NRaO Chapter 74 (Patreon)

The Daimyo sat around a table as they discussed plans for the future. The gruff lightning Daimyo asked. “Fire Daimyo, you need to get Konoha under control. Any news on where Orochi is?” The Fire Daimyo covered his face with a fan as he spoke. “Hmm. It seems he appeared to fight against the tailed beast that came from the Water Daimyo’s ninja village.”

He fluttered the fan, not fanning himself but making a display instead. The fan covered his mouth but the crease lines near his eyes let people know he was smiling. The cold and calculating Water Daimyo mentioned. “Yes… We need to talk about… Concessions from the… Land of Fire for… Wiping out… My village… During the war…”

The rest sensing blood in the water also piled on. The fat Wind Daimyo leaned forward. “Speaking of which. We still need to talk about reparations for the botched Land of Whirlpools attack… Orochi is still at large, perhaps you’re hiding him…” The old Earth Daimyo also piled on. “Indeed. Perhaps we should really go to war… Unless you can satisfy us. I heard that the Hidden Leaf Village has weapons that can kill shinobi. What were they called again? Ah, yes. Firearms.”

The Fire Daimyo began to chuckle. “Fufufu. Kukuku. Hehehe. HAHAHA. Sometimes it’s fun to talk to yourself. I wanted to see if you’d take my bait and try to take what didn’t belong to you. I was right.” The Earth Daimyo stood and slammed his hand on the table. “What is the meaning of your words Fire Daimyo? Make sense or I will order the army to attack!”

He didn’t notice the glint of malice in his bodyguard's eye. The Daimyo reduced the amount of shinobi they had protecting them from two down to one because of how many casualties the shinobi had. The honest truth was that most of the land had lost their truly strong shinobi, and two of the villages only had one strong shinobi left, hence why they reduced the amount of shinobi guarding them so that if there was a fight the weaker Daimyo wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

If only he thought about how little they knew about ninjas. None would notice that the normally silent ninja who was meant to protect them was acting slightly off as if he was replaced. Without warning the room was engulfed in a fight. The Earth Daimyo had a sword pierced through his heart from behind by the man who was supposed to protect him. Blood spilled from his mouth as he didn’t even get to see who killed him before the life faded from his eyes.

The Wind Daimyo and his guard both lunged at the Lightning Daimyo. The fat man moved in a swift and fluid motion that shouldn’t have been possible for a normal human to do, that’s because he no longer was human but a puppet disguised as the Daimyo. The same went with his shinobi bodyguard. He was no longer human, opening up to a spiked inside as he attempted to push the Lightning Daimyo inside.

Normal humans stood no chance. The Water Daimyo was the only practiced ninja out of the group, and he was on the stronger side. Even still, he wasn’t expecting the three-pronged attack from his own shinobi bodyguard, the Fire Daimyo, and his bodyguard. The Fire Daimyo bodyguard moved even more swiftly, lopping his hand off halfway through a jutsu to stop it, the man knew exactly what he was doing.

All of their deaths happened in three seconds. One moment it was a room full of the most powerful men on the planet, the next the room only contained a single man surrounded by puppets taking on the visage of the Daimyos. The Fire Daimyo’s bodyguard chuckled to himself as his face melted off revealing the true person beneath. All of the puppets began to laugh with the man as well, they knew that Orochi had all but won. “Fufufufu.”

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Sweeping changes began after the meeting. The Daimyos began to act in ways that seemingly went against their own interest but in the long run, would help the land grow to unseen levels. They incorporated the shinobi villages into their own lands as many of the normal shinobi missions shifted from capturing, killing, and spying to terraforming the land.

Each acre changed to suit farming was another move toward peace. It was a reason that villages would view shinobi in a better light as they didn’t see them as killers but as helpful tools for living a better life. Large portions of the Hidden Sand Village began to change as many oases were made to make travel to and from other lands that much easier. A large portion near the mountains became a paradise as sand changed to fertile fields to make grapes for wine and rice for sake.

The Hidden Stone Village specialized in foodstuffs that could grow underground or in caves. Mushrooms and potatoes, large amounts of food as well as animals became their staple products. Truthfully the biggest people hurt from the wars were people near the center of the continent. Every decade or so another war would kick off and destroy any built-up resources the small villages managed to stockpile. The loss of life of civilians was the highest in those villages.

It meant that as they were incorporated into the shinobi villages' territory and the number of lands continued to shrink, the lands became that much safer. Some refused to join with the larger area. The culmination was the fight for the Hidden Rain Village. Hanzo didn’t want to join together with the Land of Fire, it would make the lives of his people better but they’d no longer be his people but the Land of Fire’s people. Hanzo’s isolationist policies meant that he would have to be replaced for their to ever be talks of incorporation into another land.

He was selfish, he wanted to be remembered for being strong enough to hold his land but knew his strength was fading with his age. The fight was anticlimactic. Orochi appeared one day and he was dead the next. Every specialization he had Orochi countered perfectly, he could have defeated Hanzo in his sleep but made it a spectacle so the village's people would be less likely to rebel.

Years began to pass as the world slowly healed from the constant warfare. With the lands prospering more under the new laws of the Daimyo, no one seemed to care that they were acting differently then they had in the past. Slowly the power the Daimyo held was reduced until they were only slightly higher than the Shinobi villages. An all-out war between the lands was had that put the Daimyo in a bad light and killed off the policies that weakened their power even more.

No one noticed the shadow war that was happening at the same time as high-ranking members of the armies died mysteriously leaving behind those who were more soft-hearted towards shinobi. No one noticed that the view of the shinobi had shifted as they appeared and stopped the fighting, making the civilians view them in a more positive light. Finally, no one noticed the connections each of the shinobi villages had to a single person. A hidden hand puppets everything from behind the scenes and drives the future of the continent to be under a single rule.