Chapter 99 (Patreon)

“Tsuchikage-sama, please tell us—what are we supposed to do about this?”

One of the elderly council members looked as though he might collapse from despair.

“You’re asking me? Then who am I supposed to ask?” Ōnoki snapped, his expression darker than stone.

“According to the intelligence we received, Yujiro has already forced the other great shinobi villages into submission. Iwagakure is the only one left…”

Another elder gave a bitter smile.

“Indeed…”

The elderly council members exchanged glances before letting out equally bitter laughs.

“Tsuchikage-sama, perhaps we should fight them!” one elder declared fiercely.

“Fight them? With what?” Ōnoki snorted. “According to these reports, even I might not be Yujiro’s match!”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Another elder looked close to tears.

Iwagakure’s only true top-level combatant was Ōnoki.

They still possessed two tailed beasts—the Four-Tails, Son Gokū, and the Five-Tails, Kokuō—but Kumogakure also possessed two jinchūriki. Had that allowed them to defeat Yujiro and his forces?

No.

Besides, Konoha possessed the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails alone was powerful enough to overwhelm the Four-Tails and Five-Tails.

This was not a battle Iwagakure could fight, much less one it dared to fight.

If they resisted, they would lose.

After losing, they would still have to pay compensation.

They would lose both the battle and everything that followed it.

The other shinobi villages were already bloody examples of what awaited those who opposed Yujiro.

Ōnoki did not dare take that gamble.

More importantly, there was nothing left to consider.

Iwagakure simply could not defeat Konoha.

“Tsuchikage-sama… what should we do now?”

Every elder turned toward Ōnoki.

Ōnoki stared heavily at the intelligence reports spread across the conference table.

“According to the information we received from Sunagakure, Yujiro and his group intend to target Iwagakure next.”

His fingers tapped slowly against the stone table.

“We cannot fight them. Choosing to resist at this point would not be courage—it would be overestimating ourselves.”

“When they arrive, we will negotiate. As long as Konoha’s demands are not completely unreasonable… we will accept them.”

The elders looked at one another in disbelief.

In the end, all they could do was laugh bitterly.

It was their only remaining choice.

Never in its history had Iwagakure endured such humiliation.

“All right, stop looking so miserable,” Ōnoki grumbled. “If any of you are that dissatisfied, you’re welcome to go out and fight Yujiro yourselves.”

The council immediately fell silent.

Ōnoki’s expression hardened.

“Pass down my orders! Every shinobi in the village is to remain alert!”

“Complete all necessary preparations and be ready to receive Yujiro and his party!”

“Yes, Tsuchikage-sama!”

At that moment, Yujiro had no idea that Iwagakure had already done most of his work for him.

He was still traveling at an unhurried pace.

That had been his intention from the very beginning.

First, he allowed the news to spread.

He wanted Iwagakure to know that they were his next destination.

But he had no intention of arriving too quickly.

During this period, strength was no longer the most important factor.

The true battle was psychological.

It was simply a matter of seeing which side lost its composure first.

And in that regard, Yujiro was destined to win.

Only three days had passed since he left Sunagakure, yet Iwagakure’s senior officials were already unable to remain calm.

Ōnoki even spent three hours every day floating high above the village, scanning the horizon.

He desperately hoped Yujiro would arrive soon.

Once Yujiro arrived, they could begin negotiating.

Once the negotiations were finished, perhaps everyone in the village would finally be able to sleep peacefully again.

From the highest-ranking officials to ordinary civilians, the people of Iwagakure had spent the past several days constantly on edge.

Some even startled awake from nightmares in the middle of the night.

Never before had the people of Iwagakure been so desperate for someone to come to their village.

Even more absurdly, that person was coming specifically to demand compensation from them.

Despite knowing that, they were still willing to give Yujiro whatever he wanted, so long as he would arrive and end the unbearable uncertainty.

Thus, an incredibly strange situation took shape.

Time passed, and soon an entire week had gone by.

The people of Iwagakure were nearly at their breaking point.

Why had Yujiro still not arrived?

Some of them even considered sending a group out to welcome him and personally escort him to the village.

However, Iwagakure could not bring itself to abandon that much pride.

Meanwhile, Yujiro continued toward the village without the slightest urgency.

He had been completely relaxed throughout the journey.

Pakura also carried out her duties diligently.

She had not forgotten her current position as Yujiro’s personal maid.

Whether it was serving tea and water, massaging his shoulders, or kneading his legs, she handled everything without complaint.

There was no need to worry about accommodations either.

Whenever they stopped for the night, Yujiro simply used Wood Release to construct two luxurious villas.

As for meals, those were left to Kakashi and Shisui.

Overall, the entire journey could be described with a single word.

Pleasant.

Two weeks later, Yujiro and his party finally entered the territory surrounding Iwagakure.

The moment Yujiro crossed into the village’s sphere of influence, a figure came speeding toward them through the sky.

However, Yujiro sensed no hostility from the approaching person.

A little more than ten seconds later, a small elderly man with disheveled hair and unfocused eyes appeared before him.

Judging from Ōnoki’s haggard appearance, he had not slept properly in weeks.

Yujiro smiled faintly as he sized up the Tsuchikage.

The moment he saw Ōnoki’s exhausted face, he knew his strategy had succeeded.

There was no longer any need to threaten Iwagakure.

The fact that Yujiro had not appeared for nearly three weeks had already become the greatest threat imaginable.

Sometimes, death itself was not frightening.

Waiting for death was.

It was even worse when someone knew disaster was approaching but had no idea when it would arrive.

It could be tomorrow.

It could be several days from now.

Or it could appear in the very next second.

Over those three weeks, Iwagakure’s psychological defenses had completely collapsed.

That was why, the instant Ōnoki spotted Yujiro’s group from the sky, he flew toward them without hesitation.

“Yujiro! You’re finally here!” Ōnoki cried, sounding as though he had just seen his long-awaited savior.

“Tsuchikage, you do remember that we’re enemies, don’t you?” Yujiro reminded him.

“Who decided that? Do you have any evidence?!” Ōnoki immediately protested.

“Have you forgotten the Third Shinobi World War?” Yujiro asked with a faint smile.

“Ahem… Well, there’s no need to dwell on the distant past,” Ōnoki replied, coughing awkwardly. “Please, come and take a look around Iwagakure.”

Yujiro showed no fear whatsoever.

He stepped forward and began walking toward the village.

Ōnoki floated beside him on the right, wearing a friendly smile as he eagerly explained the customs and culture of the Land of Earth.

Yujiro, however, had no interest in any of it.

Instead, he quietly activated the system’s simulation ability.

In a single instant, he successfully replicated Ōnoki’s Dust Release.

【Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the Kekkei Tōta: Dust Release!】

【Limiter-unlocking progress increased by 10%.】

【Current Limiter progress—Level Three: 60%.】

Yujiro was slightly surprised.

It had increased his progress by an entire ten percent.

However, after thinking about it, the result made sense.

A kekkei genkai was generally created through the combination of two chakra natures.

A kekkei tōta, on the other hand, was formed by combining three.

Fifteen minutes later, Yujiro and his party finally entered Iwagakure.

The moment they passed through the village entrance, however, Yujiro paused.

Two orderly rows of shinobi and civilians stood on either side of the road.

Some of them even looked close to tears.

After three unbearable weeks of waiting, Yujiro had finally arrived.