Chapter 118: The Fifth Hokage Is Inaugurated and Uchiha Akira's Rinnegan Awakens!
Uchiha Kenji knelt before Uchiha Akira. "Lord Akira, all traitors have been purged."
"Very good," Akira stood up. "Clean this place up."
"Yes!"
Just then, another Uchiha Clan member walked in from a side door. He was dragging a boy of about 10 years old who was struggling incessantly, yet his mouth was tightly covered.
The boy was dressed in luxurious clothes, his face filled with terror. He was one of the most inconspicuous young masters from the collateral bloodline of the Daimyō, having just been directly seized from his sleep.
Uchiha Akira walked up to the boy, knelt down, and personally removed the hand covering his mouth. He spoke to the boy, who was trembling with fear, in an almost gentle tone: "Don't be afraid. From now on, you will be the new Daimyō of the Land of Fire."
The boy looked at the man before him, who wore a gentle smile yet was like a demon. He was terrified to the extreme.
The next morning, news that shocked the entire Land of Fire spread from the capital. Last night, several high-ranking nobles led by Izumi launched a rebellion, leading private soldiers to besiege the Daimyō's mansion with the intent to rebel. His Highness the Daimyō unfortunately perished in the rebellion.
At a critical moment, Lord Akira, the acting Hokage of Konohagakure, who had come to report on his duties, led his shinobi to turn the tide. They suppressed the rebellion with lightning speed and executed all traitors.
Furthermore, he successfully rescued the Daimyō's only surviving bloodline from the chaos, the 10-year-old young master, Chiba.
To stabilize the country, with the unanimous recommendation of all surviving nobles, Young Master Chiba would inherit the position of Daimyō.
This narrative was seamless. All nobles involved in the rebellion, along with their families, had been wiped out by the Uchiha the previous night, leaving no survivors. Dead men tell no tales.
As for those surviving nobles who did not attend the banquet, after witnessing the bloody scene of the Uchiha shinobi's "house raid," they were all scared into silence, saying whatever Akira told them to say. Thus, the entire incident became a heroic drama of "loyal subjects suppressing rebellion and enthroning a new ruler."
The inauguration ceremony for the new Daimyō was hastily held that same afternoon. At the ceremony, the young new Daimyō, Chiba, sat on the throne that once belonged to his distant uncle.
He wore an ill-fitting, oversized ceremonial robe, his face pale. His eyes were hollow, and his body was still subtly trembling. The hellish scene from last night had become his eternal nightmare.
Uchiha Akira stood beside him. At the end of the ceremony, Akira leaned down and whispered to the new Daimyō in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Now, it's your turn. Say what you need to say."
Chiba's body suddenly trembled. He looked up at the nobles and officials below, whose expressions varied, and opened his mouth, but due to extreme fear, he couldn't utter a single word.
Akira's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. His hand, placed at his side, moved slightly. Chiba seemed to sense something, and a deathly chill instantly rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. He remembered what this man had said to him last night.
"Either be an obedient puppet or go accompany your uncle."
The will to survive finally overcame his fear. Chiba took a deep breath, and with all his might, in his high-pitched, tearful voice, loudly declared: "I… I announce! To commend Lord Akira for his meritorious service in quelling the rebellion and saving the nation! By the authority of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, I officially appoint Uchiha Akira as the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure!"
His voice echoed throughout the hall. The officials below were in an uproar. But soon, they all quieted down again. No one dared to object.
"Furthermore!" Chiba seemed to have thrown caution to the wind, continuing to shout. "To strengthen the nation's defense capabilities, I have decided to… double Konohagakure's annual military budget! Effective immediately!"
What an absurd decision this was! However, when their gazes met Uchiha Akira's calm eyes, all dissenting words were swallowed back down. They understood. From today onwards, he truly held sway in this Land of Fire. All of this was within Uchiha Akira's calculations.
What Uchiha Akira desired was not merely the position of Hokage. What he wanted was for the entire Land of Fire to become the Uchiha Clan's personal garden and resource library.
The ceremony concluded. Inside the hall, there was a deathly silence. The surviving nobles and officials looked at Akira, who stood beside the new Daimyō, with awe, not daring to breathe. Uchiha Akira. Before today, this name was merely that of a powerful shinobi, the Fifth Hokage. From today onwards, this name was the very sky of the Land of Fire.
Just as the new Daimyō, Chiba, called out the appointment of "Fifth Hokage" in a trembling voice, the long-awaited sound echoed in Uchiha Akira's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for achieving the phased goal: preliminary control of the Land of Fire, and officially assuming the position of Fifth Hokage.]
[The fate of Konohagakure, the future of the Land of Fire, is now entirely in your grasp.]
[Issuing phased rewards...]
[Reward 1: Sage Body (Perfect)! Host's Sage Body fusion rate has increased to 100%! Life force, Chakra capacity, and recovery power have received an epic leap!]
[Reward 2: Space Talent Awakening - Amenominaka! Host gains an enhanced Flying Thunder God Technique, requiring no Jutsu coordinates or Chakra consumption. Anywhere your gaze reaches, anywhere your feet have been, you can arrive with a thought!]
[Reward 3: Bloodline Limit Ultimate Evolution - Rinnegan! Host's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan has evolved into the Rinnegan! Dōjutsu power has reached a new dimension, allowing free switching between Sharingan/Rinnegan forms!]
[Updating Host attribute panel...]
Boom!
An indescribably vast life force instantly erupted from the deepest parts of Uchiha Akira's body. Every cell cheered and rejoiced. The slight sense of discord that came with the previous Sage Body fusion completely vanished. In its place was an absolute, perfect sense of control over his body.
He could feel that his Chakra capacity had expanded to an inconceivable degree, like an abyss or a sea, unfathomably deep. More importantly, his eyes were changing. An indescribable sharp pain made Uchiha Akira let out a muffled groan, instinctively closing his eyes.
Beneath his eyelids, the intricate pattern of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was frantically spinning, dissolving, and reorganizing. Uchiha Akira's Rinnegan was being born.
[Inorin Note:
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