NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43 - Submit or Die!
"Damn it, why did it have to be now?!"
The leader of Takigakure, Sakuto Matsushiro, was filled with unwillingness.
Their previous Seven-Tails jinchūriki had grown old, and so today they began the transfer ritual to move the beast into a new host, following the usual procedure.
First, they would weaken the jinchūriki with a special drug, which would also suppress the power of the Seven-Tails.
Then, they could safely extract the tailed beast and seal it into a new vessel.
But this time, something went wrong.
They had just extracted the Seven-Tails… yet it wasn't weakened much at all!
Which led to the current disaster.
Not far away, the former jinchūriki lay dead after the extraction.
The newly chosen vessel—a girl of only eight years—stood trembling in place.
Sakuto scanned the remaining forces of the village.
Only about twenty jōnin. Roughly three hundred chūnin.
Facing a rampaging Seven-Tails, there was no way they could hold the beast back.
Takigakure might very well lose its tailed beast today.
"No! Even if it costs me my life, I will keep the Seven-Tails here!"
"Takigakure has grown weaker with each generation. If we lose the Seven-Tails, the other villages will devour us alive!"
Sakuto made up his mind.
He gestured to a few of the jōnin beside him—time to unleash their final trump card.
"Looks like I arrived at just the right time."
At that moment—
Before the stunned eyes of Takigakure's shinobi, a figure appeared atop the Seven-Tails' head.
"Who goes there?!" Sakuto shouted in alarm.
For someone to sneak past their entire force and stand atop the beast—he had to be a monster of a shinobi.
Could he be here for the Seven-Tails?
Kaede swept his gaze over the village, then shook his head in disappointment.
"Takigakure really has fallen. Only a bunch of weaklings left in this generation."
He recalled the early days of the shinobi system, when Takigakure had been considered the strongest minor village beneath the Five Great Nations.
They had the funds to buy the Seven-Tails and even dared to send Kakuzu to assassinate the First Hokage.
But Kakuzu failed.
And when the village leadership tried to punish him afterward, he slaughtered them all in a rage.
Then he took the village's sacred treasure—the Earth Grudge Fear technique—and vanished as a missing-nin.
Since then, Takigakure's strength had plummeted.
Now all they had was a ragtag group of twenty jōnin.
Kaede spoke lightly, "It seems I won't even need to lift a finger to take you down."
As soon as he finished, Naoto and the others leapt into action.
A mere hundred Uchiha instantly surrounded over four hundred shinobi from Takigakure!
Sakuto's body tensed with alarm.
But when he saw the crest on Naoto's back, his expression shifted to horror.
"You… you're the Uchiha clan?!"
Gasps erupted throughout Takigakure's ranks.
It had only been three days, but the news of what happened in Konoha had already spread across the ninja world.
Even secluded Takigakure had heard about the terrifying actions of these Uchiha.
The undefeated champions of all three Ninja Wars, the so-called greatest village in the world—Konoha—had been completely destroyed!
And yet the Uchiha had walked away unscathed.
The shinobi of Takigakure understood well—they stood no chance against these monsters.
Sakuto's face was overtaken by despair.
Uchiha before them, and the Seven-Tails behind them… was this the end of Takigakure?
But then—
"Filthy human! Get off my head!!"
The Seven-Tails finally noticed Kaede standing atop it and let out a furious roar.
It thrashed wildly, trying to throw him off.
But Kaede didn't budge an inch.
The beast, now free after decades of imprisonment, was consumed with rage.
How could it tolerate someone standing on its head?!
Spotting a cliff nearby, it lunged to smash Kaede into it!
But halfway there—
"Beast, quiet down."
A cold voice rang out.
A massive blue skeletal arm appeared, grabbing the Seven-Tails and slamming it into the ground!
The beast struggled madly, but couldn't escape the crushing grip of Susanoo.
"ROAR!!" it howled again, its fury echoing through the village.
Kaede calmly leapt down from its head at last.
Yet his Susanoo still pinned the beast firmly.
The shinobi of Takigakure were utterly stunned.
A creature they considered a natural disaster was completely restrained in a single move!
Sakuto clenched his fists and shouted at Kaede, "Why have you come to Takigakure?!"
Kaede replied calmly, "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to take your village."
As the fear in their eyes deepened, he continued:
"You have two choices—submit, or die."
Sakuto's face turned pale.
The very thing he feared most was unfolding before him.
Kaede turned toward him.
"You must be the village leader. What's your choice?"
Sakuto's fists trembled. He wanted neither option.
What he really wanted was to drive Kaede out of Takigakure!
But this man… this was the one who destroyed Konoha, who even the mighty Hidden Leaf couldn't stop.
Kaede sneered at his hesitation.
"Think back to when Takigakure was founded—your strength was second only to the Five Great Nations."
"But now, despite your environment and the Seven-Tails, you're nobodies in the ninja world."
"To be ruled by me… should be your honor."
Sakuto knew Kaede wasn't wrong.
Takigakure truly had no standing anymore.
But he couldn't just hand over his ancestors' legacy!
Forcing himself to speak, he shouted, "I've heard of your strength. But if you want us to submit, at least show some proof of power!"
"Oh?" Kaede smiled.
Susanoo entered its third stage, lifting the Seven-Tails high into the air like a rag doll.
"How should I demonstrate it?"
Facing the towering half-body giant, Sakuto instinctively swallowed hard.
But he pressed on, "If you can defeat all of our jōnin alone and without using that secret technique—then I'll agree to submit!"
Hearing this, Kaede's clan members frowned.
Naoto snorted, "Clan head, it seems talking won't work. Give the order. We don't even need your help to crush them."
But Kaede waved him off calmly.
"If the Uchiha are to stand atop the ninja world, we need obedient subordinates."
He turned to Sakuto. "Do you really think you're in any position to bargain with me?"
Then, with a sudden surge of killing intent, he added coldly:
"But breaking your spirit completely… might be fun too."
Sakuto broke out in a cold sweat.
Still, hearing Kaede's indirect agreement thrilled him.
They had over twenty jōnin, after all.
And a secret weapon, too.
Kaede waved for his clan to fall back. "Come. Let's see what you've got."
Sakuto ordered all non-jōnin to retreat as well.
The remaining twenty-plus jōnin stared down Kaede with grim resolve.
…
(End of Chapter)
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