Di Yan slowly descended from the high platform.
His boots made a soft "squelch" as they stepped into the thick pool of blood.
He walked over to Inuzuka Hana.
He looked down at the woman who had lost all pride and ability to resist.
"Now," Di Yan's voice was calm and even, "can we talk again… "
"About you, and the future of the Inuzuka Clan?"
Inuzuka Hana looked up.
She gazed into Di Yan's unfathomable eyes.
A bone-chilling cold finally completely engulfed her… 32. Inuzuka Hana's Breakdown; At Least Remain Neutral
Di Yan looked at Inuzuka Hana's defiant face and reached out to lift her chin.
Inuzuka Hana gritted her teeth and dodged:
"Don't touch me."
Di Yan smiled.
His fingers, with an undeniable force, reached for Inuzuka Hana's chin again.
Inuzuka Hana sharply turned her head away.
Her eyes were filled with humiliation and anger, like a wounded she-wolf still baring her fangs.
Di Yan's hand paused in mid-air, not angered.
He merely extended it again, slowly and firmly.
Inuzuka Hana dodged again.
A third time.
After three such attempts.
The light of defiance in Inuzuka Hana's eyes was gradually replaced by a deep sense of powerlessness and despair.
She stiffly remained there, no longer dodging.
She allowed Di Yan's cool fingers to playfully lift her chin, like one choosing merchandise.
He forced her to look up.
To meet his unfathomable eyes directly.
"You… you killed so many Konoha Ninja…"
Inuzuka Hana's voice trembled with anger and grief; she tried to use her last bargaining chip to intimidate him:
"Konoha will never let this go! You are playing with fire!"
Di Yan heard this and, as if he had heard something extremely ridiculous, he chuckled softly.
The laughter was full of mockery and disdain:
"Konoha? Not let it go? Hahahahaha!"
He leaned down, closer to Inuzuka Hana, his eyes glinting with cold and madness:
"I am the only legitimate heir to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the nominal supreme ruler of this land!"
"Konoha? It is merely a military organization under my command!"
"What can they do to me? Send Anbu to assassinate me?"
"Do they dare? Even if they dare, what can they do to me?"
His tone suddenly became chilling and full of ambition:
"Moreover… who told you that I need to worry about Konoha's revenge?"
He squeezed her jaw slightly, making Inuzuka Hana's chin ache:
"Soon, Konoha itself will be unable to protect itself."
"It will become a name in history books, just like the Uchiha of the past."
"And I will become the true, sole, supreme ruler of the Land of Fire!"
Inuzuka Hana was so stunned by the immense ambition and madness in his words that she couldn't speak.
Di Yan released her chin, straightened up, and said in a declarative tone:
"So, don't worry about me. Now, answer my question… Be my Hime, and submit to me."
"Never!"
Inuzuka Hana almost instinctively shrieked.
Her remaining pride made her prefer death to surrender:
"I, Inuzuka Hana, would rather die than submit to a devil like you! Just kill me!"
"Die?"
Di Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone calm but carrying a deadly threat:
"How easy. To die and be done with it, indeed, can preserve your so-called dignity. But…"
He changed the subject, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue:
"That incompetent but seemingly very important younger brother of yours… Inuzuka Kiba, he seems to be still alive, doesn't he?"
"If you die, what will happen to him?"
"Let him continue to rot in the dark dungeon, waiting for all his fingers to be chopped off."
"Or… become the ingredients for the next dog meat hotpot?"
"You…"
Inuzuka Hana trembled violently, as if struck by lightning.
Her younger brother, Inuzuka Kiba… was still alive!
This fact, like a sharp knife, instantly pierced through all her defenses.
She could not care about her own life or death.
But she could not help but care about her younger brother, who, though always causing trouble, was her blood relative.
Di Yan had precisely seized her greatest weakness!
Seeing Inuzuka Hana's instantly pale face and severely wavering eyes.
Di Yan knew that the victory was decided.
He no longer looked at her.
As if she were already an easily obtainable object.
Di Yan turned to Uchiha Tekka, who was standing by, his tone as casual as if he were ordering dinner:
"Tekka, deal with these bodies."
"Chop off their fingers… hmm… all their fingers…"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the direction beyond the distant palace, a cruel sneer playing on his lips:
"Then, send someone to deliver them to those five useless individuals still waiting at the inn."
"Have them take them back and personally hand them to the clan heads of the Inuzuka and Aburame."
"Tell them," Di Yan's voice was cold and ruthless, "if they don't want the owners of these fingers… and their heirs (Inuzuka Kiba and Shino Aburame) who are still in my hands, to truly become a pile of rotten flesh."
"Then they should stay put during the upcoming 'great upheaval' in Konoha!"
"I don't demand that they take sides, but at least they must remain neutral for me."
"Then I can pretend that what happened before never occurred. Otherwise…"
The rest of the words were unnecessary.
The bloody "gift" itself was the clearest threat.
In fact, besides Inuzuka Hana.
All the Ninja of the two clans present had already been slaughtered!
Di Yan's action was outright deceit and intimidation!
He used the already dead clan members as leverage.
Forcing the two clan heads, under unequal information, to mistakenly believe that the lives of all their clan members were still in his hands.
Thereby forcing them to remain neutral in his plan, not daring to act rashly!
This was not only an overwhelming display of military might.
It was also the ultimate ruthlessness in psychology and strategy!
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Uchiha Tekka bowed without hesitation, accepting the order.
His eyes showed nothing but absolute obedience to the command.
He immediately waved his hand.
Signaling the surrounding black-clad assassins to begin coldly disposing of the bodies strewn across the ground.
To carry out the gruesome "finger-chopping" task.
Only then did Di Yan turn his gaze back to Inuzuka Hana, who was slumped on the ground, pale-faced, her spirit almost completely broken.
"Take her away, and 'take good care' of her."
He ordered indifferently.
No emotion could be discerned in his tone.
"Let her calm down, and think clearly… how to be a qualified 'Hime'."
Uchiha Izumi stepped forward, as if dragging an object.
She hoisted the distraught Inuzuka Hana from the pool of blood.
Leading her away from the Training Grounds that had just witnessed a massacre.
The thick scent of blood in the air lingered for a long time.
Di Yan stood amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his expression cold.
Another batch of pawns obstructing his hegemony had been cleared.
At the same time, new threats and leverage were now in his grasp.
Konoha's internal strife was about to be fully ignited by this "grand gift" he sent and Danzo's ambition.
And he would be the ultimate victor, the fisherman.
Di Yan mused:
"So, Ino–Shika–Chō will be here soon, right! And Ino…"
...