Half an hour later.
The leader of Kusagakure lay at Uchiha Sora's feet, barely clinging to life.
He raised his head and stared at Uchiha Sora's young, cold face, howling in despair, "You bastard! You'll die a horrible death!"
Uchiha Sora remained expressionless as he said, almost wistfully, "The victor rules, and the loser is branded a villain. You lost, so spare me the pointless drivel."
"You may have defeated me, but you'll never conquer Kusagakure! Konoha won't let you get away with this either! We've already asked Konoha for help. Don't think you can occupy this place in peace!" the leader of Kusagakure continued to roar, his eyes bloodshot.
"Are those your last words?" Uchiha Sora raised his sword and plunged it into the leader's heart with a wet squelch.
The leader of Kusagakure was dead!
"Clean up the battlefield, then announce our arrival to everyone here," Uchiha Sora told Zabuza beside him.
"Yes, leader!" Zabuza nodded hurriedly, then glanced down at the dead leader of Kusagakure. "This fellow was pretty strong. Would you consider reviving him?"
Uchiha Sora glanced at Zabuza and said evenly, "He did stand by his village until the very end. Besides, I killed him with my own hands. There's no need to revive him."
"Yes!" Zabuza said no more. He accepted the order and left to deal with the aftermath.
Uchiha Sora then said to Uzumaki Kanako and Karin beside him, "Kusagakure has a new ruler. From now on, I'm its leader."
Uzumaki Kanako and Karin had witnessed Uchiha Sora easily defeat and kill the leader of Kusagakure. Now, hearing his voice, both felt a little afraid.
Still, they nodded. Kanako said, "Please treat my daughter and me kindly from now on, leader. All we want is to live in peace without being bullied."
Uchiha Sora nodded. "Don't worry. It's late now. Go home and get some rest."
"Yes, leader. We'll take our leave, then." Kanako bowed slightly and left with Karin to return home.
The six people revived through Impure World Reincarnation were also standing beside Uchiha Sora.
Several were thoroughly pleased with their current state and said excitedly, "Leader! These bodies might be a little filthy, but no one can kill us. This is fantastic!"
Clearly, a body created through Impure World Reincarnation could be addictive.
Pakura looked at those battle maniacs and said coldly, "No matter how good these bodies are, they can't compare to having a living body. Feeling like you're made entirely of dirt is awful!"
"Tch, what would a woman like you know?" one of them said dismissively. "Only with an immortal body can you truly enjoy battle!"
Pakura gave a soft snort and ignored them. As a woman, she naturally preferred her body clean and flawless rather than covered in layers of dirt.
Uchiha Sora waved a hand.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
He said, "From now on, you'll live in this world in these reincarnated bodies. You must keep yourselves in check, or I'll take back your freedom."
"Yes!" Everyone stiffened and hurriedly answered.
Although Uchiha Sora was young, he had dared to conquer a small nation and claim Kusagakure for himself. That courage and confidence alone were enough to keep them from stepping out of line.
In all the years of the Shinobi World's history, who had ever dared to conquer Kusagakure?
It was not simply a matter of defeating its leader and breaking through its defenses.
One also had to be mentally prepared for all the trouble that would follow.
The other major powers would never sit back and watch Kusagakure change hands. They would certainly seize this opportunity to cause trouble.
One wrong move could even trigger a war across the Shinobi World!
Because Uchiha Sora's attack on Kusagakure had been straightforward, brutal, and brief, most of the village's ordinary residents had yet to evacuate.
Apart from a few caught in the crossfire, those near the battlefield had already fled.
The civilians hid in their homes, afraid to go outside, waiting to see how events unfolded.
As for the Grass Ninja who had resisted, some had been killed, but far more had been taken prisoner.
All the prisoners were gathered together and dumped in an open area.
Uchiha Sora walked over with his people.
Seeing Uchiha Sora, the man responsible for it all, the Grass Ninja began hurling abuse at him.
"You demon! You killed our leader! You'll die a horrible death!"
"You're done for! Our reinforcements will come to help us! Sooner or later, the Five Great Shinobi Villages will punish you!"
Besides those shouting insults, some merely hung their heads, looking dejected.
Taking in their reactions, Uchiha Sora said calmly, "Everyone, from now on, I'm the ruler of Kusagakure. I didn't come here to listen to your insults. I came to give you a choice."
"As you've probably seen, I have very few subordinates. Aside from Zabuza here, the others are all dead people I revived."
"So, if you're willing to stay, I won't take away any of the benefits you used to receive. I'm short on manpower."
"But you must be loyal to me. At the very least, you must obey my orders!"
"If you don't want to stay, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll let you leave. You're welcome to come back for revenge, and you can find others to help you. I'll be right here, ready to take you on."
"But next time, you will die!"
Uchiha Sora's words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
The ninja who had only been trying to earn a living began to feel tempted after hearing him.
A few who were fiercely loyal to the former leader of Kusagakure remained unmoved.
"All right, Zabuza. I'll leave this to you." Without waiting for them to make their choices, Uchiha Sora activated Flying Thunder God and returned to Mirror Space.
Dealing with Kusagakure's aftermath was actually a minor matter. His next task was to use Kusagakure as a spatial node and connect Mirror Space, isolated far out at sea, to it.
Then he would set up a doorway into Mirror Space, allowing those inside to come and go freely. In effect, he would be building a portal in Kusagakure.
From then on, Kusagakure would serve as his public power base, while Mirror Space would become the headquarters of a covert organization.
To accomplish that, he had to take his Mangekyo's abilities a step further and make them more versatile.
Uchiha Sora's current Mangekyo abilities still lacked the necessary flexibility. Only by evolving it into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan might he gain more versatile spatial abilities.
PS: My blind date failed! Any rich ladies out there willing to take this poor author home... sob! Please comfort me... If you want to hear about my blind date, type 1 in the comments...
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