A moment later, angry curses rang out, followed by tearful cries for mercy.
The Daimyo's second son and his family were forced to kneel before everyone.
"Ugh... Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother, hurry... save me, save me."
His face swollen from being slapped, the second son seemed unable to see the situation clearly. Pressed to the ground by Sada Hidemasa, he wept and shouted for help from his fifth brother, the current Crown Prince.
But the Crown Prince, already under control, naturally did not answer him. Instead, he acted at once.
With a wet stab, the blade in the Crown Prince's hand plunged into the second son's heart.
Then, still under control, he turned to look at the second son's family—his sister-in-law, nephews, and the rest—and said coldly:
"All of you, do it. Kill every one of them.
Anyone who refuses will be my enemy. And when it comes to enemies, I will kill without mercy!"
After saying that, he swept his murderous gaze across the crowd as though memorizing every person present.
Uchiha Feng naturally did not care. The Crown Prince only wanted to kill all of the Daimyo's descendants because Feng was controlling him.
So Feng gave no one else time to react. He immediately put on a show for the others, drawing the long sword at his waist as he spoke.
"Your Highness, you are the heir personally appointed by the Daimyo. With the Daimyo absent, we naturally must obey your orders."
Before he had finished speaking, he had already cut down one of the second son's concubines.
Uchiha Mikio, whom Feng had summoned through Impure World Reincarnation, and Sada Hidemasa, who had figured out what was going on and taken the lead in arresting people, naturally did not lag behind.
They swiftly killed the second son's wife and children as well.
The four who had acted then looked toward those who had yet to move. They did not urge them aloud, but the inexplicable coldness in their eyes made no one dare meet their gaze.
These people were all key members of the Samurai Corps and Guard Corps. Feng had repeatedly maneuvered things to gather them all here.
The result was that they had now been placed over a fire. Either they followed Feng and the others, raised their blades against the Daimyo's descendants and relatives, and offered up proof of loyalty, leaving everyone with leverage over one another and standing in the same camp.
Or, if anyone kept their hands clean and refused to stand with Feng, then Feng could not allow them to remain alive.
Silence filled the surroundings. Clearly, Feng had underestimated the status of the Daimyo's bloodline in the Ninja World.
At this moment, the others felt as though towering waves were crashing through their hearts. They were utterly shocked.
Kill the Daimyo's descendants and family!
That was the Daimyo!
For thousands of years, they had held an incomparably noble status, called irreplaceable descendants of the gods!
Kill the descendants and family of people like that!?
Forget doing it—before now, they had not even dared think about it.
Yet now they were suddenly expected to do it immediately. Their minds could not keep up.
The loyalty to their lord ingrained over thousands of years, or the safety of their own lives—what mattered more? Which should they choose?!
Fortunately, although Feng did not understand their struggle, he was in no hurry and had plenty of time. So he did not press them, merely waiting quietly and giving them time to think.
However, after half an hour had passed without anyone acting or speaking.
Feng finally lost his patience. He looked at the other two subordinates who had sworn loyalty to him and spoke in an icy tone.
"Keiichi, Kengo, why don't you two set an example for your colleagues?"
Shibata Keiichi and Furukawa Kengo immediately became the focus of everyone's attention.
Already terribly nervous and still somewhat muddled, the two only gradually came back to their senses after Feng called out to them.
But when they saw everyone's eyes fixed on them, they froze again.
Feng had no intention of letting them continue standing there in a daze. He dragged over the second son's last remaining concubine and child and threw them at the two men.
The impact jolted them, clearing their minds a little further.
Then they looked at the crying woman and child sprawled at their feet, then at their lord who had thrown them over, and then at the murderous-looking Crown Prince.
The two exchanged a glance and gave bitter smiles. They might not have been clever, but they were not fools.
At this moment, if they did not act, both their lord and the Crown Prince would absolutely kill them.
If they acted, all that would be shattered were certain beliefs they had clung to for years.
Clearly, compared to their lives hanging by a thread, such ingrained beliefs were not worth mentioning.
So after their bitter smiles, the two men reluctantly drew their weapons and killed the people their lord had thrown beside them.
After acting, both men let out long breaths. At last, they no longer had to face the scrutiny of their lord and the Crown Prince.
At the same time, after breaking through the shackles of confusion and their ingrained beliefs, the two, like Sada Hidemasa, began to think of things they had never considered before.
However, neither of them was as clever as Sada Hidemasa, nor did they dare think as boldly as he did.
Thus, they only believed that their lord intended to imprison the Daimyo's family and become the all-powerful minister of Tea Country, one person below and ten thousand above, just like the lawless men of the Ninja World in the past.
Yes, even now, neither of them dared imagine that Feng might kill the Daimyo as well.
After Shibata Keiichi and Furukawa Kengo acted, the Daimyo's second son's entire family had been killed.
The Crown Prince spoke faintly:
"Next, we are going to Third Brother's residence.
I hope all of you know what to do. Otherwise..."
He left the sentence unfinished, turning and heading toward the Daimyo's third son's residence. But everyone understood what he meant.
Uchiha Feng and the others who had already acted naturally followed him.
As for those who had not acted, they looked at one another, unsure what to do.
In the end, some decided to side with the Crown Prince and hurried after Uchiha Feng's group.
Others remained behind. After some discussion, they unanimously decided to report the current situation to the Daimyo.
They knew very well that since they had not shown their loyalty to the Crown Prince, they would certainly suffer for it in the future.
If they wanted to avoid that fate, they could only seek out the Lord Daimyo.
After all, the Crown Prince was still only the Crown Prince and heir apparent. The ruler of this country was still the Lord Daimyo.
For now, there was no need to mention what happened to those who went to find the Daimyo.
At least, the group that caught up with Uchiha Feng was very obedient afterward.
Whether they faced the third son's family or the Daimyo's other descendants and relatives, every one of them personally swung a blade at least once.
As a result, Feng smiled happily. And since Feng was happy, Uchiha Mikio, who had been summoned through Impure World Reincarnation, the Crown Prince controlled by Mikio's genjutsu, and the three subordinates loyal to Feng naturally smiled as well.
Some of them did not know Feng's thoughts or plans, but they understood that if Feng could still smile happily under these circumstances, he must have gained some benefit or accomplished an important objective.
Since they were on Feng's side, even if they did not receive the first benefits, they would still gain something. At the very least, they would not suffer any losses.
Before long, everyone within the Daimyo Palace qualified to inherit the Daimyo's position, aside from the Crown Prince, had fallen into pools of blood.
Only then did Feng stop. He had the controlled Crown Prince turn around and lead everyone toward the Daimyo's residence.
Along the way, most of those who did not know the truth assumed that the Crown Prince was going to report back to the Lord Daimyo. They had no idea that an even greater spectacle awaited them.
Before you continue