Nara Shikaku's Arrival and the Silent Reckoning

Inside the council hall, the silence was so deep that the sound of dust settling could be heard.

Hyuga Hiashi had already departed, but his emotionless white eyes seemed to remain branded in the air, silently scrutinizing every struggling soul within the hall.

The blood-written decree beneath the Throne had already begun to blacken, coagulating into an ugly scar that stabbed at everyone's eyes. It was not merely Hojo Tokugawa's death sentence—it was also the epitaph for the old aristocratic system of the Land of Fire.

The daimyo sat limply on the floor, staring blankly at the blood-written decree, his aged face gray and numb. He had been completely drained. Even the last shred of what could be called "dignity" had flowed away with that blood-red edict.

His financial power, his authority over appointments... Every foundation he possessed as ruler of a nation had been uprooted in a single hour by the Fifth Hokage, far away in Konoha, in the most brutal and direct manner possible.

Watanabe Jun sat stiffly in his seat, his body cold. He had thought that being the first to stand up and expose Tokugawa at the Elders' meeting had been a wise act of submission, a pledge that would earn him a place in the new order. But Hyuga Hiashi's final words had sent him plunging into an icy abyss.

"Conduct a comprehensive audit of every asset under the Daimyo Residence and the names of all the Elders..."

"Prepare every ledger, deed, and treasury key..."

How was this merely a reckoning of criminal ministers? This was clearly an indiscriminate annexation! These so-called "clever people," just like the foolish Hojo Tokugawa, were nothing more than fat sheep raised for slaughter. The only difference was the order in which they would be butchered.

Fear, like cold venom,