Successfully Controlling the Tea Country Daimyo

Late at night, while ordinary people slept, Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Mikio resumed their stealthy advance through the daimyo's residence.

The closer they got to the daimyo's quarters, the tighter the security became. With Uchiha Feng's clumsy, newly learned stealth techniques, he could no longer get close to the daimyo.

He could only stop and leave the rest to Uchiha Mikio.

With his years of experience as a jonin before his death, infiltrating the side of a minor country's daimyo—one without even ninja guards—was simple. So easy.

After quite a while, Uchiha Mikio returned to Feng's side and made an "OK" gesture.

Feng instantly understood. He had successfully used genjutsu to control the Tea Country daimyo, and the two of them could withdraw from the daimyo's residence.

All that remained was to wait for dawn, when the daimyo would summon him, grant Feng noble status, appoint him commander of the guards, and let him gradually take control of the entire Tea Country.

As for Uchiha Mikio, after Feng received his appointment, he would continue lurking beside the Tea Country daimyo to ensure that the daimyo did not accidentally break free of his control.

It just so happened that he was now an Impure World Reincarnation. He did not need to eat, drink, or relieve himself, and his senses of pain and touch were weak. He would be nearly impossible to detect while lurking.

As soon as dawn broke the next day, Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Mikio, who had been waiting outside the daimyo's residence since early morning, entered the residence under the guidance of an attendant to meet the daimyo.

"I have heard that an extraordinary individual named Sekito has recently arrived in our country.

I hereby appoint Sekito as captain of the samurai and protector of the capital.

He shall receive a stipend of eight hundred koku and be granted an estate."

Inside the council hall, after Feng and Uchiha Mikio bowed upon meeting the daimyo, the attendant beside him read out Feng's appointment.

At first, Feng had wanted to become the Tea Country's shogun outright—the highest military authority.

But after thinking it over, that would have been too conspicuous. The Land of Fire was right next door, and Konoha's ninjas could arrive here in two or three days.

To avoid exposing himself, Feng carefully considered it before choosing the posts of captain of the samurai and protector of the capital.

The captain of the samurai was not a high-ranking position, but he commanded every samurai in the daimyo's residence. Controlling them was equivalent to controlling the daimyo.

The protector of the capital was no minor office. He was the highest commander of the capital's forces, and controlling them was equivalent to controlling the Tea Country's capital.

Compared to the Tea Country's other high officials, the protector of the capital ranked no higher than fifth in military authority, so it would not draw too much attention.

Once he secured these two positions and turned everyone under his command into his own people, his nominal authority might not be great, but in practice, it would be almost the same as Feng controlling the entire Tea Country.

From then on, even if the daimyo somehow broke free of Uchiha Mikio's genjutsu, he would be unable to do anything. He could only become a puppet on Feng's strings.

And this would not attract attention either.

After all, the Tea Country was neither situated among the great nations nor possessed anything particularly desirable. It was merely a minor country tucked away in some remote corner.

As long as no major unrest occurred within the country, no one in the ninja world would pay attention to it at all.

Furthermore, Uchiha Feng was not using his real name from this world. He was using the name from his previous life.

As for Uchiha Mikio, to avoid attracting attention, he had not even revealed his name. For now, he was Feng's guard.

Still, although Feng's appointment had not gone according to his original plan of directly becoming the Tea Country's top military authority, it immediately sparked dissatisfaction among the other ministers in the council hall.

This was especially true of several men dressed as samurai. They were the Tea Country's shogun and deputy shoguns, the nation's original military leaders.

A man of unknown origin like Feng had skipped past the stages of ordinary guard, squad captain, and unit commander. The moment he arrived, he became protector of the capital, taking charge of the entire Tea Country capital's security.

How could those who had originally been eyeing that position possibly accept it?

As for the captain of the samurai, that was the commander of the daimyo's personal guard. It was the daimyo's private affair rather than state business, so no one else had much to say about it.

Feng's solution to this was simple. He glanced at Uchiha Mikio beside him.

Uchiha Mikio immediately understood and charged at the few people shouting the loudest.

Moments later, the council hall fell completely silent. Everyone's faces were pale as death, their souls nearly scared out of their bodies.

Several generals and ministers already lay on the floor, each without the slightest breath left in them. Blood continuously poured from their bodies, staining the expensive carpet red.

With the Tea Country daimyo under Uchiha Mikio's control, he naturally had nothing to say about this.

Only after a long while, once everyone had calmed down somewhat, did the daimyo speak and break the deathly silence.

"Very well. Is there anyone else dissatisfied with my appointment of Sekito as protector?"

"..." Other than silence, there was only silence. No one in the council hall dared to speak.

After all, the colleagues who had dared to speak were already dead. Who among those left would dare say anything?

"Mm, since no one objects, then it is settled.

Is there anything else to discuss today? If not, then let us adjourn."

The daimyo spoke again and made the decision directly. Once he finished, he left the council hall and returned to his inner courtyard to choose a concubine for the night.

"Alright, next, inform the guard units in the capital and the samurai units in the daimyo's residence.

Tell everyone holding the rank of captain or above to report to my estate for a meeting. I want to get to know everyone.

Uh, you there. Where is the estate the daimyo just granted me? Take me there."

After the daimyo left, Feng spoke to the people in the council hall, who were scrambling to flee.

His words were full of threat and brooked no refusal.

As merely the protector of the capital, there were still shoguns and deputy shoguns above him. He had no right to make decisions with a single word.

Feng did not care about that, and neither did anyone else.

Feng did not care because he had refrained from becoming shogun only to avoid attracting Konoha's attention from nearby, not because he could not do so.

As for everyone else, they did not care because the Tea Country's shogun was already lying on the floor, and one of the two deputy shoguns was as well.

And as for the deputy shogun who had survived by sheer luck, did he dare say anything now?

Seeing everyone nod in agreement, Feng slowly left under the guidance of an attendant and headed for his new home.

By now, the plan to escape Konoha that he had envisioned while still in Konoha had been fully accomplished.

Next came his plans for the future.

As for whether he would lay low behind the scenes in the Tea Country and coast through life, or participate in the plot and do something, that would depend on how things developed for him in the Tea Country over the coming period.

If everything went as Feng had expected, and he could use genjutsu to control the daimyo and thereby control the entire Tea Country,

then he would find a way to contact his clansmen in Konoha and pull the Uchiha Clan out of Konoha's swamp-like mire.

After all, the Uchiha Clan still had dozens of living pairs of Three-Tomoe Sharingan. They were all genjutsu experts.

Rather than let them be toyed with by Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha higher-ups as they waited to die, he might as well pull them all out of Konoha, use them to control the daimyos of other countries, and directly become the hidden rulers behind every nation.

Then, in the daimyo's name, they could slowly destroy the other ninja villages and unify the ninja world. That was far simpler and safer than carving out unification with blades.

That way, the Uchiha would directly become the clan that ruled the entire ninja world. Wouldn't that be a hundred times better than struggling for ages over the position of village chief in tiny Konoha Village of the Land of Fire?!

Of course, if things did not go as Feng expected, and becoming the daimyo through genjutsu did not allow him to become the Tea Country's hidden ruler, then he planned to try out communist ideology.

But that was his ultimate trump card. Unless absolutely necessary, Uchiha Feng did not want to use it.

After all, once he used it, things would evolve into socialism. How would he become a dictator in the future—a lousy emperor who did nothing all day, had clothes put on him and food brought to his mouth, and could pick a concubine from his harem every night?