After refusing the three women's offer to spend the night with him again, he ordered everyone to rest and put the room back in order. Uchiha Zhuang watched them, then climbed over the courtyard wall and quietly made his way toward Daikokuya.
The night sky was clear and cloudless. Under the moonlight, row upon row of neatly arranged houses stood in silence. Uchiha Zhuang reached Daikokuya, where lights were still burning inside. After circling the buildings to check the area, he removed the bell wires and chakra alarm lines, then slipped into the living quarters. He listened at each door. In the innermost room, where a light was still on, he heard someone muttering softly to himself. It sounded like Hatano Yu. Peering through a crack in the door, Uchiha Zhuang saw Hatano Yu counting bills. His drooping eyelids were almost shut, but his hands kept moving deftly over the money. Uchiha Zhuang pushed the door open. When the old man saw someone come in, Uchiha Zhuang turned his back to him and closed the door.
The old man's failing eyesight kept him from making out the newcomer's face at first. Uchiha Zhuang slowly approached him, grabbed his ridiculous hairstyle, and demanded in a low voice, "So you're the Old Turtle who wanted to lay your hands on my things? Hm! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He slapped Hatano Yu hard across both cheeks, and the old man's face immediately swelled up. "Did someone put you up to this, or did you decide to take my things for yourself? Hm!? Tell one lie, and I'll cut off your head and wipe out your whole clan." Uchiha Zhuang's ferocious expression terrified Hatano Yu. He had never imagined that the boy, who had seemed rather green back then, would become such a fearsome figure. He had once hoped to become friends with him, but he'd been blinded by greed and cheated that foolish woman, transferring all the money into his secret account. Now the creditor had come calling, and tonight he might well lose his life.
"Samurai, please listen! It was all that woman's doing. I'm innocent!" "You mean Delia?" "That's right! That wretched woman tricked me into transferring your money into her name. She was planning to run away in a few days, and I was just about to send someone to find you and tell you. That vile servant dared betray her own lord. She deserves to die!" Hatano Yu gritted his teeth as he spoke. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was the clan head.
"I see. Then I wronged you, Mr. Hatano Yu. May I ask who owns Daikokuya?" Uchiha Zhuang said with an apologetic look. Seeing Uchiha Zhuang back down, Hatano Yu felt the tension in his chest ease and spoke leisurely. "Daikokuya has a long history. It was founded by the renowned current head of the Iga School, Lord Momochi Sandayu. Unlike the shinobi of this era, who use chakra, the Iga School's shinobi are all masters of assassination. They excel in the five true shinobi arts: food, fragrance, medicine, breath, and body. They look down on chakra as a deviant, unorthodox path."
It was the first time Uchiha Zhuang had heard of shinobi in the Shinobi World who didn't use chakra. It was certainly a novelty. "Then are those shinobi strong? Could they beat a samurai like me?" Uchiha Zhuang asked softly. Hatano Yu looked Uchiha Zhuang up and down before replying, "Naturally. It would be easy for them, Samurai. In narrow alleys and inside houses, a dozen samurai like you couldn't defeat even one Iga School shinobi of the same rank."
"I see." "That's right." "I wonder if I could borrow something from you, Mr. Hatano Yu." "Take whatever you want, Samurai." "I'd like to borrow your head." As he spoke, a kunai appeared in Uchiha Zhuang's hand, and he lunged in to stab the old man. Hatano Yu was indeed an old fox from Tanba; he kept his cool in a crisis. He swiftly pulled a pair of jade ornaments from his robes and held them over his head. Uchiha Zhuang stopped at once, then lowered the kunai and looked at Hatano Yu. "What, do you still think money can save your life?" Hatano Yu chuckled. "I don't know if money can save my life, but I'm a veteran retainer of the Iga School's head and the former head of the old Hatano clan in the Iga region. If you kill me, you'll face endless pursuit." "Old man, you're quite something. To live to such an age and retire in peace in the cramped Iga region, where so many clans are packed together, you're clearly no ordinary man."
Uchiha Zhuang smiled faintly, put away his kunai, and took the jade ornaments. He examined them closely. They were a pair of lifelike jade qilin, the sort of treasure that was impossible to put down once you laid eyes on it. A flicker of pain crossed Hatano Yu's face. "I happened upon these treasures years ago in a shipwreck in the Land of Waves. I'll give them to you as an apology. I hope you're satisfied." "Honestly, they look like toys for children from a night market stall. How could something like this buy the life of the esteemed head of the Hatano clan? He's a good friend and partner of mine!" "Then what do you want?" the old man asked impatiently. "Don't get me wrong, old man. I mean you'll have to pay more!" Uchiha Zhuang said with a roguish grin. He rummaged through Hatano Yu's clothes with both hands until he finally found the record for the secret account. Then he asked, "This is a black-market account, right? Anonymous, too?" "You know that already, so why ask?" Hatano Yu replied impatiently.
His expression turning serious, Uchiha Zhuang said sternly, "You framed me, nearly took all my possessions, and even tried to sneak around asking where I was so you could kill me, old man. You've got a real nasty streak. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, but I still have to make my position clear. I'll take your life and spare your belongings, but Daikokuya tried to eliminate a nobody like me. That grudge can't be erased with these few things. Tonight, Daikokuya will be reduced to ruins."
The old man stared with his mouth agape in terror. He wanted to say something, but no sound came out. With a Body Flicker Technique, Uchiha Zhuang reached the highest point of Daikokuya. He slowly activated his Sharingan, surveyed the courtyard, then used every last bit of his chakra to perform the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique! A supermassive fireball, over fifteen meters in diameter, slowly formed, then descended. The impact shook the courtyard and sent a powerful gust of air blasting bricks, tiles, doors, and windows into the air. The courtyard's fish pond evaporated in an instant. Then came an explosion, and all of Daikokuya shuddered with a thunderous rumble. Everyone inside woke up, thinking there had been an earthquake, and ran out toward the street. Within moments, all of Daikokuya was engulfed in a sea of flames. The largest and most luxurious building in town had been burned to the ground. Hatano Yu sat slumped on the floor, on the verge of tears, while the other workers stared dumbly as the fire consumed the Daikokuya they had once known.
As Uchiha Zhuang raced farther away, he looked back at the flames that lit up more than half the dark sky and smiled. I hope they've got firebreaks along the streets. The "Shinobi World arsonist" disappeared into the streets and vanished into the darkness.
Before you continue