Chapter 151: Fear of Death Is the Daimyo's Only Merit
Land of Wind capital—Windswept City.
Though the Land of Wind was covered in desert everywhere, Windswept City sat within a rare oasis.
Looking from high altitude, one could clearly see that amidst the vast yellow sands, such an obvious patch of blue-green adorned the desert's center.
The blue was a lake. The green was trees and flowers growing around that lake.
Though mostly low shrubs and bushes rather than tall vegetation, this already qualified as a desert miracle.
Windswept City was established surrounding this lake. The low walls could only block wild beasts—after all, in the shinobi world, city walls served little purpose.
The soldiers at the gate served only one function—collecting taxes. They possessed zero vigilance.
When Shukaku's massive form materialized from the sandstorm, those soldiers didn't even sound an alarm. Instead they gathered together, craning their necks to peek, thinking it was some powerful shinobi's summoned beast.
Tailed Beasts were things that only existed in legends—monsters few had truly witnessed.
"Come, Shukaku, release a Tailed Beast Ball. Say hello to them."
Shukaku wasn't polite either. Raising his head, he began condensing a Tailed Beast Ball.
Now everyone panicked.
"Quickly! There's an enemy! Sound the alarm!"
The gate guard captain hastily stretched his neck and shouted. Immediately alarm bells rang throughout the entire city.
In fact, he didn't need to sound the alarm—shinobi in the city had already discovered the external abnormality.
A Tailed Beast with such massive size could be seen clearly even from the city center.
Moreover, that violently fluctuating Tailed Beast Ball—any guard with basic shinobi foundation could sense it.
"Quickly protect the Daimyo!"
"Where are the guards? What are they doing?!"
Amid the chaos, a sharp voice suddenly rang out.
"That tanuki... is a Tailed Beast!"
"It's firing a Tailed Beast Ball! Quickly stop it!"
Finally someone recognized what that massive creature outside was. But this scream not only failed to help—it made the situation even more chaotic.
A group of shinobi wanted to charge out and stop the Tailed Beast, but were grabbed firmly by nobles demanding protection.
"Never mind the Tailed Beast outside! Quickly get us out of here!"
"Exit the city! Hurry exit! Go the opposite direction!"
"I'm the Finance Minister! You must protect me properly!"
The obese Daimyo also abandoned his dignified bearing, throwing away the fan in his hand. Face pale as he fled backward, mouth crying out in panic:
"What is that Rasa doing?!"
"He can't even watch a Tailed Beast properly! Does he want to be fired?!"
Amid complete chaos, the Tailed Beast Ball finally finished condensing. Drawing an arc mid-air, it passed over the palace, flying toward the city's rear.
"Oh, fortunately! It's not aimed at us!" The Daimyo and others just breathed sighs of relief when a heart-rending shout rang out.
"That direction—that's where the oasis is!"
Everyone startled in horror. Turning to look, they only saw blinding white light flood everything. Immediately following came sounds like the sky collapsing and earth splitting, shaking everyone until their heads buzzed.
Before they could react, violent shockwaves already spread over, demolishing houses and overturning the earth.
Those guard shinobi almost instinctively released puppets, blocking them before the Daimyo and numerous nobles.
But in merely an instant, those puppets were smashed to smithereens by sand, stones and debris mixed within the shockwave. The people behind were blown away together.
The Daimyo screamed miserably, somersaulting mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground. Falling in complete disarray, countless bones throughout his body broken—who knows how many—blood spraying outward like it cost nothing.
He collapsed in the ruins, covered in blood. Beside him were severed limbs of guard shinobi and shattered puppet fragments piled together.
Under the guards' self-sacrificing protection, the Daimyo ultimately survived, though his injuries were critically severe.
But no matter—this was the shinobi world. As long as he didn't die, under medical shinobi treatment, very soon he could be lively again.
The Daimyo forcefully endured nausea, pushing away the shinobi internal organs on his body. Crawling outward miserably, mouth continuously groaning.
"Save... save me..."
Space before him fluctuated. A pair of boots suddenly appeared before him as someone looked down and asked:
"You're the Daimyo?"
"Yes, I'm the Daimyo! Quickly save me! I'll reward you heavily!"
The Daimyo tried hard to raise his head to look, only seeing one person backlit by sunlight looking down. Backlit, he couldn't see the face at all—only those eyes, blood-red.
"Hehe..." Yasushi extended his hand, grabbing the Daimyo up. He said cheerfully: "Fortunately you didn't die. Otherwise wouldn't I have run here for nothing?"
"Quickly put the Daimyo down!" A stern shout suddenly rang out. Yasushi turned to look—a large group of shinobi had already arrived, manipulating puppets to surround him completely.
Only because of the Daimyo in his hands did they hesitate, not daring to advance.
"Hey, Daimyo, hurry and make your dogs back off far away. Otherwise if you make me unhappy, I'll slaughter you to feed the dogs—ah no, feed the cat."
"Guh... guh..." The Daimyo's throat gurgled. Blood foam kept bubbling outward—he couldn't even speak.
"Tch, so fragile!" Yasushi was speechless. He could only heal him somewhat until finally the Daimyo could speak.
This worthless goods opened his mouth, immediately making Yasushi want to stuff him back into the womb.
"Audacious shinobi! You actually dare offend me like this! Aren't you afraid I—"
"Shut up, bitch!" Before this guy finished speaking, Yasushi raised his hand and delivered a slap, stuffing the rest of his words back into his belly.
"Gah!" The Daimyo's head reeled. Several bloody teeth fell from his mouth.
"You... you..." The Daimyo clutched his mouth, groaning. His eyes filled with disbelief.
In this world, someone actually dared strike a Daimyo? A Daimyo of one of the Five Great Nations?
"You—do you want to start a war?"
"Which nation's shinobi are you?!"
Normal rogue shinobi still wore village headbands, only scratching out the symbol to represent betrayal. But after leaving Konoha Village, Yasushi had directly thrown away his headband—no markings whatsoever. No wonder this Daimyo couldn't recognize him.
"So much nonsense!"
Yasushi bitch slapped him, sending several more teeth flying.
"Now you're in my hands. I say live, you live. I say die, you die."
"So now tell me your choice."
"Do you want to live, or die?"
This time the Daimyo stopped talking nonsense. He immediately nodded frantically.
"I want to live!"
"I want to live!"
"As long as you don't kill me, all conditions are negotiable!"