The hall was deathly silent.
At the end of the banquet, once all the agreements had been signed, the nobles were "escorted" away by the guards. One by one, they looked utterly lost, like empty shells stripped of their souls.
Only Naruto and Jingwan behind him remained in the vast banquet hall.
Naruto looked at the barely touched food, then turned his gaze toward the window. The capital's clamor had subsided, replaced by the tranquil relief of surviving a disaster and a vitality brimming with hope.
"Tomorrow," Naruto ordered Jingwan behind him without turning around, his voice calm, "announce all the new policies to the entire nation in your name."
Jingwan's body jolted. He lowered his head deeply and squeezed out a single word from his throat with all his strength.
"Yes."
Naruto rose to his feet and walked to the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city that had been turned upside down overnight by his will.
This was only the first step.
Destroying an old world was far easier than building a new one.
What came next would be the real test.
The next morning, dawn had just broken.
The central square of the Land of Hot Water's capital was already packed to the brim.
Countless eyes were fixed on the lofty terrace of the Daimyō's Palace. Within those eyes were a mixture of deep-rooted numbness, fear, and faint, newfound hope.
Overnight, the world had changed.
Those noble lords who normally flaunted their power had vanished overnight, but no one knew what had truly happened.
Finally, beneath the gaze of the entire crowd, a figure appeared on the terrace.
Jingwan's complexion was still poor—he had been unable to sleep the night before, and his legs trembled slightly beneath his splendid robes, yet his back remained perfectly straight.