he shouted, "You! Yes, you! Come here and stand by me!"
He knew his retainers were no match for a giant who could storm Kusagakure. But the Anbu didn't respond. In fact, the Kusagakure Anbu was too scared to acknowledge the Daimyo. He knew the situation well and valued his own life more than the Daimyo's authority.
"Daimyo-sama, I'm sorry," the Anbu said, drawing a kunai and slicing a line across his forehead protector. "I am no longer loyal to Kusagakure or to you!"
He quickly distanced himself from Kusagakure and pledged, "There can only be one sun in the sky, and in my heart, that sun is 'Whitebeard!'"
The Daimyo was stunned. "You!"
"Gurararara, what's the matter? Don't you want my head anymore?" Whitebeard asked mockingly.
"I-I…" The Daimyo's palms were soaked with sweat, his voice trembling with fear. "I am the Daimyo of the Land of Grass! Yes, I am the Daimyo of the Land of Grass!"
Finding some confidence, he thought his title gave him leverage. Fanning himself frantically to ease his tension and fear, the Daimyo's voice steadied.
"Perhaps we had a misunderstanding, but now it's cleared up. If I'm not mistaken, you've killed the leader of Kusagakure," he said, trying to sound reasonable.
Whitebeard remained silent, staring at him, making the Daimyo's nerves spike again. His voice quickened, "Ninjas cannot kill a Daimyo, as the Daimyo controls the country's economy. In the ninja world, villages may come and go, but Daimyos are permanent. Only a Daimyo can provide money to ninja villages. If you want to take over Kusagakure, I will support you. I will give Kusagakure 2 billion ryo annually and will not interfere in its affairs."
"How about it?" he asked, fanning himself faster, trying to keep his composure.
But Whitebeard's gaze made him feel foolish. Then Whitebeard's words shattered his confidence: "Noble brat, if you die, everything you own will be mine."
The Daimyo was speechless.
He was utterly panicked now.
"G-Giant! If you harm the Daimyo, you'll be the enemy of the entire ninja world!" a retainer shouted bravely. "The Land of Grass will place a bounty on you, and every ninja will hunt you down, making you the enemy of all!"
"And your family will be targeted too! If you touch the Daimyo, your family will be hunted by the entire ninja world!" he threatened.
Oh?
Threatening not just him but his family too?
A shadow crossed Whitebeard's face.
Even the bravest pirate has a bottom line that should never be crossed. For Whitebeard, that bottom line was family. Anyone who threatened or harmed his family was his mortal enemy.
These people had stepped on that line.
"Gurararara! Brats, threatening my family is the fastest way to extinction!" Whitebeard's laughter carried anger and killing intent.
"Karin, close your eyes," Whitebeard instructed.
"Huh? Oh!" Karin quickly shut her eyes, covering them with her hands for good measure.
At that moment, Whitebeard moved!
Switching to a two-handed grip on his Murakumogiri, Whitebeard slashed horizontally without hesitation under the terrified gazes of the Daimyo and his retainers.
Noble of the ninja world? Daimyo? To Whitebeard, they were nothing but dirt.
He might see them as moving ATMs if they didn't threaten his family. But they were as good as dead to him once they crossed that line.
"Wait! Stop!" the Daimyo screamed in terror, but it was too late.
Murakumogiri's blade sliced through the bodies of the retainers in an instant. They had no time to react, let alone escape. Their bodies were cut in half, organs spilling out.
Murakumogiri didn't touch the Daimyo, but the wind pressure from the slash, sharp as a blade, split the Daimyo's obese body!
Splat!
Blood and fat sprayed everywhere.
He died instantly!
"Seems I'm a bit late…" Kakashi arrived, Naruto in tow, looking at the carnage. "This isn't just a diplomatic incident now."
...
...
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"That… that couldn't be the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, could it?"
Sweat dripped from Kakashi's forehead. He knew that he couldn't have changed anything even if he hadn't been a step late. In all his years in the ninja world, even participating in the Third Great Ninja War, he had never seen anyone kill a noble, let alone a Daimyo!
In the ninja world, there was a huge difference between ordinary nobles and a Daimyo. While ordinary nobles could be a hassle, they were numerous within a country, somewhat like the various clans in Konoha but without the ninja heritage.
A Daimyo, however, was different. Each country had only one Daimyo, who was equivalent to the Hokage in Konoha.
What Whitebeard had done was akin to... killing a Hokage!
"Dad!!" Like an unrestrained fox, Naruto rushed away from Kakashi and ran towards Whitebeard, excitedly shouting, "Dad! Uncle Kakashi and I just teamed up and defeated a Kusagakure ninja!"
Naruto's arrival dispersed the dark clouds in Whitebeard's mood. His smile, now genuine and hearty, replaced the earlier anger.
Whitebeard laughed heartily, "Gurararara! Stupid son, making some progress, huh! What level of ninja did you defeat?"
"Uncle Kakashi said it was a Chunin!"
Naruto had already reached Whitebeard. The bloody scene around him barely fazed him anymore. Following Whitebeard for this long, Naruto had witnessed many shocking sights. He had initially turned pale and even vomited, but now, he was mostly desensitized.
"Eh?" Naruto suddenly noticed a red-haired child sitting on Whitebeard's shoulder, seemingly a girl. "Dad, who's she?" Naruto scratched his head, puzzled.
"Stupid son, she's Karin," Whitebeard introduced. "From today on, she is my daughter! She's also your new family member, Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Family?"
"Daughter?"
Two shocked voices echoed, one from Naruto and the other from Uzumaki Kushina.
"She's your daughter? She's about my age! Karin, that's a tongue-twister of a name!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide.
At this moment, Karin, sitting on Whitebeard's shoulder, cautiously opened her eyes. Though she hadn't seen anything earlier, she now heard Whitebeard talking with someone else.
When Karin saw the bodies on the ground, her face turned as pale as paper. But upon seeing her mother, she relaxed a bit, then looked at Naruto with a confused and shy expression.
"Hi!" Naruto suddenly gave her a thumbs-up, his smile as bright as it could be.
In the dark, bloody Kusagakure, his smile was particularly striking.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto's smile was genuine; he was truly happy. "I'm also Whitebeard's son, his first son in the ninja world! Since you're Dad's daughter, we're family now!"
"Uzumaki Naruto... family..." Karin was momentarily stunned. Perhaps Naruto's infectious smile gave her courage.
"I'm Karin!"
"We are... family!"
She spoke earnestly, though her serious tone sounded cute for her age.
At that moment, the most bewildered person was Kushina. She hadn't expected that after surviving a "doomed" mission and returning to the village, her daughter Karin would suddenly gain a "father."
Karin had accepted this Whitebeard as her father!
This... might actually be a good thing. Kushina knew she couldn't provide Karin with a nurturing environment. Finding a place like Kusagakure had already been her limit. She knew she had failed as a mother.
"Mom is family too!" Karin suddenly added, trying to speak seriously, though her tone sounded endearing for her age.
"Mom? Oh!" Naruto clapped his hands together in realization. "You're the lady mentioned before with a daughter! Oh, I remember now!"
Whitebeard looked at Kushina. She was only in her twenties, likely having given birth to Karin before she turned twenty. Karin and Naruto were about the same age, around five or six.
Kushina was very thin, malnourished, with little will to live. If not for Karin, she might have taken her own life in the dark hell of Kusagakure.
"Red-haired girl," Whitebeard addressed Kushina. "Besides Karin, do you have any other family in the ninja world? What about the man who fathered Karin with you?"
Kushina hesitated, then replied, "My husband was also a survivor of the Uzumaki clan, but he abandoned us."
"What an irresponsible guy," Whitebeard frowned.
"Red-haired girl," to Kushina's surprise, Whitebeard extended his hand to her. "From today on, be my daughter."
"Ah?" Kushina was nearly stunned. She looked up at Whitebeard, seeing the sincerity in his expression. He seemed genuine.
"I... but I..." Kushina hadn't expected anyone to want her as a daughter, especially a stranger like Whitebeard.
Kushina hadn't felt a shred of warmth since arriving in Kusagakure with Karin and every day had been filled with suffering. When Whitebeard accepted Karin as his daughter, she felt happiness for Karin but also a pang of envy she couldn't understand.
As an orphan, "family" was a luxury for Kushina. But now, a man named Whitebeard was offering to be her family, to recognize her as his own.
"Mom is crying," Karin said, seeing tears in her mother's eyes. She sensed that her mother wasn't sad but experiencing a unique joy, a joy that turned into tears.
Karin was right. Kushina felt an overwhelming sense of joy, forgetting that accepting would mean her daughter would be her sister in family terms.
She spoke.
"Dad!"
...
...
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