Chapter 186: Guess?
The Lord Daimyo of the Land of Fire, who had briefly awakened from the pain, didn't even have time to process what was happening before a metallic taste filled his nose and throat. His body went weak, his limbs heavy, and his vision darkened again.
He never opened his eyes a second time.
The Guardian Ninja stabbed several more times at the vital points. The Daimyo's body twitched twice before falling completely still.
For good measure, the ninja cut off the Daimyo's head, treated it for preservation, sealed it into a storage scroll, and hurried back to present it to Advisor Uchiha Sihu.
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"Well done—quick and clean," Sihu praised with a grin. "When we get back, would you like to work at Pansi Cave if there's an opening?"
The young Guardian Ninja froze. Pansi Cave?
Of course he knew that name—too well. He had spent many long nights and far too much money there. He was, in fact, one of their more loyal customers.
Work at Pansi Cave? That would be… quite the opportunity.
The ninja, barely twenty-six, nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir! Please—let me join Pansi Cave!"
Sihu chuckled, taking the scroll containing the Daimyo's head. "Good. When we're back in the village, find the owner and tell him I sent you."
Patting the man's shoulder, Sihu walked toward Uchiha Fugaku.
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"Hokage-sama, the Daimyo's head."
He offered the storage scroll respectfully.
Fugaku waved it off. "Keep it. I don't collect trash."
Sihu blinked, then quickly tucked it away. Finding no room in his own pouch—already bulging with other loot—he handed it off to a nearby Uchiha Jonin.
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"Has the wealth in the Daimyo's residence been seized yet?" Fugaku asked.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Sihu replied. "Advisor Hiashi led a team himself. He should return any moment now."
As if summoned by name, Hyuga Hiashi appeared at the city gate, leading a group of Konoha shinobi. Their faces were lit with excitement.
"Speak of the devil," Fugaku chuckled.
Sihu frowned in confusion. Cao Cao? Who's that? Some kind of summoned beast?
He vaguely grasped the meaning—it probably meant that Hiashi had shown up right after being mentioned.
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"Hokage-sama, we've hit the jackpot!" Hiashi called out even before reaching him, his voice full of delight.
"Oh?" Fugaku smiled. "How much?"
"Guess," Hiashi teased.
Fugaku's eye twitched. "You guess if I'll guess."
"…Eight hundred million?" Uchiha Sihu ventured.
They had plundered about four hundred million ryo in cash from Hidden Cloud Village, not counting treasures and goods. Considering the Land of Fire's prosperity, double that amount seemed reasonable.
Hiashi grinned wider. "Less."
Both Fugaku and Sihu froze in mild shock.
Less than eight hundred million?
Just how rich was the Fire Country's royal household, exactly?
---
Sihu's expression darkened slightly as he thought of the hypocrisy.
The Daimyo had hoarded this fortune yet always claimed poverty—refusing to properly fund Konoha's defense. Without Konoha, the Land of Fire would have been overrun a dozen times by now.
And those so-called Guardian Twelve Ninja? A joke.
Most had fallen in moments—barely Chunin-level by Uchiha standards. A few had shown some skill, but even they were nothing compared to Konoha's elite.
To think the Daimyo relied on such mediocrity to protect his royal palace… laughable.
Konoha had used fewer than one-fifth of its Jonin forces for this assault, and the entire Guardian unit had been wiped out almost instantly.
That same Daimyo had dared to sneer at Konoha, to question the legitimacy of Fugaku's appointment as Fifth Hokage.
He'd truly been living in delusion.
Now, he was just another corpse.
A corrupt ruler and his rotten court—gone.
The Land of Fire would finally fall fully under the control of the village.
The Uchiha Golden Age had officially begun.
---
Sihu's mood brightened again, a satisfied smile crossing his face.
Hearing that the treasure exceeded eight hundred million, Fugaku's curiosity was piqued. "Then… one billion?"
Hiashi laughed, shaking his head. "Still less!"
Fugaku and Sihu exchanged looks of disbelief.
When Fugaku had first taken office, he'd reviewed countless records left by the Third Hokage.
In those documents, Sarutobi Hiruzen repeatedly begged the Daimyo for more funding, only for the old man to whine about being "broke."
Broke? Fugaku thought dryly. And now his vault holds over a billion ryo?
He smirked. "Seems the fool died too quickly. I should've let Daichi play with him a bit first."
Sihu chuckled under his breath. "What a pity indeed, Hokage-sama."
---
The corpses of the Fire Country's rulers lay cooling, the treasury was theirs, and the morale of Konoha's forces had never been higher.
The Uchiha banner now flew over the capital, fluttering proudly in the warm breeze—
a crimson dawn rising over a new era.
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