"This… this is impossible?"
Kazuma stared wide-eyed as the originally rampaging chakra on Sora's body calmed down, as if all the abnormalities just now had been nothing but a dream, with only the thick vines wrapped around their bodies proving what was real.
He simply could not accept this, 'That is the Nine-Tails' chakra!'
The strongest of the nine tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails that even the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had found dangerous enough to seal inside his own wife.
And yet in front of this young Hokage, it had no power to resist at all.
"So, do you still have any other trump cards?"
Aoba looked at the dazed Kazuma with a teasing expression.
Kazuma could only swallow hard. When he looked at Aoba again, the confidence he had before was gone. With a hint of bluster masking his fear, he said,
"Sixth Hokage, maybe your strength really is formidable. But if you think you can become the daimyo just by relying on force, then all I can tell you is that it's nothing but a foolish dream."
"Whether it's a foolish dream or not will be proven in time. As for what awaits you next, do you want to know?", Aoba sat back down again, smiling as he spoke.
He was actually quite grateful to these daimyo envoys.
After all, they had rescued him from piles of administrative work, so he did not mind chatting with them a bit.
It was just that Shizune would have to suffer a little more because of it.
"Hmph! Death is death either way. To die for the daimyo, we have no regrets!"
At this point, Kazuma only had the courage to face death left.
Right now, he was the only one who could still speak. Fudo had lost his ability to move earlier, Sora had lost consciousness due to his chakra going out of control, and Fuen and Fuka had been strangled unconscious by the vines.
Otherwise, hearing this, someone probably would have started cursing.
Aoba nodded in approval, "You do have some backbone. But even if it's dying for the daimyo, it might be a little different from what you imagine."
"What do you mean?"
Kazuma glared at him, "What are you planning to do to us?"
Hearing this, Aoba revealed a meaningful smile, "In that case, listen to the script I've prepared for you…"
"First, you'll return to the Land of Fire safe and sound, then meet the daimyo and honestly report everything you saw and heard in Konoha."
"Huh? You're going to let us go?", Kazuma's eyes went wide in disbelief as he stared at the other man.
He thought he must have heard wrong.
Aoba, however, frowned slightly. The vines binding Kazuma tightened again, even stuffing his mouth shut so he could not interrupt any further.
"Of course, only physically safe and sound. I'll have ninjas skilled in genjutsu control your minds, so that when you meet the daimyo, you directly move to take control of him. Immediately after, news will spread that Kazuma, one of the former Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Land of Fire, colluded with foreign forces in an attempt to overthrow the Land of Fire and manipulated the daimyo."
"Then I will personally lead Konoha's ninjas to the capital of the Land of Fire to rescue the daimyo and purge the traitors from his side."
"Finally, the daimyo of the Land of Fire, deeply ashamed of his own incompetence for nearly causing the fall of the nation, will issue a proclamation of self-blame to the entire ninja world, and then abdicate the position of daimyo to me."
"What do you think of this script?"
It was true that Aoba possessed enough power to seize the entire ninja world.
But if he wanted to stabilize the situation quickly afterward and gain recognition from most people, this was the best way.
After all, it was a system that had lasted for over a thousand years.
"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"
It seemed that for the simple-minded ninja world, this kind of thing was still far too ahead of its time.
Watching Aoba calmly design their future, the daimyo's future, and even the future of the Land of Fire itself with every word, Kazuma, just listening, felt his vision go dark and nearly fainted.
He desperately wanted to struggle, to break free of the restraints. Even if he could not escape afterward, just give him a chance to kill himself.
Even if he could not kill himself, letting him curse this man a few times, letting the other kill him in anger, would be fine too.
This bastard Sixth Hokage actually wanted to use his body to commit such treasonous acts.
If Aoba's plan really succeeded, he did not dare imagine the infamy he would bear.
He would not even be able to forgive himself.
Thinking of this, tears flowed from the corners of Kazuma's eyes. They were not only for his own fate.
They were also for the daimyo, and for the lands of the Land of Fire.
'This vast Land of Fire is ultimately going to be overturned by this ambitious, damned Hokage of Konoha!'
"Alright, that's enough. When you wake up next time, it will probably be when I have become the daimyo and am about to behead you, this traitorous rebel."
Aoba stood up from his seat, and the vines coiling around Kazuma tightened once more.
"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"
And Kazuma could only lose consciousness amid the growing suffocation, carrying a heart full of rage and humiliation.
Aoba turned and left the conference room, then spoke to the ANBU ninja standing by the door.
"Lock them up for now. Keep them unconscious."
"Yes!"
———
After giving all the necessary instructions, Aoba returned to his office.
He pushed the door open and saw Shizune still sitting at her desk reading documents. It seemed that from sitting too long, her legs had gone numb, so she had propped her feet up on the desk. A pair of black-stockinged feet were pointed right at him.
Aoba raised an eyebrow slightly, "Shizune-nee, that posture of yours isn't very proper."
Shizune rolled her eyes, but did not put her feet down, saying with righteous indignation, "I've been sitting here for so long, handling so much work for you. What's wrong with stretching a bit?"
"Of course there's no problem, it's just…"
Aoba walked over and grabbed her foot.
"Aren't you worried about someone seeing you like this?"
Because her black-stockinged feet were resting on the desk, the tight skirt of her secretary outfit had ridden up.
As Aoba approached, the view beneath the skirt was completely exposed.
"Besides you, who else would come in without knocking?"
Shizune tried to pull her legs back, but with Aoba holding her, she could not break free.
"You're grabbing me, I can't work like this!"
Shizune shot him an annoyed look.
She was already in a bad mood from dealing with so many things. Becoming the daimyo's wife or whatever was something for the future, but all this work was right in front of her.
"I just thought you looked too tired, Shizune-nee, so I'm helping you relieve some fatigue."
Aoba said with a warm smile.
Shizune struggled a couple more times, but her face turned red as she coquettishly complained, "If you're not going to eat it, don't poke at it!"
"?"
Aoba's eyes widened.
With Shizune saying that, was he supposed to eat or not?
Still, he did not rush it. He first went to the bathroom and brought out a basin of clean water.
Food safety had to be taken seriously.
———
Not long after.
With her face flushed bright red, Shizune left the office on unsteady steps.
Her destination was Uchiha Mikoto's office.
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