Then, Qingshui, pulling the now-immobile Tsuruya Kyuichi, used a sword to cut a two-person wide opening in the ice prison. He then summoned several other Puppets, dragged the young Tsuruya Clan ninjas, and slipped out.
He no longer had to worry about Tsuruya Kyuichi controlling Explosive Flying Insects to attack others.
Not to mention whether the old man could still manipulate these Explosive Flying Insects after being sealed, even if he could, he wouldn't find any targets.
Because the war outside had already ended.
Without Tsuruya Kyuichi, the group of rogue and wandering ninjas crumbled under a single charge from the Sand Hidden ninjas.
Now, over eighty percent of its members had been killed or captured, and the remaining few who were still capable were fleeing west in a panic, currently being pursued by Pakura and the reserve team.
Within a thousand meters around Qingshui and Tsuruya Kyuichi, the area had been cleared.
Knowing Tsuruya Kyuichi's abilities beforehand, Fukami Senran, as the commander, naturally made such a deployment.
Soon after the two exited the ice prison, continuous explosions began to erupt inside.
The crisp sound of cracking ice echoed, causing Tsuruya Kyuichi, held by Qingshui, to involuntarily quicken his pace.
Blue Jerboa stood in place, tirelessly releasing Freezing Rays and Ice Bombs.
Its mouth and shoulders were Freezing Ray emitters, and a neat 4x8 array of grenade launchers on its back allowed for effective large-scale freezing.
Like White Knight, Blue Jerboa's ammunition bay was connected to a Summoning Seal, which linked to a warehouse fully stocked with relevant ammunition.
Qingshui had also set up a small, fully automated Puppet production line in his own warehouse. As long as the sensors in the warehouse detected that weapons made with coolant were summoned away, raw materials would automatically be fed into the production line for replenishment.
Regarding the coolant production line, there was a similar one within the Puppet Force, which was classified as a secret by Sand Village. Ice Bombs, meanwhile, were considered strategic material, half a level higher than Explosive Tags.
The reason for not further expanding production was that the material acquisition methods and extraction processes for this item were not yet mature enough, limiting its capacity.
After all, Explosive Tags had a long history of development and production in the Ninja World, with even specialized tree farms for the pulp raw material.
With a large number of Ice Bombs reinforcing the ice prison, the power of the Explosive Flying Insects' explosions within was greatly suppressed. Qingshui and his group only needed to move a few dozen meters away from the ice prison, cast two defensive ninjutsu to block the splashing ice shards, and they remained unharmed.
"Old man, you should know why we spared your life and theirs, right?"
"Then... can this old man still live?" Tsuruya Kyuichi asked.
"That depends on your cooperation."
It was possible he could live, after all, the old man's ninjutsu was quite valuable.
But he and his younger relatives would certainly face severe restrictions on their freedom for the rest of their lives.
Even if they married and had children in Sand Village, forming ties, they would still be monitored to some extent. They would never receive the same treatment as the Chinoike Clan.
Perhaps decades later, after they died and aged, their descendants in Sand Village, who inherited these Insect Manipulation Techniques, would truly be accepted by Sand Hidden.
If they could demonstrate sufficient value, they might even become Secret Technique ninja clans like Konoha's Aburame Clan or Inuzuka Clan.
"Next, it's up to the capital."
Qingshui watched the Tsuruya Clan members being escorted away by the Sealing Squad and Interrogation Squad, then turned to look towards the capital.
Meanwhile.
Inside the royal palace, blood flowed like rivers, and golden sand surged.
The current Daimyo numbly touched the blood splattered on his face, gazing in terror at the figure standing amidst the golden sand waves at the palace entrance.
"Rasa... you, weren't you supposed to be dead?"
"It seems Your Excellency the Daimyo very much wished me dead. What a pity those insects couldn't kill me."
Rasa's face was grim as he stepped onto a cloud of golden sand and flew in front of the Daimyo.
"Gulp."
The Daimyo swallowed, his corpulent body trembling uncontrollably.
For the first time since birth, he experienced the fear of death.
"Rasa, I, I am very glad you are still alive. I was wrong before. How about this, you spare me, and I'll let you be the Fourth Kazekage."
The plump Daimyo stood up from his throne, spread his arms towards Rasa, and forced a smile.
"Too late, Your Excellency the Daimyo."
Rasa lowered his gaze, seemingly irritated by the Daimyo's words.
"When you decided to give military funds to those useless individuals, it meant you had lost your value to the village. The succession of the Kazekage does not require evaluation from those who hold no worth."
He no longer had a chance to inherit the Kazekage position!
If not for the Daimyo's meddling, why would he have been severely injured, only to be saved by a competitor in the end?
"No, I still have value! I have so much money! Not just one year's military funds, but ten, twenty years' worth, I can provide it! If it's not enough, I can raise taxes. And those ministers, they always manage to get me money! All of this, I can, I can give you half!"
The Daimyo, frightened by Rasa's increasingly sinister expression, plopped back onto his throne.
"Hmph, I told you, Your Excellency the Daimyo, you have no value left. In this entire capital, whether it's your private assets, or those of the nobles, or the gold and silver in the national treasury, it's all ours now."
Slender golden needles, formed from coalescing golden sand, slowly advanced towards the Daimyo.
"Rasa, stop for now."
An aged voice rang out as Ebizo entered the palace, flanked by nine Puppets.
Ebizo was typically low-key and rarely acted, but his strength was undeniable. His Puppetry skills were only slightly inferior to Chiyo's. While he didn't use the Chikamatsu Collection, his Puppets were meticulously crafted, top-tier creations, firmly placing his overall strength at Kage-level.
"You can kill those nobles, but the Daimyo's life must be spared. At least until the next Daimyo is chosen, he can then legitimately die for some other reason.
Only then can we smoothly take over the Daimyo's power."
Ebizo looked at the Daimyo, who had wet his pants in fear, and spoke to Rasa.
"I understand. So, he still has one last bit of value."
Rasa slowly retracted his golden sand needles, glancing at the Daimyo with disdain, then turned and walked away.
"E-Ebizo-elder, what exactly, exactly does your Sand Village want?"
The Daimyo stammered.
"What we want, you should be very clear about, Your Excellency. After all, this was all forced step by step by you. If you hadn't cut military funding and spent your days in pleasure, Sand Village wouldn't have dug canals to develop the village, nor would it have developed new Puppetry or other wealth-generating avenues.
And when we created this wealth with our own wisdom and hands, you people tried to take it away, and even worse, you wanted to create an organization to replace Sand Village.
Then all the ninjas of Sand Village would never agree. And if we don't agree, yet you continue to be aggressive, then we have no choice but to stand against you.
All of this is due to your and those nobles' insatiable greed, and you brought it upon yourselves."
Ebizo looked at the Daimyo with a mocking gaze.
He had disliked this Daimyo ever since he first cut Sand Village's military funding many years ago.
This dislike quickly turned into disgust.
"But, but no matter what, ninjas shouldn't attack the Daimyo! This was an agreement made with the Daimyo by the First Kage of each village!"
The Daimyo was on the verge of tears.
This fool truly hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
"Your Excellency, in the Ninja World, there's a saying: a contract is meant to be broken.
And the one who first broke this contract was you…"
Ebizo extended his withered hand and patted the Daimyo's chubby cheek.
"From now on, I speak, you act, understand? If you refuse to cooperate, we will use ninjutsu to extract your memories, then find a ninja skilled in Transformation Jutsu to impersonate you and do it."
"I'll do it, I'll do it!"
The Daimyo agreed repeatedly.
…
…
Shifting focus to another battlefield.
Sand Village ninjas were cleaning up the battlefield, trying to find valuable items.
After completing his count, Fukami Senran reported the results of the battle to Qingshui.
Because the quality of the Daimyo's guard ninjas varied greatly and their average strength was low, even with high-level combatants dispatched, the average combat strength of the Sand ninjas was still more than three times that of the enemy.
With proper tactical deployment, there were only a few casualties.
Over four hundred guard ninjas died in this battle, and over two hundred were captured alive.
The rest were rogue ninjas, relatively stronger and with some battlefield experience, who chose to break through when things went south. Pakura was currently leading the pursuit.
This was expected to take some time.
However, Pakura's strength was undeniable; she could easily handle opponents below Kage-level. If she encountered Kage-level strong individuals, she could usually put up a fight.
In the current Land of Wind, such enemies were unlikely to appear.
One day later.
All members of the Guards had been eliminated, either killed or captured.
A small number of rogue ninjas from the Five Great Ninja Villages were all imprisoned in Sand Village's jails, awaiting interrogation, and even memory searches.
Even if it wasn't clear whether these individuals were truly rogue or faking it, their origins couldn't be faked, and they would likely have some intelligence about other ninja villages.
In the capital, Rasa went on a killing spree, executing many nobles.
Without exception, these were all individuals who had previously attempted to exploit the wealth-generating avenues opened by Sand Village, such as the canals, and had acted on those intentions.
These were also the ones who incited the Daimyo to cut military funding, or even withhold it entirely, to establish the Daimyo's Guards.
These individuals had thoroughly offended Sand Village. Even if they wanted to change course, Sand Village would not agree. Instead, Rasa personally took action, killing them and confiscating their property.
There was no need to try to win over some and suppress others among the remaining group.
Because there were no longer any targets to suppress; everyone was terrified that these ninjas, whom they had once viewed as tools, would come knocking, making them very compliant.
Thus, the capital was under strict military control to prevent troublemakers, but under Ebizo's supervision, the overall situation returned to calm in just one day.
The next step for Sand Village was to depose and establish a new ruler, sending this Daimyo, who had done many disgusting things, to the Pure Land to accompany the Sage of Six Paths. Then, using the new Daimyo controlled by Sand Village, they would consolidate national power within the ninja village.
In Qingshui's plan for the Third Kazekage, the Sand Village would replace the Daimyo's government institutions, becoming the political organization of the Land of Wind, stripping the Daimyo of his power and turning him into a political Puppet.
This political system, where the military class sidelines the feudal monarch, allowing their organization to wield power over the monarch and establish nationwide rule, is often referred to as the Shogunate System.
Qingshui has a wealth of information to draw upon regarding this.
In truth, it's not that further progress isn't possible.
Completely eliminating the political influence of the Daimyo system could certainly be considered an advancement in political structure. However, institutional reforms in any era are influenced by the prevailing circumstances of that time. It's not something that one or two visionary leaders alone can resolve.
This is also why many historical reforms, and even revolutions, have been incomplete.
From a historical perspective, this is actually correct.
Overly radical reforms often lead to excessive backlash, and the best outcome is usually the collapse of both the people and the government.
In a supernatural world with ninjas, a moderate degree of radicalism is acceptable, but the extent must be carefully managed.
Although Sand Hidden is strong now, it's not yet strong enough to contend with the entire Ninja World on its own.
Therefore, they must retain the symbolic presence of the "Daimyo."
This will also facilitate their acquisition of the Daimyo government's political legacy and the more effective establishment of a new administrative system.
You have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time.
Until he possesses the world-conquering power of Senju Hashirama, Qingshui won't dream of achieving everything at once.
The Shogunate System is currently the most suitable system for Sand Hidden to govern the Land of Wind, and also a relatively appropriate transition to the next system.
It's just that the current Daimyo's ascension to power wasn't exactly clean; he had all his adult brothers killed, and the remaining minors were imprisoned. Over a year ago, Ebizo and Rasa rescued some of them and secretly supported them as a rebellious force against the current Daimyo.
The next Daimyo is almost certainly going to be chosen from among these individuals.
Currently, these people are hiding in more remote areas of the Land of Wind. Since they are ordinary people, it will still take a few days to bring them back to the capital city.
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