"I am Kazahana Dotō, and I fully acknowledge my crimes.
I colluded with the heinous organization Akatsuki. My crimes are unforgivable."
The next day, on the broadcast screen, Kazahana Dotō stared ahead with empty eyes and recited those words in a flat, almost robotic tone.
Then he turned and yielded the camera to a comrade from Konoha.
That Konoha shinobi wore a judge's robe—without a powdered wig, to signal a break from the old order.
He nodded and said, "In that case, Kazahana Dotō's crimes of treason, crimes against humanity, and war crimes are all established. This court sentences you to death, execution to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything else to say?"
Dotō's expression flickered with a hint of struggle, but in the end he just shook his head silently. "I have nothing to say."
"Then carry out the sentence."
At that command, two executioners in black hoods with only their eyes exposed stepped forward, grabbed Dotō, and walked him toward the gallows—to give him a Saddam-style end.
At that moment the TV screen went black. The viewers, both excited and nervous, cursed at the screen, thinking there was a power outage or a signal problem.
But it wasn't.
The cut to black was deliberately arranged by Yorin, and a line of text quickly appeared:
"What follows will contain graphic and violent content. Minors under 18 should watch only under parental guidance."
The rating system—another little "gift" Yorin was giving this world for the sake of children's mental health.
…
Once the blackout warning ended, the screen came back, and Dotō was already on the gallows. The two executioners fixed the noose around his neck, the trapdoor dropped, and he went swinging into the last "ride" of his life.
Gravity snapped his neck instantly. His eyes rolled white, his body hung there swaying meaninglessly. His lower half lost control—filth running freely and stinking, his tongue lolling far out of his mouth… Before long, the shot cut away.
Everyone understood: the tyrant who had ruled the Land of Snow for thirteen days was dead.
…
The Third Great Ninja War had been followed immediately by the Fourth, so people in the ninja world were used to death, corpses, and all the rest. Hangings weren't common, but they'd seen worse.
Most people just watched for the spectacle, muttered, "Konoha's protecting world peace again," and went back to their daily lives.
Watching someone get executed is thrilling; watching a big shot get executed is extra thrilling.
But once the excitement wears off, it's just another story. People still have to move on. They might bring it up now and then over drinks as a conversation piece, but that's it.
Of course, not everyone was so laid-back.
The nobles and daimyo, for instance, felt very differently.
Seriously, guys, you just… you just killed Kazahana Dotō? And you did it live, in front of the whole world?
Is that really okay? Do you have any idea what that even means?!
To ordinary people, they'd just watched a depraved, evil bastard—a parasite, a monster—get executed by righteous Konoha under Uchiha Yorin's leadership.
But to the nobles, what they saw was this: a daimyo—even if his legitimacy and weight were questionable—had been legally and publicly sent to the gallows by shinobi and killed.
The shinobi were out of their minds.
Today they executed the daimyo of the Land of Snow. Tomorrow, they'd dare execute the daimyo of the Land of Fire. The day after that, every daimyo in the world might be chopped up and fed to the dogs.
Just picturing it made many nobles and lords lose their appetite and lose sleep. They had no idea what to do.
Was this Konoha sending them a message?
Yes. It was.
More precisely, it was Uchiha Yorin sending them a message—a backlash and a warning for the way they'd tried to corner him at the Fire Country hearing.
Look. I can execute a daimyo in broad daylight on a global broadcast, and after he's dead you can't even find a proper flaw in what I did.
So be good, little worms. Do as you're told and don't upset me. Otherwise, however Kazahana Dotō died, you can be sure your end will be worse.
…
Nobles and daimyo value their lives. If anything, they value them more than commoners do—because they have so much more to lose.
Once Yorin delivered that clear signal, they obeyed—very obediently.
All those nobles who had been dragging their feet, refusing to implement the daimyo's earlier orders, still taking shots at Konoha Transport Company, the Uchiha Group, and other Konoha-backed enterprises, suddenly caved. Not only did they throw everything wide open, they came bearing heavy gifts, sending their top retainers—or going personally—to apologize to the local heads of Uchiha/Konoha businesses.
They swore it was all a big misunderstanding, that from now on they'd gladly work with the Uchiha, begged Yorin not to get the wrong idea, and insisted they were absolutely very friendly toward Konoha and Yorin-sama—really, they were, sob sob sob…
…
Permits that had "no way" to be approved before suddenly passed.
Paperwork and procedures that had been "impossible" suddenly got processed.
The court merchants who had relied on noble patronage and refused to work with Uchiha/Konoha enterprises all came running, humbly asking to cooperate.
In an instant, the business environment for the Uchiha–Konoha conglomerate went from "each step a struggle" to "all hearts turning toward them."
Even before any new annual revenue reports were out, you'd have to be an idiot not to see what was coming: the Uchiha Group was about to explode in growth.
Not an extra 10%, not 20%, not 30%…
…
"This should do it."
The nobles and daimyo were full of hope and expectation, thinking: We've humbled ourselves this much, we've bent this low… Surely Yorin-sama will let us off now.
After all, they'd never debased themselves like this even in front of the legendary "God of Shinobi," Senju Hashirama.
It's like Deva Path from Wind and Cloud: as long as God Emperor was alive, the guy hid like a turtle in his shell and refused to come out.
After this barrage, the nobles and lords came to a similar conclusion.
As long as Uchiha Yorin still lived, they would obediently "play the grandson." They absolutely would not stir up trouble. Whatever Yorin-sama wanted, they'd help him do it.
If Yorin-sama wanted their wives, they'd happily send their daughters too.
After all, that's exactly what the world was like when Hashirama was still around. Everyone bowed to his will.
Hashirama could do what he liked, how he liked.
And when he died, they were free again to do whatever they wanted—often worse than before…
Honestly, Konoha being targeted so viciously in later ninja wars wasn't entirely unrelated to Hashirama.
You're dead, old man, but your relatives and your village are still here. We couldn't beat you, but we can beat the ones you left behind.
Now they were treating Uchiha Yorin as a second Hashirama—or so the nobles and daimyo thought.
But the two were completely different.
"I am not like Senju Hashirama," Yorin said. "I will not leave behind some unfinished world and just let go.
If my plan doesn't succeed and I die, then even if I have to claw my way up from the deepest hell, I'll come back and finish it."
He said it calmly, but it was a terrifying promise.
Everyone around him reacted with looks that said, "That's exactly what we expected you to say."
Kazahana Dotō (what was left of him) excepted.
…
They were standing in the snow of the Land of Snow.
More precisely, they were at the site that had until recently been Akatsuki's secret base.
The base was only half-built—foundations, factory shells, large research facilities were all in place, just waiting for equipment and staff to move in.
What scared Sōsetsu the most was how familiar Yorin's shinobi were with the base layout—too familiar.
They moved through it like it was their own project.
But that couldn't be. These bases were supposed to be Akatsuki's… Wait a minute…
Unless…
Yes. That "unless."
Sōsetsu's skin broke out in goosebumps. He instinctively wanted to beg off, to run away with his daughter, as far as possible—abandoning even the Land of Snow.
Unfortunately, before he could move, Konoha shinobi had already surrounded him and his daughter.
"You're a smart man, Kazahana Sōsetsu-sama," Uchiha Yorin said with a smile. "I believe your intelligence can be put to use in a way that benefits the world. Don't you think so?"
"Ah, um…" Sōsetsu stammered.
"And since you now know our little secret—one we absolutely cannot have revealed, one that absolutely cannot be exposed—there are only two paths left open to you."
As he spoke, Yorin's hands flashed through seals with practiced ease. An Edo Tensei was completed, and a coffin burst out of the ground. The freshly buried Kazahana Dotō clawed his way out right in front of his brother.
The sheer absurdity and horror of it made Sōsetsu even more terrified—and even more determined never to become Yorin's enemy.
"First option: you end up like your little brother here, serving me in this form."
"Ahhh, damn you, damn you, Uchiha!!"
Dotō, seeing Yorin, immediately tried to rush him.
But an invisible force pressed him down, forcing him to kneel in front of Yorin, then stand up and start dancing samba while singing "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu"–style nonsense… in this case, E•Gurashi Nettō–style "Gokuraku Jōdo."
The grotesque yet ridiculous scene—and the sheer agony and mortification in Dotō's eyes—almost made Sōsetsu faint.
If he didn't strongly suspect that fainting would mean waking up as part of some brother duo singing-and-dancing troupe, he would have passed out.
"I choose the second option!"
Sōsetsu blurted out, without a moment's hesitation.
Yorin's smile widened. "I knew you would. There's a saying where I come from: 'A wise man adapts to the times.' Sōsetsu-sama, you're exactly that sort of wise man.
From today on, please cast off the burdens of government and live a happy life as a researcher. Finish that geothermal engine of yours, develop more mechanical technology—be a man more useful to the world."
"You are my little apple, I can't love you enough~"
Not far away, Dotō switched songs again. The bizarre, unsettling performance made Sōsetsu swallow hard.
Then he bowed low and shouted, "Yes, Yorin-sama!!"
~~~
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