Chapter 356: The Banquet!
Chapter 356: The Banquet!
Brightness!
Lights!
The dazzling lights illuminated the entire Heavenly Fortress, making it resemble the City of Eternal Light.
The envoys were momentarily stunned.
Streetlights were not common in ordinary cities, but they were abundant in places like the Leaf Village and the Capital City.
However, nowhere else had lights as bright as those in the Heavenly Fortress.
Even towards the harbor, several lighthouses emitted towering beams of light, allowing ships to clearly see the shore even at night.
The streets were bustling with people.
The bright lights, safe environment, and relaxed atmosphere naturally made it a place of longing.
Was the title 'Freedom Beacon' just an exaggeration?
If not for the Heavenly Fortress blocking the immigration channel, the current population of several tens of thousands could easily multiply further.
Even so, the number of merchants and unregistered individuals still doubled the population of the Heavenly Fortress.
In other words, the publicly stated population of several tens of thousands only accounted for those who were registered, and if everyone were included, the population would double.
a competitive rival to the Leaf Village!
Population also represented the prosperity of a city, making the Leaf Village feel increasingly wary.
The bright streetlights on both sides of the street made it feel like daytime.
The Ninja World was a place of extreme contradictions.
On one hand, it had entered the Electrical Age with advanced productivity, but on the other hand, it was backward and poor, with countless people starving.
Soon, the dozen or so envoys and their escort ninjas from the Joint Embassy arrived at the summit.
The summit had undergone a significant transformation.
Everything had been flattened, replaced by neat and uniform buildings adorned with various water towers.
Hospitals, shops, BBQ restaurants, and more were gathered here.
A gigantic dark-golden bowl-shaped building appeared before everyone's eyes.
From the outside, the building was not just similar to the Hokage Tower; it was an exact replica.
Dong Ping had no intention of creating a 'wonder'.
It wasn't a matter of money but rather the timing.
The Heavenly Fortress needed to develop discreetly, not seek attention.
Dong Ping would not allow the envoys to enter so easily; he had prepared a little 'surprise' for them.
Ninjas in ninja vests and headguards were positioned around the building, their gazes fixed on the embassy.
Hundreds of ninjas staring at the embassy created an overwhelming sense of pressure.
If this joint embassy had been sent by the five great ninja villages, they would not have felt pressured, as the envoys' abilities were already exceptional.
However, this embassy was sent by the Daimyo, not the ninja villages, and the envoys were not ninjas. They had never experienced such treatment before.
Normally, ninjas treated them with utmost respect, so how dare they act this way towards them.
Chakra, being a refinement of cellular and spiritual energy, meant that killing aura in the Ninja World was not just a figure of speech but a description.
While ordinary ninjas' killing aura might not be impressive,
the killing intent released by hundreds of ninjas was not threatening to ninjas but extremely terrifying to ordinary people.
Feeling the tangible killing intent, the envoys' faces turned pale as if a kunai was pressed against their throats.
Some envoys from smaller countries were so scared that they wet themselves and collapsed.
A show of force! Dong Ping employed this tactic to make the envoys set aside their noble arrogance.
He did not treat nobles with the same reverence as other ninjas.
On the contrary, he was the one who should be revered by this group that had seized the most resources in the Ninja World but remained corrupt and incompetent.
The building named 'Heavenly Fortress' now had its first floor transformed into a banquet hall.
It consisted of a rectangular table with a conference table at its head.
On the table were tea and pastries.
Along the edges of the hall stood fully armed Uchiha ninjas.
It must be said that while the Uchiha might not excel in other areas, they were truly effective at creating an imposing atmosphere and fighting.
Hyuga Cangyue and Uchiha Yae stood on either side of Dong Ping.
As for Uchiha Shizuka, Yamagawa Kousuke, and others, they naturally blended into the corners of the banquet hall, contributing to the atmosphere.
Uchiha Hachiro and Ashihara Seifu each had their own exclusive table.
Soon, the messengers took their seats behind the long table, with their guard ninjas standing by their sides.
"Eh!"
Uchiha Douhei, sitting in the chair behind the desk at the head of the table, slightly higher than the table, turned his gaze towards the figure behind the Fire Country envoy.
He didn't expect the other party to show up as well.
But after some thought, Douhei found it reasonable for the other party to be here.
Since the other party had joined the Daimyo's Guardian Ninja, and the Heavenly Fortress was related to Konoha, sending this 'Son of the Hokage' as a guard not only elevated the envoy's status but also made the Heavenly Fortress more cautious.
It could only be said that Asama Sarutobi, instead of being a worthy Shadow Second Generation, went to serve the enemy, which was absolutely brainless and a disgrace to Konoha.
What was even more speechless was that after serving the enemy, he could still return to Konoha and become a mentor to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
It was as if he had no shame!
Pfft!
Disgusting!
The inside story was truly dark.
Try replacing him with another ninja?
Not to mention joining the Daimyo's Guardian Ninja, even if he left Konoha without permission, they would still hunt him down as a rogue ninja.
One of the important duties of the ANBU was to hunt down rogue ninjas.
- With "Yuan Fei" translation: "With this ready example, it really made one suspect if Hari Yuan Fei was truly as 'benevolent and fair' as he appeared on the surface."
He was a bald monk!
However, judging from the aura he exuded, he was no ordinary ninja and should be from the Fire Temple.
Both of them were Guardian Ninjas.
This organization directly under the Daimyo had a very distinct symbol.
The 'Fire' character on their waist sashes clearly indicated their identity.
They did not wear headguards because the Daimyo did not want to imitate ninjas, so he deliberately used this item as the organization's symbol.
There was only one monk serving as a Guardian Ninja.
Diri!
He was the future abbot of the Fire Temple, also known as the guy with the 'Talent of the Divine Race' title.
Wow, Douhei exclaimed in admiration! The Fire Country also had talented people; they sent two Guardian Ninjas on this mission, both with extraordinary backgrounds.
One was a Shadow Second Generation, and the other was the future abbot of the Fire Temple, neither of them ordinary.
As for the Water Country and Wind Country, their guard ninjas were unfamiliar faces, but their strength was impressive, either being high-level Jonin or Jonin-level.
The status of Jonin had been mentioned before; even in a ninja village, they were considered middle-rank. The Daimyos probably didn't have many of them, but they still chose to send them, showing off their strength to the Heavenly Fortress.
Douhei leaned back lazily in his chair and spoke, "It is truly an honor for the Heavenly Fortress to have the presence of all the envoys."
His demeanor showed no hint of honor; it was as if he was reluctantly putting up with them.
Yes, he was doing it on purpose.
In the past, without strength, he had to swallow his pride; now, with strength, he still had to swallow his pride. Wasn't his strength useless?
Anyway, as long as he didn't want to give up on the Tea Country, he would definitely clash with the nobles, so he didn't bother pretending.
Moreover, he didn't want to pretend.
When facing stronger opponents, he didn't mind pretending, as he had done in the past.
But the nobles were not worthy of such respect.
That was why he adopted this attitude.
This attitude naturally offended the envoys representing the Daimyos.
"How dare you!"
The Fire Country envoy was the first to stand up and chastise.
Even before coming on this mission, he had been holding in his anger.
First, there was the issue of the Tea Country; they had sent a letter to Konoha demanding an explanation, but there had been no response, which forced them to send an envoy.
Then, the other party did not come to greet them.
They represented the Daimyo, and if they dared not greet them today, who knew what they would do tomorrow. So, they had secretly agreed to teach the Heavenly Fortress a lesson.
Now, seeing the other party's attitude, the Fire Country envoy couldn't help but lose his temper.
His chastisement also triggered a chain reaction.
(End of Chapter)
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