When the Fire Daimyo received the dire news from his guard, it was as if the strings in his mind snapped all at once.
For a few moments, silence hung heavy in the grand chamber. Then, with a sudden burst of rage, the Daimyo grabbed the bowls and chopsticks beside him and hurled them against the nearest wall.
CRASH!
Shards of porcelain scattered across the floor, sending his attendants scrambling to their knees in terror.
"Bastards! Traitors!" he roared, his voice shaking with fury. "Do they not understand what Uchiha Shin intends to do?!
He seeks to overthrow me! He seeks to kill me! If they refuse to intervene, those damnable shinobi will follow suit, and their heads will roll just like mine!"
The Fire Daimyo's panicked outburst sent chills down the spines of everyone present. But before anyone could muster a response, an unexpected, chilling laughter echoed from outside the palace walls.
The sound froze the room in an instant.
The veins on the Daimyo's forehead bulged in rage. His fists clenched as he bellowed, "Who dares laugh at me?! Who mocks me at this moment?!"
His gaze swept over his trembling retainers, but none met his eyes. They all turned toward the palace entrance, where the eerie laughter continued, drawing closer with every step.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Measured footsteps rang through the hall, and then, a figure stepped through the doorway.
Uchiha Shin.
A smirk lingered on his lips, the unmistakable expression of amusement at witnessing a clown's performance.
"No need to look around, you pig," he said smoothly. "I'm the one laughing. And honestly, I didn't expect such an entertaining spectacle the moment I arrived."
He adjusted his demeanor, the cruel amusement giving way to his usual refined composure. But the effect had already done its damage—the Daimyo recoiled several steps, his face drained of color, as if he had just laid eyes on a vengeful specter.
"H-he's here! He's here!" the Daimyo shrieked. "Stop him! Stop him now!"
At his frantic command, twelve elite shinobi immediately moved into formation around him. An elderly monk among them, clad in the robes of a temple guardian, took the lead.
"Do not panic, Daimyo," the monk said, his voice steady with conviction. "Escape through the secret passage. I have activated the Adamantine Barrier Seal at the entrance. He will not be able to breach it so easily."
Upon hearing this, the Daimyo felt a sliver of relief and hastily stumbled toward the hidden escape route.
The shinobi in the chamber, now on high alert, prepared to engage.
"Form up!" the old monk commanded.
The four shinobi behind him immediately synchronized their chakra.
"Let us face the butcher of the Senju!"
In an instant, a colossal Thousand-Armed Kannon manifested behind the monk. Though not as large as the legendary Senju's, it still loomed seven or eight meters tall, exuding an overwhelming aura of power.
Knowing the terror that was Uchiha Shin, the monk wasted no time.
"Divine Wrath!"
The sacred Thousand-Armed Kannon flared a deep crimson, morphing into a wrathful deity. Fiery fists materialized in rapid succession, each one hurtling toward Uchiha Shin with enough force to shatter mountains.
BOOM!
The attacks met an unseen force and came to an abrupt halt.
A golden skeletal frame materialized around Uchiha Shin, its ethereal ribcage absorbing the devastating strikes without so much as a scratch.
His gaze flickered over the assembled shinobi before briefly lingering on the four standing at the cardinal points.
"Ah… so it's Lightning Release: Four Pillars of Judgment," he mused, his tone laced with mild curiosity.
This technique, recorded in the archives of Konoha, was an ancient secret art wielded exclusively by the Twelve Guardian Ninja. With all four members positioned correctly, it had the potential to incinerate everything within its range in an instant.
The flaw, however, was obvious.
"Interesting technique, but... utterly useless."
As his words fell, the golden skeleton surrounding him expanded, sprouting flesh and armor—a fully formed Susanoo.
It was not just any Susanoo, but one sculpted into the Destroyer of Kings. It towered over the battlefield, its four muscular arms wielding swords wreathed in black flames.
Uchiha Shin did not need to target the barrier's core.
Why bother?
Raw power renders barriers meaningless.
BOOM!
With a single downward slash, the Adamantine Barrier Seal shattered into fragments.
The stone guardians at the gate crumbled, unable to withstand the devastating impact. The shockwave rippled through the palace, reducing it to rubble in mere moments.
The old monk and his comrades barely had time to react before they were engulfed by a sea of Amaterasu flames.
Their screams were brief.
The palace, once a symbol of the Daimyo's reign, now lay in ruin, its foundations consumed by an unholy inferno.
And then, Uchiha Shin reached for the Soul Reaping Gourd.
"Come forth. Capture the Daimyo."
From within the gourd, a legion of phantasmal warriors emerged. Cloaked in spectral armor, they surged forward like a tide of darkness, flooding the palace ruins and encircling its fleeing inhabitants.
The Daimyo, who had barely begun his escape, suddenly found himself lifted into the air by unseen hands.
He flailed desperately, his screams piercing the smoke-filled sky.
"No! Don't kill me! Please! I'll give you anything! Everything! Just spare me!"
Uchiha Shin observed him with a mixture of disdain and boredom.
"Kneel."
The command carried an undeniable weight. The Daimyo's body buckled instantly, his knees slamming into the scorched earth.
"Y-yes! Yes! I'll kneel! I'll do anything! Just don't—don't kill me!"
Uchiha Shin sighed. Honestly, this was just pathetic.
There was no sport in breaking a man who was already shattered.
If the Daimyo had at least tried to maintain his dignity, he might have been amusing.
"Disgusting," Shin muttered, stepping closer. "If you were a woman, I might have found some fun in this. But you? You're just a fat pig squealing for its life."
His words made the Daimyo tremble even more, his eyes darting around in sheer terror.
But before Uchiha Shin could deliver the final blow, a new presence approached.
Outside the ruined palace, a group of warriors surged forward, torches in hand, shouting battle cries.
The phantasmal samurai had yet to engage them, merely observing from the shadows.
Seeing this, Uchiha Shin's lips curled into a smirk.
"Oh? This could be interesting after all."
He turned back to the trembling Daimyo.
"Shall we play a little game?"
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