Reborn as Danzō’s Grandson, Must I Offend the Entire Ninja World?

"What is he trying to do..."

As Yami ascended into the sky, Ōnoki's heart rang with alarm bells. An unprecedented sense of crisis surged through him, making him tremble.

Crack!

His injured waist healed instantly as adrenaline flooded his system, and Ōnoki roared out:

"Be alert! Stay alert!"

But it was too late.

The Big Ball Rasengan, like a miniature planet, descended faster and faster, expanding continuously. By the time it hovered several dozen meters above Iwagakure, it had grown even larger than a Tailed Beast Bomb.

It was as if a miniature sun had come crashing down from the heavens.

For a brief moment, time seemed to pause.

Then, the pent-up power detonated in a blinding flash, unleashing devastation like a cosmic explosion.

Light!

Blinding, endless light.

The Iwa shinobi instinctively shielded their eyes, unable to bear the intense brightness.

In that moment, the world fell silent. Everything froze, locked in absolute stillness, until the energy storm from the Big Ball Rasengan expanded into a hemispherical dome and began to spread outward. Then, reality shattered.

Those at the heart of Iwagakure were vaporized into dust. Buildings were tossed like paper. Nothing could resist. All anyone could do was wait helplessly for the force of destruction to descend.

"No!!"

Ōnoki screamed, but his voice was lost in the roar. Even Kitsuchi and the medics closest to him couldn't hear it.

They stared, dumbfounded, at the catastrophe unfolding before them. When the expanding dome of energy reached its limit, it ballooned upward, forming a towering mushroom cloud.

Pop—!

The bubble burst. Violent wind swept the wreckage, launching debris across the land like trash caught in a storm.

Everything in its path was flattened.

"Dust Release: Limit Stripping Technique!"

Ōnoki's mouth bled as he forced out chakra, erecting a barrier of Dust Release to shield against the shockwave.

Seeing this, Kitsuchi and the others snapped out of their daze and frantically launched Earth Release jutsu to help build additional walls.

"Come on, you can do it!"

Yami, standing in the sky, clenched his fists as if cheering them on.

Back atop the wooden dragon, Hikari pulled the handkerchief from Kurotsuchi's mouth.

"Let me go! I need to save Grandpa! Yami, you bastard! You devil! I'll never forgive you!"

Kurotsuchi screamed, breaking down the moment she could speak.

Hikari, still patient toward those Yami had chosen, waited for her to pause before speaking calmly.

"Kurotsuchi-kouhai, why are you so emotional?

Wasn't all of this started by your grandfather? If he hadn't provoked war and attacked Konoha first, none of this would've happened.

After losing, he tried to be clever and reject Yami's demands for compensation. What else could he expect?"

"But the villagers were innocent!"

"There's no such thing as innocence in this world."

Hikari snorted coldly.

"When you invaded Konoha, did you consider Konoha's civilians? This is a world ruled by strength. We're shinobi who live with a blade to our throats. No one is cleaner than anyone else.

If you want to protect people, then stay close to Yami and earn his favor. Only then do you get to protect others."

Kurotsuchi collapsed to her knees and wept bitterly.

After an unknown amount of time, the apocalyptic storm finally passed.

Yami admired the aftermath calmly, mentally silencing the constant dinging from his system notifications.

A massive crater now scarred the heart of Iwagakure, taking up one-third of the village.

Maybe it should be renamed Hidden Pit Village.

Outside the crater, piles of debris formed hills. From within, bloodied survivors staggered out.

Except for the epicenter—where nothing remained—the further from the blast, the weaker the destruction. A few strong or lucky shinobi had survived, but they were few and far between.

Yami remained unmoved by the hellish sight. Instead, he reflected on the shortcomings of the Big Ball Rasengan.

His chakra control was still too crude. The blast had been released all at once.

It would be better to release it in waves, building momentum—forcing the enemy to think they had survived, only to be crushed by the next burst.

Maybe next time. With Sage Mode enhancing chakra control, he could achieve it.

But which village should he test it on?

Lost in thought, Yami slowly descended to the ground.

The screams and chaos couldn't shake his composure. A shinobi charged him with a kunai, but Yami didn't even look—he raised his hand and snapped the attacker's neck.

A hail of shuriken was blown back by a gust of wind.

"Stop!"

Ōnoki, still lying on Kitsuchi's back, rushed over.

No words could describe Ōnoki's emotions now.

Regret. Grief. Rage. Murderous intent. Fear. Hatred…

But above all else, hatred.

A hatred that would never fade.

Yet Ōnoki knew he couldn't act on that hatred now.

Just blocking the last shockwave had drained his chakra. Kitsuchi and the others were also barely standing.

And Yami?

According to sensory ninjutsu, Yami's chakra hadn't even dipped. It was as if he had cast a single D-rank technique. His reserves were still vast and bottomless.

How could they dare hate him?

When Yami saw Ōnoki arrive, he waved with a smile, as if greeting an old friend.

That one gesture made the surrounding Iwa shinobi freeze.

"Ōnoki, did you enjoy the gift?"

"Yami… You're not human. You're a demon. A monster."

Ōnoki floated upward with effort. The ruins below tormented his soul.

"What's wrong? Isn't this what it means to inherit the Will of Stone?

You wanted to minimize Rock's suffering, right? I ended the war quickly. Are you not satisfied?"

"How am I doing, Ōnoki? Still think I'm not qualified to be Hokage?"

Ōnoki was silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "Yami, you've killed so many people… Aren't you afraid of becoming the enemy of the entire shinobi world?"

"Of course not."

Yami answered plainly.

Why don't you try it? Round up ten thousand Iwa shinobi and see if I get tired."

He almost laughed.

Ōnoki was trying to guilt-trip him with morality, calling him a villain to appeal to higher ideals.

If Yami feared being seen as inhumane, why would he become Hokage at all? He might as well just find a hole to crawl into and live quietly.

Ōnoki realized Yami truly didn't care about such things.

He was terrified.

How do you defeat someone with no weakness… and no humanity?

"…Hokage."

Ōnoki took a deep breath and bent his back—a back that had stood tall his entire life.

"I surrender on behalf of Iwagakure.

But… it's impossible to give up 50% of our mission commission revenue. Even if you killed all of Iwagakure, that would make us Konoha's vassals. The daimyo would never approve.

I'm willing to offer 30%, and sign a unilateral strategic alliance with Konoha. From now on, Konoha's enemies are Iwa's enemies."

It was his final line in the sand.

If Yami pushed further… they'd take everyone and die on that hill.

Better to die standing than live kneeling.

Ōnoki stared at Yami, waiting.

The atmosphere was suffocating.

Kitsuchi and the others felt humiliated but could only endure it, knowing they couldn't win.

At last, Yami spoke.

"Ōnoki, you really don't understand business, huh?

Negotiation is a back-and-forth. I offer, you counter. Why go straight to your bottom line?"

"Fine. For Kurotsuchi's sake, I accept the 30%.

But what about the captives? If you don't want them, I'll send them to the mines. If you do, it's a separate price."

"Fine."

Ōnoki forced out a word through gritted teeth. "1 billion. I want every single living person, even those missing limbs."

Once, Iwa could afford to lose hundreds of shinobi. Not anymore. These people were desperately needed back.

"Send the money to Konoha within a month. One hand for the money, one hand for the prisoners."

Yami waved and rose into the sky.

"No need to send me off. I'll invite you to the wedding when Kurotsuchi and I get married."

Watching Yami disappear into the clouds, Ōnoki finally couldn't hold it in. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

"Father! Father!"

"Ugh, what happened to Kurotsuchi?"

Back aboard the wooden dragon, Yami looked at the unconscious girl.

Hikari rolled her eyes. "What do you think? You nearly killed her grandfather and father. She fainted from the shock."

Yami chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't trying to kill them.

If I really wanted to kill Ōnoki and Kokuō, wouldn't I have just dropped the Big Ball Rasengan right on their heads?"

Only by sparing these symbolic figures and crushing them again and again could the will of the other nations truly break.

The wooden dragon flew swiftly toward the Land of Fire.

In terms of speed, it couldn't match Kokuō, but Yami was too lazy to switch mounts.

After half an hour, Kurotsuchi stirred awake.

When she found out Ōnoki and Kokuō weren't dead, she relaxed a bit—but still glared at Yami with hatred.

Yami ruffled her hair. "I know you hate me. But what can I do?

This is the game of nations—either you kill or get killed.

We never got to this point before because there wasn't someone like me. But now there is. Unification is the best outcome, don't you think?"

"You want to unify the entire shinobi world?"

Kurotsuchi ignored the hand messing with her hair and muttered, "The daimyo would never agree..."

"Thanks for reminding me."

Yami turned to Hikari with a smirk. "It's been days. Why haven't you killed the Fire Daimyo yet?"

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in shock. Hikari blushed and muttered, "I've been reading your novels lately. I… forgot."

Yami withdrew his hand from Kurotsuchi and started playing with Hikari's soft black hair.

"You just stay at home all day. When we get back, I'll give you something to do."

"Okay, I know I was wrong. I'll go now, alright?"

Hikari knew she was guilty and could only let Yami tease her.

Once they entered the Land of Fire, Yami used Flying Thunder God to send Hikari to the capital. Then he returned to Konoha with Kurotsuchi.

Elsewhere, the unconscious Ōnoki finally woke up.

Seeing Kitsuchi sitting at his bedside, Ōnoki whispered wearily, "Kitsuchi, from now on… you are the Fourth Tsuchikage.

I have no face left to meet Lord Ishikawa or Lord Mū..."

(To be continued.)

***

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