"Sixth Hokage!"
Bang!
Kazuma suddenly sprang to his feet, his finger trembling as he pointed at Aoba, his whole body looking utterly furious.
Although he was also somewhat terrified by Aoba's earlier decisive strike that had sent Fudo coughing up blood nonstop.
After all, Fudo had been a veteran Guardian Ninja who had followed him for over ten years. Kazuma knew his strength very well.
Yet he had been beaten to the point of losing all mobility by a single slap from this young Hokage.
But his reverence for the daimyo still forced him to suppress that fear. And face Aoba head-on.
When the other party explained his reason for attacking the Land of Grass earlier, Kazuma had still harbored a sliver of hope toward this Hokage.
But that final bit of hope had been personally shattered by Aoba.
As the Hokage of Konoha, he had actually dared to say such treasonous words as wanting to replace the daimyo right in front of the daimyo's envoys.
This was absolutely unforgivable in the ninja world.
In the ninja world, bloodline was valued above all else.
Once a noble, always a noble.
The daimyo was exactly that. No matter how great your achievements as a ninja, even the Ninja God of old had treated the daimyo with utmost respect.
Because bloodline was bestowed by heaven.
It was precisely because of such traditional beliefs that ninjas like Kazuma existed.
And now Aoba, a man without even the slightest trace of noble blood, actually dared to dream of becoming the daimyo through sheer force.
It was sheer delusion.
The greatest rebellion against bloodline doctrine.
Kazuma's gaze gradually hardened. He had already made his decision.
'This matter could not be dragged out any longer.'
The Hokage problem had to be resolved as soon as possible. The Sixth Hokage had only just taken office and was already dreaming of becoming the daimyo.
There was no longer any need for the position of Hokage to continue existing.
All power would return to the daimyo.
"Sixth Hokage, without daimyo blood, you are not qualified to become daimyo! When I return, I will report your crimes to the daimyo and revoke the authority of Konoha's Hokage!"
"Not qualified?", Aoba looked at him with contempt.
In the next instant, a chakra like a deep abyss or towering mountain burst forth from his body. In the blink of an eye, even the air in the conference room seemed to be violently shaking.
Yet this terrifying chakra was completely confined within the conference room.
It caused no disturbance to the outside world, instead pressing down on the few Guardian Ninja like massive ocean waves.
In that instant, including Kazuma, the faces of the Guardian Ninja turned pale as wax, utterly bloodless.
For most of them, this was the first time they had directly faced such vast and terrifying chakra. Was this really something a human could possess?
Aoba merely looked down at them from above, their fearful expressions reflected in his blood-colored eyes.
"I don't need meaningless things like bloodline."
"Power is precisely the reason one becomes king."
"!"
"Sixth Hokage!"
Kazuma stared fixedly at Aoba. Among the group, he was the only one in slightly better condition.
Because while he had never faced a ninja with such overwhelming chakra, he had faced other things that possessed power like this.
Even so, though he desperately tried to appear resolute, the instinctive fear toward a terrifying existence still made his body tremble uncontrollably.
"You think relying on brute force lets you dream of becoming daimyo? All you'll do is bring disaster to Konoha."
Kazuma struggled to suppress his trembling, his tone still stubbornly defiant.
"It looks like you still have a trump card you haven't used."
Aoba's gaze swept across the people present and finally landed on the only one dressed like a monk, Sora.
That chakra filled with malice was, to a ninja with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, as conspicuous as a star in the night sky without any need for warning.
This was the person Kazuma had hidden in the shadows for all these years, using a lingering strand of the Nine-Tails' chakra left over from the night of the Nine-Tails to create a pseudo Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Even though it was only a single strand of Nine-Tails chakra, once it lost control, the power it unleashed far exceeded that of most ninja.
It might even be stronger than some proper jinchuriki when they went berserk.
"Heh! Looks like you've noticed."
Kazuma caught Aoba's gaze and, forcing himself through the pressure, flashed to Sora's side, whose expression was blank.
"Although your strength exceeded my expectations, forcing me to admit that your so-called title of 'Second Ninja God' isn't just empty praise."
"But when facing this power that even the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, would find dangerous, you probably won't be a match, right?"
Sora's originally blank state of mind seemed to clear somewhat when Kazuma suddenly pointed at him and called him a trump card.
He subconsciously looked at his bandaged hand.
He had come this time because Kazuma had found him with the daimyo's token. At first, he hadn't understood why someone would seek out a mere trainee monk like him.
Now he finally understood.
Seeing this, the corner of Aoba's mouth twitched uncontrollably, his face showing an expression as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
'Power that would make the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, feel threatened?'
'A single remnant strand of Nine-Tails chakra?'
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
Should he say Kazuma was too stupid, or that Senju Hashirama had been far too polite to the daimyo back then, causing some kind of misunderstanding?
And it was precisely this expression that made Kazuma think Aoba was genuinely afraid, restoring some of his confidence.
"Looks like you already know our trump card. Now that you show no respect for the daimyo, you're no longer qualified to continue serving as Hokage."
"The purpose of our visit this time is to take over Konoha's rule and return Konoha to the daimyo's governance."
"Sixth Hokage, if you know what's good for you, step down voluntarily and announce that from now on the daimyo will take over Konoha. Otherwise, you wouldn't want Konoha to suffer another Nine-Tails attack, would you?"
"...", Aoba was genuinely speechless now.
These were the kinds of words he usually used to threaten others, and now someone was threatening him with them.
"Truly the fearless ignorance of the uninformed."
He gently shook his head, "If this is what you're relying on, then this farce should come to an end."
"In that case, Sixth Hokage, don't blame me!"
Seeing Aoba's intent to act, Kazuma's expression turned savage. He suddenly drove a fist straight into Sora's abdomen.
"Puh!"
The sudden attack made Sora spit out a large mouthful of blood. His expression changed drastically.
The blank look turned to panic, then to ferocity.
Kazuma had struck the location of his seal.
In the next moment, a layer of blood-red tailed-beast chakra cloak wrapped around him.
With the seal disturbed, the Nine-Tails chakra inside him immediately went berserk.
"Hahahahaha! Sixth Hokage, this is all your own doing!"
As if on cue, Kazuma burst into laughter like an anime villain going all in.
His twisted expression looked perfect for playing cards, and he even shouted a textbook villain line with all his strength.
"Sora, my child, use this power and make Konoha feel pain once again!"
"..."
Aoba said nothing, merely bringing his palms together.
"Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique!"
In the next instant, the floor beneath Kazuma and the others began to shift as several thick, powerful vines burst out from below.
They tightly bound Kazuma, Sora, and the remaining Guardian Ninja in place, completely immobilizing them.
The chakra on Sora's body, which had been raging just moments before, shriveled instantly as if it had encountered its natural nemesis, retreating back into Sora's body.
Completely obedient, not daring to make the slightest move.
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