Chapter 164: Shizune: Heartbroken
The daimyō in 'Naruto' generally have very little presence. Aside from briefly showing their faces during the Fourth Great Ninja War, displaying five elderly old men, they mostly only appear as background props.
Madoka Ikkyū, however, is an exception.
As the daimyō of the Land of Fire during the 'Boruto' era, his presence is far from negligible.
Compared to the daimyō of his father's generation, Madoka Ikkyū can indeed be considered a competent political figure.
That said, in the ninja world, being a political figure is basically useless.
Danzo is the classic example.
During the 'Boruto' era, after Madoka Ikkyū inherited the position of daimyō, he long styled himself as "a friend of the Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto."
That alone shows that this future daimyō of the Land of Fire was no simple character.
He clearly understood how terrifying Naruto's combat power was at the time, and he also understood Naruto's personality. Becoming the most important person in Naruto's life would be difficult, but becoming an ordinary friend was extremely easy.
How easy is it?
So easy that, given his status, all he really needed to do was say to Naruto, "Let's be friends" and that would basically be enough.
That's right. Naruto is essentially the male version of the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, Fū.
As for whether Madoka Ikkyū truly regarded Naruto as a friend, the answer was obviously no.
He could even deliberately conceal the kidnapping of his own son, using it to pressure Naruto and achieve his goal of "cutting Konoha's budget."
Yes, Daimyō's classic tactic of "budget cuts" was still being used even in the 'Boruto' era.
Naruto had no way to deal with it. Faced with a "friend" handling matters strictly as "official business" Naruto could only sulk in silence, childishly expressing his dissatisfaction by not seeing Madoka Ikkyū off when he left.
Beyond that, there was nothing else he could do.
However, Madoka Ikkyū's method of "cutting the budget" was far more sophisticated than that of the previous Land of Wind daimyō.
His justification for cutting Konoha's funding was that the money needed to be spent on education, healthcare, public welfare, public safety, and infrastructure development.
It sounded wonderful.
Wow, Daimyō Madoka Ikkyū is such a good person.
What Madoka Ikkyū was doing even seemed similar to the reforms Shiromo had pushed in the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, and the Land of Wind.
In reality, it was the complete opposite.
First of all, in a world where the threat of the Ōtsutsuki exists, cutting military expenditure is, in itself, an act of irredeemable stupidity.
Second, the reforms Shiromo promoted were centered on ninja as the core productive force.
Madoka Ikkyū's cuts to Konoha's budget were, in essence, meant to discard the ninja system altogether.
One approach achieved twice the result with half the effort, while the other achieved half the result with twice the effort.
In the ninja world, if you want to develop education, then the question is, what exactly are you planning to teach?
Even if you want to teach math, physics, and chemistry, aren't the top experts like Orochimaru and Amado all in Konoha?
You're not going to say that the education you want to develop is liberal arts, are you?
Healthcare follows the same logic.
As for claims about people's livelihood, public safety, and infrastructure, those ideas are even more absurd.
In short, as a political figure, Madoka Ikkyū was very similar to Danzo.
Both had some political tricks and appeared clever and calculating, but in reality were practicing what could be called "Milk-Dragon-style strategy": a flurry of fierce-looking operations that ultimately produced nothing but negative effects.
They spoke of doing things for everyone, for the good of all, but in truth, it was all for themselves.
Madoka Ikkyū was like this in the 'Boruto' era, and the current Madoka Ikkyū was no different.
Moreover, compared to the more mature, steady, and insidiously ruthless Madoka Ikkyū of the *Boruto* era, the current Madoka Ikkyū, still only in his twenties or thirties, was rather crude in his methods.
It was precisely because Madoka Ikkyū resembled Danzo so closely that Senju Tobirama, Danzo's sebsei, immediately saw through his little schemes.
After confirming that Madoka Ikkyū and the people of the daimyō's residence were all cut from the same cloth, Tobirama prepared some explosive tags, folded them into a thousand paper cranes, and sent them over.
Of course, not everyone could see through Madoka Ikkyū's true nature. His previous speeches had earned him fairly decent popularity among the citizens of the Land of Fire.
So Senju Tobirama also helped forge a suicide note in Madoka Ikkyū's name.
The note said that Madoka Ikkyū, having witnessed the reforms in other countries, felt deep guilt and had come to understand the corruption and filth of Daimyō's household.
In order to put an end to this filthy family, he decided to emulate Uchiha Itachi of Konoha Village and carry out a night of clan extermination.
Thus, he invited the mysterious demolition-genius ninja who had once wiped out the entire daimyō family of the Land of Earth, and launched an attack on the daimyō's residence.
But in the end, he was still the son of the current daimyō of the Land of Fire. Doing such a thing was disloyal and unfilial.
Therefore, after completing everything, he chose to take his own life to atone for his sins.
From that day forward, all affairs of the Land of Fire were to be handled by the Hokage. He hoped that the people of the Land of Fire would support the Hokage, so that his spirit in the afterlife could rest in peace.
And so that the sins he had committed would not have been in vain.
After personally watching Madoka Ikkyū's "suicide note" spread, Senju Tobirama used Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha. He told his elder brother what he had done and invited him to go see Tsunade together to inform her as well.
Senju Hashirama had originally been strolling around Konoha in high spirits.
Then, all of a sudden, his younger brother appeared in front of him via Flying Thunder God.
Hashirama immediately went on alert, about to ask where exactly his brother had placed the Flying Thunder God mark on him.
Instead, Tobirama directly told him that he had just wiped out the entire family of the Land of Fire's daimyō and was preparing to centralize all authority in the Hokage.
Hashirama was completely stunned.
He stayed stunned all the way until he was dragged into the lobby of the hot spring inn, where he finally came back to his senses.
At that moment, Tsunade and Shiromo had just finished the experiment. Tsunade had found the precise proportion of solar natural energy Shiromo needed.
After deactivating Sage Mode, or rather, Mega Evolution, Tsunade discovered that she still maintained the same state as before.
Even after turning off the Strength of a Hundred Technique, she slashed her own arm, and it healed instantly.
This truly was a case of returning from acquired to innate, turning regeneration into a passive ability.
Moreover, Tsunade could clearly sense that this regeneration did not consume her lifespan or vitality.
Compared to that, the fact that she no longer needed to use the Yin Seal to maintain her youth had become a trivial matter.
Tsunade walked out, beaming with joy.
"Huh? Great-Grandpa, Second Grandpa, hello. Why are you here too?"
She greeted them cheerfully.
"We came to inform you of something, Tsunade. The daimyō of the Land of Fire and his entire family have died tragically. Before their deaths, they handed over all authority of the Land of Fire to the Hokage. From now on, the responsibilities you bear will be even heavier."
Senju Tobirama spoke.
"Huh? Alright, then."
Tsunade was a little surprised by the tragic death of the Land of Fire's daimyō, but she had just experienced something joyful. Besides, Daimyō was neither a relative nor an acquaintance, so she did not feel particularly sad.
"Ah? Wuuuu…"
Shizune, who had been following behind Tsunade, heard this and was struck as if by lightning. She collapsed weakly to her knees, covered her face, and began to cry bitterly.
"This one is?"
"Does she have some kind of familial relationship with Daimyō's household?"
Senju Tobirama asked in confusion.
Why was Tsunade's little attendant crying so heartbroken over Faimyō's death?
(End of this chapter)