9.9 seconds.
A gray-white space, where time belonged to Lin Qing alone.
Lin Qing hoisted Mei Terumi, Zabuza, and Hayato Kamihara onto his shoulders. He hesitated for half a second, then kicked Oda Ieyasu in the waist. Oda flew through the air and landed on top of Zabuza.
Lin Qing couldn't let him die.
At least, he couldn't let Oda Ieyasu die during their meeting.
This was a thoroughly calculated scheme.
The moment Lin Qing and Oda Ieyasu left to talk in front of everyone, the trap had been set. It didn't matter whether Oda Ieyasu had actually been killed by Lin Qing—
The blame for "murdering a wise ruler who worked tirelessly for his people and reduced taxes" would be pinned on Lin Qing.
They'd call it dirt, even if it wasn't.
Oda Ieyasu's death was only the first shot. As soon as that bullet was fired, "Awakened Ones" like Hori Masashi would begin appearing throughout the Land of Water... No, perhaps not just the Land of Water. They would probably appear all over the world.
Even if Lin Qing killed them day and night, he could never kill them all.
Within a year, no one would believe Lin Qing's ideas anymore. People would tremble at the mention of "Awakening," and Lin Qing would go from being the founder of a new ideology to nothing more than a murderer.
No one would listen to him again.
By then, Lin Qing would have only two choices:
Either he could start a war, kill everyone who defied him, and become the new king.
Even setting aside whether he could pull it off, without an ideology to guide them, Lin Qing would become a king under the old rules, still forced to rely on the Conglomerates and bureaucrats to govern the people.