The world returned to the Daimyo in broken, jagged pieces.
A high, metallic ringing filled his skull like a thousand knives scraping against bone. His eyelids were glued shut with dried blood and soot.
When he finally pried them open, the light felt like fire stabbing into his brain. Everything was blurred and spinning. His chest heaved.
Every breath scraped his throat raw and tasted of smoke, ash, and burnt flesh.
Pain crashed over him in waves. His arms burned where the medics had cleaned cuts. His head throbbed.
His body felt heavy, as if someone had filled his veins with lead. He tried to move, but the world tilted violently. A firm hand pressed against his shoulder.
"Easy, my lord," Captain Takeshi's voice said, tight with strain. "You're safe."
The Daimyo turned his head. The ruined festival square came into focus through the haze.
The grand stage was gone.
What had once been a towering symbol of his power was now a blackened crater of splintered wood and shattered stone. Chunks of timber jutted from the ground like broken teeth.
The once-beautiful banners were nothing but charred rags. Smoke drifted in thick, choking clouds. The air was hot and heavy, stinging his eyes. Distant fires still crackled. The moans of the wounded rose and fell around him like a dying animal's cry.
He remembered.
The speech. The failed kunai. His own arrogant words about being chosen by the gods. Then the explosion — the deafening roar that had swallowed the world, the shockwave hurling him backward, the heat, the falling debris, and then… nothing.
His breathing quickened.
A medic leaned over him. "My lord, you were unconscious from the blast. You have no major injuries. Some bruises, minor burns on your arms. The two guards who shielded you… they gave their lives."
The Daimyo's eyes locked onto Captain Takeshi.
"Where?" His voice was hoarse, cracking at the edges. "Where are the ones who did this?"
Takeshi hesitated. "My lord, the guards are—"
"Speak!" The Daimyo pushed himself up on one elbow, ignoring the sharp pain that lanced through his shoulder. His eyes blazed. "How could you let this happen?! My stage! In the middle of my own capital! While I was speaking to my people! Where were your barriers? Where was your intelligence?! You swore to protect me! You incompetent—"
"The capital is under attack by Leaf Village ninjas."
The words hit harder than the original blast.
The Daimyo froze completely. His grip on Takeshi's uniform went slack. His eyes widened until the whites showed.
For several long seconds he simply stared, mouth slightly open, chest rising and falling in shallow, rapid gasps.
Inside his mind, the world shattered.
Leaf Village…? No. That cannot be. They created the One Nation, One Village ideal. They preached unity. They would never…
His thoughts spiraled into pure chaos, each one worse than the last.
If this is real… if the Leaf has truly turned its blades against us… then everything collapses. The other nations will smell blood. They will strike while we are weak and divided. The Land of Wind will move first. Then Earth. Then Lightning. My country will be carved apart like a carcass. My legacy… gone. My name will become a curse whispered in the dark.
His heart slammed against his ribs so hard it hurt. Cold sweat poured down his temples and back. His vision narrowed, tunneling until all he could see was Takeshi's face and the smoke behind him.
The distant roar of battle from the outer walls now sounded like the death knell of his entire rule.
If I die here… my sons will be executed. My daughters will be taken. My family line will be wiped out. The Daimyo system will burn. Everything I built will turn to ash because I failed to see the betrayal coming.
Bile rose in his throat. His hands trembled violently. For the first time in decades, real, animal fear clawed at his chest — the kind of fear that made powerful men realize they were mortal.
The Daimyo's face twisted with raw panic. He grabbed Takeshi by both shoulders, shaking him so hard the captain's armor clattered.
"What are you saying?! Are you saying we have lost the capital?! Go out there and kill those bastards! Show them why we rule this land and not them! What kind of security head are you?! Do your job!"
"My lord, our forces are fighting," Takeshi said, voice tight but urgent.
"The Supreme Commander has taken the field personally. But the walls are already breached in multiple places. If anything happens to you—"
The Daimyo's breathing grew faster and more ragged. Sweat poured down his face in streams. His eyes darted wildly around the ruined square — the smoke, the distant sounds of clashing jutsu and screaming from the walls, the medics still working desperately on the wounded nearby.
His entire body was shaking now.
"Yeah… yeah, you're right," he muttered, voice cracking and stuttering badly.
"Y-you're right. I… I am the leader. If something happens to me… everyone loses. The country… the people… I have to go. I-I have to live. Yes. Let's leave. Right now. Get me out of here. Move!"
He tried to stand. His legs buckled instantly. Medics and guards rushed to catch him before he fell.
Takeshi barked orders, voice steady despite the fear in his eyes.
"Secure the hidden tunnels beneath the eastern sector! Get the Daimyo to the safe house outside the walls immediately!"
As they lifted the stretcher and began carrying him away from the blackened crater that had once been his stage, the Daimyo kept muttering under his breath, eyes wide and glassy with terror.
"I have to live… if I live, everyone lives… I am the leader… something can't happen to me… I have to live…"
Behind them, the ruined festival square continued to smolder. Eiko lay on a nearby stretcher, her shoulder and back wrapped in thick bandages from the horrific burn and crush injury.
Other concubines were being treated in grim silence.
The Daimyo's eyes remained wide with shock as they carried him into the shadows.
Somewhere beyond the burning walls, the true architect of this nightmare was already preparing his next move.
And the Land of Fire had never been closer to total collapse.
—————————
Join my p@treon Armaan887 in order to read ahead 50 chapters.
Don't forget to give me your power stones.