The Dust Settles

Splash—

Summer rain never lasted long. The downpour gradually weakened, falling like threads of silk and bringing waves of coolness.

At the center of Hidden Crafts Village, the surrounding buildings had been shattered in the earlier battle, leaving wreckage strewn across the ground.

Yan Hong was already soaked through. He raised his head and looked around, then sneered. "Village Chief Qingming, your way of negotiating is truly unusual."

All around him, numerous Hidden Crafts Village ninja had Yan Hong surrounded. Every one of them held a ninja tool in hand. Though they were the ones encircling someone, they all looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

"Uchiha Yan Hong, you forced us into this." Since things had come to this, Qingming chose to stop pretending. His voice carried long-suppressed fury. "From the moment you arrived, you arrogantly tried to subdue us and make us serve you. Yet you never once asked what we wanted, as if it were only natural. I want to ask—why?"

"Heh, why?" Yan Hong smiled and suddenly took a step forward.

Whoosh—

Everyone instinctively took a step back. Quite a few nervously swallowed, raindrops falling into their eyes as they could no longer tell whether it was sweat or rainwater.

"See?" Yan Hong pointed at the crowd. "Because you're too weak."

Qingming's expression froze, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the ninja-tool longsword in his hand.

Yan Hong continued, "That's how this world works. The strong are respected, and weakness is the original sin. Even without Flame Hidden Village, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and other powerful ninja villages would have come for you. In the end, you would never escape the fate of submission."

"What nonsense!" Qingming retorted loudly. "How can you be sure we won't grow stronger and become an existence capable of standing alongside the Five Great Ninja Villages?"

"Maybe you will." Yan Hong shrugged. "But have you considered how long that would take? Fifty years? A hundred years? Or several centuries? And how can you guarantee that nothing like what happened today won't happen during that time?"

"Why not choose a powerful patron? When one person rises to greatness, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Granted, Flame Hidden Village may not necessarily have the last laugh, but at least we have far more hope than you do."

"Hmph, who knows whether Flame Hidden Village will burn the bridge after crossing it and cast us aside once it has finished using us?" someone suddenly shouted from the crowd.

"If I stood here making this promise and that promise, you would probably still have your doubts. So no matter how much I say, it would be meaningless. It all depends on how you choose to gamble. Nothing is ever completely without risk."

Although Yan Hong had made no guarantees, his words instead caused many people to waver in their resolve. After all, he was right. The Land of Crafts had too little foundation, yet possessed powerful forging abilities. That naturally made it a juicy piece of meat in others' eyes. The chances of their independent development being cut short were simply too high. It would be better to find a more reliable backer.

"I think you're only saying that because you're afraid of dying at our hands." A vicious glint flashed in Qingming's eyes. "If we kill you here, Flame Hidden Village and Kirigakure will surely go to war. Then we can use that opportunity to develop ourselves."

"Heh." Yan Hong laughed scornfully. "Let me put it this way. Given my two elder brothers' personalities, if I die in your village, then even if Kirigakure truly did it, not a single person in Hidden Crafts Village will survive."

"Besides, why do you think I'll definitely die?"

As soon as his words fell, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared before the crowd. Chikuma was the first to arrive beside Yan Hong, his rugged face filled with excitement. "Boss, can we finally fight?"

Yan Hong's gaze was playful. "Yeah, that depends on their choice. What do you think, Village Chief Qingming?"

Qingming's face turned extremely ugly, but he still persisted in shouting, "Don't be afraid, everyone! There are only about ten of them, and Uchiha Yan Hong can no longer use much of his strength. If we all attack together, we can definitely kill them!"

"No! I don't want to take that risk!"

At that moment, someone suddenly shouted from the crowd, "I think he's right! I don't want to keep living in fear like this. I want to join Flame Hidden Village!"

"Me too!"

"Same here!"

As more and more people chose to join Flame Hidden Village, Qingming's face immediately darkened. "Are you trying to rebel?!"

Yan Hong mocked him. "Heh, it seems you aren't that beloved after all."

And that was indeed the truth. Hidden Crafts Village was not some clan-based ninja village. It was merely an organization built by many craftsmen with shared interests. In terms of unity, it could not compare to a clan that shared the same surname. It was only natural for opposing voices to arise due to differing ideals.

"Fine, fine, fine." Qingming laughed in rage. "Then I'll kill you first and see who still dares to defect to Flame Hidden Village!"

Bang—

Qingming stomped heavily on the ground and shot forward, smashing through the curtain of rain. The longsword in his hand moved like a serpent flicking its tongue. Its blade, wrapped in vast chakra, trembled sharply amid the wind and rain as it stabbed straight at Yan Hong's heart!

"Boss, leave him to me!"

Chikuma could no longer restrain his desire to fight. He rushed forward first, two bone spikes extending from his palms. His stance was ferocious and aggressive, the sort of reckless style that attacked without defending!

As the founder of Hidden Crafts Village, Qingming had some skill. Seeing Chikuma intending to trade injury for injury, he flicked his sword upward midway and struck the incoming bone blades, knocking them aside. Borrowing the force, he spun and whipped a kick toward Chikuma's head!

Clang—

Chikuma never cared much for technique in battle. Relying on the indestructible nature of Shikotsumyaku, he took Qingming's whip kick head-on. His body merely swayed twice before he returned the attack with a side kick that landed squarely on Qingming's waist and abdomen!

Bang—

In terms of physique, Qingming was no match for Chikuma. That single kick sent his entire body flying backward. The people behind him instinctively scattered to either side, and Qingming crashed down at their feet.

"Huh?"

Chikuma looked oddly at his hand. During that exchange, it had seemed that the other man's sword had devoured a small portion of his chakra. But he did not think much of it. Shaking his head, he charged forward again!

Clang! Clang! Clang!—

The two continuously clashed, sending strings of dazzling sparks flying.

The more Qingming fought, the more alarmed he became. His ninja tool could absorb an enemy's chakra, but the other man's Kekkei Genkai was simply too strange. He could not break through its defense at all. Instead, more and more wounds had appeared on his own body. The people below also seemed to be merely watching the show—not a single one came up to help. If this continued, he would definitely be finished!

No! I can't die here!

Qingming forced Chikuma back with a sword strike, then suddenly turned and fled into the distance. But before he had even taken ten steps, a faint sound came from the air!

Whoosh—

A shuriken embedded deeply into the ground, buried by a full third. Its edge was stained with a shocking smear of crimson blood!

Driven by momentum, Qingming stumbled two more steps forward before falling to his knees with a thud. He clutched his throat tightly as blood poured through his fingers. Turning back toward Yan Hong, who had just lowered his hand, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Don't forget, the Uchiha Clan is also skilled in shuriken techniques."

After dealing with Qingming, Yan Hong looked at the Hidden Crafts Village people watching him and said calmly, "Then, welcome to Flame Hidden Village, everyone."

"Greetings, Lord Yan Hong!"

Listening to the crowd's enthusiastic cheers, Yan Hong raised his head and looked into the distance. In that direction lay Lightning Country.

"I wonder how Second Brother is doing over there."