That night, not long after a battle had ended, the new Crown Prince was still celebrating his victory inside the Daimyo Palace.
At the Guard Corps outpost by the capital gates, Uchiha Feng had arrived to begin assembling his forces.
There were not many people: four Guard Corps units led by three captains, totaling just over two hundred men.
"Hidemasa, Keiichi, Kengo, each of you pick ten trusted men and come with me.
"Arrange for everyone else to guard the four city gates. Seal them completely tonight. No one is allowed to leave the capital."
Feng got straight to the point and began issuing orders as soon as he saw the three men.
"Yes, my lord! X3"
Sada Hidemasa, Shibata Keiichi, and Furukawa Kengo immediately acknowledged the order and set to work.
The three first turned around to arrange the gate defenses, then swiftly returned to Feng's side.
"My lord, the city gates have been assigned guards. Next, we..."
Sada Hidemasa spoke softly, his voice carrying a faint tremble.
Unlike Shibata Keiichi and Furukawa Kengo, who merely followed orders and rarely thought too deeply, he was different.
Though Hidemasa was a burly samurai, his mind was exceptionally sharp and quick.
Thus, while arranging the guards at the gates, he had already formed some guesses about the actions of his lord, Uchiha Feng.
However, the Ninja World had always been shaped by loyalty to one's lord, and there had never been a precedent of making a move against a daimyo.
Hidemasa had guessed a little, but the thought was too treasonous for him to dwell on.
"Enough. Don't say anything. Follow me."
Feng looked at the perceptive Hidemasa with new appreciation, but did not answer. He simply gave the order to move.
Only one last step remained before he could control Tea Country. He had no intention of celebrating before the match was over.
What he needed now was speed. He had to head to the Daimyo Palace and deal with every remaining problem.
Under the cover of night, Feng led his men straight to the Daimyo Palace.
Upon arriving, he first had Shibata Keiichi and Furukawa Kengo lead their men in sealing off the entrance. Once again, no one was permitted to enter or leave.
At the same time, he summoned back Uchiha Mikio, who had been guarding the daimyo.
Tonight's operation would encounter considerable resistance. Feng needed Mikio's formidable strength as insurance, lest delays lead to unforeseen complications.
As soon as Uchiha Mikio arrived, Feng immediately led him, Sada Hidemasa, and the others toward the samurai guards' resting quarters within the Imperial Residence.
"All members of the Samurai Corps! By order of the Crown Prince, everyone is to proceed outside the Imperial Residence and guard the main entrance."
Upon reaching the samurai resting area, Feng issued the command as captain of the samurai guard unit.
"Uh, Captain, this late at night..."
"Did those ministers gather more men somewhere again?"
The samurai gathered while discussing it among themselves.
There was not a single person who disobeyed.
When Feng had first taken command of the Samurai Corps, he had used the deaths of several samurai to teach them what it meant for orders to be obeyed without question.
Coupled with his status as captain of the Samurai Corps and the daimyo's son-in-law, no one doubted whether Feng's orders had received the daimyo's approval.
"Now, go to the Imperial Residence gate and relieve the Guard Corps. Hold the entrance.
"But you, you, and you, come with me."
Feng led the group back to the main gate of the Imperial Residence and had the samurai replace Shibata Keiichi and Furukawa Kengo in guarding the entrance.
At the same time, he singled out several squad leaders of considerable renown within the Samurai Corps.
What he was about to do was exceedingly treasonous and would very likely stir the loyalist instincts of some people, causing them to oppose him.
So Feng intended to take away those most likely to lead such opposition and find a way to tie them to his own chariot.
That way, even if anyone truly opposed him later, they would only be a tiny minority and easy to suppress.
After selecting his men, Feng hurried toward the new Crown Prince's residence.
On the way, he quietly instructed Uchiha Mikio:
"Senior Mikio, the moment we see that foolish Crown Prince, control him.
"Have him issue us an order to follow him and slaughter every one of the daimyo's sons."
Before his words had even faded, killing intent seemed to solidify into substance, slicing through the air.
Uchiha Mikio nodded slightly at the words without saying anything more.
At the new Crown Prince's residence in the Daimyo Palace, Feng and his group stood outside his room as though awaiting orders.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince, we have come to await your instructions," Feng called out loudly.
"??" Inside, the Crown Prince, who had not yet gone to sleep, was utterly confused. When did I give an order? What order did I give? But if I didn't give one, what is happening outside?
Thinking this, the puzzled Crown Prince walked outside, intending to see what was going on.
Yet he had only glanced at the group and had not even had time to speak when Uchiha Mikio, whose entire body was concealed beneath a long robe behind Feng, flashed red light from his eyes. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated instantly, placing the Crown Prince under control.
Then, after standing dazed for several seconds, the Crown Prince slowly spoke once he was fully controlled by the genjutsu.
"Mm. Follow me." With that, he walked to the front of Feng's group and led them through the Imperial Residence.
Feng followed without a word. The others had all been brought by Feng, and seeing him follow the Crown Prince, they naturally followed as well.
Before long, they arrived at the Second Prince's residence.
"Break down the door. Bring out the second son and his entire family."
The controlled Crown Prince spoke calmly.
"Hmm!!??"
Other than Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Mikio, everyone else was stunned and unable to believe what they had heard.
There was one exception: Sada Hidemasa.
His extraordinarily sharp mind connected the pieces, and he could not help blurting out, "Heav..."
But he immediately covered his mouth.
Disbelief filled his eyes at first, followed by terror and utter incomprehension.
But in the end, it became excitement and burning fervor.
Before, he had merely guessed that his lord intended to do something unimaginable.
But after witnessing everything they had done along the way and truly understanding it, he realized that the great undertaking his lord intended was far larger than he had imagined.
In his original estimation, it would have been nothing more than his lord taking control of all the capital's troops, imprisoning the daimyo's family within the Imperial Residence, and becoming Tea Country's powerful minister.
Many people had done such things throughout history. To the natives of the Ninja World, this was already the most lawless act they could imagine.
There had once been rebels in the Ninja World who overthrew daimyo rule, but those rebels were either descendants of the daimyo or descendants of the daimyo's ancestors.
Yet there had never been a rebel without daimyo blood who became a daimyo. Never.
And now, from his lord's actions, Sada Hidemasa realized that his lord seemed intent on becoming the first person ever to do so.
The reason he could only say it seemed so, rather than be completely certain, was because the daimyo still had one close blood relative who was not in this Imperial Residence.
That person was his lord's wife, Lady Aiko. If all of the current daimyo's descendants were gone, Lady Aiko would also be qualified to inherit the daimyo's position.
What Sada Hidemasa could not determine was how his lord would deal with his own wife next.
However, no matter how she was dealt with, it would not affect his lord becoming the actual ruler of Tea Country.
After all, given Lady Aiko's personality, even if she inherited the daimyo's position, she would most likely only become a puppet obedient to every word of her husband.
And upon careful reflection, one would discover that his lord appeared to have been making arrangements since the very first time he appeared.
It was precisely because Sada Hidemasa had figured all this out that he found it unimaginable.
Yet it was also because of this that his expression became excited and fervent.
As a commoner of ordinary family background and average cultivation talent,
Sada Hidemasa, who had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, had always known exactly what he wanted and how to obtain it.
Thus, he had trained diligently from a young age and climbed with all his strength to the peak an ordinary person could reach: becoming the daimyo's guard.
Then, according to his plan, he would use his intelligence to earn the daimyo's appreciation and render meritorious service for him.
After that, he would receive land and titles as a reward from the daimyo, cross the class divide, and become a noble.
This was the normal path for commoners in the Ninja World to rise through the ranks, and it was the direction Sada Hidemasa had planned to work toward.
Yet before his plan could succeed, his new lord, whom he had helplessly joined because of the daimyo's order, had shown him an unprecedented way to understand that crossing the class divide did not need to be so troublesome.
As long as one had strength, one could take whatever one wanted from the daimyo with one's own hands.
Of course, Sada Hidemasa had a clear understanding of himself. In terms of intelligence, he was confident he was inferior to no one.
But in terms of strength, the ninjas who regularly came to Tea Country for missions had long taught him to face reality.
If he could attain strength comparable to a Chunin in this lifetime, that alone would be an extraordinary blessing. Anything stronger was beyond what he dared to hope for.
Thus, he also understood that even if he now knew this truth, he lacked the strength to realize it himself.
But his current lord could!
Moreover, the method his lord was using had never been seen before. No one had ever thought of it.
Therefore, before this method was fully exposed to the world, no one would trouble his lord, who would become either the daimyo or the daimyo's husband.
So before it was exposed, his lord could use the same method to control other countries as well, eventually becoming a ruler comparable to the Five Great Nations—or even surpassing them.
When that time came, as the first person to pledge loyalty to his lord, Sada Hidemasa's status would become unimaginable.
How could such a future not leave Sada Hidemasa excited, his heart burning hot?
Thus, while everyone else was still frozen by the Crown Prince's order, Sada Hidemasa took the lead and charged into the Second Prince's residence with his men.
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