Chapter 64: Seeking a Quick Death
Silence reigned, thick and suffocating. No one dared to object.
Senju Stelle had faced four Kage alone and slaughtered the very leaders they were sworn to protect. Now, as she stood amidst the aftermath, her pristine appearance was a chilling mockery of the carnage she had wrought. Not a single visible wound marred her form, not even a smear of blood.
They didn't even know how their Kage had died. That barrier-like secret technique was a thing of nightmares, a power so absolute it defied comprehension.
The last man to single-handedly challenge four of them had been Uchiha Madara. Madara was the pinnacle of dominance, a ruthless force of nature, yet even he had only defeated them. His disciple, Senju Stelle, had simply and cleanly erased them from existence.
This woman was more arrogant, more merciless than Uchiha Madara himself.
They had no doubt that if a single word of opposition escaped their lips, that terrifying ninjutsu would envelop them next, sealing their fates just as it had their leaders. With great difficulty, they had finally seen the fall of Konoha's two great mountains, Hashirama and Tobirama, only for a new, even more terrifying peak to rise in their place.
Consumed by a grief that shattered reason, a few guards launched a desperate, suicidal attack on Stelle. They were cut down before they even got close, intercepted by Hiruzen Sarutobi and his team. As the new generation of Konoha, they may have been no match for Stelle, but against ordinary shinobi, they were still one-in-ten-thousand talents.
Uchiha Kagami's Susanoo flared to life, its ethereal form a specter of overwhelming power. Dealing with the grief-stricken guards was effortless. Soon, the last embers of resistance died out. The remaining ninja, their morale utterly broken, surrendered one by one, their shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Very well," Stelle's voice cut through the somber air, cool and dismissive. "It seems everyone agrees with my terms. In that case, I shall await you in the new conference room. I trust you won't keep me waiting long."
Supported by Utatane Koharu and Uchiha Kagami, she turned and walked away, leaving them to find a quiet place to "recuperate."
Once alone, her mind began racing, calculating the weaknesses of her new technique. In truth, it had already transcended the boundaries of a simple sealing jutsu; it was closer to an absolute, personal domain.
First, she had built upon the concept of Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, developing a wall of fire that she could phase through and travel within at will. But that version had too many flaws. A shinobi with exceptional eyesight or pure speed, like the First Raikage, could easily track her movements. It lacked the invincibility she required for an ultimate move.
So, she integrated the Flying Thunder God Technique. She researched a method to mark the very flames she produced, allowing her to teleport through space and time within her fiery construct.
What if the marks had time limits or were disrupted? It didn't matter. She could simply dissolve into fire and hide, becoming one with the technique itself.
Finally, she had layered in a dozen other miscellaneous principles. By the time she finished her research, she had a startling realization—an independent space, absolute control… Damn, isn't this basically a Domain?
This first real-world application had been clumsy. Her energy distribution was off, and the execution felt awkward. If not for the technique's inherent barrier properties, and if she hadn't been forced to draw upon the true strength she reserved for fighting monsters like Hashirama and Madara, the battle would never have ended so quickly.
But the technique was undeniably cool—absolute spatial dominance. Even Tobirama, with all his mastery of space-time ninjutsu, would be finished if he were caught inside. From this day forward, this would be Senju Stelle's signature.
Back at the battle site, the guards from the various nations, though drowning in sorrow, knew that practical matters had to be handled. They carried the expectations of their entire villages on their backs; they could not afford to collapse.
Everyone struggled to pull themselves together, attempting to face what was to come. Some produced sealing scrolls, their hands trembling as they began the grim task of collecting the bodies of their Kage and comrades. Others simply held back their tears and began the long, heavy walk toward the conference room.
Soon, the Daimyō of the Land of Rain had a new meeting location prepared. At the previous site, staff had been arranged outside to serve them. This time, after making the arrangements, every last attendant fled, terrified that another fight would erupt and they would be swept away, dying a mysterious and pointless death.
In the conference room, Stelle sat in the main seat, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Her posture was the very picture of arrogance and disdain, as if she were looking down on the entire world. At a glance, her expression was a perfect mirror of Uchiha Madara's.
When the representatives from the Four Nations arrived, they stared at the empty seats, a wave of loss washing over them. They exchanged uncertain glances, but no one moved to sit.
Finally, the Land of Earth made the first move. Mū walked forward and took a seat. As the Second Tsuchikage's personal guard and designated successor, he was now the undisputed leader of Iwagakure.
The Hidden Sand Village was represented by Shamon, who had been the Second Kazekage. The Hidden Mist was represented by Hōzuki Gengetsu, who had been the Second Mizukage's guard. As expected of the successors trained by each village, their resilience was formidable; they had managed to keep their composure even in the face of such a disaster.
Only Kumogakure was truly unlucky. First, their First Raikage was assassinated by his own people. Now, only days later, the Second had been killed by Konoha's Acting Hokage. The seat of power had changed hands too quickly; the Second Raikage had only been in power for a handful of days, giving him no time to train a proper successor.
A group of Cloud Ninja hesitated for a long time before the strongest among them finally sat down, though it was clear he was not the ideal candidate to inherit the title of Raikage. Otherwise, they wouldn't have wavered for so long.
"Now then," Stelle declared, her voice cutting through the tension. "I declare the Five Great Nations Armistice Agreement Conference officially open."
She paused, a flicker of something that might have been mistaken for sorrow in her eyes. "Regarding this war, I feel deep regret. Our Land of Fire, in its effort to save the ninja world, has lost two generations of Hokage in succession. For this sacrifice, I require each of your nations to provide our Land of Fire with certain resources and funds to compensate for our losses."
The acting Kage had known reparations would be on the table the moment their own leaders died, but they never expected Stelle to use this as the reason to demand payment.
The Second Tsuchikage, Mū, endured it for a moment before he couldn't help but whisper, "But… the two Hokage-sama sacrificed themselves fighting that man in the black robes… It had nothing to do with us. Why should we be the ones to pay reparations?"
Stelle slammed her fist on the table, the sound cracking like a whip. "You know perfectly well that the two Hokage sacrificed themselves to save the entire ninja world! As the beneficiaries of that sacrifice, you're actually unwilling to part with a few meager supplies?"
Her tone dripped with increasing contempt. "Have your nations run out of capable shinobi? Sending mere juniors who understand nothing to shout nonsense in a place like this—it's truly an embarrassment."
The words were painfully familiar. They were the exact same taunts the previous Kage had used to mock her when she first entered the conference room. Now, she was throwing every single word back in their faces, a proof of just how vengeful she could be.
The acting Kage of the various nations were on the verge of tears.
Who was it that beat their Kage to death, forcing them to take command in a crisis and enter this negotiation? And now the very culprit was complaining that they were too young and weren't taking the meeting seriously.
Next came the discussion of reparations, which Stelle casually delegated to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
Danzo stepped forward first. As the most radical of the hardliners, he had always advocated for suppressing their enemies with overwhelming force. Now that Stelle had already done the heavy lifting, his chin was practically aimed at the ceiling. The moment he opened his mouth, he demanded a casual settlement of eight hundred million to a billion ryō, plus various mining rights and material supplies.
"Of course," Danzo added magnanimously, "various secret techniques can also be used as compensation. We of Konoha are generous. We won't bicker with small nations."
The moment the words left his mouth, the acting Kage of the Four Nations nearly had their hearts stop from sheer rage.
After their villages were established, they had refined their policies by clumsily following Konoha's example. The intelligence their spies sent back was often beyond their comprehension, resulting in half-baked systems that were neither fish nor fowl. After stumbling along for all this time, none of their villages were wealthy.
To take out that much money at once—they might as well just ask to be killed. At least if they were dead, they wouldn't have to worry about the village going bankrupt and everyone having to eat dirt.
Shamon of the Hidden Sand was hit especially hard. The price Danzo quoted was more than the entire village was worth, even if they sold the very sand it was built on. His face twisted into an expression of pure despair, a silent plea that screamed: "Just kill me. I don't want to live anymore. I seek a quick death."
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