Chapter 197: A Wonderful Day Where All the Daimyo Watching the Exam Kicked the Bucket!
"Guards!"
"Quick! Protect the Daimyo!"
The attendants of various nations, realizing something was wrong, shouted in panic and surrounded their masters.
Shige Shige Tokugawa's face finally changed. The mahjong tile in his hand fell to the ground with a clack.
That wasn't a performance. That was a real… disaster!
"What is happening?!"
The Wind Daimyo shot up, knocking over his teacup. Scalding tea soaked his expensive robes, but he didn't even notice.
"What is Konoha doing?! Tell them to quell this disturbance immediately!" he shrieked, his voice distorted by fear, all composure gone.
The Rain and Grass Daimyo were even more unsightly. One cowered under the table, trembling, while the other pushed aside his servants, trying to flee.
The catastrophe unfolded abruptly:
The Fourth Kazekage transformed into the Konoha traitor—Orochimaru. A crimson Six Red Yang Formation rose into the sky, isolating the central area from the outside world. The intense malice was almost tangible.
"Guy! Asuma! Kurenai!"
Not far below the VIP box, several Konoha Jonin were frantic. They were fighting Sand ninja, trying to rescue the trapped Third Hokage. Suddenly, several figures flickered in front of them, blocking their path.
Anbu.
The leader, behind an animal mask, spoke coldly. "Leave this to us!"
Might Guy nodded, then glanced at the barrier, and then at the smoke and chaos rising throughout the village. He made a decisive judgment. "The situation in the village is more critical! We'll protect the civilians!"
He led Asuma, Kurenai, and other ninja toward the insect invasion.
The remaining Anbu captain reached the roof and issued orders to his team. His voice was steady. "Fire Squad, follow me to support Lord Third. Wood Squad, go down and protect the Daimyo."
The "Wood Squad" Anbu rushed to the VIP box. By now, it was total chaos.
"Quick! Get us out of here!"
"What are these damn trees?!"
Shige Shige Tokugawa pointed at the giant trees and vines bursting from the ground, screaming at the arriving Anbu. Orochimaru's Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence, aimed at the Third Hokage, had spread here. Thick trunks and tough vines intertwined, blocking the already few escape routes. They, and the Anbu protecting them, were trapped on this high platform.
A cage with an excellent view, and equal despair.
The Wind Daimyo sat paralyzed on the floor, ashen-faced. "It's over… it's all over…" he muttered.
The Rain and Grass Daimyo screamed in terror or made stupid demands under Anbu protection.
"Cut these trees down! Order them to stop!"
"I, the Daimyo, order you to escort me out immediately!"
Their cowardice, incompetence, and habitual arrogance were fully exposed.
The Anbu tried to hack through the trees to clear a path, but the Wood Style grew far faster than they could destroy it. Hard branches whipped them, leaving bloody welts.
In this desperate impasse, a heart-palpitating chakra fluctuation erupted from the core of the battlefield below.
Shisui Uchiha's emerald Susanoo rose from the ground like an angry god of war.
Immediately after, accompanied by ear-piercing metal grinding and engine roars, a giant humanoid weapon shining with the luster of pale bone—the Bloodline Mecha Unit 01 piloted by Kimimaro—descended from the sky! It smashed down heavily not far from the Susanoo. The earth groaned in pain.
Through the gaps in the wood branches or the shattered wall of the VIP box, the Daimyo and the "Wood Squad" Anbu looked up with utter terror at the two inconceivable behemoths.
They couldn't understand what they were seeing. Was this the play of gods? Or the rage of demons?
They only felt that every collision between the emerald giant and the bone-white mecha shook the crumbling stands beneath their feet violently. Debris, broken wood, and metal fragments rained down from the sky. Every boom was like a heavy hammer smashing their hearts.
Shige Shige Tokugawa gripped an Anbu's arm tightly, his nails digging deep into the flesh, but he didn't notice. His eyes saw only the two giant shadows engaging in apocalyptic combat. Fear had swallowed his soul.
BOOOOOM—!!!!
An unprecedented explosion. The mecha's shoulder-mounted bone charge cannon clashed head-on with the Susanoo's spiral sword wave in mid-air!
The escaping energy formed a visible shockwave, carrying countless torn building fragments and soil, sweeping madly in all directions!
"Protect the Daimyo!!!"
The "Wood Squad" captain and other Anbu instinctively blocked the panicked Daimyo. Crimson chakra flared on their bodies, trying to form a final barrier.
However, the flood of destruction, mixed with fragments of Susanoo and mecha and carrying devastating energy, swung down like the grim reaper's scythe!
RIP—!
The two Anbu at the front, along with their hastily erected defenses, were instantly torn apart and vaporized. The blood mist was blown away by the violent airwave before it could even spread.
Next came the terrifying sound of metal rending stone!
A fragment of the Susanoo's shoulder armor, burning with emerald chakra fire, whistled past, spinning at the edge. It grazed the Wind Daimyo, who was trying to curl up behind a companion.
"AAAAHHH—MY LEG!!"
A scream that didn't sound human cut through the chaos. The Daimyo's left leg was severed cleanly at the thigh! The cut was smooth, and blood instantly soaked his expensive robes. He rolled on the ground, clutching his bleeding stump, losing control of his bowels. The stench filled the air. His usual majesty was gone, leaving only primal pain and fear.
Another spinning piece of mecha armor plating slammed into the Rain Daimyo's chest.
CRACK!
Amidst the crisp sound of breaking bones, he flew backward. His chest caved in visibly, and blood mixed with visceral fragments sprayed from his mouth, drenching the Grass Daimyo beneath him.
The Grass Daimyo let out a bestial whimper and scrambled to crawl out from under the twitching corpse, snot and tears streaming down his face, utterly pathetic.
Shige Shige Tokugawa watched it all.
The shadow of death engulfed him from head to toe. He wanted to scream, but his throat felt blocked by a hot iron. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't move. He even wanted to use the Anbu in front of him as a shield to buy a sliver of life.
But it was too late.
After releasing his last jutsu, an earth wall, the loyal Anbu was swatted away by an irresistible force. His body twisted into a grotesque shape in mid-air, bones shattering, and he smashed into a distant broken wall like a pile of rotten meat, silent.
Shige Shige Tokugawa, having lost his last barrier, was finally fully exposed to the flood of destruction.
His vision went white, filled with high-speed spinning energy particles and building debris. All the screams, explosions, and the frantic pounding of his own heart vanished eerily.
The world seemed to have been muted by an invisible hand. Time stretched infinitely.
Then.
Pain!
Indescribable pain from every limb!
He looked down in horror at his right arm. It had been torn from his shoulder by an invisible force. The bone stub was jagged, a mess of blood and shredded flesh. Then his left leg was crushed by a falling rock with a sickening crunch.
"Ah… ah… n—no…"
He finally made a sound, a broken, utterly abject plea. He tried to cover the gushing wound with his remaining left hand, but it was futile. His body was thrown up by a violent force and smashed down heavily. The pain of ruptured organs made him nearly faint.
He felt his life draining rapidly from his broken body along with the warm blood.
In his final consciousness, what flashed past was his usual bossing around of ninjas, his greed for power, and now—his most pathetic fear of death.
Ninjas are… really… scary…
Regret and unwillingness gnawed at his dissipating soul. In the face of true destruction, his so-called "Daimyo" status was so insignificant. So worthless.
RUMBLE—!
A larger piece of the stand structure crashed down with the force of a thunderbolt. It buried Shige Shige Tokugawa and the surrounding maimed, dying, or dead rulers of various nations, along with all their dignity, arrogance, fear, and unwillingness.
Completely buried. Not a trace remained.
Only the dust filling the sky and the thick scent of blood silently told the tale of this high and mighty banquet.
Inside the Six Red Yang Formation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was being suppressed by Orochimaru's Wood Style. His aged face was etched with gravity and pain.
Suddenly. His heart skipped a beat. An indescribable coldness crawled up his spine to his brain.
He sensed the chakra of the Anbu protecting the Daimyo. In that instant. It disappeared abruptly. Completely gone. As if it had never existed.
Hiruzen's pupils contracted violently. He turned his head with difficulty, looking outside the barrier.
The once magnificent Chunin Exams arena was now complete ruins. Thick smoke billowed, fires raged. Broken walls and debris were everywhere. And… those two giant, god-like shadows still fighting madly.
A terrible thought climbed into his heart.
Those Daimyo from various countries… probably… didn't make it.
It was all over.
A strong sense of despair, mixed with boundless self-blame, drowned him instantly.
He seemed to see the massive political storm that would inevitably sweep through the entire ninja world after the Land of Fire lost its supreme ruler and the surrounding small nations faced a power vacuum. He saw Konoha Village, facing internal and external troubles, potentially besieged and isolated. The covetous neighboring countries. The enemies hidden in the dark.
All order would collapse.
"Lord First…"
"Lord Second…"
Scenes from the past flashed rapidly through his mind. The earnest entrustment of his predecessors. The once innocent smiles of his disciples. And his lifelong dedication to guarding this village, refusing to let go.
"I… not only failed to stop my disciple's corruption…"
Hiruzen's voice was hoarse and broken. He tasted blood in his throat.
"Even the foundation of the Land of Fire—no, the fragile peace of the entire ninja world—"
"Konoha's future…"
"Are they… all going to be ruined in my hands?"