Tea Country Was Already in the Bag

After making the arrangements, Feng ignored everyone else's situation and simply turned around, went home.

He had not rested, eaten, or drunk anything since the conflict between the old and new Crown Princes began during the day. He had been watching closely the entire time.

Everything had now gone as he had expected. Aside from the Lord Daimyo's three married daughters, all his other children had been eliminated.

Although all three daughters had the right to inherit the position of daimyo, two had married far away. Only one remained in Tea Country's capital, and that one was Feng's wife.

Furthermore, the Lord Daimyo himself was under Feng's control. Lately, he had been tirelessly choosing women from the inner residence every night and wearing himself out. He did not have many days left.

With all his intended goals achieved, Feng needed a proper rest. His body was only that of a genin, after all, and it could not endure much more.

Next, barring any accidents, the position of Tea Country's daimyo would soon be in Feng's grasp.

That night, Uchiha Feng slept peacefully.

Yet the unrest in the capital had not completely subsided. Many were worried and afraid, many were panicked and uneasy, and some took the chance to stir up trouble. Few could sleep peacefully.

As for Feng, he did not lazily get out of bed until the sun was high and he had slept his fill.

He then briskly took his wife, Aiko Hamuro, out and met up with Shibata Keiichi, Furukawa Kengo, and Sada Hidemasa, who had long been waiting outside Feng's residence.

The three men each led their subordinates and respectfully followed behind Feng and his wife as they headed grandly toward the Daimyo Palace.

Along the way, cries of "Greetings, Guardian-sama! Good day, Princess!" rose one after another.

Anyone who knew or recognized Feng and his wife respectfully greeted them.

Most of the unrest consequently vanished on its own. As for the small portion that did not, whenever Feng saw it, he had someone help those people sleep forever and cease causing trouble.

The reason for this was naturally Feng and his wife's current status and strength.

Last night, Guardian Sekito had helped the Crown Prince slaughter the other princes, yet he still retained the Lord Daimyo's trust. He continued to command the Guard Corps and Samurai Corps and remained deeply favored by the Lord Daimyo.

Feng's wife, Princess Aiko, was the only heir to the daimyo currently within the Daimyo Palace. She was also the most likely person to inherit the position.

Unlike the other two princesses, who were far away. By the time they returned, it would already be too late.

With the husband being the strongest and commanding the most people, while the wife was the most likely future daimyo, who would dare show them anything less than utmost respect?

By the time Feng finally arrived at the Daimyo Palace, the capital had become much more stable, but the palace itself was rather noisy.

Yesterday, during the daytime conflict between the old and new Crown Princes, there had been three sides: those who supported either side, and those who remained neutral.

At night, when the Crown Prince slaughtered the other princes, there had been another divide between those who obeyed his orders and those who did not.

Then there were those utterly loyal to the Lord Daimyo, as well as those who, after a night of investigation and thought, had thrown in their lot with Feng and his wife.

Seven factions, or perhaps even more, had gathered together under the Lord Daimyo's orders. Naturally, they were making a tremendous racket.

Yet Feng, despite being one of those factions, did not participate in the commotion within the palace. He had also ordered his subordinates not to take part.

As the planner, executor, and operator of everything, he had long arranged the outcome. There was no need to waste words here.

"The Lord Daimyo has arrived. Silence, everyone."

Not long after, following a loud announcement from an attendant, the Lord Daimyo—his face ashen and his eyes cloudy and lifeless—slowly took his seat of honor with the support of another attendant.

Clearly, Uchiha Mikio had done something to the Lord Daimyo last night. In merely one night, he had become like a completely different person.

Feng naturally stepped forward to stand before the Lord Daimyo, fulfilling his duties as captain of the samurai guard. Of course, those in the know understood the real situation.

As for Feng's wife, Third Princess Aiko Hamuro, Feng held her hand and brought her to stand between her father, the Lord Daimyo, and himself.

She kept her head lowered the entire way, pressing her lips together as one hand repeatedly twisted her clothes. She was completely lost in the current situation, while her other hand tightly clutched her husband's, seeking even a little reassurance.

After a while, once everyone had fallen silent, the Lord Daimyo calmly spoke.

"Because of the Crown Prince's frenzied actions, yesterday's tragedy occurred.

"The country has suffered grievous losses as a result, and its national strength has greatly declined.

"Moreover, I have recently been plagued by severe illness, and my health worsens by the day.

"I no longer have the strength to restore the country's fortunes, despite my wishes.

"Therefore, after a night of deliberation, and for Tea Country's future—

"I have decided to pass the position of daimyo to my third daughter, Tea Country's Third Princess, Aiko Hamuro.

"This order takes effect immediately. Any who refuse to obey shall be treated as traitors.

"Guardian Sekito, from now on, I entrust Aiko and the Tea Capital to you."

After speaking, the Lord Daimyo first looked at his daughter, Aiko Hamuro, before turning his gaze to the crowd.

Aiko Hamuro was still at a loss. She first raised her head to look at her daimyo father, but his expression was indifferent, offering no indication of anything.

Not knowing what to do, Aiko Hamuro turned to look at her husband, Uchiha Feng.

Feng gave her a reassuring smile, then nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Aiko Hamuro finally calmed down somewhat. She turned back to her father and softly said,

"I will obey Father's arrangements in all things."

The others merely exchanged a few brief remarks before tacitly accepting it.

Given Tea Country's current circumstances, everyone had expected Third Princess Aiko to ascend the position. It was also a relatively good choice for Tea Country at present.

Naturally, no one had much to say.

After all, there was something everyone cared about more: with the capital now fractured into numerous factions, how would the Lord Daimyo deal with them?

This concerned the futures and lives of most people present. Everyone needed to devote their full attention to it.

The Lord Daimyo—or rather, Uchiha Feng behind the scenes—did not keep them waiting long and began issuing his judgment.

"Brothers slaughtering one another, family turning upon family—such actions grieve me deeply.

"But what grieves me even more are those who disobeyed my orders and lacked sufficient loyalty to the Hamuro Clan.

"If not for you, yesterday's tragedy would never have happened."

The Lord Daimyo spoke indignantly. He slammed the table and rose to his feet, pointing at the nobles and officials who had sided with the Eldest Prince yesterday.

Then, after taking a breath, he sat back down and continued.

"I had clearly issued an edict in public, handing the Crown Prince's position to the fifth.

"Yet you people refused to obey the edict and continued associating with the deposed eldest.

"That gave the eldest improper thoughts and led him to take arms against his brothers.

"And because of that, the fifth lost his mind for a moment and slaughtered his other relatives.

"So everything, all of it, was caused by you people who refused to obey my orders."

After saying this, the Lord Daimyo turned to Uchiha Feng.

"Guardian Sekito, throw all these disloyal people to the Hamuro Clan into the death cells.

"Investigate them thoroughly. If they merely participated in yesterday's events and committed no other crimes, demote them to commoners, confiscate their assets in Tea Country, and expel them from Tea Country.

"If they have committed any other acts disloyal to the Hamuro Clan or harmful to Tea Country, confiscate their households and behead them all."

After saying this, the Lord Daimyo changed direction and turned to those who had not participated in the Crown Prince's slaughter of his relatives last night.

"Oh, and you people as well.

"The Crown Prince is the heir. Even if he acted improperly, you could have advised him or remonstrated unto death.

"But what did you take Tea Country's heir for, disobeying his orders and distancing yourselves from him?

"Hmph. In consideration of your past merits, I will not punish you severely. All officials shall be demoted one rank and have their salaries docked for one year.

"Those originally in the samurai guard shall be demoted to the Guard Corps, while those in the Guard Corps shall be demoted to commoners.

"Guardian Sekito, you are also the captain of the samurai guard. You will handle this matter."

After saying all this, the Lord Daimyo said nothing more.

The scene fell silent for a moment. Once everyone understood the Lord Daimyo's orders, cries of despair, pleas for mercy from those kneeling on the ground, and sounds of people beating their chests in regret erupted endlessly.

The Lord Daimyo listened indifferently, without any response.

He was still under Uchiha Mikio's genjutsu, so he could not have responded even if he wanted to.

Since Feng intended to control Tea Country from behind the scenes, he naturally needed to purge the ministers of the current Lord Daimyo's administration and replace them with newcomers who obeyed his orders.

Only then, before his strength increased enough to contend with Konoha, could he ensure that even if his true identity was accidentally exposed, the news would not spread. That would give him more time to lie low and grow.

Therefore, regardless of what these people did, they could not escape the fate of being purged from the government. It was merely a matter of sooner or later.

After a long while, seeing that pleading softly could not move the Lord Daimyo or make him rescind his orders—

The crowd stopped acting and began taking a harder approach.

"Lord Daimyo, many nobles and ministers are already gone from this government.

"And now you intend to act against us loyal ministers and capable generals who barely survived.

"Then no one will be left to govern the country, and chaos will surely break out.

"Furthermore, many people throughout the country stand together with us, sharing fortune and hardship.

"If something happens to us, the people below may very well do something undesirable."

The Left Minister, second only to the Grand Minister among all officials, spoke first as the representative of those being punished today.

Then officials of every rank—councilors, advisers, secretaries, and more—followed suit, all talking at once.

Their words all conveyed the same meaning: without us, the country will fall into chaos, and we have extensive networks of connections.

Uchiha Feng merely chuckled and spoke to the Lord Daimyo.

"Heh, it's hard to find a three-legged toad, but is it hard to find people who want to be officials?

"Lord Daimyo, please issue an order. The vacant posts of those being punished shall be filled by their deputies.

"If both the superior and deputy are convicted, the official one rank below shall be promoted.

"As for convicted officials at the lowest rank, their appointments shall be made by their current or newly promoted superiors."

As soon as Feng finished speaking, the officials who had just spoken all sucked in sharp breaths. Their faces turned pale with fright.

As officials themselves, they knew officialdom's ways all too well.

The pursuit of higher office and the craving for greater power were enough to make them fight one another to the death even when nothing was happening.

Now that their subordinates could legitimately remove their superiors and take their positions, how could that possibly end well?!

Those convicted would likely be picked clean to the bone and squeezed until nothing remained.

As for those networks that supposedly shared fortune and hardship?

Heh, those were merely pleasant words. In truth, they were nothing but communities of shared interests protecting one another.

The new officials would build new networks of collusion and new communities of shared interests.

The old interest groups would only think of ways to squeeze into the new ones and rise through the ranks together.

Very few would do anything for these people who had lost power simply because of some supposed bond of shared honor and disgrace.

They knew that clearly, because as officials themselves, that was exactly the kind of people they were.

Take the Left Minister, who had been the first to threaten the Lord Daimyo. Why had he gathered with the old Crown Prince, the Eldest Prince?

Was it not because he wanted to pull down the Grand Minister, the only person above him among the officials, and take that position for himself?

"Very well. Everyone, do as Guardian Sekito says."

Before anyone else could speak, the Lord Daimyo directly accepted Feng's proposal, completely crushing the final sliver of hope in the hearts of those who were certain to be convicted.

The group certain to be condemned all collapsed to the ground as though their souls had been sucked away, utterly motionless.

"Enough. From today onward, Aiko, you are Tea Country's daimyo. Move back into the palace to live.

"If you have matters to discuss, you should seek the new daimyo. There is no need to come to me anymore.

"Starting today, I will no longer manage affairs. I will remain at home and peacefully enjoy my retirement."

The Lord Daimyo continued. After speaking, he ignored everyone's reactions and returned to his room to rest with the help of an attendant. In reality, however, Uchiha Mikio controlled him back to the inner residence to continue tirelessly choosing women every night, striving to send him to his grave as soon as possible.

After the Lord Daimyo left, Feng helped his wife, Aiko Hamuro, sit in the daimyo's seat.

Knowing that his wife most likely understood nothing, he leaned close to Aiko's ear and softly said,

"Aiko, don't be nervous. Just say, 'All ministers, follow my father's orders and withdraw to carry out your duties.'"

"Oh... o-okay.

"All ministers, follow my father's orders and withdraw to carry out your duties."

Upon hearing this, Aiko Hamuro first took a moment to soothe her nervous, helpless emotions, then issued the command as Feng had instructed.

Once Aiko Hamuro finished speaking, Feng took Aiko and left as well.

He was going back with Aiko to move. From now on, the two of them would live in the Daimyo Palace.

As for the matter of dealing with people that the Lord Daimyo had mentioned, Feng handed it over to the clever Sada Hidemasa.

Even many of Tea Country's governmental affairs in the future would be entrusted to those below him.

As for himself, he would naturally focus on cultivation and increasing his strength.

This was the Ninja World, a world with extraordinary power such as chakra. In such a world, individual strength was the foundation of everything.

Feng would not foolishly believe that controlling Tea Country meant he could rest easy and peacefully enjoy himself from then on.

Though in the near future, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he truly could do nothing and rely on Naruto and Sasuke to save the world.

But what about after that? The anime had not shown it, but the future arrival of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, which would almost certainly destroy the Ninja World—what was he supposed to do then?!

Wait helplessly for death? Or hope for some new savior?

Feng had been Chinese in his previous life. His ancestors had long carved into the bones and souls of every Chinese person the spirit that relying on oneself was better than begging others for help, and that it was better to save oneself than rely on a savior. He could not do something so foolish as completely relying on others.

Even everything Feng was doing in Tea Country now was merely in service of improving his own strength more effectively.

Otherwise, why would he have racked his brains to do so much? While it allowed him to control Tea Country more completely, it also made him famous, drew the attention of many people, and greatly increased the chance of his true identity being exposed.

If he had controlled a daimyo or a Kage from the shadows like Orochimaru and Obito Uchiha in the anime, he could have laid low more simply, more safely, and with less risk of exposure.

But that would have helped his strength improve far too little, which was why Feng had not done so.