Victory

"Blocked everything? Impossible, this is impossible!"

Shabadaba stared at the scene, dumbfounded, his face etched with disbelief.

Biting a shuriken in his mouth, he slashed his hands again, instantly opening a wound.

Blood, I need blood.

The blood of the soldiers who had fallen outside the royal palace flowed inward.

Streams of blood, like rivers, were absorbed into his body.

Watching the blood pool grow, Shabadaba let out a sinister laugh.

"Heaven truly helps me; it is only because of the many fallen soldiers outside that I can gather so much blood."

The power of blood could double the combat strength of the Ketsuryūgan, activating his Kekkei Genkai.

"Blood Dragon!"

Three blood dragons soared into the air, letting out thunderous roars.

Uzumaki Shori pulled out a single shuriken, infused it with wind chakra, and it instantly transformed into a short blade as he performed a one-handed seal.

"Body Flicker Technique!"

Utilizing the technique to achieve high-speed movement, he leaped through the air several times, appeared before Shabadaba, slashed downward with his wind-natured chakra blade, and backflipped to his original position.

Shabadaba stood frozen in place as blood sprayed from his chest.

His legs went weak, and he collapsed directly onto the ground.

"Lost, I've already lost. To hell with the Ketsuryūgan, to hell with the Land of Lightning."

"I choose to surrender, don't kill me."

Shabadaba, sprawled on the ground, wept as he begged for mercy.

However, as Shabadaba spoke, the Ketsuryūgan in his hands activated automatically without his control.

Chakra vibrated.

Uzumaki Shori sensed the abnormality; the opponent's chakra was clearly highly active, so he grabbed Yuanyue, who was lying on the ground.

"Get out of the royal hall quickly, something is wrong."

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion erupted from within the royal hall.

Uzumaki Shori, carrying Yuanyue, stood outside the royal palace watching the sparks and flames fly.

Facing the blood-based Kekkei Genkai of Shabadaba's Ketsuryūgan, the palace could not withstand the blood explosion.

A hole was blown directly through the roof of the royal palace.

The royal palace in the capital of the Land of the Moon was engulfed in a raging inferno.

Yuanyue looked at the palace his ancestors had spent generations building, his bean-sized eyes widening in shock.

The residents of the Land of the Moon hid in their homes, looking out from their windows at the thick smoke billowing above the palace.

"The Land of the Moon, our Land of the Moon, it seems it has been conquered."

The residents prayed silently in their homes, hoping for their own safety.

Uzumaki Shori approached the King of the Land of the Moon, Yuanyue, and stared at him.

"Yuanyue, do you see this palace? Explain clearly what is going on between you and the Land of Lightning."

Yuanyue was so terrified that tears streamed down his face again as he cried and spoke.

"It has nothing to do with me! Tsukikage from Tsukigakure came to the capital and lobbied that this was backed by the Land of Lightning, and that the Land of Whirlpools would not dare to resist."

"Even if you did resist, it would play right into their hands. You are allied with Konoha, and the Land of Lightning does not want to sour relations with Konoha, so they needed a pretext to send troops."

"Once you attacked, we in the Land of the Moon would send out a distress call, and the Land of Lightning would send ninjas from Kumogakure to 'help' us."

"By then, you would have fallen right into the Land of Lightning's trap."

Uzumaki Sasuke, furious, stepped forward and kicked him.

Yuanyue rolled twice before scrambling to speak.

"Yes, that's it! You can take me out of here, just don't kill me. I'm still useful; I will trade the wealth of the Land of the Moon with you all."

"The accumulations of generations of the Land of the Moon are collected beneath the palace; treat my previous words as nothing."

Uzumaki Shori called Uzumaki Jiro over and said.

"Arrange for your subordinates to put out the fire and go inside to search for the treasures of the Land of the Moon."

He turned to Yuanyue and said, "I will give you one chance to atone. Now I ask you: in the war between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of the Moon, do you admit defeat?"

Yuanyue hurriedly fawned, "Yes, Lord Uzukage! How would this lowly one dare to lie to you? We lost, we lost, the Land of the Moon has been utterly defeated."

Hearing the words he wanted, Uzumaki Shori nodded in satisfaction.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for defeating the Land of the Moon and eliminating the Land of Whirlpools' trivial crisis. Reward: Puppetry +1."

Uzumaki Shori was stunned. A trivial crisis? It seemed the system's opinion of the Land of the Moon was truly blunt.

But then again, launching this offensive hadn't resulted in a single casualty; it appeared the system's judgment was spot on.

The knowledge of Puppetry was transmitted directly into his mind.

As the system's data transfer concluded, his head began to feel a bit dizzy as he organized the influx of new information.

This upgrade to Puppetry included not only standard ninja puppetry but also a vast amount of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and materials science.

The volume of knowledge was far greater than any of the previous times.

Uzumaki Shori looked up at the sky; the sun was gradually setting.

"Everyone, set up camp in the palace square. We will rest here in the capital of the Land of the Moon tonight."

The crowd cheered, especially the daimyo's troops.

Those men lacked chakra, yet they had maintained a high-speed pace throughout the entire day.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief; they truly hadn't expected that conquering the Land of the Moon would take only a single day.

They brought out their tents and began to set them up.

"Everyone, tidy up your gear. Chefs, bring out the grills; we're having barbecue tonight."

Uzumaki Shori looked at Yuanyue and continued, "King of the Land of the Moon, come over and have a bite. We need to discuss the follow-up matters."

Yuanyue walked over obediently, sitting on a small stool that barely covered a third of his backside, listening with rapt attention.

Uzumaki Shori took a skewer of meat and handed it over, then picked up one for himself and began to eat.

Yuanyue accepted it with both hands, saying as he did so, "Lord Uzukage, please rest. This humble one can handle the chores."

Uzumaki Shori ate his skewer and said, "Rest assured, I will not destroy the Land of the Moon."

The Land of the Moon served as a buffer zone between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Lightning.

Without a sufficient population to support a powerful army, if the two sides were to clash at the border, the Land of Whirlpools—being the smaller nation—would inevitably suffer.

Upon hearing this, a smile immediately appeared on Yuanyue's chubby, round face.

"Many thanks for your generosity, Lord Uzukage. Please, name your conditions."

"The forest on the border between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of the Moon shall be ceded to us. Furthermore, the Land of Whirlpools' goods shall be exempt from all taxes."

"The treasures beneath the palace of the Land of the Moon shall naturally be handed over to the Land of Whirlpools for processing."

"If you agree, draw up the documents in duplicate for safekeeping."

Uzumaki Shori said unhurriedly.

Hearing these conditions, sweat began to pour down Yuanyue's face.

"Lord Uzukage, I agree to all your conditions, as long as you can guarantee my position as King."

"You are still thinking about guaranteeing your position as King?"

Uzumaki Shori looked at the people in the palace and spotted a child who looked remarkably like Yuanyue. He waved him over.

Seeing this, Yuanyue immediately said in a panic, "Lord Uzukage, I will agree to any condition you set, just please don't hurt my son."

"What is your son's name?"

Uzumaki Shori patted the boy's head and ruffled his hair vigorously.

"My son's name is Manyue, Lord Uzukage."

"You can no longer sit on the throne. Hand it over to your son, Manyue."

Uzumaki Shori waved his hand, signaling King Yuanyue to leave.

Yuanyue was genuinely happy this time, and he also ruffled his son's hair vigorously.

"Son, from now on, you are the King, do you understand?"

Manyue was filled with confusion, wondering how he had suddenly become the King.

Uzumaki Ashina stepped out from the camp, stroking the Weasel Tank.

In his eyes, mechanized forces would be the hope for the rise of the Land of Whirlpools.