The Million-Strong Evacuation from the Land of Lightning

Wine?

Yan set down "The Uchiha Story" and skimmed the remaining Scrolls. They contained nothing but brief records.

But the storage Scroll Yan had brought was bigger than nine by nine, and he packed the entire Book Collection into it in one go.

He walked up to the statue by the door. This had to be Hachiman Great Bodhisattva.

Yan activated his Sharingan and studied the statue closely. He could not be sure whether it was the one A Miao had mentioned.

Huh. Nothing looks out of place.

Yan carefully touched the statue but found no mechanism.

Recalling the last thing A Miao had written, Yan kept turning over the connection between wine and the statue.

"Wine? Was this bodhisattva a drunk who wanted a drink?"

Yan muttered under his breath, then his gaze stopped on the statue's face.

Hachiman Great Bodhisattva's eyes bulged and his mouth gaped wide. His fierce expression looked like a battle cry.

An ordinary bodhisattva statue should have a solemn, dignified face. Even a wrathful guardian would not have its mouth open this wide.

What if the face isn't meant to show the god's ferocity?

At that thought, Yan formed a guess about how A Miao had hidden the jade pendant.

Yan got up to find what he needed, but a white snake suddenly appeared at his feet and spat out a slip of paper.

"The Daimyo is returning. He has a sensory ninja!"

Yan's pupils contracted. The Daimyo was coming back, and he had brought a sensory ninja.

Yan immediately quickened his pace. He held no particular reverence for the Daimyo, but if a Konoha Ninja was caught in the Daimyo's Palace now, it would be bad for the front line.

He quickly found a well, then stopped. His eyes flickered, and he formed Hand Seals to transform into a bare-chested Black man.

There was no bucket beside the well, so Yan carefully cut off a piece of bark with Chakra.

Again and again, he filled it at the well, ran back, and poured the water into the statue's mouth.

Yan knew the Daimyo would be back soon, but he was not worried. He was ready to put on quite a show.

After dozens of trips, the water level inside the statue rose, and a red jewel appeared in its mouth.

Yan gently pulled it out. Sure enough, it was a jade pendant bearing a spiral pattern.

"An assassin! Protect His Lordship!"

Yan heard the cry in the distance. It seemed the sensory ninja had detected his Chakra.

Yan turned and ran toward the rear courtyard. This time, he made no attempt to hide.

"Ah!"

The palace maids nearby saw a naked Black man charging toward the rear courtyard and screamed in unison.

Lady Peach Blossom, who had been caught having an affair and confined afterward, had been sitting there in despair. Hearing the commotion outside, she tried to slip out of the palace.

"Ah!"

The moment she pushed open her door, she saw a naked Black man running toward her room. He dispatched the guards watching her in a few swift moves.

"Heh." The Black man Yan had become gave a vicious chuckle, grabbed Lady Peach Blossom, and pulled half her kimono down before reaching out to feel her curves.

"Ah!" Lady Peach Blossom let out a cry that made the blood rush, and a flush spread across her face.

His goal achieved, Yan picked up the flushed Lady Peach Blossom and pretended to flee.

"Over here!"

A richly dressed man directed the guards to surround Yan.

Yan gradually slowed, allowing them to encircle him.

The arriving Daimyo saw his favorite concubine in a Black man's arms, her clothes half undone, her face flushed, and her lower lip caught between her teeth.

"You bastard!"

The Daimyo felt as though horns had sprouted from his head. In his ears, he could almost hear the cries Lady Peach Blossom had made not long ago.

The ninja beside him was much calmer. "Who are you?"

The Black man gave a savage grin. "I am Aishibi of the Yotsuki Clan! I came to follow in Brother Raikage's footsteps!"

The Daimyo's breathing grew ragged. His voice strained to its limit as he pointed at the Black man before him.

"Kill him! All of you, kill him!"

The ninja beside him thought this had to be a scheme by an enemy nation. There was no way the Raikage's family would do something like this.

But the Daimyo had given an order, so he could only join his companions in attacking the Black man.

The ninja hurled their weapons, then swiftly formed Hand Seals, preparing to engulf the enemy with Ninjutsu.

But the Black man dropped Lady Peach Blossom, laughed, and stamped his right foot hard.

Boom!

A powerful burst of Chakra erupted, sending every weapon flying!

Electric arcs danced around the Black man, and his hair stood on end.

That was... Lightning Release Chakra Mode!

The ninja's pupils contracted. Before any of them could react, the Black man flashed behind one of them.

"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"

His Chakra-coated hand sliced the ninja in two.

"Ah! Kill him! Kill him!"

At the bloody sight, the Daimyo lost every trace of noble composure. He fell to the ground and scrambled backward, urging the guards to kill the man.

The guards were stunned too. Wait, had Kumogakure really rebelled?

Aishibi threw back his head and laughed, then called out to the Daimyo.

"Daimyo, your wife... is quite tender!"

The Daimyo's face turned purple with rage, but he did not dare answer. He scrambled away from the battlefield on all fours.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"

The ninja who had recovered their wits unleashed their Ninjutsu, but Aishibi, clad in Lightning Armor, was far faster than they were.

He easily dodged the barrage of Ninjutsu, closed in on the guards, and dropped each ninja with an elbow strike.

"Man!"

Deciding that was enough, Aishibi leaped onto the palace wall, drew a deep breath, and shouted.

"Aishibi raided the Daimyo's Palace by night! Brother Raikage, my mission is complete!"

The Abbot, who was chanting sutras on the platform, froze at the shout. His hand stopped striking the wooden fish, and he could not help looking down at Biko and Bixue, who sat listening obediently. Unease rose in his heart.

After shouting, Yan fled the scene and found a chance to change back into Biko.

"M-my lord Daimyo."

Lady Peach Blossom crawled to the feet of the still-shaken Daimyo, only for him to kick her away.

"Rebellion! Rebellion! Kumogakure has rebelled!"

The Daimyo ordered a guard whose bones had been broken by an elbow strike to get up.

"Summon every samurai and every ninja outside Kumogakure in the country! The Raikage has rebelled!"

Hearing the Daimyo's furious roar, the guard did not dare hesitate. He forced himself to deliver the order despite his injuries. He did not question the Daimyo's judgment.

After all, the man's appearance could have been a Transformation Technique, but that Lightning Armor could not be fake.

"Amitabha."

In his carriage, the Abbot turned his prayer beads and recited the Buddha's name over and over.

After the sermon, Biko and Bixue had said goodbye to him and vanished.

Then, on his way out of the city, he had been stopped for five extra inspections at the gate. The Abbot was certain the day's uproar had something to do with those two.

If they find out I brought them into the city, this old monk may meet his end today.

Meanwhile, Yan headed happily toward the border. One million had been withdrawn from the Land of Lightning. A resounding success!

A day later, Kumogakure was dumbfounded.

What did they mean, the Daimyo had declared us rogue ninja?

The Third Raikage hastily sent people to find out what had happened, but they could not even get through the city gate.

Only through the Underground Bounty Station did they learn that Aishibi, a member of the Raikage's clan, had personally taken the Daimyo's favorite concubine and killed a guard while wearing Lightning Armor.

The Raikage and his son were even more baffled. Since when did we have another clansman who could use Lightning Armor?

How did we not know?

Just then, the young A bought the latest issue of Shinobi World Daily.

The headline read: The Secrets of Lightning Release Chakra Mode!

"You bastard!"

The young A tore the newspaper in his hands to shreds, scattering scraps across the floor.

Now the young A had worked out who had drawn the Lightning comic.

"Homura Uchiha!"

The young A had never imagined Yan could be so underhanded. Ninjas operated from the shadows, sure, but transforming into one of their clansmen and using their Ninjutsu was bad enough. Why did he have to drag their reputation through the mud too?

Worse, because the Lightning comic sold so well, the village leadership had chosen to look the other way. The Raikage and his son could only watch their images deteriorate bit by bit.

They could keep their dignity or keep the money, and now the Daimyo had been dragged into it too.

After smashing yet another table, the Third Raikage declared, "Put Homura Uchiha on the kill list!"