"Who could pose a threat to you?"
Uzumaki Gamu explained, "The Empire's other general is called Budo. He commands the palace guards. Following his ancestral teachings, he believes military officers shouldn't interfere in politics, so although he knows about the minister's corruption, he hasn't intervened. He only uses his authority to protect officials with a conscience. His Teigu is Wrath of the Thunder God [Adramelech], which attacks with lightning... well, just think of him as an extremely powerful Lightning Release user! His principles are still holding him back, so he won't show up here at the Imperial Palace. We don't need to worry about him for now."
Hikari nodded in understanding. "Both generals are strong, but they have their own business to attend to, so we can ignore them for now... then, besides those two, who else do we need to worry about?"
"Well... probably this Little Emperor?" Uzumaki Gamu said, looking at the Little Emperor.
"...Huh? This guy?" Disbelief was written all over Hikari's face-this brat was hopelessly weak. How could he possibly threaten Uzumaki Gamu?
Uzumaki Gamu explained, "Well, normally he couldn't, of course, but he can use the strongest Teigu-the Supreme Teigu!"
"The Supreme Teigu? What's that?" Hikari asked curiously.
"It's Demon God Z... something very similar, anyway. Well, to use a comparison you'd understand, it's... Complete Body Susanoo!" Uzumaki Gamu offered.
"Susanoo? That's seriously powerful!" As someone with the Mangekyo, Hikari naturally understood how powerful Susanoo was, especially something comparable to its complete body... after all, that form had earned the extraordinary description of "destroying all creation, the incarnation of a god of destruction." It was power that transcended the very category of ninja!
Uzumaki Gamu explained further, "The Guardian Deity of the Nation [Supreme Throne]-the first and strongest Teigu. It's both the origin of Teigu and the pinnacle of them all, known as the 'Supreme Teigu.' According to legend, it possesses power comparable to the gods, and only someone with imperial blood can use it. Its secret technique is 'Purge Mode,' which combines alchemy with the properties of Teigu. Its appearance changes into a dragon, and the user is corrupted by the Teigu, becoming bloodthirsty. The destructive power and number of its weapons increase dramatically, and its armor becomes even tougher."
"I see. You need imperial blood to use it... so that means he's the only one who can~" Hikari looked at the Little Emperor!
"Right. That Teigu is buried beneath the Imperial Palace. It can activate whenever the Little Emperor summons it, but if we knock him unconscious with a sneak attack like this, the thing doesn't have any autonomous function to protect its master, so naturally it can't activate!" Uzumaki Gamu dragged the Little Emperor toward the wardrobe.
"In that case, should we kill him now?" Hikari suggested.
"Well, he'll still be useful later, and I don't like killing children! So to avoid trouble, let's just seal him away!" Uzumaki Gamu stuffed the Little Emperor inside the wardrobe, then began using a sealing jutsu.
"That jutsu is... the one that sealed me?" Hikari recognized the jutsu Uzumaki Gamu was using at a glance.
Uzumaki Gamu nodded. "Right. I learned it while undoing your seal, and I even improved it a little~ Now it doesn't need such a huge space. Even a wardrobe like this can be used directly! There, the seal's complete. Still, it's pretty conspicuous out here, so..." -Uzumaki Gamu used Earth Release to dig a hole in the floor, stuffed the wardrobe containing the sealed Little Emperor inside, then restored the floor to ensure outsiders wouldn't know anyone was there!
Looking at the spot where the hole had been, Uzumaki Gamu said in satisfaction, "Perfect. Just what you'd expect from me! Well, the next time the Little Emperor comes out, the Empire will be falling apart. Whether the Revolutionary Army catches him and puts him on trial, or he gets lucky and escapes... that'll be up to his own fate!"
At that moment, Hikari asked a question she'd been wanting to ask. "Speaking of which, before we entered the Imperial Palace, you told me you came to this world to put an end to this rotten country. Is disguising yourself as the emperor really necessary?"
"Nope. I just wanted to experience being an emperor!" Uzumaki Gamu answered frankly-that was also why he'd chosen this world!
Experience being an emperor for once! (Uzumaki Gamu: Imperial Release: Nine-Clan Separation Jutsu, and Kangxi imperial armor, combine... wouldn't that be fun?)
Hikari was somewhat speechless at Uzumaki Gamu's attitude of simply playing around-it was hard to believe this guy had been born in the Warring States period. But remembering what he'd just said about reincarnation, she finally understood why he was so different... fundamentally, he wasn't even a human from the same era as everyone else!
Having learned a little more about Uzumaki Gamu, Hikari trusted the boy before her, whose appearance had changed, more and more!
Just then, Uzumaki Gamu asked, "Oh, right. Want me to arrange an identity for you? An imperial consort or something?"
Hikari: "..." We're only friends right now, aren't we? Doesn't saying that count as taking advantage of me? -She didn't say it aloud, but that was exactly the look she gave Uzumaki Gamu!
Uzumaki Gamu burst out laughing. "Hahaha, sorry. I was just taking this opportunity to frankly express my affection for you. But honestly, we're both still young. It's a little early to talk about that, so let's wait a few years... well, could you use the Transformation Technique to become a palace maid for now?"
"...No, I want to go out and look around!" Hikari said.
"Huh? Really? The Imperial Capital only looks decent on the surface. It's filthy underneath. You won't see anything good out there," Uzumaki Gamu said with concern.
"No, I want to go farther... wander around first and see what this world is like!" On her first visit to another world, Hikari really wanted to know how it differed from her own!
"...All right. Just stay safe! Those Teigu have all kinds of bizarre abilities. If you aren't careful, even the stronger side can end up losing!" Uzumaki Gamu warned.
"I know!" Hikari nodded. "I'll be back in a little while. You be careful too!" -With that, she left using the Body Flicker Technique!
Resting his chin on his hand, Uzumaki Gamu said, "Well, she's a lot gentler than when we first met... hopefully I won't get burned by Amaterasu again~"
-Preparing Ninja Tools-
The next day, Minister Honest went to court to greet the emperor as usual, then help him handle the day's affairs of state. A sagacious ruler and a worthy minister, bringing prosperity to the Empire-well, that was how the story went, but in reality, Honest screened every matter submitted to the throne. Only trivial issues ever reached the Little Emperor, giving him the illusion that the Empire was doing wonderfully under his rule.
In reality, under the minister's cruel and tyrannical administration, the Empire's people could barely survive. Nobles took pleasure in torturing commoners to death, while the lower classes endured both unbearable living conditions and the bullying of those above them-they were almost at the point where they couldn't go on.
Of course, that had nothing to do with the minister-as long as the greatest military power remained in his hands, the Empire's order wouldn't change. The Revolutionary Army... was nothing but a disorganized rabble!
Today, too, he went to court as usual to play along with the Little Emperor-well, there wasn't anything important today, so he might as well finish quickly, then go home to drink and eat meat!
Just as he reached the main hall's doors, he heard something completely different from usual-music and dancing?
What the hell? Why was there music and dancing at this hour?
Puzzled, the minister told the guards to open the main hall's doors, then found a lavish performance underway!
Accompanied by drums and music, a group of dancers wore thin gauze, their skirts cascading like flowing clouds and glittering beneath the lights. Their toes touched down lightly, as though crossing water without leaving a trace, and their wide sleeves fluttered like unfurling butterfly wings. Their waists were supple as willows, swaying to the music, sometimes swift as a sudden downpour, sometimes slow as drifting gossamer. They performed a brilliant, colorful dance... why had they started dancing in broad daylight?
The minister turned toward the throne straight ahead-the Little Emperor was sitting there, watching the dancing with relish... although he was a puppet, the boy usually worked diligently. If not for Honest controlling him, he'd have looked every bit the good emperor. Why had he suddenly become so engrossed in this lively dancing?
Just then, the dancers noticed the minister entering through the main doors. They immediately stopped dancing, ready to move aside and wait!
Seeing this, the Little Emperor became displeased. "Don't stop! Who gave you permission to stop? Keep playing, keep dancing!"
The emperor's commands were absolute, but these dancers also knew whose words truly carried weight-in front of the minister, they didn't dare act rashly!
The minister waved for the dancers to continue, while slowly walking up beside the throne. He said warmly to the Little Emperor, "Good morning, Your Majesty!"
"Yes, good morning, Minister!" the Little Emperor answered with a smile, then pointed at the dancers. "What do you think of their dancing?"
"Very good... but, Your Majesty, it's time to attend to affairs of state. You should dismiss them for now!" the minister said softly.
The Little Emperor waved a hand. "Affairs of state are all minor matters. How could they be more important than watching these girls dance?"
Somewhat speechless, the minister said, "You mustn't do this, Your Majesty! You mustn't let idle pleasures undermine your ambitions!" -Although he was a treacherous minister, he still had to pretend to be loyal in public, so he needed to offer the emperor advice... of course, seeing the emperor begin to lose himself in pleasure filled him with secret delight-the more he indulged himself, the easier he'd be to control!
The Little Emperor waved his hand. "It's only a day or two. It's no big deal... well, how about this? I'll leave all affairs of state entirely in your hands!"
The minister: I'm already handling everything. Going through the process with you is just for show. If you won't even keep up appearances, certain people will be hard to deal with! -He meant General Budo. If the minister really seized all authority, that general would stop holding back. He would probably turn against Honest outright, then fight him to the death!
With Esdeath currently away from the Imperial Capital, the minister wasn't confident he could defeat Budo!
So the minister said, "Your Majesty, for the Empire's future, we can't afford the slightest carelessness. You should deal with affairs of state first and watch dancing afterward!"
"Putting affairs of state off for a day or two won't hurt, will it? Well, consider it a two-day vacation for me, or pretend I'm sick. I'll leave these two days' affairs entirely to you! Well, Minister, you're like a teacher and a father to the Little Emperor. I trust you absolutely, so stop refusing and go handle things-don't stop! Keep dancing!" Even while talking to the minister, the Little Emperor kept staring at the dancers!
Why did he suddenly start enjoying dancing? Oh~~ he's reached that age and started liking women! The minister noticed that while the Little Emperor watched the dance, his eyes kept fixing on breasts, bottoms, and other "distinctive" areas. Clearly, this was a sign that his urges were awakening!
The minister understood. The Little Emperor was clearly beginning to feel lust and wanted women!
Seeing this, the minister said no more and took his leave of the palace.
Hehehe, interested in women now, are you? Good. An even better way to control him has appeared-put a woman beside him to whisper in his ear, and he'll obey me even more! Since ancient times, a woman's embrace had been a hero's grave-now that the Little Emperor wanted women, he could forget about dedicating himself to governing!
The minister would be able to manipulate the Little Emperor more easily. Moreover, arranging a woman to do that with him now would produce an heir as soon as possible. Once the Little Emperor entered his rebellious phase and stopped obeying, Honest could immediately dispose of him just as he'd dealt with his parents, then put the Little Emperor's son on the throne.
It was a splendid chance to kill two birds with one stone!
With those thoughts, the minister returned home, planning to select a suitable girl to train after handling affairs of state. Once she was properly trained, he would send her into the palace and let the Little Emperor graduate from his "Xiao Chunan" state!
However, he had barely arrived home and hadn't even sat down when a guard came to deliver an imperial summons!
The guard said, "Minister! His Majesty requests your presence at the palace!"
"...Why does he want me back again?" The minister rolled his eyes-I haven't even fucking sat down yet! What's the point of making me go back?
The guard answered, "After you left, His Majesty regretted his decision. He believes you were right, and that he shouldn't lose himself in idle pleasures, so he wishes to invite you back to discuss affairs of state together!"
"...All right, I'll go back!" The minister was somewhat speechless, but as a publicly loyal minister, he still had to obey the emperor's commands!
And so, the minister trotted right back to the Imperial Palace!
However, the moment he entered the main hall, the minister discovered... the emperor was gone!
"What? The emperor went back to sleep?" the minister demanded furiously!
Sweating buckets, the guard at the door said, "His Majesty... felt he'd been waiting too long and got bored, so... he suddenly became sleepy and returned to his bedchamber to rest."
"...What about affairs of state? Did His Majesty say anything?" the minister asked angrily.
"...No!" The guard already felt that his head was about to part company with his neck!
Although the minister was angry enough to kill the guard before him to vent his rage, this was still the Imperial Palace's main hall. Anyone assigned to stand guard here wasn't just an ordinary person and couldn't be killed on a whim. So the minister could only stamp his foot angrily, then tell the guard, "I'm going home to eat first. Have someone notify me immediately when His Majesty wakes up!"
And so the furious minister returned to his mansion again, ready to vent his anger on food-this minister was a rather strange specimen among treacherous officials. He had little interest in women and simply loved eating! He always had a chunk of meat in his hand to feast on!
With a bellyful of anger, the minister prepared to eat, eat, and eat until his rage subsided, but just then... another guard arrived!
The guard said fearfully, "M-Minister! His Majesty is awake, and he invites you to a banquet at the Imperial Palace!"
"..." The minister was almost crushing the bone in his hand-what would happen if someone interrupted a food lover's meal?
Other people might not know, but the minister kicked the guard straight out-although he looked fat and bloated, he did have some fighting ability. At the very least, he was stronger than an ordinary person!
After kicking the guard out, the minister's anger eased considerably-after all, it was the emperor inviting him to a banquet. He couldn't refuse!
So the minister carried the meat in his hand, eating as he hurried toward the Imperial Palace!
Well, a good meal at the Imperial Palace wouldn't be bad either! The minister began looking forward to today's banquet.
However, upon reaching the hall where the emperor entertained guests, the minister's heart sank straight to rock bottom!
Why the fuck was everything vegetarian?
Indeed, the palace banquet the Little Emperor had prepared for the minister this time was entirely vegetarian!
Besides green things on the table, there were... red carrots? In short, everything was a nightmare for a meat eater!
For the minister, a pure carnivore, asking him to eat vegetables was asking him to die! -Right now, he really wanted to demand of the Little Emperor, What the hell do you mean by this? Trying to disgust me? Do you still want this job? -Naturally, as a publicly loyal minister, he couldn't lash out. He could only wait for the Little Emperor to address him!
Seeing the minister arrive in the hall, the Little Emperor skipped over and said, "My dear minister, you've arrived? Today we're having some good, healthy food!"
"Your Majesty... what do you mean by healthy food?" the minister asked gently, suppressing his emotions.
Patting the minister's back, the Little Emperor said, "I've noticed you usually eat nothing but meat, and that's bad for your health. Recently, I read in a book that meals should have a balance of meat and vegetables. Perfect timing-we'll balance things out today. Since you usually only eat meat, you should eat more vegetables today! Get your body back in balance!"
"...I do eat vegetables at home. There's no need to balance things like this!" the minister said reluctantly.
"Don't say that. Eating more leafy greens is good for your health!" As he spoke, the Little Emperor picked up a cucumber in his left hand and a clump of something resembling grass in his right, offering it to the minister!
"Come, let ruler and minister eat together!" With that, the Little Emperor began gnawing on the cucumber, then stuffed the grass into the minister's hand!
The minister was thoroughly stumped-the Little Emperor had already begun eating his cucumber. If Honest didn't eat the clump of grass in his hand, he would be disrespecting the emperor... at least, he couldn't do that while maintaining his image as a loyal minister!
So... suppressing his revulsion, the minister stuffed that clump of grass into his mouth!
Then he tasted it... bitter, astringent, and foul-smelling... was this something meant for humans to eat?
The enraged minister wanted to drag the chef responsible for this banquet outside and feed him to the dogs!
Just then, the Little Emperor asked, "Do you find it unappetizing, my dear minister? I prepared all of this myself!"
"Huh? Your Majesty prepared it personally?" The minister was shocked.
"Yes. I washed every single vegetable myself... I wanted to repay your kindness to me this way. Without you, I couldn't be a proper emperor at all! I'm sincerely grateful for your help~ I heave a long sigh and wipe away my tears, grieving for the many hardships of my minister's life..." Overcome with emotion, the Little Emperor began crying outright!
Seeing this, the minister didn't know what to say-the Little Emperor had meant well. His ignorance had simply led to this result! Besides, he was the emperor. No matter what, the minister couldn't direct his anger at him.
So the minister forced himself to take another bite of that clump of grass to express his loyalty... but the stuff was simply impossible to swallow. He asked, "Forgive my boldness, Your Majesty, but what vegetable is this clump of grass?"
"This? Uh... I think I picked it from a flower bed beside the path. It looked tasty, so I put it on the table... does it taste bad?" the Little Emperor asked.
This stuff is just weeds? And it hasn't even been washed? You goddamn brat, you're asking for a beating! All the respect he'd felt a moment ago vanished. The minister wanted to grind the Little Emperor's bones to dust!
But if he attacked the Little Emperor here and drove him to use the Supreme Teigu... that would be the end of him.
And if Budo got involved, that would be game over too! So he could only endure it!
Thus, the minister said respectfully, "My apologies, Your Majesty. I've suddenly developed a stomachache, so I'll return home to rest!"
The Little Emperor sighed. "Ah... you must have overworked yourself, my dear minister. Go home and rest, then! As for this magnificent feast... I'll find an animal to finish it!"
The minister: "..." So I'm just a fucking animal, then! -The minister was furious, but he still forced himself to hold it in and leave!
After returning home, he first smashed things furiously to vent all the anger in his heart. Then he planned to have a fine meal, if only to cover up the taste of the weeds he'd eaten!
However, before he could take a bite... another imperial summons arrived!
Of course, it wasn't just this once-all day long, the cycle repeated: the minister entered the palace, the Little Emperor sent him away through all sorts of bizarre tricks, then summoned him back again!
Only when the moon hung high over the branches and the Little Emperor had gone to sleep could the minister return to his mansion in peace-it hadn't been easy. Had he really been toyed with all day?
"Quick, bring me food!" After returning home, the minister wasn't even angry anymore. He just wanted to eat as soon as possible!
All day, he'd eaten only that one bite of meat. For someone who could eat an entire cow in one meal, it wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. Now his stomach was practically stuck to his back with hunger-he had visibly lost a whole size! He no longer had the energy to be angry. Food came first!
The servants of the minister's residence immediately brought out the delicacies they'd prepared for him!
The minister began wolfing down his food, but his mind wasn't idle either-he sensed something strange!
Why had the usually meek Little Emperor been such an obnoxious little shit today? -Once he noticed that, the minister immediately realized something was wrong!
An impostor? No, impossible. There were no signs of an intrusion into the Imperial Palace, the Little Emperor's vital signs never left the palace, and that was unquestionably his appearance! Could someone else have started controlling him? Using him against me? No, probably not. What happened today seemed more like pranks... looks like this brat is starting to misbehave! -Conclusion: he'd reached his rebellious phase!
The minister had no intention of accompanying a brat through some rebellious phase... he needed to find a way to deal with it!
Just then, the hand of a servant bringing food trembled, spilling the dish onto the minister!
The minister flew into a rage. "Bastard! Die!" -With that, he struck at the servant with his palm, intending to kill him outright!
However, just as his palm came down... a bat-shaped throwing dart pierced his hand!
Shocked, the minister demanded loudly, "Who's there?"
"I am vengeance. I am the night (knight). I am... Batman!" Oh~ Batman had appeared... wait, what had appeared?
Uzumaki Gamu: "Hehehe, anyway... I'm Batman!!!"
Before you continue