The Lot of Them Are Worse Than Lord Senju!

Whoosh—

Three kunai flew toward Kakashi.

A trace of disgust flashed through Kakashi's dead-fish eyes.

"Seriously, what kind of strength do you have? And you're still out here as Rogue Ninjas?"

"Kakashi, isn't this world way too chaotic?"

Obito's eyes had only just changed into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, yet the dozens of Rogue Ninjas before them were already immersed in the genjutsu of his Sharingan.

"These guys... they're even weaker than the ninjas who just graduated from elementary school in our Empire, yet they dare come out and imitate others by robbing and taking over their bodies. This is utterly absurd!"

Obito could not stop complaining, and Kakashi could only sigh helplessly.

"Tell me, what year is it? How strong are the people among you? Are there many Rogue Ninjas like you?"

Kakashi questioned one of the ninjas under Obito's genjutsu.

The ninja's expression was dazed, and he answered instinctively, "It is currently Year 64 of Konoha. The strongest among us is Doma. His strength is comparable to a Chunin."

"There are many Rogue Ninjas like us along the borders of the Land of Fire. Most of the people here are poor and weak. Even if they are bullied endlessly, they cannot afford to go to the Hidden Leaf Village to post a mission. After all, a C-rank Mission costs anywhere from thirty thousand to one hundred thousand copper coins."

Obito's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Don't tell me civilians have to go post missions themselves? Doesn't the Daimyo of the Land of Fire care?"

"Why would the Daimyo care whether civilians live or die? If they were willing to care, we wouldn't have become Rogue Ninjas."

Obito smacked his lips.

"Kakashi, the Daimyo here are even worse than our Lord Senju. I thought our Emperor was already stingy enough, but I never expected the Daimyo here to be the real bastards!"

Kakashi frowned.

"Obito, watch your words. The Emperor is stingy because the Empire was newly established and funding is needed everywhere, on top of developing cross-world ninjutsu and constructing the teleportation gates. Have you ever seen the Emperor indulge in extravagance?"

"Huh? Isn't that extravagant? The Emperor said monogamy was good, then turned around and took Lord Tsunade and Lord Mei Terumi both..."

Kakashi was also stunned when he heard that. "That aspect of the Emperor's conduct is indeed not a good influence, but there are many political factors involved. You can't make such a judgment so easily just by looking at the two lords' looks."

Obito rolled his eyes at Kakashi.

"I'm not interested. I only love Rin."

"All right, then let me ask you this: which is currently the weakest country?"

"The weakest... should be the Land of Water. I once saw a map. They are surrounded by sea on all sides, and they have closed themselves off from the outside world, with no contact with any of the other Hidden Villages. You can hardly ever see ninjas from their Hidden Mist Village outside. Even the renowned Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist turned into the Lucky Three Treasures the moment they encountered a Hidden Leaf ninja..."

After gathering enough information, Obito activated the genjutsu of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and the group immediately committed seppuku.

"To be fair, I don't feel the slightest bit guilty dealing with these people. In fact, I even feel that they've dirtied my hands."

"But Kakashi, now that you mention it, isn't it strange? Why would a group of Genin dare become bandits? I truly feel that the civilians of this world have been treated unfairly!"

Perfectly good lives were ruined by the greed of a group of people, leaving families destroyed. This was something that could never happen within the Empire, but here it was as commonplace as eating and drinking.

Within the Empire, every ninja was registered. Their identity information, home address, and everything else were all recorded in full.

Even the ninjutsu they knew and the ninja tools they possessed had to be updated from time to time.

For an unregistered ninja to use ninjutsu and ninja tools recklessly was illegal.

Because of this, many people angrily cursed the ninjas for having no human rights or privacy. Having to disclose everything to the Empire was, in their view, a violation of their right to privacy.

At the time, Obito had not understood it either and had joined in cursing the Emperor for a while. But what was happening now made him reconsider the deeper meaning behind the Emperor's actions.

"The most recent incident of Rogue Ninjas robbing people within the Empire was still three years ago..."

The Empire's laws were extremely strict. An unregistered ninja who dared harm innocent civilians would, at best, be sent to a detention and rehabilitation facility. At worst, all their Chakra would be stripped away, the chakra points in their bodies sealed, and their descendants for three generations would be forbidden from practicing ninjutsu.

Because of this, many ninjas angrily cursed the Emperor over the loss of their privileges. When the policy had just been introduced, a group of them even plotted to massacre several villages. Among them were ninjas who possessed a Kekkei Genkai.

Everyone knew that the Emperor treasured talent above all else, and he valued powerful people with a Kekkei Genkai even more.

But no one had expected that the Emperor would treat them in exactly the same way they had treated civilians, without the slightest hesitation. Until the moment they died, those people remained shocked that, despite being powerful users of a Kekkei Genkai, they were worth less in the Emperor's eyes than a group of ordinary civilians.

Now, as the two looked at the Human Head View in the distance, where the heads of men, women, the elderly, and children had been casually arranged, they instantly understood.

Once people gained privileges, they would exercise their greatest authority without restraint. How could the Empire possibly remain stable under such circumstances?

A unified empire really was the right answer! The Emperor truly was great!

The two of them underwent a tremendous change in their opinions of the Empire and the Emperor.

"All right, Obito. From here, we need to hurry and complete the mission the Emperor assigned us. The problems in this world have already become deeply entrenched. For now, let's go to the Land of Waves and take a ship to the Land of Water. We'll start our conquest with the Land of Water!"

Kakashi gave the order.

The Land of Water's isolation from the outside world was perfect for their operations. At present, gathering the Tailed Beasts or a large amount of Chakra materials would allow them to build a teleportation gate connected to their original world according to the blueprint provided by the Emperor.

The Land of Water's own isolation would also provide cover and prevent them from alerting their enemies prematurely.

Once more powerful people from the Empire arrived, conquering this world would proceed much more smoothly.

The two entered the territory of the Land of Waves openly. Perhaps because the Land of Waves was truly poor, they did not encounter even a single Rogue Ninja there.

Moreover, because the people here lived by the sea and could fish, far fewer of them were reduced to sallow faces and emaciated bodies from poor harvests and hunger than in most parts of the Land of Fire.

"According to the merchants we met on the road, a merchant named Gato in the Land of Waves has a ship going to the Land of Water. It looks like we should go meet him first."

Kakashi spoke.

They were capable of crossing the ocean, but doing so would consume Chakra and could affect their later plans. Taking a ship and resting to maintain their physical condition was naturally the best option.

"That's right. But before that, we need to get rid of a little rat that's been following us."

Obito's Sharingan casually glanced toward a certain tree behind them.

The two had once been classmates and had grown up together as close friends, so Kakashi naturally understood Obito's meaning at once.

The next moment, Kakashi appeared beneath the tree Obito had looked toward. Before Jiraiya could react, a gleaming blade slid across his neck.

Only afterward did the sonic boom produced by the short blade tearing through the air reach his ears.

A cloud of white mist dispersed, and Jiraiya's Shadow Clone was instantly eliminated before it could react.