"Y-You… who are you?" the daimyo of the Land of Wind stared at the intruder and forced himself to bark the question, trying to crush his fear with volume.
What he was seeing was far beyond anything he'd imagined.
These shinobi who normally bowed and scraped before him…
Were drawing blades and killing people right in front of his throne.
It was…
It was insane.
The ministers and officials were pale and rigid, but all they dared do was glare at the intruders with trembling rage.
"Oh?" Teizawa looked up at the daimyo, whose body seemed like it was already halfway buried in the earth, and chuckled. "You don't recognize me?"
He laughed like the whole thing amused him. "You don't even know who I am, and you still sent people to the Sand Village to put me on trial?"
A sudden understanding clicked into place inside him.
No wonder that beautiful concubine had thrown herself at him.
Compared to this old wreck…
Tch tch tch.
Sixteen with sixty?
That was practically burying pear blossoms under a sea of crabgrass.
Disgusting.
This daimyo really had no shame.
"Your… Your Lordship," a minister who'd seen Teizawa before stammered, leaning in close to whisper to the daimyo. "H-He… he's Tei… Teizawa."
At least half the daimyo's household retainers were Teizawa's "customers" in one way or another.
They'd paid him, begged him, been squeezed dry by him.
So it wasn't strange at all that their legs turned to jelly the moment they saw him.
That was reputation.
"Hmm?" The daimyo's eyes widened as it finally clicked.
"You're that shinobi who dared collude with wandering swordsmen to extort my nobles?"
"And you still dare to come before me? What arrogance!"
Thinking of that ungrateful concubine who'd disobeyed him because of the man standing here only made his fury spike higher.
Teizawa sighed like he was the wronged party.
"Honestly, I didn't want to come either."
He walked deeper into the hall with an innocent face. "Elder Chiyo said this whole thing is my fault and insisted I come apologize to the daimyo, so here I am."
He paused, then smiled. "After all, without your approval, I can't become Kazekage. Isn't that right, Your Excellency?"
His smile was bright.
As if he'd truly come to admit his mistakes.
Behind him, Kankurō, Maki, and the others wore complicated expressions.
They'd slaughtered their way in, sealed the daimyo's estate from the outside, and now he was calling it an apology?
What kind of apology was that?
But the moment Teizawa said he'd come to apologize…
The daimyo and his ministers visibly exhaled in relief.
"The Fifth Kazekage is Gaara. What do you mean, you're becoming Kazekage?" a minister demanded at once.
Teizawa shrugged. "He said being Kazekage is exhausting, so he handed it to me."
"Lies!" another snapped. "The Kazekage position isn't something you can just 'hand over.' Does the Sand Village have any respect for the daimyo at all?"
And then the condemnation started, a whole chorus of righteous scolding.
With his ministers defending him so fiercely, the old daimyo steadied himself. He watched Teizawa coldly, and as his eyes traced that handsome, youthful face, a sudden, ugly jealousy curled in his chest.
He snorted. "A shinobi who's committed crime after crime, and you think you can be Kazekage? Surrender yourself and throw yourself into prison."
Teizawa's expression only grew more amused.
He turned his head slightly toward Maki. "Are they always this brave when they talk?"
Maki gave an awkward laugh, having no idea what he was supposed to say to that.
"Whatever." Teizawa's grin widened. "Since I'm here, I've prepared a gift for the daimyo."
"A gift?" the daimyo scoffed. "Even if you bring a hundred taels of gold, it won't absolve your cri—"
Teizawa didn't bother listening.
He simply clapped his hands.
At once, an ANBU led a camel into the hall.
"Everyone, take a look. This is a fine steed our Sand Village selected with the utmost care for His Excellency. It can travel a thousand li in a day and is more than worthy of the daimyo's status—"
"Absurd!" A minister shot to his feet, unable to hold back. "That's obviously a camel. What 'fine steed'? Are you trying to fool His Excellency?"
"This honorable sir, why don't you look again. It truly is a thousand-miles horse," Teizawa said smoothly.
"Bullshit! That is clearly a camel—"
Teizawa sighed softly and lifted a hand in a casual wave.
Shhk.
An ANBU blurred into motion.
A kunai flashed.
Slash.
The sound of steel cutting flesh rang through the hall.
Then came the wet, pressurized spurt as blood sprayed from a severed throat.
The minister who'd challenged Teizawa collapsed on the spot.
He twitched twice.
Then went still.
It happened in an instant.
The daimyo and the officials were so shocked they didn't even breathe.
"Aah…"
When it finally registered, the surrounding ministers screamed and scrambled away, shoving each other aside to get distance.
"Y-You… you dare kill again! Are you Sand Village rebels? Are you staging a revolt?!" the daimyo shouted, his face alternating between green and red, whether from rage or fear even he couldn't tell.
Teizawa ignored him and kept addressing the ministers like they were in some casual market stall.
"Okay, now tell me. Is this a camel or a horse? It's so hard to guess."
"He's lost his mind! If you do this, aren't you afraid the people will spit on you?"
"Where's Chiyo? Where's Ebizō? Do they allow you to act this way?"
A few officials with actual backbone still jumped out to protest.
Teizawa didn't even glance their way.
He just waved again.
Thk.
Another throat cut.
Another instant kill.
The daimyo's eyes bulged, furious and horrified, but he didn't dare leave the shielding crowd. He could only shout from behind them, voice cracking.
And then…
Teizawa did it again.
He asked a few more ministers.
Then, as expected, killed a few more.
Until…
With an easy smile, Teizawa turned to the sixth.
This one looked barely in his twenties, dressed like someone rich enough to never worry about food again.
Teizawa nodded toward the camel. "So, what do you think? Camel or horse?"
"Gulp." The young man swallowed hard, shaking like a leaf.
The man in front of him was smiling brightly.
But to him, that smile belonged to a grim reaper.
"I-It's… it's…" He stuttered, unable to form a full sentence, and then his eyes snapped to Teizawa's hand as it lifted again.
He broke.
The young man's fear finally exploded out of him in a shout.
"It's a horse! It's a horse!"
"Bastard, how dare you!" the daimyo roared, pointing at the young man as he began to curse him.
Teizawa threw his head back and laughed. He patted the young man on the shoulder. "Good. You're not bad at all."
Only then did he realize.
So this one was the daimyo's son.
Interesting.
Once someone took the lead, the rest of the officials became much more cooperative.
They pointed at the camel and insisted it was a horse.
Some even polished it up with flowery language, calling it a one-in-ten-thousand divine steed.
The daimyo nearly burst.
He jabbed a finger at the officials in front of him, trembling so hard he could barely speak.
The sudden betrayal from every direction shattered him.
"Rebels… all of you are rebels…"
"I am the daimyo of the Land of Wind! These Sand Village traitors, these rebels… what do you think you're doing?!"
The ministers avoided his eyes, no one daring to answer.
"Rebels?" Teizawa's mouth curled into a cold sneer. "Your Excellency… who exactly is rebelling?"
"The Sand Village's shinobi spill blood for the Land of Wind. So why do you cut our funding again and again?"
Teizawa lifted his chin slightly, voice sharp and taunting.
"I'll ask you one question, then."
"Daimyo-sama… why are you rebelling?"
(End of Chapter)
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