Inside the lord's mansion of Honsho Town in the Land of Swamps, the air was thick with the smell of alcohol, face powder, and a nauseatingly decadent atmosphere.
Outside, people suffered from hunger and cold, corpses littered the land, yet inside the mansion, warm braziers and incense burned, and the sound of music and revelry continued unabated.
The Daimyo of the Land of Swamps, Ono Takuto, his fat belly protruding, face greasy, was already drunk and bleary-eyed.
He held two thinly clad geishas in his arms, his rough hands wandering freely over their bodies, eliciting coy protests from the women.
Sitting opposite him was the lord of Honsho Town, a middle-aged noble equally corpulent and lecherous-looking.
Other seats around them were occupied by several nobles brought by Takuto or local Honsho's nobles. They laughed and immersed themselves in the wine and women of the banquet, turning a deaf ear to the frozen corpses and the constantly erupting popular uprisings outside the mansion.
"Hic... say... hic... that Priestess Miroku, after being under house arrest for so many days, should have come to her senses by now, right?" Takuto hiccuped, his breath heavy with alcohol, his tone frivolous, "Always putting on that act of purity and holiness..."
The lord of Honsho Town grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping lower, filled with flattery and lewdness: "Your Highness is absolutely right! If you ask me, that Land of Stars is just a bunch of Rogue Ninjas who can't make it to the big leagues, all bluff!"
"They haven't dared to touch us for so long. Aren't they afraid of pushing us too far, making us hire Ninjas from the Five Great Ninja Nations to wipe them out!"
"As for Priestess Miroku... hehe... Your Highness, she is a Priestess with immense prestige across the nations of Western Ninja Continent! That status, that temperament... if Your Highness could bestow your 'favor' upon her, have her bear your child, in the future not only would they inherit the Land of Swamps, but also the shrine's influence... When that time comes, who would dare say anything about Your Highness-"
His words were full of seductive and filthy implications, making Takuto's heart itch with desire. His eyes gleamed with lust, as if he could already see that wonderful scene. He couldn't help but laugh heartily, roughly kneading the geisha in his arms: "Well said! Well said! Hahaha! Once we deal with those scum from Land of Stars, I will-"
"Tch... What a bunch of... disgusting trash."
A voice, icy cold and dripping with disdain and killing intent, suddenly rang out without warning in the warm room.
"Who's there?!" Takuto and the lord of Honsho Town were startled simultaneously, sobering up considerably. They looked around in terror.
The geishas also freeze in fear, trembling.
The next second, the look of terror on the lord of Honsho Town's face solidified forever.
A blurry black shadow suddenly appeared behind him!
A flash of blade light appeared!
It was extremely fast, it didn't even make a sound!
The lord of Honsho Town's head, like a rotten fruit easily plucked, separated smoothly from his neck, tumbling onto the exquisitely carpeted floor, his face still frozen in that terrified expression.
From the severed neck stump, blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering the food and wine on the table and the deathly pale faces of the nearby geishas.
"Aaaaahhhh-!!!"
After a brief dead silence came the geishas' heart-rending, ear-piercing screams of terror!
Takuto was utterly terrified, his drunkenness instantly turning into cold sweat that soaked through his fine clothes.
He watched as the shadow appeared in the light. It was a man wearing the standard Star Ninja's Anbu flak jacket, exceptionally tall and burly.
He had a face as ferocious and terrifying as a shark's, the corners of his mouth seemingly naturally curved in a bloodthirsty grin.
On his back was a massive weapon tightly wrapped in white bandages. In his right hand, he held a gleaming short sword still dripping with blood.
Kisame's small eyes held no emotion whatsoever, only the coldness of the mission and extreme disgust for the scum before him.
He flicked the blood droplets off his short sword, his gaze sweeping over Takuto, who was slumped paralyzed in his seat, and the other few Land of Swamps' nobles who were equally pale and shaking like sieves, as if looking at dead objects.
At the same time, with several soft swish sounds, three other Ninjas also dressed in Star Ninja's Anbu Attire and wearing animal masks appeared like ghosts in various corners of the room, completely sealing off all exits.
The cold killing intent and elite aura they emitted far surpassed that of the Rogue Ninjas and samurai hired by Takuto.
Takuto was so scared he became incoherent. A large wet patch rapidly spread across his crotch, emitting a foul stench.
Kisame listened to the geishas' continuous screams, his brow furrowing tightly, showing extreme impatience.
He glanced at those terrified geishas huddled together. A flash of killing intent passed through his eyes.
The hand holding the short sword twitched slightly, but he ultimately held back.
He remembered the words Menma had specifically told him before leaving the Star City: "Kisame, this operation has a clear objective. Eliminate the ringleaders, intimidate the small fry. Try not to involve innocent civilians. We are not like them."
"Tch, troublesome," Kisame muttered under his breath, but still waved his hand, signaling to one of the Anbu. "Get them out of here. Annoying."
The Anbu nodded, quickly stepping forward and speaking to the terrified geishas in a calm yet firm tone: "If you want to live, leave this place immediately. Forget everything you saw today."
The geishas, as if granted amnesty, scrambled away, crying and screaming as they fled the bloody banquet hall.
Soon, Takuto and a few key nobles were roughly dragged to their feet by the Anbu.
Kisame lifted the limp Takuto as easily as lifting a chick. The group walked out of the decadent and bloody main hall of the lord's mansion.
Just outside the hall door, the cold air, mixed with a strong smell of blood, hit their faces!
Takuto saw in horror that the plaza in front of the mansion was littered with corpses lying in all directions!
They were all the elite soldiers he had brought, the hired Ronin, and those few Rogue Ninjas he had paid a fortune for!
Blood stained the bluestone slabs of the plaza, congealing into dark red ice in the cold air.
Some Star Ninja's Anbu were expresslessly checking the bodies, occasionally delivering a final blow to those not yet dead.
The battle had clearly ended extremely quickly and was a one-sided slaughter!
The military might Takuto relied upon was utterly worthless against real Ninjas!
"No… impossible… all... all killed?!" Takuto completely broke down, muttering to himself.
Just then, the sound of steady footsteps approached.
Miroku, surrounded by priests and miko from the Land of Demons, walked over slowly.
Her face was calm, but her purple eyes held a trace of more coldness and resolve than usual.
She glanced at the horrific scene on the plaza, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing more.
As she passed Kisame, an Anbu quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words in her ear, clearly recounting the filthy conversation he had overheard between Takuto and the lord of Honsho Town inside the hall.
Miroku's body stiffened slightly. Instantly, a cold aura enveloped her face, and a flash of barely suppressible anger and deep disgust shone in her eyes.
Any moral reservations she might have had about the Land of Stars annexing other nations vanished completely at this moment.
'These nobles in human skin were utterly unworthy of ruling this land!'
She walked up to the limp Takuto, her voice as cold as the winter wind: "Ono Takuto, you and your nobles have extorted exorbitant taxes and levies, treated the people like grass, indulged in drunken revelry even during famine, and even harbored wicked intentions, defiling the divine! You have long lost the most basic foundation of rulership!"
"The Land of Stars will uphold the Mandate of Heaven, thoroughly purge vermin like you, and restore clarity to this land!"
Takuto seemed provoked by these words. He jerked his head up, his face a mix of fear and mad fury, and he screamed: "You bitch! You Priestess colluding with rogue Ninjas! What do you know?! Without us nobles! Without the Daimyo! What are those lowly commoners?!"
"They don't even own land! Even the houses they live in are bestowed by the nobles! We gave them everything! Our rule over them is natural and right! You are rebelling! It's treason! I-I will definitely spend money to hire a great Ninja Village! Hire Konoha's Ninjas to suppress the rebellion! Kill all you Rogue Ninjas and lowly commoners!!"
His words were insane and venomous. Even with his life in others' hands, he was filled with class arrogance and delusion.
Kisame, growing impatient, revealed a cruel smile on his shark-like face and looked at Miroku: "Priestess, finished with the chatter? Can I cut off this noisy head now? I promise it'll be quick."
He shook the short sword in his hand.
Takuto was scared out of his wits, struggling and screaming wildly: "No! Don't! Spare me! Priestess-sama, spare me!"
Miroku gave Takuto a cold look and shook her head, her tone returning to calm: "His crimes, his evils, should not be judged by us in private. He will face a public trial. Let the thousands upon thousands of people of the Land of Swamps, whom he persecuted and treated like grass, decide his final fate! This is the 'order' the Land of Stars brings!"
Kisame pouted in disappointment but still put away his short sword: "Tch, so troublesome."
He absolutely obeyed Menma's orders. Since Miroku said so, he naturally wouldn't act.
Kisame then arranged for a squad of Anbu to stay behind and assist Miroku in continuing to relieve the disaster victims within the Land of Swamps, maintain basic order, and wait for the follow-up Ninja troops and administrative officials sent by the Land of Stars to arrive for a full takeover.
Having lost their Daimyo and core nobles, and with their army defeated, the Land of Swamps was already like a sheet of loose sand, with no decent resistance left.
Relieving the disaster, saving the people, cleaning up the remnants of the Daimyo and nobles, organizing the Land of Swamps' affairs, population, etc. … the Land of Stars would be very busy this winter.
Kisame wasted no more time. After a brief farewell to Miroku, he and his three Anbu subordinates flashed away, swiftly leaving Honsho Town and speeding towards the direction of the main battlefield in the Land of Darkness.