The rear courtyard of the Daimyō's Palace in the Land of Hot Water, once a place of song and revelry, now held only simplicity and solemnity.
Naruto looked at Sasuke.
"This daimyo's guard is yours."
Sasuke looked up in confusion.
"What I need you to become is not another blade in my hand, but a commander capable of directing an array of blades." Naruto pointed at the guards in the courtyard. "Go. Give it a try. Turn this bunch of trash into tools my Order can use. Make them understand what discipline is, what fear is, and... what loyalty is."
He was teaching Sasuke how to become like him. Sasuke immediately understood Naruto's intention. He asked no further questions, merely nodded and accepted the task.
The atmosphere in the Chinoike Clan's temporary camp was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
The Chinoike people huddled in the corners. Even after receiving food and clean clothes, the numbness and fear in their eyes had not faded in the slightest. They were like birds imprisoned for too long,
having been cut off from society for so long that even with the cage door wide open, they no longer knew where to fly.
Naruto's Shadow Clone said nothing unnecessary. It simply distributed copied volumes of the "black ledger" to every literate clansman.
At first, people merely turned the pages in confusion. But before long, ragged breathing rose from the deathly silent camp.
"Raw material... Number Seventy-Three... Due to emotional fluctuations causing a decline in blood quality... approved for disposal..." A middle-aged man pointed tremblingly at the words in the ledger, his lips quivering as he read them aloud, one word at a time. The woman beside him let out a shrill wail, because Number Seventy-Three was her son, who had vanished half