https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-361-Honglian-vs-Asama-A-Complete-Overpowering-/12934878/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-363-The-Leaf-Village-Waiting-to-Feast-on-the-Blood-of-Others/12934880/
Chapter 362: The Daimyo: He's Defaming Me!
Chapter 362: The Daimyo: He's Defaming Me!
The joint embassy had just left the Heavenly Fortress.
And the rumors spread ahead of them.
[Shock! Daimyo Assassinates His Own, Is it a Twisted Human Nature or a Moral Degeneration?]
[Terrorist Attack on the Heavenly Fortress, the Daimyo Vows to Crush Them!]
[Suppressing the Newborn Power, the Fire Country Will Not Tolerate Disobedience!]
...
These were the kinds of sensational headlines that spread rapidly.
To expedite the rumor's dissemination, they even recalled the Medicinewild Nayu from the Tea Country.
The first to act wins! Once these rumors take root in the minds of the Fire Country's citizens, no matter how the Daimyo and the nobility try to counter-propaganda, people will already have formed their opinions.
Additionally, several rebellious territories were mysteriously annihilated.
Thus, the rumor that the Daimyo was taking advantage of the situation to eliminate rebellious forces also spread like wildfire.
And so it went.
Before the Fire Country's Daimyo could react, several black pots were already hanging over his head.
Although the envoys had sent messages ahead using carrier pigeons after leaving the Heavenly Fortress, for some unknown reason, the pigeons mysteriously 'disappeared' halfway.
Besides propaganda and covert actions, the Heavenly Fortress also began to gather combat power.
As for the Tea Country, it had already been completely transformed into the Heavenly Fortress's stronghold, and there was no need for so many ninjas to be stationed there. They could recall Uchiha Shou, the Quasi-Hokage, and the ninjas.
It was sufficient to dispatch a few small teams to 'protect' the Tea Country's Daimyo.
The key to resolving the issue no longer lay with the Daimyo but with the Heavenly Fortress.
Unless the Heavenly Fortress was dealt with, no one could reclaim the Tea Country from their grasp. Moreover, with most of the joint embassy members perishing in the Heavenly Fortress (only one envoy survived out of over a dozen), the Fire Country's Daimyo had to provide an explanation to the other Daimyos.
Even if only for this reason, the Heavenly Fortress had to be dealt with.
Besides the Tea Country, the Heavenly Fortress's territories in the River Country and the Wind Country's mining districts were left with minimal troops, and all other ninjas began to retreat.
This time, the Heavenly Fortress had seized a perfect opportunity to cause trouble.
The Wind Country and the Water Country were both preoccupied with other matters, so even if the envoys died, they wouldn't exert much effort.
After all, the envoys were merely placeholders, and their deaths were insignificant. They wouldn't genuinely intervene without considering their own circumstances.
Only the Fire Country had no choice but to respond.
Since the Fire Country had taken the lead in the joint embassy, and now many had died, if the leader didn't take action, how would the subordinates view him?
Now, even if someone claimed that the Heavenly Fortress wasn't responsible, no one would believe it, nor would they want to.
There were plenty of people who wanted to see the Fire Country's misfortune, at least all the Daimyos in the joint embassy felt this way, secretly fanning the flames, fearing that the Daimyo and the Heavenly Fortress wouldn't clash.
The Fire Country's abundance made others salivate, and they were jealous of its prosperity, but the existence of the Leaf Village had repeatedly thwarted their plans.
Now, with the opportunity to witness internal strife in the Fire Country, they secretly cheered for the Heavenly Fortress.
Of course, these were merely their hidden thoughts.
On the surface, they naturally supported the Fire Country's Daimyo, as they were all nobles and wouldn't betray their own class.
The Fire Country's Daimyo only learned of everything after the envoys rushed back to the Capital City.
Upon discovering that all the other Daimyos' envoys had died, except for his own, he immediately blamed the Heavenly Fortress.
But before he could publicly accuse the Heavenly Fortress, he found that the entire Fire Country was already buzzing with the news that he had sent people to 'assassinate' the others.
Moreover, several of those he had disliked in the past had also perished.
The problem was that the blame had been placed on him, the Daimyo.
Although the Daimyo was indeed pleased that those individuals had died, he was dissatisfied with the accusations directed at him.
"Damn it!"
"How dare these commoners spread such rumors!"
"They're defaming me!"
...
The Daimyo was so furious that he didn't even feel like drinking or enjoying himself.
Anger! Intense anger!
As the supreme existence of the Fire Country, he had never suffered such indignity, not even from the Leaf Village, which always treated him with utmost respect. Even the ascension of the Hokage required his formal approval.
Now, after being framed, how could they not be furious?
The consequences of the Daimyo's anger were foreseeable.
The plan, which was already prepared, was immediately set in motion, and it played out on a much larger scale than initially intended.
The Fire Temple, Guardian Ninja, Ninja Villagelets (in the form of small clans), rogue ninjas, and others began to gather.
Additionally, a large number of Ashigaru and Samurai also mobilized.
After all, the Heavenly Fortress was within the borders of the Fire Country, so these regular troops could also be of use, even if only as transporters or cannon fodder, to deplete the enemy's Kunai and Explosive Tags.
The Daimyo also announced that the Heavenly Fortress, for killing the envoys of the Joint Embassy, would be captured and taken to the Capital City for trial.
As for the Leaf Village, they remained neutral, not taking sides.
Despite being the military force of the Fire Country and receiving funding from the Daimyo, their relationship was not as harmonious as the propaganda suggested.
The Dual Jewels!
This was the consensus in the Fire Country.
Both the Hokage and the Daimyo held equal status, and neither side was satisfied with this arrangement.
The radicals among the Guardian Ninja believed that the Fire Country did not need the Dual Jewels; the Daimyo alone was sufficient.
Therefore, the Daimyo of the Fire Country naturally would not allow the Leaf Village to intervene.
He believed that dealing with a mere affiliate of the Leaf Village was a simple task he could handle on his own.
With the ninja army exceeding two thousand, the Daimyo felt that capturing the Heavenly Fortress, which had only a few hundred ninjas according to his intelligence, was a piece of cake.
This time, he wanted to teach these lowly ninjas a lesson.
The nobility must not be disgraced, and ninjas could only survive in the Ninja World by obediently serving the nobility as their dogs.
Yes, in the eyes of the nobility, ninjas were nothing more than their pets.
As for the commoners?
In the eyes of the nobility, they were not even considered living beings; they were merely tools for production and consumption, even lower than ninjas.
It can be said that the nobility of the Ninja World was even more 'heavenly' than the 'heavenly' people themselves.
If they could do something, they wouldn't be so useless.
Over two thousand ninjas and tens of thousands of Ashigaru and Samurai!
This display caught the attention of the entire Ninja World.
Unfortunately, in response to the Fire Country's actions, the Heavenly Fortress quietly built fortifications and defenses around its perimeter.
They didn't expand too far, only extending outwards by a few hundred kilometers.
A Genin using the Body Flicker Technique could bypass this area in less than two hours, and a Jonin might only need a few dozen minutes.
The area enclosed by these defenses was approximately tens of thousands of square kilometers, equivalent to one-tenth of the area occupied by the United Fruit and Produce Company on the River Country side.
However, most of the land on that side was unusable, while the land on the Fire Country side, if developed, could be fully utilized without any waste.
And this area was not small either.
The Grass Country, for example, was only a few hundred thousand square kilometers in size. If the Heavenly Fortress were to occupy this area, it could be called a 'Nation Within a Nation'.
Although this was a common occurrence for the nobility, it was very different for ninjas.
Take the Leaf Village, for instance; apart from the village land, the surrounding areas technically belonged to the Fire Country, and their development potential was locked.
This was also why the village was so envious of the hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland on the Heavenly Fortress side.
This was something that could truly belong to the ninjas, and once acquired, it would reduce their dependence on the nobility.
The current Leaf Village relied heavily on the Fire Country for various resources, especially food.
Aside from other factors, if the Fire Country cut off their food supply, the Leaf Village would immediately face food shortages, and there were plenty of ways to deal with them.
But the situation was different for the Heavenly Fortress.
Since they didn't need the Fire Country's help in any aspect, they were independent and had autonomy.
They could choose to ignore the Daimyo if they wanted to, which was something the village's upper echelons envied deeply.
They couldn't develop the wilderness on their own, but they had the audacity and the means to take over others' achievements.
Their current neutrality was also a strategic move for the future.
(End of Chapter)
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