"Monster!!"
The Land of Fire's Daimyo screamed until his voice cracked, his eyes bulging as though they might fall from their sockets.
His body staggered backward uncontrollably until he slammed into the dragon-carved armrest on the raised platform. Drained of all strength, he collapsed onto the floor, his legs trembling like leaves.
"What kind of monster are you?!"
Cold sweat poured down the Daimyo's forehead and soaked his brocade robes. Fear chilled him to the spine, as though he had been plunged into an ice cellar.
"Protect me!!"
"Guards-protect me!!"
He screamed himself hoarse, but the elite guards who had been hiding in the shadows already lay scattered across the floor as bloodied corpses. Some stared with wide-open eyes; others clutched their throats, their gazes still filled with the terror and disbelief of their final moments.
And Sasuke Uchiha was advancing toward him, step by step.
His pace was unhurried, but every footfall seemed to land on the Daimyo's heart, sending it pounding like a war drum.
"Lord Ninja, please... please have mercy..."
The Land of Fire's Daimyo stammered, his eyes brimming with abasement and a desperate hunger to survive. "What do you want? Money? Power? Women? I can give you all of it! Just spare me, and I'll meet any condition you set!"
Sasuke Uchiha stood at the foot of the steps, his gaze as cold and unchanging as an abyss untouched by sunlight.
The faintest curve rose at the corner of his mouth, yet it was more chilling than any smile.
"And what if I want your life?"
Those few words exploded through the hall like a thunderclap.
The air froze. Nothing broke the silence except the Daimyo's rapid, ragged breathing.
The Daimyo's expression stiffened, and the fear in his eyes was abruptly replaced by resentment and rage-