Chapter 350: Declaration of War
"What?!"
The entire assembly erupted into chaos. Voices overlapped in confused shouting—some shocked, some outraged, some terrified.
Yasushi ignored their reactions completely. His voice grew even harsher and more forceful:
"The current situation is simple—those parasitic nobles sit above the ninja villages, harvesting all the wealth!"
"The villages lack sufficient resources. To survive, they launch external wars, obtaining spoils through plunder."
"War breeds hatred. Hatred can only be resolved through more war."
"This vicious cycle ensures the shinobi world never knows peace—endless slaughter, generation after generation!"
"This situation cannot continue!"
"For the sake of the shinobi world's peace!"
"For national stability!"
"For the people's happiness!"
"I, Uchiha Yasushi, in the name of Hokage, solemnly declare fundamental reform of the existing national system!"
"From this day forward, in Fire Country the ninja village reigns supreme! The Hokage is the highest authority! All must obey the Will of Fire!"
"I will establish a Noble Management Bureau within Konoha Village, specifically administering noble affairs."
"Henceforth, all nobles—including the Daimyo himself—require Hokage appointment for legitimacy. Otherwise, they are mere bandits to be eliminated without mercy!"
"Future tax revenues collected by nobles must be surrendered to Konoha Village—eighty percent! The remaining twenty percent may be allocated at noble discretion."
"Furthermore, national standards for grain taxes, commercial taxes, and similar levies will be uniformly established by Konoha Village. No one may alter them without authorization!"
"Silence!" Before Yasushi could continue, the Daimyo envoys could no longer contain themselves.
As envoys, they possessed noble status themselves. How could they possibly accept such rhetoric? They surged to their feet, voices raised in furious protest.
"For millennia, Daimyo and nobility have governed this world! Without Daimyo and nobles, the shinobi world would have descended into absolute chaos long ago!"
"You ninja villages appeared barely a century past! How dare you speak so arrogantly about managing nobility—such absurd overreach!"
"You're delusional! No nation will ever accept your ridiculous new system!"
"Is that so?" Facing their outrage, Yasushi showed no anger whatsoever. He simply smiled, an eerie expression crossing his features.
"I can't speak for other nations accepting my reforms. But Fire Country certainly accepts them."
"If you doubt me, ask Fire Country's Daimyo yourself!"
Yasushi clapped his hands sharply twice. A group immediately ascended the platform, forming a line before him and facing the audience.
"I am the Fire Country Daimyo. I hereby solemnly declare complete support for Lord Hokage's new system and willing submission to Noble Management Bureau oversight..."
"I am a Fire Country noble and Finance Minister. I hereby solemnly declare..."
"I am..."
One after another, they publicly pledged loyalty to the Hokage before all assembled witnesses. The other four nations' noble representatives nearly exploded with rage.
"Bastard!" They pointed at the Fire Country Daimyo and nobles while screaming at Yasushi: "We haven't yet held you accountable for murdering Fire Country's Daimyo!"
"Now you dare desecrate the dead, manipulating Edo Tensei versions of the Daimyo and nobles to speak such blasphemous words!"
"This is unforgivable!"
"You're challenging every nation!"
"You're attempting to overturn millennia of shinobi world order and tradition!"
"You're... courting death!"
The nobles had no intention of remaining for further humiliation. They stormed toward the exits in fury, shouting as they departed:
"We will never recognize your status as Hokage!"
"We will never accept your treasonous declarations!"
"Just wait!"
"War will come again soon!"
"Konoha Village was destroyed once—it can be destroyed a second time!"
"This time we'll completely partition Fire Country, eliminate Konoha Village, and erase your evil Uchiha bloodline from existence entirely!"
Yasushi had anticipated precisely this reaction. He showed no anger whatsoever. Instead, he continued adding fuel to the fire:
"A bunch of weaklings who can't even lift swords dare threaten war?"
"Do you even understand what war means?"
"Don't tell me you think those games the ninja villages played qualify as real warfare?"
"How utterly mistaken!"
"When you haven't even attacked enemy capitals—how can you call that war?!"
"If you want war, then bring it quickly!"
"Let's see who dies first!"
"If you're afraid, surrender early and save yourselves the trouble."
"For the sake of shinobi world peace, if you obediently hand over money and power, I'm not opposed to letting your families survive..."
Amidst the shouting match, what should have been a joyous celebration transformed into awkward silence.
The four nations' envoys departing naturally took their respective villages' representatives with them. Merchants from those nations didn't dare remain either—they all hastily fled.
Smaller nations' envoys didn't dare offend either the four great powers or Konoha Village. They couldn't decide whether to leave or stay, their faces twisted with distress.
But Fire Country's merchants had developed terrible habits under the Third Hokage's weakness over the years. They held absolutely no fear of the Hokage.
Moreover, Yasushi's previous performance had created illusions—they mistakenly believed Yasushi resembled the Third, treating his own people with kindness.
This assumption wasn't entirely wrong. Yasushi did treat his own people kindly. The problem was they'd drastically overestimated their importance, incorrectly classifying themselves among Yasushi's "own people."
So they rushed forward en masse, shouting anxiously at Yasushi:
"Lord Hokage, what exactly are you doing?!"
"Daimyo and noble rule represents universal truth—the eternal, unchanging foundation! How can you interfere with such fundamental principles?!"
"The war just ended! How can you immediately provoke another conflict?!"
"Have you forgotten the lessons of Konoha Village's destruction?!"
"While those envoys haven't left yet, hurry and apologize! Invite them back!"
"Let me tell you something, Lord Hokage—if you continue acting so recklessly, don't blame us merchant associations for becoming impolite!"
"We're not like those small and medium associations trapped in Fire Country with no escape. We're major associations spanning all five great nations! In any country, we're honored guests of Daimyo and nobles!"
"If we unite, we guarantee Fire Country won't be able to buy a single grain of rice!"