To Take Control of the Tea Country, Raise Hell!

Some time later, in the council hall of the Daimyo Palace in the Tea Country's capital, an attendant was reading out the Daimyo's latest commendation for Feng.

"Captain of the samurai, Sekito, guardian of the capital, has diligently fulfilled his duties, rendered repeated meritorious service, and demonstrated commendable loyalty.

I have therefore decided to betroth my third daughter, Aiko Hamuro, to Sekito, granting them an engagement to forge an enduring bond.

The wedding date..."

The order had come abruptly, but it drew no attention.

It was perfectly normal for the Daimyo to marry one of his daughters to a subordinate as a means of winning hearts.

In the eyes of others, if the Daimyo's eldest and second daughters had not already been married off, such a good match with Feng, the guardian minister currently in the limelight, would not have fallen to the unfavored Princess Aiko.

After all, Princess Aiko, Lord Daimyo's third daughter, had been born after the Daimyo drunkenly slept with a maid. Unloved by the Daimyo from childhood, her status within the Daimyo's household was little different from that of a maid. She had received virtually no education in etiquette, culture, or anything else, leaving her ignorant of etiquette, dull-witted, and uncouth.

What others did not know, however, was that Feng had found someone like Aiko Hamuro first, which was why the already-controlled Daimyo had arranged this marriage. It was not an ordinary case of the Daimyo trying to win over a subordinate by marrying off his daughter.

Precisely because Aiko Hamuro was unfavored, lowly in status, and poorly educated, her outlook on life was naturally much the same as that of the maids around her. Before others, she did not dare act willfully or throw tantrums. She only obediently accepted whatever came her way.

This made her the easiest person in the entire Daimyo family to control.

And in the ninja world, there were quite a few precedents of princesses inheriting the Daimyo's position. Therefore, should something happen to the Daimyo and his other heirs, Aiko Hamuro, as the Daimyo's third daughter, could rightfully become the Daimyo of the Tea Country.

Now that Aiko Hamuro had been betrothed to Feng, while Feng controlled the Daimyo and had even seized control of the capital, it was not hard to imagine whether the Daimyo and his other heirs would meet with mishaps, or what would happen once Feng came to the Tea Country.

Setting aside the marriage arrangement that no one cared about, the Daimyo immediately issued another order that struck the ministers dumbfounded like a depth charge, all except Feng, who had planted it.

"During his tenure as heir, the Crown Prince has failed to cultivate virtue, and has been harsh and ungrateful. His position as heir is hereby revoked, and he is demoted to a common son.

My fifth son is utterly pure and filial, blessed with intelligence and talent. He is hereby established as the heir."

The moment the decree was read aloud, every minister began offering remonstrance.

The deposed Crown Prince was the Daimyo's eldest legitimate son and had served as heir apparent for over a decade. Everyone knew exactly what kind of person he was.

He was indeed somewhat lacking in virtue, frequently indulging in women and squandering money on pleasure, but nearly every Daimyo in the Tea Country's history had been like that.

As for being harsh and ungrateful, that was complete nonsense. Whenever the Crown Prince spent lavishly, which of his subordinates had not made a small fortune?

And the Daimyo's fifth son, utterly pure and filial? Was stealing the Daimyo's maid home, playing her to death, and then tossing her body back also filial piety?

Blessed with intelligence and talent? Heh. If always finding ways to steal the Daimyo's money to spend on drinking, whoring, gambling, and debauchery counted as intelligence, why had the Daimyo broken five canes on him before?

Of course, none of that was the most important part. The most important thing was that the Crown Prince had been heir apparent for over a decade, and throughout that time, the Daimyo, the Crown Prince, and the ministers had all gotten along harmoniously and maintained a very stable balance.

Thus, all the ministers had long assumed that the Crown Prince would inevitably inherit the position of Daimyo.

As a result, the ministers had all made friends with the Crown Prince early on and joined his camp. They had spent heavily to cater to his every preference.

Now, the Daimyo had suddenly stripped the Crown Prince of his position as heir apparent. Did that not mean all of the ministers' previous investments had gone down the drain?

How could the ministers accept such a massive sunk cost? They had to remonstrate. They had to make the Daimyo withdraw this order.

While the ministers argued themselves into chaos, Uchiha Feng stood silently with a faint smile at the corner of his lips, watching it all unfold.

When others tried to pull him into the remonstrance, he excused himself by saying that his lord had just bestowed a marriage upon him, and that opposing his lord immediately afterward would be a grave act of disrespect. Then he quietly stepped back a few more paces.

Everything before him had been planned by his own hand. Before things reached the point he wanted, how could he possibly involve himself?

Over the past two months, he had thoroughly investigated the situation of the Daimyo's family.

Naturally, he knew exactly what the Daimyo's sons were like.

It could be said that the former Crown Prince was not a good man, but he was indeed a qualified heir to the Daimyo. The fifth son, on the other hand, was nothing but a human-shaped beast, much less someone fit to be made heir apparent.

But precisely because of that, Feng had controlled the Daimyo and ordered their positions switched.

This way, one human-shaped beast had become the new Crown Prince with the Daimyo backing him;

while the other had spent half his life as Crown Prince, committed no wrongdoing, and become deeply entangled with every minister, only to be suddenly deposed.

Then, with Uchiha Feng secretly controlling the Daimyo while openly standing with the ministers, yet constantly stirring up trouble for both sides in secret... Heh heh, it would be strange if the two sides did not fight until their brains spilled out.

After the council hall had remained noisy for a long time, the Daimyo suddenly rose to his feet and shouted angrily:

"What is the meaning of this clamor? All of you, shut up.

I have made up my mind regarding the heir apparent. My fifth son will become Crown Prince, and this cannot be changed.

Anyone dissatisfied will be deemed guilty of grave disrespect, stripped of office, and expelled from the capital.

Guardian Sekito, you will supervise the execution."

With that, the Daimyo turned and left without looking back, leaving behind the silenced ministers.

Feng, meanwhile, gave the ministers a helpless expression before turning and leaving as well.

However, not long after he departed, his three subordinates, Sada Hidemasa, Shibata Keiichi, and Furukawa Kengo, were already waiting for him at his residence.

"Congratulations, my lord, on your union with Her Highness the princess."

The three first congratulated Feng in unison. Then Hidemasa continued.

"My lord, what do you think about the matter of the two Crown Princes?"

During his time as captain of the samurai at the Daimyo Palace, he had also established ties with the former Crown Prince early on. Yet now, because of the Daimyo's sudden change, all of that had gone down the drain.

"I have my own arrangements for this matter. The three of you are not to get involved. Just focus on carrying out the tasks I assign."

Feng spoke calmly. He had already made plans for this matter, but what it involved was not something he could tell others.

At present, only he and Uchiha Mikio, whom he had revived through Impure World Reincarnation, knew of it.

As for everyone else, plans succeeded through secrecy and failed through leaks. Every additional person who knew meant another risk of exposure. Feng would not do something so foolish.

"Yes, my lord! X3" Hidemasa and the other two answered in unison.

Since they had already pledged loyalty to Feng, they naturally followed his commands. As for those who did not obey, the samurai who had disappeared from the Daimyo Palace in recent days, as well as the samurai corpses in the mass grave outside the capital that had yet to fully rot, were the answer.

"Mm. You may leave. Remember, aside from your regular work with the guard units, do not concern yourselves with anything else.

Your proper task is to diligently gather information for me on the tailed beasts of Kirigakure and Takigakure, as well as the Mask Hall in the Land of Whirlpools."

Feng dismissed them, but before they left, he still gave them a serious reminder.