Under Heaven and Above, One Warrior Against a Thousand

At last, the flickering candle flames steadied again.

The nobles, having recovered from the surprise, glanced at one another and burst out laughing. Those who had been knocked down by the gale drew the loudest laughter of all.

Amid them, Horii Tarō, his eyes full of wariness, stood in stark contrast to the ministers around him.

The daimyo of the Land of Grass noticed the grave expression on his trusted general's face and followed Horii Tarō's gaze.

"Oh, has the secret treasure already arrived?"

"Why is there a boy too? Excellent! This pretty child is more to my taste than those revolting women!"

His face alight with excitement, the daimyo raised his wine cup toward Horii Tarō to show his satisfaction.

But Horii Tarō's next words sobered him.

"Lord Daimyo, the only Uzumaki clansmen I obtained were that mother and daughter!"

"Th-then..."

Realizing something was wrong, the daimyo quietly retreated behind Horii Tarō, while the leader of the Grass Ninja questioned the newcomer directly.

"Boy, who are you, and why have you barged into the royal palace of the Land of Grass?"

Horii Tarō's words seemed finally to draw the red-haired boy's attention. Holding the little girl's hand, her palm damp with nervous sweat, he answered with a bright smile.

"I just happened to hear that some of my clansmen had ended up here, so I made a special trip to look around."

"Now that I've seen for myself, everyone in the Land of Grass has taken 'good' care of my clansmen!"

A sharp glint flashed in Horii Tarō's eyes, but he spoke politely as he probed for answers.

"Are you also a member of the Uzumaki Clan? Were you sent by Konoha to bring these two clansmen back?"

"Konoha?"

The red-haired boy laughed as though he had heard something ridiculous. "A nobody like me has nothing to do with the Five Great Shinobi Villages. I came here this time to thank you all for taking care of my clansmen and to bring you a gift!"

Hearing Dōmeki admit that he had nothing to do with Konoha or the other four great shinobi villages, Horii Tarō's expression abruptly changed.

"A gift? Since you dared to barge into the Land of Grass, brat, why don't you give yourself to Lord Daimyo instead!"

As he spoke, Horii Tarō vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Dōmeki, reaching for the boy's neck with a savage grin.

"Aaagh! My hand-"

Horii Tarō's smile froze. His outstretched right hand felt as though it had been caught in an iron vise. With a crack of breaking bones, unbearable pain spread through his body.

Dōmeki swept his gaze over the terrified nobles of the Land of Grass, some backing away and others slumping to the floor, and grinned.

"I came with a sincere wish to give you all a gift! It's hardly good manners to treat a guest like this!"

At that moment, Horii Tarō gritted his teeth, grabbed a Kunai, and slashed at Dōmeki's arm. When Dōmeki let go, Horii Tarō immediately retreated at full speed.

Watching the boy, who made no move to pursue him, Horii Tarō shouted for his men outside. His bloodied right hand trembled uncontrollably, but from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of nothing but a pool of scarlet blood.

"Bastard!"

Horii Tarō cursed and hurled a signal flare to summon his men.

A large hole instantly opened in the roof. The dazzling firework shot into the sky with a whoosh and burst, forming the pattern of a swaying blade of grass.

Dōmeki watched Horii Tarō summon reinforcements, still showing no intention of stopping him. Instead, he called out to the nobles of the Land of Grass, who had begun fleeing in disarray.

"You're all in such a hurry! Don't leave just yet; I'll give you your gift right now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dōmeki snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the ground beneath everyone's feet cracked inch by inch, and the exposed ocher earth was stained an eerie black.

Before their horrified eyes, the black layer began to writhe like a monstrous snake.

In a flash, countless tentacles turned into sharp sabers, spears, swords, and halberds and erupted from the ground, forming a chilling forest of blades in an instant.

The nobles who could not escape let out howls of despair and agony, just like the pleasing sounds they had once so enjoyed hearing from those lowborn commoners. Their corpulent bodies were hoisted high on weapons forged of black iron, and blood gushed from the wounds pierced by swords and halberds, staining the black forest with blossom after blossom of red.

As the highest-ranking person among them, the daimyo of the Land of Grass received special attention.

Dozens of hair-thin black threads pierced his body, suspending the great man who held the lives of the Land of Grass's people in his hands at the highest point of this steel forest.

"What the hell are these things?"

Trying to rescue the daimyo, Horii Tarō slashed at the black threads with his Kunai, but amid a shower of sparks, the Kunai's blade was the first to crack and chip.

"Damn it!" Having failed to save the daimyo, Horii Tarō was instead pursued by the seemingly endless swords and halberds bursting forth. He barely dodged their attacks, glancing with a trace of fear at the boy who looked harmless but was truly a monster wearing human skin.

At last, whether it was the signal or the tremendous commotion here, something alerted all the Grass Ninja, and hundreds of shinobi swarmed outside the palace.

Horii Tarō crashed through a window and saw his many subordinates, a flash of joy crossing his eyes.

He immediately shouted his orders. "An intruder forced his way into the palace and killed Lord Daimyo!"

"Everyone, attack together and kill the enemy!!!"

At Horii Tarō's command, nearly all the shinobi formed Hand Seals at once.

Wind, fire, lightning, earth, and water—the Chakra of various release techniques flashed, then swept toward the palace in a barrage that covered the sky.

Sensing the enemies gathering, Dōmeki created a Shadow Clone to take Karin and her mother away.

He himself took a few steps forward. A massive iron hand gradually formed beneath his feet and lifted him up, while the forest of swords and halberds turned into black mist that coiled around him.

Gradually, the boy rose higher and higher, until he passed through the half-collapsed roof.

A fierce wind rose with a mournful shriek. Gathering clouds churned and collided, and streaks of turbulent blue lightning flickered in and out of sight within them, as though a ferocious divine beast lurked inside, revealing only glimpses of itself.

A flash of lightning illuminated the boy standing in midair, looking down at everything, his robes snapping in the wind.

As countless Ninjutsu that nearly engulfed the sky suddenly rushed toward him, Dōmeki's cold voice rang through heaven and earth.

"Under heaven and above, one warrior against a thousand!"

"All things in creation, the fury of thunder!"

"Roar! Kirin!"

As the red-haired boy raised his right hand high, black mist gathered above his head into the outline of a colossal beast, and countless bolts of lightning seemed drawn to it, clothing it in blue armor.

The instant the boy's voice fell, the Kirin bared its fangs and claws and obliterated everything.