Chương 160: Chapter 160

[500 PS REACHED!! Next Goal: 1000PS!]

Gensou appeared suddenly, and just as suddenly, he disappeared.

It took a few seconds for Tazuna to snap out of it, and then his face changed dramatically.

"How could I have said something like that?"

Especially in front of a stranger?

Tazuna felt the urge to slap himself. He knew very well the consequences of letting his mouth run wild, especially when he'd just uttered such rebellious, treasonous words.

Yes, he had thought about the idea of making the Daimyo disappear. After all, the once-powerful Gato had met his end right before Tazuna's eyes.

This had made Tazuna realize one thing: people die when they are killed. No matter how rich or noble, anyone can meet the same fate.

Born and raised in the Land of Waves, Tazuna had invested his entire life's work into the country. He couldn't bear the thought of watching it plunge back into darkness after finally catching a glimpse of hope.

But he was an ordinary person. Even if he hired Konoha shinobi again, there was no way they would ever raise a hand against someone like the Daimyo.

So, he could only drift through life in a daze, unable to act on those rebellious thoughts.

Until he met Hagoromo Gensou.

Given his past experiences with Team Seven, Tazuna could confidently conclude that the man who had asked him those questions was definitely a ninja. His outfit didn't resemble those of the Daimyo's hired shinobi, though.

While he didn't know the stranger's intentions, Tazuna hoped his words wouldn't leak. He was too old to flee from his homeland. If he were to die, he wanted it to happen in the Land of Waves—the land he loved.

Tazuna could only hope for the best.

As for the possibility that this stranger might actually assassinate the Daimyo? He didn't even consider it.

After all, the thoughts he had voiced were treasonous. There couldn't possibly be a shinobi out there who shared his sentiments—and who just happened to show up by his side.

Gensou didn't immediately go looking for the Daimyo. He took a leisurely stroll around the area and soon found two graves.

These were the graves Team Seven had built for Zabuza Momochi and Haku.

The reason he found them so quickly was that Zabuza's Executioner's Blade stuck out prominently from the grave.

Ding!

Main Mission: The Land of Waves Operation (Completed)

After escorting Tazuna to the Land of Waves, and learning from him the truth about the mission's false ranking, the host and Team Seven decided to stay. They encountered Zabuza and Haku, and after battles, mutual understanding, and respect, it ended with the deaths of the two.

Congratulations, host! Mission completed successfully. Unfortunately, due to your passive, unmotivated attitude throughout, only the lowest-level reward has been granted.

Mission Reward: Standard chunin-level chakra reserves; Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet (44-seal version. It's a bit tedious to perform, but come on, those seals look cool, right?)

Sure enough, after interacting with Tazuna, Zabuza, and Haku, the key elements for completing the main mission had been met, and it was marked as complete.

However, the mission evaluation was quite poor.

The system was known to fudge the truth, but in this case, Gensou truly hadn't fought Zabuza or Haku.

The reward was just mediocre, but that was fine. Gensou was more interested in what the system would offer as the missions grew more difficult.

From the looks of it, the system's time frame was still stuck two years in the past. More main missions would need to be completed.

Since the system had gone quiet, indicating there was no new mission yet, Gensou turned his attention back to the present.

He looked at the Executioner's Blade before him.

It was puzzling why Kakashi, a Konoha shinobi who surely understood the value of the blade, had left it here instead of taking it back to the village. Wasn't he worried someone would just take it?

But, since he was already here, Gensou decided he might as well take it. While he personally didn't care much for the blade, some of his subordinates might appreciate it.

As for Haku's grave? He still had some decency.

And with that, Gensou took the Executioner's Blade and vanished from the gravesite.

At the newly renovated and greatly expanded Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Waves.

The scent of alcohol mixed with the music of flutes and strings filled the air from morning till night.

The Daimyo of the Land of Waves, who had once been a fit man, now sported an enormous belly. His eyes glazed with drunkenness, he watched a group of beautiful girls—collected from all over the Land of Waves—dance and smile through their exhaustion in his grand hall.

"Keep the music playing! Keep dancing!" the Daimyo roared, downing the rest of his drink before waving his hand in glee.

The dancers and musicians, drained though they were, could only continue to force smiles and perform for his amusement.

"This is the kind of life a Daimyo should live!" the Daimyo declared, letting out a satisfied burp.

Back when Gato was in control, things had been terrible. It was disgraceful for a Daimyo to be bullied by a mere merchant.

But once Gato was gone and the Daimyo regained control, he was determined to reclaim everything he had lost.

Raise taxes! Increase labor demands! Seize the girls!

One after another.

As for the suffering of the people? Well, that was perfectly normal.

As the Daimyo, he was the "heaven" of the Land of Waves. The people were meant to serve and offer him their devotion.

He figured he was being quite generous for not taking everything they owned.

At the very least, the people of the Land of Waves still had food to eat. That alone made him feel he was a pretty decent ruler.

See? Even the leftovers from his feasts were given to the poor. He didn't throw them to the wild dogs, like some infamous historical figures.

The Daimyo felt quite justified in his actions.

As for tonight, how many should he pick?

Gazing lecherously at the barely-clad dancers before him, the Daimyo wondered whether he should go all in at once or savor them one by one.

Suddenly, a voice whispered in his ear.

"The Daimyo of the Land of Waves?"

"How dare—"

Annoyed at being interrupted, the Daimyo turned to see who had spoken so disrespectfully, only for a cold kunai to press against his cheek, its blade tapping mockingly against his skin.

The Daimyo, who had once prided himself on his ability to adapt to situations, immediately changed his tone, "Sir, let's talk this through!"

The intruder, of course, was Gensou.

"You sure know how to live well," Gensou remarked as he glanced around. Then he turned back to the Daimyo and asked, "Do you have any heirs?"

"Huh?"

The Daimyo, confused, stared at Gensou.

At that moment, the shinobi the Daimyo had hired to protect him finally noticed something was wrong. They rushed past the oblivious dancers, making their way toward the Daimyo.

"Quick! Kill the assassin!" the Daimyo shouted, his face lighting up with hope.

However, to his surprise, the next few moments passed without incident. The intruder didn't flinch, and his shinobi stood there, unmoving, as if they hadn't heard him at all.

It wasn't until Gensou slowly turned his gaze toward the five shinobi that they responded.

Clad in uniforms of varying colors, the five shinobi dropped to one knee and bowed their heads respectfully toward Gensou.

"We greet the clan leader!"

(End of Chapter)

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Chương 161: Chapter 161

"You, you all..."

No matter how slow the daimyō of the Land of Waves was, he had now realized something was wrong.

Cold sweat poured from him as he tried to drag his large legs and run outside, but he found himself unable to move. He could only watch helplessly as the assassins beside him questioned the ninja he had hired.

"Have all the intel been collected?" Gensou asked without surprise.

The leader of the group immediately presented a scroll and said, "Clan leader, all the intelligence on the Land of Waves has been fully gathered."

Gensou nodded, took the scroll, and began reading it.

Moving Jomae Village to the Land of Waves had been a snap decision, but that didn't mean they wouldn't gather relevant intelligence afterward.

The internal structure of the Land of Waves, its factions, geography, diplomatic relations, and so on—none of it could be ignored just because it was a small country.

After all, with Jomae Village settling here in the future, they had to completely control the Land of Waves.

At that time, the daimyō of the Land of Waves felt he had done too many evil deeds, and the few samurai around him might not be enough to suppress the increasingly rebellious commoners. So, he decided to hire ninja.

Given the relationship between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire, the daimyō initially intended to hire ninja from Konoha.

However, after hearing that it was to suppress ordinary civilians, Konoha, now led by Tsunade, who had a reputation to protect, refused the request.

The daimyō had no choice but to hire another ninja organization, and by "coincidence," he ended up hiring the Team Highrock.

The daimyō of the Land of Waves was pleased with this ninja organization, rumored to even dare to target the Fourth Raikage for a mission. He entrusted many matters of his country to them.

As a result, the Team Highrock, having infiltrated, gained a deep understanding of the internal workings of the Land of Waves.

No powerful organization is built overnight; it always has deep roots behind it.

The Team Highrock, known in the ninja world as the "ninja who hunt ninja," had once taken on a mission targeting the Fourth Raikage. They killed one of his guards, and if not for the chance encounter with Tsunade, who treated the Raikage and his guards from a secret technique, the results would have been even more remarkable.

An organization like this naturally wouldn't have members from common origins.

In fact, the Team Highrock's foundation lay with the Hagoromo clan.

Five members of the clan, each skilled in fire, earth, wind, water, and lightning chakra nature transformations, could combine to use the "Explosive Beetle" secret technique, which even the Fourth Raikage fell victim to. This made the Team Highrock, aside from Jomae Village, another powerful weapon of the Hagoromo clan.

Jomae Village managed intelligence, while the Team Highrock handled the killing.

The Hagoromo clan had survived in the ninja world for so long thanks to these two forces.

The outside world didn't know that since its inception, the Team Highrock had gone through several generations of members.

Some retired due to injuries, while others died on missions.

Regardless, to use the "Explosive Beetle" secret technique—something only a few Hagoromo members could master—the Team Highrock always maintained a five-member team.

The current generation of the Team Highrock, who had once caused the Fourth Raikage so much trouble, had remained unchanged.

A few minutes later.

After quickly finishing the scroll, Gensou rolled it up and tapped the daimyō of the Land of Waves on his fat head, laughing lightly:

"You've really done it all—pointing at deer and calling them horses, seizing wealth by force, forcing good people into prostitution, hunting people for sport... you've committed every possible evil."

At this moment, the daimyō realized he could speak.

Forcing down his unease, he tried to maintain his dignity as the daimyō and explained:

"As the daimyō, it is within my right to decide life and death matters in my land. You are merely ninja; just be good weapons and stop worrying about things that don't concern you."

"Is it about the money? I can double the payment I offered!"

Neither Gensou nor the Team Highrock moved.

Seeing this, the daimyō gritted his teeth and, with great reluctance, said:

"Not enough? Fine, I'll triple it! But that's the limit. You ninja are so greedy!"

Still, what awaited him was the same unnerving silence.

Finally, the daimyō of the Land of Waves couldn't control his fear anymore, raising his voice to shout:

"I am the daimyō! If something happens to me, all the daimyō and the five great ninja villages will not let you go!"

Gensou watched quietly and finally spoke.

In a calm voice, he said, "I've killed quite a few daimyō in my time."

"What?"

The daimyō thought he had misheard.

Gensou kindly clarified, "I mean, don't worry, I'm quite experienced in killing daimyō."

The daimyō of the Land of Waves: "..."

"You're mad! You're all mad! Guards! Somebody help!!!"

Seeing Gensou's calm face, as if he had indeed killed many daimyō, the daimyō of the Land of Waves shook his head frantically and shouted for his guards with all his might.

But inside the hall, the musicians and dancers continued their performances, while the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Ignoring the daimyō's tearful and snotty face, Gensou gave his orders to the Team Highrock: "Prepare to handle the daimyō's aftermath. Afterward, let his four-year-old son take over."

"Yes!"

The Team Highrock responded in unison.

"Mad! They've all gone mad!"

The daimyō, who heard his own death being calmly discussed, was in a stupor. The world suddenly felt too strange, too insane.

Even at Gato's most arrogant, he never intended to take his life.

These people in front of him… they were all completely insane!

The daimyō wanted to say more.

But Gensou had lost interest. He picked up the daimyō's recently emptied wine cup and slammed it onto his head, embedding it deeply. Blood splattered everywhere.

With a thud, the once mighty daimyō rolled his eyes and fell, no different from the commoners he had killed.

"Announce that the daimyō drank too much and died of alcohol poisoning," Gensou said as he dusted off his hands. After giving his final instruction, he casually walked away.

Only after Gensou's figure disappeared did the five members of the Team Highrock stand up. They glanced at the daimyō's body, then at each other.

In truth, they weren't as calm as they appeared.

They had never imagined killing a daimyō, and this was their first time witnessing it in person.

Even now, the five were still in shock.

Although they had heard stories of their clan leader casually killing daimyō and nobles during the Warring States period, seeing it firsthand was a completely different experience.

The Team Highrock could only admire their clan leader's prowess.

In retrospect, they could understand why the clan leader had been ganged up on at the Valley of the Gods.

Soon, the leader of the Team Highrock coughed a few times, waking up his teammates: "Ahem! Now, let's handle the daimyō's affairs as the clan leader instructed."

"Yes!"

The usually unruly Team Highrock had been tamed.

They had no choice.

The 'chicken' used to warn the monkeys was far too shocking.

(End of Chapter)

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