Blood Writing Beneath the Throne and the First Iron Edict of the New Order

The Council Chamber was deathly silent.

The air was thick with the sickly-sweet stench of dust, rotting wood, and fear, so dense it seemed almost solid.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire sat high upon the Throne, yet at that moment he looked pitifully small. His luxurious court robes, embroidered with an elaborate crest in gold thread, hung loosely from his emaciated body. Rather than lending him dignity, they looked like an ill-fitting stage costume.

His gaze fell blankly to the floor below.

There, Hojo Tokugawa—the chief Elder who had once wielded immense power at court and controlled the dark side of the Land of Fire—lay sprawled on the cold floor like a puddle of mud. Murky drool dribbled from the corner of his mouth, while unconscious wheezing sounds escaped his throat.

And at the doorway, the white-clad ninja standing against the light was like an emotionless god of judgment, nailing shut every possible escape route.

Hyuga Hiashi.

He did not need to speak or move. Simply standing there, his pure-white eyes, devoid of the slightest trace of human emotion, was enough to send bone-deep chill into the marrow of everyone present.

What he represented was Konoha, and the newly appointed Fifth Hokage who had cleansed all of Kyoto through Thunderous Methods.

Hyuga Hiashi's final words hung over everyone's head like the sharpest icicle, echoing again and again: "How you deal with this chief culprit will be your... final value to the Land of Fire."

This was not a question.

It was an examination.

An examination that would determine whether this empty shell called the Daimyo Residence would still be permitted to exist.

The daimyo's cracked lips moved several times, but he could not utter a single word. He could feel the gazes of the few Elders remaining behind