Chapter 274: Certain Death
"Forgive my presumption, but on behalf of all the confused Ninjas and villagers of the Grass Ninja Village, I make bold to ask..."
Mui's tone deliberately carried a hint of well-measured "confusion" and "grievance," his gaze fixed directly on Naruto.
"Our Grass Ninja Village seems to have always kept to its place. We have never actively offended the powerful Hidden Leaf Village, nor have we ever had any direct conflict or offense against you, Your Excellency."
At this moment, Mui stepped forward.
Whether they would exist or be destroyed now depended on a single thought from the other party. Even though Mui had been secretly charging the box of ultimate bliss with the Chakra of Mortals imprisoned in Hozuki Castle over the years, it still hadn't met the requirements to open.
He could only stall.
Mui quickly made a judgment in his heart.
He gave a look to the Monkey-headed Elder who was slumped on the ground nearby.
The meaning of that look was clear: stay calm, don't say anything reckless, leave the negotiation to me. Find a way to buy time!
Catching Mui's gaze, the Monkey-headed Elder nodded tentatively as if grabbing a final lifeline, curling his body and not daring to make another sound.
After this small movement, Mui took a deep breath, suppressing the surging terror in his heart, and took two steady steps forward.
He looked up, meeting the white figure atop the Nine-Tailed's head on the hill. Even while looking up, he maintained a strange, neither humble nor arrogant restraint.
He spread his hands slightly in a "why like this" gesture.
"Then, could you please... tell us why you have gone to such great lengths, even resorting to the power of the Nine-Tailed, to attack a small, peaceful Ninja village like ours?"
"If it is due to some misunderstanding or an unintentional mistake by some of us that has offended Hidden Leaf Village or yourself, we are willing to investigate immediately, punish them severely, and make every possible compensation."
"Though the Grass Ninja Village is small, we are willing to follow the rules and Dao of the Ninja World. I ask the Hokage Your Excellency... to clearly state the reason and give us a chance to... defend ourselves or make amends."
"Claiming the Grass Ninja Village keeps to its place is absolute nonsense. Not to mention your previous betrayal where you sided with Iwagakure to harm Konoha Ninjas."
"It's simple. From a personal grudge standpoint, my surname is Uzumaki."
"Setting aside how you treated the Uzumaki Clan members, the destruction of Uzushiogakure back then surely had a hand from the Grass Ninja Village!"
"Furthermore, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is a visionary and bold pioneer. He saw the drawbacks of the fragmentation and wars in the Ninja World, and he saw the future represented by the power Hidden Leaf Village possesses today."
He paused, as if reading an unquestionable decree.
"He has granted Hidden Leaf Village an unprecedentedly massive amount of military funding, explicitly supporting us in expanding our territory and reorganizing the order of the Ninja World!"
"Revenge is a personal grudge; expansion is a national policy. And your Grass Ninja Village..."
Naruto's gaze, like a final judgment, swept over Mui, the slumped Elders, and all the pale-faced Grass Ninjas.
"Coincidentally, satisfies both points."
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was essentially a useless waste. What Naruto had actually told him was that if he didn't provide military funding, Naruto would kill him and re-establish the Land of Whirlpools in the Land of Fire's name.
Then the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's eyes lit up. Most Daimyos are basically related, after all!
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire then smilingly had two boxes of archives brought out to check slowly. Finally, it was discovered that the husband of the daughter of the grandfather of the wife of the brother of the husband of the niece of the nephew of the cousin of the grandfather of the wife of the last Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools was the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire's great-uncle.
Naruto's expression at the time was just like Cao Cao hearing that Liu Bei really was in the imperial family tree.
After confirming that the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpools did indeed have a family connection, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire generously stated:
"We're all relatives. How about this: I'll give you a billion Ryo in military funding first."
"If you really conquer other countries, for the Daimyos there..."
"Cough, we're all relatives. You understand. Just a token gesture will do; don't actually kill them!"
"After all, blood is thicker than water!"
"..."
Mui struggled to maintain his "calm" mask, but beneath it, his heart had sunk to the bottom, and his limbs were icy cold.
Damn it!
He cursed inwardly.
The opponent's goal was terrifyingly clear!
Revenge for the Uzumaki Clan—this was a personal grudge, irreconcilable, with almost no room for maneuver.
The Uzumaki Clan members were indeed dead, and Uzushiogakure was indeed destroyed. This blood debt, the opponent clearly had no intention of letting it fade with time!
Even more fatal was that the opponent had the full support of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, elevating the action to the level of a "national expansion strategy"! This meant it wasn't just Naruto's personal revenge or display of power, but a formal military expansion endorsed by the highest ruler of the Land of Fire! The political legitimacy was completely solidified!
Personal grudge + National policy.
This was an absolute fight to the death! Where was there any room for "misunderstandings," "compensation," or "defense"?!
Mui felt a wave of dizziness.
He had originally hoped to find a flaw in the opponent's logic or a moral weakness through verbal sparring, using it as leverage to buy time or reach a compromise.
But now, the reasons the opponent threw out—one an unresolvable blood feud, the other an irresistible national will—the combination was a flawless checkmate.
Stall?
In the face of such absolute will and power, any verbal stalling seemed pale and weak, and might even further provoke the opponent.
Settle this peacefully? How could it be settled peacefully?!
The opponent was clearly out to destroy the village to establish dominance, both to console the spirits of the Uzumaki Clan and to raise the first blood-stained banner for the expansion strategy of the Land of Fire and Hidden Leaf Village!
Countless thoughts flashed through Mui's mind in an instant, but every one seemed to lead to an abyss of despair.
He looked at the Tailed Beast Ball condensing again in the Nine-Tailed's mouth, even more terrifying than before, and felt the direction the destructive energy was locked onto. For the first time, he truly felt that the fate of the Grass Ninja Village might have really come to an end.
And he, the Master of Hozuki Castle, along with that unopened box of ultimate bliss, might also be buried with the Grass Ninja Village.
Mui's eyes widened uncontrollably, his pupils shrinking slightly from the extreme shock and despair.
The muscles in his cheeks were tense; he could almost feel the throbbing of the blood vessels under his skin and the soreness of his clenched teeth.
All the calculations, all the stalling tactics, all the efforts to find a chance for survival in words, appeared so ridiculous and pale in the face of this naked, unquestionable will to destroy.
An absurd yet instinctively emerging thought in his despair, like a final wisp of toxic smoke, struggled to drift through his mind:
Will... I win?
Naruto's answer was: "You're dead for sure, brother."
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