But before Chiyo could speak, the whispers rising around her drowned out her words.
The ninja present instinctively wanted to oppose such a proposal to overturn the established order. They had been raised as warriors whose sacred duty was to protect their villages and obey the daimyo, and that belief had been carved into their bones.
But the benefits were real.
Commoners' children could enter the Ninja Academy-this meant that becoming a ninja would no longer be the exclusive privilege of nobles and established clans. Children from ordinary families would also have a chance to become superhuman;
Samurai and Onmyōji with supernatural aptitude would receive legitimate standing within the system-this meant that ninja would no longer be the only recognized superhumans. The entire supernatural class would receive unified administration and recognition;
Ninja would no longer be tools of war, but masters of their era-this meant they would no longer have to die for the daimyo's interests or risk their lives for the nobles' ambitions. Ninja would truly hold their own destinies in their hands.
These temptations were far too plain, so plain that those instinctive objections seemed pale and powerless.
No one would turn against their own interests.
Chiyo looked around at the faces gleaming with anticipation and ambition and let out a quiet sigh.
Her shoulders sagged slightly with the exhaustion of a heart and mind worn thin. At last, she slowly sat back down, folded her hands in her lap, and closed her eyes.
The tide was no longer on her side.
The Daimyo Mansion in the Land of Fire changed hands overnight.
It was a moonless night. Large numbers of ninja wearing Konoha Ninja uniforms suddenly appeared outside the Daimyo Mansion in the Land of Fire's capital. They did not attack, merely surrounding the mansion in