The Biggest Bounty in History

Seeing that Uchiha Genya now controlled the entire Land of Fire, could do whatever he wanted, and had more money than he could spend, the other Kage were deeply envious.

It also gave them an idea they would never have entertained before.

They were all asking themselves the same question: if Uchiha Genya could do it, why couldn't they?

After all, he had set the example by forcing the Daimyo to abdicate. No one even knew whether the Land of Fire's Daimyo was alive or dead anymore, and no one cared.

Yet the other Kage still had an "ordinary person" above them, someone with little power who insisted on telling them what to do.

No one wanted to live with that kind of humiliation.

The old beliefs had been so deeply ingrained that they had never even considered turning on their rulers.

The Ninja Three Precepts forbade alcohol, luxury, and desire, condemning ninja to lives like ascetic monks.

They were the ones who wielded power, yet Daimyo and nobles could indulge in every luxury and marry as many concubines as they pleased.

The ninja who held that power, meanwhile, had to restrain their desires, including their desire for money and beauty.

With their strength, obtaining either would have been far too easy. That was why they had to hold back.

A ninja was supposed to endure what ordinary people could not.

But Uchiha Genya had laid his boundless ambition bare. Under Konoha's might, the entire Land of Fire had fallen in an instant. The Daimyo's defenses had been no sturdier than paper.

Now that someone had taken the lead, the other great ninja villages, knowing they could not defeat Genya, settled for obeying orders only when it suited them.

After all, the Daimyo and a Kage were equals in principle.