Daimyo? Son of the Land of Ancestors!

When Nanchuan You made his choice, it felt as though the entire world had overturned.

Heaven and earth began to spin in reverse, the world before his eyes gradually turning pitch-black, with no trace of light or shadow.

Nanchuan You felt his thoughts slowly being drawn away, then sinking into darkness.

Until the next moment, his world brightened once more.

When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him had already changed.

The place where he stood was a great hall, ornate and splendid in appearance, yet somehow carrying a sense of dilapidation and shabbiness, as if it had gone a long time without repairs.

Nanchuan You instinctively rose, then realized his own appearance had also changed.

He was now about ten years old, a few years older than his original self.

After a moment of thought, he stood before a mirror and examined his current appearance.

In the bronze mirror, his present form was revealed.

Only about ten years old, with delicate features, draped in a long robe, his overall attire looking quite dignified—clearly not an ordinary person.

Just by looking at him, one could tell he was a noble, far from the common folk.

His exterior was splendid enough, but his body was instead much weaker.

"My Chakra..."

Feeling the frailty of his body, Nanchuan You couldn't help but frown.

This body was about ten years old, clearly a few years older than his original self, yet it was conversely weaker.

The main reason for this was the lack of Chakra.

This body had no trace of Chakra at all.

Just now, Nanchuan You had instinctively tried to refine Chakra, but ultimately failed.

"The Country of Zu... that's also a completely unfamiliar name."

Nanchuan You lowered his head in thought.

Memories surged in his mind, but as far as he could tell, there was not a single familiar trace.

The Five Great Nations from his memories did not exist in this world at all; instead, there were names like the Country of Zu and the Land of Them.

As for the profession of shinobi, it did not exist in this era either.

The current military backbone of each nation was the samurai class.

And even among samurai, there seemed to be no such ability as Chakra.

Outside, there were various legends of Monsters, said to occasionally rampage and devour many lives.

The overall picture bore no resemblance whatsoever to Nanchuan You's memories.

"Where the hell did this drop me?"

Nanchuan You felt a headache coming on.

This situation was completely different from what he had imagined.

But thankfully, because of his original body, even if he died in this world, he wouldn't truly die—he would simply return to his original self.

Additionally, the options provided by the reincarnation panel were still genuine.

His current name was Tianzi, and he was the Lord of the Country of Zu.

So-called Tianzi was not a title, merely a name.

But the identity of the Lord was genuine.

His predecessor's father had died in a battle some time ago, and he had inherited the position of Lord of the Country of Zu, becoming the new Lord.

Unfortunately, although he was a Lord, this nation, in Nanchuan You's view, was hardly large.

Not to mention comparing it to the later Five Great Nations, even compared to a small nation like the Grass Country, it was probably inferior.

The entire country was not only small in territory and sparse in population, but also constantly facing strategic threats from enemy nations.

The people within the country were impoverished, mostly making a living through farming—truly beset by troubles both internal and external.

"Ah, the start isn't very smooth."

Carefully recalling the situation before him, Nanchuan You couldn't help but smile: "Interesting, though."

He had thought this reincarnation would allow for a long period of cultivation, never expecting that this world didn't even have a power like Chakra.

In that case, treating this reincarnation as a real-life construction game to play didn't seem like a bad idea.

"So next, let's start farming."

He thought to himself, then rose to his feet.

Outside the Country of Zu, the current situation was actually quite dire.

The people within the country were impoverished—that aside for now—and beyond the nation's borders, there was the threat of the Land of Them.

With the previous Lord having just fallen in battle, the Land of Them was likely to launch a large-scale invasion.

Faced with this situation, Nanchuan You decisively chose to bow his head and play small.

In the name of a junior, he personally wrote a letter to the Tianzi of the Land of Them, expressing his willingness to submit, voluntarily offering annual tribute, and proposing a marriage contract with the Princess of the Land of Them, to be wed in the future.

With this set of moves, the Land of Them was quite satisfied with the Land of Ancestors' tactfulness.

With the external threat resolved, Nanchuan You turned his attention inward.

He took funds from his private treasury, lavishly recruited samurai, adopted orphans, and spent two years building up his own private force, then launched a sweeping transformation.

In Nanchuan You's view, the situation in the Land of Ancestors was quite primitive—the entire nation was based on agriculture, and not only commoners but even the nobility were impoverished.

But to him, this was also an advantage.

Noble poverty meant reduced resistance to domestic reform.

At a time when external pressure had weakened and he held a private army in his hands, this bit of resistance made little difference whether it existed or not.

He reformed commerce, abolished various privileges of the domestic nobility, reduced checkpoints, and cut taxes like road tolls.

In agriculture, he redistributed land, absorbed population, and directly disposed of the major landowners on various pretexts.

Several years passed like this, and the entire Land of Ancestors had undergone great change.

Populations multiplied across the land, and people from other nations were drawn here.

Towns flourished, commerce thrived, and public order greatly improved.

Tax revenue grew, attracting many samurai and nobles, which greatly increased the nation's overall strength.

That year, Nanchuan You turned seventeen.

Unbeknownst to him, he had been buried in development for several years.

Just as he was preparing for his next major move, an incident caught his attention.

In a place in the southern part of the Land of Ancestors, a God Tree suddenly appeared.

The God Tree had started growing the previous year, and at first it was no different from ordinary trees.

But in just one year, the God Tree grew vigorously, shooting up over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

This rapid growth attracted many people's attention.

Gradually, the tree came to be called the God Tree, and its fame began to spread far and wide.

It was at this time that Nanchuan You noticed this God Tree.

At this point, he sensed nothing unusual about it.

Although this world had no Chakra power, other supernatural forces did exist.

Outside, monsters roamed, and there were Shrine Maidens said to possess a unique Sage Art.

Among the samurai, many also wielded special techniques capable of slaying monsters.

Nanchuan You had delved deeply into these matters and had recruited many such individuals under his command, so naturally he was no stranger to these things.

In his view, this so-called God Tree was probably just another kind of monster phenomenon, nothing remarkable.

But since it was located within the Land of Ancestors' territory, out of curiosity, he set off at once toward the place where the God Tree stood.