Thud, thud, thud.
The summoned hellhound's paws landed on the ground, making faint sounds.
Everyone around gazed with eyes mixed with fear and disgust at the three-headed hellhound walking under the moonlight, and the person sitting atop it.
Especially the one at the very front, his build was like that of a giant; just a glance was enough to imagine how terrifying his strength must be.
This guy... he might even be stronger than the previous Raikage of the Cloud Village.
Takiya Horikawa, a noble standing at the outermost edge of the crowd, thought this. He wasn't considered a top-tier noble of the Land of Lightning; his private army and industries were only second-tier.
But precisely because his status wasn't that high, he wasn't summoned to the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence today to discuss the division of the Land of Fire's interests. This was because intelligence had been received that Konoha Village had suffered heavy losses, with high-ranking officials, including the Third Hokage, being killed within half a day.
Therefore, the high-ranking officials of the Land of Lightning had already anticipated that this war would surely be victorious. The remaining matters naturally concerned how to divide the Land of Fire and how far the war should progress.
Such matters were beyond the understanding of those ninja. The greatest benefit of ninja wars was that they wouldn't significantly reduce the number of farmers in each country.
The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning also had no intention of conducting any massacres. He planned to divide up large areas of the Land of Fire's plains for growing grain.
Thud.
The monstrous dog's steps suddenly halted. Takiya Horikawa looked up and suddenly saw the giant-like figure stopped in front of him. The figure looked down upon him, his pupils glowing with a purple hue.
Just being gazed upon by that look, Takiya Horikawa felt his hair stand on end. A faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood permeated his nostrils, making him feel almost like vomiting.
He had once met the Third Raikage, a brutal man who had killed countless people. But compared to the aura emanating from the person before him, the Third Raikage might even be considered gentle.
At least, he was a citizen of the Land of Lightning.
"Are you a noble here?"
Bai Cangshu looked at the man whose robes were more ornate than others and who was subtly protected by the crowd. The man was probably in his forties, the luster of his skin had long faded, and his vitality was beginning to wane; neither his heartbeat nor his pulse was strong.
Takiya Horikawa had intended to maintain the demeanor of a noble of the Land of Lightning in front of everyone, but simply being stared at by the other party, that chilling sensation down his spine, made it hard for him to resist. He bent his back slightly and stammered,
"Yes... yes... I am... I am from the Horikawa clan..."
"Go gather everyone who is alive. I want you to submit to me. If you can do that, you will be the Daimyo of this place from now on. If not, heh..."
Bai Cangshu waved his hand, too lazy to listen to the other party's self-introduction.
He was merely a Reincarnator, not truly intending to establish long-term, stable rule over this world.
Reincarnators were never Saviors; Reincarnators were a group of planar mercenaries, a group of bandits.
Bai Cangshu had this self-awareness. Then, he walked from the main road through the middle of the crowd, towards the royal capital. With the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence at the highest point in the center as its central axis, the entire royal capital of the Land of Lightning relied on its unique terrain from top to bottom, with highly distinctive architecture, completely different from the regular city planning that sought orderliness in conventional towns.
Moreover, perhaps due to strong mountain winds in the ravines and occasional thunder, almost all buildings here were equipped with lightning rod-like devices, and a large amount of special stone was used in their construction, making the city's durability considerably stronger than the wooden structures found in the Land of Fire.
Unfortunately, even buildings of this strength were destroyed by a single throw from Bai Cangshu in his current state.
Uchiha Itachi sat on the summoned beast's back, his Sharingan clearly observing the various emotions in the eyes of all the onlookers.
This was the fear brought by war, that panic of not knowing if one would survive, which extinguished the light in everyone's eyes.
Suddenly, a woman burst out of the crowd. She wore a vibrant red long dress, unlike the common people around her who generally wore dark robes, and also unlike the nobles who wore solemn bright colors like white and blue for their robes.
The woman exposed a large area of skin on her chest, her figure was voluptuous, and her waist was slender. Although her skin color was darker, she still possessed considerable attraction for everyone.
This was evident from how, even amidst fear, many people's eyes were involuntarily drawn to her as she stumbled out.
The woman jogged all the way towards Tao Bai Bai's position. Her face had a slight flush, as if she didn't often exercise.
"My lord, my lord... I admire you, I wonder if I could be the one to introduce the local situation to you?"
Many people showed anger upon hearing the woman's words, but Uchiha Itachi's eyelids lowered, and he understood the woman's purpose in an instant.
To be honest, such seduction tactics had long been phased out by ninja.
Bai Cangshu looked at the woman with amusement, then extended his hand. The woman gasped, and he lifted her with one hand and placed her in his arms.
Swish.
At this moment, several figures instantly leaped from the crowd. A few ninja hidden among the people, taking advantage of Bai Cangshu reaching out to grab the woman, simultaneously burst forth.
The strength of these individuals was far inferior to the Jonin who had rushed out earlier, and also not as good as the ninja who formed defensive formations. But they had no retreat now; the royal capital had fallen, the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence had collapsed, and the Daimyo was dead.
They only wanted the perpetrator to pay the price.
Uchiha Itachi didn't dislike such actions, but he still instantly threw shuriken, shooting down the few who had just leaped up.
Only one person, under Uchiha Itachi's deliberate indulgence, successfully approached Bai Cangshu.
This ninja watched as the massive monster pulled the beautiful woman into his arms, his large hand already roughly roaming over the woman's body.
He knew his strength was insufficient, but this was the best opportunity. He resolutely stabbed the giant's neck with a kunai.
The woman in Bai Cangshu's arms looked up, watching the kunai descend, her heartbeat quickening.
Clang!
The next moment, to her disbelief, the kunai actually snapped directly against the giant's neck.
The attacking ninja's hand was bleeding from a ruptured web, but the colossal figure seemed to feel nothing, neither killing the assailant nor casting her aside.
He continued to knead her body with that excessively large hand.
That motion was as if he were playing with some toy, utterly devoid of any intimacy.
She looked up and met the monster's gaze, seeing only an indifferent expression, devoid of lust or anger.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going to introduce this city to me?"
"How about you start by introducing the guy behind me..."
The ninja standing behind Bai Cangshu turned pale, formed hand signs, and lightning began to appear.
---
"People of the Land of Fire, hate..."
"Fear..."
"Then suffer, and think..."
Tendō Pain floated in the air. Below him was the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence, completely reduced to ruins, and a large number of nobles and samurai surrounding Pain and Konan, as well as the terrified residents of the royal capital further away.
Pain observed the fear in everyone's eyes, and the outwardly fierce but inwardly cowardly appearance of the nobles in power closest to him. He could already hear some people discussing how to surrender.
Some even wanted to recruit him to become the new Hokage, or to establish a new ninja village.
Clang, clang...
The blades in the hands of the nobles and samurai dropped one by one. They knew that Konoha Village could not possibly send reinforcements now. Thus, after the Twelve Guardian Ninja had died in battle and the Land of Lightning Daimyo's Residence was directly shattered, they lost all will to fight.
Nagato, looking through Tendō Pain's eyes, saw this scene and was filled with immense rage.
These guys, who arbitrarily decided to start and end wars while hiding behind the scenes, actually chose to surrender directly when they realized there were no ninja left to fight for them?!
Individuals who didn't even have the resolve to give up their own lives had been recklessly directing wars and harvesting lives...
Konan's expression was also as dark as water; this woman had never been so angry.
She, who had originally been quite displeased with Tao Bai Bai's plan, suddenly thought at this moment that perhaps these disgusting individuals could truly only be dealt with by a similarly disgusting monster like Tao Bai Bai.
Nagato and ninja like herself, who were still pursuing justice and humanity, were ultimately unable to converse with these politicians on the same level.
Even killing these people wouldn't alleviate the pain and frustration in her heart.
White paper flakes fell from Konan's hands, one by one, yet the people below knelt down, one by one; they wanted to submit.
Nagato continuously took deep breaths, finally stopping Konan.
"Since things have come to this, why not give it a try? See if the great empire Tao Bai Bai spoke of, one that would sweep across the Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies, can truly end a thousand years of war..."