I won't kill you, because you're ants

"That will be when I unite the Shinobi World."

Those words drifted away on the night wind, yet they settled over every survivor's heart like invisible shackles.

Chiya turned, the hem of his black clothes billowing in the firelight. With Uchiha Izumi beside him, he headed toward the Konoha Gate, now burned down to a charred frame.

But he did not leave immediately.

At that moment, within the range of his perception, countless faint, trembling presences emanated from the ruins, shelters, and basements all around him.

They were Konoha's civilians.

Ordinary people who had no chakra and knew no ninjutsu, who could only hide like rats during this catastrophe of rampaging gods and demons.

[Konoha Shopping Street · Shelter entrance]

The heavy iron door was quietly pushed open a crack.

Pairs of terrified eyes stared through the gap at the man slowly approaching with a sea of flames behind him.

"He... he's coming!"

"That devil is coming!"

"We're finished! The ninja are all dead, and Hokage Rock has collapsed... now it's our turn!"

Despair spread through the crowd like a plague.

A young mother holding her child trembled uncontrollably. She clamped her hand over the child's mouth, terrified that even the slightest sob would draw that grim reaper's attention.

Beside her, an old man who had sold vegetables his entire life slumped on the ground, tears streaming down his aged face. "What a tragedy... sixty years of Konoha, and we're all going to be wiped out tonight?"

As far as they knew, a rogue ninja breaching a village usually meant a massacre.

And this man had even killed the Hokage and cut down Hokage Rock, the symbol of their protection. What wouldn't he do?

"Run... run!"

Someone finally buckled under the immense pressure, screaming as they shoved open the iron door and fled desperately in the opposite direction.

But that scream toppled the first domino.

The deathly silent streets erupted into chaos.

Countless civilians poured out of their hiding places, crying and shoving, blundering through the ruins like headless flies.

"Don't kill me! I have nothing!"

"Please! Spare my child!"

Fear was the cheapest dye in the world, and it instantly stained Konoha a desolate gray.

[Center of Konoha Avenue]

Chiya stopped.

He looked at the faces twisted with fear around him, at the ants kneeling on the ground and kowtowing as they begged for mercy.

His brow furrowed slightly.

Not out of pity.

But because... they were noisy.

"Quiet."

Chiya did not shout.

He merely released a trace of reiatsu.

Bzz-!

That pressure, originating from the soul itself, swept across the entire area.

It was as though someone had pressed pause.

In an instant, the wailing crowd seemed to have hands clamped around their throats, every sound cutting off abruptly. They knelt stiffly on the ground, not even daring to breathe heavily, and could only stare in utter terror at the man rising into the air.

Yes, Chiya had taken flight.

Using his reiatsu's repulsive force against external objects, he slowly ascended and hovered twenty meters above the ground.

Flames burned behind him, stretching his shadow far across the vast crowd below.

He looked down from above, his gaze indifferent, devoid of killing intent or warmth.

It was the look a passerby might give ants busily moving their nest beside the road.

Would you go out of your way to crush a swarm of ants?

Unless they crawled onto your feet, most people would not even bother looking down.

"What are you afraid of?"

Amplified by chakra, Chiya's voice carried clearly to every corner of Konoha.

"Afraid I'll kill you?"

"Afraid I'll slaughter you like livestock and wash this village in blood?"

The civilians below trembled. No one dared answer, but their eyes betrayed their thoughts-yes, that was exactly what they believed.

"Heh..."

Chiya gave a soft chuckle.

It was filled with disdain, with mockery for the impoverished imaginations of the weak.

"Put away that laughable fear of yours."

Chiya slowly rested his hand on Ryūjin Jakka's hilt.

That single movement made thousands of people below duck their heads in unison.

But he did not draw his blade.

"I won't kill you all."

Chiya tapped his fingers lightly against the hilt, producing crisp, repeated clicks.

"Because..."

His gaze swept across the crowd, his arrogance in that instant seeming to trample the entire world beneath his feet.

"Killing you would only dirty my blade."

Whoosh-!

Those words struck everyone across the face like an invisible slap.

It was not mercy.

It was not sympathy.

It was simply because... he thought them filthy?

Such naked contempt felt more humiliating than death, yet at the same time, relief at surviving welled up in their hearts.

As long as we live... as long as we live, that's enough!

However.

Chiya's next words plunged that relief into an even deeper pit of ice.

"Don't celebrate too soon."

Watching the civilians breathe sighs of relief, Chiya's smile grew increasingly cruel.

"I'm not killing you because I want to keep you alive."

"Keep you ants alive to witness this world's cruelty."

Chiya spread his hands, as though proclaiming new rules to these ruins:

"From this day forward, Konohagakure... is disbanded."

Boom!

Those words struck like a bolt from the blue.

"There will be no more ninja."

"No more Hokage."

"No more Mission Center, no more Ninjutsu Academy."

Chiya pointed at the surviving Genin and Chunin, still wearing their ninja vests but utterly devoid of fighting spirit.

"From this moment on, the forehead protectors in your hands are scrap metal."

"If anyone dares act in the name of a Konoha Ninja again, then next time, my blade won't mind getting dirty."

Dead silence.

Absolute, dead silence.

Not only the civilians, but even the surviving low-ranking ninja were stunned.

Disband a Shinobi Village?

Such a thing was simply unheard of in this world of ninja!

"Then... what are we supposed to do?"

A bold merchant asked shakily, "Without the ninja to protect us, we..."

"Good question."

Chiya looked at the merchant, amusement in his eyes.

"You will live as ordinary people."

"As ordinary people without fangs, without claws, without walls to protect you..."

"Scrape by in this chaotic world that's about to spiral out of control."

As Chiya's words fell, a bone-deep chill shot from the soles of everyone's feet to the tops of their heads.

This was the real punishment!

This was truly... destroying people from within!

What had made Konoha prosperous? What had allowed it to stand at the head of the Five Great Nations?

Its powerful military! The prestige of the name "Hokage"!

Because the Konoha Ninja deterred them, nearby bandits dared not attack, and other nations' armies dared not invade. Trade routes remained open, and civilians could live and work in peace.

But now.

Chiya had destroyed Konoha's elite fighting forces. Severed the spiritual faith embodied by Hokage Rock. Burned down the administrative building that housed its command structure. He had even outright declared that "Konoha is disbanded."

It was like stripping a fat sheep of all its wool, tearing off its horns, and throwing it into a pack of ravenous wolves!

"No... you can't do this!"

An elderly retired Chunin finally grasped what was happening and shouted in horror:

"Without ninja protecting us, Kumogakure, Iwagakure... they'll devour us until not even our bones remain!"

"We're easy prey! Without protection, Konoha is the richest prize in the entire Shinobi World!"

Chiya looked at the despairing old man and nodded.

"You're very clever."

"That's right. You're easy prey."

Chiya pointed beyond the village.

"As far as I know, with the Raikage's explosive temper, he should already be marching an army toward your borders."

"That old fox Ōnoki from Iwagakure is probably drooling as he hurries here, too."

"Even Sunagakure and Kirigakure probably want a share."

At that, Chiya revealed a devilish smile.

"Before, you had the Hokage to shield you."

"The Uchiha to kill your enemies."

"The Senju to sacrifice themselves for you."

"But you never appreciated it."

"You enjoyed peace while ostracizing the Uchiha behind their backs and mocking those who bled for the village as monsters."

Chiya's voice turned bitterly cold:

"Now, your shield is gone."

"It's time you experienced for yourselves just how cruel the real world is."

"Pray."

"Pray that the ninja from those other villages 'don't want to dirty their blades,' just like me."

"Or pray..."

Chiya slowly descended to the ground and stood beside Uchiha Izumi.

He gave the ashen-faced crowd one final look.

"Pray that I unite the Shinobi World... just a little faster than they devour you all."

With that said.

Chiya lingered no longer.

He turned, took Izumi with him, and strode through Konoha's shattered gate.

His retreating figure was resolute, without the slightest attachment.

"We're finished..."

The retired Chunin dropped to his knees with a thud, his eyes vacant.

"This is crueler than killing us..."

If it had been a massacre, it would have ended with a single stroke, the pain lasting only an instant.

But now, Chiya had spared their lives.

Yet he had stripped them of all their defenses and dignity, leaving them naked before the approaching war in the Shinobi World.

What awaited them was endless fear, plunder, enslavement, and even degradation more terrible than death.

"A devil... he's a devil through and through..."

Muffled sobs rose from the crowd.

But even more people simply stared blankly at the burning Hokage Building and the bare Hokage Rock.

Their faith shattered.

Their home lay in ruins.

Their guardian god had become a god of death.

That night, Konoha's backbone was utterly broken, never to straighten again.

[Ding! Host detected to have completed an epic act of "breaking their spirit"!]

[You carried out no large-scale massacre, yet planted the seeds of despair in the hearts of hundreds of thousands!]

[You destroyed the old order, created a power vacuum, and successfully plunged the Shinobi World into turmoil!]

[Achievement unlocked: Harbinger of Chaos!]

[Special reward obtained: Spiritual Pressure Intimidation (passive skill upgrade)-your mere presence can cause the weak to suffer a mental breakdown!]

[Kill Points +150000!]

Walking along a forest path outside the village, Chiya listened to the system notifications in an exceptionally good mood.

"Lord Chiya..."

Uchiha Izumi, who had been following behind him all this time, finally could not hold back any longer.

She glanced back at the village, now receding into the distance beneath plumes of black smoke, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

"Just leaving them to the Four Great Nations like this... isn't it too cruel?"

Though Izumi had experienced darkness, a trace of kindness still remained in her nature.

"Cruel?"

Chiya stopped and turned his head to look at the naive girl.

"Izumi, remember this."

"The merciful cannot command armies, the righteous cannot manage wealth, the sentimental cannot accomplish great things, and the kind cannot govern."

"Ending this age of chaos won't come down to dinner invitations or some notion of mutual understanding."

Chiya raised his hand, a golden flame dancing in his palm.

"To establish true peace, we must first smash this rotten old world to pieces."

"If they don't feel the pain firsthand, they'll never understand how precious peace is."

"Konoha is my offering to the new age... a sacrifice."

Izumi nodded, only half understanding.

Although she felt Chiya's words were extreme, she could find no reason to argue as she gazed at his profile, which looked almost divine in the moonlight.

"Let's go."

Chiya extinguished the flame and turned his gaze toward the Land of Rain.

"The show here is over."

"Next, it's time to meet that fellow who calls himself a 'god.'"

"I hear his Rinnegan... is quite interesting."

Their figures gradually vanished into the depths of the forest.

And behind them.

The once-prosperous Konoha now lay exposed on the Shinobi World's chopping block like a lamb awaiting slaughter, giving off an enticing scent of blood.

In the darkness.

Countless pairs of greedy eyes-Kumogakure scouts, Iwagakure spies, rogue shinobi, and bounty hunters-had already lit up.

The feast was about to begin.